Backyard Farming: Fad Or The New Future

While a kitchen herb garden or pot-grown tomatoes may be commonplace in both suburban backyards and on urban condo patios, an increasingly large number of homeowners look to backyard farming as a way to relieve some of the stresses of modern life. Other benefits include cutting grocery bills, living a more sustainable life, and teaching children about food. The New Food Landscape  Do new trends signal a return to simpler times, or are they a pushback against higher food prices and loss of control over the food supply? Is it a lasting change that will spread across the country or a trendy, elitist…
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Smart Technology or Home Automation: What’s the Difference?

Is it worth it to add smart appliances or automated features if you're selling a home? Just how much connectivity do buyers want? And what exactly do the terms refer to in terms of home updates. Although smart homes and home automation are sometimes used interchangeably, they actually refer to two basically different concepts about how appliances and home systems can operate. Then there is the need for "connectivity," adding another dimension to any discussion of futuristic home features. Home Automation According to a Texas-based Direct Energy blog, home automation has a long history, beginning with the first labor-saving devices…
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Home Updates That Make Good Multi-Generational Sense

Multi-generational households and the growing preference on the part of many retirees toward "aging in place"have altered home design in recent years. Interiors are more open, more functional and more adaptable that they were even a decade ago. Spaces tend to be less formal; living space is better integrated with work space like the kitchen, and rooms tend to serve more than once purpose, both for quiet pursuits and for family gatherings. Universal Design Home design has gained a new dimension -- planning for the future and for a changing lifestyle. Universal design features and amenities that were once off the radar are now…
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