Don’t be fooled by the old folk tale. Straw bales are a strong, functional and good-looking building material

Straw bales are cheap, easy to find and DIY-friendly. Get the basics on building with this renewable, ecofriendly material

Using passive solar and other green building methods, this Colorado home creates an energy-conscious vacation spot for a family of 5

You can get a taste of country life by line-drying your laundry, growing some produce or going whole hog with the critters

Or maybe it's garden art or even a modernist-loving giant's step stool. Use your imagination, then get the true tale here

Make the run-up to Christmas extra special with a treat a day in each tiny paper Advent house

The spitting image of their parents or merely sharing some genes, these mailboxes show that good design goes beyond the front door

Tucked in a niche or hidden in plain sight, these workspaces let you get the job done without leaving home

Talk about convenience. Better yet, get it yourself after being inspired by this Texas bath

Take a book, leave a book. An ingenious lending-library idea is sweeping the nation — see if it's right for your neighborhood