This week on Home In Progress, Dan starts off with one of the more entertaining detours the show has taken in a while: spite houses. Real buildings, built by real people, for the sole purpose of making someone else miserable. Then he gets into a deep dive on two-tone kitchen cabinets, answering six questions that almost always come up when people consider taking on that project. And he closes out with deck season, including why most product claims about longevity don't hold up in Michigan, and why RepcoLite's Deck and Dock Wood Protector works differently than most of what's out there.

• [00:00] -- Show Preview
• [00:54] -- Spite Houses: When Homebuilding Gets Personal
• [15:26] -- Two-Tone Kitchen Cabinets: Six Common Questions Answered
• [41:25] -- Deck Season: What You Need to Know Right Now

Most people who've had a bad run-in with a neighbor or a family member haven't responded by constructing an entire building. But spite houses are real, they show up throughout American history, and they're exactly what they sound like: buildings put up primarily to annoy, block, or inconvenience somebody else.

112 West Church Street, Frederick, MD

In 1814, the city of Frederick decided to extend Record Street straight through a piece of land owned by Dr. John Tyler, a wealthy ophthalmologist who was also credited as the first American-born physician to perform a cataract operation. Tyler fought the decision, lost, went home, and started thinking.

He found an old local ordinance that said the city couldn't build a road through a parcel if construction on a substantial building was already underway there. So he hired a crew and overnight, they poured a foundation directly in the path of the road. When the road workers showed up the next morning, they found a hole in the ground, a crew of builders, and Dr. Tyler reportedly sitting in a chair watching the whole thing and looking very pleased with himself. The road was never built.

Tyler finished the house. It ended up being a three-story Federal-style mansion with 17 rooms, over 9,000 square feet, 14-foot ceilings, and eight working fireplaces. He never actually lived in it. He already had a house right next door. The whole thing was just a very expensive way to win an argument.

The Tyler Spite House still stands at 112 West Church Street in Frederick. It's been a bed and breakfast, been used as offices, and has been on and off the market for well over a million dollars for years. It's also rumored to be haunted, so there's that.

44 Hull Street, North End, Boston (along the Freedom Trail, across from Copp's Hill Burying Ground)

This four-story wooden house is 10 feet wide at its widest point and tapers down to just over nine feet in the back. At the narrowest spot inside, you can stand in the middle and touch both walls without fully extending your arms. There's no front door. You enter from a side alley.

The story that's been passed around for generations goes like this. Two brothers inherited a piece of land from their father. One went off to fight in the Civil War. While he was gone, his brother stayed home and built himself a large, comfortable house on basically all of the inherited land. When the soldier brother came home and saw what happened, he had one thin sliver of land left to his name. So he built the narrowest house he could fit on it and positioned it to block his brother's light and kill his view.

Whether that's all historically accurate is a little murky. But the house is real, it's still there, and if spite didn't build it, something at least a lot like spite was probably involved.

Newbury, Massachusetts, outside Newburyport near Plum Island

A pale pink house with a cupola, sitting completely alone in the middle of a salt marsh. No neighbors, no trees, no context. Just wetlands in every direction.

Built around 1925, the story goes that a couple going through a divorce agreed the husband would build his wife an exact replica of the home they had shared in town. The catch was she forgot to specify where it had to be built. So he built it in the middle of an isolated salt marsh, with no fresh water and plumbing hooked up to saltwater. She allegedly took one look and refused to set foot inside.

Whether that's true or legend, nobody can say for certain. But the house is still out there if you've ever made it up toward Plum Island.

Dan wraps the segment wondering if some of the truly baffling exterior color schemes you see driving around might have a little spite behind them. If you're going the other direction and want a color scheme that's actually beautiful, RepcoLite and Benjamin Moore can help. And if you do go bold, Benjamin Moore Aura covers beautifully no matter what color you choose.

Current sale: Benjamin Moore Aura and many other premium Benjamin Moore exterior paints are 20% off at every RepcoLite location through May 25.

Two-tone kitchen cabinets look great in photos. Then you stand in your own kitchen and try to figure out where the colors go, and suddenly you've got a lot of questions. Dan works through six of the most common ones.

Stop thinking about color first. Start by looking at your kitchen and finding places where it already naturally changes or transitions. Two-tone cabinets work best when the color shift happens somewhere the eye expects a shift anyway.

An island is the most obvious example. It already sits apart from the perimeter cabinets and reads as its own piece, so a different color there makes sense to people right away. But there are other natural breaks to look for too, like a pantry wall, a built-in hutch, a coffee bar or desk area that feels separate from the main kitchen, or a clearly defined wall of cabinets that stands apart from the rest.

The most common rule of thumb is lighter colors up high and darker or stronger colors lower or on a focal point. Lighter uppers make the kitchen feel more open. Darker lowers give it some weight and ground the space. That's why you see so many kitchens with cream or white perimeter cabinets and a navy or charcoal island.

It's a rule of thumb, though, not a hard rule. Dark uppers can work if the kitchen has great natural light, taller ceilings, glass-front cabinet doors, or a mix of open shelving. Context matters.

What you want to avoid is a scattered approach where the second color shows up in a random cabinet over here, another section across the room, maybe one upper somewhere else. Even if each individual spot makes some sense on its own, the overall effect reads as unplanned. Keep the color placement logical and intentional.

No. In kitchens without an island, the most straightforward move is light upper cabinets with darker lowers. But you can also pick a defined zone to give a different color to, a pantry wall, a built-in hutch, a coffee bar, a prep area that sits apart from the main run of cabinets. Designers talk about this as giving an area its own identity, treating it more like a piece of furniture than a cabinet that has to match everything else. A deep green pantry wall against off-white perimeter cabinets can look great, for example.

