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Dear Helaine and Joe: My family has always referred to this item as the "Hekman table." We do not know whether the piece is an antique or valuable in any way. Hope you can help. -- G.M., Chicago

Raise your hand if you work from home. Aha! I knew it. There are many of you. Let me see -- one, two, three, 25 million, give or take. In order to be successful, you should have a well-organized, well-designed home office. So let's get started.

For me, there is no better color palette than the rich hues of autumn -- burgundy, chestnut brown, mossy greens, pumpkin orange and amber. And there are no better decorating props than those Mother Nature provides this time of year, from gourds, harvest fruits, vegetables, dried grasses and vines to acorns and hedge apples.

Q: After two long years, we finally received an offer on our home. The buyer requested a whole-house inspection that was performed, and we then received a "letter of response" from the buyer's realtor. One request asked for the furnace to be checked further by a licensed heating contractor, which we did. The furnace was leaking water from the air conditioner, which was repaired.

Let's face it: When something breaks, our natural reaction is usually less than positive. We're upset, we're angry, we're disappointed. We can dwell on the breakage for moments that extend long beyond the "breakup." Or we can embrace the mishap as a creative opportunity -- the opportunity to pick up the pieces and turn them into something magical.

Some reader queries had me staring at the ceiling, trying to determine which way the indoor wind blows.

This followed a tip -- from the U.S. Department of Energy's Web site -- that ceiling fans should be set to spin clockwise during summer months and reversed in winter.

Most people buy and fix up old houses because they love old-style architecture or are nuts about history. The genesis of Tom and Connie Ochs' renovation of a three-story Victorian-turned-rundown-apartment building in a Pittsburgh suburb was a bit more self-serving.

They simply wanted to rid their pretty neighborhood of one of its biggest eyesores.

Foscarini, an Italian lighting company once known for heavy blown-glass fixtures, has veered toward newer materials and avant-garde designs over the past decade.

Dear Helaine and Joe: I inherited a number of boxes of china from my mother. It was a wonderful surprise when I finally opened them and saw all these beautiful pieces, and I would like some more information about them. Thank you. -- N.S.

Linda Morrissey's introduction to the ancient art of origami was uniquely modern: it happened because of a job she had giving technical support over the phone.

"I was looking for something to do with my hands," said the Toledo, Ohio, woman, who taught herself paper folding after checking out books from the library.