Related Content

• Marjie Lambert's postcards from all 50 states
• An American Odyssey: Travel writer visits the big 5-0 on the New Hampshire-Maine border

Staging a high-end home for sale requires a different kind of makeover

The crashing economy and crumbling real estate market have had an unexpected side effect: an emergence of the frugal rich who no longer buy just because, but demand to visualize themselves in a palace before they plunk down the cash.

For most people trying to sell their house, that visualization has always meant ``staging'' -- the strategic placement of a borrowed La-Z-Boy chair, the shifting of a floral arrangement, the hanging of that painting that has gathered dust in the garage for 10 years.

High-end staging, or ``hyper-staging,'' as some South Florida experts have taken to calling it, is another thing altogether.

Miami 21 could reshape new-home construction

If the new Miami 21 zoning code passes city commission muster this week, it's goodbye to the so-called ``snout-house,'' and maybe even curtains for the much-reviled McMansion, too.

And say hello to the town house.

The proposed new code -- up for a final vote at the city commission on Thursday -- could extensively alter the shape of new-home construction within city limits, an element that has been overshadowed by heated debates focused mostly on Miami 21's effects on high-rise, mixed-use and commercial development.

Economy, lifestyle changes spur demand for smaller houses

They had the land and the plan ready for a 3,000-square-foot retirement home.

But sticker shock and a sour economy spurred Lee and Donna McCollough to downsize their dream into a 336-square-foot ``country cabin'' near Schulenburg in South Texas.

``It was mostly an economic move. But it's serving our lifestyle very well,'' said Lee McCollough.

Key West: An upscale, but still oddball, place in the sun

You can still see chickens crossing the road near the busy intersection of Duval and Truman.

Once they might have been chased by an axe-wielding cook with a gleam in her eye. But today they are more likely to dodge tourist trolleys or shoppers weighed down with high-end fashion accessories or original works of art.

But to those who love the laid-back feel this once-sleepy hideaway was long known for, the chickens are a reassuring sight.

Brown bags are out; chic totes are in

Bringing lunch from home is the workplace trend, but the brown bag is so yesterday.

Fashion-forward lunch takers may eat up the chic new lunch totes hitting the market. Whatever your style -- California beach chic, uptown elegant, sleek and tailored -- there's a practical, durable and eminently portable new tote aimed to suit you.

The new totes often have some sort of insulation built in, to keep foods hot or cold. Many come with a compartment or two to stash utensils, sanitizer or beverage. Most are easily cleaned by hand or machine.