May 2010: Green Scene

Running for a cause The EcoMill produces energy instead of using it up. Ever look up from your elliptical at the gym and realize that you were in a sea of energy-guzzling machines? Running outside is the obvious environmentally friendly alternative, but if air conditioning and daytime television shows are more your thing, consider manual […]

May 2010: Stuff We Love

  Leafin’ fine Need a container that’s as lovely as the plants it will house? We like the classic lines of these urns from Ivy Nursery. They vary in price and size, but they’re all versatile enough to work on the deck of your contemporary cottage or the patio of your historic colonial.     […]

May 2010: Kids

Free-form for all Problem: Integrating kids in every room When architect and mom of two Kendra Guiffre designed her family’s home on Lake Monticello, her struggle was to create a modern structure that would reflect her professional and personal aesthetic, but also respect the more traditional lake community where she was building. But she had […]

May 2010: The little kit that could

“Living carefully, purposely, frugally just. makes. sense. And is tons of fun.”  Green living enthusiast Copeland Casati wrote that recently on her blog, and it’s as good a summary of what she and her family are up to as you could find. For the moment, this clan—pink-haired, tech-minded Copeland, her German-born husband Christoph and their […]

May 2010: Real Estate

 With interest rates still at a historic low, some homeowners may consider refinancing from a standard 30-year fixed rate mortgage to a 15-year mortgage. Nationally, it seems a lot of folks are doing just that—the Mortgage Bankers Association says that one in four refinance applications in March was for a 15-year loan, up from 12.2 […]

May 2010: Rental Rescue

My mother always told me your hardware is like jewelry for your cabinetry and furniture. And this is from a woman who wouldn’t think about entertaining guests without her best pearls. As always, Mom is right. Your choice of hardware (knobs, pulls, handles) can really dress up your cabinetry, update your space, and create that […]

May 2010: Toolbox

The wrench is a crucial implement in your bag of D.I.Y. tricks. It’s what you’ll need for gripping and applying torque to objects that need to be turned, fastened or tightened such as nuts and bolts. As with most tools, there are many different kinds of wrenches designed for specific jobs, but I’m here to […]

May 2010: Designing woman [with video!]

“When I got here,” says Jeannine Lalonde of the Walker Square condo she began renting in 2005, “there was one guy upstairs, and the next door neighbor moved in the same weekend. It was my first time living in new construction; it was a ghost town.” She kept waiting to meet people, but even power […]

Local lens on Mexican carnies

Imagine a world without carnivals—no spinning cup rides. No funnel cake. No stuffed animal prizes. Hot on the heels of two documentaries about Charlottesville, a pair of local filmmakers, Miguel Martinez and Jamie Sisley, turns the camera on another place entirely: Tlapacoyan, Veracruz, a struggling Mexican city of 78,000 that provides 30 percent of carnival […]