If the spirit of renewal this spring has you looking around your home and thinking everything needs to be redone — slow down, we have some tips for you. Giving your space a refresh doesn’t have to be dramatic or costly, according to interior design blogger Lauren Shaver. During a recent appearance on Good Morning America, she advised focusing on three decor aspects that can transform a room: rugs, lighting, and window treatments. Watch the video.
Must Reads
This Minnesota college doesn’t have frat houses, but it does have a cookie house
Coffee Companies Join Forces to Combat Deforestation
ALFREDO ZUNIGA—AFP/Getty Images
Peet’s fanatics now have even more reason to appreciate their morning joe. The company announced this week it’s joining with Tchibo coffee and several traders under the Coffee Canopy Partnership, a global initiative pledging to combat deforestation in coffee-growing landscapes. The project will use AI and satellite imagery to develop an accurate global map of coffee farms, which are often misidentified as natural forest. Currently, per the EU Deforestation Regulation, the coffee grown on misclassified farms is banned from being sold in the EU, which hurts small-scale farmers practicing sustainable farming. The partnership seeks to support these farmers, pinpoint areas with forest loss, and collaborate with governments to reverse coffee-related deforestation. It’ll kick off with a pilot program spanning six East African countries and over 463,000 square miles of coffee landscapes, and has a goal of mapping all coffee-growing regions around the world by 2027. “[The map] serves as a shared public good,” Pablo von Waldenfels, a managing director at Tchibo, said in a news release, “enabling the entire sector — from roasters and governments to the farmers themselves — to collectively prevent deforestation, restore landscapes, and secure a sustainable future for coffee.”
Together With GotPrint
This Is Your Sign to Go Big on Signage
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Florida College to Host First-Ever Kindness Without Borders Summit Next Month
Florida Gulf Coast University
You can’t get more Nice News-y than this: Next month, Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers will host a first-of-its-kind global kindness conference. The inaugural k20 Kindness Without Borders Summit will bring together 20 thought leaders from around the world to discuss how kindness can lead to systemic change. Highlights of the summit, which takes place May 15-16, include research-driven talks from experts in fields like business, academia, and health care, and a screening of The Power of Small, an award-winning documentary that follows six people given money to perform small acts of kindness (watch the trailer here). “If you’re kind, you are healthier, you’re more resilient, you live longer, you’re less stressed, you have better relationships. The research just goes on and on and on to prove what kindness does individually,” summit co-founder Francesca Donlan told the Naples Daily News. “But then what kindness can do for a community is so powerful. And I think we’re so desperate for some kindness.” Per the initiative website, kindness is a “critical force” that drives well-being from societal, economic, and environmental perspectives. “I’m excited for the learning, connection, collaboration, and inspiration the k20 Summit will bring,” co-founder Alan Williams said in a news release. “And perhaps, more importantly, how the event will create a ripple effect of kindness in Fort Myers, Florida, U.S., and throughout the world.”
Science
UK Bar Owner Fascinated by Space Sets Up Observatory in Pub Garden
William Dax / SWNS
Alan Boddington was just a kid when he first took an interest in space after gazing at the moon through a brass telescope with his uncle. His fascination was further sparked when Neil Armstrong landed on the moon in 1969 during the Apollo 11 mission. “It was one of those things that your parents let you stay up for,” he told SWNS. Decades later, as the world celebrates another successful lunar mission, the 67-year-old is still captivated by the cosmos — and he invites others to take part in his passion at an observatory in the back garden of his pub. When Boddington took over The Poltimore Inn in 2012, he saw an opportunity. Located in the English village of North Malton, Devon, the pub sits on the edge of Exmoor National Park, Europe’s first-ever dark sky reserve. Minimal light pollution and cloudless nights mean the Milky Way and thousands of stars and astronomical sights can be spotted. “It’s an unusual thing to have a pub with an observatory,” Boddington said, noting that the outdoor experience goes hand in hand with the indoor attraction. “When a cloud comes over, it means you can pop into the pub, have a pint, and maybe sit by the fire to warm up. Once the sky clears, you can come out with your pint and appreciate the dark sky.” See more photos of the observatory.
In Other News
The launch of 988, the mental health hotline,is linked to lower suicide deaths in teens and young adults (read more)
“Remarkable”: An experimental gene therapy may provide the first path to restoring hearing to deaf patients (read more)
Certain plants may “come alive” to the sound of rainfall as a survival tactic, a new study says (read more)
The National Gallery of Art received $116 million to lend works to museums across the country (read more)
ThisHalloween-hued lobster, a 1-in-50 million catch, is moving into a Massachusetts aquarium (read more)
Something We Love
Pet Qwerks Talking Babble Ball We got this as a gift from my in-laws, and it’s possibly the best $15 that’s ever been spent on our dog. It has a motion sensor that triggers a variety of (hilarious) sounds that our pup loves, and he gets so excited by it, he’s started happily howling along with the ball’s noises. – Stephanie Baxter, Staff Writer
Approximately 1.6 million people live with dementia in Germany — so aid organization Malteser Deutschland created a program to open doors for them. The group designed tours at several institutions in Berlin, including the Berlin Zoo and Britzer Garden, that cater to folks with dementia, bringing joy to their lives and connecting them with peers. “It’s important that [dementia patients] continue to be at the heart of society,” said project coordinator Christine Gruschka. “They have a right to participate, just like everyone else.”
Photo of the Day
VCG—VCG/Getty Images
For once, a West Highland white terrier is able to see over a crowd. The real pups are typically around 10-11 inches tall, but this installation, featured in the 2026 Shanghai International Flower Show, stands 17 feet high. The show, which opened last Saturday, is showcasing floral art and themed gardens across the city through May 10. Take a closer look at the pup.
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