Renovate now

The other day, I came across some interesting return on investment numbers from the National Association of Realtors. Based on what I've been seeing, I think these nationally averaged numbers are pretty accurate for my market. The average returns are just that, averages and they take into account everything from Home Depot specials to projects that are well-thought out and executed. But if the average return on a major kitchen remodel is 81%, maximizing that return would be easy to do. How? You may ask? Why, by hiring me of course.

Check this out:

Source: Remodeling Online/Hanley-Wood.

Resale value

The psychology of newness and more spacious quarters translates into top resale value when several conditions work in conjunction:

Curb Appeal

Curb appeal is the impression your home's exterior conveys. It should create an emotional desire to own the home and to live the lifestyle and status it represents, which hopefully continues inside. Curb appeal is what gets the prospective buyer inside to see your new master suite and remodeled kitchen and bath.

Remodeling to Existing Standards

If most of the homes in your neighborhood don't have a second story and you add one, the neighborhood could drag down the value of your home. If however, you rip out the old kitchen and put in a new one, your home will sell faster and at a better price than comparable homes with the original kitchen.

Quality Work

Ask family, friends, co-workers and others you trust for referrals to licensed contractors specializing in the work you need completed. In states that don't license contractors, seek those with strong association ties and proof of insurance.

Finding a Contractor

Interview several contractors and don't favor the one with the lowest estimate. [italics mine] "Frequently they don't have enough money to do the job and will leave you hanging," says Salem, Oregon-based Myron E. Ferguson, author of "Build It Right" (Home User Press, $18.95). "Get everything in writing and don't commit to a verbal contract," he added.

Willis says the best contractors have lots of solid work they are willing to show you and homeowners who have had quality remodeling jobs often have no qualms sharing success. "For really fine finish work, you just about have to go see something else that this person has done. Fine craftsmen always have some clients willing to show off their kitchens. If they don't they are just putting up smoke and mirrors," Willis said.

If you're thinking about undertaking a renovation project of your own, now's an opportune time. Look around and just think, there's enough time left to get your kitchen renovated by Christmas.

Please don't try this at home

So yesterday I went onto Apartment Therapy for the first time in a while. That website drives me crazy with their endless fawning and insipid use of the second person plural when they mean to use the singular. Read a couple of entries on that site and you'll know what I mean. "We think that our bunny rabbit's smart!" "We think that orange throw pillows can be a neutral in the right room!" "We feel guilty for using a Swiffer!" "We paid $125 a piece for embossed photo albums and this weekend we're getting organized!" Argh! Enough already.

Anyhow, just as a blind pig can find an acorn from time to time, sometimes Apartment Therapy can uncover something useful. It's rare, but it does happen. More often than not though, I stumble upon something that reminds me why I don't frequent that site.

Yesterday however, they were fawning over some one's foolish idea and I have to speak on it. To wit:

Another one for the "worth the effort" DIY files... Cathy and her husband wanted a chlorine-free pool big enough for the whole family to splash around in during the hot Santa Rosa summer. Hoping for something more attractive than a big vinyl tub, they finally decided on a galvanized steel stock tank. All it took was some clever DIY plumbing, and for about $500 they were living the good life. Learn how they did it after the jump...

The stock tank pool is eight feet in diameter and about two feet deep. Cathy's husband used plumber's putty and some gaskets to pipe in a pool filter and pump. After using the pool for about a month, so far they haven't had to add any chemicals to keep the water clean. All it takes is some regular swipes with a pool net, and of course regular changing of the filter, which collects algae and other miscellaneous debris. Cathy says the pump keeps the water moving enough to discourage mosquitoes, too.

This is an idea so dangerously naive I have a hard time believing it. I don't doubt that the use of a pool filter is keeping that water clear. But the problem with pools is not the stuff you can see, the actual danger from pools is the stuff you can't see. The very same things that chlorinated water kills.

These people are no doubt motivated by an attempt to keep their kids safe, but what they've done instead is provide them with a steaming bowl of E. coli soup. The contaminated water in that pool represents a far larger threat than the minuscule amount of chlorine used to keep pool water safe. You cannot recirculate water people swim in without sterilizing it. If you have an ill-informed problem with chlorine then for the love of God put in an ozone or UV filter.

That harmless-looking backyard pool is an Amoebiasis, Cryptosporidiosis or Giardiasis outbreak waiting to happen. If not that rogue's gallery of water borne diseases, how about the staphylococcus aureus I can guarantee you is already in that water? People will get sick from swimming in this pool. It's not a matter of maybe either, it's a matter of when.

I'm all for taking a look at the way I live my life and for rooting out things that do more harm than good. However, chlorinated water is not one of them. The safe water supplies those of us in the developed world enjoy and take for granted are one of humanity's crowning achievements. Imagine, I can drink from the tap in my kitchen and not get cholera. That verges on the miraculous frankly.

The headlines were screaming this week about the amazing and unprecedented increase in the number of people in the US and the rest of the developed world who are living past 100. That did not happen because those centenarians swam in unchlorinated pools. In fact, it happened precisely because they swam in chlorinated pools.

Human beings' increased life spans and the fact that we're healthier today than we were a hundred years ago is due to advances in public health. Period. Do not throw the baby out with the bath water, no pun intended. Please do not swim in untreated swimming pools or hot tubs. You will get sick. Chlorine is your friend folks, really.

More Saturday fun: how cool is this?

Check this out, This recipe and idea is from the website Kaboose. The crazy kids at the Consumerist swear that it works. Anybody game for a stab at this?

Plastic Bag Ice Cream

What you'll need:

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 cup milk or half & half

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

6 tablespoons rock salt

1 pint-size plastic food storage bag (e.g., Ziploc)

1 gallon-size plastic food storage bag

Ice cubes

How to make it:

Fill the large bag half full of ice, and add the rock salt. Seal the bag.

Put milk, vanilla, and sugar into the small bag, and seal it.

Place the small bag inside the large one, and seal it again carefully.

