Design challenge: A bigger laundry room or a new bathroom?

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Andrew C., a reader from Crofton, Md., needs our advice on whether to add a bathroom to some extra space on his ground floor, or to enlarge his cramped laundry room. (See the miserable laundry room here and here.)

A little background: Andrew bought his three-story townhouse a year ago and plans to live there another five years. The second story has an eat-in kitchen, living room, dining room and half bath. The top floor has the master bedroom, two more bedrooms and two full baths. So far, so good.

But Andrew feels the space on the ground floor could be better used. There are two rooms down there that Andrew uses as a media room and an office. There is also a utility room with the washer and dryer and all the home’s mechanicals, and an adjacent storage room. Both spaces together are 6 feet by 12 feet.

Andrew wants a larger laundry room, but he also would like a bathroom on that floor. He considered a half bath, but it would require a walk through the laundry room to get to it. And he wonders: Is that too weird? A real estate agent told him that a full bath would bring most resale value in case the two existing rooms are used as bedrooms.

But it makes me sick to think of Andrew doing his laundry in that pitiful space for the next five years. That can't be right. I wonder if there is some compromise or another idea we're not considering.

Rate This Remodel: Carrie's 'Sex and the City' apartment

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I guess the apartment where Carrie Bradshaw researched and wrote her columns in the "Sex and the City" television show probably did need a makeover.

Several years had passed from Carrie's life on the small screen to her promotion to the big screen, and we all need to evolve. Carrie's guests needed to stop sitting on the floor around her coffee table, right?

But I'm not sure the new apartment (see "after" photo above) is quite right for her. The apartment is attractive, no doubt about that. But it seems too streamlined for Carrie, too coordinated, too balanced. That's not our Carrie! And it doesn't look comfortable. And that big TV. What's that all about?

(Photos: Apartment Therapy, Chicago Tribune)

Hot or not hot? Tin can wall covering

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This wall covering made from tin can tops, as seen in the New York Times, has a certain appeal. But there's something a little creepy about it, as well. Or is it just me?

(Photo: New York Times)

DIY paintings: Hot or not hot?

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For a cool contemporary home, these DIY paintings might be fun and flexible.

These look so sophisticated. But actually, they're simply canvases stretched on wood frames covered liberally with gesso-thickened paint. And where in the world would artists be without the miracle of gesso?

Just moving one colored canvas in or out of a scene makes a big difference.

Other advantages: These canvases are:

• Easy to hang
• Easy to store
• Easy to move

These paintings were included in "Kitty Bartholomew's Decorating Style," a book that I co-authored.

They were photographed in the Westwood condo of a cool young couple.

(Photos: Sharon Cavanagh)

The Human Footprint: Take the survey

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The Human Footprint will be on the National Geographic Channel on Sunday at 9 p.m.

The subtitle is: Everything you eat. Everything you drink. Everything you use. Your entire life's consumption in one place at one time.

The website includes these 10 ways to reduce your carbon footprint.

Here's my status and my goals. Post your own report below:

1. Make your home energy efficient

My status: We use nearly all compact fluorescent lights and LEDs. Our refrigerator is Energy Star. Our home is less than 2,000 square feet. But our insulation sucks.
My goals: We need new windows and will get the most energy-efficient windows we can afford.

2. Drive less.

My status: I drive about 10,000 miles a year and work mostly from home.
My goals: To run more errands in one outing.

3. Buy the highest gas mileage car for your needs.

My status: My 2007 Rabbit only gets about 25 mph. I shoulda got a Prius.
My goals: When it's time to replace this car, I'll get something radically energy-efficient.

4. Buy energy-efficient appliances.

My status: We have an Energy Star refrigerator, but we could have gotten one even more efficient. Our washer and dryer are not Energy Star. At the time we bought them, we were thinking only of price.
My goals: Anytime I buy an appliance in the future, my goal is to buy the most efficient appliance possible. I want a tankless water heater, but my husband wants a tank water heater. He will probably win this one.

5. Recycle.

My status: We recycle all paper, aluminum and plastic.
My goals: To reject goods I might buy, on account of the excess packaging, like vegetables at Trader Joes.

6. Replace your light bulbs with CFLs.

My status: Done
My goals: Get more LED lights.

7. Buy local food.

My status: Not doing so good on this one.
My goals: To get to the local organic garden each Friday to buy vegetables.

8. Eat less red meat.

My status: Done. Been vegetarian for many years.
My goals: Keep eating like I'm eating. Awesome.

9. Lower your water heater temperature from 140 degrees F to 120 degrees F.

My status: Have to look into this.
My goals: To get a solar water heater system.

10. Buy carbon offsets for the rest and make yourself “carbon neutral.”

My status: I'm not convinced this is legitimate.
My goals: To find out more about this.

Click below to take the survey and let us know your own status and goals.

Which is your favorite magazine cover?

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Ever dream of being a magazine editor? Now you can experience what it's like to choose the cover of a magazine. This Old House is inviting readers to vote on one of these four covers for the June issue.

Which do you like best? Vote here and see how others voted.

The four cover images are from the same home in Southlake, Texas, which won the TOH Remodel Contest as determined by the site's visitors. The house and the family who renovated it will be featured in a 10-page spread in the issue.

Also, if "None of the above" is your answer, please explain below.

(Photo: This Old House)

Famous folks at home: quiz

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Whose shoe closet is this?

Here are some hints:

• This person has more than 1,000 pairs of shoes, many of them in storage.

• This shoe lover's closet is in a 12,000-square-foot home.

• Renowned decorator Mario Buatta helped design this closet.

• The floor is bleached wood and gold leaf and was designed by the same person whose feet fit into these shoes.

And it's not Cinderella.

ANSWER

Take the Famous folks at home baby's room quiz
Take the Famous folks at home living room quiz

(Photo: InStyle)

EPA issues new rules to protect kids from lead during remodels

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Sixteen years ago, Congress told the Environmental Protection Agency to do something about the lead-tainted dust that seeps into the air during renovations of houses built before 1978.

Perhaps spurred on by recent recalls of lead-taineted toys from China, this week the EPA finally issued new rules requiring contractors to take additional precautions when it comes to the lead-tainted dust in renovations where kids under 6 and pregnant women are living.

According to an L.A. Times article, "Exposure to lead is especially dangerous to young children, because it can damage their developing brains, causing learning disabilities and behavioral problems."

The new rules apply to work done in residences, child-care facilities and schools built before 1978, the year lead was banned for use in housing.

The new standards were praised by advocacy group Alliance for Healthy Homes, according to an Associated Press article, but its executive director, Patrick MacRoy, said: "In the 16 years since we've been waiting for this rule, at least 17 million children have been exposed to harmful levels of lead unnecessarily."

The alliance also said the rule should have stricter requirements such as banning "dry-scraping" of lead-based paint, which creates more dust.

Other critics, including presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, say the rules should have been stronger, requiring more testing after remodeling to make sure there is no lead left, and should have affected more homes.

According the L.A. Times, "An EPA analysis estimated that the cost of home renovations would rise by $500 million per year but that the regulations would save as much as $5 billion a year in children's health and education costs." The AP story says the regulations will add $35 to the cost of a remodel.

And, oh yeah, the rules won't take place for another two years.

Read the whole AP article, and more in the L.A. Times.

(Photo: Marin County)

Famous folks at home quiz

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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)

Sprinklers running in the rain? Mushrooms growing in your yard?

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High-tech wizards have tried to get us to use our computers to control so many mundane daily tasks: opening and closing the drapes, turning on the hot tub, setting back our thermostats.

But so far, we've resisted, finding a quick yank on the drapery pull easy enough.

But here's a device that might tip us toward high tech: a computer-controlled and weather-report-influenced sprinkler system.

Here's how the Cyber-Rain system works: You program into your computer how much water and when you'd like each zone in your automatic sprinkler system to get. What are your zones? You name them in the software so you can recall them easier, such as the "side yard near Bob and Jean's house." Or the "strip near the street."

The Cyber-Rain Access Point gizmo (which attaches through a USB port to your PC) sends a wireless signal to the controller telling it what to do and when. And it keeps track of water usage. And it adjusts for Daylight Savings Time.

But here's the cool part: The software checks the weather report each day through your computer and, if rain is indicated, it'll shut down watering for the following 24 hours.

According to the company: "Nearly 70 percent of landscape watering ends up as runoff contributing directly to pollution and water waste. The EPA ranks urban runoff and storm sewer discharges as the second most prevalent source of water quality impairment in our nation’s estuaries."

The system costs $349 and the company claims it will likely pay for itself in seven months because of decreased water usage.