Renovations are an exciting time.  They are full of hope, anticipation and dreams of beautiful new spaces.  But they are also annoyingly messy and stressful!  Dust and fumes are two major health issues with any renovation project.  Toxin filled dust is created during demolition, drywall installation, sanding, and many other renovation activities.  Toxic fumes will abound from building materials, fixtures and finishes (unless you follow the healthy building material guidelines).  Protect yourself and your family from the hazards of construction by following these key tips to maintaining a healthy living space during your renovation.

Dryer sheets serve a useful purpose.  They keep our dresses from sticking to our thighs, and fleece jackets from sending electric currents through us when we pull them from the dryer.  But – are they safe?  In this post I'll discuss potential health concerns and what I've found to be suitable alternatives to conventional dryer sheets. 

Last year we bought this awesome ski cabin in the woods.  Through my dreamy eyes, it was full of charm, contemporary rustic-ness and potential.  But in reality it was a poorly constructed, poorly designed 35 year old musty house.  *whomp whomp.*  

We bought the 1,350 square foot house knowing that it would be a fixer upper and began making improvements as soon as we moved in.  Since I am an architect, I started with how we can fix the layout of the house to make it function better.  There were awkward and unusable spaces all over the house.  This post is going to walk you through the existing floor plan, and how I altered it to give it better flow and functionality.  I will also explain how I focused on a layout that will promote a healthy lifestyle.

This article is Part 2 of my Engineered Wood Siding review. Part 2 will dive into some of the other siding choices out there and uncover how we ultimately decided on engineered wood siding.