April 17Used horseshoes, broken rakes, old saw blades and discarded transmission gears. Where most folks see junk, 14-year-old Cody Campbell sees art – and maybe a trip to Hawaii. The teen is the owner and operator of Junk by a Punk, a business his older brother, Trevor, started three years ago, and recently handed down to him. January 23So, Santa brought you some new tools for Christmas, but you're a little intimidated by the four sets of instructions in 16 languages. What about the rest of your tools? Are your drill bits sharp enough? What about your chisels? September 12I've enjoyed reading about the special chairs in homes across the area. The stories have touched me and some have made me smile. July 4While other builders are exploring ways to incorporate green building materials and techniques into big mainstream projects, Casper Mork-Ulnes and Nick Damner are thinking smaller. May 23Watching the sunset from one's patio with a cool beverage in hand is a well-entrenched local tradition. The region's hot summer days and long twilight hours lure people outdoors, turning many backyard decks into second living rooms. April 18Sometimes, all opportunity needs is a window. Doug Miller started out in Spokane. A graduate of Lewis and Clark High School, Miller worked as a faux paint artist in Las Vegas, and did a stint as a cabinet maker before he moved to the Seattle area and became an antiques dealer. February 14Back in the day, young Dan Zasso left New York for college in sunny Tucson, Ariz. While traveling around the West in the summer of '74, he ran out of money in Spokane. If there's one thing we've learned from looking at our reader mail, it's that one man's trash is a "Budget Living" reader's treasure. February 9How quickly we transition from "Deck the halls" to "Deck the house." "About this time of year, people get cabin fever," says James Elpers, lumber department supervisor at the Liberty Lake Home Depot store. February 2The basic necessities of life are food, shelter and clothing. But probably right after that would come a kitchen table and chairs. Especially affordable ones – in the $10 to $50 price range. January 26Good morning and welcome to Wallpaper-On-A-Budget 101. Today we'll talk about the benefits of wallpaper versus paint, give you a heads-up on one local source where you can get some high-quality but inexpensive wallpaper, and provide some creative ideas for alternative uses of wallpaper. January 19Might you like to add a handmade garden bench to your yard this spring? Or an Adirondack chair? If you made them yourself you'd save some money and you might be able to use some recycled wood to cut expenses even more. January 12Book artist Libby Ward creates unique history books – all the pages are empty. Whether one of her handmade books is used as a photo album, scrapbook or journal, Ward says it is up to the book's owner to fill in the blanks. January 5As his junior students practice their karate stances and footwork at the Jundokan International dojo on lower-south Perry Street, Sensei Teruo Chinen explains why he's spent most of his life training young people in this ancient art. December 29The end of another year. A time for reflection and resolutions. Spokane Valley resident Jeannette Saville fondly reflects on a drawer full of old shoelaces she found at her mother's house. December 22Recycle this:In February 1971, just six months out of Vietnam, I enrolled at Whitworth College to complete my art degree and took an independent painting class from Walter "Spike" Grosvenor. December 15Home do-it-yourselfers liken Overhauser's Manufacturers Outlet to a candy store. A candy store that doesn't advertise and can be a challenge to find, but a sweet deal once you're inside. December 8Holiday displays and decorations twinkle in yards and on homes throughout the region. These decorative lights are low wattage – about 10 watts per traditional colored light to as low as 0.04 watts for the light emitting diode (LED) variety. December 1Ho, Ho, Ho. Soon the jolly old gentleman will be hefting his pack and slipping down your chimney. How does he get so many gifts into so little space? November 23Please follow along. This is a knee-bone's-connected-to-the-leg-bone's- connected-to-the-foot-bone story about "green" cleaning products. So if you're ready, let's take a meandering little walk. November 17FREE WOOD. That sign and its standing offer can been seen throughout the Spokane area. At Ziggy's on north Market and in Greenacres. November 3With 1.6 billion inhabitants, Earth has a huge need for consumable energy. Yet, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory calculates that on any given day, so much solar energy falls to Earth it would take 27 years to consume. October 27You read this issue of HOME cover to cover and then put it in your blue recycling bin. By collection time next week, it is joined by magazines, jars, bottles, boxes, milk jugs and cans. October 20"I hit pay dirt when I find people who have boxes of stuff I can rummage through," says jewelry-maker Pat Boyd. "I just found a bag of watches at Goodwill. Pat Boyd has shown her work in recent years at Art On The