Blog Posts by Jennifer Karmon

Abbey's Montana estate. Click the photo to go to a slideshow.[Editor's note: This is a guest post from Laura Vecsey at Zillow Blog. Also, the post has been updated to correct two errors: It is the Bradbury Estate, not the Bradford Estate, and the shooting ranges are 25 yards, not 25 feet.]

Call it a $78 million change of heart. Times two.

Commercial real estate tycoon Don Abbey has listed his pair of custom-built mansions -- one in California and one in Montana -- for $78.8 million and $78 million, respectively. That firmly gives him two of the top five most expensive listings in the United States -- for now, anyway.

Even with similarly whopping price tags on both unique properties -- one in an exclusive Los Angeles enclave and the other on a private island Montana's famous Flathead Lake -- the homes are attracting interest. (Click on the photos above and below to go to a slideshow of each estate. And you can see even more photos of the two $78 million estates on Zillow Blog.)

According to Bob Hurwitz, listing broker for Abbey's twin gems, the

These tiles are stainless-steel-wrapped porcelain. Click the photo to go to a slideshow. (Photo credit: Diamond Tech via Flickr)Cooking isn't the only way to unleash your creativity in the kitchen: Use the backsplash as your canvas.

You can play it safe with simple, chic, economical white subway tiles, or you can install colorful mosaics that are true works of art. Or experiment with nontraditional materials like pure copper, solid bronze chunks, shimmering goldleaf -- that's right, real gold -- or even petrified wood.

We've put together a slideshow to inspire you, and we made sure to throw in some budget options for the pragmatists out there. But don't forget that you can splurge on even the most fabulously expensive materials if you use them as accents within a larger field of cheaper tile rather than covering a whole wall.

Click the photo above to go to our slideshow of 25 amazing backsplashes. Feeling inspired? Our latest "D-I-Why Not?" episode shows you how simple it is to install your own glass tile backsplash:

See more kitchen ideas in the Project Center and the Design Center:

Kitchen makeovers for less

I do love a smart, good-looking space-saving device. And today's TVs may not be the bulky monstrosities of yore, but they're still not exactly a design feature, so I'm always looking for ideas to minimize their black-hole presence.

Hidden Vision may have solved my problems.

Oh, sure, you and I might quibble about the artwork chosen to hide the TV, but can we agree that the mechanism for disguising it is pretty ingenious?

The TV mount shown in the video is called the Flip-Around. Hidden Vision also makes a Flip-Out mount, one of them with a farther extension, for watching TV in bed:

Yep, that's a TV behind the artwork.

The Flip-Around mount starts at $498 for a 30- to 32-inch flat-screen TV. The standard Flip-Out starts at $449, and the extended Flip-Out starts at $748.

For more information, wiring diagrams and more, check out the FAQs on the Hidden Vision TV website.

The Balance Bookshelf from Cush Design Studio on Etsy is a visual pun that you can take to the next level: In the product description, designer Chris Cush suggests using the Balance Bookshelf to weigh your must-read list against your already-read list -- but what about cookbooks on one shelf vs. diet books on the other? Or self-help books vs. travel books? Or you could go extra arty and do, say, carrot vs. stick.

The Balance Bookshelf is $120, which seems pretty reasonable considering that it goes to support a designer and artisan. I definitely don't want to discourage you from buying it on Etsy. Still, if you want to go the full distance creativity-wise, I would be remiss if I didn't point out that you could rig up a version of this yourself. Cush says the shelves "do not actually balance themselves out," so it shouldn't be too complicated. This version is made with black pipe fittings, pine and twine (see close-up); substitutions could include a larger book for the pine, maybe

Click the photo to go to a slideshow of aerial views of Sandy's devastation. (Photo credit: Mike Groll, Associated Press)Obviously this link list is in no way comprehensive, but I thought I'd collect links to a few of the more interesting and perhaps easy-to-miss pieces I've come across since Sandy hit.

The storm wrought havoc on architectural treasures including projects by Frank Gehry and at the World Trade Center site; Architectural Record has a slideshow.

Cool, eerie long-exposure photos illuminate New York's deep darkness on PetaPixel.

A feared tide of rats failed to materialize, probably because they all drowned, says Forbes. Ew.

"Breaking the Frankensilence" and "Climate change policy evolving at the local level," Next American City: This is a fine line I'm treading, because it might seem that I'm making a political point in recommending these stories. But this seems like an opportune time to explore what is and isn't happening in American cities to fortify infrastructure. Even if you  disagree with the writers' perspectives, I think you'll still find their observations about local vs. federal

Just a few of the good reads I've come across lately in real estate and housing:

"Housing prices and income inequality," New York Times: Is the high cost of housing the main wedge that's widening the gap between rich and poor?

"The key to the housing recover is still investors," CNNMoney: What kind of rebound will this be? Depends on who's buying.

"Bust to boom: Why housing matters, economically," NPR: An improving housing market could have a ripple effect. Fingers crossed.

"Homeowner Kimberly Smith's mortgage loan modification saved her only $1.61 per month," AOL Real Estate. Her story was televised; then the lender came through with a more significant modification.

If you're a home improvement warehouse, a hurricane and its aftermath will certainly test your ability to serve customers. So how do you stock up and prepare? CNBC has an interesting interview with Home Depot emergency response captain Doug Spiron:

The Starry Light Lamps by Anagraphic are designed with two light intensities, to cast bright direct light downward while throwing "a magnificent and exact view of the night sky" onto your walls. (Click on either photo to go to a slideshow with other views and colors for the Starry Light Lamp.)

Because the lamp is handmade, it's customizable to the night sky of a given time and location. The standard versions are the equinoxes and solstices of the Northern Hemisphere.

The lamps are not yet available for purchase, but the Starry Light Lamps website and Facebook page promise they will be soon. Me, I've already signed up for the email notification list.