One thing to watch in a no-island kitchen: keep it to two cabinet colors. Once you add a third on top of floors, countertops, backsplash, hardware, and appliances, the kitchen starts to feel like a lot very quickly.

It can, but it doesn't have to. In a larger kitchen with good natural light, you've got a lot of room to work with. You can go darker on the lowers, use a bold pantry color, push the contrast further. A smaller kitchen with limited light is a different situation. Two cabinet colors in a tight, low-light space can make the room feel chopped up, and one cabinet color might genuinely be the smarter call there.

Dan admits this is the question that probably rules out his own kitchen for the project. That's okay. Not every space is the right fit for it, and it's a lot better to figure that out before you paint everything than after.

One color should do the calming. The other should do the talking. That's the principle. Pick one quiet color and one color with some character. If both are loud, the kitchen becomes visually exhausting to be in.

The quiet color is almost always going to be something like a warm white, a cream, or a soft greige. The character color is where the personality comes in: a navy, a sage green, something deeper and moodier.

Three Benjamin Moore pairings Dan mentions that work in just about any kitchen:

White Dove and Hale Navy -- a warm white paired with a navy that basically acts like a neutral. It's not going to look dated in 10 or more years. About as safe and timeless as it gets.

Swiss Coffee and October Mist -- a creamy white with a soft sage green. More muted than the navy option, better for someone who wants to step into color without it being too loud.

White Dove and Aegean Teal -- Aegean Teal was Benjamin Moore's Color of the Year back around 2021 and is still going strong. A little more current-feeling than the other two pairings.

If you want to go deeper and moodier, colors like Vintage Vogue, Kendall Charcoal, Mysterious, and Silhouette can be beautiful. But they're more demanding. They have complex undertones that shift through the day. What looks like a warm espresso at 10 in the morning can read cool and purple by 4 in the afternoon. Use them carefully, put them somewhere the room can support them, and sample them at multiple times of day before you commit to anything.

Benjamin Moore color samples are $5.99. Get enough to put on a real-sized area and live with it for a few days.

Before you commit to specific colors, take a hard look at what's staying in the kitchen.

Floors -- This is where a lot of kitchen paint regrets start. Warm oak floors (honey oak, red oak, hickory, anything with orange or yellow in it) can clash badly with cool gray cabinets. The cabinets and the floor don't need to match, but they need to get along with each other. Warm floors generally want cabinet colors that can live with warmth: warm whites, creams, soft sages, warm greiges, balanced navies, deeper greens that don't go too cool or icy. Cooler floors can usually handle cooler whites, cleaner blues, charcoals, or cooler greens more easily.

Counters and backsplash -- Apply the same warm and cool thinking. If those surfaces are already doing a lot of visual work (busy granite, bold patterned tile, lots going on), the cabinets probably need to settle things down, not add more noise. If those surfaces are simple, you've got more room to bring contrast and personality in through the cabinets.

Appliances and hardware -- Stainless steel is basically neutral and works with most things. Matte black appliances push a kitchen cooler and more modern. If you've got existing hardware you're keeping, it's already pulling your cabinet decision one direction or another. Brass wants warmth. Polished nickel and chrome work better with cool tones. Matte black goes with both but leans modern.

Lighting -- Color shifts a lot under different light. A navy that looks rich and classic in a bright showroom can look nearly black in a dim kitchen. A white that looks soft in one room can look dingy in another. A green that looks calm in daylight can go muddy at night under the wrong bulbs. Sample the colors in your actual kitchen and look at them in the morning, at midday, and in the evening before you decide anything.

Two-tone cabinets have been around for about a decade now. Roughly one in four homeowners who renovate their kitchens go with contrasting upper and lower cabinets. That's not a flash in the pan. It's an established option at this point.

What tends to date a two-tone kitchen isn't having two colors. It's the specific choices: contrast that's too strong, undertones that fight each other, too much going on at once, or a color combination that was copied from a trend photo but never really fit the house in the first place.

Pairings that hold up well are the ones that don't announce the year they were done. Warm white with a navy island isn't going to feel embarrassing in five years. Warm white with sage green is not a risky design move.

Some dating is unavoidable. Every kitchen eventually shows its era. The goal isn't something that stays timeless forever. It's something you'll be happy with for 10 to 15 years, which is roughly how long a kitchen goes before it gets refreshed anyway.

Make calm choices. One quiet color, one character color. Keep the placement logical. Pay attention to the floor and countertops. Don't pile on extra colors. And choose colors you actually like, not just what looked good in a photo you found online last week.

Dan put together a free guide with product recommendations, tips, and tricks for painting cabinets. You can get it at repcolite.com/cabinets -- just fill out the form with your name and email and he'll send it over.

It's spring. Time to talk about decks. Dan covers the realistic expectations for deck coatings in Michigan, why right now is a good time to tackle the project, and what makes RepcoLite's Deck and Dock Wood Protector worth recommending year after year.

Products that advertise three to five years of protection weren't tested in Michigan. Michigan winters, spring rain, and summer heat are hard on deck coatings. Plan on one to two years before you need to redo it. If you're not particularly picky, maybe you push it a little longer. But if you expect it to look good, one to two years is a more realistic number.

The weather has been mostly dry for a few weeks and temperatures have been mild. That matters more than it might seem. When it's 90 degrees out and the sun is beating down, deck coatings dry too fast. You can't work the product in properly, you end up with lap marks and streaks, and the coating doesn't get a chance to penetrate deeply into the wood.

