We live in a fast-paced society with e-mail, instant messaging, microwaves and hydro mulch. Society keeps speeding up, and often we take on more than we can do. It is easy to lose sight of some basic truths that never change, like using the words please and thank you. The temptation is to cut short all unnecessary words in our communications because we have such busy lives.

How is your company culture? If you've got happy, productive employees, satisfied customers and feel like every day presents a new opportunity for success, congratulations. If this is not the case at your company, take heart in the fact that you're not alone. There's a lot you can do to change your company culture for the better, and it doesn't require you to hire an expensive consultant or fir...

WHOLE HOUSE OVER $500,000 Remodeler and architect: Orren Pickell Remodeling Group, Lincolnshire, Ill. When it came to recapturing the original interior character of this turn-of-the-century Chicago graystone, architect Jason DeBaker, discovered he could start with a blank slate. The exterior of the building, which the client intended to sell after remodeling, featured an architecturally signifi...

EXTERIOR Remodeler and residential designer: Stone Pillar Remodeling, Redmond, Wash. Classic craftsman details with a northwestern twist transformed the exterior of this high-profile, 35-year-old hillside ranch from bland to beautiful. The new look to the Bellevue, Wash., home includes brand new front and rear porch entries, barrel vaulted archways supported by stone-sheathed battered columns, ...

ADDITION OVER $100,000 Remodeler and architect: Carnemark Systems & Design, Bethesda, Md. Combining well-thought-out design changes with common sense value engineering principles, design/build remodeler Carnemark Systems & Design transformed this dated salt box home into a Craftsman-style residence that is as distinctive architecturally as it is accommodating of living space for the fam...

OUTDOOR LIVING Remodeler and designer: Marrokal Construction Co., San Diego, Calif. Remodeler John Davies only added 938 square feet of covered outdoor space to an already roomy, 7,800-square-foot southern California residence, but this luxuriously appointed alfresco addition has changed the way the homeowners entertain.

KITCHEN OVER $100,000 Interior designer: Bauer Interior Design, San Francisco, Calif. General contractor: John Sullivan, San Francisco, Calif. A piece of artwork of a circus scene inspired interior designer Lou Ann Bauer's clients to crave a kitchen full of color and energy —that's not too cutesy or childlike.

KITCHEN $51,000 – $100,000 Remodeler and architect: Forward Designers & Builders, Ann Arbor, Mich. Architect and remodeler Jef Forward says that he let conventional design constraints go when it came to remodeling the dark, dreary kitchen in this 62-year-old bungalow in Ann Arbor, Mich. His clients loved their home too much to move on to a brighter future somewhere else.

KITCHEN $51,000 – $100,000 Residential designer: Stimmel Consulting Group, Ambler, Pa. General contractor: Emerald Designs, West Chester, Pa. Creating a new kitchen for this turn-of-the century Victorian castle provided residential designer David Stimmel with one of his most interesting and challenging projects to date, he says.

KITCHEN UNDER $50,000 Remodeler and designer: Michael Nash Custom Kitchens, Fairfax, Va. Adding storage, seating and cooking features in a kitchen as restricted as this townhouse in Alexandria, Va., was no simple task, says Sonny Nazemian, president of Michael Nash Custom Kitchens. But ultimately, the Fairfax, Va.