House Design

OK, lean in. Its time for me to spill the beans about my favorite places to scavenge for recycled art and craft project supplies.

I kept this information under my hat as a courtesy to the people who shared it with me, but a couple of years have passed, and I cant wait any longer.

If you like to search for treasures on the shelves of local thrift stores and secondhand shops, Goodwill is great, but the Goodwill Outlet is even better. At the outlet in Grandville, 3035 Prairie St.

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One of the more obvious inspection items a home inspector will look for is the Temperature Pressure Relief Valve, also referred to as TPRV. This is a safety feature that’s an integral part of the gas or electric water heating system. When activated internally, very hot water, greater than boiling temperature, will quickly discharge through this valve, down an extension pipe, and into the floor drain below.

Water heaters are designed with a built-in thermostat which automatically shuts down the energy source when the desired or pre-set temperature is achieved.

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This is normally a column about my life’s work: garden design. I am never short of finding ways to help my readers be better designers, and I remain grateful for the opportunity these past three and a half years.

I am occasionally, though, given leave by a tolerant editor to veer off the garden path. During the holidays, especially, I will sometimes test her patience. This week, the issue of turkeys and Thanksgiving is very much on my mind.

As always, my column is my own point of view. I encourage those who disagree — most of you — to post comments either below the online version of this column, or on my own website (), which is at long last back up and running. And

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Seven years ago, Jenne Giles was a San Francisco painter and sculptor who didn’t know felting existed. Now she works almost exclusively in the medium, stretching the possibilities of felt in fashion.

There’s a soft-sculpture aspect to wet felting that is attractive to Giles, who sells her ruffled scarves in museum gift shops and online at the Artful Home. It’s tactile and hands-on, like working in clay, she says.

“It incorporates all the things that I love,” says Giles, author of “Felt Fashion: Couture Projects from Garments to Accessories” .

“It’s an ancient medium,” she adds.

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Aromatic candles not only give your house a nice fragrance and light, it also helps you to reduce your stress levels. They are cost friendly if you can make them yourself. The pleasant aroma that the candles have is a result of certain real essential oils. These smells can improve your mood and reduce your stress levels.

Also known as aroma therapy, these candles lift up your mood. You can choose citrus scents like orange, lemon and grapefruit. These smells make you more energetic, positive and excited.

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