Home Improvement Guide Blog

Author: Shay Salomon
Paperback:  304 pages
Company: The Lyons Press  (2006-09-01)
ISBN: 1592288685
List Price: $19.95
Amazon Price: $11.19
Used Price: $11.24

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The environmental movement and rising awareness of global warming have sparked an interest in green living. People want to know what they can do to live sustainable lives. In this book, you will find an overview of global warming and environmental degradation of air, water, and soil; what sustainable living is and how to do it; how to cut down on carbon output (the cause of global warming) with alternative cars and fuels; and environmentally friendly home and lawn care products.

Author: Trish Riley
Paperback:  336 pages
Company: Alpha  (2007-09-04)
ISBN: 1592576621
List Price: $16.95
Amazon Price: $9.55
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Diets don’t work. Why not? Because they focus on what foods we should and shouldn’t eat but completely ignore everything else that makes us fat. Look at your own situation: You say you want to lose weight, but you just can’t stop indulging. You say you’d exercise more if only you had the time, yet you spend precious hours every night in front of the TV doing what? Munching nutrition-free snacks and drinking supersized beverages.

Peter Walsh, the bestselling author of It’s All Too Much: An Easy Plan for Living a Richer Life with Less Stuff, believes that the secret to successfully losing weight is to forget about calorie counting and weekly weigh-ins. Instead you need to focus on how, why, and where you eat. When it comes to clearing clutter (the fat in our homes) it isn’t about the stuff itself, it’s about the life you want to live. The same is true for losing weight: It’s not about the pounds, it’s about living the life you deserve in the body you want.

Using his expert techniques honed from years as a clutter expert and organizational consultant on TLC’s Clean Sweep, Peter helps you address how the clutter in your kitchen, your pantry, and your home is directly related to the clutter on your body and negatively affects your ability to lead a full and healthy life. This book shows you how to clean up not just the spaces where you eat, but the routines around them: from planning meals and shopping to dinnertime rituals.

Peter knows all the pitfalls and all the excuses. In Does This Clutter Make My Butt Look Fat? he gives you the tools (and courage) you need to get over all your excuses, face the issues, and make the change to a better life.

This is not a diet book. This is a book about your life — about creating the healthy life and body you have always imagined for yourself. Peter helps you kick the food-clutter habit forever. You have only one life. Start living it today.

Author: Peter Walsh
Hardcover:  256 pages
Company: Free Press  (2008-02-05)
ISBN: 1416560165
List Price: $25.00
Amazon Price: $12.50
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San Miguel de Allende, one of the prettiest destinations in Mexico, has become a fabulous source for stylish decorating ideas as many international designers are flocking to this artistic mecca. Acclaimed architectural photographer Tim Street-Porter and style writer Annie Kelly take us on an insider’s tour, from stately rural haciendas and villas to renovated colonial townhouses. Featured are more than 250 glorious photographs of residences that show a blending of local crafts and handiwork with antiques and contemporary furnishings. Beautiful outdoor entertaining and garden areas enliven many of the houses. With a foreword by Jorge Almada of Casamidy, a design company based in San Miguel, Casa San Miguel is a unique inspirational design resource. It provides a vicarious look at daily life in this picturesque Mexican town that is attracting many international trendsetters.

Author: Annie Kelly
Hardcover:  240 pages
Company: Rizzoli  (2008-04-01) (2008-04-01)
ISBN: 0847830446
List Price: $55.00
Amazon Price: $34.65

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Your home is the single most valuable thing you can own, yet making it pay can intimidate and confuse even the savviest investor. Now, in an indispensable new book, finance expert Gerri Willis leads you step-by-step through the entire experience of buying, maintaining, and selling a home, and shows you how to come out ahead–maybe even way ahead.

Americans used to raise their families in one place, knowing that their homes would someday make them wealthy. These days, on average, people spend just nine years in a house; it’s become a medium-term investment in a volatile real estate market. Home Rich is the first book that offers simple rules specifically designed for this brave new world of home buying and selling. Here are the ways to maximize your profit, from the time you get the keys to the time you hand them over.

• before you buy: Learn about the best and safest loans available, how to finance and refinance them, and how to pick the right real estate agent (watch out for the “dual agency,” when one agent represents both buyer and seller).
• buy right: Understand what size home you need and can afford (it’s the features and the fit, not the square footage), and check out location, location, location (a school system is a tip-off to a growing neighborhood).
• keep up your investment: Make a checklist by season to determine maintenance expenses and find out how to protect against monster storms, mold, and vermin.
• upgrade in ways that count: Be practical (an updated kitchen beats a Jacuzzi), discover the new green improvements, and plant the best trees and shrubs for your zone (landscaping can add 6 to 7 percent to the value of a home).
• sell right: Inspect and repair, clear and clean, then set the correct price, advertise, and field the offers.

Home Rich addresses the needs of homeowners in all regions and at all income levels, featuring helpful case histories, practical charts, and clear instructions. Gerri Willis has written a comprehensive, reader-friendly guide for creating a special personal space that you will love living in–and that others will also value and happily pay for when the time comes for you to sell.

