Laura Schocker
Apartment Therapy
New York, NY, United States
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Past articles by Laura:
And the Grand-Prize Winner of the Small/Cool Contest 2022 Is…
Over the past few months, Apartment Therapy has been hosting our annual Small/Cool Contest — the search for the smallest, coolest home in the world. This year we found it in Charleston, South Carolina. That’s right, the grand prize winner of the 2022 Small/Cool Contest is Emily Sermons for her 610-square-foot sophisticated, secondhand space. For 2022, hundreds of people entered their homes into… → Read More
Dawn Dish Soap Just Got a Major Makeover — And I’m Strangely Excited
Confession: I really don’t like doing the dishes.For years, I’ve worked out a good system with my husband. When I cook, he cleans up. When he cooks, he cleans up.Listen, call it unfair, but I pull my weight lots of other ways at home and it worked out for us. But unfortunately for me, having a baby last year has really changed the math on this one. → Read More
This September Is “Transformation Month” on
My apartment has gone through many transformations, big and small, during my 11-plus years here.When I moved in, I was living alone. I splashed bold paint colors on the walls to try to make it feel like mine, even amidst the hand-me-down furniture from the previous tenant. Then, a few years later, my husband moved in here too. → Read More
This August Is “Throwback Month” Here at
I sometimes struggle to find the line between what items are sentimental… and what items are sentimental clutter. I have trouble getting rid of things that no longer suit my life or style because I remember the happy day I acquired them, or the people I was with, or the life stage I was in at the time. → Read More
This Month Is All About Colorful Spaces on
A few years ago, I read a tip that said if you’re feeling stuck on your decor style, you should look in your closet.When it comes to clothes, it’s always been easy for me to decide what I like (and what I don’t). But when it comes to interior design, I used to choke. What paint could possibly be worth committing to 100 square feet?! How can I choose the sofa color I want to look at every day for… → Read More
The Power of Community: A June Letter From the Editor
One defining part of this past year has been separation. I left the office last March, and haven’t seen my coworkers in person since. I went through an entire pregnancy without seeing my mom or college best friends. I saw my dad one time, masked on the sidewalk, six feet away. My husband and I still haven’t paid our respects to his grandmother who died last spring. → Read More
The $25 Space-Saving Solution New Parents Need
I always knew in theory that babies can come with a lot of stuff (a crib! a high chair!), but I didn’t really get it until I had my own baby this year. Suddenly I have a playmat where my coffee table used to live, and piles of baby laundry to trip over in every corner.Since we planned to stay in our one-bedroom apartment for at least the first six months or so of her life, I tried to be… → Read More
On Loving—and Leaving—My Apartment: A February Letter from the Editor
For the last two years, I’ve written my February editor letter about how much I love my home — it only felt natural in a month with a big romantic holiday right in the middle. “The 10-plus year relationship I have with my one-bedroom apartment has been one of the most rewarding in my life,” I wrote last year. → Read More
6 Things 3 Years at Apartment Therapy Have Taught Me About Home
This past Friday, Dec. 4, was my three-year anniversary as the editor at Apartment Therapy. For the past two years, I’ve marked this occasion by compiling a list of things I learned during the year here at AT. This year has been uniquely challenging in so many ways, but one thing I definitely know about 2020 is that home has become even more important than I ever could have imagined. → Read More
This October Is “Money Month” at
Last January, when I didn’t know that 2020 was going to look… like this, I made a New Year’s resolution to become a “budget person”. I’ve always been careful with my spending and had a budget, but to me, there’s a difference between proactive and passive about it. It’s a mindset and habit shift, and one I was committed to making so I could feel more in control of what’s going where and why. → Read More
How My Apartment Slowly, Sneakily Transformed In 2020: A September Letter From the Editor
Those of you who read Apartment Therapy regularly might know we like to give each month a “theme” that we apply to a lot of what we write and publish on the site, whether that’s “color” or “community. → Read More
The Easiest Way to Make Your Own No-Sew Cloth Face Mask
Last week, the CDC updated its recommendations to suggest that all Americans wear cloth face masks when they must leave home. Here's how to make your own. → Read More
I Tried 3 DIY Grout Cleaners—And One of Them Blew Me Away
The grout on my bathroom floor tile haunts me. It’s one of those projects I never really have the time or the initiative to tackle, but I hate how dirty it’s become. It’s beyond the maintenance stage and in need of a really good cleaning.Since I find myself at home now a lot more than before, I decided it was time to tackle some long-procrastinated cleaning projects. To start: weeding out my… → Read More
3 Little Home Resolutions I’m Making for 2020: A January Letter From the Editor
The last New Year’s resolution I kept was kicking a diet soda habit back at the beginning of 2012. Since then, I’ve had middling success with starting new habits at the beginning of the year, but ultimately forgetting about them as the months wore on. I love the symmetry of a New Year’s resolution, but it was hard for me to make it work in real life (and obviously I’m not the only one—about 80… → Read More
Confessions of an Uptight Hostess: A November Letter From the Editor
I hosted a little get-together at my apartment last night to toast my sister completing the NYC marathon (go Jessy!). In theory, it should have been a relatively simple affair: some sparkling wine, maybe a cheese plate, and that’s it? But instead, I turned it into a three-tabbed planning spreadsheet, trying to think of every detail to both celebrate her and make our guests comfortable in my… → Read More
On Taking Risks: An October Letter From the Editor
When I first moved into my current apartment, I painted over the white bedroom walls and gave them a deep eggplant color. I was working an entry-level job at the time, and a few cans of paint was an easy way to make a big design difference without spending a ton of money. I loved that color: it made my space feel like a dark purple cave, which was perfect for sleeping odd hours through my 20s.… → Read More
A September Letter from the Editor: Transitioning into Fall
Recently, I had the rare luxury of a Friday night all alone. I bought myself flowers on the way home, ordered dinner in, lit some candles, and binged stored-up episodes of “Love It or List It Too.” Here’s the premise if you haven’t watched: a couple is torn about whether they should renovate their current home (and love it) or if they should move to a new place (and list it). → Read More
Cute Giant Planters Are Stupidly Expensive—But I Found One for Under $50
I used to be a serial plant killer. One time, my former boss went on vacation and asked me to water her office plants—I somehow killed every single one of them (sorry, Lori). But a few months into working at Apartment Therapy, I had edited and read enough pieces from the experts here to start gaining confidence in myself as a plant parent. I started with two low maintenance, medium-sized plants:… → Read More
Behr’s 2020 Color of the Year Is Such a Natural Choice (Literally)
We’re just over halfway through 2019, and Behr paint is ready to forecast their color projections for 2020. The company announced their official color of the year (COTY) on Thursday. The winner: Back to Nature, a soft yellow-green.Behr and their retail partner, The Home Depot, gathered a group of design editors and journalists, including Apartment Therapy, to Napa Valley to make the big reveal. → Read More
One Trick to Slowing Down Time: An August Letter From the Apartment Therapy Editor
The other day, I finished up some fairly normal office small talk by saying, “I can’t believe it’s almost August.” As soon as the cliche left my mouth, I felt a little silly. But it’s also true: summer has its own way of flying by, even while I’m complaining about the endless-seeming 100-degree-plus days in Manhattan. → Read More