Renovation & Design

Renovation & Design

Convert bedroom into a cosy reading nook

Dear Leanne:

I have a small bedroom -- 2.74 metres by 3.05 metres (nine feet by 10 feet) -- that I am converting into a reading room. I really want this space to be comfy and charming. It has a large south-facing window with lots of cheery sun. I already have a home office, so I want this room to be an escape for me. With the space being limited, I would love to hear your suggestions for decor.

ANSWER: Don't let small spaces deceive you -- they have the potential to be brimming with ambience. Think back to a quaint restaurant, B&B or powder room you have seen.

These memories will provide clues to what you can do with your space. Maybe you loved sitting in the sun at that table by the window. Perhaps you love the crackling of a fire on a cold winter day, or maybe you loved the paint colour or wallpaper design in the space. Take these cues to develop your perfect getaway.

As in all great design, form follows function. If the room doesn't perform in an efficient and effective manner, it won't matter how "comfy and charming" it looks.

The basic furnishings you need are:

-- A chaise lounge or a comfy chair and ottoman.

-- Cantilever shelving above or a bookcase that spans no more than three-quarters of the way up the wall. A wall of books from floor to ceiling can be so overwhelming it can look chaotic rather than relaxing. Another option is to convert any closets into a bookshelf, which will save floor space.

-- Add tactile decor items such as an area rug and a basket of blankets or throws.

-- If space and building codes permit, consider adding an electric fireplace to the space.

-- A floor lamp will be an effective addition, as it takes less floor space than a lamp on a table.

-- If you have room, consider an ottoman rather than a side table, and place a tray on it to support a cup of tea or a glass of wine.

* At the very least, add side panels to your windows for effect -- however, functioning drapery will be both practical and visually effective.

Do not be afraid to use bold colours in this small space. Once you have selected your furniture and rug, use their colour palette to inspire the tones you imagine enveloping you while you curl up with a good read.

Dear Leanne:

We have just finished refinishing our kitchen cabinets and would like to give our drawers and cabinets more organization. What do you recommend to retro-fit these units? The front panels are solid wood, but the drawers are MDF. We would appreciate any suggestion you can offer.

ANSWER: An organized kitchen will be highly appreciated as a complement to your new look. Kitchen organization has come a long way since the standard cutlery tray insert. With so many options, you will be able to have a place for everything, and once you use them every day you'll wonder how you ever did without them.

Many custom kitchen designs include specialty centres such as waste and compost collection, knife storage, efficient storage of plates, dishes, pots and lids, spice and condiment holders -- to name just a few. For every item that is needed, there is a gadget that will help to keep you organized.

IKEA has a great assortment of storage items you may want to look at. Their Rationell series has some interesting items, such as an all-wooden knife drawer that keeps all of your carving and chopping utensils sharp and safely stored.

Measuring 50.1 centimetres by 15.3 cm by 5.0 cm, the unit has a slot for each knife, so you quickly identify the tool you need at a glance. The pullout waste-sorting system can easily be added to an existing cupboard. It measures 25 cm wide by 42 cm deep by 25 cm high and efficiently holds a variety of sorting bins that are also available at IKEA.

Additional items in the Rationell series include revolving corner carousels, spice jar drawer inserts and plastic-bag dispensers. Other creative ideas from this series are the stacking plate holder and the pot-lid organizer.

If your kitchen has a shortage of upper cabinetry but plenty of deep lower drawer space, consider moving your plates down to these lower storage drawers with specialized plate holders. Available in two sizes, these holders allow you to stack the plates horizontally as you would in your upper cupboard and the holders secure the plates safely when the drawer is opened or closed. The pot-lid holder can store up to six lids, allowing you to stack the open pots inside each other.

This is only one series that can be effective in organizing your kitchen. Check out the products available at specialty kitchen design studios.

-- Postmedia News

Leanne Brownoff is an Edmonton interior design consultant who welcomes your questions at

leannebrownoffshaw.ca

By Leanne Brownoff
December 17

Renovation & Design

Cool implements to create perfect pies

MAKING your own pie for the holidays is one of the best gifts you can give your table, family and friends.

Retailers are offering lots of cool implements to help you create your own stellar versions of this seasonal favourite, so let the baking begin.

