CONNIE OLIVER: Go glam with high-contrast décor

A lacklustre room can be dramatically improved simply through the use of eye-catching contrast. When there are no outstanding features to work with, you have to create your own drama. Just think about a black and white tiled floor, for . . .

Posted: 2011-07-02

ASK THE INSPECTOR: Discuss noisy pool gear with neighbour

QUESTION: Our neighbour's above-ground pool pump is by the fence, which is 10 metres from our bedroom window. Are you aware of a product we could use to muffle the sound or reflect it back so we don't have to . . .

Posted: 2011-07-02

MIKE HOLMES: Build above code to protect home from fire

It seems like every year we hear about wildfires tearing through Southern California, destroying homes and property. Last year there were similarly huge blazes in Australia, and in May almost half of the entire town of Slave Lake Alberta burned . . .

Posted: 2011-07-02

SOLUTIONS: Itsy, bitsy spider plant etched treasured vase

QUESTION: I enjoy your tips immensely and clip your column or parts thereof frequently. I have a problem I fear does not have a solution but here goes anyway. In starting a new plant off the mother plant and in . . .

Posted: 2011-07-02

Winnipeg dazzles Canada's homebuilders

Last week, I hosted 25 executive officers of various home builder associations from across Canada at a three-day workshop. It was a chance to share ideas, technical information, work with volunteer boards and government officials and, of course, socialize. To my . . .

Posted: 2011-07-02

Sold & Offered: July 2-11

St. Vital Address: 29 Moore Asking Price: $139, 900 Sold Price: $134, 000 Taxes: $1, 469.82 Square Footage: 770 Bedrooms: 2 Baths: 1 Lot Size: 30 x 90 Listing Agent: Jeremy Kehler, Kehler Realty Selling Agent: Charlene Urbanski & David R. Anderson, Century 21 Bachman & Associates, 453-7653 Transcona Address: 409 Whittier . . .

Posted: 2011-07-02

The Wright stuff

Gorgeous wetlands view highlights show home inspired by legend

If you like the Frank Lloyd Wright school of architecture -- homes that fit in with Prairie landscapes -- you're in luck. That's because Hearth Homes' newest show home, the Dalton -- a 2, 024-sq.-ft. bungalow with walk-out basement found at . . .

Posted: 2011-07-02

Their gain, your gain

Couple's need for more space puts almost-new home on the market

There are times, as we all know too well, when life doesn't go according to schedule. Take the outgoing owners of 108 Appletree Crescent, a fetching 1, 996-sq.-ft. two-storey home in Bridgwater Forest. After they had the home built to their . . .

Posted: 2011-07-02

Tasteful gardening

Herbs let your senses flower

What is a herb? If you were to look up the word herb in the Oxford English Dictionary you would find two definitions, one broad and botanical and the other narrower and referring to use: 1. Any seed-bearing plant that does not . . .

Posted: 2011-06-25

Zen and the art of gardening

How to get down on your knees and achieve a natural order

Canada's guru of gardening is in a meditative state of mind. Success in the garden comes down to getting on your knees and paying attention, says Ed Lawrence, the silver-haired dynamo who held his first plant when he was a seven-year-old . . .

Posted: 2011-06-25