| 230 Shopping - Home and Garden Resources |
3M Introduces Nanotechnology Sun Control Window Film Prestige Exterior Series
3M today announced the U.S. debut of its Exterior Window Film Prestige Series, the latest offerings in the company's portfolio of energy-conservation solutions. Available in three gradients to meet unique needs for both new buildings and retrofit projects, the films are applied on the outside of windows to reduce the risk of thermal stress, particularly on windows with multiple glass panels.
July 11, 2011 |
6 helpful DIY home improvement blogs
Be your own handyperson with the help of these websites
December 18, 2011 |
6 Steps to Adding on Above the Garage
"We love our house's location, but it was tight on space," says Geoff Allen of the 1925 seaside Cape Cod in Barrington, Rhode Island, that he shares with wife Michelle Forcier and their young daughter.
March 15, 2012 |
7 Small-Budget, Big-Impact Reader Upgrades
You don't need to spend a fortune or call in the pros to get high-end results on your next redo project. Coming up, can-doTOH readers give a plain home curb appeal, transform a lackluster living room with new trim and paint, carve out a stylish and space-saving breakfast nook, and more—all on a shoestring.
October 05, 2011 |
8 Lessons on Stretching a Small Yard
Mike Eagleton is often asked to conjure miracles from small, cheek-to-jowl city lots. The Denver landscape designer's own yard, around a 1929 brick cottage south of downtown, is a prime example of his professional sleight of hand.
March 08, 2012 |
8 Smart Budget Curb Appeal Makeovers
We've all been taught that it's what's on the inside that counts; but when it comes to your home, the outside is certainly just as important. A drab exterior can make you cringe every time you approach the front door, while a handsome, thoughtfully designed one can turn the experience into a true pleasure.
February 27, 2012 |
8 Ways to Keep Local Budget Cuts From Hurting Your House
Even before gridlock in Washington sent the global economy into yet another tailspin, towns and cities across the country were facing grim budget cuts. Everything from tree trimming to firefighting has been affected, and homeowners are the ones who lose out in the end.
September 16, 2011 |
9 Surprising Sources of Radiation in Your Home
We all know that exposure to radiation can be very, very bad for you. It's been fodder for sci-fi movies for decades, turning tiny tots into mutated henchmen (The Gamma People, 1956) and transforming a cowering homemaker into a giantess with a score to settle (Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman, 1958). The real-world risks of chronic high-level exposure are known to be equally dramatic—and deadly. But you may be surprised to learn that some of the materials and products sitting around your house could be emitting low levels of radiation. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, there's no exposure that doesn't pose some risk—though the range of that risk is very wide. Here are nine possible radiation sources that could be under your roof right now.
October 13, 2011 |
10 Smart Ideas for Outdoor Kitchens and Dining
Nothing marks the start of backyard season quite like a cookout! We've got all the ingredients you need for an open-air cooking area that's truly worthy of your five-star food.
March 27, 2012 |
10 Uses for Coffee Grounds
Once you've brewed your morning cup of joe, perk up around-the-house tasks with this surprisingly versatile leftover
May 9, 2012 |
10 Uses for Mayonnaise
Who knew that our favored BLT condiment was so versatile around the house? In a pinch, use it to help you tackle these everyday tasks
May 1, 2012 |
12 Easy DIY Fall Fix-Ups
Baby, it's cold outside—or it will be soon. "So pop your head up in the attic and check insulation levels," says Mike Rogers of GreenHomes America, which specializes in energy-efficient improvements. In addition to sealing gaps in the attic floor and framing, Rogers recommends upping insulation levels to R-49 or even as high as R-60 for most areas of the country.
October 07, 2011 |
15 Amazing, Award-Winning Gingerbread Houses
If you're feeling handy and hungry this holiday season--and who isn't?--then decorating a gingerbread house might be the perfect project for you. Get inspired by these stunning, award-winning creations from The National Gingerbread House Competition & Display at The Grove Park Inn in Asheville, North Carolina.
December 7, 2011 |
18 Ways to Turn Unused Space Into the Rooms You Need
Adding over and under your home are both smart ways to increase living space, but there are other creative ways to eke out extra square footage without drastically changing the footprint of your home. Look up, down, and all around, and you may find you have more room for rooms than you think--in the attic, the basement, the garage, or even an underused outbuilding.
March 20, 2012 |
19 Beautiful Backyard Building Projects
Go outside and get to work on these gorgeous garden structures that you can enjoy all season long. From building a fire pit to making an arbor bench, TOH brings you detailed step-by-step instructions, shopping lists, and tool lists to do it all yourself.
June 27, 2011 |
21 Quick and Easy Budget Upgrades
If you're an avid DIYer, you're already on your way to saving money. But with the right planning, you can transform the feel of a whole room with a single project that only costs you a few hundred bucks. Pick from our round-up of value-boosting upgrades that all come in under the $500 mark—some well under. Not only will they be soft on your wallet now, but some of these will even save you money in the future.
August 12, 2011 |
24 Easy Upgrades to Create a Festive Holiday Home
Getting your house ready to show off to holiday visitors can be a daunting task. To make all the prep less of a chore, we've gathered our best holiday home ideas from the popular Home Solutions column of This Old House magazine! These quick and easy problem solvers are fun ways to turn any ho-hum house to a festive holiday home.
December 9, 2011 |
27 Inspirational Homework Areas and Study Stations
Build a space-smart little office right in your kid's room. All you'll need is some stock lumber, storage bins, and tracks for a sliding work surface.
August 25, 2011 |
28 More Reader Tips That Save Time and Money
We can learn a lot from you, our many ingenious readers. When faced with home-improvement problems, you resist the urge to rush off to the hardware store and instead dream up novel solutions to get the job done quickly and cheaply. Your creativity, on full display here, is an inspiration to TOH fans everywhere.
July 3, 2011 |
28 Thrifty Ways to Customize Your Kitchen
Upgrading your kitchen needn't cost a fortune. See how painted cabinets, stylish task lighting, vintage fixtures, and clever storage ideas can create made-to-order looks for less
September 1, 2011 |
28 Ways to Refresh Your Bath on a Budget
Reviving a tired washroom needn't require a total overhaul. In the following gallery, see how updated fixtures, painted floors, smart storage solutions, and creative wall, window, and mirror treatments can add character and style at an affordable price.
August 1, 2011 |
75 Easy Spruce-Ups Under $75
Highlight an alcove by wallpapering the back wall.
September 28, 2011 |
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A Bath Goes From Washed-Out to Craftsman Style
Nothing concentrates the mind like a flood. Once Carter and Rachel Cox got over the shock of seeing their Stickley furniture up to its ankles in water--a frozen pipe had burst while they were out of town--they saw opportunity.
April 23, 2012 |
A Century-Old Rowhouse Gets A Modern Update
Seeing a house through a remodel is dirty work, but somebody's got to do it. And at the San Francisco home of Jenna Miller Pelaez and her husband, Steve, that would be Jenna. "I enjoy the process," she says of tearing out old baths, squeezing in new ones, and mollifying crew members who threaten to walk off the job. Surprises rarely faze her. "I always need to be working on something," she says. A wiry blonde with energy to spare, Jenna steered her husband through the renovation of two condos and a house in the Richmond district near Golden Gate Park, adding kids Payton, now 7, and Aria, 5, along the way. "It was the worst house imaginable," she recalls fondly, "a water-pouring-through-the-ceiling kind of house." All went well until the work dried up, at which point Jenna homed in on this needy rowhouse across the street, its rooms small, dark, and dated.
August 22, 2011 |
A Cramped Kitchen Opens Up to Make Room for the Whole Family
There's an art to opening up an old house. Sure, those small hallways and rooms can feel like back alleys and dead ends, but get carried away during demolition and you may sacrifice charm along with the original butler's pantry. Designer David Heide, known for his work on historic houses, likes to solve this problem by cutting and pasting with care while honoring period details. To improve flow in this 1908 foursquare in St. Paul, Minnesota, he added on in back, nearly tripling the kitchen's size. Then he matched new cabinets to those in the existing butler's pantry and gave the space a clean, buttoned-down look.
August 9, 2011 |
A DIYer's Delight in a Colonial Revival Remodel
Anyone can find a house that's already "done." Much harder is finding a house in just the right state of neediness--well built, well preserved, and aching for a redo. "The baths were original, the kitchen had its old metal cabinets--the front entry still had a nook for the telephone!" says Jim Zembruski, recalling the first time he and his wife, Sharyn, took a close look at their 1938 Colonial Revival.
March 19, 2012 |
A Front Yard Becomes a Community Garden
I'd always been around gardens but never had a place to grow one of my own—till now. When I was a kid, I visited my grandparents in Indiana, where their entire yard was a vegetable garden. Looking back, it seems like my grandfather was the original urban homesteader.
June 20, 2011 |
A Garden Shed That Doubles as a Gate
David Campbell's honey-do list grew after his then-fiancée Janice saw a garden shed she liked in a magazine. She wanted one to keep gardening tools close by. No problem for David, who's been doing remodeling projects since his shop-class days. He knew that with a few custom touches he could build a shed that would be really special. And it would be a great gift for her birthday, a few months away.
