Home and garden

If you were asked to picture a weed, there’s a good chance a dandelion would come to mind. As a child you may have been instructed to pull up as many as possible, or told not to blow their dainty, fluff-ball seed heads to make a wish. (Sorry, kids, that just helps them spread.)

Midcentury modern is back or did it ever leave? The classics are the classics because they are timeless – vintage conversation pieces that make a statement.

Are you thinking of rolling up your sleeves so you can complete a large DIY project? I’m talking about one that may require hundreds, or thousands, of hours of labor. Before you do, I urge you to think about the size of the elephant you’re trying to eat. Yes, you can eat an elephant, but it’s best to do it one bite at a time, and the meal may last a few years if you’re not prepared.

Many of us will remember the little ditty about lady bugs. “Lady bug, lady bug, fly away home, your house is on fire and your children are gone.” I think about whenever I find a lady bug in the garden.

Turning into the gate at Sowing Joy Farm in Post Falls took me back a few years when I used to spend a lot of time on local family farms. The outside world disappeared and I was surrounded by flower beds and the gentle hum of insects and flitting birds. A bit of peace and beauty away from the rest of the world.

I saved a single mom $15,000 a few days ago. She and I were both overjoyed, as you might imagine. I can’t begin to describe how fulfilling it is to see the bright-eyed look on a customer’s face when I share good news like this.

When it comes to home selling, many buyers are all about aesthetics. One key aspect that is attractive to many buyers relates to flooring; other than walls, it is the largest surface in a home. What will boost a home’s value versus what will sink a sale? Here are top tips to help make sure your home will stand out and sell for top dollar. Large scale porcelain tiles Out are traditional square ...

What a crazy spring we are having this year. It started early, which got everyone fired up and ready to plant. A few warm days here and there got things growing, but it was still early and Mother Nature was still in charge. She demonstrated that early last week when gardeners north of Spokane experienced frost.

Cleaning mistakes come in many forms, and some are more serious than others. At their worst, incorrect cleaning methods and techniques can sicken or kill you. More often than not, though, mistakes can leave things not as clean as you would like, affecting your home’s air quality or leaving residue that attracts and traps dirt.

You may have an asphalt or blacktop driveway as I do. Mine was installed 25 years ago and is in good condition. The mix ordered at the asphalt plant was key to its longevity. The stones in the mix are larger than normal.

One dusty family photo album in my attic holds black-and-white snapshots of my mother and grandmother darning their socks in the early 1950s. My mother told me they’d stuff the socks with burned-out lightbulbs to hold them as they stitched.

When it comes to wall colors, some paint colors are in and some are simply out. Designer choices for wall colors nowadays reflect a desire toward relaxed and modern living as opposed to “stuffy” and formal. What’s in While moody colors may not be your favorite, charcoal gray and even black remain on trend. Considered modern and sleek, these colors work especially well when contrasted with wood ...

Stepping into MJ and Richard Woods’ garden on Dartford Creek north of Wandermere made me think I was stepping into the English landscape from the children’s story “Wind in the Willows.” All the elements of Mr. Toad’s landscape are here except that the storybook characters have been replaced with deer, moose, turkeys and quail.

When it comes time to sell your home, lighting is one of the key elements that stands out. Most potential buyers embrace not only natural light but fixtures that are modern and up-to-date.

There are several events in a large building project that I find to be exhilarating. One of them is nailing in place the last rafter in a common-framed roof. Standing at the top of the roof skeleton looking down into the house fills me with a sense of pride and accomplishment. There’s more to do until the house is move-in ready, but reaching this plateau is very satisfying.

On a recent Wednesday morning, the Friends of Manito plant sale yard at Spokane’s Manito Park was bustling with folks carefully tending and trimming pots of plants getting them ready for their annual spring sale. And this Saturday, you will be the beneficiary of their hard work.

Several days ago, I was on magical Mt. Desert Island in Maine. I was visiting my daughter and granddaughter. Seven years have passed since I helped build her quaint three-story home with an attached garage. I was the plumber, electrician and radiant heat installer.

I quit tilling my garden beds years ago and have been rewarded with one of nature’s greatest gifts, earthworms. Lots of them. When I dig into the soil, I always bring up a few wiggly, dusky red creatures that I carefully put back in the soil to do the tilling for me.

Styling a home is less about the big pieces and more about the final touches, especially the accessories. The most successful spaces feel curated rather than decorated, spacious and open as opposed to overwhelming.