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Tuesday 28 December 2010

An Introduction to Learning Kitchen Organisation

Home improvement is an activity that encompasses many goals including beautification, comfort, maintenance and repair, additional space, saving energy and safety and preparedness. Kitchen organisation points toward all these.

The kitchen is a part of the home which is very much used and used for a very important function of storing food and preparing them for consumption. Thus most home owners keep their kitchen in excellent condition. Orderliness and sanitation are two essentials of a properly managed kitchen.

You may start home improvement by organising your kitchen. To start managing your kitchen, determine the things that are still useful, functional or consumable and those which are not. Do not hold on to or hoard things that you no longer need. Keeping things that you do not or will not use will add to the kitchen a clutter of things that you have no use for. Test kitchen utensils, gadgets and other things if they are still functional and if you need to use them on a regular basis. Leave in the kitchen only those things which you use on a regular basis.

Having only the selected things left in the kitchen gives you the space to organise and less number of things that lower the tendency of dirt and insects. Group the things that you often use and put them in a section very accessible to you while preparing food. Doing so gives you the ability to save time and effort.

Designate and develop a single area for food preparation works. Near it must be the storage area for utensils. Categorize your kitchenware by putting together those of the same kind. Separate storage of ingredients from utensils and other kitchen gadgets. Some ingredients may react with the metallic elements of the utensils and may cause one or both to be damaged. Keep the kitchen counter free of unnecessary items. Leave the kitchen clean after preparing food.

Kitchen management is one best way to start home improvement.

Friday 8 October 2010

How to Paint Kitchen Countertops

Painting your kitchen countertop is one of the top home improvement activities because it will enable you to create for your kitchen, where you spend time everyday cooking, a new and inviting view without the expense of a major renovation. If you know how to paint a wall, painting kitchen countertops will not be a total home improvement stranger to you.

  1. First, you need to clean your kitchen countertop thoroughly. Use warm  soapy water in removing the dirt and rinse with fresh, clean water. Make sure no grease and cooking oil are left on the surface so that the paint will completely stick to the countertop surface. 
  2. Provide a more porous surface for the primer to stick to by removing the shiny coating from the laminate. To do this, sand the countertop surface with a fine to medium grit sandpaper. Afterwards, vacuum clean all dust.
  3. Prevent paint from getting on areas outside the paint zone. Backsplash or tape the walls where it meets the edges of the sink and any recessed cutting boards and everywhere it meets the countertop.
  4. Apply a coat of primer to your countertop and wait till it is fully dry before applying more paint. To make your painting work faster and easier, tell the in charge of the paint store to tint your primer with the same colour as your primary colour of paint. This will reduce the number of coasts that you will need to apply and enable the paint to cover the area more thoroughly.
  5. Apply paint first to the corners and along the edges with a brush. This will enable you to control your application more and prevent you from accidentally painting those parts which should not be painted.
  6.  Apply paint to the rest of the surface and allow it to dry before determining if a second coat is necessary.
  7. Allow two days for the paint to cure fully. After it, apply a coat of clear urethane. Allow the urethane to dry; and then lightly sand the surface and apply another coat of clear urethane. Repeat the process until you have the sheen you like. If brush strokes in your urethane applications are noticeable, very slightly thin the solution with water to help it go on easier.

Painting or repainting your kitchen countertop is an easy, very less costly and satisfying home improvement activity.

Thursday 7 October 2010

Colour Basics: Do’s and Don’ts


Choosing the right colour palette can indeed be daunting, but don’t lose hope especially when your doing the project yourself. With these home improvement tips for colour choice, we make the task simple for you.

Avoid these 7 Colour Mistakes

  1. Don’t overlook the basics. Yes, choosing a colour palette can be difficult, but look on the bright side and set yourself up for success by learning the colour wheel and how the different colour schemes would work. The colours in the colour consist of the primary (red, blue, yellow), secondary (green, orange, violet), and tertiary (light green, yellow-orange, and blue-violet).

  2. Don’t forget 60-30-10. These numbers represent the colour principal which is used to create aesthetically pleasing schemes. 60 percent for the dominant colour, 30 percent for secondary, and 10 percent for accent colours.

