Home Care

From inspiration to design advice with crystal-clear how-to instructions, BLACK + DECKER Complete Guide to Bathrooms is the only book you need to achieve the bathroom of your dreams.

This brand-new edition of a perennial bestseller from the BLACK + DECKER Complete Guide series is just the book you need if you want to improve, update, or remodel your bathroom. From a simple freshening of the decor to a down-to-the-studs remodel, all of the information you need to design the job and do the work yourself is right here. Through step-by-step photography and instructions, you'll see how to update lighting, ventilation, flooring, surfaces, cabinetry, toilets, bathtubs, and accessories. The comprehensive buyer's guide takes you through one of the most important steps in any remodeling project, and a complete section on bathroom design provides education and inspiration.

As a bonus, this new edition of Black + Decker The Complete Guide to Bathrooms includes a chapter explaining how to remodel or reimagine your bathroom to better meet the needs of aging in place, with projects that conform to Universal Design Standards. You'll see a start-to-finish demonstration on how to replace a shower or tub with a curbless shower stall. To maximize access, a wall-mounted sink is hung and hooked up - and you see every step. Replace a traditional bathroom sink faucet with a hands-free model so you can turn on the water even if you can't reach all the way to the faucet handle.

Gracefully written and brilliantly illustrated, this handsome new volume captures the vision, the wit, and the down-to-earth inventiveness of one of the most influential and beloved architects of the early twentieth century.

Raised in Greenwich Village and trained in Paris, Maybeck spent most of his long career in northern California. An irrepressible bohemian with no desire to run a large office, he spent much of his time designing houses for friends and family, as well as for other patrons so loyal that they often hired him to design more than one house. Maybeck also created two of the most beautiful buildings in all of California: the exhilarating Church of Christ, Scientist, in Berkeley, and the gloriously romantic Palace of Fine Arts, in San Francisco.

This incisive overview--the first to feature color reproductions of Maybeck's exquisite interiors and exteriors--analyzes every aspect of his life and work. Not only his architecture but also his furniture, his lighting designs, and his innovations in fire-resistant construction are thoroughly discussed and illustrated. The book is also enlivened by documentary photographs, by clearly drawn plans, and by several of Maybeck's dazzling, previously unpublished visionary drawings.

Bernard Maybeck is a major study of an internationally significant architect whose environmentally responsive work has much to offer today's designers and whose houses have given enormous pleasure to those fortunate enough to visit or dwell in them.

One of the hottest consumer trends is the new importance on outdoor living, and nothing brings the outdoor home to life like a greenhouse and other accessories to help grow and nurture landscape greenery. This book has plans and step by step for constructing and appointing greenhouses of several varieties, from glass-wall to hoophouse; some from kits, some from scratch; also includes plans and steps for other garden structures and accessories. Includes projects suitable to homes and landscapes of all types?"urban, suburban, and rural.

See how easy it is to build your own backyard oasis.

Outdoor carpentry projects using cedar, redwood, and pressure-treated pine are perfect for Do-It-Yourselfers of all skill levels, since the materials are easy to work with, and the results are rewarding. Enjoy outdoor furnishings you can create yourself. Items made with quality materials last much longer and cost less, in the long run, than off-the-shelf items. With classic swings for kids and adults, arbors for gardeners and even a table that folds, there's something in The Complete Guide to Outdoor Carpentry for everyone! Over three dozen projects are included, ranging from seating, entertaining, recreational and storage, to overheads and arbors. New projects, unique to this edition, include: 5-board bench, picnic table, folding table, outdoor occasional table, deck-railing planter, window box, Arts-and-Crafts mahogany gate, sheltered swing, outdoor serving cart, arbor and garden bridge. All the projects within this book can be built in a weekend with ordinary power hand tools and materials available at any local home center or hardware store. Each project has complete construction plans and directions for foolproof results--so jump right in and make your backyard unique!

Completing home remodeling projects on a budget is tough. Building with Secondhand Stuff is loaded with all the green construction and money saving techniques you'll need!

From deconstruction methods and salvaging tips, to plotting efficient cutting plans and devising creative new uses for everyday items, Building with Secondhand Stuff is packed with clever ways to obtain low-cost (or no cost!) materials and keep debris out of landfills in the process.

Building with Secondhand Stuff answers questions most of us have wondered at some point: Is that pile of used maple flooring on Craigslist worth taking? Can I do anything with those window panes by the dumpster? Can I take a pick up load of bricks from that building they knocked down?

From plywood to hardwood flooring, to windows, doors, carpeting and more, salvaging building materials can save you thousands of dollars (and is about as green as you can get). Building with Secondhand Stuff is a hands-on, do-it-yourselfer's guide that shows you how to identify materials that can be salvaged efficiently and then gives you step-by-step instructions on how to go about doing it.

Plus, it provides over one dozen complete plans featuring clever ideas for putting salvaged materials to good use as useful home furnishings.

This photo-rich book is the tool every DIYer and homeowner needs to plan and design a beautiful custom deck.

If you're looking to build a new deck or remodel the one you have, you want to start by spreading some innovative deck designs in front of you. Look no further than Deck Ideas You Can Use. The updated and expanded edition of this book is the deck design tool you've been searching for--packed with useful information and full-color photos to help you determine the deck of your dreams.

From choosing deck building materials to settling on railings to adding a splash of color with flower-packed planters to complementing the architecture of your house, this book covers every aspect of the design process to help you create a custom deck that's perfect for your home and yard. Ask yourself if you want traditional or curved stairs. Do you want to give the deck surface some character by adding an inlay? You might include built-in benches. What's the overall purpose of the deck? Will you be outside grilling or simply relaxing with a book? You'll answer all of these questions as you page through Deck Ideas You Can Use.

Written and researched by noted DIY author and designer Chris Peterson, this updated and expanded edition of Deck Ideas You Can Use features 32 new pages, more than 100 all-new photos, plus all-new text on popular deck design topics such as new, state-of-the-art building materials, LED and solar lighting, accessorizing and decorating, and accessibility. This editorially driven new book is truly packed with design and building information you can, and will, use.

Most decorating books omit the most important element of the home: you. Does your home reflect who you really are? Feeling at Home focuses on this most essential aspect of decorating: creating a home that is truly your emotional center. Every room and object should answer your needs and make you feel more human and whole. Alexandra Stoddard gently leads us through a process of self-attunement and self-expression in which we discover not only our practical needs, but also our yearnings--perhaps a sunny spot for reading; a colorful nook for ironing; an inviting place for paperwork. She urges us to question the rules and to never "pre-compromise" by talking ourselves out of our true desires. With imaginative and practical examples from her personal and professional life, she helps us discover countless ways to express ourselves at home and instantly feel comfort, pleasure, and ease.

Why settle for merely being "in" our homes when we can be "at home?" Feeling at Home puts us on the path to home as we've always dreamed it could be.