We love a house that’s completely at ease with itself. In the case of this Barracks-area home, that means a modern-as-modern sensibility that makes no apologies. It’s your basic double take: First you think, “Is that an extra-large outbuilding?” Then you notice the path, the bench and the domestic interior through the lofty, minimal glass-block […]
We love a house that’s completely at ease with itself. In the case of this Barracks-area home, that means a modern-as-modern sensibility that makes no apologies. It’s your basic double take: First you think, “Is that an extra-large outbuilding?” Then you notice the path, the bench and the domestic interior through the lofty, minimal glass-block […]
The grate war Going into outdoor cooking season, we all labor under the following maxim: Grilling is great. Cleaning is not. However, if you want to keep grilling, you’ve got to keep cleaning. Damn logic. Most hardware stores will recommend good old barbecue cleaner, steel wool (sold by them) and elbow grease (provided by you), […]
“It was this dark, stinky house.” So says Grier Murphy about her house on Hinton Avenue, back when she and her husband, Kevin, first saw it in 1999. At that point, it had been empty for a dozen years. Grier remembers, “Every square inch of the house—floors, every piece of woodwork, trim—was painted black. …The […]
Line up! Being part of the solution means different things to different people. Money saved, a smaller carbon footprint, and fresh-smelling sheets: Line-dried laundry is the solution that City Councilor David Brown has chosen for over 28 years. Your dryer is second only to the fridge as an energy-loser appliance, consuming 6-10 percent of home […]
COFFEE TABLE LIBRARYEastern standard Unless you plan on relocating to Japan and building a new home, Marcia Iwatate and Geeta K. Mehta’s Japan Houses is unlikely to provide ideas about how to decorate your living room. However the striking, almost alien, re-definition of luxury that it presents is domestic titillation for the minimalist mind. Focusing […]
SECRET INGREDIENTTastemakers Dried spices can sit on supermarket shelves for a long time, growing dimmer all the while—and how long has that cayenne been in your pantry? You know it’s supposed to be spicy, right? To perk up elderly spices, toast them briefly in the oven or fry them in oil at the beginning of […]
GROUND RULESPeekaboo Early bulbs tease in and out with varying temperatures. No need to worry: Fickle weather is their middle name. A lesson to us all, they grow as fast as they can when conditions are good and batten down during difficult times. Give liriope its yearly haircut this month, but use a light hand […]
There are some things that I am just really bad at. These things include applying blush, keeping an eye pencil steady, keeping my shirt reasonably unwrinkled and blow-drying my hair. I believe that some people are genetically programmed to look put-together and some people are destined to look as if they are perpetually falling apart, […]
Grapevines are everywhere Chris Hill goes. The first thing he says, standing tall and white-haired beneath the great terraced slopes of Delfosse Vineyards, wearing a Virginia Tech hat and aviator sunglasses, is “Are you familiar with how a grapevine grows, Toby?” Not really, and so at 9am on a chilly February morning, one of Virginia’s […]
Most people find sex enjoyable. But did you know that it is also good for your general health?