This index contains a listing of all available columns. Scroll down the list to browse topics and short descriptions. Click on the article title to open and read the selected column.

What Makes Sense?

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

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.

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

Planning Ahead for Wheelchair Accessibility
A wheelchair-bound architect vividly describes what is needed to make a house truly accessible.

Moving Managers Help Seniors Downsize
Managers help determine what will fit in the new place, what to keep, what to sell or give away.

Generations Share Houses for Many Reasons
Generations may share a home for many reasons, sometimes pooling resources to buy a bigger, nicer house.

Living Happily Ever After in a Smaller House
With clever design, you can live in a small house and live well.

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.

Balancing Design Needs With Resale, Budget Concerns
Don’t let budget and resale concerns outweigh your family’s needs.

Getting Started

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

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.

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.

House Planning Step 1: Read Widely
Reading widely provides a broad base from which to plan and refine your new home.

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

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

Good Decision-Making Process = Homebuilding Success
The success of a building project can depend on how a couple makes decisions.

Whole Lotta Shakin’ House Can Rock Exercise Plan
Shaking and noise can derail the best-planned home exercise program.

Behind Every Home Purchase: The Appraiser's Evaluation
The appraiser verifies that your purchase is worth the amount the lender is loaning you.

How the Buyers Drive the Builders Crazy
The buyers make the builders as crazy as the buyers claim the builders make them.

Watch Out for Cut-Rate Builders
The best house you can afford will not be the biggest for the least money.

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

Room by Room

Kitchen

Kitchen and Bath Show-Stopper: Doggie Whirlpool
For dogs with health issues, MTI’s whirlpool tub can be therapeutic.

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

Kitchen Innovations Debut at Top End
Latest high-end appliance innovations include smaller, less clunky professional ranges and induction cooktops.

Gorgeous Countertops, Surprising Origins
Some of today’s gorgeous countertops are made from paper, hemp and recycled dollar bills.

Bath & Laundry

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

Computer Technology Jazzes Up Toilets
Using computer chips, Toto offers a toilet that operates like something out of “Star Wars.”

Bedroom

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

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

Family Room

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

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

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.

Garage Makeover: Easier Than You Think
Garage workstation systems, shelving and flooring can turn a hodgepodge into a real room.

Home Office

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

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

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

Accessorize

Shining Light on Color Options in CFL Bulbs
Compact fluorescent bulbs: Finding ones that deliver pleasing light can be a challenge.

Fabulous Choices in Drawer, Cabinet Pulls
Drawer and cabinet pulls are now offered in an astounding variety of shapes and materials.

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?

Custom House

Architects Weigh In: Big House Design Challenges
Four architects from around the country discuss the challenges of designing big houses.

Big Houses Can "Live Small"
When big houses “live small,” owners don’t feel like they live in a museum.

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

Latest Susanka Books Explain Loveable Living Spaces
Two books by Sarah Susanka help readers spatially dissect their houses.

Production House

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

Building for Privacy: Three Architects, Three Solutions
Small lots raise privacy issues, and numerous household types pose dilemma for home builders trying to tailor designs to buyer preferences.

Home Building's Three Magic Words: Commodity, Firmness, Delight
“Delight” can make any furnished model attractive. Make sure it has “firmness” and “commodity” too.

Picks of the Pack in Production Houses
Most, but not all, production houses are humdrum. How can the average buyer tell the difference?

When Architects Design for Home Plan Services
Some architects work with home plan services. For many consumers, this is an affordable way to get an architect-designed house.

When Architects Design for Home Builders
One of the home building industry’s biggest secrets — many builders engage architects to design their projects.

Construction 101

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

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

Green Building

Shining Light on Color Options in CFL Bulbs
Compact fluorescent bulbs: Finding ones that deliver pleasing light can be a challenge.

The Greening of Golf Course Living
New golf course communities now incorporate environmentally sensitive planning for vegetation and pesticide use.

Home Price Versus Lifetime Cost
Using higher quality, costlier materials to build a house increases its sale price, but saves money over time in vastly reduced operating and replacement costs.

Earthly Impact of ‘Heavenly’ Homes
Architects push for massive reductions in building-related green house gas emissions, but the clients who pay the bills will have the final say.

Build Green With Common Sense
Homeowners and home builders have embraced green building, but confusion remains as to what makes a house green.

Backyard Tree Could Be Your New Floor
Homeowners and municipalities cut and trash vast quantities of hardwood that could be recycled into flooring and furniture.

Turn Your Trees Into Floors, Furniture
How to turn your trees into flooring for your new house.

Learn Green Building Basics From a DVD
The DVDs “Building With Awareness” and “Green Building” demystify green home building for homeowners.

Revising the American Dream for the 21st Century
The American Dream pitched by most home builders today is not sustainable.

Saving the Planet: Sustainable Home Building
Sustainable home building emphasizes the environmental impact of construction today and 100 years from today.

Plant Living History in Your Yard
Planting the seedling of a historic tree gives your home a tangible connection to history.

Houses: A Significant Source of Greenhouse Gases
When energy use in a house is reduced, the greenhouse gases attributed to it are also reduced.

Solar-Powered Houses With Design Cachet
A solar-powered house can have both design cachet and cutting-edge technology.

Home Sweet Solar-Powered Home
The 2005 Solar Decathlon houses used many energy-saving techniques that any homeowner could emulate.

Solar-Powered House Combines Ancient, New Technologies
A solar-powered house often combines ancient technologies with cutting-edge, computer-driven mechanical systems.

Choosing Green Building Materials Just Got Easier
“Green Building Products” directory helps homeowners find green building materials and explains why they’re green.

Which Materials Help Ensure Good Indoor Air Quality?
Greenguard Environmental Institute tests and certifies low-emitting building materials that meet its emission standards.

Spotlight Homes

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.

'New American Home' Nods to Past, Future
Architect Ed Binkley turns convention on its ear with a show house that has an oddball floor plan, unusual materials, and a vision of the future that’s decidedly offbeat.

InSync Home: Not Your Mother's McMansion
Builder magazine’s 2007 InSync Home demonstrates that the latest in-home technology can have a soothing, tonic effect.

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

Fresh Approaches to Creating Home, Community
High-density houses in California present new ways to create the feeling of home and community.

2006 Reality House: Clutter-Free Gracious Living
Your old-house clutter will soon reappear as new-house clutter unless you act.

Senior Co-ops: Housing Solution for Aging Boomers?
Senior co-ops may appeal to aging boomers who are fed up with single-family home ownership.

Villa Savoye: Still Provocative at 74
Le Corbusier’s Villa Savoye is aesthetically provocative, but fails the quotidian test.

Living Happily Ever After in a Smaller House
A community of 50 cottages in Poulsbo, Wash., near Seattle, provides some interesting possibilities for living in smaller homes.

CoHousing Creates Community
Cohousing communities are designed so that all residents have casual, daily contact.

Michigan Cohousing Community Is Close-Knit Neighborhood
Cohousing residents design and build their community; afterwards they share dinner 3-4 nights a week.

Timber-Frame Houses Combine Ancient and Modern Technologies
Old meets new in construction of timber frame houses.