Author: By Marni Jameson
-
At Home: 21 reasons to love being home
I owe my home an apology. I have been taking her for granted. Though she never fails to be there for me, I have not been there for her. Of the past 30 nights, I have spent only five at home. I have been traveling for vacation, for work, and to help an adult child…
-
At Home: For whiter whites, try these tips from a stain pro
A Matterhorn-like mountain of household linens glided through the house as if moving under its own volition. The dogs watched warily. My husband stepped back yielding, giving the hulking mass the clearance it commanded. From deep inside the mound, a voice (mine) said, “I’m making our whites whiter.” At Home: Does your home say welcome?…
-
At Home: Want more curb appeal? A lot hinges on your door
Shopping for a home is a lot like online dating. So much rides on that first photo. Whether you’re looking for a potential house or a potential partner, a prospect’s “curb appeal” often determines whether you cross the figurative threshold or swipe left. I mean, the guy could be the nicest fellow in North America,…
-
At Home: Get your outdoor scene war-weather ready (part 2)
Aah, May. The jackets are coming off. The bugs are coming out. Memorial Day is coming up, and your friends are coming over … unless, that is, your outside is not the place to be. Then your friends are going somewhere else. If this is the year you finally are going to create an outdoor…
-
At Home: Former Real Simple editor reflects on ideas of order
“Home is a box you keep your life in — people and pets and plants and history and dreams. A biosphere, a sanctuary, your place, your space. … Your private address in a crowded universe. The place you belong.” So opens the latest issue of Ideas of Order, a magazine I just discovered, that California…
-
At Home: 10 tips to stage small spaces to sell
My youngest daughter has called Nashville home for five years. When Marissa moved there out of college to pursue grad school, my husband and I helped her by buying a small, one-bedroom condo near campus. Now she’s ready to move on. And you know what that means: Call the broker and spiff up the place.…
-
At Home: Got pets? You need these cleaning tips
“Is that what I think it is?” I ask my husband while zeroing in on a yellow, rainbow-shaped stain on the side of the white armchair. “Luke!!” We holler in unison at our 60-pound rescue mutt, who promptly flattens his ears and tail, avoids eye contact and slinks out of the room. “Are you testing…
-
At Home: Couple buys two houses for price of one
“I never thought I would want to leave my lake house,” Katie Seymour told me when I stopped by the Lake Mary, Fla., home she and her husband, Thad, had lived in for 31 years. Katie had asked me to come by to offer some staging tips to help the house sell. As she showed…
-
At Home: When renting out second home, sideline your emotions
I do not have a second home for the same reason I do not have a second husband. I can barely keep up with the one I have. But I have a lot of friends who are more competent than I am, including my friend Avril, who with her only husband as far as I…
-
Going up? Home elevators are on the rise
Ann McGee loves her home. If you saw it, you would understand. Every room of the 2,800 square-foot Mediterranean-style house in Winter Park, Fla., reflects her well-traveled life, her many friendships, her rich memories. She loves her oasislike patio. She loves her neighbors and her community. What she doesn’t love are her stairs. Colorado Springs…