Cooler temperatures mean a longer open time and a much more forgiving application. As long as the deck has been dry for about 48 hours, this is a good time to work. Don't wait until June or July when you're fighting the heat and the product at the same time.

You need a clean, dry surface before any product goes down. How you get there depends on what the deck looks like right now.

For chemical cleaning, Benjamin Moore has a full system of deck cleaners that covers different situations. Stop into any RepcoLite store with some photos of your deck and they'll help you figure out the right steps.

If you'd rather go mechanical, RepcoLite also rents an on-floor sanding machine that can get boards looking almost new again. There's only one available and the rental calendar fills up fast, so ask about it sooner rather than later at any RepcoLite location.

Most deck coatings are designed to make water bead up on the surface. You've seen the commercials. Looks impressive. But those beads of water sit on the deck, the sun comes out, and each one of them acts like a tiny magnifying glass focusing sunlight down onto the finish underneath. Over time, that breaks down the coating in small spots all over the deck. Death by a thousand magnifying glasses.

RepcoLite's Deck and Dock Wood Protector is formulated differently. Instead of making water bead up, it disperses it and thins it out so it evaporates quickly. No beads, no magnifying glass effect, no premature breakdown.

A few other things worth knowing about it: the open time is long, which makes application very forgiving and hard to mess up. And when it does eventually need to be redone, it fades out rather than peeling or flaking. You don't have to strip the old stuff off or fight the previous finish. You clean the deck, let it dry, and recoat. That's it.

Both oil-based and water-based versions are available at RepcoLite. Oil-based is the standard recommendation. Water-based is a little easier on cleanup but can be trickier to apply once the weather heats up.

Deck and Dock, both versions, is 20% off at every RepcoLite location through May 25. The weather is right, the pricing is right. Good time to get it done.

• RepcoLite Deck and Dock Wood Protector (oil-based and water-based) -- repcolite.com
• Benjamin Moore Aura Exterior Paint -- 20% off at RepcoLite through May 25
• Free Cabinet Painting Guide -- repcolite.com/cabinets
• Benjamin Moore Color Samples -- $5.99 at any RepcoLite location
• Benjamin Moore colors mentioned: White Dove, Hale Navy, Swiss Coffee, October Mist, Aegean Teal, Vintage Vogue, Kendall Charcoal, Mysterious, Silhouette
• RepcoLite On-Floor Sanding Machine Rental -- ask at any RepcoLite location; one unit available, books out quickly
• Tyler Spite House -- 112 West Church Street, Frederick, MD
• Boston Skinny House -- 44 Hull Street, North End, Boston
• Plum Island Pink House -- Newbury, MA, near Plum Island

Home In Progress is on the air every weekend and available anytime at repcolite.com -- click the On the Radio tab on the homepage. Dan also posts episode content on Facebook and Instagram throughout the week.

Home In Progress is brought to you by RepcoLite Paints and Benjamin Moore. People often think of paint as just another line item on the supply list. But everything you do, every hour of prep, every stroke of the brush, comes down to the quality of what goes on the wall. The paint is the project. Make sure it's the best.

© Home In Progress | RepcoLite Paints | Sponsored by Benjamin Moore

Episode Date: 05/09/26 Episode Number: 458

This week on Home In Progress, Dan tackles one of the most dreaded things a homeowner can face — the smell of a dead animal somewhere in the house — and walks you through exactly how to find it, remove it, and get your home smelling normal again. Then he shifts to the practical side of Art Deco: how to bring that bold, geometric style into your own home without going overboard. And finally, Dan makes the case that paint finish is just as important a design decision as color — and shows you some surprisingly elegant tricks you can pull off with nothing more than a change in sheen.

• [01:46] — Dead Animal Smell: How to Find It, Remove It, and Prevent It
• [19:25] — Art Deco at Home: A Practical Guide
• [33:26] — Paint Finish as a Design Tool

Dan's son Caleb bought a house and discovered a smell that turned out to be a dead possum under the floor — frozen all winter, then very much not frozen come spring. Dan uses that story to kick off a practical, no-nonsense guide to dealing with dead animal odors in your home.

How bad will it be — and how long will it last? Size of the animal, temperature, humidity, and airflow all determine severity and duration. The rough timeline:

• Mouse: a few days to about a week
• Rat or squirrel: a couple of weeks
• Possum, raccoon, or larger: several weeks — potentially up to two months in a warm, damp, enclosed space

How to find the source:

• Use your nose. Walk slowly, close doors to isolate rooms, and track where the smell intensifies.
• Check near outlets, baseboards, vents, attic hatches, crawl space doors, and under stairs.
• Let your pets help — a dog or cat obsessively sniffing one spot is a clue worth following.
• Watch for blowflies. Large, metallic-looking flies congregating indoors often indicate a nearby carcass. Follow them.
• Note: the smell often seems to come from vents, but pest pros say the animal is almost never inside the ductwork — it's usually in a wall or attic space near a duct run. The HVAC is just moving the odor around.

Once you've found it — how to remove it safely:

• Wear gloves and a mask, especially in enclosed spaces.
• Get air moving before you start: open windows, run a fan.
• Do not sweep or vacuum rodent droppings — that stirs particles into the air and can spread disease. Instead, spray droppings with a disinfectant or a 1:10 bleach-and-water solution, let it soak 5–10 minutes, then wipe with paper towels and mop the area again.
• Double-bag the carcass and dispose of it per your local regulations.

