Temperatures have fallen across the country and many of you have already cleaned up your fireplace and started using it on a daily basis. The quest to find decent wood to burn is easier for some than others. We've picked up a lot of free wood from Craigslist but the quality often hasn't been so great.

Multifuelstoves.org shows us 5 more ways to score free firewood.

Our favorite sources would be: Furniture makers, friends and neighbors and our own woodlot if we had one.

Crestview Doors recently started following us on Twitter and we checked out their work. Very impressive. We love the concept. Take your existing door and give it a mid-century modern twist with their Doorlite Kits.

They include instructions for this diy door modification and they have kits to fit almost every taste and style. We like the classic Newman for our bungalow but if we had a ranch house we'd outfit it with the Langston.

Why not take advantage of the available square footage in your basement and not just leave it as a storage room. By finishing out a basement or at least insulating it, you'll be able to enjoy more of your home as well as save energy.

One Project Closer went through the process of selecting basement insulation and they considered all of the major options including fiberglass, wet cellulose and spray foam.

They chose closed cell spray foam:
While closed cell spray foam is slightly more expensive than other methods, it offers high R-value with the best mold resistance. Given that we've invested thousands of dollars in radiant floor heating, we believe that the higher cost is justified and would recommend this method.

Unfortunately not all landlords and property managers are honest and until you become a tenant it's difficult to determine what to expect from the relationship. Contracts and leases are meant to protect both the tenant and the owner but there is a large gray area that contains the emotions and intricacies of each tenant/landlord relationship.

Beyond reviewing a lease with a fine-tooth comb, there are some simple precautions to take that will protect you during the course of your lease and more importantly at the end of your lease.

1. Take Photos Moving In- When viewing the property, make sure you take plenty of photos. Not only of the space in general which can help with decorating and layout ideas but more specifically of the walls, floors, ceilings, doors and windows. Narrow in on damage or stained floors that won't be fixed before move-in. Walls with scuff marks or dents. Broken glass or inoperable windows. Doors not hung straight or damaged.

Photograph anything else that is out of the ordinary. Digital photos are best for this application and make sure your time setting is correct.

Toolsnob tipped us to some big news in the world of tools. Stanley Works will acquire Black & Decker for $4.5billion in an all-stock deal.

According to the WSJ:

This deal combines two iconic U.S. hand-tool and power-tool makers whose fortunes have faded amid a collapse in the housing market and a broader industrial slowdown.

The companies said they are looking for the combination to reap savings of $350 million a year and also add $1 per share to the bottom line in three years.

Tomorrow at Noon our Trane Programmable Thermostat Giveaway ends!

You still have time to enter and tell your friends.

When building or remodeling a home the interior doors are often an afterthought but they shouldn't be. Cheap doors on a quality built home suck! But investing a limited budget into solid wood doors isn't always the smart choice.

We've followed this debate on Home Construction Improvement regarding hollow-core vs. solid wood interior doors and while there are some basic advantages and disadvantages to both.

Solid Wood Doors
+ Solid wood doors are great for sound dampening, insulating properties, damage resistance and value to potential buyers.
- Solid doors certainly have benefits but they also cost approximately 50% more, they are heavy and more prone to shrinkage and expansion due to temperature and moisture changes.

In the ongoing quest to recycle and structures for use as live/work spaces, these train cars have followed the lead of re-purposed shipping containers and are now being transformed into permanent living structures.

If you're short on time, money and effort but still need covet a new tile backsplash then it looks like SIMPLEMAT is for you. It literally adheres to your current backsplash of tile or wallpaper and your done! Without grout there's no mortar, mixing, or mess.

They also have kitchen countertop applications as well.

This sun room remodel that we found on CasaSugar is awesome. No major changes but an update to the paint, flooring and walls created a much more inviting space to spend lazy afternoons. Some different window treatments and the room would be finished.

We recently installed this programmable thermostat from Trane to replace our old manual version and have been very pleased with it's functionality and performance. We also sleep better knowing we're saving more energy and money each month.

It's time you upgrade your thermostats to the digital age and with the convenience of scheduling time and temperatures you won't believe you ever lived without it.

We've got 3 Trane XL800 Programmable Thermostats to giveaway.

