Other stories by Christine Hartman

  • Two Faced

    There is a romantic element to an outdoor room -- the fresh air and the cool breezes add to a certain mystique. Unfortunately, the things that make an outdoor room romantic can also make it annoying -- fresh air can turn to cold air, cool breezes to harsh wind.

  • Drawing Board: Sleep Tight

    When Brad Cruickshank, Cruickshank Inc., designed a large addition for this Dutch colonial in Atlanta, the new space was to include a family room, office, guest bedroom, and garage.

  • Second Garage is 'Hog Heaven'

    When clients approached Andy Fusia about building a second garage on their home to house their motorcycles, the owner of Aurora Home Improvement in Cumming, Ga., saw an opportunity.

  • Glass Act

    Architect Rebecca Schnier, Oakland, Calif., likes to fit good design into every part of a house, and the top of the stairs is no exception. In this remodel of a California home, she designed a cantilevered shelf of thick, clear glass that shoots out over the redesigned stairway.

  • Just Passing Through

    Half the work of laundry is getting the clothes to and from the laundry room. Architect Holly Cratsley of Nashawtuc Architects, Concord, and contractor Douglas Bellow of Gilman, Guidelli and Company, Somerville, Mass., designed and built a solution that makes doing the laundry a breeze.The laundry...

  • Made for the Shade

    The Problem: Design and build an outdoor entertaining space that offers summer comfort in the south Texas heat. The Solution: A canopy that "floats" above the existing roof of the clients' home and therefore allows cooling breezes to enter, but also forms a shelter for entertaining. Project...

  • Revival of the Unfittest: Condemned House Gets a Pardon

    Condemned and scheduled to be demolished by the city of St. Paul, Minn., this house had just a few days to live. Square columns to match those on either side of the house, a round bump out in front, and hefty balusters above create a Classical Revival porch for this once-condemned St. Paul...

  • Designing solutions

    A basic understanding of design can go a long way toward providing solutions.