Are you living without stools beneath the eating bar in your kitchen because you can’t decide between the LEM Piston or the Emeco navy stool? Wondering whether armrests are a must-have or an amenity to jettison? We asked a furniture maker and three designers to demystify how to end up with the right kitchen seating for your aesthetic, your space and your family. So practice saying, “Please be seated!”

Only a frenemy would put you up in a typical guest room. You know, the one with the lamp you can’t read by and the decades-old mattress with the ditchlike dip in the middle. How to be a Hostess with the Mostest to your overnight pals? Oregon Home asked two interior designers, a home-couture seamstress and a designer-builder for the elements you need to end up with a stylish retreat.

Got a small fortune wrapped up in vinyl records that you want to enjoy hearing throughout your house? Want to recharge yourself in your favorite outdoor living area enjoying both the sound of the birds and the bebop hits of the Bird? Well, remove your earbuds and listen up! Oregon Home asked three in-home audio professionals to fill us in on what makes for an audiophile’s dream residential sound system.

The mountain of boxes. The rolls of BubbleWrap.® The weeks of winnowing down your earthly goods and packing up what you’ve decided to keep. If you’ve got a move in your near future, chances are you’re dreading the time suck that awaits you. Oregon Home talked with four movers about how to best move your household from here to there without damaging your art or losing your marbles.

Only a tightwad would make do without a firescreen, right? Sadly, we’ve seen plenty of sparks flying toward unprotected spendy Oriental rugs. And don’t even get us started about the looks-like-a-double-oven trend of hanging a TV above the mantel. Oregon Home asked two interior designers, a fireplace resurfacer and two firescreen makers for tips to ensure that you end up with a fireplace that sizzles.

Whether you work out of a home office because your company encourages telecommuting or because you’re newly self-employed, you need to think about form and function when it comes to an at-home workspace. Oregon Home asked a sound engineer, two interior designers and a home designer for advice on what works once you leave working in a cube.

A tiled shower room. A rainforest showerhead. A soaking tub you can truly hunker down in. His-and-her sinks. A heated travertine floor. If you’re steaming for a new master bathroom, these are undoubtedly some of the features you’re going to try to squeeze into the space. Oregon Home asked a tilesetter, two designers and an architect for ways to do the room right.

Your home is the biggest purchase you’ll make in your lifetime—and the experience could be the biggest rush or the biggest headache. Oregon Home asked professionals from Realtors to remodeling pros to mortgage lenders how to make buying your next home a dream.

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.  

Got your heart set on building the dinosaur-shaped headboard of your dreams for your bookworm of a boy’s bed? Feel like a hip mama because you’re letting your 4-year-old pick which of 34 colors she wants her spendy maple bedroom furniture to be stained in? Oregon Home asked design mavens for pointers for decorating a kid’s room with style.