SUBSCRIBE VIA RSS
More Stories by Mary Beth Breckenrige
-
School garden will teach healthy eating from the ground up
-
Steal this idea! Decorating inspiration from Designer ShowHouse 2013
-
Garden featured on Bath home tour
-
Bag clip closes large sacks
-
Book covers upholstery basics
- Home and garden happenings — week of May 11
- Tour details
- Ask Mary Beth: Removing melted plastic from an oven
-
Plant Lover’s Almanac: Time to enjoy the springing of spring
-
Designers transform 1930s home for show house
-
New process prints artwork onto cabinets
-
Book provides guidance on furniture makeovers
- Designer ShowHouse details
- Home and garden happenings — week of May 4
- ShowHouse decorators
What does your door say about you?
I've been asked the color of my eyes, my mood and even my parachute. But no one's ever asked the color of my front door.
Red, for the record. Apparently that means I'm passionate, according to Debbie Zimmer of the Paint Quality Institute.
To read more or comment...
DIY earring organizer
Is there anything better than making something from nothing?
That's what I like best about my new earring organizer.
I'd looked at some wall-mounted organizers online, but everything cost a lot more than I was willing to shell out. So I devised my own by gluing a scrap of window screening to the back of an old 11-by-17-inch picture frame, spray-painted black.
Earrings with plain hooks fit right through the screen holes, and I repurposed some Christmas ornament hooks for hanging my lever-back and hoop earrings. I can even hang post earrings by pulling the bottom of the organizer away from the wall a little bit to give me access to attach the earring backs.
Now my earrings are no longer in a tangle in a basket. Instead, they decorate my wall when they're not decorating my ears.
To read more or comment...
A summer look for a fireplace
A fireplace warms up a room in winter, but once the weather warms, it’s just a black hole.
Interior designer and TV personality Libby Langdon suggests a way to make it a focal point during the off season, too. She recommends having a mirror cut to size and placing it in front of the fireplace opening. In front of the mirror, create an arrangement of hurricane vases with candles inside, coral, seashells and smaller votive candles.
Instant summer.
You can find more inspiration on her website.
To read more or comment...
Efficiency standards raised for clothes washers, dishwashers
New energy-efficiency standards for residential clothes washers and dishwashers were announced today by the U.S. Energy Department.
Under the new rules, front-loading clothes washers will use 15 percent less energy and 35 percent less water. Top-loading clothes washers will use 33 percent less energy and 19 percent less water. For dishwashers, the savings will be about 15 percent on energy and more than 20 percent on water.
New this week
In this week's home section: a tour of an art-filled home in Bath, and my musings on being Mommy to a grown-up.
To read more or comment...
'Homegirl' back on Nate Berkus' show
Regular readers know I've been watching 'Homegirl' Gina Bishop's star rise for a few years now.
The Hudson resident's next brush with fame comes Monday, when she appears for a second time on The Nate Berkus Show. She'll be participating in a bedroom makeover challenge.
To read more or comment...
HGTV's Sabrina Soto plans Twitter chat today
Sabrina Soto, the HGTV designer and home style expert for Target, will be chatting with fans at 3 p.m. today via Twitter.
She'll be promoting her first book, Home Design: A Layer-by-Layer Approach To Turning Your Ideas into the Home of Your Dreams.
To read more or comment...
'House Hunters' visits Kent tonight
If you missed the visit to Kent by the HGTV series "House Hunters," the episode airs again tonight.
The show follows a single mom named Gretchen who's looking for a home near her daughters, both students at Kent State University.
To read more or comment...
New LED bulb will replace 100-watt incandescent
At last we're getting a standard-shape LED bulb that's bright enough for most home uses.
GE announced today that an LED replacement for the 100-watt incandescent bulb will reach store shelves early next year. Its 27-watt Energy Smart LED bulb, developed at Nela Park in East Cleveland, will be introduced this week at the Lightfair International trade show in Las Vegas.
To read more or comment...
Study finds toxic substances in garden tools
Mom was right when she warned you not to drink from the garden hose.
A study by the Ecology Center in Ann Arbor, Mich., recently found high amounts of lead, phthalates and bisphenol A (BPA) in the water from a garden hose left in the sun for a few days.
To read more or comment...
Target teams with Nate Berkus
Popular Interior designer and TV personality Nate Berkus is launching a collection with Target.
The Nate Berkus Collection will arrive in stores Oct. 21, the company says. It comprises more than 150 products in the categories of bedding, bath, accessories, lighting, rugs and window treatments.
To read more or comment...
An easy way to reduce paper waste
Paper accounts for about one-third of municipal solid waste, the Environmental Protection Agency says.
Here's an easy way to cut down on the paper we use every day. I've been using this technique since I first saw the video, and it works.
To read more or comment...