Shake until the mixture is ice cream, which takes about 5 minutes.

Wipe off the top of the small bag, then open it carefully. Enjoy!

Tips:

A 1/2 cup milk will make about 1 scoop of ice cream, so double the recipe if you want more. But don't increase the proportions more that that -- a large amount might be too big for kids to pick-up because the ice itself is heavy.

Other users report that it's an easy way to make sorbets as well, just use fruit juice in lieu of the half and half.

Donnez-nous aujourd'hui notre pain de chaque jour

Gee, who studied French in a Catholic high school? Thank you Soeur Assumpta, after nearly 30 years I can still recite the Notre Père cold. Anyhow, since everybody in the US is at the beach, the stragglers and non-US-ians who read me are going to get a bonus from my kitchen today.

I fancy myself to be a baker of some competence and I have been on a bread making kick lately. To that end, I've been playing around with a baguette recipe that I am now declaring fully tweaked and a consistent producer of some really good bread.

I'm convinced that bread baking is easy, but few kitchen projects offer such a rich return on investment. Bread baking is a contact sport which is what led me to it originally. It's also easy to fit into a schedule. Most bread recipes require short bursts of activity spread out over the better part of a day so it's easy to work around. In addition to those benefits, there is no food so satisfying to prepare. To me anyway. Flour, water and a friendly mold work with a baker to produce a food that's still the bedrock of most diets the world over. Human beings have been baking bread since the Stone Age and I mean that literally. Baking bread in 2009 isn't a very different process from how someone in 9,500 BC would have done it.

Well, that's not entirely true. The recipe I've been playing around with is for a baguette, an archetypal French loaf that's only been around since the mid-1800s. And without further ado, here goes.

1 teaspoon active dry yeast

1 teaspoon sugar

1 ½ cups warm water (105°--115° F)

4 to 4 ½ cups bread flour

2 ½ teaspoons salt

olive oil

In a large bowl, take ½ cup of warm water, 1 cup of flour and a pinch of the yeast and mix together. Cover and let sit overnight at room temperature. The next day, add a cup of water to your starter and mix. Dry mix 3 cups of flour, sugar, salt and yeast and then fold into the larger bowl. Mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon.

Take the remaining ½ cup of flour and use it to lightly flour your hands and a kneading surface. Turn the dough in the bowl onto the surface and knead thoroughly for 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Rinse and dry the bread bowl. Lightly oil the bowl and transfer the dough back into it. Turn the dough to oil it top and bottom. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise at room temperature until it doubles in size (1 ½ to 2 hours).

Preheat oven to 400° F.

Take a cast iron skillet and fill it ¾ full with water. Set in the lower rack of the oven.

Punch down the dough, turn it out onto the floured surface and form it into a long, slender loaf around 3" in diameter. Lightly grease a baking sheet and set loaf onto it. Let rise for ½ hour at room temperature.

Make 3 or 4 diagonal slashes across the the top of the loaf. Lightly brush the top with olive oil. Bake on the center rack for ½ hour or until the crust is golden. Remove from oven and cool on a rack.

This is a simple recipe and it yields a loaf of surprising complexity and texture. Though the resulting loaf is fatter than a true baguette, its size makes it perfect for sandwiches. I like it still warm from the oven with good oil and a pinch of salt. When it's toasted and slathered in apricot jam on day two it will make you never want to buy bread in a bakery again.

Lazy people take heed! Pre-made cookie dough has a body count.

See this?

If you have any of this symptom of of social decay in your fridge, take it back to the store where you bought it before you poop to death. Nestle is recalling all of its Nestle Tollhouse Cookie Dough products immediately. An E. coli 0157:H7 outbreak traced to their pre-made cookie dough has already sickened 68 people. Even though E. coli can be killed by cooking anything contaminated with it, Nestle's not taking any chances and is encouraging customers to return or discard all of the product. Don't cook it, don't touch it, don't eat it.

Now I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so. Stuff like this makes my inner Calvinist come out. There are no short cuts folks. There are no short cuts to baking, there are no shortcuts to happiness, there are no short cuts to life. Nonsensical products like pre-made cookie dough are the symptom and the result of the lie that somehow "we're too busy" nowadays to make cookies. Because "we're too busy" it becomes OK to feed yourself and your family out of a microwave, it becomes OK to do away with dining rooms in favor of TV trays, and it becomes OK to have shorthanded text messages substitute for talking to your mother. Bull! I say it's bull. "We" aren't to busy, but "we" have screwed up priorities.

If you want cookies that won't sicken you or your family, here's a recipe.

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs

2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels

1 cup chopped nuts

Directions:

PREHEAT oven to 375° F.

COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

BAKE for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

I make these cookies for myself every couple of weeks as a reward for good behavior. It takes a whopping 20 minutes to put the batter together and about an hour to crank out two dozen cookies. Baking things like this for myself is easy, allows me to control what I eat and doesn't expose me to E. Coli 0157:H7. make your own! It's cheaper, safer and provides a sense of accomplishment break 'n bakes can't.

Achtung baby

It's come to my attention that there's a wee problem with the redirect from my old URL. For whatever reason, that redirect no longer seems to be automatic and there's now an added step to the process. Based on the drop in my traffic yesterday, this added step must be too great a burden to bear and I'm taking this as a sign that it's time to update links and feeds. Please.

In English, what this means is that around three months ago I bought and changed my web address from the old http://paulanater.blogspot.com to the shiny and new http://www.kitchenandresidentialdesign.com. My old URL still works, though there's a redirect message that appears when somebody enters that web address.

So, I'm asking my regular readers and anybody who links to me to update that link address please. The best way to ensure that I'll be here to enhance your life every morning if you navigate to me through http://www.kitchenandresidentialdesign.com.

The old URL will stay active for the next couple of months or so but it will be going away eventually, just as soon as I figure out what I want to do with it.

Many, many thanks for reading me and spending time at Kitchen and Residential Design.

