At Home

Learn how to make your home more efficient and environmentally friendly with inspirational DIY projects.

Photos: Returning home after Sandy
Tue, Oct 30, 2012 5:45 PM by Matt Hickman
As evacuated homeowners and renters across the East Coast return home to assess the damage left in superstorm Sandy's wake, I tour my own waterlogged Brooklyn neighborhood of Red Hook.
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As Sandy approaches, a walk along the toxic Gowanus Canal
Mon, Oct 29, 2012 12:18 PM by Matt Hickman
Your dutiful blogger has been evacuated from his home. However, it didn't stop me from taking a stroll along with banks of an infamously filthy canal in Brooklyn that's begun flooding ahead of Hurricane Sandy's arrival.
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SC Johnson: A family company since 1886

Natural remedies for lice
Fri, Oct 26, 2012 6:28 PM by Kimi Harris
With the school season in full swing, you may have to deal with lice in your children's school — but don't panic. Here are some natural, highly effective treatment options.
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Playing catch up: Ghosts, ghouls and green home news
Fri, Oct 26, 2012 10:00 AM by Matt Hickman
Scare yourself silly this weekend-before-halloween with terrifying tales of homes built from rammed earth, chefs giving farming a go and recycled content chairs that look like 'crystalized barf.'
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Clever uses for buttons, baubles and beads
Thu, Oct 25, 2012 4:51 PM by Networx.com
Here are cool ways to reuse the contents of your grandmother's button box or your own bunch of shiny, pretty stuff you can't bear to throw out.
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GE and Sears 'connect' for smart appliance line
Wed, Oct 24, 2012 11:15 AM by Matt Hickman
Sears is the first — and for now, only — retailer to carry the GE Nucleus Home Manager along with the device's first compatible appliance: The super-efficient GeoSpring Hybrid Water Heater.
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Blue bags for a greener future: IKEA unveils People & Planet Positive strategy
Tue, Oct 23, 2012 7:34 PM by Matt Hickman
Firm in the belief that 'sustainability should not be a luxury good,' IKEA releases a sustainability strategy that, among many things, finds the retailer striving toward complete energy independence by 2020.
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'Party Rock Anthem' Halloween house shut down by HOA
Mon, Oct 22, 2012 11:49 AM by Matt Hickman
Kevin Judd enjoys programming elaborate holiday light shows at his Riverside, Calif. home. But after a video of last Halloween's 'Party Rock Anthem' display went viral, his HOA decided that enough was enough.
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What kind of storage containers will handle all my gear?
Sun, Oct 21, 2012 4:01 PM by Chanie Kirschner
When the seasons change and it's time to swap out swim fins for scarves (or vice versa), we've got you covered.
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Playing catch up: Link peeping
Fri, Oct 19, 2012 2:10 PM by Matt Hickman
Take a break from oohing and ahhing over fall foliage to admire some vivid green homes news items ranging from gut renovations on 'Elm Street' to sexy, conservation-minded beverage carbonators.
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A happier, healthier hearth: Handmade and DIY fire starter alternatives
Thu, Oct 18, 2012 4:16 PM by Matt Hickman
Avoiding chemical starter logs and gels but not in the mood to go out and gather pine needles? As fireplace season approaches, consider these fume-free fire starters as well as a few DIY options for craft-minded pyros.
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Clever uses for dried beans
Thu, Oct 18, 2012 11:43 AM by Networx.com
Of course you can eat them. But dried beans have uses that go beyond the culinary. How about pie weights, bean bags, craft projects and games?
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6 DIY ways to tell if your house is haunted
Tue, Oct 16, 2012 6:06 PM by Matt Hickman
When it's time for spiritual house cleaning, keep these techniques in mind.
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Visualight: A LED for every mood (and email)
Tue, Oct 16, 2012 9:15 AM by Matt Hickman
Meet Visualight, a WiFi-enabled LED bulb that visualizes data as colored light. In other words, when a recent crush messages you on Facebook, the lights in your home can be programmed to flash red.
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A neighborly row over hedges emerges in the Hamptons
Mon, Oct 15, 2012 4:26 PM by Matt Hickman
In the landscaping dispute-happy Hamptons, the CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald has managed to enrage his NIMBYist neighbors with what's being called a 10-foot 'revenge hedge.'
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