2009 Best of the Good Life

We all strive for our share of living well. It starts with squeezing in a bit of down time between career demands and honey-do obligations. For domestic types, sprucing up the home is more leisure...

Barbara Barry Talks Style

Wearing a vibrant purple dress and Hermès scarf, powerhouse interior designer Barbara Barry breezed into the Michigan Design Center in Troy recently to promote her “Brushwork” finishes for...

Rebecca Powers

Graying Power

To achieve dimension and an offhand European feel in this Bloomfield Hills home, designer Linda Powers chose a gray-and-white palette, as well as a mix of antiques and newer furnishings

Rebecca Powers

Family Circle

When a third generation moved into their old family homestead, it was designer Ann Heath’s job to ensure that history was respected, while also acknowledging the new owners’ more casual...

Rebecca Powers

Bright Spirits

Add a shot of cheery red to your holiday cocktail party with these festive potables.

Pump Up the Volumes

Tomes for the home display well, while providing inspiration and entertainment.

Cookie Calendar

Turn your baking sheet into a pan for all seasons by making cutout confections shaped for special dates throughout the year.

A Savory Starter

Sun-dried tomatoes add a hint of summer warmth to this hearty appetizer, which also works well as a companion to soup on a cold winter’s night

Keeping Cozy

Porch lights, Polish Pottery, recipes from the past, and Pendleton woolen blankets.

Shining Armor

Case goods sheathed in or accented with mirrors reflect light in quiet corners and offer visual relief from wood furnishings.

Ice Picks

Solid glass icicles may be displayed on Christmas trees, suspended from the mantel, or dangled in winter windows to capture welcome sunlight.

Pop Goes the Easel

For an artist who detested the use of the word “Pop” to describe his work, Tom Wesselmann (1931-2004) nevertheless became inextricably linked to that modern-art movement.

George Bulanda

Michigan Bounty

Though farms and gardens may sleep now under the snow, it’s still possible to eat locally and support Michigan producers.

Robin Mather Jenkins

Rebuilding Blocks

Architecture for Humanity’s Detroit chapter is being revived, and its aim is to improve the city’s story.

Mark Kurlyandchik

A Model House

When she’s away from the spotlight, Cindy Crawford kicks back with family in her beachfront Malibu home, where she takes a relaxed approach to décor.

Aleene Jinn George

Date Book

This season’s events offer inspiration for holiday décor, Home improvement, and cottage living.

Home Bound

The emotional ties to former residences need to be severed.

George Bulanda

Ageless Living

To my ears, few sounds are sweeter than the high-pitched voices of children floating across neighborhood lawns on summer nights.

Rebecca Powers