home + garden
Welcome to Homegirls. You'll find a sassy sampling of décor and design tips, frank conversation about everything from holidays and homekeeping to home improvement and our picks and pans of new products, stores and events.
Contributors: Kim Palmer, Lynn Underwood, Connie Nelson, Kim Ode and Nicole Hvidsten.
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Posts about Construction
Homes of the 1 percent
Posted by: Kim Palmer Updated: December 11, 2012 - 12:05 PM
As a reporter who writes mostly about homes and gardens, I don't get a lot of hate mail or angry phone calls. Nothing like the days when I covered city hall and could expect at least one or two a day.
Life is calmer, but I have sometimes wondered if anyone -- other than my mother -- is reading my stories at all, or just glancing at the pretty pictures.
But homes, in this economy, are a lot more controversial than they used to be. Just this week, the Star Tribune published two letters from readers critical of the Homes section. Here's today's: "Opening this section makes me sick. I am usually not a bitter person, but I can only wonder how anyone can afford this stuff." (http://www.startribune.com/opinion/letters/182904101.html)
I also fielded a few annoyed phone calls last month when we published a story about pianist Lorie Line's $4 million lakeshore mansion, and then, three days later, a story about it heading into foreclosure. (www.startribune.com/lifestyle/homegarden/179217631.html)
Featuring rich people's houses is "rubbing it in readers' noses" that they will never live like that, one caller told me.
For what it's worth, we do try to feature a mix of houses -- big and small, expensive and modest -- as well as overall home-related trends that affect everyone. When we do have a grandiose home in our section, we try to balance it with another story about something more accessible.
Before the recession, big, expensive homes rarely generated comment. And their owners were, on the whole, happy to share them with readers.
The faltering economy changed that dramatically. Affluent homeowners got a lot more reluctant to showcase their affluence when so many others were struggling. When we did feature a big, expensive house, we got a lot more negative feedback.
Last week, I had lunch with a freelance writer who told me she's changing her focus. "I can't write about rich peope's houses anymore," she said.
Me, I'm still fascinated by all the spaces we call "home" and the people who create them. I love the quirky starving artists' homes and the freedom they feel to glue rocks to their woodwork and paint murals on their ceilings. I love the elegant old mansions, and the sleek modern dwellings. I even loved the "punk house" I wrote about a few years ago, where a bunch of young musicians were staging shows in their filthy basement.
How about you? Are you sick of seeing homes that you can't personally afford? Or do you like peeking inside all kinds of homes?
End of the trophy kitchen?
Posted by: Kim Palmer Updated: March 13, 2012 - 1:42 PM
Cherry wood cabinets. Granite countertops. Stainless-steel appliances. For years, they've been the holy trinity of materials in upscale kitchens.
Every Parade home seemed to boast such a kitchen -- and every homeowner aspired to having one.
But there are signs that we're ready to move on from our obsession with look-alike trophy kitchens. The latest trend survey from the National Kitchen & Bath Association reveals a hint of fatigue, at least with cherry and granite.
Cherry is still extremely popular but "designers are slowly shifting away from it," according to the survey. While 80 percent of member designers specified cherry in late 2010, that figure dropped to 72 percent in 2011 and to 69 percent for the final three months of the year. On the rise: oak, walnut, birch and bamboo.
Granite remains the No. 1 choice for countertop material, but its lock released ever so slightly, from 91 percent to 87 percent in kitchens and 84 percent to 71 percent in bathrooms. Quartz, at No. 2, also waned just a bit, from 71 percent to 69 percent in kitchens, and from 56 percent to 53 percent in bathrooms. On the rise in bathrooms: marble and glass. (You can read the survey in its entirety at http://www.nkba.org/press/releases/pressreleases2012/12-02-16/NKBA_Reveals_Top_Kitchen_Bath_Trends_for_2012.aspx)
How are you feeling about cherry, granite and stainles steel these days? If you don't have them, do you still want them? If you do have them, would you choose them again today -- or try something else?
Feathering a nest
Posted by: Kim Ode Updated: March 12, 2012 - 11:13 AM
Last week, I wrote about how my house needed some refurbishing -- some fresh refeathering of the nest, if you will. So it was more than timely to have discovered the honest-to-goodness nest inhabited by two eagles and three eggs just over the border in Decorah, Iowa. A webcam lets me and thousands of others keep track of the parents-to-be. The eggs may begin hatching by the end of next week!
The webcam, www.ustream.tv/decoraheagles, is run by Raptor Resource Project, a non-profit established in 1988 to help preserve falcons, eagles, ospreys, hawks, and owls. Its mission is to "preserve and strengthen raptor populations, to expand participation in raptor preservation, and to help foster the next generation of preservationists. Our work deepens the connection between people and the natural world, bringing benefits to both."
