Home Improvement

It’s a reality of our fragile economy: Many homeowners who dream of the perfect kitchen or master bath are putting full-scale renovation on hold in favor of more limited changes.

Often the need to get more use out of a space arises when an elderly parent joins the household or a grown child returns home.

Mixing and matching has become a trend in itself. And this trend’s more liberating than limiting.

Reading in a cozy chair is still desirable for a lot of people. Though you may be sitting with your Kindle instead of a bound text, the expression "curled up with a book" sounds so much more appealing than proclaiming that you are getting comfortable with your iPad. Right?

Home-decorating TV shows and glossy shelter magazines have many homeowners embracing the bold, unexpected use of color that cutting-edge designers love.

Home-decorating TV shows and glossy shelter magazines have many homeowners embracing the bold, unexpected use of color that cutting-edge designers love. But creative color can be tricky. Three experts offer advice on doing it right.

Second homes, designed for relaxation, are often decorated with hand-me-down furniture and other cast-offs from the owner’s main living space.

Think ballet- and watercolor-inspired pastels; soft fabrics and sheer window treatments; and curvy furniture, often in traditional shapes but updated with modern fabrics and pattern.

You probably didn’t realize, when you put an ornate old picture frame next to the sleek Pottery Barn sofa in your living room, that you had your finger on the pulse of America’s design culture.

Gas-operated fire pits, fire rings and fire-pit tables are emerging as modern-day substitutes for campfires.