Have you ever gone camping or spent a night in a national park and thought “I wish I could wake up here every day”? Charles Bello and his late wife Vanna Rae had that dream too – and they ran with it. Now more than 50 years later, Charles is still living that dream. A...
Were you surprised when you found out that coca cola (dearly known as coke) can be used to clean the toilet!? Yuck! I know! The good news though, is that we can use easy to find ingredients to clean toilet bowls without the use of store-bought bleaches, and clean them just as thoroughly, if not better. Below...
To say that there’s a disconnect between Hollywood and middle America is a bit of an understatement. The division between the wealthy and the working class seems to widen by the day. For the wealthy elite, there’s not much interest in what goes on in the lives of the ‘little people,’ and oftentimes, the little...
How tidy is your house? Does it look like something out of an Ikea showroom, where everything is organized and is so clean it looks like no one even lives there? Or does it fall on the opposite end of the spectrum, where there are dishes piling up in the sink and so much clutter...
Close your eyes and picture your dream home. What do you see? An airy beach house? A two-story condo with the perfect city view? A big farm-style house with a wrap-around porch? Whatever you’re imagining, it probably isn’t a dilapidated World War One Era cement factory. When Spanish architect Ricardo Bofill stumbled across this old,...
In 1970, architect Michael Reynolds came up with a concept for how to build houses that were completely self-sustaining, allowing residents to live off-the-grid. This idea led to the creation of “Earthships”. Today, there are 79 of these peculiar-looking houses sitting just outside of Taos, New Mexico, in a community known as the “Greater World...
It might sound a bit crazy and trigger feelings of pity at first, but trust me, this family of five living in shipping containers are far from those lines of thought. Matt and Ilse live with their three children in Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand, in a fantastic sustainable home built out of two offset 40...
Farming is back-breaking, labor-intensive work that requires high input in order to reap any kind of reward. What’s more, it has become increasingly clear that modern agriculture, in particular the large-scale ‘factory’ and ‘monocropping‘ farms that make up the majority of the agriculture in our country, are damaging our environment and our health. While it...
Surviving the frigid Norwegian winters presents unique challenges, especially when trying to reduce reliance on external heating sources. Seeking a solution, one Norwegian woman embraced an unconventional idea: enclosing her entire home in a massive greenhouse. This design not only addresses the cold climate but also provides a way to grow food throughout the year....
A woman shared an unusual discovery that appeared above her friend’s wardrobe, drawing a host of warnings from her Facebook friends not to mess with it. The post, shared in the Family Lowdown Tips & Ideas Facebook group, included the caption, “This is inside my friend’s son’s wardrobe—they don’t know if it’s always been there...
Freezers are an essential part of our kitchens, but sometimes they become a storage space for forgotten or expired items. It’s easy to lose track of time, and before you know it, your freezer could be filled with things that are well past their prime. Here are nine items you should consider tossing from your...
In an awkward twist of unfortunate housing reality, 24-year-old Oliver Russell and his girlfriend Helena Tomaszewska made a bold move that many only dream of—they bought their own private island in Finland. What makes this story even more surprising? Their purchase was cheaper than a typical house down payment.1 How It All Began Oliver, who...