What happens after removal depends on the surface:

• Hard, non-porous surfaces (concrete, metal, vinyl): Clean promptly, ventilate well, and the smell usually clears quickly.
• Porous materials (insulation, carpet pad, unfinished wood, drywall, ceiling tile): Decomposition fluids soak in and the smell can linger — or seem to come back on humid days — long after the animal is gone. In these cases, remove the contaminated material, clean with disinfectant, and then apply an enzymatic cleaner to break down any remaining organic residue at the molecular level. This is the step that eliminates the odor rather than masking it.

If you can't find or access the source: The intense phase will eventually pass on its own as the carcass dries out. While you wait:

• Activated charcoal bags — place them as close to the affected area as possible. They trap odor molecules physically rather than adding a scent. Recharge them in sunlight every couple of weeks. Available at most stores for around $10–15 for a multi-pack.
• Foaming enzymatic cleaners (like BAC-A-Zap) — drill a small hole into the wall cavity, inject the foam, and the enzymes go to work on organic material from the inside. Available online or through pest control suppliers.
• Use both together for best results — but be honest with yourself: if fluids have soaked into porous materials inside that wall, you may eventually need to open it up.

The final step — odor-blocking primer: Once the source is removed and the area is clean and dry, if you're still worried about lingering odor, you can seal hard surfaces with a shellac-based odor-blocking primer like BIN. Important: this is the last step — a lock on a problem already solved — not a first response.

Two things worth knowing:

1. Not every mystery smell is a dead animal. Propane and natural gas have a chemical odorant added to them that some people experience as a decay or skunk smell rather than the classic "rotten egg" description. If you can't find a source, the smell isn't fading, or it has a sharp chemical edge, leave the area and call your gas company.
2. The "poison makes them leave the house" idea is a myth. Rodent poisons do not cause mice or rats to go outside searching for water, and they don't dry out the body to eliminate odor. The rodent eats the bait, gets sick over several days, and dies wherever it happens to be — usually inside a wall, under insulation, or behind an appliance. This is one of the reasons pest professionals often recommend snap traps inside the home instead of poison: you know exactly where the animal is.

Prevention — sealing entry points:

• Inspect the exterior of your home for gaps and holes.
• For small openings: skip foam or caulk alone — rodents chew right through it. Pack the gap first with copper or stainless steel mesh, then seal over it with exterior-grade caulk or pest-blocking foam.
• For larger openings: use hardware cloth, metal flashing, or other chew-resistant materials.
• Check chimney caps, vent screens, damaged soffits, loose siding, and gaps around pipes and utility lines.
• Go into your garage, close the door, turn off the lights. If you can see daylight around the door frame big enough to fit a dime, that's a mouse entry point.

Last week Dan covered the history and origins of Art Deco. This week he makes it practical: how do you actually bring Art Deco into a real home without making the space feel like a 1920s movie set?

The good news: Art Deco translates surprisingly well into modern interiors — especially when you borrow selectively. You don't need to go all in. Borrowing a few core principles can give any room more elegance, confidence, and visual impact.

Three core ingredients of an Art Deco-inspired room:

1. Shape — Art Deco loves geometry, clear lines, and repeated patterns. Think: a mirror with a stepped frame, wallpaper with a fan or geometric motif, a rug with bold linear structure, a light fixture with globes and symmetry, a vanity with fluted details, or a cabinet with curved corners and brass pulls. It's a structured style — not casual.
2. Contrast — Art Deco works best when there's tension in the room: light against dark, gloss against matte, soft upholstery against hard metal, cream walls against black trim, jewel tones against warm metallic finishes.
3. Sheen — Art Deco has always had an affinity for surfaces that reflect light: lacquer, mirrored materials, polished metal, glass, smooth stone, sleek tile. Even if your paint color is quiet and reserved, bumping up the sheen can push a room toward an Art Deco feel without committing to bolder colors.

Color: Art Deco isn't just black and gold (though black, ivory, brass, and chrome is certainly one classic palette). The style also works with:

• Rich jewel tones: emerald green, sapphire blue, deep teal, burgundy, plum
• Softer palettes: blush pink, dusty rose, pale aqua, warm cream, smoky taupe, elegant gray

What matters most is that the color choices feel deliberate — polished and intentional, not random.

Two approaches to bringing Art Deco in with paint:

• Go dramatic: A deep green in a dining room, a rich navy in a bedroom, a charcoal in a powder room — especially when paired with brass lighting, crisp trim, and geometric accents.
• Go soft and elegant: Warm cream, pale blush, or a light gray-green on the walls, and let black accents, metallic fixtures, and geometric shapes carry the Art Deco energy. This is often the smarter route — the paint creates the atmosphere and the accessories do the style work.

The golden rule: make a statement, not ten statements. Art Deco becomes overwhelming when every element is competing for attention. Let one or two things speak.

Best rooms to try it:

• Powder rooms — small, high-impact, and a great place to experiment with darker, glossier choices. A jewel-toned wall, brass sconce, bold mirror, black vanity, and geometric tile can be a knockout.
• Entryways — Art Deco is great at first impressions. A strong console, a sunburst mirror, and a crisp wall color can make an entrance feel intentional and elegant.
• Dining rooms — Art Deco has natural ties to entertaining, which fits the dining room perfectly. Great for a room you want to feel more special and elevated.
• Bedrooms — especially with upholstered shapes, symmetry, and softer Art Deco palettes (dusty rose, muted green, warm ivory).

