Index to Articles by Topic

Change view: View articles in alphabetical order.

Design and Construction

• Building by Design: The Design-Builder Concept
  A design-builder is a modern form of an ancient approach to building structures — that of the master builder. A master builder of old was a combination architect, engineer and builder, responsible for every phase of building a structure from initial concept to completion. Design-building firms such as StarCraft Custom Builders continue this oldest of building traditions.
• Can I Do It Myself
  You can always do at least some of your remodeling yourself. How much you can do depends on the extent of the work to be done, how much knowledge you have of building techniques and such things as building code requirements; and the three "T"s: Time, Talent and Tools. Find out what you can tackle youself and what you should absolutely leave for the pros.
• Coordinating Architectural and Interior Styles
  How to update your home and still keep its unique architectural character is one of the questions we are asked frequently. People are keenly aware that a contemporary chrome and glass kitchen does not go well with a 19th century Victorian home, but what does? Victorians did not actually have kitchens like we have today, so how do you make a fully functional modern kitchen look like it could have been a part of a Victorian home? Learn how to coordinate your interior with your house's architecture.
• The Construction Process
  Once your blueprints are completed, the real work begins. Your project manager works with you to develop a construction process that minimizes disruption to your household while work is in progress.
• The Design Process
  If your plans include substantial changes to your kitchen or bath, or another room, or you are contemplating an addition; then a construction plan is required. Learn how your ideas are turned into a concept plan and then a construction blueprint in a three-step process using computer-assisted design.
• Guide to Nebraska Hardwoods for Cabinetmakers and Woodworkers
  Most of the fine native American hardwoods commonly, and uncommonly, used in cabinetry grow and are milled into lumber in Nebraska. If you were not aware that hardwood is a Nebraska crop, read this detailed guide to Nebraska hardwoods.
• Instant Trivets Guaranteed to Match your Decor (Tips and Tricks)
  Turn your leftover tile into decor-matched trivets for your houseplants, as hot pads, and as a cheese board for your next bridge game. See how.
• James Hoban: Master Builder (Sidebar)
  An Irishman designed and built the most famous house in American: The White House. Learn about this little known master builder.
• Living Through Remodeling
  Remodeling will disrupt just about every routine you have; including some you are not aware of having. But this noisy, gritty process doesn't necessarily mean you will be tearing out your hair. With a little advance planning, it is possible to live through even major renovations with your sanity and good nature largely intact. Check out our remodeling survivors guide.
• Porcelain or Ceramic: What is the difference?
  Is it porcelain tile or is it ceramic tile? Does it really make any difference? Find out here.
• Tips and Tricks
  Good design and building tricks we've either seen or done recently.

Additions

• Building Your Addition
  We don't build the old-fashioned way when new technology works better. Learn about the new foundation and framing technologies we use to build your super-insulated addition at the lowest possible cost.
• The Deck Handbook
  Learn the basics of deck design and construction using the latest materials and techniques.
• Jungle in the Dining Room, The Solarium Addition
  These owners wanted to view a tropical forest through the French doors of their dining room. See how we built an indoor garden of tropical plants that doubled as a source of solar heating.
• Planning Your Addition
  Here are the basic rules for designing an addition that is as functional as it is beautiful.
• Structural Insulated Panel Construction
  Structural insulated panel systems are the leading edge technology for building air-tight, super-insulated, extremely strong walls and roofs at less than the cost of conventional construction. Find out about this Energy-Star rated construction system that is sweeping the country.
• Whole Wall Insulation (Sidebar)
  The R-12 insulation in your walls may be providing only R-8 thermal protection. The Oak Ridge National Laboratory has come up with a new technique for measuring actual R-value that is a lot more accurate than the current methods. Which materials are winners and which are losers in the R-value rating game? Find out.