Green in Coeur d'Alene and at the annual Yuletide exhibit at the Spokane Art School. October 13The Elizabethan Room at The Davenport Hotel is the grand dame of Spokane ballrooms. It is reputed to have been Louis Davenport's favorite. Regally appointed with quarter-sawn oak, the room literally glows. October 6Sometimes the wonderful, wide world of recycling seems one big magical, mystery tour. On the Recycling Trail in mid-September, I followed a giant 8-foot Chinook salmon into the Cascades where I got "face time" with Wanda and Cosmo, Buzz Lightyear, Anakin Skywalker, Yoda and the luminary SpongeBob SquarePants. September 29Of a summer evening in Bobville, you could climb the stairs behind the mercantile to a cozy balcony above the attorney's office and, with a loved one, watch the sun set across the mill pond. September 22Do you have a bathroom or kitchen sink that's old and dingy? Are you remodeling and just can't fit your old sink in with the new decor? September 15The bottom line drives business practice. Budgets are the homeowner's bottom line. Both business owners and homeowners strive to be economical. Does that mean doing without, or purchasing solely from China? September 8The upstairs window shutters have been flung open. Outside, the garden is splashed with sun – asters and daisies in full bloom. A stone path leads down to a cherry tree alive with pink and white blossoms. September 1"Dino" is dead. Increasingly, government and fuel industry officials acknowledge that from a sustainability standpoint, from an environmental standpoint, and from an economic standpoint, fossil fuels – like oil – no longer cut the mustard. August 25June 21, 2005. Record- breaking high velocity winds rip through the greater Spokane area. In Spokane Valley, a red fir snaps off halfway up, leaving an unsightly 22-foot high stump. August 18Bookbinders Willem and Eppe Bosch agree their most memorable repair was a 1532 Martin Luther Bible. In its life it had crossed the Atlantic on sailing ships three times. August 11Antique rattan furniture is very popular, but today a lot of it needs repair. Enter Tony Yuen. A man from Enterprise, Ore. , drove all the way to Spokane to bring him a two-baby baby carriage. August 4"When my wife Deb and I were courting," says metal artist Jason Sheldon, "we'd go out on dates to the scrap yard to see who could find the best stuff." July 28"The only thing worse than the roads in Spokane are its chimneys," laughs Pat Carbaugh. But thar's gold in them thar hills for Carbaugh – he's a masonry specialist. July 21The fainting couch swooned, took a swan dive from nearly three stories up, hit cockeyed and shattered to pieces. Too bad. She was made of mahogany and upholstered in blue satin brocade. July 14One used to say, "Waste not, want not," and mean, "If I'm careful with my resources, I'll never do without. " That's still sound advice, but today the broader concept of "sustainability" has gained currency. July 7Oil: $60 a barrel. Gas: Creeping toward $3 a gallon. What's a poor Hummer to do? The rising costs of operation and the compromised resale value don't mean your super-sized SUV is a dinosaur just quite yet. June 30Jim Nelson puts the "cycle" in recycle. He's fashioned a wall light sconce from a purple Harley FXR fender. A guitar-toting Jerry Garcia doll straddles the fender's red taillight. June 23"I love lighthouses," says North Spokane artist Vickie Buxton. "The water . . . you wish you were there. And there are so many styles and shapes of lighthouses. June 16"I've got to build and paint a golf course before the end of June," says Gayle Tomsha, "and green paint is hard to find. So Tomsha was delighted to find most of a gallon of Hunter Green for free on the Reusable Table at the Valley Transfer Station Recycling Center. June 9Let us here remember Charles Schulz – now passed. And Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus and Snoopy. One wonders what's become of them? Given the publishing residuals and merchandising deals provided by their creator, a pleasant retirement one would guess. The very concept of a library is one of re-use. On a daily basis, libraries recycle our culture's most valuable resources – books. Go to your local library to research other birdhouse designs – they're in the 690. June 2When is a prison not a prison? Come on, think outside the box. It's simple really. Give up? Answer: When it's an RV barn. May 26Imagine a fertile land where blue clematis climbs into the arms of the Man in the Moon, where you can see giant sugar peas as big as babies, where two hilarious cats, one wearing a pheasant-shaped hat, careen on an ancient rusted tricycle along a garden path. May 19Some things you can put a value on. Some things you can't. Woodworker Laurie Falk can give you examples of both. For instance, he can put a value on the adjustable-shelf bookcase he made for his wife Irene Falk, who has a large cookbook collection she uses regularly. May 12Mother-of-Thyme will soon be sprouting on the roof of Greg Spatz's backyard writing studio. This is by design. His wife Caridwen Irvine-Spatz's design.
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