Why wait for HGTV’s reality show “Takeover My Makeover” or TLC’s “While You Were Out” home remodeling surprise to call you? Now the new paradigm in home remodeling is here in the Portland/Vancouver area. It is Harvest Construction’s WOW or Week of Wonder. This system provides its clients with a complete floor-to-ceiling professional design and renovation, completed in a week or less, using any finish materials that clients might select. How do they do that, you ask? Northwest Renovation... more

Are you in need or in the market for a new floor? How do you sort through the growing sea of choices and know that you are getting a floor that meets your needs for quality and style? Flooring is an integral part of every home’s décor and functionality. It adds to its esthetics and ambiance and can help with resale values. However, it can be a daunting task to sort through the pros and cons of each style of flooring available as well as researching how they’re constructed, installed, and maintained.... more

There are few things in a home that get beaten, scraped, and chopped at as much as the kitchen sink. Though we all appreciate the kitchen sink, we don’t think about it much until the day we decide we need a new one or we are selecting fixtures for a new home or kitchen remodel. The best sink is the one that lasts a lifetime and the one you don’t have to spend much time worrying about. Only when it needs a good cleaning do we really focus on it and then we either appreciate its features or hate... more

The bathroom fan has come a long way in just the past year. With the introduction of the dual-sensor fan that monitors both humidity and motion, the bathroom fan has become mostly automatic. For many years the bath fan was turned on like a light with a switch or a timer. Now the Panasonic WhisperSense fans come on only when moisture or motion in the bathroom is detected. It saves energy by not working when it is not needed. Why operate the fan when there is no moisture, and you are not there? By... more

When Ian Fleming said, “beauty is a question of millimeters,” he wasn’t talking about bathroom remodels. But when it comes to the small bathrooms typical of most homes, beauty and function is sometimes a question of millimeters. So when you renovate, you want to be mindful of the details. If you get them right, you can transform a cramped bathroom into an appealing, high-functioning, and spacious part of your home without adding a single foot to the existing room dimensions. Here are some tips: Go... more

Selecting a kitchen sink while trying to achieve the appropriate look for a period kitchen can be a huge challenge. There is just so much misinformation and misleading marketing out there. It is often very difficult for homeowners to know what is correct for their specific period. Many of the ads, images, and plumbing stores insist that clay-fired farm sinks (also referred to as apron front sinks) are “historic.” Though they are indeed historic, this is an English style of kitchen sink rather... more

Wow! That’s what all of us long to hear and feel about our decor, be our home small or grand or somewhere in between. And the good news is that goal is easily accomplished. All it takes is putting aside our fear of color (especially in the Pacific Northwest, where taupe passes for a jewel tone) and the knowledge that little things loom large. The even better news is that getting that ker-pow! factor does not have to put a gaping hole in your budget. Despite a gray economy, there... more

One of my favorite things to do at the end of a long day is to relax in a long hot shower. As one who, as a child, was taught the environmental benefits of a “military shower,” the occasional long hot shower is a luxury to me. Unfortunately the long shower sometimes becomes an opportunity to notice just how badly my shower needs to be redone. Yes, the old adage about the “cobbler’s kids needing shoes” does translate perfectly to a designer’s home. My house was built in... more