The New Kitchen Faucet

It wasn't so long ago that my kitchen faucet took a turn for the worse. Faced with the task of replacing our busted unit, I turned to my stellar internet sleuthing skills to educate myself on the options and narrowed down my functional requirements. (In case you've forgotten, I was going for a single-hole, high arc, pull-down sprayer faucet with some sort of hands-free technology.) With recommendations in hand from a few of our interior design friends (including this timely piece from Life of an Architect), I finally had it all figured out...

Remember that one? Later, alligator...

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Planting a Shade Garden

With the opportunity to do some landscaping when we moved into our house, I chose plants for functionality (skip laurels for privacy) and sentimentality (a dogwood and a japanese maple, familiar from my childhood). Being a novice gardener, I was next drawn to showy flowering plants, most requiring full to partial sun. Left neglected? A large portion of the yard in almost full shade where not even the grass would grow.

So what's a girl to do? Why consult with our favorite local outdoor living expert, Susan Cohan, of course! I had thought that the shady corner was destined to be a mass of bland ferns but she helped me understand the potential that this space holds. Now, thanks to her, I've got a list of plants hand-picked to grace my shady corner which should (fingers crossed!) withstand the abundant shade, local deer population and the weather extremities of our zone 6-6B climate.

The Calycanthus, or sweetshrub, is an top choice for a blooming shrub in my shade garden.
Images by Will Cook.

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Knobs, Levers, Locks & Hinges: Choosing Door Hardware

For some time now, I have been in the midst of an interior door replacement project. As if choosing the doors themselves wasn't enough of a challenge, there has also been all the hardware decisions to make.  Along the way, I have tried to keep in mind some sage interior decorating advice I received last fall and this week, I finally hit a major milestone: the arrival of my new door hardware. Let's be clear, it was not an easy road for all those doorknobs to make it to my front step.

Many moons later, the "door furniture" has arrived...

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A Space of My Own: The Home Office

Still trying to get a handle on the clutter in the house, I recently noticed that all my work-related things lacked a formal home. A little here, a little there. I knew where everything was (e.g., "third stack on the dining room table from the left") but that didn't mean it appeared orderly or neat. So in an effort to carve out a space of my own, I decided to claim the den as my office. It's not solely mine. On the 20% chance we have guests staying with us, this room will serve as a guest bedroom. But for the other 80%, it's all mine.

My newly claimed desk in its earliest incarnation.

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Getting Started: Induction Cooking

It's a new year, so it must be time to think about this year's renovations and projects around the home. I think it's time to take a fresh look at an old kitchen standby: the cooktop. Up until now, I had always believed that a gas cooktop was an absolute must in my home. But recently, I was introduced to induction cooking, courtesy of a visit to the Miele showroom in New York. Right before my very eyes I got to see the wonders of this (not-so-) new cooktop technology and I was hooked.

What is induction cooking, you ask? At its core, induction cooking uses electromagnetic energy to directly heat your cookware, instead of transferring heat from electric coils or burning gas. That means no open flames, no red-hot coils. But that's a very simplified view. So I'll let Paul Anater of Kitchen and Residential Design shoulder the weight of the details with his great post describing just how induction cookery works. 

Induction cooking is so area-specific that adjacent spaces remain cool to the touch.
(Image courtesy of Kitchen and Residential Design)

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