Nevada, California, and Arizona...Oh My!

In a grim sign of continuing economic troubles, a report released today indicates a 112 percent increase in foreclosures—in other words, one out of every 194 U.S. households has received a foreclosure filing. Hardest hit states include Nevada, California and Arizona.

  April 29, 2008 | Comments ()

Review from Yestermorrow Design/Build School

Last year we highlighted the Yestermorrow design/build school located in Northern Vermont. They are a non-profit educational institution and offer over 100 hands-on courses per year in design, construction, woodworking, and architectural craft as well as courses in sustainable design.

  April 28, 2008 | Comments ()

Selling Your Home without an Agent

Just as you can run your own construction site you can also sell your own house. Obviously the guidance and knowledge that a real estate agent provides can be well worth the costs but when margins are tight and you need to save at every step then you should consider if you have what it takes to sell your home yourself.

  April 28, 2008 | Comments ()

Subscribe to Charles and Hudson

We've got the button on the right side of every page but here's a friendly reminder to subscribe to the RSS feed for Charles and Hudson. Our feed works in all readers including, Google, Bloglines, Yahoo!, Newsgator, and Firefox. We've also opened up our feed to show full posts and photos but we still love your visits and comments.

If you're unfamiliar with what an RSS feed is, believe me it will change the way you surf the net. If you are already a Google or Yahoo! user it's easy to just add the feed to your user account (Google Reader and MyYahoo!) and make sure we're your first.

We've also got a monthly newsletter that covers the latest news in home improvement, tools, products, and real estate. Sign up here.

  April 27, 2008 | Comments ()

Weekly Roundup

Our most popular posts from the past week:

• Drainage Solution: Pervious Concrete


• IKEA: The Method Behind the Madness


• Make a Mosaic Table for Spring


• Do-It-Yourself without Debt


• Lincoln Logs and Erector Sets Rocked my World

  April 26, 2008 | Comments ()

Weekend Project: Building a Beehive

Angela at Shelterrific has started the process of building beehives at her house in the Catskills. She and her husband are finding Betterbee a great resource and hope to have some tasty honey to show for their efforts. We'll be sure to keep an eye on their beehive building venture throughout the summer.

  April 25, 2008 | Comments ()

Do-It-Yourself without Debt

This homeowner and his family have renovated their 1913 tudor house (which they bought for $65,000 twelve years ago) with pure sweat equity and have managed to completely transform a home that was on the brink of being condemned all without going into debt and living and spending within their means.

  April 23, 2008 | Comments ()

Introducing Not Norm

Charles and Hudson is pleased to announce a new project of ours called Not Norm.

Although we aspire to be as skilled, polished, and good looking as the Do-It-Yourself experts on TV, we most often end up with results that are only worth photographing or recording because of the horror and hilarity that has ensued (see above video).

But no matter how strange your finished project looks or how bad your DIY technique is, this site should make you realize that it's OK if you're Not Norm.

  April 21, 2008 | Comments ()

Richard Neutra's Kaufmann House For Sale

Richard Neutra's Kaufmann House will be selling by auction on May 13th, 2008 through Christie's Realty in New York. It's estimated to sell for $15-$25 million.

This home is gorgeous and an inspiration to hundreds of architects and lovers of mid-century modern homes. We wish the same energies and focus could be put into Neutra's own home.

  April 14, 2008 | Comments ()

K/BIS 2008 New Product and Coverage Roundup

Hansa Stella Faucet

The K/BIS 2008 conference and show in Chicago has wrapped up and we've pulled together a list of the best coverage. Some of favorite new products include the Fisher and Paykel "gas in glass" range and we welcome a new kitchen countertop material, glass, from ThinkGlass.

  April 14, 2008 | Comments ()

Good Time to Buy a Home?

As real estate prices in some markets are adjusting and normalizing, many on the fence prospective home buyers are seeing an opportunity that hasn't been an option for a few years.

  April 11, 2008 | Comments ()

K/BIS 2008 in Chicago

K/BIS (Kitchen and Bath Industry Show) is under way in Chicago and the cancellation of more than 1000 American Airlines flights hopefully won't damper the launch of the show although we do know of some folks who are scrambling to find alternative transportation. If you are one of the unlucky booked on American Airlines here are some tips for sorting out your situation.

Regardless of how you get out there, as usual this year's show is primed for new product announcements as well as a focus on ways to beautify your home through design and decorating.

  April 10, 2008 | Comments ()

Lawmakers Push Green Tax Holiday

Missouri governor Matt Blunt pitched a green tax holiday this week during a speech in mid-Missouri. The exemption period would allow consumers to purchase Energy Star designated appliances without paying sales tax, and has been included in two pieces of state legislation, House Bill 2250 and Senate Bill 964.

  April 8, 2008 | Comments ()

McMansions Lose their Luster

As McMansions continue to lose their value or sit unsold, the mainstream media has begun to pickup on this and they've all got an opinion on why people want smaller homes.

  April 4, 2008 | Comments ()