Family Hack has yo back

Lynn Taylor is a residential designer and a speaker on topics as varied as energy efficiency, urban infill housing, historic preservation, good construction practices and cottage developments. You can find out more about Lynn on her website, Taylor Made Plans, or you can follow her on Twitter as @taylormadeplans, which is how I know of her.

Lynn tweeted a link to a website called Family Hack yesterday and the link led to this incredibly helpful video. This is the fastest, smartest, I-can't-believe-this-never-occurred-to-me method to retrieve an object dropped down a drain I've ever seen. Watch this:

That makes so much sense I can barely stand it. Thank you Family Hack guy and thank you Lynn Taylor.

Family Hack is written by Michael Davis and Hannah Russell-Davis. Holding their own are kids Khymi, Susan and Jackson. The Davises write about how to travel the world with three small kids, how to work from anywhere and how to feed, clothe and educate their three junior staffers. They also love smart shortcuts, saving money and cool stuff. And speaking of cool stuff, I think Family Hack may have given me an excuse to get off my high horse and go to the new Ikea in Tampa.

A well-designed, fully-functional storage system for under five bucks? Now they're singing my song.

Spend some time with the Davises, you'll be glad you did.

Roll up your sleeves with Franki Durbin

photo by Freddie H via Flickr

Franki Durbin wrote a post last week on her blog, Life in a Venti Cup, that I haven't been able to stop thinking about since she ran it originally. Franki's a tremendous friend of this blog and I asked her for permission to re-run it here in toto. She agreed without hesitation. So without further ado, here's Franki.

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Once a year I do what I call a life tune-up. I reassess my goals, my plan and make sure I'm on course to achieve that. It's also a good time to give myself an honest once-over and make sure I like what I see. Am I excelling professionally but not calling my mom enough? How is my fitness? Do I like what I see in the mirror? What do I REALLY want to do with my life? Has it changed since last year? Am I getting enough time with my spouse? Are there any bad habits I've let creep into my life? How about my friends? Am I making enough time for them? Too much time?

I genuinely believe you have to design the life you want. Great stories don't just happen. Do you want to be a venture capitalist? (I do.) So where's that money going to come from? What am I going to do with that success? Travel? Develop new businesses? Where will I live? What kind of friends will we have? What do I want that to feel like on a daily basis? Am I doing things RIGHT NOW, every single day to work towards that goal?

I'm telling you this because it's time again. I can feel it. Time to shake things up and make sure I'm on pace to win in life. If you've never thought this way or done such a thing, I'm inviting you to take a look at my process and inviting you to play along. But I'll warn you, it is absolutely life changing. So be prepared to enjoy life better in just seven days.

Here goes...

Hit Record

TV has to go. Just for a week. Trust me, in this age of TiVo it'll be there at the end of the seven days. But you may find you've been letting too much television into your life. So for just a week, stop watching people live their lives and start living yours.

Do Something Every Day That Scares You. Every. Single. Day.

This one is small but very important. We're trying to establish a habit here. So it's important that every day you take a small step for big results. This can be reaching out to an old friend or mending a relationship. Making a call to ask about a new job. Applying for school. Admitting you were wrong. Accepting an apology - or make one. Having that difficult conversation. Calling your mom. Finishing that personal project. Asking your boss for more responsibility, less responsibility, a raise, a vacation...whatever. Making the appointment. Cleaning the closet. It can be small. It can be large. But do something every day that you DON'T want to do. Look fear in the face and DO IT ANYWAY.

Break a Few Bad Habits

We've all got some form of substance abuse. Caffeine. Gum. Cookies. Candy. Soda. Martinis. Something. Give it up for one week. Personally, I eliminate all drinks but water for the week. I give up coffee and tea. It's not easy, but at the end of the week I feel and look trimmer, feel better and my skin looks radiant. There's something in your diet that you are using as a crutch. Give it up for a week. Just trust me on this one.

Start A Few Good Ones

It's important to do some things you love. Listen to more music. Laugh harder. Surf. Dance. Chat on the phone for hours with an old friend. Run. Kiss a bit more. Hug a bit longer. Go to an art gallery. Skate. Ski. Dine al fresco. Relax by the pool. Whatever it is you love doing but normally don't make time for...do it now. Do some things you'd otherwise be too busy watching mind-numbing television to enjoy. Whatever it is you love, do a bit more of it this week (and hopefully thereafter).

Get Moving

Part of cleaning up your mind requires you to move your body. Never underestimate the mind-body connection. If you workout already, just keep it up. Maybe use this week to change up your activity or take some new classes. Not working out? How about walking 10-15 minutes a day. Maybe take the stairs, not the elevator. Park at the back of the parking lot and walk further. Again, the key here is just to do some kind of movement every day. It's summer...take a swim. Whatever. Just get that body of your moving.

Write it Down

Here's the most important part of all: write down what you want. Get a journal, a notebook, a Moleskin book (ideally, something you can keep and refer to in the future) and write down what you REALLY want out of life. What is your ultimate vision of the future? Forget about the "now" and any reasons you've come up with as to why you'll never have, do or be your best. I want you to write down your ultimate life fantasy.

What would that life look like? Would you live where you currently live? Would you spend your days running a meaningful non-profit? Would you have your own business? Would you have three homes - one in Positano, Italy? Maybe you've got three homes. Would you finally have that pilot's license?

What would the ULTIMATE dream of yours look like. Write it down. Write it down without fear that anyone else will ever see it. This is just for you. It's your private documentation of your ultimate vision for your life.

What would you look like? Would you be more fit? Would you dress differently? What would you be like? Would you be more caring? ore patient? More ambitious? How would you treat your spouse? How would you spend your days?

The key here is to put down as many details as you can. Imagine what you'd look like, feel like, dress like. What are you driving? Where are you living? Do you have children? How happy are you? Is it sunny where you vacation? What do you really, really, really want out of life? And here's the key: free yourself from wondering how on earth any of this will come to pass. This part of the process is about the "what" without ever wondering about the "how."

