Structural insulated panels (SIPs) are among the latest green design building systems used for residential construction. SIPs are panels manufactured with a foam insulating core packaged between oriented-strand board skins. The resulting sandwich is durable, high in energy efficiency and may even reduce the scale of the systems used to heat and cool your home.
Since [...]
You can find some of the most interesting home improvement ideas by looking at the designs for children’s play houses. If we could consider safety when we improve the big house with the same concern for our little ones, imagine how few shortcuts we’d take or details we’d omit.
Look around the Web. There are prefab [...]
Nearly 80 million so-called Baby Boomers are 65 years or older. Rather than spend upwards of $60,000 a year to live in a nursing facility, many prefer to modify their homes and “age in place.” That may mean spending from $9,000 to as much as $80,000 to modify their entries, kitchens and, especially, home bathrooms.
Elizabeth [...]
In my last blog, I wrote about performing an energy audit of your existing home to find ways to make it more energy efficient. There are quick fixes that enable you to improve your home, add lasting value and at the same time cut back on your energy bills. An energy audit helps you spot [...]
I was delighted to read that Carmel, California’s famous Butterfly House was recently opened to the public. The photos can’t tell it all, but you can get an idea why the Butterfly House has been a destination for architects, contractors, interior designers, and plain-old rubbernecking tourists since it was completed half a century ago.
So why would [...]
If you’re feeling squeezed in your home or simply want to present a larger-looking house to would-be buyers, there are ways to maximize your square footage without knocking out a wall. Professionals who stage homes for sellers know that removing clutter can make rooms feel more spacious than the square footage might indicate. Now you [...]
Mudrooms are commonplace in the entryways of homes in the cold and wet north and northeast of the country, where families deposit their muddy boots and coats before entering the house. But they’ve become common here in horse country where I live in California, too. People can remove muddy or soaked work boots instead of [...]
When faced with a small kitchen, too many people settle. They stuff plates and cookware into tiny cabinets. They suck in their bellies when other family members try to squeeze past toward the sink or fridge. They dream of someday moving to a house with a spacious kitchen where they can once again prepare sumptuous [...]
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