A flaky, not-overworked dough is key to a delicious pie. Oxo's Good Grips stainless-steel-bladed dough blender is easy to hold and manoeuvre. (www.oxo.com, $9.99)

Place the dough in one of Kitchen Krafts' round plastic pouches that are the exact diameter of a pie plate -- you just roll until the dough slab moves to the perimeter of the bag. No messy board flouring or guessing at crust sizes. (www.kitchenkrafts.com, $9.95)

To end up with nice, smooth dough, many bakers like a silicone roller that doesn't stick. Head Chefs has them -- with handles and without -- in various colours, including olive and red. If you have young helpers in the kitchen, there are junior versions too, in yellow, blueberry, pink, lime and apricot. (www.headchefs.com, Sil-Pin rolling pins, $29.99 and $39.99; kids, $12.99)

Pop your pie dough in an attractive baking pan you can take right to the table. French ceramic bakeware maker Emile Henry has pretty fluted-edge pans in blue, apricot and green. (www.kitchenconservatory.com, $39.95; check www.homegoods.com for off-price versions)

Pfaltzgraff's Winterberry pie pan has a pretty seasonal pattern, and includes a steam releaser in the form of a cheerful little cardinal. (www.pfaltzgraff.com, $40)

Decorate the top of your pie crust with one of the pattern makers from Kitchen Maven; choose from apples, hearts, lattice or Christmas trees. You can purchase individually or get the set. The e-tailer also has a handy stainless-steel pie slice divider, so when the pie's ready to serve, you can portion it out fairly. (www.kitchenmaven.com, set of patterns $24.99; divider, $37.99)

What's better than a big piece of pie? Lots of little ones! Babycakes Pie-Pop Maker is a Foreman-grill style cooker for making bite-size pie pops -- make savoury ones for a cocktail soiree, or sweet for a kid's party. (www.surlatable.com, $29.95)

Williams-Sonoma has a similar gadget, the Breville Pie Maker, that makes four mini pies in about eight minutes. These wee pastries make tasty thank-you gift options for all the helpers in your life.

The retailer also has some delightful little pastry cutters in shapes for both fall entertaining (leaves, pine cones and turkeys) and Christmas (snowflakes, trees and reindeer). Add a package of "Perfect Pie Crust," to which only butter and water must be added, and you have a good host gift.

Pie bakers often worry about a burnt crust edge; luckily, there's a handy shield available that you place along the rim of your pie as it finishes cooking. (www.williams-sonoma.com, pastry cutters, four for $19.95; pie crust mix, $10; pie maker $99.95; crust shield, $8)

Taking dessert to a dinner party? Pies can be tricky to transport, but you can tote yours safely and stylishly in one of Vonny's sturdy round zippered pie carriers. Each features a colourful stripe, floral or dot design and a non-skid interior. (www.vonny.com, $64)

Sur la Table has a clever collapsible carrier that can hold two pies, or a tall one like meringue, and has a non-slip ring inside. (www.surlatable.com, $29.95)

If you'd like to forgo the plastic, get Amish Wares' pie-carrying basket. It'll hold two pies and is crafted of hand-woven wood. (www.amishwares.com, $43.95)

Like the best pies, it has homemade charm that's hard to resist.

-- The Associated Press

By Kim Cook
December 17

Renovation & Design

Watch where you pile that snow

It's is very common to see shrubs and small trees planted near sidewalks and driveways in Winnipeg, and each spring I see a great deal from the effects of piling snow on these smaller woody plants through the winter.

Some of that snow has granules of rock salt, and piling snow on these plants can seriously affect their health. Physical breakage from the weight of snow is the more visible and obvious effect, but the accumulated salt in the soil around these plants can cause long-term damage.

Salt accumulation increases the alkalinity of the soil, creating toxic effects in many susceptible plants. Yellowing of leaves in the early summer is the earliest sign, along with bright green leaf veins and sometimes brown blotches in between the veins.

And shrubs are not the only plants that suffer from salt intrusion -- dead grass is usually visible in the same areas where salt-laden snow has been piled. Arborists call this condition 'chlorosis'.

Broken branches can be pruned off, but it's more important to ameliorate the salted soil. Thoroughly hose down the shrubs and grass area where snow has accumulated to dilute the toxic effects of the salt. Fertilize the affected area with a tree-and-shrub garden fertilizer along with powdered or granular iron chelate.

In situations where shrubs have been badly damaged, I tell clients to remove them completely and re-think their planting options. Annuals may be a better choice. Perhaps you can add interlocking pavers adjacent to the sidewalk and driveway hard surfaces.

Michael Allen is a consulting urban forester and certified I.S.A. arborist and owner of Viburnum Tree Experts. He makes house and garden visits to assess tree and shrub problems. He can be contacted by calling 831-6503 or by e-mail at viburnumtrees@shaw.ca. You can also mail questions to Michael Allen, c/o Newsroom, Winnipeg Free Press, 1355 Mountain Ave., Winnipeg, MB, R2X 3B6. His website is

www.treeexperts.mb.ca

Tree Care / Michael Allen
December 17

Renovation & Design

Hundreds of millions in bad-drywall settlement

NEW ORLEANS -- A Chinese drywall manufacturer has agreed to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to resolve court claims by thousands of Gulf Coast property owners who say the product corroded pipes and wires and otherwise wrecked their homes, the largest settlement of its kind so far.

