2025 Update — Last spring, my wife and I came up with a dream landscape and hardscape design to complement our in ground swimming pool – and we partnered with a number of local contractors to help bring that vision to life. It was a huge undertaking. In the end, though (photo below), we were […]
Decorating
Grouting Hell – For a Natural Stone Mosaic Backsplash
If there’s an afterlife, and if I somehow end up in hell – I’m certain I’ll be grouting for all eternity. Grouting, for me, combines the worst of all things: the time crunch, a horrific mess with risk of ruining all the tile work you spent hours (or days) doing just prior, and the nightmarish […]
Hygge: The Art of Making Winter Bearable
2025 Update – This one’s for the deep winter dwellers, those of you who live where it’s not unusual for your eyelashes and nose hair to freeze as you make your frigid way from front door to driver’s seat each morning. And hopefully that’s a heated (and massaging) driver’s seat because little creature comforts are […]
Carpet Tiles for a Quick Home Rehab
I never really considered the use of carpet tiles before. If I need to carpet a room, it’s usually something I contract-out because it’s clearly a talent – with wisdom acquired from experience. Best to have a professional carpet installer handle this. On the other hand, area rugs can be absolutely beautiful as well, adding […]
DIY Outdoor Playhouse Part 3: Lighting, Decor & Monkey Bars
2025 Update: In the initial installments of my DIY wooden playhouse adventure, we covered the first four steps of building a backyard playhouse from scratch. First, imbue yourself with self-confidence. Then imagine, plan, gather your materials, put on your work pants – and start building. At the end of Step 4, we left the playhouse […]
How to Build a Playhouse, Part 2: Framing, Foundation and Roofing
2025 Update: The first installment of my five-step rookie carpenter’s guide to playhouse building covered Steps 1-3, which guide you through building the confidence you need to pull it off, concocting the playhouse in your imagination, and then putting it all down on paper and gathering your materials and tools. But that’s all the easy […]
Belgian Block and Pavers – Dressing Up an Asphalt Driveway
2025 Update… My asphalt driveway was assaulted. I was hoping for the best, but we had construction trucks in and out several times during a pretty significant renovation project, and at some point the asphalt started to crack a bit on some edge areas — and then just continued to crumble. It wasn’t pretty. And the […]
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