While novice painters will have better control painting with a brush than a roller, rollers do cover walls and ceiling surfaces at least 50% faster than a brush. Painting with a roller will require more paint than painting with a brush and as with any tool, both prior practice and the quality of the tool will determine the outcome. Tools Buy a sturdy roller frame with a threaded hollow plastic or wooden handle that can receive an extension pole for painting ceilings and high walls. The metal rib... more

The changing perceptions of the consumer and the explosion of product selection have fundamentally changed the way people acquire flooring products today. While not unimportant, the cost of the product is not as dominant a factor. Sustainability, style, longevity and practicality are now at least as important, if not more so. What many people seem to be looking for (and these different attributes are weighed differently from person to person) is value. Cork: A perfect example of this is cork. A lot... more

Changing the lighting in your home generally requires some re-wiring, and for that you should consider hiring a licensed electrician. However, there are some simple solutions that allow you to make some changes using existing fixtures and outlets. In an average-sized room, you need three points of light, explains Jennifer Roos, owner of Jennifer Roos Interior Designs. “A good way to approach lighting is to layer it with task, ambient, and overhead lighting. You want to avoid concentrating light... more

We’ve all seen home additions loudly announcing their presence, like an elephant at a dog show. I’ve found in my architectural practice that most, if not all, people want their addition to blend seamlessly with their existing home. They want an “invisible addition.” After Thoma/Weber house before addition. Thoma/Weber house during construction. Thoma/Weber house after the invisible addition. Families grow, shift, and are altered by life’s circumstances and their... more

Beginning in the 1920s, a new kind of representational architecture developed along the busy streets and roads of America. Geared to the passing motorist, these fanciful representations of over-sized lunch pails, flower pots, jugs, dogs, pigs, soup bowls, oranges, and hundreds of other objects, were architectural images that instantly caught the eye and were not easily forgotten. Usually there was a relationship between the object depicted and the type of goods sold in the neighboring facility. But... more

Kitchens were once regarded as the utilitarian part of a home. A small room in the back corner of the house, used only to prepare food. Architects, designers, and builders (all men) gave little thought to the amount of time, organizational needs, and the ease-of-use that would be needed for decades to come in this “most important room” of our homes. “No one says, ‘I only have a kitchen because it came with the house,” states Jim Hebblethaite, owner of Affordable Kitchens, LLC. Today, “all... more

Boy, it sure is dark outside. Doesn’t it just seem like the short days, the leaf drop and the rain all started at exactly the same moment? Weird. I guess there is just one thing to do and that is to get ready for the holidays, which makes it just the right time to light things up. I love holiday lights. However, I am completely lame every year and never seem to get around to lighting my own house. I guess it is that whole working thing; I come home and slip into a coma. I just plain love lighting,... more

When you want to “renovate” an old home, sometimes stuff happens, and you just have to roll with the punches. When Noel Larson’s house suffered a house fire, the first thought was to do the usual fire restoration, such as remove the charred wood and alleviate the smoke damage and smell. This would have been tough enough, on this noble 1914 French Provincial stucco home right on Alameda ridge in Portland; but things were bound to get more complicated. And then, more complicated still. Fortunately,... more