Three questions to ask yourself before you start:

• Do I want this room to feel dramatic or elegant?Dramatic: lean darker and richer — deep greens, navy, charcoal, black accents, metallic finishes. Let the room have weight.
• Elegant: lean lighter and softer — cream, pale blush, taupe, muted blue-green, soft gray. Let the accessories do the style work.

1. Where is the geometry going to come from? Pick one or two sources — wallpaper, a mirror, a light fixture, tile, a rug. Not every surface. Intentional pattern reads as Art Deco. Pattern everywhere reads as chaos.
2. Where is the shine going to come from? Brass? Chrome? Glass? A satin or semi-gloss finish on the walls? A glossy vanity? Mirrored furniture? Choose strategically. A little shine goes a long way — too much and the room starts to feel like a hotel lobby.

We talk a lot about color. But the finish — the sheen — is a design decision that gets far too little attention, and it can be just as powerful.

The core idea: The same color can feel completely different depending on the finish.

• Flat/matte: absorbs light, reads deeper and softer, hides imperfections — which is why it's standard on ceilings
• Eggshell: clean and practical
• Satin: polished and slightly reflective
• Semi-gloss/high-gloss: dramatic and light-bouncing — but will show every flaw

Sheen plays two roles: durability and hiding imperfections (the practical role most people think about) — and a design role that most people never consider.

Four finish tricks worth trying:

1. Same color, stepped-up sheen on the trim. Paint walls and trim the exact same color, but go one or two sheens higher on the trim. Matte walls, satin trim. Eggshell walls, semi-gloss trim. The architecture quietly emerges — the trim catches more light, the room feels more considered and custom — without changing the color at all.
2. Use sheen to control where the eye goes. Keep walls soft and quiet (matte or eggshell), then let a satin bookcase, a painted door, or a glossy piece of furniture become the feature. Same color throughout, but the finish tells your eye where to look.
3. The jewel box powder room. Take a small room, paint it a deep saturated color (emerald, navy, burgundy), and use semi-gloss or high gloss on every surface. Light bounces off everything. The color stops being color and starts feeling like a material. You walk in and feel like you stepped into something.
4. The glossy ceiling. One of the great underused tricks in design. Paint a ceiling in a high-sheen finish — even just white — and it reflects the room back at itself, making a low ceiling feel taller and a small space feel bigger. Designers use this in dining rooms, entryways, powder rooms, and small studies regularly.

A word of caution on glossy ceilings: this is one of the hardest paint jobs in a house to pull off. A ceiling gets raking light from windows and overhead fixtures, and gloss will broadcast every drywall seam, tape joint, screw pop, roller mark, and brush stroke. Most residential drywall isn't finished to the standard that gloss demands — you'd need skim coating, sanding, priming, and sanding again before the finish coat. If you want to experiment, try a satin sheen first. And if you go full gloss, hire someone who has done it before — and ask to see photos.

• Nature's Miracle — enzymatic cleaner for odor elimination (available at pet stores)
• BAC-A-Zap — foaming enzymatic cleaner for wall voids and enclosed spaces (available online and through pest control suppliers)
• BIN Shellac-Based Primer — odor-blocking primer, the strongest option for sealing surfaces after odor remediation
• Activated Charcoal Bags — available widely, ~$10–15 for a multi-pack; recharge in sunlight every few weeks
• Copper or Stainless Steel Mesh — for packing gaps before sealing with caulk or pest-blocking foam

🎙 Home In Progress is on the air every weekend and available anytime at repcolite.com — click the On the Radio tab on the homepage.

Home In Progress is brought to you by RepcoLite Paints and Benjamin Moore — because the paint isn't just another line item on the supply list. Everything you do — every hour of prep, every stroke of the brush — comes down to the quality of what goes on the wall. The paint is the project. Make sure it's the best.

© Home In Progress | RepcoLite Paints | Sponsored by Benjamin Moore

In this episode of Home in Progress, Dan Hansen starts with a look at why smells have such a powerful effect on the way we experience a home. Unlike sights and sounds, odors connect quickly to the emotional and memory centers of the brain, which means a smell can instantly shape how comfortable, clean, or welcoming a house feels.

That leads into a real-life odor problem involving Dan’s son’s house, several cats, a squirrel in the attic, and a dead possum under an entryway. From there, Dan lays out the most important rule for dealing with household odors: don’t just cover them up with candles, sprays, or air fresheners. If you want the smell gone, you have to eliminate the source.

The segment walks through three practical tools for removing odors at home. First are absorbers and neutralizers, including baking soda, activated charcoal, and white vinegar. Next are enzymatic cleaners, which are especially useful for biological odors like pet urine, but need to be used properly and should not be mixed with bleach or harsh disinfectants. Finally, Dan explains encapsulation, using odor-blocking primers and shellac-based products like BIN or clear shellac to seal in stubborn smells that regular paint will not solve.

In the second half of the episode, the conversation shifts to the history and philosophy of Art Deco design. Dan explores where Art Deco came from, how it developed in the 1910s through the 1930s, and why the style felt so fresh and forward-looking after World War I. He covers the importance of the 1925 Paris exposition, the visual traits that define Art Deco, and how the style eventually evolved into the sleeker, more aerodynamic look of Streamline Moderne after 1929.

Along the way, Dan explains why Art Deco was more than a decorating style. It was a design philosophy built around modern life, new materials, elegance, technology, and the belief that beauty did not have to come from copying the past. Art Deco found beauty in the present, and that is one reason it still feels stylish nearly a century later.

