Homey Media

We all get tips, tricks and inspiration for our home projects from lots of places. And imagine this, some of those places are not blogs! I know, blasphemy. Today, I'm going to divulge who's in my multimedia circle of trust, those podcasts, shows and magainzes that I use to fill my commutes and lazy hours. I can only imagine your intrigue.

But truly, I hope this is a 'I'll show you mine if you show me yours' type deal. As much as I love my old standbys, I'd love to add some new ones to the lineup, so share away! (Future Link Party idea??)

Podcasts

For listening to with a male counterpart: Ace on the House

I actually only regularly listen to one home improvement podcast, and that's Ace on the House. Available through iTunes like any other self-respecting podcast. New episodes every Saturday. It's hosted by Adam Carolla and his childhood buddy Ray Oldhafer and they take e-mail and phone questions about home improvement projects.



Now, if you listen to the Adam Carolla Show podcast (which I also highly recommend, it's definitely rated R, though) you know what an outspoken, sometimes harsh yet absolutely likable and always hilarious guy the Ace Man is. If you don't listen to the Adam Carolla Show, Ace was a carpenter (the real kind, not the weekend kind) before he made his living in comedy and espouses useful advice for anyone's questions. Ray still works as a contractor and their banter is entertaining because Ray is not afraid of giving Adam some $*%@, and he's hilarious in his own right. If you're not offended by curse words or questionably tasteful analogies, this podcast is the bomb. They talk about everything from fixing a squeaky subfloor to filling a yolked-out screw hole to hanging towel racks that won't pull through the drywall. My husband and I listen to it together when traveling in the car or while making eggs on Saturday mornings. Great stuff.

TV Shows

For your fix of Canadian dudes who still highlight their hair: Property Brothers

Or, ProBros as Mike and I call it. This HGTV show features 2 brothers, one a contractor and one a realtor (how convenient!) who help couples find the house of their dreams. The only catch? They can't afford the house of their dreams. Womp womp. But that's where the magic happens, the realtor ProBro shows couples some subpar homes and the contractor ProBro explains (and demonstrates via computer graphics) how the house can be transformed into their dream home all within their budget. The couple picks a house and then the demolition begins.

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It gets really addicting to see how these once derelict homes turn out to be incredible places I'd love to live. Sometimes the couples are *ahem* difficult so it sates that love-to-hate drive. The brothers are entertaining and it shows you the potential in everything. Worth a watch. We've definitely spent more than one afternoon watching episode after episode after episode.

For good tips and tricks from old timers with Boston accents: Ask this Old House

The small project version of This Old House, this show is a PBS classic. If it ever goes off the air I will be DEVASTATED. Rich, Rodge, Tom, and the host Kevin visit people's houses to help them with home conundrums. They tackle stuff like banging baseboard heaters, burping sinks and uneven asphalt. These guys fix things the right way, to the code and to the book. No shortcuts here. It's great information, though, and I find they show me a lot of products you never knew existed like under cabinet LEDs or  screws whose heads break off when torqued the right amount. The best part of the show, though, is 'What is it?' Oh, that segment slays me every time. One of the guys brings in a product and the rest offer their comical guess at what it is. Trust me, it's worth watching the show for just that.

Magazines

For feeling like an inadequate homemaker: Martha Stewart Living

Ok, it doesn't really make me feel inadequate, it just makes me feel like I wish I had 10 more hours in the day and 10 million more dollars so I could outfit my named estate with personalized projects and extensive collections of things such as taxidermy and watermelon pot holders. I love the Martha Stewart aesthetic and this magazine has fabulous ideas and recipes.  I find myself ripping out multiple pages from each issue and even the articles I can't relate to (taxidermy collection? really?) are beautifully shot. I'm sure you've seen this magazine, because, who hasn't? But, if you are a subscriber, and own an iPad, I highly recommend the iPad version. It is interactive and intuitive. I've totally come to love reading magazines on my iPad because of well-done versions like this. The only problem is you can't rip pages out of the digital version, but I've started to use screenshots...not as satisfying, but you can't have your cake and eat it too, I suppose.

So, good stuff, eh? (I just found out via my father-in-law and ancestry.com that I am Canadian 3 generations back and it has severely up-ticked my use of 'eh' because, well, I'm Canadian! No wonder I love the ProBros!) Ok, I've shown you mine, show me yours!