Bath

• The Bathroom Revolution
  The role of the bathroom is changing rapidly. The importance of the bath in our homes has grown dramatically. Spacious rooms, closeted toilets, double bowl lavatories, whirlpool tubs, and recently large walk-in showers have found their way into our homes. No longer just a functional room, the bath is becoming a retreat. How can you modernize your bath into one of these gracious rooms? Find out here.
• The Bathroom Shower as Spa and Therapy Center (Sidebar)
  If you would like to go a bit beyond an ordinary shower, today's showering choices give you a lot of options.
• Cabinet Basics
  There's oak, maple, hickory, ash, cherry. Faced and unfaced. Framed and frameless. Custom, semi-custom and manufactured. MDF, Melamine, Thermofoil, even steel. So many choices. How do you pick the cabinets that are just right for you? Click here to find out.
• Creating More Bathroom Space
  Our fondness of open spaces within the home doesn't end at the bathroom door. Unfortunately the acreage needed to create that spacious feeling just is not available in many older bathrooms. Often the key to updating a bath is creating more space — or at least the illusion of more space. This article examines where additional space can be found both outside and inside your existing bathroom.
• Flooring Options for Kitchens and Baths
  Wood, stone, vinyl, ceramic tile, laminated flooring. What are the pros and cons of each? Learn the fundamentals of kitchen flooring.
• New and Traditional Countertop Choices
  Exciting changes are happening in the world of countertop materials. Options that simply did not exist 10 years ago are in every home store today. Is solid surfacing, laminate, stone or tile your best choice? Or maybe something more exotic. Take a look at the incredible selection of modern counter top materials.
• Planning Your Dream Bath
  Just what should you consider in planning your new bathroom? Here are some timely ideas from the editors of Better Homes & Gardens.
• The Rules of Bathroom Design
  The Kitchen and Bath Association has published guidelines for designing a safe and functional bathroom. Created and maintained by a panel of expert designers, these recommendations should be closely followed in any kitchen plan.
• Selecting Bath Fixtures
  The choices of bathroom fixtures are a little overwhelming. Tubs, showers, sinks, faucets and toilets come in so many shapes, sizes, colors and with such a great variety of features that choosing the right fixtures can be a challenge. Here are some guidelines and suggestions.
• Sources of Supply: Faucets
  Thinking about buying a faucet? Before your do, see our list of major faucet manufacturers with ratings and guidelines on what to look for and how to select a good, lifetime faucet.
• The Stone Look without the Stone Price (Tips and Tricks)
  If you like the look of a stone countertop, but the cost makes you gasp. There are some tricks to getting that stone look without the stone price.
• Taking the Crook Out of a Crooked Bathroom
  Among the major problems of this bathroom were that its walls were crooked, and looked it. See how we fixed this problem without rebuilding the walls, opened up the room visually and provided some unique storage in a small guest bathroom.
• Ten Important Elements of a Good Bathroom
  A little planning along with a thoughtful selection of fittings and fixtures can make a big difference. Here are designer David Edrington's thoughts on good bath design.
• Using Toe-Kick Space (Tips and Tricks)
  The toe-kick space under your cabinets can be effectively used for extra storage, to store kitchen and bathroom accessories and for truly dramatic lighting.

Closet and Storage

• The Well Organized Closet
  If your closets look like the aftermath of the perfect storm, you need a little organization. See how you can do it yourself, or call us so we can do it for you.
• Beyond the Closet — 21st Century Storage Solutions
  The clothes closet, a 19th century storage innovation, is completely inadequate for clothing organization in the 21st century. Learn how to double clothing storage, organize it better, and have complete access to each and every clothing item — all in the space of small reach-in closet.

Fine Furniture and Built-Ins

• Fine Furniture and Built-Ins
  We craft fine furniture and built-ins to match any decor or preference. From traditional to avant-garde, from Chinese to French Provincial, there is no look we cannot reproduce. View our work here.
• Major Andre's Bane (Sidebar)
  When asked to reproduce an earlier American mahogany secretary, we had no idea that the original was the desk at which George Washington was seated when he signed British Maj. John Andre's order of execution by hanging as a spy.

