Housing prices have become front-page news. Some folks have made a lot of money, and good for them, but as houses become more an investment than a home, perhaps it's time to step back and remember what houses are supposed to be about.

So you want to be Landlord? The real estate market is so hot that many are considering investing in rental property, buying a duplex, or converting a guesthouse to generate additional income. Most tenants cause no trouble, and usually pay their rent on time, but then there is the other kind of tenant... Before you decide to sign up for battle, read these true tales from the front lines of the Landlord-Tenant divide.

In embracing technology, we can make our lives easier and more enjoyable. But we should be alert to the possibility that there are often unforeseen, associated costs with these new advances, and we might one day discover that something precious has been lost in the bargain.

Nobody likes to be bored. The mind rebels, our emotions curdle, and we all get cranky to one degree or another. But surprisingly, many of us don't take the necessary steps to design our homes to help alleviate that boredom. Consider the ideas and elements of Alexander Calder's mobiles, to create a space that helps battle boredom.

"If you want a golden rule that will fit everything, this is it: Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful." - William Morris

Whether you're contemplating the design of a new home, or looking to step back and examine -- and possibly reinvent -- your current house, it's worth considering some of the central tenets and ideas that gave birth to the Arts and Crafts movement. It would be impossible to encapsulate the entire movement in an article of this length, but here are some of the movement's, well... greatest hits.