Ursula K Rose

Spring is here and most people do still take the time to do that big spring clean. But, while you are vacuuming, dusting and de-cluttering, you should also be making sure that your home is in a decent state of repair.

A third of American homes still have a septic tank. For the most part homeowners who have one tend not to give them much of a thought at all. They can't be seen and for the most part they are supposed to be self maintaining.

The housing market in the US is still rather sluggish but, according to a new report issued by the Joint Center for Housing Studies at the venerable Harvard University, home remodeling is set to make a big comeback in 2011 after a three-year slump.

A kitchen does not just have to function well as a place to prepare food, but also as a space where it is stored. A lack of properly organized kitchen storage is the number one complaint that most people have about their kitchens.

The last snows are melting all over the country, temperatures are starting to rise and people are beginning to turn their attention back to the space outside their homes.

You can usually tell that a remodeling project – especially a larger one – went well if the homeowner does not include an "if only" in their conversations about the end result. Unfortunately, too many homeowners do end up uttering those words. It's not that anything went really wrong with their project, it just didn't turn out quite as they envisaged.

With all the talk about the dangers of VOCs, many homeowners wonder if there is a greener, healthier alternative to traditional paint that still produces attractive results. Increasing numbers of these eco conscious consumers are discovering milk paint.

Spring is just around the corner and many a homeowner will be considering adding onto their deck or replacing their old deck with a newer model. Others will be adding their first. The slowdown in the economy has meant that most of us are spending far more time at home and every square foot of space – including that which is outside – is being put to better use.

Feng Shui can be applied to many rooms and spaces in the home but one of the places many of the ancient art's professional practitioners feel it is most important that its principles be followed is in your home office space.

In many homes there is one particular room that simply does not get used that often. There are usually one of two reasons for that. Either a) it is an awkward space due to size or shape considerations such that you never quite figured out what to do with it or b) the room is just too stuffy and impersonal.