The deal announced Thursday by U.S. District Judge Eldon Fallon calls for Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin Co. to create an uncapped fund to pay for repairing roughly 4,500 properties, mostly in Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. A separate fund capped at $30 million will pay for other types of losses, including those by people who blame drywall for health problems.

Russ Herman, a lead attorney for the plaintiffs, said the settlement is worth between $800 million and $1 billion, although an attorney for the Chinese company disputed that estimate.

Chinese drywall was used in the construction of thousands of homes, mainly in the South, after a series of destructive hurricanes in 2005 and before the housing bubble burst. The problems it has caused range from a foul odour to corrosion of pipes and wiring.

Steven Roberts, a plaintiff who built a home in Boynton Beach, Fla., said the first sign of trouble was a foul odour that smelled like "bitter sulfur." His family didn't suspect a more serious problem until electrical appliances started failing and corrosion formed on mirrors and bathroom fixtures.

 

-- The Associated Press

December 16

Renovation & Design

ASK THE INSPECTOR: Location of smell key to finding odour cause

QUESTION: I have been a homeowner for the last five years. We own a 22-year-old bungalow. My laundry room is on the main floor inside the kitchen. Our main washroom is adjacent to the laundry room and we have another bathroom in our master bedroom.

Since last February we have been getting a foul smell inside our master bedroom washroom and laundry whenever the washer is on. We asked a handyman for the reason and he said sometimes when the roof is covered with snow there is a chance that the vent will be closed, which sometime causes this problem.

Once the snow melted we stopped getting this foul smell for a few weeks. But this summer we started getting the smell again whenever we open the tap in the washroom or when the washer is on. I have a feeling that it's getting worse. The last little while the smell is always there in the laundry room even if the washer is not on.

Do you have any idea what the reason for the smell can be? Who will be the right person to detect this problem? If you can give me some advice it will be great.

Thanks. Bindu Menon

ANSWER: Odour detection is sometimes a very difficult thing to assess in a home due to the numerous possibilities. In your case there may be a limited number of causes, making diagnosis much easier. The location of the smell is the key and it should be fairly easy to narrow down the culprit.

Anytime a homeowner detects a bad smell in an area that has plumbing fixtures, the drains are the first suspect area to investigate. Sewer gas emanating from drains can be the source of very foul odours and is likely due to a problem with the drains or vents.

Your handyman is correct that a frozen or blocked vent on the roof is often a cause of such a problem. If the top of the vent becomes blocked by ice, snow, or leaves, the normal exit for noxious vapours may become ineffective. These gasses will still try to escape the vent pipes and may be forced through normally effective traps and drains inside the home. The water in the trap is designed to prevent this gas from permeating the living space, but will not work if the top of the vent piping is plugged.

Problems with plumbing drains are the most likely cause or your issue, but may not be limited to blockage in the vent. Too many times, especially in areas like laundry drains, traps and vents are configured improperly or missing altogether.

This should be easily checked by a licensed plumber who should be able to determine if you have an improper setup that is causing sewer gas to enter your bathroom and laundry area. This is another strong possibility because a lack of proper venting for your laundry drain can cause air to be sucked into the piping through the bathroom sink drain if it is attached to the same pipe. That could explain why you are noticing the smell in the bathroom mainly when you are operating your washer.

The flaw in this theory is that you haven't noticed the odour in the first four years in the home, which makes improper drain configuration less likely. Conversely, this becomes a stronger candidate if you have recently had any plumbing fixture renovations in the adjacent bathroom or kitchen or the laundry has been relocated to the current location from the original one.

When attempting to diagnose a problem that has recently occurred within a home, I first enquire about recent changes or renovations in the home. It's very common to see problems arise after renovations are completed. This is normally because something critical was overlooked by the renovators when systems in the home were modified or removed.

If you have had any recent upgrades to the bathrooms or kitchens, it's likely that the renovators have screwed up previously effective venting from your laundry or sinks. This may also be identified by an experienced plumber but may be harder if the new drain connections are hidden behind wall coverings or cabinets.

Your initial course of action, then, is to have a plumber take a look at your existing drains and roof vents, and pull out the washer to look for blockage.

The second possibility for the smell is less common, but would answer why it's now more constant rather than intermittent. Many homeowners connect dryers to low-quality plastic or flexible aluminum-foil vents. These thin pipes are often very problematic due to the same properties that make them easy to install. To allow easy installation and flexibility, these ducts have very thin walls that are easily punctured. Also, to make their thin walls more rigid, metal ribs are embedded which have a tendency to collect dryer lint like a magnet.

