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When friends or family visit for the holidays or just pop in for a weekend, it’s nice to offer them a more comfortable option than a tiny couch or lumpy pull-out bed. A quality air mattress ensures your guests sleep soundly while giving you the flexibility to pack it away when it’s not in use. It’s perfect for multipurpose rooms that need to easily transform from a work- or learn-from-home space to a guest bedroom....

Family Handyman Well, the short, standard answer is once a year. But next time the HVAC tech is there, ask if that’s really necessary. It could be that you have a newer furnace, your home is very clean, you have no pets, or your furnace and A/C aren’t used all that much because you live in a temperate climate. You could possibly go two or three years between furnace maintenance....

Many DIY enthusiasts cringe when they consider working on any project large enough to require pulling a building permit. But this concern is largely unjustified. Building permits may not be fun, but they can be an effective double check for DIYers to be sure they’re doing things safely and legally as they build or renovate their home. We’ll take a quick look at some of the most common questions about pulling permits, and talk about why the permit process can be beneficial to DIYers....

Chalk paint has become a staple of some furniture restorers and upcyclers. Chalk paint is a low-VOC water-based paint that is also a primer, which means it sticks to almost any type of surface. When chalk paint dries, it has a flat, chalky finish, and it takes on a soft sheen after a sanding with fine sandpaper and a wax finish coat. Be aware that chalk paint is not chalkboard paint, which can be used as a writing surface....

The new Little Co. by Lauren Conrad Home collection is a fresh take on kids’ bedrooms. Kohl’s just launched the collection for everyone to enjoy at reasonable prices, and it’s already taking off thanks to eco-friendly and organic materials. All the items fit perfectly into gender-neutral nursery design schemes, too. You may remember Lauren Conrad from reality TV, but these days she’s a successful fashion and home goods designer. What is Little Co....

With indoor gatherings limited by the coronavirus pandemic, many homeowners took a good, hard look at improving their outdoor living spaces. With 90 percent of U.S. homeowners believing that “outdoor living space is more valuable than ever,” it’s no wonder 78 percent of Americans made upgrades to these spaces in 2020. If you’re among those people, one of the most impactful upgrades you can make is adding an outdoor kitchen. Unfortunately, poor planning and design can lead to regrets and wasted money....

Pruning may not seem like a lot of fun, but it is a key task that can really improve the appearance of your garden — immediately and long term. Think of yourself as a sculptor making a few select modifications to a masterpiece in the making. That’s what your garden is — a work of art waiting to be born. And just like sculpting, pruning means removing the excess or unwanted so the remainder can shine....

designer491/Getty Images UPDATE (February 25th, 2021)— Starting Feb. 24, the Biden-Harris administration opened a two-week period where companies with fewer than 20 employees can apply for forgivable loans under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Typically, PPP loans are available to any company with fewer than 500 employees. They’re meant to help businesses undergoing economic hardship cover the cost of things like worker salaries as well as rent and utility payments....

Track lighting can be the answer for anyone who wants to highlight a favorite piece of art, stake out a cozy reading area or create a comfortable gathering place for friends and family. It’s also flexible — you can change it up to match décor updates. All this while being just slightly more difficult to install than a conventional light fixture. What Is Track Lighting? Most people imagine track lighting as a series of individual lamps, called heads, that slide independently along a metal track....

Courtesy of Bernalillo County Back in 2016, voters in Albuquerque approved funds for a bold plan by the city to assist its homeless population. The idea was innovative: Build a village of tiny homes that could serve as transitional housing, giving the homeless a safe living space while they attempted to stabilize their lives. Four years later, construction on that community of tiny homes has officially begun. “I’m just saying that it is a miracle,” said Bernalillo County Commissioner Debbie O’Malley to KOAT News....

Myth #1: Only Run a Disposal for Short Spurts You may think that once your food scraps are out of sight, you can power your disposal down. But it still has work to do. Keep the disposal running for 30 seconds after the food waste sounds like it’s done grinding. If you don’t, you could end up with unnecessary smells coming from the sink. Also, once you turn the disposal off, continue to let the water run for 15 seconds to flush away any lingering remains....

Harsh winter conditions may cause your vehicle’s fluids to quickly break down. Spring is the perfect time to check those fluids and determine if they need to be topped off, changed or flushed. Check all fluid levels while your car is on level ground. Vehicle fluids come in a rainbow of colors; all should be translucent and free from rust, dirt, sludge and debris. Use a clean white paper towel when checking fluids to see if they are dirty and need to be changed, or contaminated and need to be flushed....

There are lots of reasons why you might want to build a greenhouse. Maybe you want to eat fresh vegetables you’ve grown yourself that you know are organic. Or maybe you’re looking to start a hobby. And for avid gardeners, a greenhouse can extend harvesting season into late fall or even into winter. Whatever your reason, there are varying styles and sizes (including mini greenhouses) to consider once you decide to build one....

Meet the Expert: Steve Urich is the Senior Director of Programs at the National Fenestration Ratings Council. When you see all the options and add-ons available for your windows, you’ll realize they provide more than a nice view and some fresh air. In this article I’ll outline the important terms and numbers you need to know to make informed window buying decisions. For guidance I spoke with Steve Urich, a windows expert and senior director of programs at the National Fenestration Ratings Council....

Attics are a common place to store all your stuff. Between holiday decorations, out-of-season clothing and even a few boxes of memorabilia, it’s the prime free storage space for your home. However, it’s also standing in the way of one crucial benefit that houses in colder climates may want: Making the house warmer. Save on Your Heating Bill To be completely honest, using the attic as storage space isn’t a bad practice....

It’s tick season! With the warmer temps, people are bound to clock more hours outdoors, upping their risk of coming in contact with various insects and pests that are doing the same. Ticks are one of the parasites and arthropods to keep an eye out for. Ticks are dangerous, as are these other bugs, so it’s important to learn how to avoid them! Ticks live by feeding on the blood of mammals, birds and sometimes reptiles and amphibians....

Makita U.S.A announced the launch of a new 40v and 80v battery platform called the XGT System. The platform helps eliminate cords on the job site by powering smaller handheld tools and larger heavy equipment. “For the highest-demand applications and a truly cordless job site, Makita has taken cordless performance beyond limits with the creation of XGT,” said Mario Lopez, director of product management for Makita U.S.A. “We’re providing more power without forcing users to buy big, heavy, slow-charging batteries for use on a limited number of tools....

Purslane is the ultimate survivor, which also makes it the ultimate nuisance for many homeowners. Not only does this glossy green, fleshy weed often come back stronger than ever when you think you’ve cleared it from your lawn, it also tends to team up with other common invaders. “Quite frequently, it is associated with other weeds that it will grow in and amongst, including crabgrass and spotted spurge,” says agronomist and lawn care expert Bob Mann, director of state and local government relations for the National Association of Landscape Professionals....

Recently, I read about using crushed seashells to improve the soil in your garden. Gardening my entire life in the Midwest, I hadn’t heard of this method, so I did a little research. Should I be adding crushed seashells to my garden? The quick answer is I probably shouldn’t, at least not on a large scale, because they aren’t readily available in my area. But if you live near a body of water where seashells are plentiful, you might consider giving this a try....

While the summer of 2021 has been all about slowly but surely getting back to normal, the global supply chain has had a tough time doing exactly that. Still reeling from pandemic-related issues and complications, the global supply chain has been disrupted to the point that many popular products and materials are out of stock and nearly impossible to find across the U.S. So what do you do if something you need isn’t on the shelf?...