Karen Warren

506-square-foot modern home in Boulder, Colorado, maximizes natural light and embraces an open floorplan with ample negative space. " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/fzbZzyuHLjZ8qa5pQPugzwynScs=/491x209:5127x3686/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/49427925/House_Calls_Boulder_Adamson_Garcia_Redfield_interior_2.1529008766.jpg" /> Interior designer Jessica Helgerson, tiny home designer and inhabitant, shares her time-tested strategies Interior designer Jessica Helgerson and her husband, architect Yianni Doulis , bought five acres on an agricultural preserve ten miles from downtown Portland, Oregon, in 2010. The land came with two buildings, one of which the pair immediately began renovating into a weekend retreat. The small 1940s cabin had already been poorly remodeled, so they gutted it, vaulted the ceiling, added new windows and doors, and reconfigured the entire floor plan. Once it was all done, they spent their first weekend there for Helge...

When you own a home, it can seem as though you spend an inordinate of time (and money) on home maintenance. And it's normal to want to skimp. After all, who wouldn't prefer to head out to brunch rather than caulk the shower? But any homeowner will tell you that the time you spend doing maintenance will pay dividends in the long run, thanks to a safer home that's less likely to need major repairs. Here are 5 common home maintenance fails to avoid. Not budgeting enough for home maintenance Home maintenance costs money. One commonly accepted rule of thumb is to budget one percent of the home's purchase price for home maintenance each year. So, if your home cost $350,000, you can predict you'll spend about $3,500 on maintenance  -  or averaged out over the long haul. A second way to estimate suggests that you'll average $1 per square foot of your home. So you'd budget that same general amount for a 3,500-square-foot home. Of course, the condition and age of your...

Located in Chiva, Spain, this beautiful house designed by architect Ramon Esteve features an interesting and very beautiful layout complemented by an array of natural materials such as stone and wood with the occasional weathered steel accents. This palette of materials and their natural finishes help to make the house blend in with its surroundings. The plot is surrounded by a pine forest so the architect and the clients wanted to take full advantage of that and gave the house a cross-shaped floor plan.  The solid stone walls allow the house to blend in with its natural surroundings while also offering it privacy The garage is placed below the largest of the two bedroom wings, featuring a sloping driveway The floor plan features four wings, each with a distinct function and each ending with a stone wall facing the forest. The two wings at the front of the house contain the living room, kitchen and dining area while the two at the rear house the bedrooms. The larger of the two bedro...