Home Offce

• Can You Deduct Your Home Office? (Sidebar)
  If you are planning to finance your new home office in part by tax deductions, you had better know the rules.
• An Office in Your Home
  If you have a computer in your home, you probably have a home office. It may be very basic: a computer and printer on a folding table, some old grocery cartons for filing. But if your needs are a little more demanding, then you might consider upgrading your existing arrangement. Find out how to design and build a home office.

Kitchen

• Adapting a Kitchen to a Budget
  If you feel you cannot afford a great kitchen, think again. A terrific kitchen does not have to break the bank. You may have to get creative and even make a few compromises in your original grand design, but you will end up with a wonderful kitchen that will look good and serve your needs for years to come.
• Adapting a Kitchen to Human Dimensions and Movement
  Few homeowners are of average height, average girth; have average reach or average range of motion; or use their kitchens in an average manner. Yet almost all kitchens are arranged and sized using standards written for the the mythical average person. Unless you happen to be that perfectly average person, standard kitchen dimensions and arrangements may not be right for you. Here is how we adapted one kitchen to the physical characteristics and limitations its owners.
• Behind the Scenes — The Hidden Kitchen
  Behind the beautiful new cabinets, under the sparking countertops, beneath the gleaming tile floor are the invisible bones and sinew that make the kitchen work - electricity, venting, heating and plumbing. Find out all that's needed behind the scenes.
• Cabinet Basics
  There's oak, maple, hickory, ash, cherry. Faced and unfaced. Framed and frameless. Custom, semi-custom and manufactured. MDF, Melamine, Thermofoil, even steel. So many choices. How do you pick the cabinets that are just right for you? Click here to find out.
• Designing Efficient and Effective Kitchen Lighting
  The kitchen is more than just a place to cook and eat. It usually serves as the administrative and the social hub of the home. The kitchen uses a lot of energy for lighting. That makes this room an important place to use efficient lighting. While remodeling your kitchen, you have the perfect opportunity to create a highly efficient lighting system. Find out how.
• Finding Some More Kitchen Space
  In many cases, existing kitchens are just too small for any real improvement in space management. Learn where to get more space, or at least the illusion of more space for your new kitchen.
• Flooring Options for Kitchens and Baths
  Wood, stone, vinyl, ceramic tile, laminated flooring. What are the pros and cons of each? Learn the fundamentals of kitchen flooring.
• How to Measure Your Kitchen
  All the steps required to measure a kitchen explained and illustrated. Learn to measure like a pro.
• Mise en Place: What We Can Learn from Commercial Kitchens
  Organized to prepare a large variety of appetizing meals at a moment's notice, we can learn a lot about kitchen efficiency from studying commercial kitchens.
• New and Traditional Countertop Choices
  Exciting changes are happening in the world of countertop materials. Options that simply did not exist 10 years ago are in every home store today. Is solid surfacing, laminate, stone or tile your best choice? Or maybe something more exotic. Take a look at the incredible selection of modern counter top materials.
• The Rules of Kitchen Design
  In 1944 the University of Illinois conducted a study of kitchen design and developed fundamental design principals that have been modified periodically from time to time, but are still very much in use today. Here are the 31 rules for designing great kitchens.
• Sources of Supply: Faucets
  Thinking about buying a faucet? Before your do, see our list of major faucet manufacturers with ratings and guidelines on what to look for and how to select a good, lifetime faucet.
• The Stone Look without the Stone Price (Tips and Tricks)
  If you like the look of a stone countertop, but the cost makes you gasp. There are some tricks to getting that stone look without the stone price.
• Using Toe-Kick Space (Tips and Tricks)
  The toe-kick space under your cabinets can be effectively used for extra storage, to store kitchen and bathroom accessories and for truly dramatic lighting.
• Kitchen Ergonomics (Sidebar)
  The kitchen — unlike most other rooms in the home — is a workplace. The job of preparing and serving meals gets done there. Making that environment fit you is a most critical factor in your satisfaction with your kitchen.

Back to Top