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Forever homes come in all shapes and sizes — and ages and states of (dis)repair

May 23, 2023
It will need “a lot of TLC," Candice Sides said about the 19th-century log cabin she bought to be her family's eventual home.
"People think of old houses as haunted and creepy, but when I walk in, I get this warm, comfort feeling," Candice Sides said of her newly purchased cabin, above.
Courtesy Lydia Spink

Why is modern interior design so gray?

Aug 29, 2022
Amid the rise of HGTV after the real estate meltdown of 2008, investors have remodeled a vast swath of properties to look alike.
The drive to make money from housing, rather than live in it, has entrenched a handful of design tropes that include gray floors and mosaic tiles, observes Amanda Mull of The Atlantic.
kobzev3179/Getty Images

Does the DIY home improvement boom have staying power?

Dec 14, 2021
Do-it-yourself projects were declining. Then the pandemic arrived.
Jessa Wais is co-director of the Station North Tool Library in Baltimore, where members can borrow tools and take home-repair classes.
Amy Scott/Marketplace

Victoria Rowell on why she started a DIY show for the marginalized

Sep 7, 2020
Victoria Rowell, executive producer and host of "Trash vs. Treasure," talks about the value of cardboard and the dignity of living in a home you love.
Victoria Rowell speaks at the Dream In Black Sunday Brunch during the 2019 Sundance Film Festival at The Blackhouse Foundation on January 27, 2019 in Park City, Utah.
Natalie Behring/Getty Images for The Blackhouse Foundation

Building a house, one log at a time

Feb 19, 2020
Brigitte Ruthman has always wanted to live in a log home. "It's like living in artwork," she said.
Brigitte Ruthman's cabin she built near Sandisfield, Massachusetts.
Courtesy of Brigitte Ruthman

Sewing made easy: A fashion startup wants to simplify DIY

Sep 12, 2019
No sewing machine? No problem, says Zoey Washington of SewSquad.
Sewing supplies next to a garment made with a SewSquad kit.
Steven Byeon/Marketplace

Dollar signs on the doilies

Mar 5, 2015
Etsy's scaling up, but how does that sit with its socially-minded users?

For public good, not for profit.

Have you cut out the middle man?

Oct 3, 2014
When have you skipped the middle man, and just done it yourself?

My money story: Synthpop band Future Islands

Aug 15, 2014
Future Islands and the art of letting go.