This episode covers two very different but practical home topics: how to eliminate household odors and how to understand Art Deco design. Dan explains why smells are so emotionally powerful, how to stop masking odors and start removing them, and which odor-removal tools actually work. Then he explores the origins, materials, colors, and philosophy of Art Deco, showing how this iconic design movement changed the way people thought about modern homes, buildings, furniture, and everyday beauty.

In this rerun episode of Home in Progress, sponsored by RepcoLite Paints and Benjamin Moore, Dan Hansen opens with a personal update about his golden retriever, Maggie, whose health emergency led to a change in this week’s schedule. From there, the episode revisits a practical homeowner question: does air duct cleaning actually reduce dust in the home?

Dan shares listener feedback and real-world experiences with duct cleaning, noting that while some homeowners notice a cleaner smell or short-term improvement, most do not report a dramatic, game-changing reduction in dust. He explains when duct cleaning may be worth considering, especially for allergy sufferers, homes that have recently gone through renovation work, and households with pets that shed heavily. He also offers a simple DIY inspection tip using an inexpensive snake camera so homeowners can see what is actually inside their ducts before spending money on a cleaning service.

The second half of the episode features highlights from Dan’s conversation with painter Keegan Summers of Vivid Creative Contracting. Keegan talks about growing up in a fourth-generation painting family, stepping away for college and the Air Force, and eventually finding meaning and purpose in the trades. The conversation covers common DIY painting mistakes, how to fix paint problems, the importance of prep work, and what homeowners often misunderstand about professional painters.

Keegan also shares practical advice on cabinet painting, including multi-stage cleaning, sanding, and the amount of prep required for a long-lasting finish. He discusses favorite tools and products, including microfiber rollers and Benjamin Moore Scuff-X, and makes a strong case for young people considering the trades before taking on major college debt.

Timestamps

00:00 Welcome and Rerun Announcement

00:33 Maggie’s Health Update

02:33 Why This Week’s Episode Is a Rerun

03:17 Recapping the Dust Problem

04:32 The Reality of Air Duct Cleaning

06:36 Is Duct Cleaning Worth the Money?

07:44 A Simple DIY Duct Inspection Tip

09:08 Meet Painter Keegan Summers

09:56 Growing Up in a Painting Family

11:43 College, the Air Force, and a Career Detour

14:33 Finding Meaning in Trade Work

16:09 Why Purpose Matters in Your Work

19:26 Back from the Break

19:44 What Homeowners Misunderstand About Painters

20:00 Common DIY Painting Mistakes

21:35 How to Fix Paint Problems

23:05 Bats on the Ladder

25:05 Favorite Tools, Rollers, and Paint Products

30:08 Cabinet Painting Prep and Process

34:29 Life Beyond the Job

36:19 Why the Trades Can Beat College Debt

39:12 Wrap-Up and Final Offers

In this episode of Home in Progress, Dan Hansen opens with a story about slicing his finger on a new rotary shredder and officially passing cheese-grating duties on to his kids. From there, he wraps up his multi-week series on what the brain wants from the spaces we live in by turning to one of the biggest design decisions of all: color.

Dan explains that paint color is not just about personal taste. It also affects us biologically. He explores how color sends signals through the eye and into parts of the brain involved in stress, alertness, and emotional regulation. Along the way, he breaks color down into its three core elements: hue, brightness, and saturation.

The episode looks at what research suggests about common color families. Red tends to be stimulating and physiologically activating. Blue is often associated with lower heart rate, lower blood pressure, and better emotional recovery. Green shows especially strong connections to stress reduction and restoration. Dan also explains that saturation works like a volume knob, making colors feel louder or quieter, and notes that very dark spaces can sometimes make us feel more watchful or on edge than mid-range values.

Most importantly, he offers a practical framework for choosing paint colors more wisely: do not start with the color itself. Start with the feeling you want the room to create. From there, Dan walks through helpful color guidance for bedrooms, kitchens, living rooms, home offices, and bathrooms. He also reminds listeners that RepcoLite color consultants are available to help homeowners make confident choices.

00:00 Welcome and sponsor

00:12 Rotary shredder mishap

01:31 Why color affects us

02:59 The biology of color

07:15 Hue, brightness, and saturation

08:49 What research says about red, blue, and green

14:00 Saturation as a volume knob

16:02 Brightness and hidden stress

18:40 Turning the science into practical advice

19:27 When the deeper point finally clicks

20:28 Why color affects biology, not just preference

21:52 Choose the feeling first

24:32 A living room color regret

26:52 Room-by-room color guidance

28:08 Bedroom colors for calm

30:00 Kitchen colors and controlling warmth

31:10 Flexible color ideas for living rooms

32:47 Home office colors for focus

33:37 Bathroom colors for a reset

36:49 What the feeling of home really means

39:01 Final thoughts and where to get help

In this best-of episode of Home in Progress by RepcoLite Paints, sponsored by Benjamin Moore, Dan Hansen covers two popular home improvement topics: how to reduce dust in your house and how to paint kitchen cabinets. In the first half of the episode, Dan explains what household dust actually is, where it comes from, and why some homes seem to get dusty so quickly. He breaks down common causes of indoor dust buildup, including skin cells, pet dander, fabric fibers, pollen, soil, HVAC airflow, and dirty or inefficient furnace filters. He also explains how low indoor humidity can keep dust floating in the air longer and shares practical tips for reducing dust throughout the home.

Dan’s dust-control advice includes using a HEPA vacuum, dusting with damp microfiber cloths, washing bedding and curtains regularly, vacuuming upholstered furniture, replacing furnace filters on time, checking filter efficiency, using air purifiers, and maintaining indoor humidity around 40 to 50 percent. He also discusses whether duct cleaning may help and previews that topic for a future episode.