  3. Don’t ignore lighting. Lighting does affect your choices of colours. Before making final selections, observe how colours look in the room at different times of the day.

  4. Don’t think neutral only means ‘Beige’. Although the latter is a neutral colour, your favourite colours’ shades may also be used as neutrals in your room. A neutral is simply a balance of warm and cool tones.

  5. Don’t overload a palette. Multiple colours may look beautiful, but putting together too many of the wrong shades can create the opposite of harmony: disaster. To be on the safe side, follow a favourite scheme, such as monochromatic, complementary, etc, and remember to follow the 60-30-10 formula.

  6. Don’t always follow colour trends. It may seem refreshing to add trendy colours to your scheme but accessories and wall colours can easily switch out. One of the most indispensable home improvement tips is when buying new furniture is to choose shades that will stand the test of time.
We hope you’ll find these expert home improvement tips useful to you, and have fun choosing colours!

Tuesday 5 October 2010

DIY 101: 3 Elements in Interior Design

If you’re going the DIY route but wants professional-looking results when putting enhancements in your interior decor, we share to you the three principles of interior design.

Effective interior design not only breathes with functionality but also creates a mood showing off the personality of the family living in there. Ensuring decorating success means having the interplay of function, mood, and personality in your interior design.

Function
More than just eye appeal, decorating and adding pieces to a room has to work for you and the family. Here’s how to put it together one element to another:
  • Focal point – every design should have this, which is a piece or place that first attracts the eyes.
  • Furniture – place furniture in their most functional places; if it’s too large or too small, take it somewhere in the house where it can function as it is.
  • Lighting – is selected to for its functions as well as for visual appeal.
  • Furniture arrangement – make a graph of your room, and measure and mark outlets, windows, doors, vents, etc. Then measure your furniture and place it in your floor plan. Main furniture pieces should be directed towards the focal point.

Mood
Colours, furnishings style, and the amount of pattern and texture you use and your accessories – these create the feeling of a room. Because there are so many options to try, you can make this part of decorating more interesting and fun by establishing a theme. Here are the factors to address when setting a room’s mood:

  • Inspiration piece – be sure it makes you feel good when you see it in the room
  • Theme – developed from your inspiration
  • Color cues – supports the theme
  • Patterns – background colour should be the same, patterns are in same colours, vary scale/sizes of patterns

Personality
Here’s the part where you can install personal touches into the design. Make your personality stand out in your interior decor using these strategies: accessorizing, whimsy, and the unexpected.

Wednesday 15 September 2010

Home Improvement DIY: How to make a Stylish Bookcase


Want a stylish place to pile up your photographs and books? The good news is you can do this home improvement project yourself, so forget spending at least $1000 on a new bookcase. And, you don’t need to be a master carpenter to do it. All it takes is some will, good instructions, a sturdy veneer plywood, and circular saw.

Your first job is to put together a series of short support pieces and attach to a longer strip of wood to create the look of thick boards intended for shelves. It’s also good to get some solid-wood trip to cover the edges of your bookcase, hiding your clever trickery.

It’s your choice to use solid wood boards for this home improvement project but it can be quite expensive. As an alternative, oak plywood would do; just make sure you double its thickness for the sides and legs by gluing and nailing the shelf support parts onto the longer boards. You may hide the rough edges with solid-wood finish trim.

Here’s the step-by-step:
  1. Cut plywood according to size of legs, shelves, and supports.
  2. Begin attaching supports to the legs by gluing and nailing.
  3. Assemble the box.
  4. Level the parts of the bookcase.
  5. Screw the parts firmly together.
  6. Hammer the kickboard onto the bookcase.
  7. Engrave the trim to fit.
  8. Apply nosing to the shelves.

All this work should take a day or two to complete, depending on your speed. Nonetheless, it’s all in a weekends work. 
 

Sunday 12 September 2010

Home Improvement DIY: How to Make Stylish Cabinet

A stylish cabinet can be a DIY home improvement project, giving you a lot of savings and freedom to style it the way you want it. All it takes are the right instructions. This project below will need you at least (4) hours of drying time and around $250 for the stained glass panels. Also, it’s moderately difficult to do, so you’ll probably need some carpentry skills to do this one.