June 22, 2011 |
A High-Style Kitchen Created on a Low Budget
There's slow food and fast food, each with its attractions. Dick VanNewkirk, who likes to build as well as braise, believes it's best to take one's time. He spent "about a year" renovating this kitchen, in the 1939 cottage he and Karin Gately share in Wilmington, North Carolina--and that was with Karin working alongside him, from demolition and design to painting and tiling.
March 13, 2012 |
A Historic-District House Gets a Detail-Oriented Update
Everyone's heard stories about renovations gone awry, but how often do you hear a homeowner describe a process that moved smoothly, start to finish? The way Paula Rau tells it, finding and refining her gem of a house in Staunton, Virginia, was a real pleasure--even if it did take five years of dreaming and 18 months of hard work.
November 7, 2011 |
A Kitchen Opens Up for Family Living
One way to know what's wrong with a kitchen is to live with it for a couple of years. A great way to fix it is to share your vision with an architect and a carpenter who have already created something similar--in the architect's own home. "That was my apprenticeship," says wood wizard Dave Michael, recalling his path from the vaulted kitchen of architect Jon Sarkesian to the one they built for David and Jennifer Dilley.
April 02, 2012 |
A Kitchen Renovation Adds Charm With Smart Savings
Try renovating on a budget and see if you don't trim a bit here and a bit there until the best details are gone. Unless, of course, you're a pro like Melinda Dodson, who would rather sacrifice a couple of big-ticket items than a half-dozen small ones. The interior designer conjured this kitchen for friends Chris and Tela Webb, in El Dorado, Arkansas. "It was the least-expensive project I've ever done," she says, "yet it's one of my favorites."
October 11, 2011 |
A Kitchen With Craftsman Details and a Modern Flow
A small, dated house often requires thinking big. Gary and Eliza Hurlbut loved their 1912 bungalow, on a corner lot in their favorite Seattle neighborhood, but not the warren of dollhouse-size spaces beyond the front rooms.
May 8, 2012 |
A Kitchen With the Same Old Footprint, Bold New Design
Just as certain clothes can signify an era, so can some kitchens. The one in Laurie and Kent Adamson's Cape Cod--style house, in San Clemente, California, dated to 1985 and revealed its past with "oak, lots of oak!" says Laurie, from honey-colored floors to golden cabinets to whitewashed decorative beams. Though Laurie, an occupational therapist, and Kent, an orthopedic surgeon, love to entertain, they waited 19 years and until the last of their three children was a teenager--before tackling the room.
January 18, 2012 |
A Light-Filled and Detail-Rich Colonial Remodel
Seen from a distance, some houses have the grace and proportions of timeless classics. Inside, however, the style may be more of the moment, and not in a good way. Which is why Emily and Bryan Kelly can be forgiven for taking a sober look inside their newly purchased house in California's Silicon Valley and texting their interior designer: "SOS."
February 6, 2012 |
A Neglected Cape Cod Gets a New Lease on Life
When Geoff Allen and Michelle Forcier bought their 1925 Cape Cod, in Barrington, Rhode Island, its waterfront location was by far its strongest selling point. The latest TOH TV project house had suffered from years of hodgepodge renovations and inadequate maintenance that had left the exterior shabby and the interior cramped and dreary.
April 16, 2012 |
A Small-Space Home with Loads of Built-In Charm
Anything worth owning is worth a place of honor, be it a painting, novel, clutch of vases, or pair of shoes. Yet in most homes, possessions tend to gather on desks, counters, and closet floors, waiting forever for a spot of their own.
December 19, 2011 |
A Squared-Off Bath for a Smarter Layout
In the eternal quest for an additional bath, owners of older homes have been known to do strange things. Consider the arrangement that greeted Canadians Anamaria and Stephen Manna when they bought their 1914 house, in Toronto, Ontario. Previous owners had crafted an odd, 350-square-foot L-shaped bath with a carpeted sitting area on the second floor. With an interior window onto the hall and a French door, "privacy was what the bath lacked most," says the couple's designer, Jane Lockhart.
March 05, 2012 |
A Stylish Dining Room for $661
Live in a rental long enough and you'll be itching to DIY when you finally buy. Once Amy and Chad Whited purchased their 1951 ranch house, in Durham, North Carolina, years of builder-grade finishes made them anxious to take a hammer and paintbrush to their bare dining room in hopes of making it a comfy, cozy gathering spot.
March 01, 2012 |
A Total DIY Kitchen Redo in the Same Footprint
Professional blueprints and a deadline are always a good idea. But what if you have more time and how-to chops than cash? After 27 years and nine houses, Gregg and Nancy Alling were eager to redo the kitchen in their 1968 house in Toledo, Ohio, but couldn't do it all at once.
February 20, 2012 |
A Warm, Welcoming Dining Space for $1,474
When a whole house needs work, often there's no better place to tackle than a high-traffic area. For J.K. Pfannmuller and her husband, the dining room in their 1985 Colonial Revival fit that bill.
November 10, 2011 |
A Whole-House Redo Becomes a Family Affair
If there's one way to test family dynamics, it's a whole-house redo--the kind that involves dozens of decisions, from the size of the smallest bedroom to who gets to sleep there. Now imagine not two but six household members, ranging in age and disposition from preschool to retirement.
May 14, 2012 |
After 23 Moves, a Couple Finds Their Forever Home
Chills ran up my arms while I watched the crew roll my beautiful old home, creaking and groaning, off its crumbling stacked-sandstone foundation and onto rails set up in the side yard. I knew we had to pour a concrete foundation to save the 1901 house, but that didn't mean I had to like it.
April 09, 2012 |
Agri-Growth International Inc.
Environment safe, natural certified organic fertilizers and growing products for horticultural, hydroponics, agricultural and gardening applications.
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All About Exterior Paint
We ask a lot from house paint. It's not only expected to give our home a new look but also to withstand freezing winters, blistering summers, soaking rains, and a daily bombardment of UV radiation without cracking, fading, or peeling.
April 13, 2012 |
All About Fiber-Cement Siding
Picking the right siding for your house is a delicate balancing act between good looks, durability, maintenance, and affordability. With wood, vinyl, stone, brick, or stucco, you might get only two or three of these. But with fiber cement, a resilient mix of wood pulp and portland cement, you get all four.
February 10, 2012 |
All About Kitchen Faucets
Of all the working parts in a kitchen, the faucet might be the one we most often press into service. According to faucet manufacturer KWC, the average family turns on the tap more than 40 times a day, whether to fill a pasta pot, rinse off salad greens, or simply get a glass of water. That's a lot of on-off cycles for a product that should last for years.
September 14, 2011 |
All About Rugs
You have to see our prices. Brand name area rugs from braides to persians. Free shipping on all USA orders. Why pay more elsewhere.
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All About Wallpaper
Wallpaper is like a shot of Botox for a tired-looking room. Sure, paint will perk it up, but paper adds more than just color; it gives walls character, dimension, and pattern.
December 8, 2011 |
American Murder Houses II
Would you buy a house that was the scene of a grisly murder? Truth is, you might never come to know your home's dark history, since only about half of the states in the U.S. have formal seller disclosure laws. That means agents don't have to fill you in on a property's past unless you ask outright. Why? Well, selling houses is hard enough these days. But don't worry. TOH has your back with another list of what the National Board of Realtors calls "stigmatized properties."
October 30, 2011 |
An 18th-Century Starter House Saved From Ruin
The old house wanted to fall down but Brooks Banker wouldn't let it. "From the moment I saw this house, I knew it had to be mine," he says of the simple clapboard cottage in Garrison, New York, some 60 miles north of Manhattan.
February 2, 2012 |
An Office Update with Vintage Appeal
Unlike the rest of our 1916 home, this room's good bones were buried under 1950s "updates": pale pine slab-front cabinets that were chipped, and fir floors with a crazy tricolor painted border beneath ugly brown carpeting. We gutted the room, leaving the built-in intact, and had a contractor hang new Sheetrock on the walls.
June 30, 2011 |
An Unfinished Basement Gets a Masculine Makeover
Even the most die-hard family guy needs some alone time. Take Kirker Butler. The Los Angeles--based writer longed for a quiet retreat where he could craft his TV scripts while still being close to his wife and young daughter. "I wanted some bells and whistles, too," admits Kirker, who hoped a big flat-screen TV, a leather recliner, and shelves for his sports memorabilia and collectibles would make the room just as much man cave as office.
December 26, 2011 |
Appliances On Line
Frankly, this site isn't much to look at, but to be fair, what appliance store is? Still, it promotes small appliances and electronics such as kitchen tools, household gadgets and entertainment units.
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Benchmark BeHOME
Shop for home and office furniture, read useful buying tips and drop by the games area for free fun, including chat and casino play. Promotions, news and company particulars round out diverse offerings. Full site access requires free registration.
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Best Foundation Plants for Stellar Curb Appeal
There is something unsettlingly stark about the intersection where house meets land--it begs to be softened with greenery. But just hiding that juncture with a tight fringe of evergreens isn't the answer. Neither is a one-scheme-fits-all formula.
