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Whether your gallery wall contains rare French lithographs or drawings by your children, you should do your best to protect what you have chosen to display.Often we hang things up quickly when we move in, not taking into consideration factors that may damage art over the long term, such as exposing it to sunlight or direct heat from a radiator or HVAC vent.But how do you actually clean your artworks? [...]

Phew! It’s taken months of planning and mountains of paperwork, but you’re finally moving into a home of your very own. Home improvement experts often advise that you save major remodels till after you’ve lived in your new house for a while, so you’ll have time to notice all the things you’d like to change — for instance, awkward traffic patterns or scanty cupboard space. However, the following seven improvements should be tackled as soon as you move in. [...]

For me, the new year prompts a cleaning frenzy. No sense waiting until spring - I prefer to launch into the new calendar knowing that my house is spick-and-span. In addition to the areas of my home I clean regularly, such as the kitchen sink, toilets and floors, I also focus on my appliances, which typically get overlooked. By not cleaning your appliances, you are not just allowing germs to thrive, but you are also affecting the machines' [...]

Like paint colors and fashion, gardening trends come and go.For 2017, gardening trends range from clean, healthy living with fewer chemicals and more organic food to "sound-scaping" with trees to buffer sirens and birds to bring song."We see a lot of growth in the coming years for gardening," says Katie Dubow, creative director at the Garden Media Group, a marketing group that tracks and promotes national gardening trends."Whatever you're growing, wherever [...]

The Winton Club successfully raised funds for Winchester Hospital through the help of Mahoney’s Garden Center’s “Winton Club Shopping Day” on Nov. 30, from which Mahoney’s donated 10 percent of the day’s total sales. The Mahoney family has a long history of supporting the Winton Club and Winchester Hospital, as well as many other causes, organizations and the Winchester community. The Winton Club is a nonprofit women’s organization [...]

A gardener raises plants for their beauty, a botanist studies them for their biology, but in anyone who tends a garden there's the soul of a scientist. Plants grown for delight also invite inspection of their form, their life cycle, where they like to grow and where they do not. This perception is central to one's growth as a gardener.Inspired by the curious flora that grows in the dry, stony and weather-beaten [...]

Hope your Christmas was great … warm and wonderful. Have you ever noticed how such an uplifting holiday tends to leave behind a lot of material stuff? We’re not talking about the stuff you really wanted (like a sleek new smartwatch) or even the stuff that you didn’t (another pair of socks? Gee, thanks). No, what really leaves its mark on your home, as December winds down, is that lingering leftover Christmas decor. How to get rid of it? You can’t just throw it in the [...]

A gardener raises plants for their beauty, a botanist studies them for their biology, but in anyone who tends a garden there's the soul of a scientist. Plants grown for delight also invite inspection of their form, their life cycle, where they like to grow and where they do not. This perception is central to one's growth as a gardener.Inspired by the curious flora that grows in the dry, stony and weather-beaten [...]

Hope your Christmas was great … warm and wonderful. Have you ever noticed how such an uplifting holiday tends to leave behind a lot of material stuff? We’re not talking about the stuff you really wanted (like a sleek new smartwatch) or even the stuff that you didn’t (another pair of socks? Gee, thanks). No, what really leaves its mark on your home, as December winds down, is that lingering leftover Christmas decor. How to get rid of it? You can’t just throw it in the [...]

Your dream house is bought. At a good price. In the best location. All it needs is a rethink. Open up the kitchen. Put in a door to the back yard. Take down two walls. Not a big deal.Well, actually, it's a very big deal. "Homeowners don't realize how complicated renovations can be with literally hundreds of decisions that need to be made. A renovation project can certainly benefit from an adviser," said [...]