Here’s the step-by-step instruction for creating this cabinet:
1.Cut wood to size to the length of the glass door, and ensure the ends and shelves are 1.5 inches than the window’s width.
2.Layout placement using pencil and framing square, marking the sides according to placement.
3.Fit parts together by gluing top and bottom panels between each side wall, and attach at the shelves.
4.Screw pieces into the unit to reinforce the strength of the glue.
5.Paint your cabinet, and let it completely dry.
6.Attach the back panel and secure with glue and steel tacks.
7.Mortise hinges by carving out wood with a chisel with the bevel side faced down. Then, turn the chisel bevel side up to smooth its surface.
8.Line hinges to glass panel. Fasten the closed hinges in the mortises, fit the glass door on top, and mark where the hinges meet.
9.Attach hardware. Pre-drill screw holes first, place unit on the side next to glass panels, and attach.
10.Attach handles with screws for easy opening and closing of the cabinet door.


Recent Posts: Home Improvement - Bathrooms (Part I)
                     Home Improvement - Bathrooms (Part II)

Friday 27 August 2010

Home Improvement - Bathrooms (Part II)

The more you understand about any subject, the more fascinating it becomes. As you read this editorial you’ll find that the subject of home improvement bathrooms is definitely no exception.
Some bathrooms have tile walling and flooring areas. Over the years tile suffer deterioration and/or damage due to steam, heat, moisture, and even accidental hits.

Thus to repair tiles in lieu of buying new tile is comparatively simple. The tiles have a bit more detail than basically tiles, including caulk and joints. The caulk sometimes require replacing, or renewed when water causes the material to fade.

It is important to work around dry areas when re-caulking bathrooms for improvement. You will require a scraper, since the elderly caulk and/or grout needs scraping before the new is applied. You can use an awl, which is a pointed device that marks the surface, or else pierce smaller holes in the area. The rubbing alcohol is necessary in this home improvement technique, since the joints must be freed of debris and dirt and soaked in the alcohol for cleaning before reusing.

It is important that you follow steps when improving you home, thus, the next step is to fill the tub slowly before beginning the new caulking method. Thus, the water will minimize or eliminate the possibilities of the caulk cracking.

It is important to clear the joints of spores or mildew before filling the joints in with new latex caulk. You can also use silicone to fill in the joints. Solutions for removing mildew are obtainable at most hardware stores.

Note:
Keeping a damp finger will help cease sticking from the silicone and/or caulk. You can use your fingertips to smooth out the area where the caulk is applied, using the fingers to figure the caulk in to a bay form.

One time the caulk is applied, you will wait until the material dries before continuing to carve away any residue around the area.

Sound complicated, or are you feeling that the terms are scary? Plenty of owners shy aware from home improvement or repairs, because the carpentry or technical terms scare them in to paying high dollars to fix or remodel their homes. If this method frightens you, you may require to think about using “performed peel-and-stick tub and tile caulk” which is simpler than the earlier details to follow. The caulk only requires that you peel and stick.

In case you have wallpaper in your bathroom, thus repairs may extend further than fixing tiles. Whoever comes up with the notion to add wallpaper in the bathroom was not thinking in my view.
Wallpaper is fragile, and when it is exposed to heat, moisture, and steam, it tends to deteriorate much faster than caulk on tiles. A number of the nicest looking bathrooms in homes are tiled walled and floored, and/or have a laminate flooring or wall that has sturdy materials.
Bathrooms with tiles or firm laminate walls and floors often tidy better and will stand longer than wallpapered walls. Thus, in case you are repairing your bathroom and it's wallpaper on the wall, then you may think about remodeling the whole wall area of the room.

Tips
Bathrooms often have accessories. Bathrooms include towel hangers, toothbrush and soap dishes, and other lofty accessories. The accessories can make a bathroom look nice, or else make it look bad. Thus, in case you are improving your bathroom you may require to think about a complete make over. In case you have broken accessories in the bathroom area, a few dollars will help you improve the appeal of your bathroom.

