This Old House

If the kitchen is the heart of the home, the garden—a.k.a. the yard—is the soul. So says a recent British survey on outdoor-living trends. It’s a nice idea. After all, we treasure the backyard as a place to relax and regroup, to connect with family a

INSPIRING SPACES, DESIGN DETAILS, AND FINISHING TOUCHES With a vintage Beatles LP playing in the background and dinner simmering on the stove, Megan and Lincoln Pasquina relax with their two young sons in their new great room, its floor-to-ceiling wi

All but the new great room, Megan’s office, and part of the basement occupies the same footprint as the existing house, but the layout has been reimagined. There’s a spacious new kitchen at the front, where the living room once was. It connects to th

Where a mild climate allows outdoor living year-round, a thoughtfully designed yard can double your living space. That was precisely the case for Kelly and Jeff Mindell, who bought their 1930s Los Angeles bungalow in part for the good-size backyard.

The Mindells’ yard features defined zones for dining and gathering, as well as an open area for play. Here’s what they did: 1. Kept the 353-square-foot patio, removed the mortared flagstone, and leveled the surface to accept tile. 2. Rebuilt the exis

When choosing a designer for a remodel, it’s a good idea to hire someone who will consider your future needs as well as your present wants. Even better when that person is your daughter and knows your taste to a tee. While Catherine Williamson’s pare

Planning ahead to enable first-floor living, the designers annexed space from an adjacent bedroom for a large walk-in shower in the bath and a hallway laundry closet. 1. Bumped the tub/linen-cupboard wall out about 12 inches, stealing square footage

Some folks like to joke that an old country house is held together with spit and baling wire. But Chris Colomello, a general contractor in Amenia, New York, doesn’t kid around. “We do it all the time,” he says, referring to the steel ties his crew ti

KNOW-HOW YOU NEED TO GET HOME UPGRADES DONE RIGHT THE NEXT TIME you find yourself in an older part of a city such as Boston, Philadelphia, London, or Rome, take a moment to look down at the sidewalks and streets. Most likely, they’re paved with clay

Workhorses in the landscape, groundcovers spread to knit a tight, low-maintenance carpet of foliage that densely covers bare earth. Not just pleasing to look at, they serve a number of practical purposes as well: “Groundcovers can stabilize the soil,

WHETHER ATTACHED to the house or freestanding, covered in vines or clean and modern, a pergola is an architectural feature that provides a welcome sense of enclosure outdoors, carving out an inviting retreat that allows in fresh air, gentle breezes,

→ If you don’t need a custom size or look, buying a pergola as a kit will greatly simplify the job. Everything is precut and predrilled, and the hardware is provided—all you do is assemble the parts. What’s more, the kits come in a range of materials

COVERING YOUR PERGOLA with plants and flowers lowers the temperature underneath—not just because of the increased shade but because plants cool the air as moisture evaporates from their foliage. Here’s Jenn’s advice for growing success: ➤ Offer suppo

In the pursuit of a bumper crop of vegetables, too often an edible garden’s aesthetics fall by the wayside. For Nicole Burke, founder of Rooted Garden, a company that designs, installs, and maintains edible gardens in and around Houston, the backbone

NEW PRODUCTS, PRO ADVICE, AND HOW-TO PROJECTS When Tom saw how much satisfaction—and honey—his neighbors were getting from their backyard beehives, he decided to take up the challenge of building one for himself, from scratch. After some research, To

1. Neat and easy garage storage Ryobi Link Modular Storage System More versatile and even simpler to install than pegboard, this wall-storage system starts with 33-inchlong polymer rails that screw into studs. The rails hold any of 15 different organ

• Tips, tricks, and answers to your home-improvement questions I have cedar front-porch railings that I built years ago. The paint is gone in many areas or is peeling away. What is the best way to prep weathered cedar and repaint it white? —BRAD STUB

We would like to add flower boxes to our house. How do we do that so we don’t end up with leaks behind the siding?—NAOMI BENSON, PLYMOUTH, MN Nothing dresses up the outside of a house quite as nicely as a flower box or two filled with a mix of season