In the second half, Dan gives a detailed step-by-step guide to painting kitchen cabinets, especially older stained or varnished cabinets. He explains how to remove and label cabinet doors and hardware, clean away built-up grease, sand the surface correctly, choose the right bonding primer, block stains and tannin bleed, and select a durable cabinet paint that will hold up over time. He also shares tips on sanding between coats, using better brushes and rollers, avoiding common mistakes, and giving the finish enough time to dry and cure before reassembly.

Whether you are trying to cut down on dust in your home or thinking about repainting your kitchen cabinets, this episode offers practical advice that can help you get better results.

00:00 Best-of episode setup

00:42 Why the house gets dusty so fast

01:27 A short tangent on height and dust

05:09 What dust actually is

07:14 Where household dust comes from

08:39 HVAC filters, airflow, and ductwork

11:09 Humidity and why it matters

12:09 Practical ways to reduce dust

16:21 Building a realistic cleaning routine

17:12 Air purifiers, filters, and duct cleaning

18:37 Wrap-up and cabinet painting preview

19:31 Why painting cabinets can be worth it

22:02 Understanding project scope and cabinet types

22:43 Remove and label doors and hardware

24:47 Prep mindset and deep cleaning

26:53 Scuff sanding the right way

28:54 Priming and blocking stains

32:07 Sanding primer and choosing paint

34:05 Applying the second coat and allowing cure time

35:42 Reassembly and finishing touches

36:45 Final tips and wrap-up

Host Dan Hansen opens the episode by noting a technical mistake in the original on-air broadcast, which led to the spring painting segment being repeated—then leans into it with a quick apology and a story about how contractor Joe helped him upgrade from a box grater to a rotary cheese grater after a painful pizza-making mishap.

From there, Dan dives into one of the most common spring questions: When can you actually start painting outside? He explains why air temperature alone isn’t enough, emphasizing the importance of surface temperature, dew point (keeping surfaces at least 5–10°F above it), and moisture content in wood (ideally below 15%). He also discusses surfactant leaching and how overnight conditions can impact fresh paint. To help extend the early-season window, he highlights Benjamin Moore Element Guard for its ability to handle lower temperatures and resist rain quickly, and shares a practical day-by-day approach to spring exterior painting—including why you should always store your paint indoors overnight.

Shifting indoors, Dan shares a firsthand experience helping his son repaint a home, where RepcoLite Optima delivered impressive coverage over both deep, dark colors and even bright bubblegum pink. While nearly achieving one-coat results, he still recommends two coats for a consistent, professional finish.

The episode wraps with a deeper look at biophilic design—how incorporating elements of nature into your home can reduce stress and improve well-being. Dan walks through simple, practical ways to apply it: using natural color palettes, incorporating wood and stone, embracing imperfection through ideas like wabi-sabi, protecting meaningful outdoor views, and adding plants (real or artificial) to create a calming environment.

He closes by encouraging listeners to connect with the Home in Progress podcast and Facebook page—and offers a warm Easter greeting.

00:00 Welcome and On-Air Correction

00:42 Rotary Grater Upgrade

02:56 Michigan Spring Frustrations

04:38 When to Paint Outside

05:34 Surface Temperature Matters

06:47 Dew Point Basics

07:43 Moisture in Wood

09:06 Surfactant Leaching

11:08 Element Guard

12:12 Outdoor Painting Schedule

13:40 Keep Paint Warm

14:22 Shift to Interior Painting

15:08 Repainting Son’s House

15:51 Optima Paint Overview

16:36 Dark Colors Coverage

18:18 Covering Bright Colors

18:32 Final Recommendation

19:00 Greenery Benefits Tease

19:09 Sponsor Break

19:31 Brain Needs at Home

21:05 Biophilic Design Explained

21:53 Nature Lowers Stress Fast

24:21 Earth Tone Color Tips

26:20 Natural Materials

28:17 Sponsor Break

29:43 Wabi-Sabi and Imperfection

32:04 Protecting Your Views

33:43 Plants: Real or Artificial

36:14 Series Wrap and Next Week

37:45 Podcast and Facebook

39:35 Easter Sign-Off

When can you really start painting outside in the spring? It’s not just about air temperature—and getting this wrong can ruin a project.

Dan Hansen breaks down the real factors that determine whether exterior paint will succeed or fail. He explains why surface temperature matters more than air temperature, how to use an infrared thermometer to check it, and why dew point and moisture content can quietly sabotage your work. You’ll learn when wood is actually ready to paint (hint: below ~15% moisture), why frozen or damp substrates cause problems, and how to plan a smart early-season painting schedule. He also highlights Benjamin Moore Element Guard, designed for cooler conditions and rain resistance as fast as 60 minutes.

Then the conversation shifts indoors—to something most people completely overlook: lighting.

Your brain is constantly responding to light in ways that affect your sleep, mood, focus, and overall wellbeing. Dan walks through the research behind this and explains why “irregular light” (the wrong kind of light at the wrong time) can throw off your system. He connects this to real-world environments—from hospitals to workplaces—and shows how lighting choices at home can either support or fight against how your brain wants to function.

You’ll get practical, actionable advice:

1. Why morning light exposure (within an hour of waking) matters more than you think
2. How to choose the right bulb color temperature (2700K vs 3500–4000K) depending on the room
3. Why layered lighting beats a single overhead fixture every time

Finally, Dan tackles a viral carbon monoxide ad and clears up a common misunderstanding: CO detectors are not designed to detect every trace of carbon monoxide immediately. He explains how UL 2034 standards actually work, including threshold levels and built-in delays, and what that means for your safety.