February 15, 2012 |
Best New Kitchen and Bath Products 2011
TOH editors scoured the market for upgrades that make life easier, better, or just more fun, from a fits-anywhere fireplace to a sleekly coiled pot-washer faucet to a seductive soaking tub.
July 13, 2011 |
Best Ponds from Readers' Yards
Installing a pond is no small feat, but the end result can be a beautiful, enjoyable space that adds character to your yard for years to come. The ponds created by these TOH readers prove just that, and each pond has a unique story of how it came to be. Some homeowners turned a completely blank landscape into a lush oasis. Others uprooted their existing nightmare and completed a total makeover. These tales of outdoor transformations may just inspire you to build a pond of your own.
July 12, 2011 |
Best Whole House Before and Afters 2011
When we asked you to submit your remodel projects for our fourth annual Reader Remodel Contest, you responded with renovations that showed just how talented and hardworking you all are.
November 30, 2011 |
Best Old House Neighborhoods 2012
Presenting 61 vibrant neighborhoods from coast to coast where you'll find one-of-a-kind period houses.
February 21, 2012 |
Beware of Hidden Home Fire Hazards
Most of us know not to leave burning candles unattended or overload our outlets, but firefighters still respond to about 370,000 home blazes every year, according to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). Experts reveal surprising hazards and how to avoid unwittingly fanning the flames.
February 18, 2012 |
Blinds and window treatments at discount prices
Hunter Douglas blinds and Graber window coverings from Window Visions at the guaranteed best prices. Thousands of popular window coverings to choose from!
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Blinds.uk.net
Online advice on how to use the window blinds for wise home improvement solutions and sun protection.
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Building on a Colonial-Era American Original
Low ceilings, cramped rooms, crumbling chimneys--it's not often that a nearly 300-year-old home would still be livable today. But when Joe and Becky Titlow first toured their circa 1720 Georgian in Bedford, Massachusetts, the latest This Old House TV project, they jumped at the opportunity to buy it.
February 6, 2012 |
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canvasRus
Online Art Gallery: canvasRus provide a range of canvas art prints on stretched canvas to buy online; choose art prints in our gallery or put your own photo on canvas.
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Ceiling fans
Ceiling fans provide a welcome breeze on a hot summer's day and also help to circulate warm air inside the home during winter. With an extensive range of ceiling fans available for perusal on their website
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Ceramic Garden Stools
It's a spare seat, it's a side table, it's a plant stand--a ceramic garden stool can serve a multitude of purposes around the house. The typical barrel shape is a time-honored Chinese form, used for over a thousand years as a casual garden perch. By the 19th century, they were showing up in British conservatories, and English potteries started turning out designs with brighter colors and more openwork.
March 05, 2012 |
Cheapskate Hall of Fame IV
"I scored a perfect new countertop—in my neighbor's trash."
June 23, 2011 |
Clean Line, Soft Finishes Update an Empty Nest
Starting from scratch may be everyone's decorating fantasy, but most people have to work with what they've got. Take empty-nesters Trish and Tom Rump, who turned to designer Kelly Keiser to update the staid Mediterranean-style interior of their new San Francisco home.
November 1, 2010 |
Colorful Small Appliances
One of the easiest ways to energize a cook space: Add a shot of color. And thanks to a bumper crop of vibrantly hued gadgets and small appliances, breathing new life into your kitchen can be as simple and affordable as picking up a tomato-red toaster or an apple-green coffee grinder.
January 31, 2012 |
Contractor Marketing
A local contractor directory that provides information about local contractors via zip code. Visitors can sort contractors by verification type, rating, and membership.
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Craziest Homeowner Holiday Disaster Stories III
For this installment of Holiday Home Disasters, we've gathered Facebook fodder to serve as cautionary tales. From bursting pipes to spider mite-infested Christmas trees, here are the terrifying tales of your fellow DIYers, who made the mistakes once so you won't have to.
December 1, 2011 |
Create a British Colonial-Style Powder Room
The average half bath may measure only about 20 square feet, but you can still give it a well-furnished look. Consider the space shown here: Its crewel rug, cane chair, and fancy grained mirror could just as easily adorn a living room or den.
December 6, 2011 |
Create a Cottage-Style Bedroom
The average person spends around 8 hours each day in the bedroom--yet it often lags behind the kitchen, the bathroom, and even the living room when it comes to getting some decorating TLC.
March 14, 2012 |
Create a Craftsman-Style Dining Room
Intent on adding more warmth to their California home, Dan and Joann Sundstrom turned to the Craftsman movement for inspiration. No wonder: With its emphasis on sturdy, down-to-earth design, the style makes any space cozy. In the couple's dining room, this comes through via leather-accented seating and a plush William Morris pattern rug; saffron-hued walls and a Tiffany-style pendant lamp (a yard-sale steal, at only $10) lend the room a golden glow. But the main attraction is the 7½-foot-long table that Dan, an avid woodworker, built from quarter-sawn white oak. "I picked up the design from a book of Stickley furniture plans," he says. He also made the room's molding and picture frames. Inspired? Here's how to create a similarly welcoming space.
June 16, 2011 |
Create a Shaker-Style Kitchen
With its focus on simplicity and practicality, Shaker design offers a period look especially well suited to the kitchen. Case in point: In the space here, wide-plank cabinets coated in milk paint disguise high-tech appliances, while an understated poplar table and chair offer a sturdy dining spot.
January 25, 2012 |
Create a Stylish Salvage Kitchen
To keep a modern-day kitchen from appearing too cookie cutter, it can pay to look to the past. "Antiques offer such one-of-a-kind beauty," says Fifi O'Neill, who wrote Romantic Prairie Style (Cico Books) and helped design the space shown here. Anchored by a stock island customized with oversize corbels, the room features almost entirely second-hand (or third- or fourth-hand) finds, from the freestanding pine dish cabinet to the painted breakfast stools. A soft palette of white, cream, and gold brings out the faded patina of these furnishings—and ties in the few new pieces, including bronze cabinet hardware and a home-center pendant lamp. Read on for more ways to mix off-the-shelf with salvage.
September 19, 2011 |
Create an Open-Air Dining Room
Eating outside doesn't always mean having to balance on a rickety bench or sprawl across a blanket. It can be an elegant affair, complete with all the comforts you'd enjoy indoors. With its well-proportioned farm table, ample storage, and vintage-inspired seating, this patio looks as good—and works as well—as any formal dining room. "The distressed finishes and painted ceiling border recall the south of France," says California designer Lizzie McGraw. "But beyond being pretty, this space is a fully functional entertaining area." Case in point: The table accommodates six, the sideboard conceals a mini fridge and bar, and the custom 8-foot-wide mirror, framed in reclaimed ceiling tiles, not only reflects light but makes the entire room appear larger. Vintage watering cans and salvaged-wood birdhouses add a decorative touch and can do double duty in the garden. Want to put together your own space that's as beautiful as it is practical? Read on.
August 3, 2011 |
Creating a Backyard Pond
Dan Gibbon may have spent the last three and a half decades around Wisconsin's flat farmlands, but the lapping waters of Lake Superior, where he grew up, were always on his mind. So recently he got out the shovel and started making a pond.
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Creating a Kitchen for the Modern-Day Homesteader
For many renovators, a gleaming pro-grade kitchen is the Holy Grail of home improvement, even if all the action it gets is reheating last night's takeout. But for Joe and Becky Titlow, the owners of the current This Old House TV project house, in Bedford, Massachusetts, such a showpiece would be a waste of time and money. "We grow vegetables and herbs, we cook most of our meals at home, we freeze foods in bulk, and we compost food waste," explains Becky. "The last thing we need is a kitchen that looks good but doesn't function well."
September 22, 2011 |
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Danny Lipford
Expert Advice on Home Improvement
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Decorating Ideas | Ideas For Decorating | Modern Decorating Ideas
Find decorating ideas. Decorating ideas such as home decorating ideas, interior decorating ideas, kitchen decorating ideas, bedroom decorating ideas and lots more reflect your talent, skill and your personality.
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DIY Bath Renovation: From Dated to Sophisticated
Living next door to the in-laws has its rewards. When Kevin and Jennifer Johnson, owners of a 1917 foursquare in tight-knit, family-centric Lowellville, Ohio, redid their only bath, Kevin looked for help from neighbor Bob Coppola—aka Jennifer's dad—and a network of local suppliers and advisers. From an aunt, who, coincidentally, lived in the house 60 years ago, they learned that the space once held a kitchenette. That explained its generous footprint, but not, as six-foot-one Kevin puts it, having to "scrape my knuckles on a lowered ceiling while showering in what felt like a cave." He and Bob took the room down to its studs; replaced pipes and wiring; popped in a new vanity, tub, toilet, and sconces; and crafted new casings. They finished with paint custom-tinted by Bob, a retired painting contractor. A plumber friend provided know-how, and the only paid help was the tile installer. Says Kevin, "I like that we did it ourselves—and everything works."
September 21, 2011 |
Dynamic Living
offers hundreds of unique daily living aids that promote safe home environments for people of all ages.
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Easy Turf
Where the grass is always greener!
