Renovation & Design
Renovation & Design
Group effort
Decor items are much more interesting when they are displayed in groupings. One single vase is nice but a collection of three or more on an accent table shouts 'look at me! If your decor is somewhat underwhelming, consider doubling or tripling your accessories and knick-knacks for optimum visual impact.As an example, I have several different styles and sizes of candle holders that used to be scattered here and there throughout the house. When I decided to redo the display on the top of my piano, I was loath to find the right items to display. Then I thought about the candles and decided to make an entire display of them on the piano top. The outcome is pleasing and when they are all lit it doubles the impact of the display. As well, having all of the candles and holders on one surface adds importance to them whereas having them scattered here and there tends to make them disappear visually. Even though they are all different designs, shapes and sizes, displaying them as a grouping makes it OK to mix and match.
A good place to start this grouping practice is with family photos. Framed photos scattered here and there can seem more like clutter. To give them the importance they deserve, display them in a grouping in a place of prominence, whether that be on a table or on the wall. Even if the frames don't match you can still get away with a successful display as long as the frames are in the same visual realm. (For example, metal and wood frames will go together but you might leave the ceramic, baby photo frames with bunnies and kittens on it for another room.)
Hanging several smaller mirrors on a wall rather than one big mirror can be an unusual but effective focal point. Collect smaller, inexpensive or even antique framed mirrors and create a wonderful wall display over a sofa, at the head of the bed or even as the main mirror(s) in a powder room. Play with the layout by mixing square and round frames and by turning some of the square frames to hang in a diamond pattern. Get creative!
Painting, especially original works, can become more dramatic when leaned in a grouping of three or five on a mantel or wall shelf. This prompts people to stop and take stock of the artwork instead of walking past single paintings hung in a hallway or foyer. Mix large and small paintings for added drama and change the display on a rotation basis to keep it fresh and interesting.
Plants can add tons of texture and colour to your space but rather than one single plant in a big pot, try planting two or three compatible plants in a decorative planter. Group small potted plants in threes on a window ledge or table top for added interest.
One or two toss cushions look nice on a sofa but five or more will speak to comfort and abundance. Mix and match colours, shapes and patterns for huge impact on a plain sofa. Group them at each end or all in the middle of the sofa for a more interesting look. The same can be said for accent pillows on the bed. The more, the comfier.
In the bathroom, display those lovely bath towels by rolling them up in a grouping in a decorative basket or on a storage shelf. A basket of soaps is another nice touch.
Inexpensive decorative storage sets for the dresser or vanity are another great way to create visual interest while providing countertop storage for utilitarian items. One storage box is OK but a set of them creates more impact.
To start, gather like things
If you have two or more of anything, you might be able to make a nice grouping out of them. For example, you may have wicker baskets or containers here and there throughout the house. If you put them together on a shelf or an open cupboard you suddenly have decorative display that can be used in the bathroom, kitchen, home office or even the bedroom. Perhaps you have a few vintage Campbell's Soup mugs in the cupboard. Put them on display on a shelf in the pantry along with your soup cans and suddenly you have a collection rather than old, loose mugs kicking around. Maybe you're a crafter like me and have handfuls of beads, river rocks and coloured sand in your tickle trunk. Place them in clear, decorative containers and group them on a ledge for an instant mini-focal point or use them as a centrepiece on a dining table.
Food as art
Dried, coloured beans and peas can be placed in decorative, clear containers and grouped as a display in the kitchen. Even coloured pasta works for this easy project. A handful of lemons or limes, displayed in a tall, clear vase, will make a great centrepiece as well. Pull out all of those fancy vinegars and oils from your coffers and make a decorative grouping of them in the kitchen to show off your gourmet skills.
Look around your space and see what your creative mind comes up with. Keep me posted!
