If you had asked Margaret and me five years ago what our new kitchen would look like, we’d probably have both said it would have white cabinets and a black-and-white checkerboard pattern floor – classic, traditional, in keeping with the character of the house. The essence of that vision remains, but we took some turns along the way.
The first to go was the floor choice. Our “temporary” black-and-white checkerboard floor had the right look, but was impossible to keep clean. The tiniest speck of flour or sugar showed up prominently on a black square, and any scuff or crumb on a white square announced its presence loudly. And with two small children in the house, we had our share of specks and scuffs.
After looking at dozens of other flooring options, we decided to go with wood. Our next-door neighbor has a fir floor, and advised us to get something in a harder wood – softer woods simply scratch and dent too easily. Since the rest of the main floor is oak parquet, oak was the natural choice. We worried about being able to scrub it, but we learned (correctly, we hope!) that we could get a marine finish on it, a polyurethane finish so tough it’s used on boats.
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- The Crib and Bedding: My “Green” Nursery Challenge
The Crib and Bedding: My “Green” Nursery Challenge
In week two of my “green” nursery challenge, I purchased the “Rolls Royce” of organic mattresses. Now I needed a crib and bedding worthy of it. The crib needed to be baby-safe, eco-friendly, and fit for the prince of the nursery. Plus, it must meet Federal Safety regulations, be free of lead and phthalates (substances added to plastics to increase their flexibility, transparency, durability, and longevity), have a non-toxic finish, and be made of sustainable or recyclable materials.
As if that wasn’t a tall enough order, a crib designed to “grow” with the stages of the baby’s development made the best fiscal and environmental sense. I wanted a design where the mattress could be raised for easy access to my baby (Stage 1); lowered when he was able to sit unassisted (Stage 2); and, eventually, converted into a toddler bed (Stage 3)—with guardrails.
Since I robbed the piggy bank purchasing an organic mattress, I needed to be fiscally responsible this week. But first, I got mired in crib envy:
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Look Ma—No Wheels: The Hovering Mower
I had the pleasure of touring the Husqvarna Research & Development headquarters in Charlotte, NC a few weeks ago and even the intense Carolina heat couldn’t keep me away from the opportunity to test their latest outdoor power equipment.
One of the most interesting products shown was the new HVT52 Hovering Trimmer. It operates like a lawnmower as you guide it from a push bar in the back but functions more like a trimmer; a large impeller fan underneath provides the lift while a motorized, rotating trimmer line cuts the grass and weeds.
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- What Lies Beneath: The 12-Year Kitchen
What Lies Beneath: The 12-Year Kitchen
Our kitchen renovation project started out with a couple of hidden land mines, and moved quickly into a series of hidden works of art.
Fortunately for us, we were working with an architect and contractor who knew how to anticipate landmines, and we’d been living in the house long enough to know where the likely locations were. We’d had trouble with termites before, particularly on the side of the house where we were about to build, and Keith had seen lots of houses with termite damage. So our contract anticipated having to replace lots of old wood—and it’s a good thing, because there certainly was termite damage.
It was hard to believe the old extension was actually standing at all—we discovered that it was held up at each corner by a single 2×4 planted on a brick. And the extent of the termite damage was simply amazing—one of those corner 2x4s was chewed through to almost nothing. Entire chunks of flooring were eaten through—including the floor right under where our refrigerator had been standing.
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