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Editors' Picks: Our Favorite Blue Bathrooms
Though the whole world is wrapped in soothing cerulean sky and vibrant teal ocean, most cultures only pinned a name on blue after they had named the rest or the colors on the spectrum. That's probably because it's so ever present, it can almost escape notice. Which is why blue is also a wonderfully calming color--not in your face, just there. Perfect for the place where you most want peace and quiet: the bathroom.
March 26, 2012 |
Editors' Picks: Our Favorite Blue Houses
Feeling blue? Go ahead and put it right out there--on your house. The color usually appears in one of its more somber versions on exteriors, where it can almost act as a neutral in its grayer tones. But more diminutive homes just may be able to get away with a brighter blast of blue. Here, a look at some successful uses of the cool color on the outside of homes around the country.
April 04, 2012 |
Editors' Picks: Our Favorite Colorful Kitchens
If you like color but feel timid about using it in your home, try it out in the kitchen. It's the most action-filled space in most homes, so gracing it with bright hues make sense, like the "Pow!" power of a comic book. Or look in your closet for inspiration, pulling from items that drew you in because of their hues.
April 24, 2012 |
Editors' Picks: Our Favorite Colorful Living Rooms
Who said you have to keep things neutral? Your living room isn't Switzerland--there's no need to play if safe. If you like it loud, don't be shy about turning it up.
May 7, 2012 |
Editors' Picks: Our Favorite Cottage Kitchens
Cottage kitchens are are simply charming with an emphasis on functionality. They're built for comfort with features that help you through your routine and bring life to the hub of your home. Whether you're just refreshing your cottage kitchen or looking to add a dash of old-house charm to a new space, these TOH-featured rooms are sure to inspire.
February 28, 2012 |
Editors' Picks: Our Favorite Green Kitchens
Green is a wonderful color for kitchens--vibrant yet cool, denoting healthiness and calm at the same time. And it's easy to find inspiration for the right shade; just look around. It could come from a celery stalk, a jadeite plate, a lime, an asparagus spear, a bunch of sage, a slice of cucumber, or even the skin of a Granny Smith apple. But first, take a look at our gallery to see how the projects of others, similarly inspired, came out.
April 10, 2012 |
Editors' Picks: Our Favorite Yellow Kitchens
If your kitchen doesn't get much natural light or could use some visual warmth, yellow is the perfect choice: It's the most luminous shade and not too far from white, but has the added benefit of chasing any chill. Use it to brighten up the space where you and your family gather, and fuel yourselves with a burst of sunshine.
March 29, 2012 |
Editors' Picks: Top 12 Budget Reader Remodels
You don't need loads of cash to refresh a room! DIY is a big money-saver. Pair that good, old-fashioned elbow grease with smart shopping for materials and the results can be inspirational. See how these readers transformed a mudrooms, kitchens, dining rooms, and baths at bargain prices--without sacrificing on function or good looks.
December 27, 2011 |
Everything You Need to Know to Build the Perfect Backyard Pond
There's something about water in motion that soothes the soul. Watching light play off the ripples or listening to the splash of a fountain—these are universally calming pastimes. It's no surprise, then, that one of the most popular landscaping projects for This Old House readers is installing a pond.
July 28, 2011 |
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Fintrac
a market research and information technologies firm which specializes in agribusiness development. Site provides access to GAIN, the Global Agribusiness Information Network.
Provides Products |
Fitting a Period Bath Under the Attic Rafters
Choose a focal point, some designers say, and the rest will fall into place. Tom and Arleen Mulligan of Rumson, New Jersey, selected a claw-foot tub that they found not in a salvage yard but in a storage room on the third floor of their 1895 Queen Anne. Though the 87-square-foot space tucked under the roof "was a crooked mess," Tom says, the couple realized they could turn it into a master bath, with the tub as its centerpiece. Tom, a seasoned renovator, fixed the slanted floor, reframed the crooked doorway, created drop ceilings to accommodate can lights, skim-coated the old plaster, and made crown to match the house's original. The couple found period-style pedestal sinks to complement the tub, and an irresistible deal on marble floor tile. A plumber helped install the sinks, a glassed-in shower, and that tub. Freshly painted and with chrome-plated feet, it grabs the spotlight. "After four months of lugging stuff up and down stairs," says Tom, "we finally have a master bath that fits perfectly with the rest of the house."
August 15, 2011 |
Fixing Damaged Plaster
You just gotta love plaster. That rock-hard substance, which was applied to the walls and ceilings of nearly every house in this country until the 1950s, gives us surfaces that are seamless, mold resistant, fire resistant, and noise deadening.
Provides Information |
From Trash to Furniture Treasures
Cheryl Demartini, who was practically reared on TOH, turned her junking hobby into a budding business when she was just 18 years old.
June 29, 2011 |
From Unused Space to a Home Office Full of Smart Storage
Sometimes one little request leads to a major transformation. Married neuroscientists Vivek Unni and Tamily Weissman-Unni, owners of an 1870s house in Cambridge, Massachusetts, started out with a new baby and a simple goal.
February 1, 2012 |
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Garden Pond & Koi Fish Forum
Build, Maintaine and Discuss your Garden Pond & Koi Fish at our forum.
Provides Products |
Georgia Mills
We sell area rugs, specialty matting, stair rods online also can recieve free price qoutes on any flooring related product.
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Grow an Edible Flower Bouquet
In the past three years, spending on vegetable gardening has risen 20 percent, while flower sales have dropped. But why choose one over the other? Add color to your garden--and plate--by planting these bright, edible bloomers.
May 2, 2012 |
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Home decorating and home furniture
Home decorating and furnishing, interior design. Learn about color schemes, style, scale and balance, furniture arranging, practical room by room suggestions. Ideas illustrated by photos.
Provides Products |
Home Inspection Nightmares XXVI
"While you're out there mowing the lawn, don't forget to mow the roof."
January 20, 2012 |
Home Inspection Nightmares XXV
September 29, 2011 |
How to Afford the Kitchen You Want
Here's a savvy approach to kitchen remodeling: Take your cues from a classic cooking space with timeless good looks--like the six-figure, fully custom one shown here complete with glossy white cabinets, gleaming stretches of marble and walnut, a showy stainless-steel centerpiece, every corner as carefully tailored as a Savile Row suit. Then order it up, à la carte.
May 13, 2012 |
How to Build a Bar
If the notion of building a bar conjures fond and fuzzy memories of hammering 2×4s into some makeshift cup stand back in college, terrific. But that experience won't help you much here. This is a real piece of furniture, as you can see from the trimmed panels, sturdy oak bar-rail molding, and stainless-steel foot rail.
December 23, 2011 |
How to Build a Cabinet from a Bookshelf and Shutters
A compact cabinet offers just enough storage to tuck away essentials in a family room, bathroom, or bedroom. But if you have a limited budget for this handy piece, you won't find many design options out there. So we turned to TOH general contractor Tom Silva for some DIY advice. He demonstrated how to attach off-the-shelf fixed-louver shutters to an inexpensive, ready-to-assemble bookcase to make a charming cabinet that's easy on the wallet. With a few finishing touches, like trim and bun feet, this piece will spiff up any room you put it in, and it takes just a few hours to build. Read on to learn how.
September 23, 2011 |
How to Build a Magazine Rack
April Monroe can't bear to toss old magazine issues. "There are so many great projects I want to try," she says. Although plastic magazine holders are inexpensive enough at office supply stores, she doesn't like the idea of placing pages full of design and remodeling ideas in holders with such little personality.
June 24, 2011 |
How to Build a Mirror-Topped Accent Table
Whether it holds bedside reading, potted plants, or bowls of snacks for guests, a compact pedestal table is one of the handiest pieces you'll ever own. With a bit of DIY know-how and some simple materials, you can make this mirror-topped version for a lot less than the cost of a new look-alike.
March 16, 2012 |
How to Build a Raised Herb-Garden Planter
Growing fresh herbs indoors can be a tricky task, but an outdoor garden bed requires yard space that not all of us have. So what's an herb lover to do? If you've got a free afternoon and basic carpentry skills, This Old House general contractor Tom Silva has the perfect solution: Build an all-weather raised planter that can live on your porch or patio.
May 11, 2012 |
How To Build a Stone Planter
If guests tend to fly right by your drive, it might be time to add some oomph to your entrance. Install a stepped stone planter along the driveway, and suddenly you've got an unmistakable guidepost. Not to mention a natural spot to add a pop of color with plantings or the welcoming light of a lamppost. With a wide variety of block sizes and styles available, you can tailor the look to that of your home, from rustic to stately. Read on to see how senior technical editor Mark Powers put together this yard monument, which is sure to force passers-by—friends and strangers alike—to sit up and take notice.
September 30, 2011 |
How to Build a Table from Salvaged Beams
Salvaged from the ruins of old homes, factories, and outbuildings, reclaimed wood has a history, heft, quality, and character you won't find in the new stock sold at your local lumberyard or home center.
