Stacey Freed

Extensive research went into this article. I contacted homeowners, realtors, mortgage appraisers, and several national organizations such as the US Green Building Council, Home Energy Labeling Information eXchange, Pearl Certification and others to determine whether investing in features that can make a home energy-efficient and sustainable will bring a premium at resale.

The farmhouse is being reinvented for modern times, and the results pack big appeal for buyer.

This article defines prefab housing and determines how it might be helpful to mitigate the housing shortage. I interviewed Sheri Koones, a writer and expert on prefab housing.

Since March, the pandemic has changed the way we live in our homes. In this article I interviewed architects and designers, including Alaina Money-Garman, whose firm helped develop a post-COVID home design that will address issues of indoor air quality, health and wellness.

When Kevin Yost began working from home last spring due to the pandemic, he set himself up at his San Francisco area home's dining room table. But with sensitive material on his laptop, he needed more privacy from his wife, who often worked from home, and two teenage children. Yost discovered a solution in his own backyard.

Ensuring business continuity in the era of climate change requires thinking ahead to potential worst-case weather scenarios, and budgeting accordingly.

If you were a business looking for a writer, would you hire Robin Flanigan or The Kinetic Pen? Holly Leber Simmons or Red Pen Editorial? Elna Cain or Innovative Ink?
Flanigan, Simmons, and Cain are all freelance writers whose business name is different from their own. Should you do the same?

Diagnosed in 20% to 40% of dogs, separation anxiety can affect your pet far into the future. A new device has shown promise in helping dogs and their owners cope.

While the idea that homes can be healthy places that nurture their inhabitants and promote wellness isn’t new, that idea is now being more sharply defined and codified in ways that could change building practices and further heighten consumer awareness—especially in light of the COVID-19 health crisis and people’s need to do more tasks at home.

Make downsized living feel larger. Whether you’re in a smaller house, an apartment, a condo or even a “tiny home,” there are modern, eco-friendly, Goldilocks appliances that are just right for your space.

Some nights Katie North and her fiancé find themselves in their Oakland, California, kitchen doing a little cheerleading, a little jazz scat singing, a little dancing and clapping all in the name of getting Rugger, their 12-year-old springer spaniel mix, to eat. “He usually stands there, asleep at the wheel; we have to get him excited enough to eat. It’s absurd; he wants entertainment with his meal.”

While most dogs don’t require dinner and a floor show, plenty of dog owners find themselves as frustrated as North. How do you get those picky eaters to nose in on their bowls?

Money is wrapped up in all kinds of unpleasant emotions. Shame, embarrassment, fear, regret. We all experience these feelings about our money at one time or another, but we’ll be damned if we actually talk about it. This essay is part of the Financially Naked series -- where people have the space to bare all about their most vulnerable financial experiences, mistakes, and regrets.