Renovation & Design
Musty smell in basement is likely mould
QUESTION -- Our basement and rec room is quite cool, particularly in the summer months, and has a musty smell. We did have a little water seepage several months ago but this has now been corrected. Could you advise how to get rid of the musty smell and make the basement warmer?-- Bill Silverberg, e-mail
Answer -- As the cool spring weather appears to have finally broken, and the heat of summer appears to be upon us, it is an ideal time to address this question that has been in my archives for some time. The first thing that I would have said is required to address your concerns is the seepage, but you state that it has been corrected. The musty smell you are experiencing is directly related to the dampness in the basement and corrective measures to eliminate this will help get rid of the annoying odours, as well.
Basements are naturally cooler than the upper floors in homes primarily due to two major factors. Firstly, the basement in most homes is cooler than the rest of the home because there is a large area of concrete in the foundation and floor slab that is below grade and has no natural thermal break from the soil surrounding it. The soil is partially frozen in the winter and cooler than the air above in the summer. For this reason, the concrete will always be cooler than the walls & floor in the rest of your home and require more added heat to achieve the same surface temperature. If uninsulated, this bare concrete will always make the basement feel colder than elsewhere. Secondly, in the mostly closed environment in your home, warm air rises and conversely, heavier, cool air settles. Due to this simple principal of physics, it is much easier to heat the upper floors of the home than to the basement with a forced air system. In the summer your basement may feel cool partly because it is damp due to lack of air movement and proper dehumidification. Central air conditioning dehumidifies as it cools, so using your air conditioner as much as possible will help prevent the uncomfortable, clammy feeling in the summer.
If your basement is far cooler than the rest of the home, especially in the summer months, it is likely due to a combination of poor insulation on the foundation and ineffective air movement by the heating system. Since you were not specific in your question, I am assuming that you have forced air natural gas heating, which is in the majority of homes in our area. In the heating season your furnace draws air in through the return air ducting in your home, blows it over the warm heat exchanger, and circulates it through the home via ducts and registers located in various rooms. If the ducts are excessively long, not properly installed or connected, partially blocked, or missing, the system may not effectively heat the affected areas of the home. In many basements, the return air components of the heating system are missing and may have never been installed in the first place. Without return air ducting, air circulation will be less than optimal, which may lead to areas that have minimal heating or cooling. In a basement, ineffective heating can lead to condensation on the cool foundation walls, mould and mildew growth, and musty smells. One solution to both your problems may be to add more heating and return air registers in various locations in the basement to improve air flow. Also, running the furnace fan on continuously low speed will help air circulation in the home in both the heating and cooling seasons.
To directly address your question about the damp, musty smell in the basement, the only ways to minimize that is to reduce moisture in any way possible. The smell often described as "musty" by most people is the smell of mould and mildew. To successfully grow, mould needs two major components, moisture & a cellulose based food source. Most of the raw building materials in homes are cellulose based, so the food is no problem. For that reason, concentrating on reducing the available moisture is the way to go to reduce the damp smells. On top of improvements to the heating system, natural ventilation is very important this time of year. On warm, dry days, opening the basement windows can provide an excellent source of fresh air that will help remove damp air and improve comfort at the same time.
The final item to address is proper insulation in basements. Poorly or improperly insulated foundation walls may lead to considerable condensation behind the insulation. In the winter, this condensation can freeze and lead to considerable frost, which melts and can provide an excellent environment for mould growth due to the lack of air behind the wall to dry the moisture. If you see moisture damage or stains on any portion of the insulated perimeter walls in the basement, particularly the bottom of the sheathing or walls, more remediation is needed. The wall coverings and insulation may have to be removed to inspect the foundation walls & framing behind. This is the most likely area of mould growth and damp smells in insulated basements. If a small amount of mould is seen in the framing or foundation, it may be possible to clean it. If larger amounts are seen or extensive rot in the wooden framing, it must be removed and discarded.
Minimizing areas that trap humid air or provide a cold surface for that air to condense should be eliminated to make a basement dry and mould-free. Eliminating humidifiers, cold storage rooms, heavy carpets, and poorly sealed insulation on foundation walls will all help in this effort. Improvement to heating systems and regular use of central air conditioners will not only be a major step in this direction, but will also make the basement warmer and more comfortable to the occupants.
