The question: I’d love to create a patio in my yard. Can I do it myself? While you can do some of the work toward putting in a patio, you’re […]
Home / Making
Inspiration for the crafty, projects for the practical, spaces for dreamers.
Browse all Home / Making stories below or dive into a topic:
GALLERY
Outdoor Showers Beyond the Box
Mix up your clean routine
It seems no Cape Cod home is complete without an outdoor shower. Coming home from the beach with sandy feet and wind-strewn hair and heading straight for it is a […]
SWIMMING ALONE
Are We Becoming Pool People?
The pursuit of safety — from sharks, humans, or financial instability — makes waves
The ocean defines the Outer Cape, but by some reckonings, swimming pools are beginning to come in a close second. That would be an exaggeration, but whether it’s for fear […]
GALLERY
Take Home on the Road
Tents and campers for settling in under the stars
Remote work and distance learning have chained us to our devices and Zoom rooms. But now that it’s summer, camping offers outdoor low-tech liberation. Campgrounds are, by nature, well designed […]
GALLERY
Gardens That Contain Summer’s Charm
Three secrets for planting winning window boxes
A window box filled with flowers can give a plain clapboard exterior a season’s worth of charm. Settie Dixon, owner of Gardens by Settie, has good advice about planting container […]
PLANTCRAFT
Journaling With Flowers: Creating an Herbarium
Preserve some wonder from your garden or favorite walk
By the time Emily Dickinson was 14 years old, she had compiled a collection of over 400 pressed flowers and leaves. “Have you made an herbarium yet?” she wrote to […]
DOVETAIL JOINT
Designing a Driveway to Enhance Curb Appeal
Clamshells to cobblestones, choose materials that won’t clash with your setting
The question: We’ve been living with a dirt driveway for a while now. We like the natural look of it, but it requires a lot of maintenance. It’s time to […]
GALLERY
The Backyard Bar of Dad’s Dreams
Everybody loves a limin’ shack
Fathers Day marks a migration from the man cave into the great outdoors. The traditional time to set up a gathering space around the grill, this year it’s more about […]
LOST & FOUND
Remnants and Rock Collections Come to the Table
Reclaiming your patio
As you prepare outdoor living spaces for the summer, it’s a good time to be on the lookout for materials that might be repurposed into tabletops. Marble and granite slabs, […]
MAKER SPACE
An Artist’s Weaving Retreat
With room for looms, yarn, warp, and weft
My studio was a gift from my parents. It was built in 2017 with an inheritance I received after my mom and dad both died within four months of each […]
GALLERY
Redecorating Isn’t Just for Grownups
Designing a room of one’s own helps kids cope
Leaving Wellfleet for her freshman year at UMass Amherst, Kenna Valli packed hundreds of pictures of family and friends, painstakingly arranging them in her dorm room with the approved adhesive. […]
GALLERY
Stories From a Little Eastham Cottage
Lovingly styled insta-vignettes capture the feeling of an Outer Cape vacation
“Buy your second home first” is a popular piece of advice. For Jenny Shaw and Matt Bowman, who live in Quincy, purchasing their first home in Eastham made a lot […]
GALLERY
Living Small
Shake off cabin fever , even in a tiny outdoor space
Lilacs are in bloom and hummingbirds have returned. A catalog arrives showing vast outdoor rooms, outfitted with weatherproof versions of every indoor luxury. But keep on the sunny side: it […]
DOVETAIL JOINT
Precision Woodworking
Recreating wood trim in an antique house
The question: I’m thinking of buying an old house. It will need a lot of work, and I want to do much of it myself. I’m especially interested in whether […]
HALL OF FRAME
A Process That Connects Viewer and Art
Reduce ‘frame anxiety’ with guidance from a pro
When it comes to framing art, my goal is always to enhance the piece and not distract from it. What’s fun about my job is that I never know who’s […]