April 20, 2012 |
How to Build a Wood Lattice Fence
Any old fence will cordon off a space. But a handsome design built from cedar parts also boosts curb appeal, which can't be said of even the finest chain link. And though cedar is pricey, sleeving pressure-treated 4×4 posts in 1× cedar instead of paying for solid 6×6 cedar posts cuts costs. Save even more by reserving clear cedar for prominent areas and using common cedar in places where its imperfections won't show.
August 19, 2011 |
How to Build and Install Window Boxes
In this video, This Old House general contractor Tom Silva shows how to build window boxes.
June 28, 2011 |
How to Clear Any Clogged Drain
Roto-Rooter reports that that day after Thanksgiving is the single busiest day of the year for their service technicians. Armed with the right tools and techniques, you can easily unplug stopped-up drains without having to call in a pro.
November 25, 2011 |
How to Create a Faux Paneled Accent Wall
Sure, the master bedroom rarely gets seen by guests. But that doesn't mean that it—or any of the other upstairs rooms—can't benefit from a little extra architectural charm. This Arts and Crafts-style faux paneling project, created by This Old House readers Lee and Ashli Malinek of Cloverdale, British Columbia, is a budget-friendly, easy way to liven up boring drywall. Try it on an accent wall like the Malineks did, or cover the entire room. All it takes is stock trim, adhesive, and a weekend's worth of work. Soon the bedroom will be the first stop on your house tour.
August 17, 2011 |
How to Create a Modern Bath in a Vintage Style
Shapely cast-iron claw-foot tubs, hexagonal floor tiles, and chrome cross-handle faucets are the go-tos for crafting modern bathrooms with timeless appeal.
July 21, 2011 |
How to Create a Tree-Stump Planter
Felling a tree is usually an expensive necessity that becomes even pricier when you have to remove the stump that the landscaper leaves behind. Instead of grinding it down, turn the stump into a focal point by filling it with flowers.
February 24, 2012 |
How to Get Your Christmas Tree Home, Fuss-Free
Whether you get your holiday evergreen from a local lot or a nearby tree farm, read on for a few foolproof tips on how to transport it without risking life, limb, or damage to your house.
December 3, 2011 |
How to Give Your House a Yearly DIY Inspection
Use this detailed checklist as a guide as you look around for leaks, cracks, breaks, wear, and every other conceivable problem that can develop over the year. Then make a repair list to keep up on maintenance in the coming months.
September 9, 2011 |
How to Have a Money-Making Yard Sale
While the art of a yard sale may seem pretty straightforward, simple alterations in timing, pricing, and display can make the difference between a successful sale and a full-on flop.
August 10, 2011 |
How to Enhance the Curb Appeal of Your House
It's a back-to-basics economy, but that doesn't mean you should let your house be anything less than a pleasure to come home to. A welcoming exterior can put a spring in your step each time you climb the stoop. Adding the right elements can increase your daily comfort, too. Fixing up a front porch to lounge on during the hot summer months or swapping a failing roof for something new that's also maintenance-free makes your space more enjoyable--and shortens your to-do list.
March 28, 2012 |
How to Install a Low-Cost Stair Runner
After getting a quote of $2,500 to carpet her dangerously slick oak staircase, TOH reader Jaime Shackford took the project into her own hands. Using just two off-the-shelf woven runners ($125 each) and supplies from a home center, here's what she did.
July 8, 2011 |
How to Install a Permeable-Paver Driveway
I need to have my driveway redone. Is there a surface more environmentally friendly than asphalt or concrete?
March 21, 2012 |
How to Install Wainscoting
We're the first to say all you need is a can of paint. But for a room revamp that brings dimension and lasting value to plain walls, nothing beats a traditional wainscot of richly layered wood panels. How they're put together may seem inscrutable to the average DIYer, but once you peel back the layers of this architectural onion, you'll find that each step is plenty doable, if a bit tricky at times.
November 11, 2011 |
How to Install an In-Ground Flagpole
Long before fiberglass or extruded aluminum, craftsmen working in spar yards used lathes to turn wooden flagpoles—masts with landlubber destinies. Honoring this tradition, flagpole terminology still twists nautical: Flags are raised by sheaves (pulleys) and halyards (ropes) that are secured on cleats. Some poles even have double or step masts, yardarms (crossbars) and gaffs (extra spars perpendicular to the yardarms).
July 1, 2011 |
How to Lay a Stepping-Stone Path
Absolutely. A pathway made of stone pavers is a great way to save your lawn from being trampled and compacted by foot traffic. And it certainly is an easy, one-day project for most DIYers. The hardest parts of the process are the labor of mixing the wet stone dust that serves as the pavers' base and then lifting and moving the stones.
May 4, 2012 |
How to Make a Bone Door Knocker
What better way to welcome your neighborhood's resident witches, ghouls, and goblins to your home than by tricking out your front door. For this spooky setup, we turned bones (fake, of course) into a knocker. To do it yourself, you'll need your own faux bones. But forget plastic; instead, look to anatomical-model companies for lifelike casts made from polyurethane or resin. Then just arm yourself with a drill/driver, some screws, and a can of black spray paint—and prepare to see some very surprised faces approach your walkway on Halloween.
October 14, 2011 |
How to Make a Desk With Storage Cubbies
If you lack a dedicated spot for paying bills and stashing loose stuff, a good desk is a must. And you can make one yourself with basic materials. To simplify construction, This Old House general contractor Tom Silva came up with a compact, drawer-free design. The desktop, made of plywood topped with acrylic sheeting, stands on turned legs. "Choose legs at least 29 inches tall for a comfortable working height," says Tom. To make the free-floating hutch, he simply used a small cabinet laid on its side and repurposed the door to create shelves. A cubby tucked under the desktop holds a basket for yet more storage. See how to make it yourself on the following pages. No guarantees, but it should make tackling paperwork more inviting.
September 2, 2011 |
How to Make a Hypertufa Table
If you've never heard of hypertufa, let us explain why this concrete look-alike is the perfect material for an outdoor table. Made from a mix of cement, peat moss, and perlite, hypertufa has much of concrete's strength and durability, but it weighs a lot less, doesn't require sealing, and has a more textured, organic appearance. Senior technical editor Mark Powers cast a tabletop with a recess for adding easy-care sedum and designed a notched cedar base that can be taken apart and stored flat. Hypertufa requires a few weeks to cure, so get started now and you'll be able to show off your handsome new table before summer draws to a close.
July 19, 2011 |
How to Make an Upholstered Headboard
To up the coziness factor of your bed, make an upholstered headboard. All you need is ½-inch plywood cut to size, plus 1-inch foam, batting, fabric, and nailhead trim.
March 02, 2012 |
How to Make a Wine Rack from a Planter Box
'Tis the season for receiving bottles of red and white as host gifts, so it's critical to have a spot to store your stash. But when we shopped for a small wine rack, we were, in a word, uninspired. Wire models felt cheap; Tinker Toy--like wood options looked rickety. What's a vino lover to do? DIY it, of course. This Old House general contractor Tom Silva showed us how to transform a wood planter and plywood into a simple wine rack that takes up little counter or table space. Even better: You can put it together in less time than it takes to cook the average holiday meal. And that's something to drink to.
November 4, 2011 |
How to Outfit Your Home to Help Your Kids' Study Habits
A top-notch education starts at home, and a dedicated homework area could help your kids complete their assignments efficiently and successfully—with the least amount of kicking and screaming. Whatever your space or budget limitations may be, any devoted space for study is better than sprawling out on the floor in front of the television. Not convinced? Build it—whether it's a nook in the kitchen or a room all its own—and the good grades will come. Here are a few pointers to keep in mind as you get started.
August 16, 2011 |
How to Paint a Wall of Faux Tile
Gleaming, oversize subway tile set with thick ribbons of matte grout: It's the last thing you expect to see in a foyer or a dining room. But when the work is done with paint, the result can be a perfect, playful visual effect.
May 3, 2012 |
How to Patch a Lawn
Steps:- Use shovel to dig out section of damaged lawn. Check for weak roots and poor soil.
- Dig out 6 inches of poor soil.
- Fill the excavated area with a mixture of topsoil, compost and sand.
- Use a rake to spread and lightly compact the topsoil mixture.
- Add more mixture and compact again; repeat until topsoil is 1 inch below grade.
- Lay sod over the area, making sure to butt the pieces tightly together. Cut the sod to fit using a snap-off utility knife.
- Be sure to stagger the joints between courses of sod.
- Water the sod twice a day for the first two weeks.
July 5, 2011 |
How to Plan the Perfect Half Bath
Adding a half bath to a home is one of the most common requests I get. People want to increase the value of their houses, of course, but what most of my clients really want is a bathroom that's convenient for their guests to use but doesn't compromise anyone's privacy. (Who wants their friends to see dirty laundry and prescription bottles, anyway?)
February 16, 2012 |
How to Prep for Exterior Painting
In this video This Old House host Kevin O'Connor and painting contractor Rich O'Neil show how to properly prepare a house for paint.
June 21, 2011 |
How to Rag On a Soft Paint Shade for a Dappled Look
It may sound strange, but lightly layering, or ragging on, a second color over one you love can actually enhance the base color. How? "It really lets you play with that color's light and depth," says decorative painter Ingrid Leess. Here, she populated an expanse of sky blue with cloud-like wisps of white to give this room a fresh, breezy quality.
