House Hunt: Check Out This Open House in Birmingham
Want to check out an open house this weekend? Here's one we found in Birmingham.
If you are a real estate agent with home listings that you'd like us to post, email Laura.Houser@patch.com.
Home And Garden
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Sunday, August 5, 2012
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Books? Designers' Show House Has Them Covered
See how interior designers get clever with books galore in various rooms at the Junior League of Detroit Grosse Pointe Shores' home tour, which opens Saturday.
Books seem to be everywhere. Not only are they in homes and on bookshelves, but paperbacks and hardcovers aplenty are also adorning window displays at apparel shops and boutiques and in fashion designer and home-furnishings ad campaigns. There's even book-page wallpaper. Books are wearable, too. Kate Spade, in fact, introduced clutches that replicate classic tomes, from Romeo and Juliet to Emma to The Importance of Being Earnest. Is this our way of holding on to physical books in our Nook-ish, Kindle-ized world of “E?” Perhaps, and that may be why many of the designers at the Junior League of Detroit's (JLD) 2012 Show House used books in a variety of displays. They cherish books not only for design inspiration but also as intriguing …
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Thursday, March 15, 2012
Home & Garden
Spring Cleanup: Grab a Rake, Get Out the Blower
Mild weather finds us itching to work in our yards – but start with a light touch, the experts advise.
With temperatures climbing into the 60s and 70s these past several days, we’ve enjoyed a downright heat wave — plenty warm to start sprucing up your lawn and gardens. “People are getting anxious,” said Deborah Lee, owner of Shades of Green in Rochester. “We have delivered a load of mulch already — a bit too early for me.” Lee said lightly raking the lawn to remove debris and some dead grass is OK to do now. Added Doug Conley, director of landscaping at the Edsel and Eleanor Ford House in Grosse Pointe Shores and resident of St. Clair Shores: “While nice days are here and ‘things’ are popping, soil temperatures are still cool and it is too early to apply most fertilizers and pre-emergent herbicides on lawns.” From Deborah Lee of …
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Saturday, September 24, 2011
Home & Garden
Plants Need Pruning, but When and How is Important
Bad trims equal plant ruin, gardeners say.
When it comes to pruning, garden designer Deborah Friedman of Bloomfield Hills-based Deborah Friedman Designs looks at her client’s yards in much the same way as a doctor observes a patient. “Pruning is necessary for a plant’s overall health,” Friedman said. With good pruning techniques (as important as regular check-ups at the doctor), you’ll get a good quality of flowers, branches and leaves, she explained. “It also serves to keep a plant contained to its place in the garden or to a shape or look desired by the gardener.” Timing is everything when it comes to a good trim, Friedman noted. “All plants are not to be pruned at once or at the same time of year,” she said. “Different plants have different needs, bloom times, shapes, sizes, etc…
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Saturday, September 17, 2011
Home & Garden
Picture Wall Brims with History, Special Moments
Decorators explain a variety of eye-pleasing ways to create a display of memories.
Do you have a pile of black-and-white photos of Great Aunt Mary, that guy you’re related to who fought in the Civil War and classic, timeless photos of your parents on their wedding day? All nice, but where to put them? Beautiful to look at, but how to hang them? Consider a family photo wall. Interior designer Shirley Maddalena of Bloomfield Hills thoroughly enjoyed the recent task of creating a family photo wall for a Birmingham client. “There was an enormous amount of photos,” Maddalena recalled. “It was, quite actually, a really fun and interesting assignment, as there were many sizes and dimensions to work with and fascinating family history." Maddalena and her clients opted to frame the father’s immigration papers, which were mounted…
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Mark Blackwell
5:59 pm on Monday, September 19, 2011
Most framing shops are just simply cost prohibitive. Maybe not for other folks. Certainly for me. more ›
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Home & Garden
Inspect Gardens as Summer Winds Down
How do your flowers and bushes grow in August? Assess the outcome and you’ll be inspired for changes next year.