For some of you, this may be the very first time you've asked yourself these questions. It might be a lot for you to process. If it takes you all week to write this out, I think that's wonderful. And feel free to keep improving the vision as the week goes on. It may take you a few days to freely allow yourself to dream. But it's important that you get this down on paper. Visible. Readable. Physical. So that you can SEE your heart's desires. It may be tempting to just think about this and not write it down, but it just doesn't work. You have to see it in front of you.

Take A Good Long Hard Look

At the end of the week (or whenever you finish writing your life's wish) read it. Really, really, read it. Digest that information. Read it a few times. What does that say about you? How far from your present situation is this new scenario? This better, more fulfilled you?

And here's the hook: what's it going to take to GET THERE? Figure out what you'll need to do (or think, or believe) to get there. (For example: If you want to be a fitness model but haven't so much as been to a competition, it's time to do some investigating.)

This is where those small fears you've been conquering all week come into play. You'll have knocked out some trivial tasks that have been hanging on your to-do list for too long. You'll be more likely to take bold actions now.

Ask yourself: how can I make those dreams come to pass? What can I do each day to get me closer to those goals. I guarantee, if you ask better questions, you'll get better answers.

Bottom Line

Be fearless this week. Be bold. What's seven days? Aren't you important enough to set aside one week? Isn't your future happiness worth it? The answer is yes.

I'm starting this process on Sunday because I like the Sunday to Saturday format. It helps me frame the experience. It helps me feel organized and in control. I'm inviting you to join me. In the meantime, I'm knocking as much off my to-do list as possible and setting my self up for success next week. Yes, I'm already doing something every day that scares me or that I've been delaying.

So... care to join me?

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Thanks Franki!

I'm cleaning my light fixtures today

Oh joy. I like cleaning lampshades almost as much as I like cleaning ceiling fans. To commemorate this happy occasion, I found an image of a lampshade that right out of my nightmares.

Don't look at it for too long, it's hideous I know.

Cleaning lampshades and light fixtures properly can be a daunting task, but if you take your time and think it through, it can be painless and relatively quick. My pals at the Lighting Style Blog put together a couple of pointers on how to clean various fixtures. Their post this week is what prompted me to tackle mine today.

Glass Shades

• Regularly dust with a soft lint-free cloth or dusting wand.
  
• Occasionally, remove the shades from their fittings and wipe both the inside and outside with a damp cloth. If you are at all concerned with using a damp cloth, rule of thumb would dictate use of a dry cloth.
  
• Care should be taken if there is any sort of pattern as excess water or rubbing may damage transfers, hand-painted surfaces, coloring or lead solder.
  
• Wipe with a soft, dry cloth until dry.
  
• Before re-assembly, dust the light bulb and fittings.
  

Fabric Shades

• The best tool to dust a paper shade is an unused, clean, soft-bristled painter’s brush or a hairdryer with a cool/cold setting. Contrary to popular belief, fabric shades should never be vacuumed.  Most vacuums on the market today are too powerful and may stretch or damage the fabric.
  
• Starting at the top of the lamp shade, use a downward long stroke to dust, rotate the shade and repeat. Do not brush too firmly as this may snag, tear or stretch the shade.
  
• The inner surface of shades with inner plastic/hard liners can be wiped down with a clean, soft cloth. Shades with such surfaces should never be washed or dampened as the two materials tend to separate and fall apart.
  
• Some fabric shades that have been stitched to their frame may be washed in a bath of warm, soapy water utilizing a delicate laundry soap. The fabric may stretch or sag when wet. Most fabrics will regain their shape as they dry. Rinse the lamp shade in a bath of clean water until no suds remain. Attach a string to the center frame, hang and let air dry. Do not immerse in water if the shade has delicate trim, beading or has been glued/ taped to its frame. If you are concerned with the fabric type getting wet, contact your local dry cleaner.
  
• Before re-assembly, dust the light bulb and fittings.
  

Paper Shades

• Paper shades are especially delicate to handle and clean.  The best tool to dust a paper shade is an unused, clean, soft-bristled painter’s brush.
  
• Never vacuum a paper shade as it may snag, tear or stretch the paper.
  
• Starting at the top of the lamp shade, use a downward long stroke to dust, rotate the shade and repeat. Do not brush too firmly as this may snag, tear or stretch the shade.
  
• Never use water or damp cloth on the outside of the paper shade.
  
• The inner surfaces of shades with inner plastic liners can be wiped down with a clean, soft cloth.
  
• Before re-assembly, dust the light bulb and fittings.
  

See? Simple. Anybody else have any good pointers to share?

How to care for and feed your dishwasher

Thursday's New York Times contains their weekly Home and Garden section. It's always worth the peruse. Always. In that weekly section, there's a recurring column called The Fix, where a Times staffer fields a reader's question.

This week's installment of The Fix was written by Arianne Cohen, and she tackled the question, "Why isn't my dishwasher cleaning my dishes?" Ms. Cohen did a great job with the answer and parts of her column were news to me. Adding to my store of appliance knowledge is something I'm always happy to do and I'm going to excerpt some of her more interesting points here.

“Pre-rinsing dishes is a big mistake,” said John Dries, a mechanical engineer and the owner of Dries Engineering, an appliance design consulting company in Louisville, Ky. “People assume that the dishwasher will perform better if you put in cleaner dishes, and that’s not true. Just scrape. Pre-rinsing with hot water is double bad, because you’re pumping water and electricity down the drain.”

It’s actually triple bad, according to Mike Edwards, a senior dishwasher design engineer at BSH Home Appliances in New Bern, N.C. “Dishwasher detergent aggressively goes after food,” Mr. Edwards said, “and if you don’t have food soil in the unit, it attacks the glasses, and they get cloudy,” a process known as etching that can cause permanent damage.

It’s also important not to use too much detergent, he said.

How much do you need? That depends on how much food soil there is, he said, not how many dishes. “If you have a light load,” he said, “don’t fill the detergent cup all the way.”

