These up-and-coming designers stitch together beautiful interiors with skills from another life.
A good eye is a good eye—whether you're an architect, a set designer, or a fashionista. So it's not surprising that an especially interesting subset of interior designers are those who come to the profession indirectly: through a related discipline or as part of a mid-life career shift. They can combine interior design with a perspective from another skill set, the two fields playing off one...
A Manhattan-esque reinvention creates a home custom-made for Baltimore.
There's a panoramic view of Manhattan's iconic Flatiron Building above the bed in the master bedroom of Jill and Eric Bloodsworth's Canton home. The black-and-white photograph, shot from above Madison Square Park, shows several blocks of the city in all its dense, chaotic splendor. n "We call that our 'We-live-here-because-we-don't-live-there' photo," says Jill, who created the 4,200-square-foot...
When catering hotshot Eddie Dopkin wants to relax, he doesn't even have to click his heels.
For 57 years, Baltimore-born-and-bred entrepreneur Eddie Dopkin has seen no need to stray far from his childhood home in the Ranchleigh section of Mt. Washington.
"I've never lived more than four miles from here in my entire life," says Dopkin, a partner and VP of finance for The Classic Catering People and owner of Crazy Man Restaurant Group (which includes S'ghetti Eddie's, Loco Hombre, Alonso'...
Wrestling with dog spots, anemic hedges, and roses.
Q: I'm a lawn nut, but my dogs' urine leaves ugly yellow dead zones, especially when it's hot and dry. Is there anything that can be done to prevent this?
A: Dogs' urine is high in acid and excessive levels of nitrogen and creates a burn once it hits the lawn. When grassy areas are wet, or even moist, the impact is diluted. That's why dogs and lawns get along better when it rains. If...
We take the temperature of Baltimore's woozy real estate industry, check out the region's most in demand neighborhoods, and visit with a few of the people buying there.
Additional research by Chelsea Haddaway, Hilary Thomas, and Realtor Jennifer Reynolds.
What to say about home sales in the throes of a deep recession where the perception is that no one's buying? How 'bout this? That, in fact, people are still buying. And there are even some clouds in our local market that sport the proverbial silver lining. "The Baltimore market, while it is depreciating, is...
Mudrooms go from dingy corner to de rigeur in Baltimore's nicest homes.
While the mudroom is fast becoming an essential addition to any 21st-Century home, you may want to leave your shoes at the door. Today's mudrooms have designer laundry rooms, granite bathrooms, imported flooring materials, upscale upholstery, docking stations for the adults, and elaborate storage areas for the kids. In fact, about the only thing you won't find in the mudroom is mud. And along...
Economy be damned, Pat Turner keeps the buzz going on his new Silo Point condos.
Silo Point sits on a ragged section of Baltimore's once-industrial waterfront, a stone's throw from Fort McHenry, where the harbor heads out to the bay. The building's stark profile—long neck and step-down shoulders—is visible from several angles: from Highlandtown and Johns Hopkins Hospital, from downtown Baltimore's Center Club, from the entry points to the Harbor Tunnel, from the surrounding...
Readers ask about wrestling with roses, houseplants, bloom-forcing, and more
Q. After weeks of low light and dry air, I struggle every winter to keep my houseplants happy, including philodendrons, snake plants, coleus, and large palms that are finicky and expensive to replace. So what can I do to bring them back to health?
A. The best medicine is repotting: Use rich potting soil, put them in the best light you can, and keep soils moist. For example, philodendrons...
Home Improvement
"What do you think of my place?"
The situation clearly called for tact. It was 1985 and Carol Brody had just laid eyes on the '50s-era Mt. Washington stone ranch home owned by her then-date, Ken Luchs. Brody, a lifelong artist, wasn't going to say what she really thought—that the kitchen was woefully out of date; that the verdant views were obscured by shapeless, heavy drapes; and that the living...
The serenity of a water garden or fish pond helps you get away from it all--in your own backyard.
It gurgles. It sparkles. Dragonflies patrol the surrounding flowers and plants, as hummingbirds and finches congregate around it like wildebeest and impala around an African watering hole. It's a fish pond, and it would be oh so therapeutic—if only you had one. But creating ponds or water gardens is not the gargantuan project you might imagine. We went in search of water garden and fish pond...
