A lot of artists can turn new paint and just-stretched canvases into amazing works of art. But we live in Recycleville, where creative, resourceful artisans and craftspeople are making sophisticated things out of former throwaway items (think pennies, plastic bags, broken glass and old sweaters and shoes). Meet upcyclers whose handiwork merits every cent it can fetch.

Maybe it’s time to spin the color wheel again and energize your too-neutral interiors. Before you start adding more swatches to your paint chip collection, note this expert advice. Oregon Home asked interior designers, color consultants and professional painters to draw on their work with clients to give you a formula for successfully picking colors that work.  

Ground central for shopping Portland’s Nob Hill might be the cool boutiques and national home furnishing chains on N.W. 23rd Ave., but there are enough picks on this secondary street to merit a nine-block walk in the shadow of Good Sam. Just watch out for the aliens!  

Unexpected guests are bad enough, but when they gnaw, wriggle, slither and chomp their way into your house, that’s when you’ve got to get tough. Oregon Home asked pest control experts how to wrangle the termites, mice, carpenter ants, moles, skunks, squirrels, bats, rats and various other vermin who are trying to stake a claim on your property.