Powder detergent is preferable to that in liquid or tablet form, he said, because it leaves dishes cleaner. But store it somewhere dry, not under the sink, where it can absorb moisture and form clumps.

That's an interesting note about pre-rinsing dishes. Who knew that when a detergent doesn't have enough to do, it goes all renegade.

Mr. Dries offered a final tip: stick with the normal cycle. It’s the one consumer organizations conduct all their performance and energy tests on. “Manufacturers know this, so it’s the cycle that the most work went into,” he said.

The pots-and-pans cycle is rarely necessary, except when you have baked-on foods, he said, nor is the heat-dry function.

“A trick you can use is called flash dry,” he added. As soon as the dishwasher shuts off, open the door. “Dishes are at their hottest point and give up water moisture the fastest. Within 5 to 10 minutes, your dishes are going to be completely dry.”

I love this kind of insider information. The bit about all of the engineering of a dishwasher getting poured into the normal cycle is really go to know too. And flash drying, who knew?

How to light a new (or an old) kitchen

I linked up with the Lighting Style Blog a couple of weeks ago and I'm enjoying watching their site grow. I'm intrigued by good lighting and over the years I've taught myself a thing or two about how I like to have my work lit. I am not a lighting designer and I'll be the first to admit that. Complicated lighting jobs are best tackeled by a lighting pro. But even with that said, it doesn't hurt to know a thing or two about some of the general guidlines of how to light a kitchen.

1. To add interest and functionality to a kitchen, you should have several different levels of lighting:

• Ambient Lighting:  General lighting
  
• Decorative Lighting:  A fixture that adds a design element, such as a chandelier.
  
• Focal Lighting:  Is used in a specific area such as glass cabinets or a tile pattern.
  
• Task Lighting:  Used on any work surface.
  

2. Ambient Lighting, or general lighting, is important for seeing into cabinets and appliances.

3. The most important areas to light in a kitchen are the task areas like countertops, tables, appliance tops, etc.

4. Under-cabinet lighting looks and functions best when the fixture is pulled to the front of the cabinet so that the light is hitting the middle of the countertop.

5. A footcandle is a unit of measurement used to calculate the illumination of light cast on a surface. One footcandle is equal to 10 lux.  General footcandle requirements for any space is 25-30 footcandles. (Follow this link for a good explanation of how brightness is measured.)

• For a task area such as a countertop, plan for 50-75 footcandles.
  
• You may need to adjust the footcandle level based on the occupant’s age.  Occupants over the age 55 would need about 30% more footcandles than a younger person.
  

6. How colors are used in a room will affect the quantity of light required.  Darker cabinets and countertops will require more task lighting.

7. Kelvin ratings are used to determine light’s color temperature (coolness or warmness).  The higher the number, the cooler the light.  The lower the number, the warmer the light.  This is important in the kitchen as a light’s color temperature greatly affects the presentation of food.

• It is best to stay away from cool lighting (3,600 to 5,500k).
  
• Warm-neutral lighting (2,900 to 3,600k) is best for general and task lighting.
  

8. It is important that all lamps used in a room appear to be the same color temperature.

• If you use warm incandescent bulbs in the recessed cans and hanging pendants, but you use cool fluorescent bulbs in the under-cabinet lights for the task lighting, the difference in color temperature will not work well together, creating an odd look.
  

9. Note, dimming a lamp will cause it to look warmer.

10. It is important to prevent scallop lighting while illuminating wall cabinets as they can cause visual disruptions.  For minimal scalloping on the front of 12” deep cabinets, a minimum of 40” from the back wall to the center of the recessed can is usually required.

Consumer Reports turns to the viral video

I have a love/ hate relationship with Consumer Reports. I credit them for doing their part in keeping an informed populace informed and I love them for taking the nutritional supplement snake oil salesmen to task on a regular basis. But when it comes to their reviews of major appliances, cabinetry and other stuff I know a lot about I take their studied opinion with a grain of salt. On the whole though, I'm glad they're there. And now that they own my pals at The Consumerist, I'm beginning to like them all the more.

Anyhow, Consumer Reports has been making a number of videos and several of them turn a skeptical eye to the world of products sold via infomercial.

Not to kick our friend Vince the Shamwow guy when he's down, but here's Consumer Reports' video review of the Shamwow.

Here's their take on the AbRocket and other exercisers:

Here's their take on my favorite, the "Amish" space heater

Finally, here's a final video. It's not related to infomercials but it is something near and dear to my heart. Namely, a ringing endorsement of ammonia as an all-purpose cleaner. Woo hoo! I feel vindicated at last. Clients look at me like I have three heads when I tell that that all they need to clean their new kitchens is a bottle of Parson's ammonia.

Don't forget your refrigerator coils while you're spring cleaning

I stumbled across this WikiHow over the weekend. appliance people swear this little act of maintenance is vital, but most people have no clue how to do it. Well, here's how.

How to Clean Refrigerator Coils

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

Refrigerators have probably done more to positively impact the modern kitchen than any other appliance. Largely unappreciated until they fail, they need only a minimal amount of maintenance to run effectively. This maintenance mostly consists of a simple cleaning of the condenser coil at 12 month (or less) intervals. This is very important, but is quickly and easily performed in an hour or less. Read on.

Steps

1. Disconnect. Shut off the circuit breaker, remove the fuse or slide the refrigerator away from the wall as needed to remove the refrigerator's plug from the electrical outlet. Shut off water supply lines if equipped with ice maker or water dispenser.
   
