- Find Online
- Information Guides
- Home Improvement Resources
Home Improvement Resources
Fix Up Your Home- Renovate and Remodel
Decorate and Organize
Beautify Your Home's Surroundings
| Call Number | Author | Title |
|---|---|---|
| 690.184 Provey | Provey, Joe. | 1001 ideas for decks |
| 747.79 Martin | Martin, Brett. | 1001 ideas for outdoor spaces : the ultimate sourcebook : decking, paving, designs and accessories |
| 693.1 Reed | Reed, David. | The complete guide to stonescaping : dry-stacking, mortaring, paving & gardenscaping |
| 690.184 Jeswald | Jeswald, Peter. | Deck ideas that work |
| 635.9 Guagliumi | Guagliumi, Susan | Handmade for the garden : 75 ingenious ways to enhance your outdoor space with DIY tools, pots, supports, embellishments, and more |
| 712 Messervy | Messervy, Julie Moir. | Landscaping ideas that work |
| 635.9 Wingate | Wingate, Marty. | Landscaping for privacy : innovative ways to turn your outdoor space into a peaceful retreat |
| 712.6 Messervy | Messervy, Julie Moir. | Outside the not so big house : creating the landscape of home |
| 635.9 Sweet | Sweet, Rebecca. | Refresh your garden design with color, texture & form |
| 712.6 Soria | Soria, Sandra S. | Taunton's all new backyard idea book |
For e-Books and Audiobooks on Home Improvement, browse Overdrive and Hoopla.
More Projects?
For more information about home improvement projects, check the following areas.
|
Additions 690.24 ~ Basements & Attics 643.5 ~ Cabinets 684.16 |
|
Contractors 692.8 ~ Decks 690.184 ~ Decorating 747 ~ Drywall 693.6 |
|
Flooring 690.16 ~ Gardening 635 ~ Heating & Cooling 697 |
|
Home Building 690.837 ~ Home Carpentry 694 ~ Home Design 728.37 |
|
Home Repair & Improvement 643.7 ~ Interior Design 747 |
|
Insulation & Weatherproofing 693.8 ~ Landscaping 712.6 |
|
Masonry 693.1 ~ Outdoor Structures 690.89 ~ Painting 698.1 |
|
Plumbing 696.1 ~ Roofing 695 ~ Solar 697.78 ~ Storage 648.8 |
- Architectural Digest
- Horticulture
- Better Homes & Gardens
- House Beautiful
- Big Backyard
- Martha Stewart Living
- Coastal Living
- Mother Earth News
- Country Living
- Natural Home
- Dwell
- New England Home
- Elle Decor
- Old House Interiors
- Family Handyman
- Old House Journal
- Fine Gardening
- Real Simple
- Fine Homebuilding
- This Old House
- Garden Design
- Traditional Home
If you're seeking an article in a popular magazine on a particular subject, try searching the General Reference Center Gold database, available through the Minuteman Library Network from the library computers or from home with your library card.
Digital Magazines
Did you know you can access current and back issues of popular magazines with your library card and Zinio? Download the Zinio app on your mobile device or read in your computer's browser. No holds, no checkout periods, and no limit to the number of magazines you can download.
Look here first for more info.
Titles for home owners and home decorating include:
Better Homes & Gardens
Dwell
Elle Decor
Family Handyman
Good Housekeeping
HGTV Magazine
House Beautiful
Martha Stewart Living
Minuteman Library Network databases can be used from the library computers, or from home with your library card if you live in Framingham.
Database Suggestions:
Home Improvement Collection. Even the smallest home improvement project can be daunting: with this collection of nearly 100 home improvement focused titles, hobbyists and professional carpenters alike will immediately put their projects on a more solid foundation. Coverage includes such topics as architectural techniques, tool and material selection, zoning requirements, and many more.
Consumer Reports. Provides ratings, recommendations and advice on consumer products and services
Credo Reference. CREDO is a user-friendly search engine designed to help with research on thousands of topics. Just enter your search query (as you would in Google), and CREDO instantly scans millions of entries from over 70 publishers. Consider it your own private online reference library. Search results are drawn from the entire research collection, including images and sound files, enabling you to get relevant answers from a number of sources at once. Each reference title can also be accessed individually. New editions and new book titles are added regularly.
Titles of interest in Credo:
Do-It-Yourself Home Improvement, 2009
Teach Yourself: Master Basic DIY, 2010
Gardening, Landscape and Horticulture Collection. A collection of more than 80 journals focused on key issues in gardening, landscaping, and other areas of horticulture, with the addition of over 20 subject specific reference sources from Delmar, this collection provides information for gardening enthusiasts and professionals alike.
About.com: Home Repair
About.com is a company that builds online directories for specific topics. The Home Repair site features up-to-date links to other home improvement sites and a bulletin board for readers to help each other. This site is supported by paid advertisements.
About.com: Interior Decorating
About's Interior Decorating section is well organized, extensive, and current.
Better Homes and Gardens
The "House and Home" section contains tips, solid information, and fun interactive tools like sample home plans and "Color A Room."
The Budget Decorator
You'll stumble through a lot of ads to get to the really good, inexpensive ideas and tips from Kathy Wilson, a decorating expert for LifetimeTV.com
Do It Yourself.com.
The original Internet community for do-it-yourselfers offers extensive how-to guides and forums that cover even hard-to-find topics like heating systems.
EERE Energy
The Department of Energy's guide to energy efficiency and renewable energy: solar energy, lighting, heating, insulation, appliances, design, remodeling, more.
GreenHomeGuide
Reviews and advice about green building and remodeling materials and techniques.
HGTV
The web companion to HGTV's decorating and remodeling shows provides loads of information and ideas on the whole gamut of home projects.
Hometime
Tips for home repair and renovation projects, from the PBS series.
How Stuff Works
Check the Home section for how-to advice on projects from drywall to fixing showerheads and removing every conceivable stain, plus information for the curious on the workings of things like screwdrivers, hardwood floors, GCFIs, power saws, much more.
Lowe's Home
Of course, they'd like to sell you something. But the hints and projects on the site are helpful. Pick "Project Center" for a how-to library and dozens of useful project calculators.
Massachusetts State Building Code
A Massachusetts Consumer Guide to Home Improvement
National Gardening Association
Articles, tips, how-to for projects, plus regional blogs.
Old House Journal Online
Fans of the magazine will find even more to pore over on this site, which includes detailed "Preservation How-To" documents from the National Park Service.
Mass Save
Mass Save is an initiative sponsored by Massachusetts gas and electric utilities and energy efficiency service providers. They work to provide a wide range of energy efficiency services to help residents and businesses manage energy use and related costs.
For professional assistance locating the information you need:
- Telephone the Main Library Reference Department at 508-532-5570, extension 4361.
- Email your questions through our Ask A Librarian page.
- Visit the Main Library or the McAuliffe Branch for free access to the Internet and databases, and for assistance with research.
To arrange a speaker or a group tour highlighting the library's practical information resources, call 508-532-5570, ext 4347, or email Michelle LeMonde-McIntyre at MLeMonde-McIntyre@minlib.net.