Remodeling

Those musty card catalogs are finally going the way of the eight-track cassette. Under renovation until early July, the Van Nuys branch of the public library soon will become fully accessible to the disabled. In the process, it will also become the last of the 66 branch libraries to replace the thousands of yellowed index cards with a centralized circulation and cataloging system. The renovation, which began in March, will take place in two phases, the first of which will cost about $160,000.

The color drawings depict a sleek, modernized arena, complete with terra cotta accents along the facade, a grand lobby and row after row of new seats. But as UCLA officials unveiled their vision for an updated Pauley Pavilion on Monday afternoon, filling in blanks about a proposed $185-million project, an equally important question lurked in the not-so-distant future.

The latest opinion is that, like everything else in housing, remodeling is going to slow down markedly. That's from the Harvard University Joint Center for Housing Studies, which this month introduced a new index of remodeling activity nationwide. The Harvard group foresees "very modest growth" in homeowner spending for remodeling through the year, unless a spike in energy prices inspires homeowners to make conservation-related improvements.

Have you recently completed a great remodeling project at your home? It doesn't have to be big, either in budget or square footage. In fact, we're looking for all sizes and shapes of remodeling jobs completed within the last year or so. If you'd like to have your project considered for use in Pardon Our Dust, please send before and after photos (copies only, please; we cannot return the pictures) and a brief description of your remodel, including costs, to Home Editor, Southern California Living, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053.