Kathy Conway: A Forever Home Sweet Home
01.02.10
Bailey the orange Tabby had made the trip to my hometown a few times and she always settled
in quickly at her grandparents’ house. The drive to upstate New York could range from five to
seven hours. Initially, she would cry a little. A green eye would glare at me through a hole on
the side of her carrier for the first few miles and then she would settle in for a nap.
Upon arrival at my parents’ home, she would take a little tour, visit the litter box and curl up on
a bed or in grampa’s chair, where she could watch the crackling logs in the fireplace. My family
insisted that it would be no trouble for us to bring Diablo too after he joined our household.
Marc bought a purple harness and leash for him, which looked beautiful against Diablo’s shiny
black fur. The plan was to supervise his activities with a long leash on the harness, so he could
wander a bit.
Bailey’s biggest adventure at my parents’ home was when she stepped onto the piano keyboard
and
Source: Frederick News Post (subscription)
8 Hot Kitchen Trends for 2010
22.01.10
As houses get smaller, kitchens are carrying more responsibility. Today’s kitchen is still the hub of the home, and also a spot that’s big on multitasking -- particularly now that many of the functions that previously had their own designated territory (e.g., laundry, dining, home office) are being absorbed into the kitchen/great room realm, Camp said.
But packing all that functionality into one area takes some coordination. Space-saving solutions often include banquette seating, hideaway laundry appliances (inside pantries or behind veneer panels), and small, built-in workspaces that allow parental supervision of homework time. Kitchen-side desks are also prime spots for sorting mail, paying bills, looking up recipes, and catching up on email while you have a pot on the stove.
Certain hard and fast rules of workspace design must not be broken, however, even in spaces that perform double or triple duty. Space allocated for storage, counter space, and appliances should be evenly balanced, Camp advised. The “path of food flow” (i.e., where cooks do their thing) should not intersect with flow-through traffic through the space, and every kitchen should have at least one 36” countertop for prep work.
Source: Builder Magazine
