Portland’s Better Living Home and Garden Show

better-livingPortland’s Better Living Home and Garden show is returning March 25-27. Head over to the Northwest’s largest sustainable living show at the Expo Center for some free spring break fun.

Up: This is not a toon

balloon_house-thumbTie a bunch of helium balloons to a house until it lifts up and floats away. The idea was whimsical in the Pixar animated movie Up. But is it possible in real life?

A National Geographic team decided to find out. They hooked hundreds of colorful weather balloons to a brick house weighing a ton. They even included a grumpy old man. (Actually, he appears to be a perfectly nice youngish man.) The result?  Up, up and away.

Oregon Home magazine’s remodel

2011AprMay_EditorsPage_RobinIt’s true in the best of homes: One day you wake up and realize it’s time to spruce things up. Maybe fix the steps or replace some dated furniture. Definitely ditch the wallpaper. That’s what we’ve done here at Oregon Home: taken stock of what’s working and what’s not and made some changes.

Amazing space

A human hand appears to sink into a solid brick wall.  Giant people seem to scramble up a tall building faster than you can say Spiderman.  Another building looks as if it is transforming, ala a click-and-turn toy, into an entirely different structure. “Projected light media” doesn’t quite capture the wow-factor of this relatively new … Read more

Time for a makeover?

Psst, have you considered a makeover?

Never mind your wardrobe, although Spice Girls concert T-shirts make fine window rags, we’re talking home here.  Some brainiacs at Harvard University report that annual remodeling expenditures will likely increase at an inflation-adjusted 3.5 percent in coming years. That may not sound like ground-breaking news until you consider that since its peak in 2007 the remodeling industry was on a double digit decline.

Spring awakening

2011AprMay_Homeward_ThumbCelebrate the season with new colors, bold designs, fun furniture, getting organized and a few guilty pleasures.

Niel DePonte’s perfect spring party soundtrack

2011AprMay_Homeward_SpringSoundtrack02The menu is set. The table looks lush. All this dinner party needs is the right soundtrack. Niel DePonte, music director and conductor of Oregon Ballet Theatre, offers a playful playlist for a spring dinner party.