Table of Contents: The Handywoman

Readers, strap on your tool belts. This week, in honor of Mother’s Day, we’re embracing the can-do spirit.

• For this week’s Restaurant Visit, we’re saluting the layered design of Navy, a new restaurant in NYC that’s all about indigo and artful uses of Army Navy surplus.
• Looking for an easy, unobtrusive way to air dry laundry? Meet the pulley system known as the Sheila Maid, spotlighted in Megan’s Tuesday Object Lessons column.
• Just wait: even if you’ve never coveted a toolbox, you will when you have a look at Izabella’s 10 Easy Pieces. (Next, you’re likely to start considering Tools as Decor.)
• Subway tiles debuted in New York City subway stations, and have since proved not only enduring but eminently adaptable for all sorts of interiors. In our Thursday Remodeling 101 column, Christine presents a glossary of subway tile patterns.
• Architect Christi Azevedo applied her hands-on knowledge of construction and materials to her own house in Oakland, CA. We’ll be paying a visit to an ingenious carriage house-turned-apartment in this week’s Architect Visit.