My newly reupholstered sofa was getting filthy, courtesy of two indoor cats. When I couldn’t find a fitted, washable slipcover I liked, I decided to make one myself.

Replacing my old fence with a taller cedar fence gave me more than privacy. It gave me back control of my yard—and made it a place I could actually use.

A whole-house renovation is crammed with dependencies. I built a master timeline to keep every tradesperson on schedule—then pulled out the handyman’s tasks, deadlines, and dependencies into a plan of his own.

Line guides your eye through a room, creates visual structure, and affects how a space feels. Learn how to recognize the lines in your home—and use them to make your rooms work better.

When I couldn’t find the reading chair I wanted, I reluctantly explored ordering a custom reading chair—and discovered that custom furniture wasn’t nearly as out of reach as I thought.

Dahlias are spectacular, flamboyant, thirsty, demanding, and completely worth the trouble. Here’s what I’ve learned about growing these glorious garden prima donnas.

I close on the house, meet the final member of my renovation team, and say a very satisfying good-bye to the HOA. Tomorrow, the real work begins.

Space is one of the seven elements of interior design. Learn how to arrange your rooms around function, improve traffic flow, and create spaces that feel comfortable and natural to use.

Replacing a bathtub is far more involved than swapping one fixture for another. Follow my twelve-day bathroom renovation as my handyman and I replace a standard builder-grade tub with one designed for comfort, solve unexpected installation problems, and transform an ordinary bathroom into a space built to last.

Inherited landscaping doesn't have to stay—or go. Learn how to evaluate existing landscape plants, decide what to keep, and build a landscape that works for you.

One day before closing on my house, I lined up contractor estimates, met the mold remediation specialist, and discovered how the attic's "little dead critters" had gotten inside. A quiet day on the renovation timeline—but an important lesson in getting ahead of your renovation before moving in.

Every DIY project comes with risk. Learn the four questions to ask before picking up a tool—and how to decide when it's smarter to hire a professional instead.

A standard bathtub left me choosing between cold knees, cold shoulders, or cold feet every time I tried to relax. In Part 1 of this RTTPYO project, I explain why standard tubs are so short, how I evaluated soaking tubs, and the step-by-step process I used to choose the right bathtub, tile, paint, and shower door for a bathroom that finally worked for me.

Foundation planting isn't about hiding your foundation—it's about solving problems. Follow along as I research, plant, and battle an underground network of Chinese elm roots to create a low-maintenance foundation planting that frames my home, guides visitors to the front door, and leaves room for the garden I envisioned.

Replacing every light fixture in my new house taught me far more than how to shop for lighting. Learn how ambient, task, and accent lighting work together—and why building your criteria before you start shopping leads to better decisions and fewer regrets.

Painting is the fastest, most affordable way to transform a room. Learn how to choose paint, prep your space, avoid common mistakes, and paint like a pro—even if you've never picked up a roller before.

I started having nightmares about the trees in my front yard. In them, I could hear the roots growing into my foundation. The trees leaned over my little ranch house until the house almost disappeared beneath them. I tried to start a garden but all my plants withered and died. So I declared war earlier than planned.

Buying kitchen appliances turned out to be more complicated than buying my kitchen cabinets. Here's how I compared models, timed Labor Day sales, saved more than $1,500, and avoided one appliance delivery mistake that could have derailed my renovation.

Even the best-managed home renovations yank you out of your comfort zone and into a noisy, dirty, stressful reality where strangers suddenly become the most important people in your life. Your home renovation doesn’t have to become a Death Spiral. With the right approach, you can stay in control of your reno—and your sanity.

Replacing my old hardwood floors was supposed to take four days. Instead, I ended up living on exposed subfloor for months while the flooring manufacturer argued that defective flooring was due to "the beauty of natural wood."