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 e-mailed or sent to: Ask The Inspector, P. O. Box 69021, #110-2025 Corydon Ave., Winnipeg, MB. R3P 2G9. Ari can be reached at (204) 291-5358 or check out his website at www.trainedeye.ca.
Renovation & Design
Sturdy Moen faucet extends season for outdoor shower
If you ever drop by my place for an evening visit, please don't walk around to the backyard without first yelling some kind of warning.If I've been working outside that day, and the air's any warmer than 5C, I'm probably back there having an outdoor shower. Nothing fancy, just a hose with warm water coming out, a bottle of shampoo, a bar of Irish Spring and a few trees and shrubs for privacy.
Five years ago, I installed a hot and cold faucet off my back veranda, and it's turned out to be one of my best plumbing features. And not just because it allows the backyard equivalent of skinny-dipping.
Having access to warm water outdoors also makes a lot of other things possible. I wash off my youngest kids out there after they've spent a day in the sand pile. It's much better than dragging the filthy little fellows through the house and into the bathroom.
The system also gives me easy access to a bucket of hot water for washing the van, cleaning dirty hands and humanely washing pets. I've only heard of a few other houses with hot-and-cold taps outdoors, but I bet that's about to change with a new type of faucet.
When I went shopping for an outdoor-friendly hot-and-cold tap 10 years ago, I didn't find many units that fit the bill. In the end, I settled for a side-mounted kitchen faucet with a swivelling spout and two handles. This traditional design has worked well, though there are two problems with it.
The first is the distinct possibility of physical damage. It's one thing to have a faucet spout in a protected location over your kitchen sink, but quite another when that tap lives outdoors at knee level. Collisions with overzealous tricycle drivers, or an impatient gardener yanking on a 30-metre garden hose connected to the thing, always make me wonder how much longer my faithful faucet will survive.
Then there's the issue of winter.
My outdoor shower season ends when overnight temperatures threaten to drop below freezing, even though there might be plenty of warm days to come. That's when I'm forced to shut off supply valves in the basement and drain my outdoor tap. But that's not necessary with a new kind of outdoor faucet.
The unit I've been experimenting with is made by Moen, and it's unique as far as I know. They call it the "single-handle hot/cold sill faucet" and it does two things better than the side-mounted kitchen faucet.
First is the toughness of the design. The single, pullout knob offers nothing that can get knocked off or bent. It's short, strong, sleek and damage-resistant. You'd have to hit the thing with a hammer to break it. Pull out the knob to turn the water on, then rotate it one way or the other to control the temperature.
The Moen hot/cold outdoor faucet also includes the kind of automatic drain-back feature you'll find on the best traditional cold-only outdoor taps. Whenever you shut it off, water drains completely, so there's nothing to freeze and no need to remember the seasonal draining ritual. If you happen to need a bucket of warm water for washing the car during a January thaw, simply turn the handle. Water flows year-round with Moen.
The design comes in two lengths to handle exterior walls ranging up to 30 centimetres thick. Drill a 40 mm-diameter hole through your exterior wall at a slight outward slope, anchor the faucet with screws and caulking, then make hot and cold pipe connections inside. That's it.
A hot and cold outdoor faucet is one of those things you'll find more practical than you would have guessed before living with one. And if you've never enjoyed a steaming outdoor shower on a crisp, moonlit night in spring, you're missing out on what might be the best and most indulgent advantage of all.
-- Canwest News Service
Renovation & Design
Rooms on the cheap
If life is like a box of chocolates then today's featured room will fit right in. The colour scheme in this delicious bedroom was inspired by a velvety dark chocolate topped with soft pink icing; a delectable combination in both cases.This room needed to be a space where both husband and wife felt comfortable in. This pink and brown colour scheme fit the bill as it has both masculine and feminine qualities.