March 09, 2012 |
How to Repair a Dripping Single-Handled Faucet
For too long now, a stubborn drip-drip-drip has been descending from the one-handled kitchen faucet in the home of Richard Trethewey, This Old House's plumbing and heating consultant. "Most people will ignore a dripping faucet out of fear or ignorance," says Richard. If they deal with it at all, it's usually by cranking the handle so hard they risk tearing a rubber washer or cracking something and making the leak worse. At his own Second Empire house, it's more the case of the cobbler's child whose feet go unshod.
March 12, 2012 |
How to Replace a Baluster
David Raymond, owner, Raymond Design Builders, replies: A stair with missing balusters is not only unsafe, particularly for children, it's about as attractive as a hockey goalie's grin. Fortunately, replacing them is fairly easy for anyone who can use a miter saw. It just requires some advance work.
November 18, 2011 |
How to Sponge Paint a Wall
"Sponging additional color on a painted wall is a classic technique, with an effect that depends on the colors you choose," says decorative painter Ingrid Leess. "Here, I wanted to mimic a steel wall that had started to rust." To start, she put down a medium-gray base coat. Then she mixed equal parts rust-color satin latex with clear glaze, which lightens the color. Leess wrung out a wet sea sponge, dipped it in the colored glaze, squeezed out the excess, and patted this way and that. When the pattern was dry, she patted on a mix of clear glaze and dark gray, making sure the base and rust colors peeked through. "Colors that come together naturally work well--moss green and garden-urn gray, for example, plus yellow if you like--and layering them creates this interesting look," says Leess. Experiment on poster board and get a feel for it. Then check the effect while you work on the wall as color and texture interact.
November 3, 2011 |
How to Take More Artful Garden Photos
With all the smarts built into cameras (and even cell phones) these days, it's never been easier to photograph your garden. You just point and shoot, right?
March 30, 2012 |
How to Trim Out a Plain Table
Once a nondescript catchall for books, photos, and knickknacks, this bedside perch now boasts one-of-a-kind style, thanks to strips of decorative molding. To make your own, start with a table that has a tall, slightly recessed apron. Assemble lengths of stock molding, available at home centers for $5 to $8 for a 6-foot piece, into a pattern you like.
April 12, 2012 |
How to Upgrade Your Home on a Budget
It takes a certain eye to see a smart little cottage where others see a stucco teardown. But Steve and Shauna Mullins had exactly that vision when they first saw this 875-square-foot bungalow in Hermosa Beach, California.
July 25, 2011 |
How to Use a Barn Pulley to Make a Wall-Mount Light Fixture
Pulleys have been doing the heavy lifting for centuries. Simple machines comprising a grooved wheel, called a sheave, inside a wood or cast-iron frame, pulleys can be found in various designs and sizes based on the task they were originally created for.
February 17, 2012 |
How to Use Salvaged Building Materials in New Construction
Joe and Becky Titlow are die-hard old-house devotees--thus their decision to buy a charming-but-needs-work Georgian built nearly 300 years ago. So when it came time to remodel it, as part of the current season of TOH TV, they had a not-so-small request. "We asked the team to reuse as many original building materials as possible," says Becky.
November 5, 2011 |
How Your House Can Look Like a Page from TOH
Ever since she was a little girl, living in a bungalow with a claw-foot tub, glass doorknobs, and handsome woodwork, Lynn Schmitz of Jefferson City, Missouri, has had a soft spot for period homes. She and her husband, Dan, dreamed of buying a turn-of-the-century farmhouse, yet after looking at several, they couldn't find one with the right features, in the right neighborhood, at the right price.
July 11, 2011 |
HydroMall
Searchable database contains over 700 hydroponics store listings worldwide, InfoCart product information inquiry system, and an abundance of hydroponics articles and links.
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Hydroponics Resource, A
A hydroponics resource center for inexpensive hydroponic startups
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imagen fine art
on line gallery. Imegan produce affordable digital canvases and limited edition prints. search a selection of artist work.
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Industrial Cleaning Products For Your Home
Webstore with industrial strength cleaning products available for home use.
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Installing Window Trim
Requires good carpentry skills—and ample patience—but installing trim isn't difficult.
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Insulation
NYInsul8 is certified by biobased systems specialised in providing insulation products like soy insulation, foam insulation, spray insulation and fiberglass insulation.It offers two unique insulation products for both home and commercial structures.
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Interior Decorating Eugene | Interior Design Services | Color Consulting
Interior decorating company Creative Interiors based in Eugene, Oregon has been specializing in all sorts of interior design services, color consulting and unique artistic statements. Offering services from resort condominiums in Roatan, Honduras to residential homes in Eugene.
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Is it Worth It? Bamboo Wood Flooring
Cheaply made bamboo flooring can be soft and prone to warping, delaminating, and throwing off dangerous fumes. Not these solid boards, both made with mature Moso plants by Chinese mills that report directly to environmentally conscious U.S. companies. One showcases the grass's classic grain, while the other is made by compressing many strands to make a denser, harder board, treated to look like distressed hardwood. For their other trade-offs, read on.
August 18, 2011 |
Is it Worth It? Honeycomb Shades
Introduced in the 1980s, honeycombs are built on a simple concept: Trapped air is an insulator that can conserve your hard-earned heat. Since then, makers have scrambled to make honeycombs work even better. Consider these two blackout versions. The budget one has double cells and side tracks to nip drafts, while the high-end one has an extra air pocket to hold in heat. Because there's no universal energy-efficiency test for shades—at least not yet—they can't be ranked, but both high performers qualify for a 2011 federal energy tax credit when installed inside a double-glazed window. Lowering either will raise your comfort level, so look for differences in style, function, and price.
September 27, 2011 |
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JCMS Landscaping
San Diego Landscapers, JCMS serves the entire San Diego county area for all your landscaping needs, commercial or residential.
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| K |
KnivesandTools.com
Great prices on Henckels cutlery.
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| L |
Landscape Lighting
Online retailer of outdoor lighting in the newest looks and styles, including top brands and designers, all with free shipping.
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Landscaping Ideas | Landscaping Designs | Free Landscaping Ideas
Find do it yourself landscaping ideas. Landscaping ideas such as backyard landscaping ideas, front yard landscaping ideas and lots more helps to formulate your landscape designs.
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Laying a Brick Path
When crossing your muddy yard to fetch the daily paper turns into an obstacle course of slips and slides, perhaps it's time to think about an alternative path—literally.
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Making a Rundown House Liveable in Just 6 Months
My fiancée, Merle, and I wanted an old house and found ourselves drawn to Newburgh, New York, where the streets are lined with Victorian mansions. An 1887 Queen Anne, encased in asphalt shingles but with its grand octagonal tower intact, stood out from the crowd. We joked that with five bedrooms, two baths, four fireplaces, and about 2,200 square feet, it was big enough to ride our bikes around in. At $46,000, it seemed like an unbelievable deal.
September 26, 2011 |
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National Association of the Remodeling Industry
includes consumer information for those considering a remodeling project.
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New 'smart window' system with unprecedented performance
A new "smart" window system has the unprecedented ability to inexpensively change from summer to winter modes, darkening to save air conditioning costs on scorching days and returning to crystal clarity in the winter to capture free heat from the sun, scientists are reporting. Their study appears in the journal ACS Nano ("Counterion-Induced Reversibly Switchable Transparency in Smart Windows").
September 21, 2011 |
No-Fail Paint Colors for Small Spaces
Little spaces have the potential to carry a lot of weight. "A small space can be a wonderful jewel box," says Sonu Mathew, senior interior designer at Benjamin Moore. Foyers, hallways, and mudrooms can establish a mood. Tiny studies, bedrooms, and even baths often serve as retreats.
December 2, 2011 |
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Oak Doors
Specialised in both interior doors and furniture for 20 years Country doors hand craft traditional interior doors, both ledge and brace style and victorian style four panel doors. All doors are made to measure and competively priced.
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Period-Style Products to Suit Any Budget
Sure, there's something to be said for splurging on marble mosaic tile or a handblown sconce shade. But nailing a vintage look doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg. To prove the point, we turned to our favorite big-box retailers, online megastores, and renovators' catalogs for low-cost look-alikes of pricey reproduction fixtures and finishes. The result? The wallet-friendly finds here and on the following pages, from a pedestal sink full of period charm to prefab wainscoting that delivers a paneled look in no time.
September 20, 2011 |
Personalize Your Front Door With Paint Colors
It's the first thing people see and the last one on many homeowners' to-choose list: the color of the front door. But if classic green, red, and black have long been the defaults, that's beginning to change. "People are starting to branch out," says Amy Wax, an architectural color consultant in Montclair, New Jersey.
February 7, 2012 |
Pharmacy Lamps
First introduced in the 1890s, electric pharmacy-style lamps easily provided a direct downward light their gas-powered predecessors couldn't—imagine trying to turn an open flame upside down. That targeted light, combined with adjustable arms and beam-focusing dome-shaped metal shades, made them ideal for task lighting in pharmacies, hospitals, and factories. By the early 1900s, the versatile cast-iron- or brass-bodied lamps began migrating from the workplace to the home office, den, and bedroom. Today, pharmacy lamps still bring a utilitarian yet attractive glow into the home, and in a growing array of finishes and configurations. Here, 16 of our favorites.
