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 I recently interviewed Nicolas P. Retsinas, the director of Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies and lecturer at Harvard Business School. Nicholas noted a possible upside in the current real estate market in that houses may be viewed once again as places to anchor and raise families rather than primarily as profit centers. He wrote a thought-provoking essay that appeared in Working Knowledge, a publication of Harvard Business School, and he gave me permission to reprint it here:
A house divided: investment or shelter?
By Nicolas P. Retsinas
Dictionaries are not static. Some words go unused for so long that lexicographers dub them archaic. Definitions also gravitate to that catch-bin.
The plummeting housing market has forced a reevaluation, not just of the financial value of a home, but of its meaning. Once just a place for a family to live and take root, the home in recent times has been elevated to Investment Opportunity, a place where you stayed for awhile, made a lot of money, then moved on to the next home-investment.
Is the definition of home about to change once again?
Family sanctuary
When immigrants crowded into this country, they yearned for shelter, a sanctuary in a new land. That shelter could be a tenement, a farmstead, a ramshackle cottage. For families, home had a connotation of safety and stability.
Banks did not lend with 30-year amortizing mortgages, but with five-year loans and a balloon payment at the term's end. A family needed to amass a 50 percent down payment; few Americans could. So homeownership was neither a plausible individual aspiration nor a policy prescription. The word home had no investment connotations.
Continue reading "Is the definition of home about to change?" »
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 I was frustrated a few months ago when I sought out green products at my local Home Depot and didn't find much. And of course, I blogged about that.
So when Home Depot marketing person Sarah Hereford came calling, I took the opportunity to ask:
What can I buy green at Home Depot?
Here are some green-leaning items she pointed me toward:
Thomasville Nature’s Retreat seven-piece outdoor dining set
All wood parts of this set — chair frames, table top, turned table legs, etc. — are made from FSC-certified eucalyptus. FSC stands for Forest Stewardship Council, which offers a stringent certifying process for forests and products.
Hampton Bay 3-tier solar lights
A package of six, with Siemens solar cells and LED lights. Now if only the bases and shades were made of recycled materials, that would be impressive.
Freshaire Choice (no VOC paint)
In case you didn't know, VOC stands for volatile organic compound. Having the word "organic" in there used to confuse me. So I looked it up on Wikipedia, and learned if you substitute the word chemical for organic, as in volatile chemical compound, that sounds more like what it is, dangerous chemical compounds that are volatile, meaning they vaporize in normal conditions into the air we breathe. Not so good. Paint, adhesives and finishes with no VOCs are the way to go.
Also, Sarah says Home Depot carries FSC-certified lumber (though I have not been able to find any in my store) and Millstead pressure-treated wood that is Scientific Certification Systems Green Cross certified.
See an explanation of green product certifications from Environmental Building News.
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Whose living room is this?
ANSWER
Take the baby Famous folks at home quiz
(Photo: Architectural Digest)
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Another way to express ourselves: House numbers!
(Photos: KPR)
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 Question: Could you find a landscaper to comment on pros/cons of pea gravel in a residential setting? I'm entranced with the look, and permeable hardscape is important to me.
However, when I research on the Internet, I find most postings by homeowners are negative: It does not stay put if there are children or dogs in the household, neighborhood cats use it as litterbox, ants build mega cities in it, it's not a realistic choice if children run barefoot in the yard, a wheelbarrow pushed down the path creates ruts and sends pebbles into the flower beds.
I've also read that 2 inches is not sufficient and that 6 inches is needed and that the gravel should be mixed with aggregate to stabilize it better.
Answer: From Pamela Berstler, landscape designer of Flower to the People in Los Angeles:
We LOVE gravel as a mulch in the garden, and most people in the Mediterranean would agree with that assessment. It reflects heat, but protects roots, and it maintains moisture, reducing the need for irrigation, and does not decompose and require replacement.
The wide variety of local colored stone can really enhance a natural landscape installation, but we try to stay away from exotic or excessively processed material, as it is not a sustainable solution.
Gravel mulch and pathways require different treatments. In the garden beds, as mulch, 2 inches is pretty much the maximum required (not 6 inches). You actually want to use less rather than more, as the deeper the gravel application, the more difficult to keep it away from the base of plants, keep ruts out and keep it from spilling everywhere. When the application is thin and slightly compacted, it works beautifully. And of course, we recommend NO weed barrier beneath.
The optimal type of gravel will vary for pathways and planting beds. Gravel in the planting beds can be rounder, and perhaps even smaller — as small as 3/8-inch diameter, and as round as a beach pebble. Our favorite simple gravel for mulch in planter beds is 3/8-inch to 1-inch Del Rio pebble, but pretty much anything will work.
For pathways, there are more basic rules. First, gravel pathways are best installed over a stabilized base — stabilized compacted soil, decomposed granite or a plastic grid like a grasspave work the best, and only about 3/4-inch to 1-inch depth is required. Second, gravel pathways must be contained with a barrier that rises 1 inch above grade at a minimum. We like stone edging (classy and very Mediterranean), but bender board, aluminum or steel edging would work too. Third, and perhaps most important, the type of gravel needs to be the sharper-edged gravel, not the rounded beach stone. The sharper gravel will grab on to its neighbor and become firmer and easier to walk on than the rounded stones.
E-mail Pamela
(Photo: Flower to the People)
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Back in the 1980s, Michelle Griffoul chose her home for one reason.