You’ll also learn:

1. Where and how to install CO detectors
2. When to replace them (typically every 5–7 years)
3. Why annual inspection of fuel-burning appliances matters
4. When a low-level CO monitor might be worth adding as a supplement

00:00 Welcome and March Rant

01:53 When to Paint Outside

03:05 Why Surface Temperature Matters

04:18 Understanding Dew Point

05:14 Moisture Levels in Wood

06:37 Element Guard in Cool Weather

07:47 Planning a Daily Painting Schedule

09:57 Why Lighting Matters More Than You Think

10:31 How Light Affects Your Brain

14:31 Real-World Research Examples

17:13 What “Irregular Light” Means

18:28 Practical Lighting Fixes

19:54 Why Morning Light Is Critical

22:45 Choosing the Right Bulb Temperature

24:56 Warm vs Cool Lighting by Room

26:51 Why You Should Layer Lighting

30:58 Carbon Monoxide Ad Breakdown

34:00 How CO Detectors Actually Work

36:21 CO Safety Tips and Best Practices

39:02 Wrap Up

Dan Hansen hosts Home in Progress by RepcoLite Paints (sponsored by Benjamin Moore), opening with a memorable—and painful—story involving a cheese grater that leads into a practical takeaway: 100% silicone caulk cannot be painted and often must be removed if used incorrectly.

From there, the episode shifts into a deeper exploration of what makes a space feel like home.

Hansen connects neuroscience to interior design, explaining how the brain acts as a prediction engine—rapidly evaluating environments and forming physical responses before conscious thought kicks in. Within seconds, a room can create a sense of ease or low-level friction that we often can’t explain, but definitely feel.

Through relatable examples and a simple visualization exercise, he demonstrates how the body “reads” a space. He shares a personal realization that even a well-designed, comfortable room can create subtle stress—triggered in his case by a cluttered desk just out of sight.

The episode introduces two key design principles:

1. Coherence — creating a consistent visual and material “logic” that allows the brain to settle
2. Variation — adding just enough visual interest to keep the space engaging without becoming overwhelming

Together, these ideas form a practical framework for designing spaces that don’t just look good—but feel right at a deeper level.

00:00 Welcome and Episode Setup

01:10 Cheese Grater Mishap (and Why It Matters)

04:23 Paint Tip: Silicone Caulk Warning

06:38 Neuroscience Meets Interior Design

07:03 Why Some Rooms Feel Instantly Right

10:09 The Brain as a Prediction Engine

11:48 “Feeling” Texture Without Touching It

14:17 Friction vs. Ease in a Space

14:54 The Hidden Cost of “Fine” Rooms

17:52 Try This: Room Visualization Exercise

19:03 Sponsor Break

19:19 Your Body Is Reading Your Space

20:53 The Desk That Changed Everything

24:19 Your Nervous System Keeps Score

27:04 Coherence: The Thread That Ties a Room Together

32:00 Why Coherence Doesn’t Mean Boring

34:32 Variation: Giving Your Eye Something to Do

36:38 Finding the Balance Between Calm and Overload

38:14 What’s Coming Next: Light, Color, and More

38:51 Paint With a Purpose

39:26 Wrap-Up and Sign-Off

In this episode of Home in Progress, Dan Hansen explores how overlooked spaces—especially laundry rooms—can quietly affect our mood and stress levels. Drawing on research linking cluttered, chaotic environments to higher stress, Dan argues that even small design improvements—better lighting, thoughtful organization, and especially color—can transform repetitive chores into calmer, more enjoyable routines.

He explains why paint is often the simplest and most affordable way to reset a neglected space, sharing the dramatic difference a fresh coat of paint made in a dark Michigan basement.

The episode also tackles a practical spring concern: water in the basement. Dan walks through common causes after heavy rain or snowmelt and offers practical steps homeowners can take to prevent problems. He explains how roof runoff, clogged gutters, poor grading, frozen ground, and failing sump pumps can all send water toward your foundation.

If water does get inside, Dan outlines safe cleanup strategies, including pumping out standing water, drying the space quickly to prevent mold, evaluating whether carpets can be saved, and protecting yourself from electrical hazards and contaminants. He also recommends installing water alarms for early warning and documenting damage for insurance claims.

Finally, the episode returns to laundry room design with practical ideas for making the space more inviting—using paint, lighting, hardware, and personal touches to turn a purely functional room into one that actually feels good to use.

00:00 Show Intro and Preview

01:29 Why Rooms Affect Mood

04:06 Clutter Stress and Beauty

07:07 Laundry Tasks and Creativity

08:40 Paint as the Fast Fix

09:04 Basement Paint Transformation

13:39 Shift to Basement Water

15:15 Keep Water Out Basics

18:56 If Water Is Already In

20:17 Don’t Panic First Steps

20:22 Floodwater Safety Gear

20:49 Electric Shock Precautions

21:45 Pump Out Standing Water

22:19 Extension Cord Safety

23:26 ShopVac Cleanup Tips

23:56 Dry Out Fast Prevent Mold

24:41 Carpet Save Or Toss

25:22 Drywall Hidden Damage

26:48 Wrap Up Flood Advice

28:34 Basement Waterproofing Paint

29:15 Laundry Room Can Be Beautiful

30:24 Confidence Zones Bold Design

31:52 Warm Minimalist Color Picks

33:53 Go Dark With Contrast

35:30 Lighting Hardware And Art

38:45 Laundry Room Mindset Shift

39:33 Final Sign Off