Author: Gerri Willis
Hardcover:  288 pages
Company: Ballantine Books  (2008-02-26) (2008-02-26)
ISBN: 0345490444
List Price: $25.00
Amazon Price: $12.47
Used Price: $39.79

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Author: Mike Holmes
Hardcover:  224 pages
Company: Collins  (2008-03-01)
ISBN: 0061373273
List Price: $27.95
Amazon Price: $18.45

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Heating water with the sun is almost as old as humankind itself, and it is done all over the world. Yet there are strangely few resources on the topic in North America.

Solar Water Heating fills this gap. It reviews the history of solar water & space heating systems from prehistory to the present, then presents the basics of solar water heating, including an introduction to modern solar energy systems, energy conservation and energy economics. Drawing on the author’s experience as an installer of these systems, the book goes on to cover:

• Types of solar collectors, solar water and space heating systems and solar pool heating systems, including their advantages and disadvantages
• System components, their installation, operation, and maintenance
• System sizing and siting
• Choosing the appropriate system.

Since people often get turned off by the up-front cost, the book focuses especially on the financial aspects of solar water or space heating systems, clearly showing that such systems can save significant costs in the long run. Well-illustrated, the book is designed for a wide readership from the curious to the student or professional.

Mother Earth News Wiser Living Series

Author: Bob Ramlow, Benjamin Nusz
Paperback:  239 pages
Company: New Society Publishers  (2006-06)
ISBN: 0865715610
List Price: $24.95
Amazon Price: $15.47
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The most popular American house styles today are still the classics from yesterday–Capes, Bungalows, Victorians and Federals. The perennial struggle, however, is how to best live in them with our changing needs. Often, we need more space. The likely solution? Add on. The challenge? How to do it right.

Published in conjunction with The National Trust for Historic Preservation, NEW ROOMS FOR OLD HOUSES by renowned architect Frank Shirley contains more than 300 full-color photos. It is a beautiful design guide and essential resource for anyone who loves classic American houses or is considering expanding an old home.

Through words and pictures, Shirley shows how to enlarge a home without sacrificing the charm and character of the original structure. Using the guiding principle of “harmony,” Shirley walks readers through the four cornerstones of design on which, he believes, all old house expansions should be based: balance, public and private areas, the careful use of transitions, and the choice of appropriate materials.

Packed with photos, both before and after shots, and architectural drawings, NEW ROOMS FOR OLD HOUSES is a fascinating tour through the golden age of architecture.

Author: Frank Shirley
Hardcover:  272 pages
Company: Taunton  (2007-10-30) (2007-10-30)
ISBN: 1561588857
List Price: $40.00
Amazon Price: $24.31
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Want to take advantage of solar power in your home? Whether you’re looking to save on your energy costs by adding a few solar components or you want to build a solar-powered house from the ground up, Solar Power Your Home For Dummies takes the mystery out of this energy source and shows you how to put it to work for you!

This friendly, hands-on guide is packed with tips for making your home more energy-efficient though solar power—and helping the planet at the same time. You’ll see how to survey your home to determine your current household energy efficiency and use, and evaluate where solar power would best benefit you. You’ll also calculate what the return on your investment will be before you make any decisions. Once you’ve decided on a project, you’ll see whether it’s best to hire a contractor or do it yourself. We leave no stone unturned—you’ll also discover how to:

• Choose and install your best solar system
• Handle small to large solar projects
• Heat and cool your house with solar energy
• Install exterior solar lighting
• Handle swimming pool, water heater, or ventilation solar projects
• Create greenhouses or solar rooms
• Build, buy, or sell a solar home
• Finance your solar investments
• Take advantage of tax rebates and incentives associated with solar power
• Avoid the worst solar mistakes

Featuring ten of the easiest and cheapest do-it-yourself solar projects, Solar Power Your Home For Dummies is the fun and easy way to meet your energy needs with this clean power source!

Author: Rik DeGunther
Paperback:  384 pages
Company: For Dummies  (2007-12-10)
ISBN: 0470175699
List Price: $19.99
Amazon Price: $11.23
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Want to build responsibly, reduce waste, and help preserve the environment? Green Building & Remodeling For Dummies is your friendly, step-by-step guide to every facet of this Earth-friendly method of construction. Building a home—even a green home—uses plenty of resources and energy. This practical, hands-on book shows you how to build or remodel conscientiously, whether your dream home is a simple remodel or a brand-new multimillion-dollar mansion.

You’ll start by identifying green materials and sizing up potential systems and construction sites. You’ll weigh the pros and cons of popular green building methods and identify opportunities for saving money in the long run. Need to find some green professionals to assist you in your venture? We’ll help you do that, too. This book will also help you discover how to:

• Understand the lifecycle of building materials
• Choose the right system for your green building project
• Put together a green team
• Work within your budget
• Use green building methods and sustainable systems
• Speed construction and reduce energy use and waste
• Refinish old fixtures and materials
• Beware of asbestos and lead-paint hazards
• Avoid costly mistakes

Complete with lists of ten green things to do on every project and ten things you can do right now in your home in order to go green, Green Building & Remodeling For Dummies is your one-stop guide to planning and building the home you’ve always wanted.

Author: Eric Corey Freed
Paperback:  384 pages
Company: For Dummies  (2007-12-10)
ISBN: 0470175591
List Price: $21.99
Amazon Price: $14.13
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