HOW TO ENTER

You've got 2 ways to enter to win 1 of 3 Trane programmable thermostats:

1. Leave a comment on this post. Just below enter your name and email and comment.

2. Tweet this post. See the green "retweet" button. Just use it and tweet away!

Each method of entry counts so you'll double your chance of winning if you comment and tweet. Please use a real email address so we can contact you if you win and let us know in the comments if you enter by multiple methods.

GIVEAWAY DEADLINE

Three random winners will be chosen at 12 noon PST on Nov. 5, 2009.

Comment Here to Win

***UPDATE***
This Giveaway has ended. Please check back Monday for our next Giveaway.

In 2007 I had an opportunity to work with the team from HFM US to build and launch the first home design web portal of it's kind, PointClickHome.com. This website serves as the online home of the design magazines, ELLE DECOR and Metropolitan Home.

Anne E. Collins was also part of the initial launch team and is currently the executive online editor of the website. Her responsibilities as the online curator of two revered design brands is enormous and straddling both print and web properties requires a unique skill set that few editors can adjust to. We asked Anne a few questions about working in the shelter magazine industry as well as her insights into luxury design.

CH: You've worked in both print and online for stalwarts in the home decor magazines industry. Can you share your background and what it takes to be successful in your role as an online editor?

AC: I always knew I wanted to work in magazines so my sophomore year of at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, PA., I took an internship at the region's lifestyle magazine. From that semester on I always tried to work in print of some kind--a literary journal, an events magazine, and a weekly newspaper when I studied abroad in Spain. Though the sad truth when I got to New York was that no one wanted to hire you unless you had "New York experience," so I was back to the drawing board with another internship, but fortunate enough to get one with In Style magazine.

It is funny how quickly you can get on a track; I worked in In Style's home design department basically packing boxes but that little home mention on my resume started getting me interviews at shelter books. Soon after, I took a job at House Beautiful and have been happily working in home design ever since. I adore this category and while I love writing and editing as a craft I probably wouldn't have thrived or enjoyed myself as much at a lifestyle or fashion magazine; it's the subject that keeps me ticking.

So that is one part of being a so-called successful online editor--passion for the topic.

Our old house has a gas floor heater and no air-conditioning (it's always 75 in sunny Southern California). The thermostat seemed almost as old as the house and we're not to sure it registered temperature correctly anymore so we just used it as an off/on switch which is inefficient and costly.

We decided that a programmable thermostat would be needed and would save us on our gas bill as well as not waste as much energy when we don't need it on.

That's when Trane stepped in to let us test out their XL800 Programmable Thermostat. It works with all types of heating and cooling units including gas and electric. There are four programmable settings that for different temps for day, night, wake and sleep. We only have a heater so setup and wiring was a cinch.

Here are the basics to installing a programmable thermostat.

Unfortunately there are millions of people who do not have the physical freedom to function in a standard home and kitchen. Special considerations need to be made when planning a kitchen design. Once again Susan Serra, CKD, from thekitchendesigner.org steps in to show us the way.

For those with special needs, a preliminary analysis of the household member(s) needs is critical. For situations in which modifications need to be made to the interior of a home, a joint meeting with all parties, including the contractor and an occupational therapist to the household member with special needs is advisable. A design professional with a CAPS designation (Certified Aging in Place Specialist) awarded by NAHB National Association of Home Builders is verification of completed course work in this area.

It is to everyone's benefit, and often a strong desire of a household member with special needs, to preserve the homeowner's independence for as long a period of time as possible. In a situation that includes wheelchair accessibility within a home, adequate space must be provided for wheelchairs to turn, particularly in a bathroom and kitchen, in areas of the home where a hallway and doorways intersect, and to plan for adequate, and smooth flooring materials and transitions inside and outside the home via ramps.

Since moving to LA from NYC last year I thought I'd be doing a lot more surfing. It hasn't worked out like that. As soon as the water got warm the waves went flat. I guess that's par for the course in Southern California. Even if I don't hit the beach as often as I'd like, I can still live vicariously through those that do and my favorite surfing blog is El Porto Fridays. Despite the name they surf almost daily and upload pics, video, board reviews and surf spot reports.

Recently they shared a how-to for building a vertical surfboard storage rack. This is the easiest way to store your quiver especially if you have more than 3 boards.

This project is also cheap and only requires a 2x4, wood dowels, wood screws and padding.