House of Havoc: How to Make -- And Keep -- A Beautiful Home Despite Cheap Spouses, Messy Kids, and Other Difficult Roommates Book

Foreword xiii

Preface: Living with Them! xv

Part 1 At Home with Havoc

1 Havoc and I, We Have a Deal 3

2 The Nice Thing About Kids Is They Take Your Life Apart a Piece at a Time 9

3 Gender Wars: What Men Don't Get 13

4 Home Gone to the Dogs 19

5 Slipcovers as Divine Intervention 23

6 Fix-Don't Toss-Abused Furniture 29

7 Designing for the Un-Senses 32

Part 2 It's All Under Control, She Lied

8 Take Your House Back 37

9 Paper Control: File This Under File This 42

10 Organizing the Home Office: A Second Chance for Order 48

11 Clutter Busting: The Price of Consumption 51

12 Your Kitchen Is Under Arrest 56

13 Photo Management: Someone Manage These Memories-Please! 62

Part 3 The Finer Things in Life

14 Building a Better Bed 69

15 The Towel Trap 80

16 Flowers for Every Occasion Including Every Day 83

17 Is a Soap Dish Too Much to Ask? 87

18 Pillow Talk 90

19 Something's Got to Give, Just Please Not the Waterford 93

20 Marriage, Like China, Can Be Tough to Get Right the First Time 95

Part 4 Six Secrets of Great Design

21 Design Secret #1: Manage the Snowball Effect of Decorating 103

22 Design Secret #2: Apply Magic Measurements 106

23 Design Secret #3: Throw the Weight Around 109

24 Design Secret #4: Practice the Virtue of Restraint 112

25 Design Secret #5: Look to the French 115

26 Design Secret #6: Put Home Improvement in Its Place 118

Part 5 Desperate Times Call for Desperate Decorating: Ten Cheap Design Tricks

27 No-Budget Decorating 123

28 Cheap Trick #1: Find Some Direction 126

29 Cheap Trick #2: Color Your Walls 129

30 Cheap Trick #3: Become a Glue-GunDecorator 141

31 Cheap Trick #4: Bring on the Bling 147

32 Cheap Trick #5: Customize Hardware 150

33 Cheap Trick #6: Fake It 153

34 Cheap Trick #7: Change the Backsplash 157

35 Cheap Trick #8: Frame That Reflection 160

36 Cheap Trick #9: Make Something from Nothing 163

37 Cheap Trick #10: Screen It 167

Part 6 Specialty Spaces and Making Your Home Stretch

38 Homes and Jeans, They're All About Fit 171

39 So You Want to Work from Home-Ha! 174

40 Decorating with Kids: You Want to Paint Your Walls What? 177

41 When School Projects Hit Home 182

42 Dear Houseguest: Please Come and Go 187

43 Home Gym: Make Room for Fitness 192

44 Sacred Spaces: Make Room for You 195

Part 7 House Hygiene

45 At War with the Universe: The Science of Housekeeping 201

46 Housekeepers Are Cheaper Than Therapy 204

47 Flu Season and Germ Warfare 207

48 Spin Cycle: Front-Load or Top-Load? 210

49 Stain Masters: How a Crisis Line Saved a Marriage and a Carpet 214

50 Girlfriend, You Need Some Tools 219

Part 8 Taming the Wild Kingdom

51 SOS for Desperate Landscapes 225

52 Put the Wow in Your Yard 228

53 Outdoor Living: Nixing the Nuisances 233

Part 9 The Future Is Green, but What If You're Yellow?

54 Twelve-Step Program for Planet Junkies 241

55 Indoor Pollution: Is It Safe to Breathe Yet? 244

56 New Uses for Old Stuff 247

57 Biomimicry: Looking to Nature to Solve Problems at Home 250

58 Brave New House 253

Final Thought: Going Home 257

Acknowledgments 261

Index 263