How It’s Made: Low-E Glass ECOHOME “Low-E glazing falls into two broad categories: soft coat and hard coat. Both applications involve depositing a thin, transparent coating of silver or tin oxide on the glass surface to allow short-wavelength sunlight to pass through while blocking long-wavelength heat radiation. The difference between the two coatings lies in [...]

What do women want? That’s a pretty broad (no pun intended!) question, admittedly, but in housing at least, people have done some thinking as to what women want in their homes. Here are some things that are important to the ladies, according to MSN Real Estate. Apparently women really value bathing and want to see [...]

How does the design of a school make a difference to learning? According to an English study, it can help quite a bit — 25 percent, to be exact. Researchers from the University of Salford and architectural firm Nightingale Associates studied elementary school students in Blackpool to evaluate how design elements such as light and air quality affected students’ ability [...]

One of the more consumer-oriented blogs that we like is Apartment Therapy. They have a series called Before & After where they cover small projects like renovating a dresser, all the way up to major remodeling projects. Not too long ago, they featured this lovely kitchen: Isn’t it nice? It’s especially impressive considering what was there before (bonus picture of the [...]

The attic hasn’t traditionally inspired images of a playful space to entertain guests. But when done correctly, the attic can provide a perfect space for a game room. Check out the photo above from Dewson Construction Company of Wilmington, Delaware. Billiards, air hockey, shuffleboard, darts, putting green and even a bar. These homeowners have made [...]

If you are a builder or remodeler dealing with multifamily housing, you know that building codes regarding size are very important. In high-density urban areas, people sometimes actually want smaller spaces — it’s greener, often less expensive and there’s less to clean. San Francisco might very well end up with the smallest-allowable apartments in the [...]

As our population ages, the question of how to house the elderly becomes a bigger issue. It can be ideal for older people to remain in their homes, but there are risks with that. On the other hand, going into assisted living or a nursing home often isn’t people’s fist choice. How can builders help [...]

As part of the eHow Home video series, designer P. Allen Smith is in the midst of an impressive undertaking: Careful planning, smart design and quality craftsmanship converge when Smith and his colleagues build an environmentally friendly home for $150,000 in 150 days. In a recent installment of this series, Smith documents the window selection and installation [...]

When buyers choose to live in multifamily housing complex, it usually comes with one major concession: The large residences tend to lack uniqueness. It’s difficult to make an apartment or condo feel like one’s own when the the building’s exterior blends into its surroundings. Admit it: A lot of these complexes are blandly built to [...]

A few weeks back, the National Kitchen & Bath Association (NKBA) released results from its annual Design Trends Survey, which seeks to identify the materials, product types and styles gaining the most traction in kitchen and bathroom design. A total of 350 NKBA members throughout the United State and Canada participated in the survey. Today, [...]