Millions of American households include at least one pet. I’ll confess – I have a four-legged family member; most likely your family has one, too.  As pet owners, we don’t simply welcome pets into our homes for the unconditional love they give us. We want to return their affection by buying them things. Lots and of lots of things. The American Pet Products Association reports that Americans spent $72.56 billion on their pets in 2018, with total spending expected to go up even…

Some homeowners considering a kitchen remodel ask me if they can do some of the work themselves to save money. They tell me they’ve watched HGTV and have seen how easy it is to knock out walls and lay down a hardwood floor. Here’s my advice. Those make-over shows make everyone feel as if they’re only a couple of power tools away from being home renovation experts, but don’t be fooled. There’s a reason building and construction jobs are considered “skilled labor”. I tell them…

Kitchen cabinets are constantly exposed to dirt, grease, cooking fumes and fingerprints. Grease from cooking or cooking sprays, condensation from temperature changes or from steam, dirt particles in the air, and bacteria from hands and food can stain and eventually damage your beautiful cabinet exteriors.  It’s important to protect your investment by properly caring for them.  Make Your Own Cabinet-friendly Cleanser To make your own environmentally-safe and cabinet-friendly…

The kitchen, as home to appliances, cookware and every specialty gadget under the sun, has always been difficult to organize. All the blenders, mixers and food processors and many cans of food, boxes of cereal and bags of flour and sugar easily fill up every available space. Kitchen designers — including myself — have been inventing creative storage solutions to include in a remodeled kitchen that will help solve kitchen organizational dilemmas, from storing pots and pans to neatly…

Many new homes don’t have a mudroom. Rather than dedicate space to a useful mudroom, today’s homes come with large entryways, separate laundry rooms and/or gigantic walk-in closets. Although these features are definitely in demand, it’s been our experience over the years that people want a mudroom. They might not call it a mudroom, but they’re asking for a handsome space where they can take off their coats and dirty shoes when entering their home at the end of the day. That’s a…