Bye bye, Maytag repairman… 10 tips for good lighting… and 3 more weekend reading stories

What have I been reading that might be useful to other Retro Renovators? Friday link love: #1 — The Wall Street Journal says “Pity the Maytag Repairman” (use this link to bypass paywall) — because more and more homeowners are tackling appliance repairs on their own. Seems like the internet has given them the access to the DIY info — and the parts — to do basic repairs themselves. Above: Ted and Stella surely could use this advice — their basement is full of their vintage appliances collection.

Martin’s #1 piece of advice for good ambient lighting: Paint the ceilings white and install ceiling fixtures that throw light upward. This replicates the sky and is most functional — and cheery, too.

#2 — Martin Holladay’s 10 rules for good lighting. Let’s cut right to the chase:

The U.S. is cursed by a plague of senseless recessed can fixtures.

As usual, Martin provides reality-based guidelines on how to accomplish something super basic. Want to (1) have a better lit house, and (2) possibly cut your electric bill in the process? Read his story and get to it.

#3 — A Way to Garden’s 10 tips on underplanting. Finally: The snow has melted here in the North following Snowpocalypse 2015, and we can think about digging our hands into the earth again. Would you like the areas under your trees to look like this? I would! My BFF Margaret Roach explains how to get there.

#4 — Mark and Cathy buy, repair and furnish a midcentury home for $80,000 total. Mark emailed me when his and Cathy’s home was featured in the Kansas City Star. They bought a foreclosure for $50,000, then fixed and furnished it for another $30,000. That’s epic! Fantastic! Amazing!

#5 — Are you saving enough for retirement? This research — heavy duty reading, but heck this is a serious topic — from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College found that:

… As of 2013, more than half of today’s households will not have enough retirement income to maintain their pre-retirement standard of living, even if they work to age 65 – which is above the current average retirement age – and annuitize all their financial assets, including the receipts from a reverse mortgage on their homes. The NRRI clearly indicates that many Americans need to save more and/or work longer.

This is why I write stories like this.