This homeowner decided to work with some of what she all ready had. Dark brown antique furniture and blush-coloured walls were the starting point. Not wanting to repaint the room she chose to work with the soft pink wall colour and gained further inspiration for the rest of the room from a piece of chocolate topped with pink icing. The homeowner luckily had a soft, pink satin curtain panel that was hanging in another room at the time which would work well in the new scheme. The pink panel was a starting point for the window treatment but because it was not wide enough for a sufficient treatment she needed to find chocolate brown panels in a similar fabric to flank it. As well, she decided that the bedding should be brown (to keep the masculine feel) with soft pink bed sheets as accents. So, at this point she needed to find the bedding, curtain panels and sheets to help complete the space. These three items can easily run into the hundreds of dollars but our homeowner bade her time and kept her eyes open for deals. She also knew that she'd need some artwork and kept this in mind when shopping for decorating items.
This is a good place to remind you that patience can sometimes be a virtue. When you are in a hurry to finish a room, you'll run out and pay full price for items that, if you waited, might be found in other venues for a lot less money.
Budget savers
Case in point; our homeowner found a comforter/pillow sham set in a dark chocolate shimmery fabric for $20. The clearance store only had one queen set and one twin set so she bought both. She used the twin set to create the dark curtain panels she needed by simply removing the fleece backing and cutting the top piece of the bedspread in half and seaming the edges. At the same discount store, she found a mottled brown sheet set for her queen-sized bed for $8 and a suede accent pillow in dark brown for $3. She planned to use the sheets to create a bed skirt, which in the end, turned out great. At yet another discount shop she found a soft pink corduroy neck pillow for under $5.
The headboard needed to be recovered as well. It was fashioned from two panels of plywood which had previously been covered in another fabric. Our clever homeowner used the dark brown fleece backing from her curtain project to recover the headboard using a hot glue gun.
Artwork
Our crafty homeowner used clothing to create unique artwork for her bedroom walls. She happened upon a sale on summer dresses found some that were chocolate brown with pink accents for $3 each. She bought two dresses and used one to create two pieces of artwork by stretching the fabric over two stretcher frames. (The frames were found at a thrift shop for $1 each.). She has displayed the second dress on a dressing dummy she had and created a lovely vignette in one corner of the room. She found a brown and tan suede skirt in a retro pattern at a thrift store for $1 and stretched it over a stretcher frame (which she also got at the thrift store for $2) to create a unique piece of artwork for over the head of the bed.
This is another great place to remind you that artwork can be inexpensive yet still stunning. Keep your mind open to the possibilities.
Our homeowner found a set of pink flannel bed sheets at Winners for $40, which was a reasonable price and the room was pretty much complete.
This entire room was redecorated for just over $100, which these days, is no small feat. Shopping wisely and thinking creatively saved this homeowner tons of money.
The homeowner is happy with her creations and is comfortable in the fact that the artwork can be easily updated with new and different fabric on a whim as her tastes evolve. The chocolate brown bedding can be interchanged with different accent colours down the road as well without a huge investment.
Take your inspiration from things that you love, whether it be a piece of chocolate, a destination or a song. Life is full of wonderful options for the home.
Renovation & Design
Cut the trash: Reduce, reuse recycle
Let's face it we all produce garbage, and we are all part of the problem. The good news is that we can also be part of the solution. Studies show that 65 per cent of garbage can be recycled or composted instead of tossed. Instead of throwing away items we no longer need, why not make sure they find their way to the next stage in their life cycle?Did you know? 17 million Canadians (nearly 2/3) have access to recycling.
1. REDUCE: Every person creates an average of 4.6 pounds of waste per day -- almost double the amount created 35 years ago. Reducing the amount and the toxicity of the waste is the preferable method of waste management. Reducing is easy! Buying bulk, purchasing longer-lasting products and demanding that manufacturers use less packaging for non-bulk items are simple ways of reducing waste.
