The Lighter Side
The Lighter Side: Home inspections – They’re not as scary as you think (but they can find weird issues)
If there’s one thing that strikes fear in the hearts of homebuyers and sellers alike, it’s the home inspection.
The Lighter Side: The simple joy of a properly labeled electrical box panel
So many things in life should make you happy but don’t. Then there are the unexpected pleasures that surprise you. For me, one of these is our electrical box panel labeling which is both functional and attractive.
The Lighter Side: The weirdness of my grandparents’ home
When you’re a kid growing up, you don’t think too much about how your grandparents live
The Lighter Side: Post-pandemic – Can we give up our new home-related conveniences?
Staying at home for so long has changed how we live. We’ve become rather used to our new home-related conveniences. Why should we give them up now?
The Lighter Side: The creatures around our homes that freak us out
But as much as we know that all creatures are doing their part in nature, we just can’t help hating some or at the very least being freaked out by them. People seem to fall into some very distinct camps in terms of who gives them the willies.
The Lighter Side: How do we get so much home stuff? Mystery solved!
If there’s one thing quarantining at home has made abundantly clear, it’s that my husband and I have way too much stuff. This got me thinking: How do we all get so much stuff in our homes?
The Lighter Side: Post quarantining – Complete this checklist before socializing with real humans
Thanks to vaccines, soon we’ll once again be socializing in person without masks with fellow homo sapiens. Thus it’s time to take stock of what bodily mayhem has occurred during the last year of our pandemic isolation.
Managing the unmanageable: Our ever-growing abundance of cords and cables
Recently I was FaceTiming with my son Nick who was showing me his new apartment. When he got to his desk area he said, “Ignore my cable management. I haven’t done that yet.” What? Cable management? This is a thing? And indeed, it is a thing.
The Lighter Side: That amazing moment when your child volunteers to do housework
Life transitions: Sometimes you see them coming, sometimes you don’t. The last time our youngest son Nick, 25, stayed with us, he volunteered to clean the house.
Thinking of selling your home? Here are the things Realtors want to say but are too polite
Along with spring, the start of the big home selling season is here. Thus I’d like to give homeowners some advice to help sell their properties quickly while maximizing profit.
The Lighter Side: Pandemic homestretch – Time to finish up those small home projects
With this end in sight I have a new found enthusiasm to finish up home projects, some of which I began when we initially quarantined.
Ask ML: Answers to your tough home-related relationship questions
As the world and relationships become increasingly complex, more than ever people are turning to advice columns for answers.
Gardeners beware: Spring fever is on the rise
I’ve been very focused on not getting COVID-19 during this pandemic which is probably why I recently fell prey to another affliction: spring fever.
Are you ready to move to another home? Take this quiz
Are you just COVID-cranky or are you really ready to load the moving van come spring? Take this quiz to see if it’s time to start packing:
Working from home: Is our house becoming corporate headquarters?
I bought some printer paper recently and told my husband I bought the cheapest brand. He replied, “That’s okay since most our printing is for internal use only.”
Valentine’s Day: The holiday I kind of hate, kind of love
All that being said, there are several things about Valentine’s Day I really do like. In terms of Valentine’s celebrations, the city of Loveland, Colorado rocks it.
Tips for choosing carpeting you won’t regret
Choosing new carpeting for your home is a big deal. Not only does it have a big impact on your décor, its ease of maintenance (or lack thereof) affects your everyday living.
The Lighter Side – Quarantining at home: Even international spies get the blues
I don’t even know what month we’re now on in this pandemic and quarantining. Eleven? Twenty-seven? All I do know is it’s dragging on and wearing us down.
The Lighter Side: Surprise, surprise: Quarantining for months makes people want luxurious home features
If we’re lucky enough to have a home during these troubling times, many of us are spending 24/7 quarantining in them. Apparently this has led to an increased desire for snazzy home features.
The Lighter Side: More on choosing paint colors (and reducing visual torture)
Apparently, based on reader feedback from a recent column, choosing paint colors is even more torturous for homeowners than even I imagined.
The Lighter Side: New year organizing, stuffing our stuff into other stuff
It’s January, which means some of us feel a biological imperative to organize our mass amounts of stuff.
The Lighter Side : 2020 year end check-in: How are you doing?
Let’s be honest: 2021 could not have gotten here soon enough. How are you faring during this pandemic? Here’s a test to check the level of your well being.
The Lighter Side: The 2020 holiday letter of gloom, doom and gratitude
Every year my husband and his siblings look though my mother-in-law’s holiday cards and letters to catch up on the lives of extended family and old friends. She used to get these truly amazing holiday letters from a former neighbor who has since passed away. These...
The Lighter Side: Ghost in the house? Could be nice, but maybe not
This is the time of year – when the heat is cranked up – that one hears all kinds of creaks and groans in old houses, which I always live in. One time a woman said to me, “I could never live in an old house. I mean someone probably died there.” I thought, so what?...
The Lighter Side: Selling during the holidays? Perhaps your house but not ours
Many homes look especially appealing this time of year with decorations creating a charming holiday scene. Our house, however, is not in selling form this time of year.
