Housing Chatter delivers the news you need to know about current events in the housing market in simple terms. We have no political or institutional affiliations so you can be confident that our content and commentary is unbiased. Housing Chatter is brought to you by your professional Realtor®.

Tips for Making a Small House Work for You

Living in a small space can sometimes feel suffocating, especially if you like entertaining. It's one reason many people gravitate towards larger homes, even with the tiny house movement in the background pushing for more modest living arrangements. Truth be told, there is a happy middle ground in the huge versus tiny debate; you can live comfortably in a sm ... Read More »

Bulbs, Bulbs, Bulbs! Daffodils, tulips, hyacinths, freesia, crocuses, and MORE!

Fall has officially begun, which means that one of my favorite times of the year is approaching. No, I'm not talking about the golden, warm, crisp days of early fall, although those are nice. I'm talking about bulb-planting time! I love bulbs with a passion, not least because so many are deer-resistant, and they're one of the few things I can plant with aban ... Read More »

Super-Cute Houseboats Double as Affordable Housing

Every time I drive to San Francisco and pass the houseboats in Sausalito, I think that it might be fun to live on one of them (although my cats might disagree). There's something amazing about living so close to nature, gently bobbing with the movement of the bay, in a space that's designed to be space-efficient and energy efficient. And, let's face it, ther ... Read More »

14 Great Uses for Salt

Salt is an extremely abundant mineral. You might think of it primarily as that thing on the dinner table you use to add some flavor to your food, and it's certainly useful for that, but the uses of salt extend far beyond that; there's a reason the Romans prized it so much that soldiers were paid in it. (Well, also, salt was harder to extract for the Romans, ... Read More »

Freshen Up Your Foyer! A quick fix for the blues

If you're anything like me, periodically you just get totally frustrated with your house and you wander around restlessly for several days rearranging furniture, marking up pages in home design catalogs, and wishing you could put your finger on what's bugging you. Because something definitely isn't right, and you're not quite sure what it is...if only you co ... Read More »

5 Fun Painted Furniture Projects

I love the look of creative painted furniture projects. Truly crafty people can come up with outstanding stuff, and their projects can be such an inspiration. Even better, they're usually happy to share information about the process to help us figure out how to replicate it or make our own twist on it. The friendly folks at Hometalk definitely take the cake ... Read More »

Get Ready for Fall!

Around these parts, the weather is just starting to turn to fall, which is my favorite season. There's something crisp and sharp and fresh in the air that totally invigorates me, and I've been frantically redecorating my house in spurts over the last week or so thanks to my newfound energy. I'm not the only one, apparently; although the official start of fal ... Read More »

We Tested It: Vinegar As A Carpet Cleaner

Sometimes, when it rains, my pooch decides that his precious paws are simply too delicate to become sullied with that icky mud, and he’d rather just not go outside to do his business. Yes, the corner of the living room will suffice, thank you very much. I hate when it rains. What am I, a maid service? I used to use this awesome carpet cleaner I’d buy in a ... Read More »

Keeping Deer Out of the Garden

Last year was a good one for deer in the West. They multiplied, and this year, they gave birth to a bumper crop of babies, which has meant fawns everywhere. Sadly, not so adorable as the summer has stretched on, proving hot and dry. These brutal conditions aren't just fodder for wildfires. They're also hard on vegetation, with few trees, shrubs, and plants t ... Read More »

Fall Maintenance: The Short List A realists guide to getting ready for the cold season

Feel like your list of important tasks to get done in that precious-little time between boiling-hot summer and frigid fall is getting longer every day? The kids are starting school, your boss just got back from vacation, football season is starting...how many of those "critical" maintenance items are you really going to check off your list? If it's around 10 ... Read More »