1. Martha Stewart’s Homekeeping Handbook: The Essential Guide to Caring for Everything in Your Home 2. It’s Easy Being Green: A Handbook for Earth-Friendly Living 3. The Renewable Energy Handbook: A Guide to Rural Energy Independence, Off-grid and Sustainable Living 4. The Complete Photo Guide to Home Repair: With 350 Projects and 2300 Photos 5.…
When you first pick up "The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Simple Home Repair," you may not be overly excited; it may not give you that "gotta-have-it" feeling. But don’t set it aside too quickly. With some quiet consideration, you may find, as I did, that home-improvement author Judy Ostrow’s new book has some sound and…
I admire the entrepreneurial spirit, and passion about one’s work, and courage. So when Steve Broujos, a painting contractor and educator in Wilmington, Del., asked if I’d like to see his new book, I thought: Why not? The title is not exactly dynamic: "Surface Preparation for Interior House Painting." But I’ll tell you what: It’s…
In my efforts to write remodeling stories that will educate and inspire readers, I’m looking for remodels that are . . . . . . less than 2 years old . . . in Southern California . . . interesting in some way (i.e. the green kitchen was a lifelong dream, or you bought your…
It seems to me there are two kinds of homeowners: those like my friend Kitty who have a keen awareness of the state of their home’s condition — what’s working and what needs to be fixed — and those like me, who walk around in a state of denial about their home’s shortcomings, hoping that…
Congratulations to Jennifer Chapman! Here is the winning caption, which got the most votes: "The LAPD reported a dramatic increase in DIY arrests over the holiday weekend." And Jennifer also wrote the second-most-vote-getting caption: "Wife Agrees to NFL Sunday Ticket if Husband Builds Doghouse and Lives In It" Good job! I’ll put the prize in…
*** BREAKING NEWS: WE HAVE A WINNER! Congratulations to Jeannie M. of Cambria. *** The book I’m giving I gave away is called The New Bungalow Kitchen, and it’s published by Taunton Press. You can see my report on it here. How do you win? Be the 4th person to send an e-mail to podblog@aol.com…
If you want to undertake a home remodel but have no idea how to get started, here’s one way to proceed: Type “remodeling” into an Internet search engine such as Google and spend about two weeks reading everything you can set your eyes on. Or, you could pick up a copy of "50 Plus One…
I live in a house of transparent adobe that you cannot see and you cannot touch. Just try to come knocking on my door sometime when you are drawn by the music and the light. You will not hear doorbells ring though you may hear the barking of a dog. I will answer through a…
