GREEN EYE A jump on local gifts The smart money’s on buying local this holiday season, and any shopper worth her salt knows that waiting until after Thanksgiving to start on that list will cause consternation. Get in the game this month with the Artisan Studio Tour, November 12 and 13. It’s a weekend when […]
SECRET INGREDIENT Give thanks for the apple There is no fruit (or vegetable either!) that serves as such a stalwart servant month after month, year after year, as that all American fruit, the apple. European settlers stitched seeds into their clothing, then sowed them here in the colonies to propagate the taste of home. But […]
GROWING ROOM Separate peace Challenge: Provide independence for growing sisters Sisters Alex (7) and Ivy (9) Lynch walk together from their home off of Rio Road to school, every day. However, as a bright and articulate fourth grader, Ivy has started to feel the need to assert her independence and has questioned the traditional, not-quite-three-minute, […]
You finally find the house you want to buy. Your Realtor draws up a purchase agreement and you’re told you have to get title insurance. This sounds kind of scary, so you ask yourself, “Do I need to hire a real estate attorney?” For "boilerplate transactions," you can probably just stick with a title company, […]
I remember the days when all I needed to hang “art” on the walls were some plastic push pins and a roll of masking tape. Times have changed—but unfortunately, custom framing can come with a hefty price tag, leaving you hanging before you’ve even put a nail hole in the wall. With do-it-yourself framing and […]
Kitchen renovations never finish on time. For Matt McClellan, a graduate of UVA’s School of Architecture working toward his license, the process of designing a major addition onto the side of his 1949 house took five months longer than expected. He and his wife, Meredith, bought the house in 2007 and tore the existing kitchen […]
Shake it up Don’t forget to toast the autumn equinox on September 23. The season changes and finally the planet tilts to our advantage after a relatively brutal summer, though compared to our fellows in Texas who are enduring historic drought, we really can’t complain. Cooling temperatures, and perhaps rain from Atlantic storms, give us […]
Props to you Seems to us that a bit more couch time might be in order now that summer’s winding down. We’ll take a cold drink, please. And, um, some reading material. And where are we supposed to put this clicker/rest our feet/show off our art books? On one of these locally sourced coffee tables, […]
I’m always fascinated by the people on those house hunting shows on television. I watch couple after couple immediately give up on some beautiful, affordable homes due to a few cosmetic imperfections. They wish the family room wasn’t carpeted, the kitchen had lighter cabinetry, and the dining room wasn’t adorned with sheep and maidens frolicking […]
The cable box power drain What’s the biggest energy hog in the house? You might guess the fridge, the dryer or the hot tub, but the New York Times reported in June that in many homes, the little boxes on top of the TV are actually the largest electricity users. They’re running even when not […]