In a few weeks, summer will be all but a memory. For gardeners, this is the perfect time to take stock and plan ahead. It was one hot summer and one rainy spring, which, area green-thumb enthusiasts say, affected not only their blooms but also their vegetables. "My hydrangeas have never looked as good as they have in 2011, and, judging from other hydrangeas I've seen driving around town, I think everyone has enjoyed the same experience," said gardener Randy Engle of Troy. "A late, wet and cool spring allowed these sensitive plants to come out of hibernation and start their growth spurt before being zapped with too much heat. The wet June and the dappled-sunlight days of July created big mophead blooms. My hydrangeas are now so big and …
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Saturday, August 13, 2011
Home & Garden
Homeowners, Paint Experts Roll Out Wall Treatment Advice
If walls could talk, they’d say, “Give me texture, give me depth!”
Walk into any room for the first time and your subconscious may pick up on its ambiance — cool, warm, old, charming, inviting, sleek, rich, laid-back, relaxing … you get the point. If walls could talk, they’d likely utter those words. Walls, in fact, create a room’s personality. This is true not only with colors, but also texture and paint-application techniques. Area homeowners, painters and artists agree that one can obtain just about any type of mood one wants by paying attention to a wall’s textures and tones. Here, they weigh in with ideas on everything from glazing, rolling and striating to Venetian plaster techniques. It took a few years for Aimee Began of Royal Oak to settle on a career, but ever since she found it, it’s been full …
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Saturday, August 6, 2011
Home & Garden
With Many Hues, Hydrangeas Color Area Gardens
Homeowners and gardeners discuss their favorite colors and varieties, as well as tips for growing and why they adore the blooms.
"A dead hydrangea is as intricate and lovely as one in bloom." — Toni Morrison, from Tar Baby In front of Rachel Schechter Zimmerman's home in Huntington Woods, several hydrangeas abloom in pale green shades grace the entryway. “I love how long the blooms last and that they take up a lot of space,” said Zimmerman, a busy mother of three. The art director especially notices their shapes and hues. Her favorite tone is that “yellow-y, whitish green,” she said. “And I like that they’re in mass.” Her artistic eye enjoys soaking up their color “against all that green foliage. It’s stunning … clean and classic.” Speaking of art, artist Alice Frank of West Bloomfield also adores hydrangeas. “When I observe them, they make me happy,” she said of …
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Megan Swoyer
10:11 pm on Saturday, August 27, 2011
Garden expert Cathy Rosenhaus says: Dear Sid, > The hydrangea in the photo is Endless Summer and is a wonderful, easy to grow > plant. > Cathy more ›
Thursday, August 4, 2011
House Hunt
House Hunt: Recent Listings
New home listings are prevalent in the summer months. Check out what's available in your favorite neighborhoods.
As the busy home selling season continues, we've found more new listings (or relisted properties) in our target neighborhoods of Farmington Hills, West Bloomfield, Birmingham and Bloomfield Hills. Pricing varies, with a low of $350,000 for the home in West Bloomfield on Farmington Road to a high of $550,000 for two of the homes in Birmingham. All of them have been listed less than 60 days and are freshly spruced up for buyers to view.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Home & Garden
Take Your Landscape from Dull to Dynamite
Think about how you want to use your outdoor space and take advantage of native plants are among the tips from local professionals.
The first thing landscape designer Cathy Rosenhaus asks her clients is how they live outside their home. “Do you grill and where? Is there a pool that you swim in or do you want one? Will you be planning for a swing set or play area? Do you entertain?” Clients can also plan for how they’ll live in the future. A swing set can eventually give way to maturing plants. “Or, if you have a sunny area,” Rosenhaus said, “maybe you eventually replace the play area with a vegetable garden.” The designer, who has worked in gardens and on landscapes in everywhere from Birmingham to Bloomfield Hills to Traverse City, says it’s all about how you blend your hardscape with gardens and green areas. Hardscape is defined as those areas that include patios, …
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Mark Blackwell
6:49 am on Saturday, September 24, 2011
Excellent article, and just in time. Thank you! more ›