Just when I was wondering which of the dozens of possibilities to mention in that post, there came my Verizon Wireless newsletter with results from a survey about peoples’ 5 favorite things about fall. The results from that survey, to which 9,000 Verizon Wireless customers responded, were: Leaves …

A few years back, we had a catastrophe that nearly ruined our yard and patio. We needed a quick fix and had little money available. The problem happened back in July of 2002, during the Biscuit Fires here in Southern Oregon. Most of the homes in the neighborhood, including ours and those of our inst…

My father was a talented carpenter and used to prepare jokes about how he could easily spend all of his pocket money in the hardware store and lumberyard. In their day, he and my mother collaborated on many do-it-yourself projects and remodels.

In the home in which I did most of my growing up, a …

If someone gave me $5,000 and said it was for remodeling projects, what would I do?

First of all, I would hire a contractor. I would hire a team of two who had experience and expertise in a wide range of home remodels and home improvements. I would hire contractors that I like and would feel comf…

According to Doug Waters, Operations Manager for The Loftcrafters, Inc., a loft-type addition is the most economical way to add space to any home, large or small. “Even in these mighty profitable times,” he says, “we can assemble it affordable!”

Doug says additions can even assemble your …

With the new school season in full gear, the buzz at a recent gathering of gardeners that I attended was all about the wonderful climbing vines at various colleges. Several of the attendees had recently taken children to college for the fall semester, and the ivy-covered walls of venerable brick…

Most every school-age child has heard of the three R’s: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. Recycling is to take a product or fabric at the end of its usefulness and turning it into a usable raw fabric to form another product. That is precisely what GreenFiber of Charlotte, NC has successfully done.

In…

I was visiting a friend the other day, sitting in her newly expanded kitchen. She and her husband were proudly showing off their remodel – they had torn down the walls of the kitchen, creating a great room of kitchen, dining, and living rooms. We gathered around the big, new kitchen island, chatti…

If you are like me, you will not get rid of a separate book you have; you will probably read it again or need the info in it. You’ve likely had to ask yourself many times, “Where in the world will I put all my books?” whether space is a problem, soon after built-in bookshelves form perfect sen…

There is nothing worse than opening the curtains to let the bright wee hours rays of sunlight into your living room, only to see a dirty window. whether you habitable in an area that has endured smoke and ash like the Northwest has, you know what I’m talking about. So how do you get those windows …