July 2015 | House and Hammer

delivery at boston building resources center

Shopping the Habitat ReStore and Boston Building Resources Center

One of the challenges of owning an old house — and there are many! — is finding stuff that matches your home. It can be tough to find doors that go with the ones in your 1890s Victorian or window molding as wide or as detailed as the trim in your 1920s bungalow. And that’s…

habitat volunteers, photo by rob swystun

Free or cheap ways to hone your DIY skills

As much as we may want to, most of us don’t have the time to become a carpenter’s apprentice, nor the money to go to the North Bennet Street School. Fortunately there are other ways to pick up some basic home improvement and DIY know-how. I recently wrote an article for the Boston Globe about a…

Wish Listing: Concord

I spent a day in Concord a couple weeks ago while I was working on this story for Sunday’s Boston Globe. And just… wow. It’s really an idyllic place. Between the central town square, the shops on Main Street, the rolling green hills, active farms, the miles of bike paths, and a grip on local and literary history that…

How to build a rustic DIY end table from reclaimed wood

I’ll admit it: I’m a garbage picker. On Sunday evenings I like to go for a jog or a walk through the neighborhood, and it just so happens that Monday is trash day. And honestly, people throw out a lot of good stuff! Now, my wife likes a clutter-free (not to mention trash-free) house, and…

Wish Listing: Hingham

When it comes to the South Shore, Hingham has it all. It’s beautiful. It’s historic. It has a cute downtown. Grand old houses dot sidewalked, tree-lined streets. It’s on the ocean. There’s a harbor and a public beach. And it’s got commuter rail service, a ferry to Boston, and a major highway. Not even fancy Concord can say…

Is Angie’s List worth the money?

When we first bought our house about seven years ago, our to-do list, based in part on our lengthy, detailed home inspection report, was literally pages long. More like a to-do binder. We knew next to no one in Quincy, and after renting for all of our adult lives, we certainly didn’t have a ready…