To give is better than to receive...no seriously, have you tried opening up one of those hard plastic shells encasing a new gadget? No, thank you. I'd much rather prettily pack something up than unwrap it (particularly when the "it" in question happens to cost less than the manicure I end up ruining). That's why this holiday season, I think I'm going to end up gifting myself the Open It! from Zibra.
In my experience, handwritten notes on leftover computer paper never seem to get very far with getting people to follow instructions when no one's watching. That's why I think these Banner Stakes from Affinity Products, Inc. can come in pretty handy when you need to keep someone off a growing lawn or away from a wet patch of paint.
Ok, it sounds strange I admit, for someone over the age of 8 to decorate her room with stickers, but they are great for anyone with design ADD or a small budget. Wall stickers have been popular for a few years now (BLIK, ferm Living, and Wallnutz are just a few places where you can find them), but many people haven't discovered tile stickers. Sticviews lets you choose from one of its patterns or upload a pattern or photo of your own and then customize everything from color to size to rotation.
We love giving you the opportunity to flaunt your home improvement skills here and in This Old House magazine, but sharing is caring, right? We can't keep your amazing stories and tips all to ourselves! Now, Dremel is giving you the chance to show them how you tackle a common home project using your Dremel tools. What's in it for you? A chance to win $2,500.
I was raised to patch and repair (“use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without”) and am tickled by how fashionable I must seem in today’s economy, where improvisational mending is now viewed as gallery-worthy art. My handier half and I have our own repair clinic right in the kitchen, where we recently operated on a burr coffee grinder that was paralyzed when a bit of metal got caught in its throat. So when our nine-year-old Tolomeo Micro table lamp fell off its bedside perch, snapping its swiveling, articulated arm in half, no way we were throwing it into a landfill.
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I admit to being a serial do-it-yourselfer. One part or another of my house is always under construction, getting repaired, or being remodeled.
And although I do my best to complete one project before moving on to the next, occasionally I'll fail to install the last piece of trim, hang all the doors, or apply the final paint coat.
I used to feel bad about not completing projects or "temporarily" fixing problems.
But then I discovered a website that makes me feel proud of the work I've accomplished, or at least makes me think, "Well, at least I don't live there."
When last you heard about my oak floor, I was trying to quickly spot-sand and spray-varnish an annoying blemish under the polyurethane finish and experiencing less than perfect results. Veteran floor doctor Roy Reichow, in East Bethel, Minn., took time out between wood-floor rescues to share some tips. First, he points out, my finish has ambered over time. (I like that word, ambered.) To match it, he says, pour some polyurethane in a small glass jar and place it in a window for about a week, then try it out. If it’s not ambered enough, put it back in the sun again. He also suggests taping off the area to be treated and pulling up the tape while the finish is still wet so it doesn’t leave a ridge. Now all I need is suggestions on how to improve my spot-sanding technique. Incidentally, neither Roy nor the experts at This Old House are crazy about the idea of waxing polyurethaned floors. Here's a quick tip on how to remove wax that’s already there.
Speaking of Chase's Calendar of Events, did you know that January is Eating Light Month? I realize no one welcomes this kind of information, but think about it...the people who invented the (silly) dedication didn't say who - or what - is supposed to be eating light, just that light eating take place at some point in some fashion during the month of January. Excellent, now that we've discovered the loophole I can thank the folks at The Kitchn for bringing the new Eat Slow Bowl to our attention.
I love my oak floors, except for their
imperfections. One in particular bugged me for years. Seems the previous owner
of our apartment dropped a blip of white paint on the hall floor before topping it with two coats of polyurethane. Every time I walked by I'd see it there, preserved for eternity like a fly
in amber. Finally, two nights ago, I took action.
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Like most modern kitchens, the doors on our cabinets are fitted with self-closing European-style cup hinges.
There are many reasons to love this type of hinge: it opens and closes very smoothly, is adjustable to ensure the doors hang plumb and level, and the self-closing feature eliminates the need for any additional hardware to hold the door closed. That is, as long as the hinge is healthy.
You see, inside each hinge is a tiny piece of spring steel that's used to snap the door closed. The problem is that spring steel is rather brittle, and over time these small pieces can break. As a result, the door will stay partially open. In my case, the doors hung at least 4 inches from the cabinets, which was both annoying and unkempt looking.
I thought about replacing the hinges, until I discovered that they cost about $10 apiece. Since I had several cabinets with impotent doors, I came up with a much more economical solution (read: a cheap fix).
