Bill and Becka Doering did a whole-house green remodel on their Santa Barbara home, and I wrote a Pardon Our Dust feature about it, which you can read here. Bill is both an engineer and a green-building enthusiast. With his firm, Doering Design & Engineering, he helps others make their homes more energy-efficient. Also, the…
We should all be inspired by Anders Lewendal, a homebuilder in Bozeman, Montana, who is building what he considers the first home documented to be made entirely of American-made materials. He was featured recently in the New York Times. Lewendal, who has an economics degree, told The Times: “I think we could solve this recession if everyone shifted…
So here's the story: Sarah is expecting a baby in a few months, and she and her husband just bought this home in Los Angeles. She wants some advice on fixing up the kitchen before they move in. Here are some things to know: • The home is in an expensive part of town, so…
Just the other day, I was waxing on about the regrets people feel about their butcher block counters. In the back of my mind, I’m wondering if anyone’s having a good long-term experience with their wood counters. So today I get a comment from Bryan with T&B Construction in Howell, Mich., who says this: As a home remodeler…
Butcher block counters are so gorgeous! They evoke French country kitchens and a slower, more thoughtful time. In truth, they are not for everyone. More than one homeowner has rued the day butcher block was chosen, If the finish is not rock hard, they can get stained, gouged and encrusted with years of accumulated foodstuffs.…
This is one of the best budget kitchen remodels I’ve seen. While you can see a dramatic change from before (bottom) and after (top), notice that the cabinets are the same, the window is in the same place, all the appliances are in the same locations and the floor and ceiling are the same. So…
If you can’t sell your parent’s former home, why not turn it into a showcase for green remodeling? That’s exactly what Jay DeChesere and his wife did with a ranch style home in Wilmington, N.C. that his parents moved out of and into an assisted living facility. You could say the collapse of the housing…
I'll tell a word that really annoys me: Neutral. Could there be anything more boring? Yet you'll see people walking through a boring house and remarking: "Love the neutral colors." And I'm like: "What's to love?" I guess I'm a little more radical than some. I like COLORS! This green kitchen rocks my world. And…
Although the sleek new kitchen in Bethany Orlemann and Danny Miller’s vintage Eagle Rock bungalow took only eight weeks to build in the summer of 2007, planning it was a three-year affair. The couple’s meandering path to a new kitchen took a series of twists and turns that began with Orlemann researching design magazines and…
The new kitchen? It’s ’100% us’ A Glassell Park couple get personal in their latest redo — down to the cat-feeding station. As Kristina Johnson and David Franke discovered while remodeling their Glassell Park kitchen, taking charge of the job — drawing the plans, buying materials, supervising contractors for some work and doing a portion…