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A year ago today marked my the end of my fifth week of “house arrest” (otherwise known as bed rest.)

Chloe, the older of our two daughters, was born prematurely and spent roughly six weeks in the hospital. So last May, when baby number two threatened to make an appearance two months ahead of schedule, I was advised to stay off my feet for SIX LONG WEEKS.

Being confined to bed rest in your third trimester is excruciating. Not in terms of physical discomfort (although there is a bit of that.) Rather, it’s the psychological distress that’s unbearable. Not only are you steeped in worry over your unborn child, but you’re locked in this perverse battle of wanting - or perhaps more accurately, NEEDING - to give in to the all-consuming “nesting instinct,” yet you know that your baby’s health depends on ignoring that desire/need. Ultimately, you end up glued to the couch for a month and a half, obsessing about everything that isn’t getting done. Click to continue »

In addition to the many lovely offerings at Rejuvenation and Schoolhouse Electric, all sorts of reproduction glass light shades (from schoolhouse-style shades, to etched Victorian glass shades, to lovely craftsman-style shades which would be happy in just about any bungalow) are now available at House of Antique Hardware. Click to continue »

It seems as though there’s a lot of confusion about VOCs. I’m hoping this post might, if you’ll excuse the pun, clear the air a bit.

The term “VOC” stands for “volatile organic compound.” The definition of a volatile organic compound really seems to vary depending on who is doing the defining, but basically, a VOC is an organic (carbon-based) chemical compound that will evaporate at room temperature.

As volatile organic compounds evaporate - changing from liquid form to gas/fumes - they will enter the atmosphere and contribute to the formation of ground-level ozone and smog. They will also enter the lungs of, say, someone who is painting. What’s the big deal about that? Well, here’s what the EPA has to say about the health effects of VOCs: Click to continue »

Most bungalow-lovers are familiar with the Sherwin Williams’ Arts & Crafts color collection, the Eddie Bauer Home Bungalow Color collection at Lowe’s, and Pittsburgh Paints’ Chicago Bunaglow color collection, but there’s new color collection released earlier this spring that may also be worth a look.

Kelly-Moore Paints has introduced a new palette called “Historic Lifestyles of the West.” Developed by respected color expert Robert Schweitzer (who wrote the book “Bungalow Colors Exteriors“), the collection contains 106 lovely, mellow colors inspired by the architecture of the late 1800s and early 1900s. The collection is dived by era/architectural style and includes shades appropriate for Victorian, English Revival, Spanish Revival, Arts and Crafts, Jazz Age and mid-century modern homes.

Kelly-Moore Paints are available in Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas and Washington.

Has anyone out there tried the new Freshaire paint they’re selling at Home Depot? If not, here’s your chance to try it for free… Click to continue »

A few months back, Julio wrote that our daughters’ playroom was finished. Truthfully, it wasn’t quite finished - in fact, it still isn’t quite finished - but it’s usable, and that’s almost as good as finished, right?

Since that initial posting, we’ve let our older daughter Chloe have free reign of the playroom. The end result? TOTAL CHAOS! Toys, crayons, drawings, princess paraphernalia and Candy Land game pieces have littered nearly every surface. We’ve often found ourselves wondering why we spent so many months building a playroom when, clearly, Chloe would have been just as happy if we’d rented a dumpster, poured her belongings inside, and plunked her in with them. Click to continue »

Are you currently involved in a “green” renovation/restoration, or planning to embark upon one sometime in the next year? If so, the National Trust for Historic Preservation wants to hear from you!

Which products and/or methods of eco-friendly construction have you used? Have you been happy with the results? What did you learn along the way? Looking back, is there anything you would do differently?

Just fill out this survey and your green-renovation expertise could help other homeowners achieve the environmentally-friendly remodel of their dreams.

Attention Portland-area bungalow lovers! The second annual Portland Bungalow Show is just around the corner and is sure to be chock full o’ bungalow goodness, complete with fabulous vendor booths, informative lectures and hands-on window restoration workshops.

A separately-ticketed wine-tasting and lecture event is scheduled for the evening of Saturday, May 17 from 7 - 10 p. m. and will feature presentations by the astoundingly talented CJ Hurley and renowned bungalow photographer Alexander Vertikoff.

If that isn’t quite enough to pique your interest, we have one more little tidbit of information to share with you. The “Painting Your Bungalow” lecture scheduled for 3 p.m. on Saturday, May 17 will be delivered by none other than Stephanie Brown of Local Color - otherwise known as Mrs. Bungalow Insanity.

Hope to see you there!

Have you heard about the Home Depot $25,000 Holiday Gift Card Contest?

Do-it-yourselfers are currently posting videos on You Tube showcasing home improvement projects in dire need of attention. On December 17, a winning entry will be chosen, and Home Depot will award some lucky homeowner with a $25,000 Home Depot Gift Card.

What can we say? We couldn’t resist! So, if you haven’t already submitted an entry of your own, we’d love it if you would click on the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Mr6WrO-ADA

View count accounts for 20 percent of the points awarded to each submission, so we really need to get as many people as we can to watch our little video as soon as possible because the contest ends this weekend. If you’re a horror movie fan, you may even get a chuckle from our submission. We can pretty much guarantee that our entry is one of a kind.

Thanks in advance for watching!

Since the holidays are just around the corner, we thought we’d post a little public service announcement about Christmas tree lights and lead dust.

Take a peek at your holiday light strings and you may notice that some of them feature lead warning labels. The plastic coating on holiday light wires is typically made of PVC, and PVC often contains lead. There are actually some practical reasons for this. For example, lead provides the plastic with flexibility, and flexible plastic is less likely to crack. Cracked plastic can expose the wires beneath, and exposed wires can potentially lead to fires. Lead can also help the plastic coating retain that Christmas-tree-green color, and that makes the cords less visible as they hang on your tree. Unfortunately, the lead doesn’t necessarily remain in the plastic, so it can be shed as lead dust. (Artificial Christmas trees made of PVC can also shed lead dust, which can land on the presents beneath the tree, just FYI. )

Since lead is known to cause neurological damage, especially in small children and pets, the Children’s Health Environmental Coalition (CHEC) recommends the following:

• Don’t allow children to play with or handle strings of holiday lights
• Wash your hands thoroughly after hanging your holiday lights
• Avoid holiday lights manufactured in China where lead use in consumer products is not regulated
• Assume that all holiday lights contain lead unless otherwise labeled

California is the only state in U.S. that requires lead warning labels on holiday lights, so lead-containing lights manufactured in other states may not be labeled as such. Also, if you have owned your lights for several years, they may have been manufactured before lead warning labels were required. If you aren’t sure if your holiday lights contain lead, you can always give them a quick swab with a lead test kit, available at most hardware and home improvement stores.

The CHEC Safer Products Store sells a set of holiday lights which, according to the manufacturer, is lead -free except for the cord:

http://checnet.greenhome.com/products/kids/art_supplies/107864/

The great thing about these lights is that they are LED lights, so in addition to containing very little lead, they are extremely energy efficient and should last for about twenty years.

Happy holidays!