Odd advice
www.curbly.com
Friendly and spunky, the design blog and catch-all curbly.com shows us what’s cool in the design world without the Martha Stewart sweetness or the more-mod-than-thou tone of other design sites. Recently spotted on curbly: a roundup of the best furniture currently for sale on craigslist, real estate advice based on the errors of other homebuyers, new throw pillows with built-in LED lights, and reader-generated ideas for recycling cat litter containers in your home design scheme (seriously?!). You can also sign up with curbly to post your own questions and design advice and get connected in the Friendster-esque web of design contacts.—Lee Vanderwerff
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Put a number on it
www.lowimpactliving.com
Low Impact Living’s environmental impact calculator gives you an estimate of your overall impact on the planet using a few stats about where and how you live. More impressive than its basic calculator, though, is this site’s long list of green projects that will help reduce the impact of your daily life—ways to green-up every room of your house, from adding extra insulation to installing efficient water heaters to solutions much too technical for this ABODE-er to understand at first glance. Ideas are color-coded according to whether they’ll save power, energy or other important natural resources. And you can sign up for an e-mail newsletter about eco-friendly places and services (say, which “green” hotel you should stay in on your next vacation).—L.V.
This old site
www.thisoldhouse.com
Somehow, I don’t think I was the only one who spent Saturday mornings as a kid glued to cartoons and, umm, “This Old House” with Bob Vila. Yeah? Only one? Anyway, Bob and his crew’s website comes in pretty handy on grown-up Saturdays when you’re faced with the task of fixing a damaged doorjamb, getting your house and yard ready for fall, or installing crown molding. We especially loved the “Home Inspection Nightmares” section, with photos of the crazy stuff ill-informed people do to their houses. Psst: There’s also a video hiding among the archives of Brad Pitt doing construction work in New Orleans, in case you need a break between articles about roofing and mold.—L.V.
Hardware tour
www.lookintheattic.com
If “find interesting doorknob” is high on your priority list, Michigan-based Look in the Attic can help, with a huge selection of doorbells, switch plates, assorted hardware and accessories on its website. Whether you’ve been searching for months for the perfect amethyst-colored period-style glass doorknob or would like to add a “huge solid pewter moosehead” in any of 16 finishes (we’re serious) to your living room wall, this is your site. There’s even a fairly extensive selection of antique nails, as well as a long list of every kind of coat hook you could imagine. Practically speaking, the site also offers a guide for removing and installing hardware and a glossary of technical and period-specific hardware terms. Plus, the prices on this site are reasonably affordable.—L.V.
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