August 23, 2011 |
Photoshop Redo: Breaking Up a Brick Box
"I think all the different types of brick is what makes it so weird looking," says Romina Quillin of the patchwork ranch she shares with her husband, Ed, near Pittsburgh. "We're both artists, but I'm just not sure what can be done."
November 8, 2011 |
Photoshop Redo: Buffing Up a Neo-Colonial
"We love the long front porch and the pillars, but it's just very plain," says Jason VanderWoude of the 1968 home he shares with his wife, Kristi, and their three children. Unlike most homes in their Grand Rapids, Michigan, neighborhood, theirs has yet to be renovated.
January 23, 2012 |
Photoshop Redo: How to Layer a Ranch With Cottage Charm
"We've always talked about doing something to make the house look less like a straight ranch, but we've never come up with any plan," says Cheryl Huddleston about the home in Hot Springs, South Dakota, that she shares with her husband and son.
February 29, 2012 |
Photoshop Redo: Livening Up a Bland Box
"There's absolutely nothing I like about the front," says Christine Matthers of the 60-year-old house she shares with her husband, Tom Raffensberger, in Girard, Pennsylvania. "I've been totally unsure what to do out there."
October 06, 2011 |
Porosity of nanocoating improves 'smart' window performance
'Smart' windows are expected to play a significant role in energy-efficient homes, ideally by generating energy themselves but at least by allowing light in and keeping the heat out (in hot summers) or in (in cold winters).
December 28, 2011 |
Premium Quality Memory Foam Sleep Products
Back pain? Stiff joints? Premium quality memory foam mattresses, toppers and pillows. Outstanding quality and value.
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Pricewise: Limestone Floor Tile
Natural limestone underfoot has a luxurious look and feel that has long made it popular among architects and designers. But as stone goes, this porous, ocean-formed material is relatively soft--hence the rise of porcelain tiles that mimic its color variations and subtle texture while resisting chips, cracks, and spills.
February 8, 2012 |
Pricewise: Wall-Mount Medicine Cabinets
Equal parts decorative and utilitarian, the classic wall-hung medicine cabinet literally stands out in a world of recessed metal boxes. These two have beveled mirrors, close with the click of a spring-loaded latch, and open to reveal a pair of adjustable glass shelves. The budget version is a bit taller, and the high-end one is heavier. Read on for other differences that may point to the best fit for your bath and budget.
November 1, 2011 |
Pro Secrets for Painting Kitchen Cabinets
If your kitchen cabinets are solid but dated and dark, a fresh coat of paint can go a long way toward transforming the space without draining your bank account. You can hire a pro to spray-paint them for a thousand dollars or more, but there's a less costly, and less messy, alternative to consider: Use a brush and paint the cabinets yourself.
January 19, 2012 |
Protect America, Inc
Top Home Security Systems. Intrusion alarm systems are proven to deter theft and burglaries.
Provides Products |
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Rainwater Gutter Systems: Classical Rainwater: Cast Iron Rainwater Gutter Systems
supply cast iron rainwater and gutter systems, available to buy online in the UK.
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Read This Before You Finish Your Attic
Whether you envision your house's top floor as an away-from-it-all master suite, a quiet home office, or a hangout spot for the kids, don't lift a finger until you've read TOH's expert advice
October 04, 2011 |
Read This Before You Finish Your Basement
Even if it's currently cold concrete and crammed with boxes of off-season duds, the lowest floor of your home probably has loads of potential. Treat it just as you would any of the rooms aboveground, and it might just become the most popular spot in the house--for a lot less cash than adding on. Here's our bottom-line advice for turning this underutilized space into a place you'll be eager to spend time in.
December 29, 2011 |
Read This Before You Remodel a Bath
A bath remodel is no small undertaking. So before you start tearing up the tiles and picking out the tub, get a little advice from the people who make bathroom makeovers their bread and butter. We polled contractors, designers, and other pros for their top tips and insider tricks for getting every detail right.
July 29, 2011 |
Read This Before You Remodel a Kitchen
A kitchen remodel is a big deal—not something to be approached rashly. So before you even visit a showroom or meet with a pro, Read our expert advice on creating the cook space you've always coveted.
September 8, 2011 |
Read This Before You Remodel Your Laundry Room
The laundry room has finally come into its own as a bright and organized cleanup command center, whether in a tidy corner of the basement or a nook next to the kitchen. For help updating yours, check out our expert advice on everything from energy-wise machines and thrifty flooring options to the best labor-saving layout and how to safeguard the house from a potential flood or fire.
March 07, 2012 |
Relocating the Cookspace for a Bright, Functional Kitchen
Start rejiggering a home's layout and almost anything may seem possible, including swapping the locations of the family room and the kitchen. For Matt Totaro and his wife, Connie Eiseman, moving the kitchen was one of several improvements made during the remodel of their 1909 house, in Catonsville, Maryland.
November 14, 2011 |
Replacement Windows Doors Custom Vinyl Glass Aluminum Double Glazed Windows Doors
Welsh Window Systems provides high quality replacement double glazed PVCu windows, doors, conservatories, replacement Fascia, Soffits and glass related products specialising in repairing all PVCu, Aluminium and Timber windows, doors and conservatories.
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Rural King Online
This lawn, home, garden and farm supply store offers online ordering of their brand-name inventory.
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Safe Room Design and Engineering
Florida Engineering Solutions has the knowledge and experience to design solid concrete safe rooms - concrete floor - concrete walls - concrete ceiling. Contact us today.
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Safety Tips Every DIYer Should Know
The ability to tile a tub surround, replace an outlet, or fix a drooping gutter on your own may leave you feeling invincible. But being a whiz in the workshop doesn't exclude you from the reality that two of every 10 homeowners who tackle a DIY project this year will wind up injured. Before you pick up any more tools—power or otherwise—take note of the following tips.
September 13, 2011 |
Save This Old House: A Midwest Mission-Style
With its Mission-style gables and Craftsman-style porch, this house in Youngstown's Wick Park Historic District has always been a standout. Then again, the neighborhood has long been known for its quirky, eclectic architecture, which includes everything from Mediterranean-style manses to a full-fledged Adirondack cabin. The house was built in 1910 by Frank Lyons, owner of a successful drugstore, and was later sold to another business owner, Beecher Higby Sr., who ran a Ford dealership on Youngstown's automobile row.
February 22, 2012 |
Save This Old House: Greenwood, Mississippi
When my parents, the late Jack and Thelma Gillette, moved from Minneapolis to my mother's hometown of Greenwood, Mississippi, back in 1949, they bought this wonderful Queen Anne on the Yazoo River.
June 26, 2011 |
Saving a Piece of History by Saving a House
The first thing my wife, Doris, said when she saw the house was, "Are you serious?" We were living with our kids in a Texas town near Galveston and looking to upsize. A crumbling farmhouse wasn't what she had in mind. Nobody had lived there for a while, and the driveway was so dense with brush that you couldn't see the place from the road—it was a jungle. The porch was falling down. There were holes in the roof and, as a result, water damage inside. But I could see potential.
July 6, 2011 |
Smart glass coatings for energy-efficient eco-homes
Vanadium dioxide (VO2) is a leading candidate material for the fabrication of thermochromic films and coatings that will find special applications in a new generation of 'smart' glass that can change infrared transmittance by responding to environmental temperature, while maintaining visible transparency.
February 6, 2012 |
Sneek Peek: This Old House TV Hits the Beach
A 1925 seaside cottage in Barrington, Rhode Island, has become the permanent home of Geoffrey Allen and Michelle Forcier and their young daughter. Recent transplants from Chicago, the couple relocated to Rhode Island so that their daughter would be closer to her grandparents and the extended family.
January 11, 2012 |
Spare Bedroom Becomes Spacious Bath
Sometimes starting from scratch is the only way to go. When Brennan and Stephanie White first saw their 1820 Cape Cod cottage, they were taken aback by its only bath, a very narrow former pantry on the first floor. An avid DIYer with plans to reorganize the layout of the whole house for better flow, Brennan decided to turn the bath into a hallway and carve a master bath out of a spare bedroom in the home's slanted-roof addition, which dates to the 1940s.
July 14, 2011 |
Sure Fit Slipcovers
Fall in love with your furniture again!
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Tapping Existing Potential to Create an Attic Master Suite
A small-space remodel can be as exacting as a jigsaw puzzle. That's what Matthew and Darci Haney found while renovating the three-room upstairs space in their Carlton, Oregon, cottage.
December 20, 2011 |
Teak Furniture at Discount Prices.
Simplyteak.com offers quality teak furniture at everyday low prices. Most orders are shipped free of charge.
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The Best Power Paint Colors for Your Rooms
Spring brings renewal--and open windows--which makes it the perfect time to paint. Infusing rooms with color remains the easiest, least expensive way to give a home a whole new look, and this spring, color experts are forecasting bolder choices than ever, from burnt orange and Caribbean blue to high-noon yellow and grass green.
