Kitchens are great places for accessories. Living rooms and dining rooms can have you scratching your head for ideas, but kitchens will have you wondering how to decide on what to use. There is just so much that you can do with a kitchen. Accessory items range from under-cabinet lighting to pan racks and space-saver appliances. In addition to visible accessories, there are dozens of possibilities for improving the use of cabinets with slide-out racks, bins, and assorted accessories.

Under-cabinet lighting is, in my opinion, a valuable kitchen accessory. Not only is it functional, it adds to the appearance of a room. This type of lighting doesn't have to be expensive, and doesn't require an electrician for installation. Many types of under-cabinet lighting are designed to plug into a standard outlet. Having the lighting hard-wired is better, but if your budget is small, the plug-in types are better than nothing.Read more...

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. You might see your cozy, Craftsman-period bungalow with its honey-colored, shellacked woodwork and hexagonal bathroom floor tile as a precious relic of another era. Your designer cousin might see a house just waiting to be torn apart and brought into the 21st century. You see antique brass lights; she sees antique wiring. What do you do?     Read more...

Remodeling can be like a romantic relationship: Lots of fun at the start, but then the real work begins. Tearing into a room, shopping for materials, cutting a hole in the side of the house, all have a big cartoon dialog balloon over them saying, Hurray, we're getting started, we're getting something done. Get out of the way and watch the dust fly. A few hours later, reality sets in and you realize it may take longer than a weekend to add that enclosed Olympic-size swimming pool you've been pining for.    

This site is set up to take you through all stages of remodeling, regardless of your skill level. It will provide you with plenty of information and give you the means to decide if you really want to start a project, live with what you have, or even move to a house more to your liking. Read more...

It all seems so simple, doesn't it? Flip on the TV and you can build a deck. Crack a magazine and you've got a new bedroom extension. Log on and you're halfway to the soaring ceiling of your new great room. So much that's being presented today skates across the reality of renovation, instead selling tools and materials by making it all seem, well, easy.     

We aren't fooled.     

We've tried to put in nothing more than a new doorknob and suddenly we've been faced with questions about levers vs. knobs, brass plate vs. chrome, 2?- vs. 23/8-inch backset. We've grappled with drilling and mortising and chiseling and then, finally, at the end of the day, the dang thing still didn't latch.     

We know about renovation.     

What we want to know is the truth, the opinionated truth about the one particular project we're ready to do. That is where this book shines. It has a comprehensive discussion of just about any project you might consider. It gives you the inside track on everything from decks to kitchens, plumbing to contracts, and restoration to renovation. And it does it in the usual  fashion: smart-alecky remarks, funny cartoons, and a lot of simple, easy-to-understand information.     

Let's face it: The materials, tools, and technology exist to do practically any project. What's missing is the owner's insight. This book helps you understand the materials, the design considerations, and the cost ramifications before you set off for the home store or call up the deck guy.

Finding the right professional to handle a major home improvement project can be tricky. Trickier still is getting a great job at a fair price.

Case in point: A few years ago, my neighbor launched a major remodel and hired a "contractor friend"--a dad from his son's scout troop - to manage the work. The friend agreed to work on a "time and materials"basis, charging my neighbor an hourly rate and passing along expenses for plumbers, electricians, and other workers. My neighbor agreed to pay for all materials. This sounded like a good deal, but the details of how it would actually work were a bit fuzzy.

My neighbor's remodel should have cost $100,000 tops. Instead, he spent more than $225,000. Hours raged out of control, and the contractor pulled some pretty shady practices: He employed family members to be his subcontractors--and paid them handsomely out of my neighbor's pocket. So much for "friends" doing your work. The moral? Shop around for reputable contractors and forge an agreement that is clear and fair. Read more...