If an apple a day keeps the doctor away, then a repair a week the homeowner should seek.

Taking good care of your home is important, just as is taking care of your own health. Evaluate your home and ask yourself if it meets your expectations in terms of functionality and energy efficiency. All elements of your home should work together and function properly for best performance.

Universal design is a good first step. Read more…

The notion of universal design in the home, or how to make interior spaces more user-friendly and accessible, usually comes up in kitchen and bath designs.

But what about accommodations for ease of use in home offices?

According to the U.S. Census and Transportation Research Board, the number of Americans who work at home grew 23 percent between 1990 and 2000 to more than 4 million at-home workers.

It is routine for large businesses to consider ergonomics, lighting and other factors when creating offices to make work spaces more functional. Even reducing employee fatigue is part of the planning mix. Read more…

North Carolina-based furniture retailer Boyles Distinctive Furniture has partnered with The Dr. Phil Show and DIY Network’s DIY to the Rescue to design and furnish interiors for three families whose homes were damaged by Hurricane Katrina.

The Dr. Phil Show features three New Orleans homeowners whose homes were damaged and/or destroyed during Hurricane Katrina. After the storm, the homeowners were victimized a second time by a scam construction operation that started but did not complete repairs to the homes. The construction company then abandoned the projects and took each family’s insurance monies. The DIY Network will profile one of the homes on its DIY to the Rescue program.
Read more…

HOULKA, Miss.–Davis Furniture will shift local production of its upholstered lines to China and begin importing fully finished goods, according to a statement released today by President Lynn Davis.

“It just made sense since we were importing the sewing kits, the show wood, the fabrics, and other pieces and then assembling them in Houlka for shipment,” he explained. “This move will help us gain an economy of scale in upholstery; to produce the entire unit in our China factory and ship a total finished unit. This process will give us a production and price advantage in the marketplace.”
Read more…

Johor is set to see the return of furniture and textile manufacturing companies, which had ventured to Vietnam, Cambodia and China several years ago.

Mentri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman said this was due to Malaysia’s competitiveness and the country’s capabilities in protecting their intellectual property rights.

He said many furniture and textile companies, which left Malaysia for cheaper labour and material costs were returning.

“They now realise it is not competitive anymore to operate outside Malaysia. Read more…

It might be wise to anchor any outdoor items that could blow away, because wind gusts as high at 50 mph are expected to hit the midstate Saturday night, according to the National Weather Service in State College.

The weather service has a high wind watch in effect until Sunday morning.

The storm is expected to sustain winds of 25 to 35 mph today, increasing to 50 to 60 mph tonight, meteorologist Greg DeVoir said.

The winds mixed with the rain could cause problems for trees that still have leaves. The weight of the wet leaves, coupled with the wind, may cause branches to break and fall, DeVoir said The wind is not expected to spawn a tornado, he said.

The biggest gift-giving time of the year always seems to coincide with craft-fair season.

Coincidence or diabolically clever planning on the part of craft-fair sponsors? What does it matter as long as there are plenty of places to drop dough and emerge with presents for everyone near and dear.

Thank goodness the fairs are nicely distributed over a two-month period from mid-October through mid-December. Read more…

Furniture Brands International Inc. said Thursday that Payless ShoeSource President and CEO Matthew Rubel has been elected to Furniture Brands’ board of directors.

Before joining Payless in his current role in July 2005, Rubel most recently served as chairman, president and CEO of the Cole Haan subsidiary of Nike Inc. He previously held posts with firms including Revlon Inc., Pepe Jeans and J. Crew Group Inc., according to a release.

Furniture Brands’ chairman and CEO, W.G. “Mickey” Holliman, said in a statement, “Matt Rubel has proven himself an outstanding business leader, and we are delighted he has agreed to serve on our Board of Directors. Matt brings to us his expertise in transforming businesses with multiple distribution channels, he understands online and direct marketing, and he appreciates the power of differentiated brands. His contributions to our company will be many.”
Read more…

The Rural Studio, Brian Mackay-Lyons’s Ghost Project, the UVA “Shure Studio,” Dan Rockhill’s Studio 804 at University of Kansas—the number of design-build projects for students continues to expand, but they weren’t nearly as commonplace in 1967, when Charles W. Moore and Kent Bloomer founded the Yale Building Project. Yale University Press will commemorate the fortieth anniversary in spring 2007 with a volume written by Richard W. Hayes and edited by Nina Rappaport.

Moore and Bloomer decided to get students out of airless studios and to teach architecture’s social value by building for the poor. From its first year, when Moore and the students lived in rural Appalachia, the project has focused on affordable houses. Working with Neighborhood Housing Services (NHS), today each crop of first-year Master’s students design and build a new, affordable home in New Haven in less than six months.
Read more…

Parking structures, a new library and space for fraternity-sorority housing and more residence halls are part of SIUE’s 25-year master plan draft, Chancellor Vaughn Vandegrift announced Tuesday.

The plan, which is in the preliminary stages, focuses on Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s main campus to accommodate expected growth of the student body, university programs and departments.

The plan proposes sites for future buildings, but not necessarily when they will be constructed, Vandegrift explained. Read more…