Did you know? Since 1986, the average weight of soft drink cans has been reduced by 33 per cent and 2-litre plastic soft drink bottles went from 68 grams of plastic per bottle to 51 grams -- saving 250 million pounds of plastic per year.
2. REUSE: Before throwing household items away consider another use for them. For example, a scratched CD makes a great reflector. Get creative or donate items you no longer want to charity and community organizations. Reusing is a step above recycling because less waste all together is produced.
3. RECYCLE: According to the EPA, in 1999 recycling, including composting, diverted 64 million tons of material from landfills and incinerators. The benefits of recycling include conservation of resources, prevention of greenhouse emissions and other pollutants, saving energy, creating jobs, stimulating development of greener technologies and reducing need for landfills. Tip: Buy products that contain recycled materials.
4. Whether at home or in the office, use both sides of every sheet of paper and print double-sided copies instead of single.
5. Try to reuse every scrap of paper, even if it is written on before recycling it. You can even go one step further and buy writing pads that are made with recycled paper and cost a fraction of the price.
6. Buy fresh produce instead of canned. Buying loose or "bulk" is another way to reduce trash. Bulk refers to items that are loosely stored in large bins; purchase only the amount you need and scoop the product into a small plastic bag. Tip: Take a shopping bag to the supermarket.
7. Buy items that are going to last longer so you do not have to buy them as often. Yes, there will be some items that do not have a long shelf life but try to find items that do. Some packaging contains harsher chemicals than others.
8. Reuse as many products as possible in your own household. Plastic milk jugs make great pitchers for tea and water. Reusing also occurs when recyclables are turned into different products, such as asphalt for paving roads or new notebooks.
9. Be sure that your area has a recycling program and that you know which materials are accepted and then get the appropriate recycling containers. In some areas, plastics go into one container, paper goes into another container and glass goes into a separate container. All three containers, along with garbage that cannot be recycled, are picked up by the local sanitation or recycling program. As well, you can recycle your food waste products by starting a compost heap.
10. If possible, use a Blue Box to recover any recyclable items you have around the house and place it curbside for collection on your scheduled recycling date.
Did you know? Five recycled two-litre plastic bottles make enough fibrefill for a ski jacket.
11. Say good-bye to paper plates and plastic forks. Pack your lunch in reusable containers. Also, use a durable refillable mug or glass at school or work.
12. One big change you could make is to take a look at the things you throw out. Thrift stores will take old furniture, clothing, household items, toys, and accessories. Your community also may have a centre for collecting salvaged building materials such as old sinks, carpet, carpet pads, lumber, screen doors, cabinets, plumbing fixtures, paint and more. Certain charities will even take old cars, eye glasses, computers, and cellphones. Newspapers can be donated to the Humane Society.
Did you know? Each recycled aluminum can saves enough electricity to run a television set for three hours.
13. To encourage employees to reduce waste, companies should upend the usual bin standards. Place a recycling container next to every desk and make the regular garbage can a communal receptacle.
Did you know? It takes one 35-foot tall tree to make a stack of paper six feet tall. Recycling approximately 1 ton of newspapers saves 17 trees.
14. Plastic is a synthetic material that is made from natural gas and oil. We use plastic in some form in our everyday life. A good majority of a household's garbage is made up of plastics. There are many different types of plastics. For example, a soda bottle is made from polyethylene terephthalate, or called PET or Code 1. These codes can be found by looking at the number in the chasing arrow recycle symbol. Milk jugs are made from high density polyethylene, or called HDPE or Code 2. These two types are the most commonly recycled plastics used to make new products. All plastics should be marked with a code. Even though plastics are marked doesn't mean they can be recycled. Most areas recycle plastics type 1 and 2 and some areas take other types as well.
Did you know? Most bottles and jars contain at least 25 per cent recycled glass. Glass can always be recycled; it never breaks down in the landfill.