2. Locate the condenser coil. There are two sets of coils for cooling appliances like refrigerators, they are called the evaporator3 and condenser1 coils. Overly simplified, the two coils are filled with gas and liquid respectively, and are parts of a complex "circuit" that has a compressor4 and expansion valve2 that perform the work. The gas filled evaporator coil is located in the space to be cooled, and performs the task by absorbing heat from that space. It is usually protected from damage and out of view. The "heated" gas is compressed by the compressor, where it is further heated (hot to the touch) by the compression process. The heated liquid is passed through the condenser coil that is located away from the cooled space. This condenser coil is where some of the heat in the liquid is released to the ambient air. The cooled liquid is then drawn through the expansion valve by the suction of the compressor, where the liquid immediately boils off to a gas. This causes the temperature of the gas to drop significantly (well below freezing). The process repeats until the thermostat in the space is satisfied. Because the condenser coil is exposed to the ambient air on the refrigerator, it requires regular cleaning. There are a few locations the condenser coil may be found:
   
   • Older refrigerators have the coil (a grid-like structure often painted black) mounted on the rear of the refrigerator.
     
   • Newer refrigerators often locate the condenser coil at the bottom. It is likely that a fan (that may or may not be readily visible) will be directed at the coil to assist with heat dissipation. Use a flashlight to assist locating the coil and fan if needed. The coil will be accessible from one of two places:
     
     1. Toe space panel. Remove the panel at the bottom of the front of the refrigerator and carefully slide the condensate tray out (if present, the condensate tray may contain water). A visual inspection upward into this space may reveal a flat condenser coil when located here.
        
     2. Rear access panel. If not found behind the toe space, the refrigerator will have to be slid away from the wall further to work from behind. Disconnect water supply lines if too short to allow enough room to work. Remove the fasteners that holds an access panel in position. The condenser coil may be flat, but will likely be cylindrical in shape when located here.
        
     
     
   
   
3. Disconnect power. Seriously. Make sure the power to the refrigerator is disconnected.
   
4. Vacuum the coil. With a plastic crevice or brush attachment, carefully vacuum dirt and dust wherever it is seen. Use care not to damage the fins or coil. A breech created in the coil will allow the refrigerant to escape and will likely result in an expensive repair.
   
5. Vacuum the fan. If the fan is visible and accessible, cleaning it will help it move air across the condenser coil as designed. Dirt and dust, if allowed to accumulate on the fan blades, decreases airflow, affects balance and can contribute to early failure of the compressor.
   
6. Brush away stubborn dirt and dust. Use a narrow paint brush to gently remove stubborn dirt and dust from the coil and fan if able to get sufficient access.
   
7. Slide refrigerator back into position. Plug the refrigerator back into wall outlet. Arrange any water supply lines and power cords so that they will not be kinked or crushed by the refrigerator.
   

Tips

• Increase the frequency of cleanings if located in dusty or dirty areas (garages, basements, etc.) or if pets are owned. Pet hair can collect on the coil and damage the compressor circuit faster than dirt and dust alone.
  
• Shutting off water supply lines is not required, but can save time cleaning spilled water if the line should become tangled, caught and ripped from the refrigerator while moving away from the wall.
  
• Consider placing cardboard on floor to prevent possible damage to the surface when sliding the refrigerator in or out.
  

Warnings

• Disconnect the plug from the outlet before attempting to clean the coil and fan.
  
• If equipped with an ice maker or water dispenser, make sure the water supply line is not ripped from or crushed under the refrigerator when moving out or in.
  

Things You'll Need

• Vacuum cleaner with hose & attachments.
  
• Simple hand tools
  
• Flashlight
  
• Narrow paint brush
  

Related wikiHows

• How to Defrost a Freezer
  
• How to Clean a Refrigerator
  
• How to Replace the Evaporator Fan in a Kenmore Refrigerator Model 106 8627580
  
• How to Stop Water Leaking at Bottom of Fridge
  

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Clean Refrigerator Coils. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

SketchUp Saturday, the second coming

Reader Rachele just left a comment about her frustration over not being able to get SketchUp to snap and place objects precisely within a model. I can relate whole heartedly with her frustration. After ten years of working with software that snapped indiscriminately and automatically, I expected SketchUp to work the same way.

Well, it doesn't and the reason it doesn't makes perfect sense now that I've mastered what SketchUp calls inferential geometry. In SketchUp, you are always working in three dimensions, so you have to think in three dimensions. Working with rendering programs usually means you're working in two dimensions and imagining the third, depth. In SketchUp, you don't need to imagine the third dimension because you never leave it. This takes a bit of getting used to. Here's how Google explains the snap function of the move tool.

SketchUp Saturday

Anyone who's ever stumbled upon this blog before knows that I am a very loud proponent of Google's modeling software, SketchUp. I have been working in it for more than a year and I've become pretty proficient. I never took a class, I just jumped in and figured it out by trial and error. But that's just how I operate and I realize that that's not the approach for everybody.

At the same time, I believe very firmly that anyone can learn to use this software. It's not just for designers and architects. SketchUp is a go-to solution for every space planning and visualization problem out there. In the hands of an expert, SketchUp can generate a set of plans a builder would use to construct a house. In the hands of the eventual owner of that house; he or she can use it to preview furniture plans, figure out where to put a garden, or decide which sofa to buy.

With all that said, I realize that diving into new software can be a daunting prospect for some people. I never bothered to look when I was in the early stages of learning SketchUp, but YouTube is full of SketchUp training videos. Here are the first three lessons that Google came up with themselves.

So there are the first three official videos from Google. Google being Google and the Internet being the Internet, YouTube is also full of very informative, user-generated how-to videos. YouTube is well-organized and you can work your way from novice to pro in a matter of days with these videos.

My friend Eric started producing his own training videos that are specific to kitchen designers and he finished another one yesterday. His videos are particularly well-produced and he has many more coming. As he builds his library though, you can take a look at what he's already produced by going to SketchUp Training Blog. Here's a preview of Eric's lesson on designing a kitchen with the help of Google's 3-D Warehouse.

See? It's no so daunting. Download a copy of SketchUp and start playing around with it. At the risk of sounding like a total geek, it's fun.

How to clean a grout joint

I get asked how to clean white grout all the time and my answer is usually, "Don't have white grout." Seriously, short of regrouting your tile every six months, white grout joints are nearly impossible to clean and keep that way.

