How the articles on this site get made, in plain terms.
One writer
Everything here is written and edited by Cora Whitfield. I use software to check spelling and to research background, the way anyone does, but the trying, the judging and the being wrong are mine and the name on the piece is mine.
Lived with before published
A change gets weeks in a real room before it becomes an article. Week one is flattering to almost any idea. Week three is where things fall apart, and that is the week worth writing about. If I have only read about a method rather than done it, the article says so outright.
The attempts stay in
When something took three tries, the article says three tries and describes what went wrong in the first two. That is not a stylistic tic. It is the most useful part, because it tells you which failure you are currently having.
No manufactured enthusiasm
Overrated gets called overrated. If an arrangement only survives in a household of one tidy adult, that limit goes in the body of the piece, not in a hedge at the end.
Independence
Commercial relationships, set out in the affiliate disclosure, have no say in what gets recommended or how warmly. No brand, agency or network sees an article before publication.
Corrections
Articles get revised when I learn something better, and the updated date on the page reflects it. If something here is wrong, write to [email protected] and I will fix it and say what changed rather than quietly editing it.
Where I stop
Projects here stay at the level of a tenant with a screwdriver, a drill they are allowed to use, and a willingness to patch. Anything touching electrical panels, gas, plumbing behind a wall or structure goes to a licensed trade, and the articles say so where it comes up.