Onward Manufacturing Co. is recalling about 4,800 Broil King gas grills because the bottom of the cook box that contains the burners can melt or crack as a result of a grease fire. The gas grills were sold nationwide from February 2006 through April 2008 for between $450 and $700. This recall includes the Signet, Sovereign and Sovereign XL series gas grills and involves model numbers starting with 986. Consumers should stop using the grill immediately and contact Onward Manufacturing at 1-866-7455 for a free repair kit.
Electrolux recently teamed up with Kelly Ripa, supermom and co-host of Live with Regis and Kelly, to launch its new line of appliances. I was fortunate enough to see them in person at the Kitchen and Bath Show in Chicago last month. You can almost feel as if you were there by checking out their Virtual Kitchen tour. Fabulous!
And if you're like me and fall in love with what you see, you can have a chance to win one of 10 kitchen suites by logging on and playing "Kelly's Bags." As an added bonus, Electrolux will donate $1 to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund for everyone who registers. Their goal is to raise more than $500,000 over the next two years. Hurry! The contest ends May 18, 2008.
Composting is great in theory, gross in practice. Carting your food waste to an outdoor bin is impractical but the alternative, keeping it indoors, is downright disgusting. Grounding it up? Blech. But now NatureMill seems to have solved these problems with their indoor composter. The unit is completely sealed, keeping your home odor-free. The composter mixes, heats and aerates contents continuously at four-hour intervals until the food waste is ground into useful small particles. Compost is ready every two weeks. Your garden will love you! It's also great for the environment as the NatureMill indoor composter is capable of diverting over two tons of waste from landfills over the course of its life. It fits inside any standard cabinet and can be ordered online from the NatureMill web site.
Hamilton Beach® and Proctor-Silex® Toasters are recalling an estimated 482,000 toasters which can remain "on" after popping, posing a significant fire hazard. Owners of Hamilton Beach and Proctor-Silex toasters should get the model number printed on the bottom and use it to check the Hamilton Beach web site for models affected by this recall. The toasters were sold at department stores between August 2007 and February 2008. If you have one of these toasters, stop using it immediately and contact either Hamilton Beach at either their toll-free line at (800) 574-6800 or their web site at hamiltonbeach.com for a free replacement.
If you're thinking about remodeling your kitchen, you're not alone. If you've been waiting for a moment of inspiration, here are six reasons why the time may have come at last and some ideas to consider for your remodel. Because your kitchen shouldn't just be tolerated but enjoyed.
1.) Your home was built in the 19th century—and so was everything in your kitchen. The wonderful thing about older homes is they have so much character. But the age of your home should not prevent you from running a modern, fully functional kitchen.
2.) Your kitchen has as much personality as a cutting board. You think cooking is fun, but unfortunately, your kitchen isn’t. You want to give it personality and boost the vitality of the room you consider the heart of your home. Change colors. Repaint the cabinets. Replace dull countertops with colorful granite or rich wood. Buy new appliances, which are now available in red, blue, green and even titanium silver. For example, BlueStar has gas ranges in 190 colors.
3.) You bump into things (or people) when you cook. One common solution is to tear down the wall between the dining room and kitchen and replace it with a dining counter with tall stools for seating. Another, less involved, remodel option for a larger space is to seal off the triangle with an island. This creates a detour for traffic and adds a lot of potential storage and counter space.
4.) You’re tempted to store pots and pans in the linen closet. One option to create more storage is to build upward. Build cupboards on top of cupboards and use a sliding ladder to access hard-to-reach spaces. Rotating cabinets offer shelf space on all sides. Cabinets beneath tables or islands is another option.
5.) You need to cook and be a parent at the same time. Companies like Armstrong provide KidZone storage bins that include everything from pull-out desks for drawing and bins for picture books to keep the little one occupied while you prepare dinner.
6.) You want to make it green. There are several ways to achieve a greener kitchen, from using a wide range of sustainable material for flooring, countertops or cabinets to installing energy-saving appliances. Make the most out of natural light and install proper insulation and ventilation for natural heating and cooling.
Here's another reason why remodeling your kitchen is probably a good idea. When you go to sell your house, you're going to recover most of the money spent on the project. According to Remodeling magazine's "Remodeling Cost vs. Value Report 2006," compiled in cooperation with Realtor® magazine, the percent recovered (based on job cost and resale value of your home) is 80.4 percent for a mid-range kitchen remodel and 85.2 percent for a minor kitchen remodel. View an abbreviated report here.
Since women make 85 percent of remodeling and home-improvement decisions and represent 44 percent of do-it-yourselfers nationwide, it's no wonder the battle is being waged for top home improvement retailer for women. According to consumeraffairs.com, Lowe's has been the preferred big box for women making home improvement decisions, but Home Depot aims to change all that. The Home Depot Design Center in Charlotte, NC., offers women-friendly options for shopping and buying, including products displayed in settings that are complete with doors, windows, fixtures, fabrics and furnishings. The goal of the Design Center is to showcase products in a way that speaks more to how women shop. For instance, appliances are available to try, and demonstrations are held regularly. Home Depot has learned that women prefer to see products in action and see how they work. The cooking demonstrations will give shoppers the chance to test out ovens, ranges, warmers and refrigerators. Products range in price from the very affordable to the high-end in an attempt to appeal to all budgets. The new Design Center is the first of its kind but is based on smaller versions that opened in California last spring. It's the same size as a regular orange Home Depot, but the shelves are human-scale and there are no forklifts moving through the aisles. Home Depot insists that it is not an attempt to start a new chain of stores, but with women's buying and decision making power, it wouldn't be a terrible idea. I have to know one thing, though: Are they wearing the signature orange aprons?
