Jeannie Matteuci San Francisco Chronicle Designers Denna McLaughlin and Celeste Le Sage-Gish, co-owners of the full-service interior design firm City Studios of San Francisco, specialize in innovative kitchen design. But lately it seems many of the homeowners who contact them - no matter the project - have one thing in mind. "A lot ...

Home and Garden Television Need help in selecting environmentally friendly flooring? Think green. Several green certification programs and directories are available to help remodelers, builders and homeowners make that selection. For example, the National Wood Flooring Association looks to the Forest Stewardship Council to certify wood-flooring products as green when the material comes ...

Tara Dalla-Nora Yourhome.ca It's time to experiment with colour again after a long period where neutrals and slight accent colours have seemed to monopolize interiors. Bolder and brighter paint colours, fabrics paired with gold or silver leaf finishes, and marbles and natural stones for furniture are all on trend for 2010. Since ...

Vicki Gerson Bankrate.com Any homeowner -- regardless of the size of their current kitchen -- can turn their dreams into reality. But, before you start remodeling, go through a checklist to make sure you will make the right decisions. Kitchen remodel checklist Check out the space. Is it adequate? Will you have enough counter ...

Daniel Jackson Gaston Gazette Whether it’s the aroma of food on the stove or the ability to enjoy a glass of red wine without endangering an expensive rug, the kitchen’s allure for social gathering in the home is undeniable. And for some home buyers, an ugly, outdated or old kitchen can kill the ...

Appearances are important when it comes to new kitchen floors, but don't choose a material based on looks alone. Narrow the choices to a few contenders and then take a trip to a flooring store or home center for a test drive. Here's how the various options stack up: WOOD ...

Beth Luberecki Washington Post Bad day? Blame your condo. That's what designer Lori Ludwick might do, especially if your home needs some TLC. For Ludwick, the way people's homes look and function can affect everything from their temperaments to their pocketbooks. "I think a well-designed space influences your mood so much," says Ludwick, principal ...

James and Morris Carey Associated Press Have you ever thought about installing a French door or a pair of French doors where a window exists? Doing so can make for easy access to your yard, add light to the room and improve ventilation. Best of all, the conversion is easy. Choose a door ...

Dear Tim -- I want to spice up my bathroom with backsplash tile. I've seen a kitchen tile backsplash and loved it. Are backsplash tiles different from other tiles? Can you help me with tile ideas as well as dos and don'ts? I'm especially interested in subway tile. -- Mara ...

Catherine Roberts Democrat & Chroncile.com It could be a crack in the floor tiles, a nasty chip in one of the cabinets or one too many times reaching awkwardly for a needed utensil. But it's usually a small defect that starts the ball rolling toward a total kitchen renovation. Joanie Rubin of Brighton ...

DEAR TIM: My wife insists on marble tile in our bathroom. I've never worked with it and wonder about how smart a choice it is. Is marble floor tile durable? What should I know to ensure the marble tile flooring is installed so that it doesn't crack? Also, is cleaning ...

Josh Garskof Money Magazine Summertime, and the living is supposed to be easy. The fish are jumping -- or maybe it's the kids at the pool -- and yard work is the last thing on your mind. But the lawn has brown spots, monochrome greenery has replaced those May flowers, and weeds ...

Jean Pattison Orlando Sentinel ORLANDO -- Thinking of remodeling your kitchen? Here's a word of advice from designer Jim Spence: "Don't just put a bunch of cabinets on the wall." Instead, "take the time with the design and spend a little extra to get a kitchen that functions well and looks great, ...

Ad Hudler Fort Myers News-Press.com It wasn't long ago, maybe the year 2000, when a Realtor would gush to a prospective homebuyer: "The kitchen's got Corian countertops!" Fast-forward to 2005: "The kitchen's got granite countertops!" And in 2009: "Of course the kitchen has granite countertops. (Yawn.) Why wouldn't it?" Countertops quarried from Mother Earth continue ...

Bob Karlovits Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Countertop and surface dealer Ed Vangura sums up the nature of backsplash projects rather succinctly. "Backsplashes are where design and practicality come together," says the head of Vangura Surfacing Products of North Huntingdon. It also is "the icing on the cake" of kitchen and even bathroom projects, adds Ruth Thompson, ...

Dana Perrigan San Francisco Chronicle Stepping through the front door, past the foyer and into the living room of Frank and Monika Levinson's home on a bright summer morning, it's easy to forget - for the moment, anyway - that their newly remodeled house in Tiburon is among the greenest around. Just ...

Matt Stark Indianapolis Star Question: Which is the better investment, a deck or a sunroom? Answer: Having built many decks and sunrooms over the past 10 years, I know a lot of factors can go into deciding which home improvement makes the most sense. A few include the desired use of the space, funds ...

Marni Jameson Marin Independent Journal To save money (which is how all our home disasters begin), my husband, Dan, decided to install our new backyard lawn and a couple flowerbeds - himself. We paid for a plan to tell us what to put where, then Dan set to work. He started in ...