Online Features
Kitchen, Bed & Bath
Find inspiration for your home in 2013 with the latest design trends
(BPT) - We’re all looking forward to a fresh start at the beginning of the new year: Whether it’s an updated fitness regime, pursuing new hobbies or getting organized, there are a slew of resolutions to try. In 2013, why not make a few changes to not only yourself, but also your home? By incorporating cutting-edge desig...
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Simple ways to freshen up that stuffy bathroom or kitchen
(BPT) - If there’s one room in the house that cries out for fresh air, it’s the kitchen. And if there’s a second room that can benefit from Mother Nature’s sweet breath, it’s the bathroom. When humidity and odors build up in a room, a host of disagreeable results arises, from mold and mildew to dank, unpleasant air. Ex...
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Overcoming common bathroom addition challenges
(BPT) - Adding a bathroom to your home remains one of the most popular and rewarding home improvements you can make. In fact, when you sell your home, you can expect to recoup more than 50 percent of the cost of a bathroom addition, according to Remodeling Magazine’s Cost vs. Value Report. Creating a new bathroom where ...
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Kitchen remodeling: How to go from a far-off dream to 'DIY'
(BPT) - Year after year, no matter the state of the housing market, kitchen remodeling remains a good idea. The project perennially tops lists of value-for-your-money home improvements and almost every buyer will be attracted to a kitchen that’s updated and move-in ready. Even if you’re planning on staying in your home ...
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Simple steps to effortless entertaining
(BPT) - Whether you’re a hosting aficionado or a novice entertainer, planning a party at home can carry a certain level of stress. Sometimes, despite all the cleaning, cooking and decorating we do to prepare, it’s the easily overlooked little things that can cause the biggest unwelcome surprises. The No. 1 disaster exp...
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Your bedroom: the key to a restful night's sleep
(BPT) - Whether snuggling in for the night or just trying to catch a quick few winks, your environment plays an important role in determining if you’re counting sheep or counting Zzzs. From noise reduction to lighting, there are a few easy ways you can turn your bedroom into a tranquil oasis. “A third of the adult popu...
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Caregiver 101: Creating a safe and happy environment for your loved ones
(BPT) - Nearly 66 million people, or 29 percent of the U.S. adult population, are providing care to someone who is ill, disabled or aged, according to the National Center for Caregiving. And, according to AARP, 61 percent of family caregivers who are 50-plus also work either full-time or part-time. How can busy caregive...
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Use luxury and glamour to create an affordable bathroom spa setting
(BPT) - There are showers, and then there are luxurious “showering experiences,” that wake you up in the morning, and refresh you after a long day of work. It’s one thing to enjoy a spa-like setting when actually in a spa, and paying spa prices, and another thing to know you can saunter into a spa each and every day in ...
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ARA
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Use the winter months to update and beautify your bathroom
(BPT) - Remodeling and refreshing the home is a great way to keep cabin fever at bay during long winter months. Designing a bathroom remodel to incorporate innovative style, comfort and efficiency helps to speed the winter months along, and your family will certainly enjoy the rest of the season with a beautiful new bat...
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Outside-the-box holiday gifts for inside the home
(BPT) - In the words of a popular Christmas carol, there’s no place like home for the holidays - it’s where family gathers and where long-treasured memories are made. So this year as you begin shopping for those on your list, why not gift something for them and for their abode? There’s something for everyone - for the m...
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By Malia Mattoch McManus HONOLULU (Reuters) - The city of Detroit may be facing a deepening financial crisis but that hasn't stopped four trustees of its public pension funds from spending $22,000 of retirement system funds to attend a conference in Hawaii this week. The trip 4,500 miles west to a four-star resort on the world-famous Waikiki Beach in Honolulu doesn't sit well with the top officials now running Detroit's finances under an emergency order from the state of Michigan. ...
By Tim Gaynor NACO, Mexico (Reuters) - Mexican activist Maria Elena Borquez takes up a paintbrush and daubs a bright splotch of color on the rusted steel fence separating the small Mexican town of Naco from a neighboring town in the United States. "The wall projects hostility," she said, paint pot in hand and surrounded by youngsters from both the United States and Mexico. "The idea is to transform it with art, friendship, colors and life ... into something that unites us," said Borquez, who is director of the local museum. ...
By David Schwartz PHOENIX (Reuters) - The foreman of an Arizona jury that deadlocked over whether Jodi Arias should be put to death for murdering her ex-boyfriend believes she was mentally abused, but said on Friday that had not been enough to excuse her crime. Arias, a former waitress from California, was found guilty this month of murdering Travis Alexander, whose body was found slumped in the shower of his Phoenix-area home in June 2008. He had been stabbed 27 times, had his throat slashed and been shot in the face. ...