"It had forklift access to the backyard," said Michelle, who bought the home, in the Santa Barbara County community of Los Olivos, when she was a fledgling ceramic-tile artist with a very large kiln. "The house itself was irrelevant."
But the sage-green house with eggplant-colored trim has become relevant over the last 24 years, serving as a canvas of sorts where Michelle has tried out and lived with her whimsical ceramic and bronze tiles. Today she makes her living designing and manufacturing tiles sold in 140 showrooms nationwide.
Michelle's own tile projects -- in her bathrooms, on fireplaces and walls, on furniture and in and around a sumptuous swimming pool and spa -- remind her of the stages of her life: a first marriage, motherhood, divorce and remarriage. And they also chronicle her emergence as an artist.
Continue reading "Tile artist's home is her canvas" »
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Whose room is this?
A. Suri, daughter of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes
B. Max and Emme, son and daughter of Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony
C. Max, son of Christina Aguilera and Jordan Bratman
ANSWER
(Photo: People magazine)
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 I'd rather see solar panels on my rooftop and yours, but this is still pretty cool.
A project has been proposed that will place photovoltaic cells on 65 million square feet of commercial building roofs in Southern California.
The cells will generate as much as 250 megawatts of electricity -- enough to power about 162,500 average homes -- based on an estimate that 1 megawatt would serve about 650 average homes. Wow!
The plan, the largest rooftop solar installation project ever proposed by a utility company in the country, was announced by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Southern California Edison, according to a story in the L.A. Times.
This could "set off a huge wave of renewable-energy growth," said Schwarzenegger
And you know what that means? Typically when there is more demand for technology, the price drops. And that means affordable home systems could be coming our way sooner rather than later.
The first of the solar rooftops, in San Bernardino and Riverside counties, is expected to be up and producing electricity by August.
Another project recently announced proposes to place a 250-megawatt plant, dubbed the Beacon Solar Energy Project, on about 2,000 acres in eastern Kern County.
Read the whole story
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 I see a couple of ideas here that are useful for my own remodeling. But the thing that really jumped out at me in this story is that the homeowner and I have nearly the same name: she is Kathryn Price, I am Kathy Price. However, she has three kids and a law degree. And I don't. But still.
This simple dining room makeover took place in a Western Springs, Ill., home, near Chicago, and was reported on by the Chicago Tribune.
Here's what I noticed that can help me:
Paint that table: I have a wooden table in my kitchen that probably won't retain any zing whatsoever after I get my kitchen walls and cabinets repainted. Trouble is, my husband Bill bought that table a few years ago and brought it home for me as a gift (see it here). Now, Bill is not very domestic. That's all on me. So for him to take the initiative and have enough caring and concern to actually pick out a table and bring it home . . . well, that's not something you want to set out with the recycling. So this room shows me that painting a wooden table can be a solution. And I'd definitely go with high gloss. And it looks great with wooden chairs, and I have wooden chairs.
Go bold with the chandelier: I've had this same issue, using a too-small chandelier or hanging lamp to fill the space. Going big and bold takes courage, but what a difference it makes here. I'm considering a hanging lamp over my kitchen table, so I want to remember this lesson.
Pour on the moldings: This room already had base moldings, but nothing where the walls meet the ceiling. Adding the crown moldings gave this room a substance it couldn't have gotten otherwise.
Anything you like here?
Read the whole story
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 A tragedy occurred last week in Walnut Creek and the thought of it continues to haunt me. Here's what was reported yesterday in the San Jose Mercury News:
Murder and other felony charges were filed Tuesday against a Martinez contractor who prosecutors say killed a Walnut Creek man during a confrontation over a home remodeling job that sparked a lawsuit. Read the whole story.
This is extreme, to say the least. But it got me thinking: When is it a good idea to sue a contractor for bad or incomplete work?
And when is it just not worth it? When is it better to accept the loss and move on?
Anyone who's been involved in a lawsuit knows how nerve-wracking and time consuming it is. There may be headaches involved, and stomachaches and sleepless nights. It can mean months or years of negativity. And even when people win, they often can't collect.
Nolo, which provides legal information to non-lawyers, gives tips on deciding whether to sue someone and suggests you ask yourself three questions:
1. Do I have a good case?
2. Am I comfortable with the idea of a compromise settlement or going to mediation?
3. Assuming a lawsuit is my best or only option, can I collect if I win?
If you cannot answer "yes" to all three questions, Nolo's advice is that you don't sue.
Most of us would focus only on the first issue: Do I have a good case? And often, there is no doubt at all that is true. You might have a great contract. And abundant evidence of work not done or done badly. But issue No. 2 — a willingness to compromise or call in a mediator — is hard to do when one is consumed with anger or hurt.
And issue No. 3 is profound: A deadbeat cannot and will not pay up.
So there might be times — especially if your life savings is not on the line — when not suing might be the kindest thing to do for yourself.
Have you ever sued a contractor for bad work, or decided not to? And would you recommend your course of action to others?
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I recently interviewed Nicolas P. Retsinas, the director of Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies and lecturer at Harvard Business School. Nicholas noted a possible upside in the current real estate market in that houses may be viewed once again as places to anchor and raise families rather than primarily as profit centers. He wrote a thought-provoking essay that appeared in Working Knowledge, a publication of Harvard Business School, and he gave me permission to reprint it here:
