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Emotional Intelligence

In Builders We Trust, But Still Need Lawyers
Homeowners don’t hire an attorney to review their builder’s contract because they think it would send a signal that they don’t trust him.

Attn: Home Builders—Step Away From the Focus Group
What do buyers want? Behavioralists advise home builders to forget focus groups and use other approaches.

Retirement Living in a Multi-Gen Household
Here’s a thought: After retirement, join a multi-generation household by moving in with your adult child and his or her family.

How to Plan an Emotionally Intelligent House
An emotionally intelligent house makes you feel good every day that you live in it.

The Healing Effects of Gazing at Nature
Taking a break in your workday to soak up nature’s calming effects provides crucial benefits.

Katherine’s Top 10 Reasons Why Building Smaller Is Better
Building small can put you at a level of Zen that most homeowners would envy.

Couple’s Decision-Making Ability Is Key to Project Success
A couple’s satisfaction with any home project depends on how they make decisions, not the talents of the designers they hire.

Home Wherever You Roam With Art, Familiar Objects
When we display treasured posters or photos, a new house finally feels like home.

House Love, House Lust, How We Decide to Buy
We think practicality drives our housing choices but neuroscientists say our emotions weigh in first.

Tabled Tradition: Passing Down Family Silver, China, Furniture
Fewer young people are interested in inheriting family heirlooms these days, often to the chagrin of parents and grandparents.

When There's Too Much Room for Real Togetherness
In big houses, the frequent interactions between family members that help children learn important life skills occur less frequently.

Sizing Up: Big Houses and Happiness
Will a new home purchase make you happy? Economists suggest that when your motivation is to impress others, you won’t be satisfied for long.

Bringing Kids to the Design Table
When the kids offer suggestions for the new house, design is often enriched.

House Planning: How Much Input From Kids?
When planning a new house, should the parents decide everything or can the kids participate?

Do Dogs Care About House Design?
Though man and dog have cohabitated for 12,000 years, Fido is not interested in design.

Does Your House Make You Crazy?
Many a homeowner has been driven crazy by insufficient storage where it’s needed most.

Divvying Up Family Heirlooms Takes Diplomacy
Dividing cherished family possessions is more about saying goodbye to your past than about furniture.

Bedroom Suite for Sisters
When Los Angeles architect Murray Milne designed a house for his growing family, a key concept was flexibility.

Do Children Benefit From Sharing Bedrooms With Siblings?
When siblings share bedrooms, they learn important life skills.

Getting Started

‘Smart Money’ Home Building: Hire Experience, Control Costs
In home building, “smart money” is budgeted money used wisely, getting you the best house, not the biggest with the most trophy features for the least money.

Parents Moving In? Kids Back? Read In-laws, Outlaws, and Granny Flats
If you’re considering a granny flat for extra space, the advice in Michael Litchfield’s latest book, In-laws, Outlaws and Granny Flats, will get you organized.

Insights: Dan Gregory, Editor of Houseplans.com
Dan Gregory, acquisition editor of Houseplans.com, is the best in the business!

Livability: The Ultimate Take-Home Test
Livability: The Ultimate Take-Home Test

Ex-HUD Secretary’s RX for Housing: Quality
Henry Cisneros said the No. 1 issue in housing is quality of construction.

Get Inspired by Iconic Designs of Famous Architects
Dominic Bradbury’s The Iconic House will inspire you to visit houses you have never heard of.

Organize to Downsize: Here’s Where You Start
To organize your thoughts about downsizing, try the journalists’ tool for framing a story: Who, What, When, Where, Why and How.

Best Planning Tool for a New House? Your Current Home
Before you build a new house, carefully assess where you live now.

Skimping on Basics to Get More Space (Uh-oh)
Architects consider quality building materials essential, but their clients often regard these as expendable luxuries.

Moving Day: Box Buying Tips to Send You Packing
Corrugated fiberboard boxes are cheap, green and miracles of engineering.

Real-Estate Love Is Blind, Bring Along This Reality Checklist
When I finally found the apartment of my dreams, I failed to notice any shortcomings.

You, Your Builder and, Yes, a Real Estate Prenup
With a prenup or any other contract, the sensible person consults an attorney before signing.

Sizing Up the Idea of Downsizing
Katherine and her husband took a trial run of downsizing, moving temporarily from their house in Michigan to a New York City apartment.

Architect Fees Made Simple(r)
The fee charged by an architect will be based on a percentage of construction cost, an hourly rate, or a combination of the two.

Design for Visitors With Special Needs
Age-denying boomers can make their new house "visit-able" for guests who use a walker or wheelchair.

Managing the Stress of Home Building
For a happy ending to your new house project, assess your ability to manage stress.

Turn a Good House Into a Great House
Hire an interior designer to help you select colors and materials to match your lifestyle.

Room by Room

Kitchen

Kitchen Cabinets: The Case of Beauty v. Functionality
With kitchen cabinetry, most homeowners have no idea how much extra they are paying just to get a certain look. Functional upgrades will make daily life easier.

Designing a Kid-Friendly Kitchen
Designing a kid-friendly kitchen is surprisingly easy, without adding to the cost.

The House Hunter’s Kitchen Quiz
What makes one kitchen better than another?

Dishwasher Super Models: What $1,500+ Can Buy
You can spend $2,200 on a dishwasher, but good luck with finding a floor model to check out. Floor models around $1,500 are easier to find wherever you live. 

Joy of Comfortable Cooking: Johnny Grey’s Kitchen Ergonomics
Every designer brings his life experience to his work. But few do it as well British kitchen specialist Johnny Grey. 

Johnny Grey’s Kitchen Design Stirs the Senses
British kitchen designer Johnny Grey has a background in architecture and takes a refreshingly different approach, applying “soft geometry.”

Kitchen Gifts That Keep On… Reducing Stress
The right kitchen gift can make life easier, more pleasant and less stressful.

That Fabulous Kitchen: Is It Functional?
Make sure that fabulous-looking kitchen is functional. Then obsess over countertops and cabinets.

Bath & Laundry

Laundry Lowdown: Front-Loading Washers, Avoiding Oh-Oh Odors
Washing machines can produce vexing odors when laundry is washed in cold water.

Family Room

In Search of the Family-Proof Sofa
A kid-proof sofa has a hardwood frame, lots of cushioning and commercial grade upholstery fabric.

Kid-Proofing the Family Room
When your kids are young, your family room’s décor should be spare, durable and comfortable.

Well-Designed Party Space Works for Everyday Living
A party space that works well for everyday use presents special design challenges.

Garage

Garage Door Design Goes Upscale
New garage door designs can radically change the look of a new house.

Home Office

The Home Office Chair: Think Multiple-Adjustment Chair
A multiple-adjustment office chair helps you maintain good posture and avoid stress-related keyboard injuries.

Kitchen Cabinetry Works in Home Offices Too
Using standard kitchen cabinetry you can design a home office that’s tailored to your needs.

To Do: Organize Home Office
In a well-organized home office, your work will go more smoothly and productivity will go up.

Accessorize

Closet Chaos Theory: Why Clutter Expands to Fill Space
Bigger houses with bigger closets do not by themselves reduce clutter; you need sensible strategies as well.

So You Think You Can Sit! Check Out the Chairs of Peter Opsvik
Peter Opsvik’s novel-looking chairs allow you to move, squirm, fidget, turn, rock, twist and tilt.

After 30 Years, She Gets Eames of Her Dreams
With its curved and playful profile, the oh-so-comfortable Eames lounge chair is a furniture classic.

TV for Every Room
Today’s homeowner faces a mind-boggling variety of television types, sizes, prices, and picture quality.

Local Artisans Deliver Custom Touches
Local artisans can add a custom touch for a surprisingly affordable price.

Choose Chairs for Comfort First, Looks Later
When choosing furniture for your new house, consider comfort and ergonomics before focusing on looks.

Stealing Space for Storage
New houses do not have "nooks and crannies," so where do you put books and other things?

The Big Picture

Looking Backward for the Next American Dream House
A tour through 20th century housing design produced some startling sources of inspiration for today’s architects.

Witold Rybczynski on Modern Home Design, Why We Stick With the Familiar
Author and architect Witold Rybczynski talks with Katherine about the evolution of modern home design, what’s ahead, and why we’re slow to embrace change.

Beyond McMansions: Fresh Takes on Early American Designs
Architect and author Russell Versaci encourages us to take inspiration from America’s rich cultural heritage in domestic architecture, adapting for 21st century lifestyles.

'Modern Classicism' — A Style That Makes Sense
Combining classical proportions and modern practicality, “modern classicist” architects take a no-nonsense approach to design of buildings, neighborhoods and towns.

Can Land Planning Create a Sense of Community?
Can land planning create that elusive sense of community? Kentlands is a case in point.

Home Building

Top 5 Must-Do Home Maintenance Chores
Many home maintenance chores can be done on an “as needed” basis, but these five tasks should be performed regularly.

Diligent Home Maintenance Pays Off at Resale
Homeowners who paint exterior trim, caulk, clean gutters and do other maintenance on a regular basis are better positioned for resale.

Energy Efficiency Codes = Lower Utility Bills, Home Affordability
Code-mandated energy efficiency reduces monthly utility bills, making homeownership more affordable for all income groups.

Buying an Unfinished Foreclosed Home
Top this bargain strategy: buy a partially completed foreclosed house for cheap and finish it.

Affordable, High-Performance House as ‘Theater’ and ‘Stage’
Tedd Benson thinks of a house as two distinctly separate entities: permanent “theater” and the transient “stage.”

Prefab Homes: Why We’re Not There Yet
The goal of affordable, factory-built homes remains elusive, but not for lack of effort, as exhibited at New York’s Museum of Modern Art.

Generation Gap? Choosing and Using a Backup Power Generator
Tips to help you compare options and costs for backup generators.

Coloring Outside the Lines, Designer Stretches, Shrinks Rooms
When home design isn’t delighting the homeowner, designer Paul Hickman shows up to rescue the project with sophisticated painting techniques.

Durability Is a Big Deal
A home’s durability is attributable to two things: quality materials and fanatical attention to building details.

Value Beyond Cost Per Square Foot
For most new home buyers, the gold standard for assessing value is the cost per square foot, but this figure is misleading.

Going With the Faux in Building Materials
Most homeowners are maintenance averse and want faux materials that require little or no attention.

What Home Buyers Do That Drive Builders Crazy
The buyers make the builders as crazy as the buyers claim the builders make them.

Be Realistic About New-House Construction Standards
Buyers should be realistic, not perfectionistic, about the construction quality of their new house.

Remodeling

Pay With Plastic to Make Remodeling ‘Rewarding’
Use plastic to buy the building materials; when the house is finished, use the reward points for a vacation!

Book Review: Sarah Susanka’s ‘Not So Big Remodeling’
The latest in Sarah Susanka’s “Not So Big” series helps readers make sensible remodeling decisions.

Primer on Paint Picks: Price, Performance and Pigments
Paint varies widely in price. At first, any paint will look fine, but how well it performs over time is determined by what’s in the can.

Home Stretch: Katherine Remodels Her Back Porch
When a columnist with an architecture degree becomes the homeowner in a renovation project, many truths are learned.

Green & Greener

Spotlight Homes

A Comfy House for the Next 50 Years
Design details that let you “age in place” can be so seamlessly incorporated they are invisible.

House or Home? Peter Eisenman on the Difference
Internationally acclaimed architect Peter Eisenman talks about the difference between houses and homes.

A Green Good Thing: Martha Stewart, KB Home Create ‘Concept House’
KB Home collaboration with Martha Stewart creates stunning “concept house” for 2011 International Builders Show.

Virtually There: How Helpful Are Virtual-Reality House Tours?
Computer images of houses that exist only as a set of construction drawings are so detailed now, you will think you are looking at a real house.

Wall-to-Wall Woes: Unfinished, Foreclosed Show House at 2010 IBS
The New American Home for the 2010 International Builders Show in Las Vegas was planned to be spectacular but ended up reflecting the state of luxury home building.

‘A’ for Architect: Barry Berkus Designs His Home With Poetry, Surprises
Over a 50-year career, architect Barry Berkus has designed thousands of houses for home builders. Here’s what he designed for himself.

2009 Builder’s Show House: ‘Desert Contemporary’ Influenced by Wright
The New American Home at the 2009 International Builder's Show sounded horrible but was actually a great house.

Looking Through the Glass House, Philip Johnson’s Modernist Icon
Katherine spends time alone inside Philip Johnson’s Glass House and its mirror opposite on the same property, the Brick House.

A Backdrop for Life: The Home of Charles and Ray Eames
The California house that legendary designers Charles and Ray Eames created for themselves in 1949 was a radical departure from conventional residential design.

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater: Still Fabulous at 72
Why most architects think the most important house in America is Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater.

Suburban Ranch Is American Original
The ubiquitous ranch house is America’s most important contribution to residential architecture.

Villa Savoye: Still Provocative After All These Years
Le Corbusier’s Villa Savoye is aesthetically provocative, but fails the quotidian test.