Breaking News

Real Estate

By Melissa Kossler Dutton Associated Press Storage pieces are not what they used to be. Changes in home design and technology mean that boxy, old-fashioned armoires, dressers and china hutches are being repurposed or are making room for cabinets, shelving and sideboards in a wide variety of shapes, sizes and styles. Today’s decor embraces an eclectic look, and rooms might serve more than one function. Walk-in closets and wall-mounted TVs are hot; formal dining rooms are not. All of these trends mean there’s more freedom in choosing storage pieces, including “wow pieces” ...

Off-grid living beckons more than just pioneer types

By Katherine Roth Associated Press Living off-grid conjures images of survivalists in remote places and a rustic, “Little House on the Prairie” lifestyle with chores from morning to night. Yet only a tiny fraction of people living off-grid do it like that, and fewer still live more than an hour from any town. “Living off-grid doesn’t mean you don’t buy your groceries at a store or take your waste to the local dump. It just means you are not connected to utility grids,” says Gary Collins, who has lived off-grid, or mostly off-grid, for a decade. He has published books on ...

Stylish, green, available: Antique furniture is new again

By Kim Cook Associated Press There’s always been a taste for antique furnishings. These days, a widely acquired taste. Antiques are hot partly because of supply chain delays and higher prices for many custom or mass-market pieces. There’s also the public’s turn toward sustainability: Environmentally-conscious buyers are averse to throwaway furniture, and are trying to reuse and recycle. And as always, pop culture plays a role. Period-specific shows like “Bridgerton,” “Downton Abbey” and “Outlander” have amped up interest in Regencycore. “Mad Men” stoked a ...

Storage that goes well beyond the utilitarian

By Kim Cook Associated Press You might think of storage cabinets as utilitarian. But designers are forever fascinated with how a simple cupboard can be built, dressed and adorned in ways that showcase craftsmanship and inventiveness. There are sleek, low-slung consoles with jewelry-esque handles. Swanky Deco-style bar cabinets. Rustic credenzas hewn of timber. And some pieces clad in artistic flourishes, or that are even art themselves. Far from workhorses, these casegoods are dressage ponies, ready for their closeups. “These new cabinets are detailed in a way that’s not ...

In a multigenerational home, design choices can be emotional

By Ted Anthony AP National Writer ALLISON PARK, Pa. (AP) — Should the hanging from Thailand stay on the living-room wall where it has lived since I was born? Should we lay out the family room as it was when I was 8, when I was 17 or in a completely new configuration? Should we leave my mother’s spice rack on the north wall of the kitchen? What about the spices? When you live in a house passed down over generations, deep-time design opportunities lurk around every corner. There are so many ways to blend past and present. And the weight of history can rise up and knock you down ...

March home sales fall as mortgage rates, home prices climb

By Alex Veiga AP Business Writer Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes slowed in March to the slowest pace in nearly two years as a swift rise in mortgage rates and record-high prices discouraged would-be homebuyers. Existing home sales fell 2.7% last month from February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.77 million, the National Association of Realtors said. That’s in line with what economists had been expecting, according to FactSet. It’s also the slowest pace since June 2020, when sales were running at an annualized rate of 4.77 million homes. Sales were down 4.5% ...