It's true. I am benefiting from visiting, or eavesdropping on, these eagles. Why? It's hard to say, since the experience really is a matter of watching an eagle sitting on a nest. (Insert joke about paint drying here.) But it's more than that. I'm struck by the constant vigilance of the sitting eagle. I mean, what does an eagle fear? Especially when it's 80 feet int he air?
Or, perhaps, it's simply interested in what's going on around him. Or her. (It's difficult to tell eagle genders when they're sitting, says a helpful FAQ on the site.) So you find yourself watching an eagle who is watchful. After several minutes of watching "nothing happening" intently, it's as if the mind relaxes and my focus widens a bit to examine the nest itself.
What a home. What an intricate construction job. This particular nest was built in 2007, so it's withstood seasons and storms. It's about 6 feet across and 5 feet deep and weighs more than 1,300 pounds, according to the site.
Remember, this is all 80 feet off the ground. The nest is in a cottonwood tree on private property near the Decorah Fish Hatchery. You can glimpse Trout Run below the nest. When there's a good breeze, you can hear the wind in the branches, even see the tree sway a bit. Bird song is everywhere. My husband likes to keep the site in the background with the sound up. When he hears an sudden increase in the chatter and volume, that's a good clue that a nest-sitter exchange is afoot. He calls up the screen and has seen several interactions between mom and dad. He is unreasonably gladdened by this.
Not to push this too far, but it makes me think of how we keep on eye on our neighbors, their comings and goings, their interactions. We judge how they're keeping the place up. We rejoice at the sign of a new baby. We are not so different from eagles. Except for those wings, sigh.
As noted, babies may begin pecking their way to the sunlight by the end of next week. Life will become more active, more raucous, a little gorier. I will miss the Zen of the sitting eagles, but will watch the little feathers flitting about their nest with a sense of kinship.
Best neighborhood for old houses
Posted by: Kim Palmer Updated: February 28, 2012 - 11:34 AM
Photo by Tracy Loso
Looking for a great old fixer-upper? Look north -- to the Old Highland neighborhood in North Minneapolis, to be specific.
That's the advice from This Old House magazine, which recently released its annual list of "Best Old House Neighborhoods" -- 51 in the United States and 10 in Canada. (www.thisoldhouse.com/best-places.)
Minneapolis' Old Highland also made the magazine's "Top 6 Editor's Picks" and "Best Place for Fixer Uppers" list.
What makes Old Highland so great? The 30-block Victorian-era enclave boasts architectural diversity, craftsmanship and "preservation momentum," along with walkability, safety and community.
Much of the housing stock was built in the 1880s, when architects were designing residences for well-to-do merchants who operated nearby businesses. The neighborhood got its name for its location, high above Bassett Creek and Oak Lake.
Old Highland fell into decline during the 1970s when middle-class residents migrated to the 'burbs, and were replaced by absentee landlords. But residents fought back, forming an active neighborhood association.
"This area has always been stigmatized as a rough part of town, so it wasn't on my radar," resident Amy Narum told the magazine. But after moving into her partner's duplex, "I quickly realized that people here are really friendly and really close."
Old Highland (bordered by Plymouth, West Broadway, Aldrich and Girard) has a website, www.oldhighland.org.
What's your favorite "old house neighborhood" in the Twin Cities? And what do you love about it?
Home trends that have lost their luster
Posted by: Kim Palmer Updated: February 22, 2012 - 5:14 PM
Well, that was fast! Just a few years ago, the fancy home theater was a must-have.
Every high-end Parade home had one, complete with a huge projection screen, plush seating with cupholders and dramatic mood lighting.
Now, it seems, the home theater is already a bygone fad, like poodle perms and "Flashdance" legwarmers.
We still like our home entertainment and electronics. But with flat-screen TVs all over the house and gadgets that move with us from room to room, we're more likely to want a charging station for our devices than a whole room outfitted for viewing.
The decline of the recently red-hot media room emerged from a survey by the National Association of Home Builders (www.nahb.org). Today's homebuyers are practical and value-oriented, according to an article analyzing the data, by Steve Kerch (http://finance.yahoo.com/news/kiss-these-10-once-popular-home-features-goodbye.html)
Other once-popular features that are now on the wane include:
1. Outdoor kitchens and outdoor fireplaces
2. Sunrooms
3. Two-story family rooms
4. Two-story foyers.
5. Master-planned developments.
6. Luxury master bathrooms
7. Formal living rooms
8. Whirlpool tubs
What about you? Which of these home features do you already have? Do you enjoy them? Would you buy or build them again?
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