Ikea kitchen planners can help you design a kitchen in 3D and choose your cabinet, counter, hardware…all the materials for your shiny new modern kitchen. You can also pay for an Ikea kitchen designer to come to your house (now $79) to make sure all of your kitchen measurements are accurate. The Ikea kitchen I…
Buying a new house before selling your own house or condo in cities like Oakland, Berkeley, and Alameda can be a challenging process. Yet, who doesn’t want to avoid moving twice? To buy a house before selling there are many factors to consider, including: financial planning to know what you can afford deciding if it’s…
Building ADUs on a property with a single-family home or multi-family building has become the most popular way to think about multi-generational living or generating income during retirement. (The New York Times reports on the popularity of ADUs — although ignore the very low prices per square foot quoted!) But what if it turns out…
Murals on walls inside houses has been a time-honored tradition through the ages. In Berkeley, the murals adorning the walls of Pauline Kael’s house in Berkeley became legend. More rare is seeing murals, or little “spot” paintings, on the exterior of houses. There’s nothing I love more than seeing houses that reflect the passions and…
Who doesn’t love a trend report? It’s so much fun seeing what materials, colors, textures, and decorating styles the experts and purveyors are calling “it.” So what to do when Pantone names “Viva Magenta” their 2023 Color of the Year? Paint the town pink?! The thing to remember as a home owner is: It’s up…
True confessions: I never had extermination done after buying my house years ago. After all, no termites were crawling or flying around. How did we know if the termites were old school or a current infestation? Then there was a live termite incident. Three different pest inspection companies did estimates, with three wildly different recommendations….
Beyond home insurance, there are a few things to ponder before embarking on home ownership. Here are 3 super important things that might save you and your loved ones a lot of headaches and money in the future: 1) People talk about having a will, but a trust might be even more important. Having a…
I grew up in Southern California, where Trader Joe’s got its start. That’s how a 1982 Trader Joe’s flyer ended up in the glove box of one of our family cars. Finding this treasure inspired me to write a Trader Joe’s history book analyzing how what used to be “health foods” and “ethnic foods” you…
Temporary interest rate buydowns are actually a quite simple and interesting concept. Interest rate buydowns help home buyers afford a higher-priced home in the face of high interest rates. Buydowns temporarily lower mortage payments — even on fixed, 30 year mortgages. Basically, the home seller “buys down” the interest rate as an incentive. Meaning, they…
Add “trick or treat near Stephen King’s house” to your bucket list. Then add “go to Bangor, Maine” to the list. That’s where Stephen King’s sprawling haunted-like estate sits, surrounded by a wrought iron fence just made for a Stephen King movie. Or Harry Potter. Russell Street in Berkeley, California is my usual Halloween go-to…