April 25, 2012 |
The TOH Top 100: Best New Home Products 2011
How great would it be if someone invented a bath fan that stays on until the humidity's gone? Someone did, as you'll see on slide 17. And wouldn't it be nice if someone could make energy-efficient CFLs more attractive? Check out slides 85 and 86. While we're at it, shouldn't there be a friendlier way to select moldings for your walls? We refer you to slide 46. Okay, but what about stone veneer that requires no mortar to install? It's here too--along with many other not-so-humble products for your abode. One hundred, to be exact, many of them surprises, all of them terrific in their own way.
November 9, 2011 |
TOH Tested: Pruning Tools
If you need to shape overgrown trees and shrubs, you need heavy-duty pruners. Thankfully, this suite of serious tools lets you stay on the ground as you work.
February 23, 2012 |
TOH TV's New Project House Starts Now - Sneak Peek
This fall, This Old House TV will visit the storied neighborhood of Avon Hill, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to feature the overhaul of an 1887 Queen Anne house in a historic area. Built originally as a two-family residence and later adapted to accommodate a family on each of its three floors, the house will soon be a single-family residence.
April 18, 2012 |
Top 8 Pro Tips on How to Hire a Contractor
Start with your friends and family and then check in with the National Association of the Remodeling Industry for a list of members in your area. You can also talk with a building inspector, who'll know which contractors routinely meet code requirements, says This Old House general contractor Tom Silva, or pay a visit to your local lumberyard, which sees contractors regularly and knows which ones buy quality materials and pay their bills on time.
October 24, 2011 |
Top 10 Budget Kitchen and Bath Remodels
With kitchens, simple does not necessarily equal streamlined. For these homeowners the kitchen that came with their Atlanta condo fell short on both frills and function. It was a sad space, that included builder-grade cabinets and white laminate counters. Opening the dishwasher blocked the oven door and vice versa.
July 27, 2011 |
Top 10 Disasters That Can Hit Your House While You're on Vacation
A summer getaway is supposed to be a time for rest and relaxation. But if your heart is on vacation while your head is worrying about home, you won't get much out of your time off. That's why we've brought you this handy guide of the top 10 bad things that can befall your house when you leave it alone. Don't fret—we also share with you expert advice on how to avoid these pitfalls. That way, you can take off worry-free, and know that there will still be a house standing when you pull back into the drive.
July 18, 2011 |
Trade Secrets for Easy, Low-Cost Upgrades
Pros are well versed in the complexities of their fields, of course. But their on-the-job everyday experience has also given them insights into the little tricks that deliver the biggest results, from adding affordable storage in the kitchen to enhancing the efficiency of your radiators.
December 16, 2011 |
Two Cooks, One Small-Space Kitchen
When quarters are tight, layout is critical. Consider this hardworking kitchen, configured by designer Heidi Piron for serious cooks Liza and Peter Tulloch. Owners of a 70-year-old Colonial Revival in Summit, New Jersey, they had two kids, one dog, and lots of ideas when they asked Piron to improve the workings of their 110-square-foot kitchen.
December 12, 2011 |
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Save This Old House: Gilded Age Queen Anne
We are told not to live in the past. But whoever rescues this 1886 fixer upper in Saginaw's Cathedral District will have a hard time not waxing nostalgic for the city's gilded age as a thriving lumber town. The house was built for lumber baron Clarence Hill by Fred. W. Hollister, a notable architect who two years prior built the Saginaw County Courthouse. Hill lived here until his death in 1901. After his wife, Susy, passed on in 1949, it was divided into five apartments. The last tenants vacated in the 1990s, and the current owner, a nonprofit neighborhood group, is looking for someone with a viable rehabilitation plan to save it from the wrecking ball.
October 24, 2011 |
Steal Ideas From Our Best Bath Before and Afters
One thing can lead to another when a remodel is under way. The owners of this sunlit master bath in Westchester County, New York, were embarking on some changes to their Shingle-style home when architect Carol Kurth came up with a suggestion: Instead of the simple cosmetic update they'd planned for their leaky, 1980s-style bath, why not go a bit further?
April 26, 2012 |
Steal Ideas From Our Best Kitchen Transformations
Sometimes the best way out of a bad kitchen is to salvage what you can and recycle the rest.
May 10, 2012 |
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Ugallery.com - Affordable Art Gallery
Enables emerging artists to post their art work online for collectors looking to buy affordable art. This original art gallery also features innovative methods for determining how art would look in a mock room of their choosing.
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Uncovering the True Age of a Historic House
Joe and Becky Titlow never questioned the details they'd read about their historic clapboard home in Bedford, Massachusetts, the subject of the fall 2011 season of This Old House TV. All the history books say that the house, known as the Nathaniel Page homestead, was built around 1687 by Mr. Page himself, whose grandson, Nathaniel Page III, was a flag bearer during the Revolutionary War. And it's listed on the National Register of Historic Places with a 1687 construction date. "These are all reliable sources. We figured the experts had done their homework," says Becky.
August 30, 2011 |
Using Rain Gardens to Keep Waterways Pollution-Free
During a downpour, water gushes out of downspouts, across lawns treated with pesticides and fertilizers, into an oily street, and, finally, down a storm drain that dumps that pollution along with the water into a stream, river, or bay. By building a rain garden, you can divert your gutter water into an attractive planting bed that works like a sponge and natural filter to clean the water and let it percolate slowly into the surrounding soil.
August 29, 2011 |
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Versatile Wood Flooring Ltd
Wood Floors - Wood Floor Specialist. We can supply oak wood floors, walnut wood flooring, ash wood floors, hardwood floors.
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Wackiest Pet Products II
Pets that are too civilized to eat out of bowls on the ground will appreciate their own seating at the dinner table. This high chair clips securely to tables that are, at most, 2 inches thick, and can hold pets that weigh up to 10 pounds.
August 24, 2011 |
Weekend Remodel: How to Build a Garden Gate
The white picket fence may be what we all dream of, but who says you need the whole thing? A crisp white garden gate provides the same feel. Install it at the head of a path, leading to a garden or your front door, and flank the posts with tall plantings.
March 23, 2012 |
Weekend Remodel: How to Build a Pathway Lamppost
If you're looking for a stylish and original way to spruce up your home's landscaping, well, look to the right. This outdoor lighting project is deceptively simple to build. Made of rot-resistant western red cedar, the fixture consists of a 2x4 center post to anchor it, a horizontal arm to hold the lantern, and 1x6 cladding that yokes the 2x4s together and creates attractive shadow lines. Fitted with a handsome copper-and-glass candle lantern, it exudes Zen-like beauty day and night.
April 27, 2012 |
Weekend Remodel: How to Clad Concrete Steps in Stone
Though you may wish you could take a sledgehammer to those drab concrete steps tarnishing your home's curb appeal, we have a better plan. Veneer them in handsome stone to turn your embarrassing entry into a welcoming focal point.
February 3, 2012 |
When Did the Modern American Home Get So Old?
We like to call so many things in the home a "modern convenience," but so many of these things have been around for the greater part of the past century. Here's a look at some of the best home innovations of their day; you'll be amazed at how long ago these newfangled ideas, inventions, and milestones actually hit the market.
October 10, 2011 |
Wholesale Granite Tops
They are the exporters and inspection agents from india, bangalore of rough granite, marble blocks, granite slabs, tiles, granite and marble counter, vanity and kitchen tops with satisfied clients across the world.
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Win a Whole House in the Great TOH Giveaway
From July 12 to August 31, 2011, This Old House is running the Great TOH Giveaway, your chance to win some of the $178,000 in prizes we're offering. Our biggest prize will go to the winner of this North Carolina house.*
July 22, 2011 |
Window Products
Quality wood blinds at affordable prices with a FAQ page to help you in your selection.
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World's Weirdest Home News II
Wacky wildlife home invasions, garden-tool weapons, and the world's dumbest DIYers. It turns out there's no shortage of weird home-related news for us to learn from and chuckle at. Here's an international roundup of cautionary tales.
September 15, 2011 |
World's Wildest Houses VIII
It's that time again! Over the years, we've shown you houses shaped like elephants, toilets, pickle barrels, dogs, and UFOs, to name a few. You've seen cave houses, tree houses, and floating houses. There were houses made of bottles, beer cans, tea cups—you name it!
July 20, 2011 |
World's Wildest Houses IX
Go On a World Tour of Weird Houses
February 14, 2012 |
World's Wildest Snow and Ice Houses
Forget small igloos or backyard snowmen--sculpting with snow and ice just became a form of heavy-duty construction. That's quite an effort to put into structures that can take more time to erect than they stay standing! See how some of the world's most creative builders get the job done, and be inspired to upgrade your own snow fort this winter.
December 14, 2011 |
Wood Stairs
enhance any home or business. Our elegant custom hardwood stairs are available in a variety of wood species. Stairsmiths knows stairs.
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Yeoman Rainguard:Rainwater Drainage Systems UK.
Yeoman Rainguard has been providing quality rainwater systems for over 30 years.
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