However last weekend, I came across this article in the St. Pete Times. It's written by Tim Carter, a general contractor and syndicated columnist. Carter runs a website called AskTheBuilder.com and it's chock full of advice and how-to videos. He tackled the problem of white grout joints in a way I'd never considered.

His method involves the so-called oxygen bleaches that seem to be all the rage. Oxygen bleaches do use oxygen to power away organic and some inorganic matter, so I suppose I shouldn't use the expression so-called. However, how they're pitched is so laden with inaccurate descriptions of how they work I feel compelled to continue to use the so-called moniker for them.

So-called oxygen bleaches are made with sodium percarbonate. When sodium percarbonate is dissolved in water It breaks down and releases elemental oxygen that then bonds to whatever it can grab. Sodium percarbonate is hardly a benign substance. If it were benign it wouldn't work. As it breaks down, it leaves behind oxygen and carbon it's made from. These elements are less harmful than the leftovers from other cleaning compounds, but still, none of this stuff is non-toxic. While it's true that you need oxygen to live, pure oxygen will kill you believe it or not.

File this under the for what it's worth column, but chlorine bleaches also use elemental oxygen to do their thing. Household bleach is a solution of sodium hypochlorite and water. Sodium hypochlorite is made from table salt. Dissolved in water, sodium hypochlorite breaks down into elemental oxygen and hydrochloric acid. The atomic oxygen is what does the bleaching, but the hydrochloric acid goes looking for carbon bonds to break. This is not always a bad thing, hydrochloric acid is also the active ingredient in your stomach acid. The hydrochloric acid left behind by chlorine bleach may help you digest your dinner, but it does the same thing to the grout joints on your floor. That's why using chlorine bleach on masonry, concrete or grout is a bad idea.

Anyhow, here's what Tim Carter recommends to clean grout joints.

To clean floor tiles, all you need to do is mix any high-quality oxygen bleach with warm water and stir it until it dissolves. The next step is to pour the solution onto the floor tile so the grout lines are flooded, as if you had spilled a glass of water. It's best to apply the oxygen-bleach solution to dry grout so the solution soaks deeply. Let it sit for at least 15 minutes to allow the oxygen bleach to work. If it completely soaks in, add more solution, making sure there is always plenty on the grout.

The longer you let the solution sit, the less work you have to do. The oxygen ions work for up to six hours. To get maximum cleaning results, scrub the grout lightly after 30 minutes. Always pour new solution onto the grout as you scrub. You have to always scrub a little, but that's how anything gets clean.

Once you have clean floor tiles, keep the grout looking good by adding oxygen bleach powder to your mop water. Apply a liberal amount of mop water to the floor, scrubbing the tile surface with the mop. Leave the mop water in the grout joints without rinsing the floor; the oxygen ions will clean the light dirt in the grout without scrubbing. Come back 30 minutes later and rinse the floor with clean water. Do this each time, and you can avoid scrubbing the floor altogether.

Don't worry if your tile floor is installed next to carpeting. The oxygen-bleach solution will not hurt the carpet and can clean it. In fact, to clean carpeting with oxygen bleach, simply mix up the solution and use a sprayer to saturate the carpet fibers. Let the solution soak for 30 minutes, and then use a regular carpet shampoo machine to finish the job.

You also can mix up small amounts of the solution to handle small spills, such as wine or cranberry juice. It's always best to work on stains while they're fresh, but tile floors that have been dirty for years will come clean in no time with oxygen bleach.

I was over at a previous client's yesterday and he'd read the same article. In a miracle of timing, he was in the middle of cleaning his floors with Oxy Clean so I had the chance to see this at work. And it did work. If you have a dirty grout joint problem, give this a try. Sodium percarbonate doesn't work as quickly as sodium hypochlorite, but it does work.

How to clean a new sink

photo by Nathan Zamprogno

I get asked about how to clean new sinks all the time and here are some pointers from our friends at Kohler.

For stainless steel

• Clean stainless steel at least once a week.
  
• Always apply stainless steel cleaner/polish with a nonabrasive cloth or sponge, working with, not across, the grain.
  
• Do not use steel wool, wire brushes or abrasive sponge pads.
  
• Cleaners containing chloride are not recommended. If used, rinse the surface immediately to prevent corrosion.
  
• Most stainless steel products will scratch from everyday use. However, these scratches will blend over time to create a unique finish.
  

For vitreous china and fireclay

• Rinse thoroughly and use a soft cloth to wipe the product dry after each use.
  
• Soft abrasive cleaners may be used when necessary to clean KOHLER® vitreous china products. Strong abrasive cleaners will scratch and dull the surface.
  

For cast iron

• Rinse thoroughly and use a soft cloth to wipe the product dry after each use.
  
• In the rare occurrence of stubborn stains, use abrasive cleaners sparingly.
  
• Do not use steel wool, wire brushes or abrasive sponge pads.
  
• Be careful not to leave dirty dishes, coffee grounds, tea bags or other staining materials in contact with the enamel surface for extended periods of time.
  
• Consider kitchen sink accessories such as bottom basin racks and rinse baskets to help protect the surface from scratches.
  

Good pointers, and I'll add that all you need to clean sinks or any plumbing fixture for that matter, is soap and water. No job's too dirty for Fels Naptha and that my friends, is how I roll.

Reader question: two pedestal sinks in the master bath?

Help! You always give no nonsense advice and we are in the middle of gutting our master bath. It's fairly large, and we're thinking of putting pedestal sinks in. What do you think? My tile designer says no pedestal sinks in a master bath... that people want something more substantial like a built in vanity with granite. What do you think?

Really? Someone told you that you shouldn't put pedestal sinks in a master bath? Where does this kind of "advice" come from? Who comes up with this crap? Really, who?

A lot of times this sort of rule making comes about as a result of an obsession with resale values mixed with entirely too much time spent in front of HGTV. Then take those two elements and sprinkle them liberally with someone who doesn't know what he or she is talking about and you get hackneyed advice like that. Tell your "tile designer" to take a hike.

