Home Improvement Partner

People often ask me how I find so many great spaces for Strange Closets, and the answer is several-fold: 1.) Sometimes interior designers e-mail me photos of their completed projects, and sometimes normal people do too. I appreciate nearly all of them and being poly-aesthetical, I love quite a few in one way or another. 2.) When I meet somebody interesting at a party or social event who tells me about the yurt in their back yard, for example, I try to finagle an invitation in a tactful way (usually by asking after they’ve consumed a few drinks). 3.) Buying furniture on Craig’s List has also been a surprising effective way to discover great apartments. That’s how I met Christopher and Joe, about whom I wrote for this week’s Time Out Chicago. The lon

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It’s spring-cleaning time, so why not include the garage in this fun project?

You can decide if you need to clean the garage by asking yourself:

Has the junk drawer extended to the garage, where everything is dumped to be organized later?

If the answer is yes, then it’s time to clean and organize that valuable space.

Start by eating a good breakfast — you’ll need it!

Then, take everything out of the garage and put it all in the driveway. Clean the garage floor and walls, if needed. Then get your head in the right place. Be ready and willing to get rid of things you really don’t need. Discard anything that is broken, no matter how good your intention is to fix it. If it’s been in the garage broken

Next, consider selling items that you don’t need anymore, but are still good. Plan a garage

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Running out of propane during a cookout is a sure fire way to ruin the fun. At least for the cook. Not all grills come with fuel gauges but Consumer Reports has found some other products that take the guess work out of canister refills including a translucent tank and add-on meters.

Although the summer season means spending time outdoors, it also means coming inside to cool off. To help make your home one that guests will want to stay in for more than just the air conditioning, Hunter Douglas Inc., a N.J.-based window treatment company, suggests a few tips for making your house more inviting.

– Literally open up your home. Get rid of the clutter for a tidy look that has a calming effect on both occupants and visitors. Store what you need and get rid of the rest.

– Light it up. Let as much natural light as you can shine through your house to increase energy and lift your spirits.

– Don’t forget the smell. Smells can evoke vivid memories, so make sure your home is forever associated with fragrant aromas that bring back happy memories. But you don’t constantly need something in the oven to have a great smelling house.

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Flowers for SWFL

They’re everywhere this time of year in Florida: those desolate strips of barren soil around man-made retention and storm water management ponds.

Devoid of any kind of plant material, they resemble a Mars landscapes. Many are protected with chain-linked fences, making them an even bigger eyesores.

Because a good amount of Florida is paved with asphalt or covered with concrete, rainwater can no longer be absorbed into the ground. Consequently, rainwater runoff, which contains gas, oil, pesticides, fertilizers and more, is collected in these water retention ponds. T

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