Major, encyclopedic remodel sites were next joined by a new breed: the home improvement/lifestyle blogger. These content producers weave family, friends, and experiences in with their home remodel projects, bringing it all down a personal level. No single type of home remodel blog is right for everyone, so this list of best remodel blogs spans the horizon of online advice out there.
Young House Love
John and Sherry Petersik are the best thing around right now on the remodel blog landscape as they delicately balance the homespun and personal with the professional and commercial. With over 3,000 projects covered, John and Sherry’s Young House Love blog is a one-stop-shop for home-related information. In addition to running their popular site, they also write books and raise two children.
Remodelista
Climb in this time machine and see what Houzz looked in its infancy before it became the corporate powerhouse that it is now. This home remodel blog is called Remodelista. Started by four San Francisco Bay Area women, Remodelista is growing in leaps and bounds, but it still retains the air of a tight shop—less than twenty editors and contributors.
Home Tips
Since 1997—a time when many of the home lifestyle bloggers were in kindergarten—Don Vandervort has been dispensing home remodel advice through his site Home Tops and via countless other avenues. Home Tips fits in the category of encyclopedic home remodel site since you can easily drill down from drop-down menu categories to find the project that you’re working on.
Remodelaholic
Cassity, the founder of home remodel blog Remodelaholic, loves to remodel—she’s on her fifth home now. But when demand outpaced supply, Cassity hit upon the great idea of turning this pet project into a largely reader-driven site. Now, readers submit detailed plans for everything from waterfall tables to garden sheds, every one of which can be duplicated. Many of the contributors are home remodel bloggers in their own right, using the Remodelaholic platform as a springboard for promoting their own excellent sites and blogs.
Retro Renovation
Pam Kueber is the uncontested queen of mid-century modern home remodel blogging. Retro Renovation is your source for all home remodeling matters related to the mid-century modern period. Pam Kueber’s enthusiasm is evident in every article of this fantastic site. Keep in touch, too, with Pam’s renovation of her 1951 colonial-ranch house in Lenox, Massachusetts. Everything that Pam does is up-close and personal, so you’ll enjoy her intimate take on everything from linoleum flooring to the pine kitchen phenomenon of the mid last century.
Hammerzone
Don’t let Hammerzone’s bare bones site fool you. Founder Bruce Maki has bigger fish to fry than endlessly tweaking Wordpress templates—complex, heavy, involved remodel projects like house siding, foundations, deck-building, cutting holes in walls for window unit A/Cs. If you’ve got a big project coming your way, Hammerzone just might be able to give you advice on how to handle it.
This Old House
After chugging away for 40-plus seasons, This Old House, a mainstay of PBS television, is holding its head high as one of the leaders in technical home remodeling advice. Many home or shelter shows have sites that are little more than PR devices for the shows. But This Old House’s site, rather than being a mere adjunct to the TV series, is a force to be reckoned with on its own. With plenty of free tutorials, This Old House’s site is a one-stop shopping place for matters as easy as sharpening chainsaws and as complex as building a tiled shower.
Houzz
Houzz has gone from being just pretty pictures of houses to being a site with articles of real substance. But the true beating heart of Houzz is the members’ forums, where you’ll be able to mingle with architects, designers, contractors, and people in the trades.
Family Handyman
Family Handyman, like some of the other old-school home advice sites and magazines, has a name that does not do it true justice. If you imagine that Family Handyman is only about painting the nursery or building a swing-set, that impression is understandable but not true. Family Handyman covers the full range of home remodeling topics. Graphics imported from the magazine and from Family Handyman’s earlier site are still a bit on the tiny side. But Family Handyman has been aggressively creating new tutorials, still images, and videos to help you with your home projects.
Taunton’s Fine Homebuilding
Taunton’s is a stellar source of home building and remodel information, mainly geared to professionals. But in recent years, Taunton’s has toned down some of its pro focus to reach more regular homeowners. Much of Taunton’s content is behind paywalls, but you can find a decent amount of information available for free.
