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.

Daydreaming about exchanging your 3,000-square-foot Irvington Craftsman for a condo in a new South Waterfront tower? Been picking up fliers for houses with less than 1,000 square feet? Oregon Home talked with a designer, two real estate brokers, an estate sale organizer and a downsizer for tips to ease the move from living large to living small.

Are you the biggest loser when it comes to sticking to your daily goal of working out at the gym? Maybe it’s time to ponder whether a home gym could lead toward a healthier you. Oregon Home talked with an architect, two fitness trainers and two sports equipment experts for tips on putting together a home workout space that really works.

If the islands of your dreams harbor cooktops and prep sinks rather than ships, you may be primed for words of wisdom about kitchen center islands. Oregon Home talked with three kitchen designers and an architect about how to navigate through the choices you need to make—height? width? shape? in-island appliances?—to end up with a kitchen icon that cooks.

You don’t have to live in a strawbale house and drink rainwater to live sustainably. There are lots of ways to do it, from the food you eat to the businesses you support to the kind of lightbulbs by which you read. We’ve spoken to some eco-experts and put together a list of simple things you can do to make the world a greener place.

Can’t let your idea for an aquarium center island go, even though your architect’s told you it would take six months and six figures to fabricate? Are your frugal tendencies keeping you in front of your computer sourcing house parts for beyond super-cheap? Oregon Home asked two architects and two designers for a blueprint for better homeowner-design pro relations.

Have you left white sheets hanging in your living room’s picture windows because you can’t decide whether you should spring for custom shades, buy some off-the-shelf curtain panels or hire a home couture pro to whip up some luxe drapery? Oregon Home asked four draperymakers and a window coverings expert to detail what a well-dressed window looks like.

There’s a lot more to ending up with a quality roof than shopping for shingles and selecting the finish of your gutters. Oregon Home talked with four roofers about how to go from “Honey, I think we have a leaky roof!” to “Those new architectural shingles really bump up the house’s curb appeal!” and about why you should leave the nail-gunning to the pros.

If the islands of your dreams harbor cooktops and prep sinks rather than ships, you may be primed for words of wisdom about kitchen center islands. Oregon Home talked with three kitchen designers and an architect about how to navigate through the choices you need to make – height? width? shape? in-island appliances – to end up with a kitchen icon that cooks.