The truth of the matter is that the only rule is that there aren't any rules. Every situation, every room and every homeowner is different. Do you like pedestal sinks? Can the room  handle them? If the answer is yes to both of those questions, then by all means put two pedestal sinks in your mater bath and get on with things.

All too often, people get hung up on what may or may not turn off a potential buyer at some point down the road. It is impossible to know who may some day look at your home as a potential buyer and you will drive yourself insane worrying about it. So just let that one go and make a home for yourself that you love. Besides, when have you ever not put an offer on a home because of the presence or lack of pedestal sinks?

The sorts of things that will make someone not make an offer on a home are filth, poorly and cheaply executed improvements, clutter and again, filth. If you want to improve your odds should you ever resell a home, buy nice fixtures and just let it go. When you do go to put your house on the market, clean it to within an inch of its life and keep it that way for as long as it stays on the market.

And in the meantime, put together a master bath that makes you happy. Since you're going to the expense of remodeling a master bath, get good pedestal sinks. Tiny, $100 pedestal sinks from an endcap at Home Depot are wasting your time and effort. Get decent-sized ones that will give your a ledge that surrounds the actual sink. 

Take a look at the Memoirs pedestal from Kohler and you'll see what I mean by a ledge around the sink. That ledge is not intended to be a storage area, though that's precisely what it'll end up being if you don't plan for a place to put your stuff beforehand. Think about hanging a shallow shelf on the wall the sinks attach to. It sounds like you have a bit of room in this master bath, so why not bring in a piece of furniture? Find an antique chest of drawers or dressing table and set it between the two pedestals. Make it interesting, make it practical and make it attractive and you will enjoy that master bath for years to come.

Reader Question: How do I decorate my Tuscany dining room?

Help! I am in the process of gutting my first floor and I'm going to get a Tuscany dining room. I want to decorate the room with bunches of dried roses but I'm worried that they're not right for a Tuscany theme.

Oh man, there is so much wrong here I don't know where to start. Before you spend a dime, stop what you're doing. Stop and then take $1500 out of your budget and fly to Florence for a couple of days. Well, maybe $2000. Whatever it costs, it will have a value that transcends its price. You see, while you're there you'll gaze at what the real Tuscany looks like and hopefully you'll forget all about this dining room you have in mind. Oh, and as a point of order, Tuscany is a noun and Tuscan is an adjective. What you have in mind is a Tuscan dining room, not a Tuscany dining room. If I have anything to say about it you won't have either, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

This Tuscan thing that you see in your mind is an entirely American invention. It's not even an homage, it's a cartoon. Here's what a dining room in the real Tuscany looks like. 

Note the lack of bunches of dried roses. There are no fake sunflowers or clots of plastic grapes either. There aren't any framed posters with nonsensical Italian phrases hanging on the wall, nor is there any faux painted brick. It's a basic, small table jammed into the space not already taken up by a tiny kitchen. It's neat as a pin, it's simple and it's orderly. But real Tuscan style isn't about decor or themed dining rooms. It's about views like this.

Or views like this.

Views like that beget a worldview that's entirely Tuscan and how things look over there are a product of that worldview. The real Tuscany is about making the best use of a small space. The real Tuscany is about embracing life, it's about authenticity, it's about quality over quantity in everything. There's no theme here, there's no attempt to recreate a magazine spread or a dream house from some Developer's unimaginative mind. The truth of the matter is that unless you can see the Arno river pass under your dining room window, no amount of clutter will give you a "Tuscany dining room."

Man! That room up there burns my eyes. Please don't do something like that in your home. Sorry to be so brutal but what you're asking is for some kind of permission to turn your home into a miniature Las Vegas and that's something I refuse to go along with.

Listen, your dining room and indeed your whole home should tell your story, not somebody else's. The things you decorate with should be your things and if you're going to buy a dining table, buy one that's classic enough and made well enough that you can pass it on to your kids. Then in 50 years when it's in your daughter's home that same table will tell your story as it passes into her story. I suspect that's the feeling you're after. A feeling of permanence and a feeling of knowing you belong somewhere. That sort of thing isn't a theme, it's a way of life.

So if you want to bring some Tuscan sensibilities to your dining room, by all means do so. But study the real place, not The Venetian or the Bellagio. While you're enjoying the quick jaunt over to Florence I so strongly recommend, have your photo taken with the Duomo in the background then get it blown up and framed. Hang it in your dining room. I don't think it's possible to get more Tuscan than Florence, and it'll be yours. Authentically.

If you like bunches of dried roses, go for it. Just be sure that you like them and that you're not just adding them to advance some kind of ill-advised theme. So instead of asking me if they're appropriate, the person to ask is you. What do bunches of dried roses say about you? If you're happy with the answer than hang them by the bushel. If you're not happy with the answer then don't. If you're not sure then don't do anything. It's pretty simple really.

Fix that leaking faucet already

March 16-20 has been designated National Fix a Leak Week by the United States' Environmental Protection Agency. They're onto something. Check it:

Leaks account for, on average, 11,000 gallons of water wasted in the home every year, which is enough to fill a backyard swimming pool.

The amount of water leaked from U.S. homes could exceed more than 1 trillion gallons per year. That’s equivalent to the annual water use of Los Angeles, Chicago, and Miami combined.

Ten percent of homes have leaks that waste 90 gallons or more per day.

Common types of leaks found in the home include leaking toilet flappers, dripping faucets, and other leaking valves. All are easily correctable.

Fixing easily corrected household water leaks can save homeowners more than 10 percent on their water bills.

Keep your home leak-free by repairing dripping faucets, toilet valves, and showerheads. In most cases, fixture replacement parts don’t require a major investment and can be installed by do-it-yourselfers.

The vast majority of leaks can be eliminated after retrofitting a household with new WaterSense labeled fixtures and other high-efficiency appliances.

Now if they were serious they call for a National Tear Out Your Lawn Week. But more on that topic later.