This lint will constantly become damp from the warm, moist air pumped out of the dryer. If the volume becomes excessive and blocks the vent, it can become mouldy and will smell. Even worse is the possibility that pests such as insects or mice can enter these partially blocked pipes if the vent hood at the exterior is damaged or forced partially open by debris. If a dead mouse or wasp nest is trapped inside the dryer-vent pipe, or inside the home or dryer housing, it will stink.

This should be easily identified by pulling out the dryer, disconnecting the vent and checking the duct from the interior and exterior of the home with a flashlight. If this is the problem, removal and discarding the old duct and replacing it with a solid metal one will prevent a reoccurrence.

Whichever of these two possible causes are responsible for your stinky laundry and bathroom areas, they should be easily rectified. If a licensed plumber can't identify the source of the issue and the dryer vent is found to be in good condition, then further investigation may be necessary, but that's unlikely.

Ari Marantz is the owner of Trained Eye Home Inspection Ltd. and the president of the Canadian Association of Home & Property Inspectors -- Manitoba (www.cahpi.mb.ca). Questions can be emailed to the address below. Ari can be reached at (204) 291-5358 or check out his website at www.trainedeye.ca

trainedeye@iname.com

Ari Marantz
December 10

Renovation & Design

SOLUTIONS: Teapot colour got you steamed? Try vinegar

QUESTION: The inside of my teapot is quite brown. I have tried various solutions to get it white to no avail. Is there something that will help me get this clean? Stan, Portage la Prairie

ANSWER: All you need to do (I did this today) is pour white vinegar into the teapot about one-quarter full. Fill the rest with water. Boil for five minutes. Let sit and pour down the drain. Works great!

QUESTION: What is the best toilet paper to buy to get the greatest bang for my money? My husband uses so much toilet paper; what a waste! Erma, Emerson

ANSWER: While soft toilet paper is most comfortable to use, the drawback is that it is often hard on the environment. Generic brands and some recycled toilet papers cost less because, like many no-name items, less is spent on advertising and products are sometimes made with factory scraps.

Do your research and check the package to see how much toilet paper is included on each role. Don't be fooled into thinking that just because something is generic, it is the better buy. Look for coupons and read the label to see the length of toilet paper on every roll, because the last thing you want to do is flush your hard-earned money down the toilet.

QUESTION: I am looking to purchase a real Christmas tree once again this year. Last year the needles kept getting stuck in my carpet. What is your solution for this problem? Tom, Winnipeg

ANSWER: You always want to protect your carpet as much as possible, not only from falling needles but also tree sap, soil and water. Either purchase or make a tree skirt. Or buy a Christmas tablecloth and lay it under and over the tree stand. Substitute tree skirts with one of the following: Scrap carpet, a large piece of fabric, garbage bags or old drapery. Choosing any style of tree skirt protects the carpet while hiding the tree stand.

Here is an idea for the whole family: Make or purchase a solid coloured, fabric tree skirt. Using fabric paint, have all family members press handprints onto the skirt. Use a squeeze bottle of paint to write names and dates under each hand.

QUESTION: I have lots of beeswax candles and I love the smell of them. What is the best way to use them so that they smell up the entire house? Cornie, Winnipeg

ANSWER: Beeswax candles are not overpowering like many of the highly over-fragranced candles on the market today. Position a few beeswax candles in rooms throughout your home and once lit, enjoy the warm honey fragrance.

Beeswax candles set away from drafts are smokeless, drip less and burn about five times loner than paraffin candles. They are considered hypoallergenic and recommended for people suffering from asthma and chemical sensitivity. Note: Never leave a lit candle unattended. Protect surfaces by setting candles in proper holders.

Wonderful Feedback from Caring Manitoban:

Dear Reena,

With regards to refreshing black clothes: No one knows why this works but it really does. Brew a pot of coffee. Add to a black load with detergent and proceed as usual. Everything will turn out clean and darkened. Thelma, Winnipeg

Fabulous Rescue Tips of the Week:

-- Remove the taste of slightly burnt milk by adding a pinch of salt or sugar to the pot.

-- Next time you burn soup, spaghetti sauce or beans, add a spoonful of peanut butter to the pot to take away the burnt taste.

-- To fix salty ham, soak slices in milk for 15 to 20 minutes.

Reena Nerbas is the author of the national bestselling Household Solutions series. Her website is www.householdsolutions.org You can contact her at Box 429, Blumenort, Man., ROA 0C0.

Reena Nerbas
December 10