
Spaces for Life: Choosing a deck railing
By Lance McCarthy First, a few fyi’s. Deck railing looks really good, but it has a purpose. And that is to make sure that your beautiful 18 month old daughter that just learned to walk doesn’t walk right off the edge of the deck. Or your drunk friend Jason. Either one. Because of that, smart

Spaces for Life: Choosing a decking material
By Lance McCarthy When is a good time to start talking about decking material? Around the end of March is when those calls really start coming, and by the time May hits it has reached fever pitch. I’ll share a secret with you though. Now is the perfect time to think about that deck in

Spaces for Life: A guide to cracks in your house
By Lance McCarthy Now that we are in the middle of winter, a lot of cracks start showing up in the house, and so I thought it would be a good time to repost an old column about that very topic: You are sitting there at the dinner table when you see it. There on

Spaces for Life: Best Gifts For Your House This Christmas
By Lance McCarthy When I was little I remember being at a family Christmas and being super aware of whether I was getting as many gifts as my cousins. If I was getting things like a sweater with a horse on it and they were getting a new nerf gun, it made me feel pretty

Spaces for Life: How to choose a countertop
By Lance McCarthy Despite all the news reports and attention surrounding the presidential elections, it looks like the zombie apocalypse isn’t happening yet (give it time). And without zombies, people will still be wanting to make their homes nicer. Here are a few options to consider when replacing your countertops. (I don’t know any zombies

Spaces for Life: Types of Flooring that work well in a basement
By Lance McCarthy The basement is a unique place. It is “down there” and can be creepy in an older home. Newer homes have tried to make it like just another part of the house with taller ceilings and large windows. But the basement still has some unique issues that should be considered when picking

Spaces for Life: When should I start my home project?
By Lance McCarthy Well folks, it’s official. We have entered pumpkin spice season. If you like the taste of orange, this is your time. The world is your gourd. Take your pick. You want pumpkin spice coffee? Easy. How about pumpkin spice Oreos? We got that. Pumpkin spice Doritos? Are you kidding me?! Enjoy. This

Spaces for Life: The point of no return
By Lance McCarthy Have you ever gone past the point of no return with something? In movies, this is the point in the plot where the character does something that changes everything, and will be very difficult to undo. Neo eating the red pill. George McFly punching Biff. Thelma and Louise driving off the cliff.

Spaces for Life: Kitchen Sink 101
By Lance McCarthy Do you find your house mysterious and perplexing? I have decided to bravely serve as tour guide to the home. Each month I dedicate one of my columns to illuminating some part of the house that most people might not know much about. I thought we’ve covered everything but the kitchen sink,

Spaces for Life: Questions for a Landscpae Architect
By Lance McCarthy One of my favorite parts of my job is being able to work with some really talented people. One of those talented people is Jason Meier of Meier Consulting. Jason is a landscape architect by trade, and helps people re-envision their property, but also is an amazing asset for land development. We