Blog Posts by This Old House Magazine

Ladder Plant Stand - A rickety wooden ladder that's been gathering cobwebs in your basement may be unsafe to climb, but that doesn't mean you should kick it to the curb. With a fresh coat of paint in a cheery color, it becomes a space-efficient, budget-friendly display station for prized potted plants. If the ladder's spreaders-the horizontal braces that connect the ladder's rung-bearing base and fly sections-are missing or broken, lean the ladder against a vertical surface or stabilize it with two scrap pieces of 1x3 fastened where the spreaders would go. In any case, remember not to walk underneath your new creation-you wouldn't want to jinx your green thumb.

TOH Tip: Potted geraniums like these thrive in full sun and well-drained soil. Consider experimenting with climbers on your new plant stand as well.



Tub-Feet Bookends - Looking for something small and affordable at the salvage yard? Decorative iron tub supports can be found at most such shops-and are far easier to recycle than

Replacing porch decking is not a challenging task for any homeowner who's used a circular saw and a table saw, particularly if you have replacement boards milled to the same width as the originals. Just resist the temptation to cut out only the damaged areas. Short patches leave obvious and unsightly seams. Instead, follow the steps of This Old House technical editor Mark Powers, who installed only full-length boards on Brown's porch. The new vertical-grain Douglas fir blends perfectly with the old wood and, if given a coat of paint regularly, should survive at least another hundred years. Go to thisoldhouse.com for all the steps, shopping list, and tools list.


Ever since colonial-era homesteaders wove wattle garden structures from unbranched shoots of willow or hazel and set their peas to clamber over rows of tiny-twigged birch limbs, countless generations have used sticks to prop up their plants. Today, homeowners who want to combine beauty and ­utility can do the same. "Metal

Nut-and-bolt wedding bands, charm tools, the perfect T, and other haute home improvement-themed gifts for the tool lover in your life-or yourself

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A Perfect Fit

Because this is a family magazine, we'll leave it up to your imagination to decide why the groom wears the bolt and the bride wears the nut in this pair of interlocking 24-karat gold wedding bands. Though the stone sits in the man's ring, when the rings are screwed together it rests against the woman's finger. It's a match made in heaven. (Or a hardware store.) Starts at about $2,500 for the pair; Kiley Granberg

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Charm Tools

Lots of folks make ornamental screwdrivers and hammers, but nobody digs quite as deep into toolbox obscurity as Rembrandt Charms. For the truly bedecked bracelet, they offer a sparkling chain saw, a paint roller in its tray, an anatomically accurate circular saw, and an assortment of wall-finishing tools that includes a brush and taping knife. Available in sterling silver, gold plate,

Every mom's life is a bit of a whirlwind, with her unofficial job titles including everything from cook to housekeeper to homework helper. But, these products-along with tips from efficiency expert Standolyn Robertson, founder of Things in Place Organizing Services in Waltham, MA, and president of the National Association of Professional Organizers-will help her get organized, get dinner on the table faster, cleanup more easily, and keep her paperwork in order.


Use Every Inch

"When it comes to making room, think vertical. Look up. There's a lot of wasted space up there," advises Robertson. The ToteTrac storage system applies this principle with a design that mounts racks to ceiling joists and rafters. The racks can hold plastic storage bins of various shapes and sizes, and you can hang bikes and ladders from included hooks. Each set can hold up to 400 pounds of stored items and comes with all necessary hardware for easy, one-person installation. About $$20-30; ToteTrac

Pantry staples have long been the safest way to tackle minor fixes and cleanups around the house, plus they have the benefit of being free. These solutions recall a time when Grandma dusted with old socks and clucked her tongue at wasting pennies. Her remedies might help keep our rivers a little cleaner, too.

Hot sauce cleans copper. Rub it on dulled copper, rinse with water, and polish clean with a soft rag.





Olive oil brightens up wood. Use a thin coat to hydrate worn, dried-out wood, as long as it was origin ally treated with an oil finish. Finish by buffing it in.






White wine removes red wine. The first step in removing red wine stains is dousing the spot with white wine. Just blot with a clean rag to absorb the spill.







See more Nontoxic Cleaners

See more on eco-friendly home products and remodeling ideas from This Old House:

The Recycled, Repurposed, Nontoxic House
Creating a Safe, Healthy Playroom
Natural Selections for Walls, Floors, and Countertops

I wade through surfboards and swim gear in my garage in the winter and wrestle with comforters and holiday decorations in the summer. I'd like to get rid of them all. Well, at least for the season they're not in rotation. Here's how I'm going to end this vicious cycle.

The ToteTrac ($30 per track) is a clutter-busting storage system that allows you to utilize the unused space above head by mounting racks that hold plastic storage bins of various shapes and sizes to ceiling joists and rafters. You can even hang bikes and ladders with included hooks. Each set can hold up to 400 pounds of stored items. Good thing because let's face it, no one wants to see your porcelain winter village collection still lit on Independence Day. All necessary hardware for easy, one-person installation is included.

See more at This Old House:
More Cool Products for Busy Moms
Kitchen Drawer Essentials
Gifts for the Proud Parent

Looking to update the look of your living spaces this spring? Try a fresh coat of paint! Here's everything you need to know for a professional-looking interior paint job.

How to Paint an Oversized Design - For a one-of-a-kind look that is more personal than wallpaper, grab some blackboard chalk and start sketching. You'll need a pattern first, of course, so start small and think big. That's how decorative painter Brian Carter breathed new life into the dining room shown here.


How to Paint a Room: A Step-by-step - While you don't have to be a pro to learn how to paint like one, there is more to a good paint job than just slathering some color on the wall. That's where we come in. Here are 8 steps, a tools list, shopping list, and much more to help you get the job done.

Choose Colors with a Color Wheel - Proving the rule that opposites attract, these pairings can always be found at opposite ends from each other on a paint color wheel. When put together, they bring out the best in each

You can always return them to the nursery for reuse, but we came up with some reasons to keep a few on hand.

1. Displace Dirt in a Larger Pot - When repotting a plant, turn a plastic pot upside down in the new, larger container and add soil around it. When you're done, pull out the plastic pot and there will be plenty of room inside the bigger container to place your plant's root ball.

2. Lift a Paint Project Off the Ground - Use four or more pots to prop up a cabinet door, piece of trim, or other item you're painting so that you can reach every nook and cranny.

3. Keep Twine Untangled - Put a ball of twine in a plastic pot, and pull the end through a hole in the bottom to keep it neat when using.

4. Organize Hardware - Use seedling trays in drawers or on your workbench to sort and store nuts, bolts, nails, and odds and ends.

5. Protect Blades - Flip seedling trays upside down and use the crevices to store saws or workshop knives so that the blades don't get damaged in storage.

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