HomeArts.com is a wonderfully designed, useful Web site in itself. But it also contains numerous links to other home-related departments, including "Shelter," part of the HomeArts network. In addition to providing a series of features and advice columns on home-related subjects, Shelter has three sections: "Kitchen Adventure" (including features and tips on anything and everything related to the kitchen), "Handy Home Adviser" (focusing on simple home repair instruction, and previously reviewed on Real Times) and "Eye on Design," which contains tips from home-designing pros. It's worth your while to explore everything you find both on the Shelter home page and through the sites to which it links. In addition to being informative, interesting and approachable, Shelter is very easy to navigate.

First, we'll explore the Shelter home page. Its lineup of features includes "Houses for the Next Millennium" designed by some of the nation's leading architects. The graphics are striking -- definitely a cut above your average Web site. You'll notice right away that this feature comes from House Beautiful magazine; the HomeArts network collaborates with leading publications including House Beautiful, Country Living and many others. You'll find links to the home pages of these magazines on the HomeArts.com home page, and the network imports a variety of feature articles from the publications. The "Houses for the Next Millennium" feature is fascinating; the contributing architects were asked to design homes for the next century. The magazine's editorial board chose architects from throughout the country in order to receive a good representation of regional influences and climactic variances. The results are both architecturally and environmentally innovative. Readers may even select a feature which enables them to hear the architects talking about their projects and showing their model houses. Readers are treated to plenty of color photographs of each home.

Other features on Shelter's home page cover such subjects as childproofing your home, obtaining a home loan with bad credit, a "Heloise Help Line," an electronics buyers' guide and links to other stories from contributing magazines Country Living, Good Housekeeping, House Beautiful, Bob Vila's American Home, Popular Mechanics, HomeOwners Clinic and HomeArts. You'll also find "collectors' advice" from HomeArts' columnist Cathy Cook; and links to other collecting tips contributed by HomeArts, Country Living and collecting gurus Ralph and Terry Kovel, who have an entire Web site (you'll find a link to it here) dedicated to the art of finding antiques and other collectibles.

You'll also find to other links on the Shelter home page: a gallery of homes and a gallery of kitchens. These are fun links -- providing many of us with an outlet for our fantasies -- but if you're actually looking for information you can use, you're provided with the names of every vendor involved in each project, in addition to numerous beautiful color photographs of each kitchen and home.

Check out the "Kitchen Adventure" link for appliance maintenance tips, advice for revamping tired countertops or painted cabinets, tips for designing your dream kitchen, and even a recipe index. "Eye on Design" is a unique sneak preview of the latest design trends (check out the "Style Watch" link), including materials, products and specific advice tailored to meet specific rooms (home office, bedroom, bathroom) in your home. Also in Eye on Design is a "Decorating Notebook," showcasing a particular design project; and "Viewpoints," a series of designer profiles of such greats as Ellen Tracy and Bill Blass.

Whether you're ready to get down to work on a remodeling or redecorating project, or you're merely browsing the Web for some inspiration and tried-and-true advice, "Shelter" is an excellent site to start. And it's just one small part of HomeArts' much larger online empire of homeowners' information. It's very easy to spend hours upon end perusing all of the links available through Shelter and the larger HomeArts home page. It's one of the most user-friendly and informative sites on the Web. This is one for your "Bookmarks" section.

Published: March 30, 1999

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Editor's Note: This article reflects the opinions of Courtney Ronan only and not necessarily the views of this or any other publication, organization or Website owner.