15. Lastly, use rechargeable batteries. Life just got better!
Solutions is compiled from various sources: greenlivinganswers.com, 43things.com, associatedcontent.com, eswa.org, stltoday.com, wyoenergy.com, ecomall.com, louisvilleky.gov. Similar information may be found elsewhere.
Solutions sleuth Reena Nerbas is a home economist and speaks professionally on the topic of household challenges; she is also the author of two national bestsellers, Household Solutions 1 with Substitutions and Household Solutions 2 with Kitchen Secrets. She can be heard on radio and television programs across Canada.
Renovation & Design
How long will it last?
How long will your roof last? When will your kitchen appliances need to be replaced? Will your furnace make it through another heating season?Knowing the life expectancy of your home's building components can help you determine how to deal with the inevitable.
The National Association of Home Builders together with Bank of America Home Equity recently created a "Life Expectancy of Home Components" study that outlines the longevity of housing components. What follows are some of the report's findings and tips for prolonging all your home's parts:
APPLIANCES
According to the NAHB study you can expect your gas range to last 15 years; clothes dryers and refrigerators should last about 13; microwave ovens and dishwashers nine; and trash compactors about six years.
Keeping appliances clean will help them operate more efficiently. Keeping your refrigerator's coils and door gasket clean will make for a better seal, cut down on energy loss and prevent wear and tear on the motor. When it comes to the dishwasher, the more you use it, the longer it is likely to operate. Infrequent use causes gaskets to dry out and results in leaks.
DECKS
The life expectancy of a wooden deck can vary dramatically depending upon many factors such as climate, sun exposure, deck construction and finish. According to the NAHB study, a deck has a life expectancy of about 20 years under ideal conditions. We have yet to find "ideal" conditions.
There are a few very common mistakes that people make when it comes to building and maintaining a deck that are sure to hasten its demise. First, the lowest portion of the deck framing should be no less than 20 centimetres from the soil to prevent rot and pest damage. Deck boards should never be face nailed or screwed to the framing as this tears the wood fibre and acts as an entrance source for water to damage both the decking and framing. Using a hidden deck fastener from below will prevent this condition. Keep the deck clean and add a new coat of finish every three to five years.
DOORS
Although the NAHB study finds that exterior fibreglass, steel and wood doors will last as long as the house, fibreglass is the most stable and won't expand and contract like steel or crack like wood.
Whatever the material, the best step that you can take to maintain an exterior door is to keep it clean and give it a fresh coat of paint from time to time.
FLOORING
Wood, marble, granite and slate are the most durable floor finishes with projected life expectancy of 100 years or more. Although the NAHB study finds that vinyl and linoleum floors will last about 50 and 25 years respectively, we believe that you will grow tired of their appearance and rip them out well before.
Average quality carpet is rated to have a life of eight to 10 years according to the study. When purchasing carpet keep in mind that the better the grade the longer it will last. It is not unusual for good carpet to last 20 to 30 years.
HEATING, AIR CONDITIONING
Heating and air-conditioning systems typically last 15 to 25 years. Truth is, advancements in efficiency can make replacement after 10 to 15 years a smart decision.
Until you're ready for a high-efficiency upgrade, you can keep your heating and cooling system in peak operating condition by regularly changing filters (every one to three months), cleaning and adjusting burners and by keeping shrubbery trimmed surrounding the air conditioner's condensing unit.
ROOFING
If you have a slate, copper, clay or concrete roof, chances are good that it will last 50 to 100 years. However, some 70 per cent of homeowners have a roof made of asphalt shingles, so be prepared to replace the roof after about 20 years, more or less.
Cleanliness is again the key to longevity. Trim overhanging trees and keep valleys free of debris. Equally important is good attic ventilation. Aside from helping lower your utility bill it can prevent roofing material from sustaining damage due to extreme heat in summer and prevent ice dams in winter.
