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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Welcome Home!

Cheryl-anne Millsap The Spokesman-Review

I’ve got a big box kitchen. The cabinets, and for a small house there are a lot of kitchen cabinets, were purchased from one of those cavernous home improvement warehouses in the early 1990s.

At the same time the homeowners added linoleum, in a busy pattern that “doesn’t show dirt” (because it always looks slightly dirty) to the floor and laminate to the countertops.

It’s a perfectly fine kitchen, but to me, it looks like someone walked through the store pointed at this, this and that and went home with a kitchen. There isn’t anything that makes it unique.

And that bothers me.

I want a room that reflects my personality and my lifestyle. I want a room that is one of a kind.

Doesn’t everyone?

I’ve been collecting paint samples and looking at countertop options and tearing photos of appliances out of magazines.

So far, the only change I’ve made is to replace the dated porcelain knobs on the cabinets with more contemporary stainless steel. But it’s a start.

Right now, I’m not cooking up more than food in the room.

But one day…

This week in Home

If you’ve ever looked around your home or business and wished there was a way to make it stand apart from the rest, you’re not alone. But where do you find someone who can reinterpret everyday items and create works of art that serve a useful purpose around the house?

Local metal crafter Timothy Biggs is that person. Biggs’ work graces homes and businesses around the area, and he’s working on a catalog of distinctive items.

A peek into Biggs’ workshop is our centerpiece story.

Moving outdoors, the newest edition of the Sunset Western Garden Book hits bookstores this month, and gardening columnist Pat Munts brings us a preview.

A valentine

Saturday is Valentine’s Day. With the help of a local crafter, we’ll help you make a handmade and sentimental card for your sweetie and in a new feature, staff writer Julianne Crane has a timely profile of a local artist who can honestly say Vallentyne is his middle name.

Like so much of what fills the pages of this issue, Home is homemade. It is full of local flavor, and we make it fresh each week.

I think this week’s Home is especially good. And, as always, it’s from the heart.