Online Features
Home Improvement
Seven ways to a healthy home: Make wellness a priority this winter
(BPT) - During the winter months, it’s important to take extra care of your home, your family and especially yourself. In addition to taking steps to prevent cold and flu viruses that are common at this time of year, you should also pause to relax and recharge, if only for a few minutes each day. Luckily, there are a...
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Go with the flow to add flexibility to your home
(BPT) - Talk to any contemporary architect, remodeler, interior designer or homeowner, and you’ll find one of the hot topics these days is “flow.” Gone are the days of floor plans burdened by closed-off, claustrophobic rooms, each designed around specific functions. “Today’s new homes and home remodeling projects em...
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Customization trend is changing how we shop, cook and eat
(BPT) - It seems consumers want to customize just about everything these days. Why? Because they can. Advances in online capabilities and a growing desire to make life’s experiences uniquely our own are changing the way we shop, cook and eat. While customization has been around for some time, the accessibility of onlin...
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Siding with style adds timeless value
(BPT) - As cooler temperatures approach, more homeowners are turning to value-driven renovation projects that will warm up their space and withstand the test of time. Replacing outdoor siding is the home improvement site’s No. 1 pick for projects that add value to your home, according to HGTV.com. Siding that is in bad...
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Living in luxury with the look of stone and slate flooring
You can enjoy the rich, natural beauty and timeless appeal of stone or slate flooring anywhere in your home. The inspiring looks and touchable textures of stone and slate are actually available in an affordable, comfortable-to-walk-on, easy-care floor. The look is so natural, so real that it’ll take more than a first or...
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Fire safety tips protect your family through the holiday season
(BPT) - With colder temperatures forecast across the country, activities are moving indoors, and families are preparing to celebrate time-honored traditions and new beginnings. Boxes of decorations, candles and strings of lights will be unpacked and spread throughout homes. Seasonal family feasts will be prepared. Whil...
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Holiday gift ideas for the DIYer
(BPT) - The holidays are here and for the do-it-yourselfer who always has a list of “to-do” projects to tackle, a new tool makes a great gift. From the weekend warrior to automotive enthusiast, an addition to the tool box is certain to bring a smile to their face. Here are some ideas from Craftsman to get you started f...
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Homeowners tackling more home improvement projects themselves
(BPT) - On any given weekend, homeowners can be found climbing around in attics to add insulation, repairing shingles on the roof, installing new floors in kitchens and bathrooms, and handling many other home improvement projects that, with a little elbow grease, they are able to do themselves. This trend is crossing...
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Make your home smarter and more efficient this winter
The coldest time of the year can also be the busiest. With holiday entertaining, overnight guests and winter getaways, it can be hard to ensure your home heating and other systems are performing for optimal comfort and efficiency. In addition, the Department of Energy reports that no matter what energy source you use, he...
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Home remodeling tips for baby boomers entering their golden years
As America's 77 million-strong baby boomers reach retirement age, one thing is absolutely clear -- they are not going to quietly retreat into their golden years. The most active generation in America's history wants homes that will support their active lifestyles, and homes that will accommodate the challenges boomers wi...
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By Victoria Cavaliere SEASIDE HEIGHTS, New Jersey (Reuters) - The New Jersey shore ushered in the unofficial start of summer on Friday, with businesses making last-minute preparations and officials declaring the resort towns ready for visitors seven months after Superstorm Sandy. Governor Chris Christie oversaw a ribbon-cutting ceremony to open a freshly re-constructed boardwalk in Seaside Heights and declared it "a great day for New Jersey." "We're here with the whole country welcoming the Jersey shore back," he said. ...
(Reuters) - President Barack Obama signed a bill into law on Friday granting the United States' highest civilian honor to four black girls killed in a civil rights-era church bombing that shocked the nation in 1963. Congress awarded the Congressional Gold Medal to 14-year-olds Addie Mae Collins, Carole Robertson and Cynthia Wesley, and 11-year-old Denise McNair, who were killed in the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. ...
(Reuters) - Tornadoes that struck the United States from May 18 to May 20 caused between $2 billion to $5 billion of insured losses, disaster modeling company Eqecat said late Thursday. At the high end of the range, the tornado outbreak may rank as the second-worst ever in terms of insured losses, behind the late-April 2011 twisters that devastated Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and other communities. Eqecat said most of the losses were attributed to the tornado that devastated Moore, Oklahoma, on Monday. ...