A sophisticated carpenter may need that you have a pocket filled with tools and materials to replace towel holders, or other accessories in the bathroom, but in most instances, a few tools and materials will suffice.

Repairing your home or else improving your home is an awarding experience. Our home makes a statement as to what type of person they are. Thus, when they take the time to take care of our home, they are telling others that they care about self and what others think about us.
For more information on home improvement, visit our editorial listing where a wealth of information is waiting for you to take the steps to improve your home without costing you a fortune.

Home Improvement - Bathrooms (Part I)

When most people think of home improvement bathrooms, what comes to mind is usually basic information that is not fascinating or beneficial. But there is much more to home improvement bathrooms than the basics.

Down through the years the bathroom has played a immense role in homes, yet the facility is one of the most detested areas of the home sometimes. The bathroom gives off the impression that it is something needed, than something they could appreciate or find enjoyment within its realm.

Bathrooms compose an excessive amount of plumbing, overwhelming fixtures sometimes, and an area that adheres to little room for nothing over bathing or releasing inner nature.

There's various types of bathrooms. Relatives, master, individual, compartmentalized, half, visitor, and other types of bathrooms need thought about when repairing or improving the homes area. Special-use, three-quarter, full baths, and disabled bathrooms are types of bathrooms that may need additional consideration when thinking about home improvement.

Before beginning to work on your bathroom, it is important that you tidy the area in which you will work. Removing all dust particles including the tools you will use for repair or improvement.

After you dust the area, take a browse about the area to see what you are thinking about. Try to plan ahead of the game; by setting up a systematic idea of what you intend to do.

In the event you need to do things right, you may need to file your notions on a piece of paper. After you file you will need to analyze the bathroom to again see what you intend to do to the area for improvement. You could also draw up a list of likable areas and dislikeable areas.

You will need to think about in the work of analyze of the bathroom, thinking about storage area, space, layout, shower/bathtub, taps, fixtures, counters, flooring, ventilation, heat, walls, electrical layouts and so forth.

If your bathroom is little, think about what you need to do to expand the area for comfort ability. Sometimes if your home has a bigger area in the next room and the space is not needed you could take out a wall linking to the bathroom and other room to expand your bathroom.

I trust that what you have read so far has been informative. The following section ought to go a long way toward clearing up any uncertainty that may stay.

Incidentally, before you start remodeling your bathroom you may need to check together with your local City Hall. Plenty of states have laws for building, which includes codes and building permits. The permits are often affordable, thus having a permit if necessary can save you from fines and costs.

In the event you are improving, your bathroom beware that fixtures are the most expensive items to repair within the cavity of the room. Regardless in the event you need to repair or remodel your bathroom, irrespective of the expense think equity and you will be okay.

When remodeling your bathroom in the event you are looking for appeal you may need to think about replacing cabinets to reach an effect. In the event you are merely looking for style verses complete make over a few designs may increase the equity of your home value simultaneously bring to light that bathrooms do bring forth pleasure.

Common bathrooms give out a hidden expression simultaneously giving a chilling feel. The bathrooms may have cabinets with dark or medium wood coloring, thus the only appeal in these types of bathrooms is the accessories bought additional to bring out the design.

Thus, when thinking about designing of bathrooms verses home improvement think about the European style, modern style, Mediterranean style, "turn-of-the Century, or else the Oriental style bathroom. Other styles of bathrooms including the rain forest style bring out a warming atmosphere as it provides a refreshing outside appeal.

Thinking about the rain forest style, they can analyze the situation and see that this effect may come cheaper than other styles of bathrooms.

The rain forest style could come to life if the homeowner adds plants, flowers, and other types of accessories to the bathroom coupled with forest-affect wallpaper. Tile is cheap, thus the floors could be completed for around forty of fifty dollars, and bring to life a storming effect.

Home improvement increases the worth of your homes equity. Thus, when thinking about improving your home it is important to assess the situation carefully, take notes, generate files, and setup steps for improvement. Finally, in the event you have a little toiletry area, you may need to think about lighter appeals verses darker appeal to make the room more comfortable for use.

The day will come when you can use something you read about here to have a beneficial impact. Then you'll be glad you took the time to learn more about home improvement bathrooms.