-- Associated Press
Renovation & Design
Obsolete TV cabinets find new lease on life
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Are we saying au revoir to the armoire?Sleek flat-panel televisions, typically mounted to walls or perched on credenzas, have rendered the bulky but lovely furniture piece superfluous. And when people want to get rid of their television armoires, so pricy and popular in the 1990s, they aren't finding many takers at garage sales or consignment stores.
"They're the dinosaurs of 2008," says Debbie Taylor, owner of Revival Home Furnishings, a consignment store in Overland Park, Kan. "We sell them for $50 or $60."
But wait. Before unloading a TV armoire on the cheap or, even worse, setting one on the curb destined for the landfill, think about how it can still be used.
When Carol Whitney of Olathe, Kan., switched to a flat-panel television, she wasn't keen on parting with her TV armoire. After all, she paid a lot for it and still loved the wood finish. Inspiration struck when she was flipping through a Pottery Barn catalog and saw a picture of an office armoire.
Whitney took the cabinet to Cheep Antiques in North Kansas City. The store used to retool vintage wardrobes into TV armoires, so she figured it could convert her TV cabinet into an office armoire. Store employees removed existing shelves and added shelving and eight cubby holes. The drawer in the middle became a drop-hinge platform for a computer keyboard.
Bobanne Kalkofen, an interior design professor at Johnson County Community College, assigned students to come up with new uses for old armoires.
"Every decade our needs as a society change," Kalkofen says. "So many people have TV armoires. I knew there had to be ways to rethink and repurpose them."
Student April Welsh, a designer and drafter at Olympic Cabinet Co. in Kansas City, Kan., went gung-ho for the assignment. She brainstormed ideas while she drove home from class and typed up a proposal for half a dozen ideas. She also sent out a college-wide e-mail seeking people who weren't using their TV armoires.
Instead of merely coming up with plans on paper for the assignment, Welsh decided to actually transform two TV armoires for people who responded to her e-mail.
Matt and Kristin Wantland of Prairie Village, Kan., had an unused one in their garage, a gift from his mother. The French country piece didn't fit with the couple's decor.
Welsh learned the Wantlands were expecting their first child this summer and didn't have any baby furniture. So Welsh decided to create a diaper-changing station.
She removed the top and bottom ornate trim pieces, giving the cabinet cleaner lines. She added solid maple backing and reinforced the base so it would be sturdy enough for a baby. She added hooks to the back and cubbies for storage. Welsh sewed a diaper-changing pad herself.
"It's awesome," says Kristin Wantland. "The new look is perfect for our house. The ceilings are low, so the lower top will be great. We're really excited."
Welsh's other client, Mary Hedberg of Shawnee, Kan., paid $3,000 for her three-piece TV armoire in the 1990s. The set eventually sat in the basement and didn't get much use. Welch interviewed Hedberg and discovered she wanted a coffee bar for her master bedroom.
So Welsh lowered the cabinet and added a granite top for a coffee maker, drawers for mugs and coffee and a waste-basket for coffee grounds. She refinished the piece in a darker glaze that complemented Hedberg's other furnishings.
Welsh proposed fresh uses for Hedberg's remaining two armoire pieces: One will be converted into a display case to be used by Hedberg's son who recently graduated from college. The other will become a bookcase.
Another "new" use for a TV armoire, suggests Welsh, is to go old school: Install a rod and use it to store clothes.
-- The Kansas City Star
Some transformations
China hutch: Add lighting, shelves and glass doors for displaying dishes.
Garage cabinetry: Keep the large spaces for storing bulk items. Or add hooks and cubbies for tools.
Kitchen pantry: Add hooks for pots and pans and shelves for baking trays. Install a blackboard inside the door for grocery lists.
Linen closet: Add shelves for towels and sheets.
Liquor cabinet: Add racks for hanging glasses from ceiling. Install shelf that pulls out as a cutting board for garnishes and another shelf for cocktail books. Use glass shelves for liquor bottles. Add wine- storage cubbies underneath. Add lighting. Install mirrored back.
-- Source: The case-goods class in the interior design department of Johnson County Community College