Dear Jessica: My Christmas cactuses are almost in full bloom. Both plants are about 40 years old and are in need of repotting and new soil. Any help on how to and when to do this would be greatly appreciated.

The Chippewa Valley Symphony Orchestra will tune you into the holiday spirit today with its annual Christmas Stroll.

MINNEAPOLIS — Jacque Foust remembers heading up the driveway, searching the landscape for the house his real estate agent had promised to show him.

A growing family looking for a first home need not look further than the 1,145 square foot Oxbow design. 

The Palm is a design for a mid-sized home that wraps around a lush entryway courtyard.

PERRY HALL, Md. — On any given day, the backyard of Christopher Schafer’s Perry Hall home resounds with laugher, chatter and a repeated rolling and rhythmic clank.

The Palestrina design features a single-level home that is suited to the needs of singles, empty nesters and families with young children.

Sandy Tremain and her husband, Jeff, bought her 1960s Deerfield, Ill., home in 2008. Back then the four-bedroom home with pink bathrooms, galley kitchen and vintage appliances worked just fine.

The garden catalogs are now pouring into mail- boxes. 

SAN DIEGO — Buying a brand-new home offers many advantages over purchasing resale, and one of the most important is that new houses are designed for the way people live today. Homebuyers are looking for open, flexible spaces to suit a more casual lifestyle — and builders are paying attention.

One of the most exciting parts of buying a brand-new home is picking out the cabinets, flooring, fixtures and finishes to make it your own. Going into a designer showroom is like being a kid in a candy shop, and there’s a lot to choose from.

Spring just began, and we’re all starting to think about the work we need to do inside and outside of our homes. 

With a modest 1,070 square feet, the floor plan of the Rapids design delivers more for your money than many larger homes.

When Annemarie Kill and her husband, John Duffy, bought their first house in Chicago’s Galewood neighborhood in 2003, the duo knew it needed some cosmetic work — in fact, they were excited to redo the bathrooms and kitchen to make the home their own.

Multipurpose cookware company Instant Pot has issued a recall following reports of one of its products overheating and melting, according to a post from the company in the Instant Pot Community Facebook group.

Wide and spacious, the Sophora house design features a large yet relaxed single level, four-bedroom home, designed for construction on estate-size acreage. This plan spans more than 115 feet.

The design of the Kerry house will have the neighborhood looking on with envy. The 4,833 square feet of this modern home is an octagon shape with a dog leg to the right. 

Just in case you needed a legitimate excuse to be messy, there’s a new study that says cleaning may actually be bad for your health.

The biggest trend in kitchen remodels is tidiness, according to home improvement and decorating website Houzz’s survey of more than 1,700 homeowners who use the site nationwide and are either planning a remodel, are in the middle of one or have just completed an update.

From do-it-yourself projects to a seminar about making better use of space, there are options for different interests at this year’s Chippewa Valley Home Builders Association’s Home & Garden Show.

Hans and Kyleigh Grafstrom were recently married and just had a baby when they decided to buy a house. Not just any house, though; they wanted a fixer-upper to flip.

You have taken the brave first step of deciding to pursue homeownership in 2018. 

So you’ve found your dream home. You’re ready to downsize or expand into a larger home and the only thing that’s keeping you from closing the deal is selling your current home.

The Juniper design features a compact, informal home with an open, spacious feeling. Designed to meet the needs of a single person or a couple with no children, this single- level plan could also be adapted to accommodate a wheelchair.

When Hidden Lakes resident Amy Haney walked into her newly redecorated family room, she was awed by what a big difference a few design changes could make.

The Jiminey house has been designed to use its 2,233 square feet economically and wisely. 

Killing flies and cockroaches is no longer a disagreeable task after the invention of the Bug-a-salt, a plastic shotgun that fires salt at the bugs, knocking them out and leaving them ready for the garbage.

Every winter, it’s a fight between you and Jack Frost, but he doesn’t have to win.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Some Florida homeowners are finding that their insurance companies are employing an interesting strategy to avoid future claims.

The colonial porch pillars together with the rock face add to the intriguing façade of the Golden Pond house design. 

If color forecasters are correct, the year ahead will be filled with a purple haze.

CHICAGO — Homeownership can come with a hefty supply of emotions, paperwork and financial planning. And as one grows more attached to a residence over the years, feelings often deepen as house becomes home and memories start to accumulate.

Compact in size, economical to build and maintain, the Avalon 2 house design is meant to appeal equally to homeowners in two varying stages in life.

Osseo farmer Inga Witscher will be the keynote speaker in the opening day of a gardening conference next month in Wausau. 

It’s true that older homes tend to have more character than new construction, from unique architectural features to lovable little nooks. But what looks charming is often not practical. So before you invest in vintage, consider the perks of buying new.