Drawn in by ivory pumpkins and soft green gourds decorating front porches everywhere, won over entirely with a pumpkin spice latte on a crisp morning – you’re not alone. Everyone’s clamoring for the newest, improved season, but the truth is: summer hasn’t yet left us. It’s during these last few weeks of summer and those that follow that our yard looks to us for restoration. It’s time for fall lawn and garden care. The incentive is harder to recognize, but come next spring, you’ll be glad to have done the legwork now and your landscape will thank you. Dig deep. End of summer and early fall is the optimal time for some of those projects we’ve neglected and procrastinated starting. (more…)
As the days become shorter and cooler, there are some basic home maintenance tasks to take care to prepare your home for the colder, harsher days to come. Below is our list of exterior fall home maintenance must-dos to keep your house in tip-top shape.
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Have you seen Citibank’s hilarious advertising campaign featuring a contractor chatting with his homeowner clients in their kitchen? (If not you can check it out here.) I chuckle every time I see it, not just because it is so funny, but because it confirms everything homeowners (and contractors!) fear about the home improvement process.
But the reality is, if those scenarios played out in your life, you wouldn’t be laughing. Because for most of us, our home is not just where we spend the majority of our lives, it also represents our single biggest investment. So, it makes sense to make sure the folks you have working on that investment are reputable and the right fit for you.
Here are our top five recommendations of things to ask when choosing a contractor for your kitchen remodel or any home improvement job: (more…)
This post is in response to a reader who wrote in asking for tips on what to do with the low ceilings in her home without having to undertake a major remodel. Frustrated by the beauty shots on home & garden sites and shows where the rooms all have impossibly high ceilings, she wondered how she could update the look in her 1970’s Colonial. So we turned to the real estate listings to suss out real homes of the same vintage that effectively used some design tricks to create envy inducing spaces despite being vertically challenged.
If you live in a home built in New England between 1940 and 1990-ish you may be dealing with one of the more unfortunate building practices of the time: the low ceiling. But fear not, we’ve got some tips that will have you raising the roof – figuratively, if not literally. (more…)
A major design decision when planning your kitchen remodel is choosing countertops. Second only in my mind to cabinet selection, choosing the perfect countertop to complement your cabinetry and lifestyle requires a little bit of knowledge and some in-person visits. In this post we look at the pros and cons of the different materials available for today’s kitchens so you can make the best choice for you! (more…)
