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All Ugly Showerheads Need to Go!

by , October 31st, 2011

I HATE MY SHOWER!  Well, actually, it’s my showerhead that I don’t like. Granted, it’s better than the standard fixture that most bathrooms come with and does offer a few water-pressure options, but really, does anybody ever use more than one setting?

Price-Pfister Tuscan Bronze Rain Showerhead

Price-Pfister Tuscan Bronze Rain Showerhead

So I’ve been in the market to buy one of those oversized “rain” showerheads, but finding the right one can be time-consuming. I liken it to trying to search for a new lipstick shade at a Sephora cosmetics store. Ladies reading this will know very well what I mean.

Rain showerheads can wash your entire body with a “rainfall-effect” from above as opposed to the more vertical water stream of older models, like mine.  If you’ve ever been to a day spa for a treatment and then escorted to a shower afterward, that’s what a rain shower looks and feels like. Simply glorious!

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Posted in Bathroom | 1 Comment »

How To: Stack Firewood

by , October 28th, 2011

Nothing celebrates the colder weather like the distinct scent and sound of a crackling log in the fireplace. A steady supply of firewood can help offset your heating costs and, unlike oil and coal, is a renewable resource that can be replanted for future fire-burning pleasure. It takes up to a year to properly season wood, but following these guidelines for proper stacking will help keep purchased logs dry and burnable.

How to Stack Firewood

Photo: woodheat.org

The purpose of seasoning freshly cut wood is to remove the moisture for ease-of-burning. Allocate a dry, sunny spot of your yard for stacking. A well-built pile provides proper ventilation and keeps the wood from being prone to molds or fungus. A haphazard heap, on the other hand, won’t dry, will soak up rainwater, and eventually turn into a smelly, rotting mess.

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Posted in Major Systems | 2 Comments »

How To: Preserve Your Jack-o’-Lantern for Halloween

by , October 27th, 2011
All Halloween Crafts Pumpkin Carving Tip

Photo: allhalloweencrafts.com

No amount of candy corn can make up for the moment you realize that your carefully carved pumpkin’s smile has turned into a rotting grimace just as the trick-or-treaters start showing up at the door. The freshest pumpkin is carved October 31, so if you are tempted to start the festivities earlier, follow these tips to make sure there will still be a plump pumpkin to greet the neighborhood kids once the big day arrives.

With a keyhole saw, either take off the top of the pumpkin (best if you intend to put a candle inside), or make a hole in the back. Then dig out the pumpkin pulp with a scraping tool—a spoon can do, but it helps to have something with a sharp edge or teeth. Be sure to remove one hundred percent of the pumpkin guts. Carve the gourd by affixing a stencil and using an awl—or another thin, sharp tool—to outline the pattern with small holes before cutting. Then dig in carefully with a miniature saw or sharp knife to complete the Jack-o’-Lantern’s face. Even a drill can double as a carving tool—use a ½ inch or ¾ spade bit for making the eyes.

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Posted in How To's & Quick Tips | 1 Comment »

Get Jet: The 747 Wing House

by , October 26th, 2011

David Hertz Wing House

There is a new residence in the Malibu hills constructed mostly from an old airplane. Consisting of a main house and six auxiliary buildings, the 747 Wing House is an innovative example of sustainable architecture created for a client who requested a unique home with great curves and a green bent.

Santa Monica architect David Hertz, who helms the Studio of Environmental Architecture, designed a sleek and environmentally responsible dwelling by using post-consumer waste in the form of a retired Boeing 747-200. To minimize land disturbance, Hertz chose to reuse some of the 55-acre property’s existing foundations and situate the buildings so as to maximize natural light and air flow, and to achieve the finest possible sight lines.

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Posted in Historic Homes & More | 6 Comments »

Make Room for Mud: The 12-Year Kitchen

by , October 25th, 2011

Finished mud room
I’ve always pined for a mud room—they seem like such remarkably efficient spaces for collecting coats, boots, sneakers, backpacks… all the clutter that drives me nuts when I see it piled up inside the front door. Alas, even with our remodeling project, I didn’t see how we’d have space to build a whole room just for mud.

But thanks to great space planning by our architect, Norm Davis, we do have ourselves a “mud space” in our new kitchen. There’s not much more than a wall there—just a small area inside the new side door, which sits off to your right as you either pass it by to get into the dining room or turn left to enter the kitchen. But thanks to Norm and our contractor, Keith Mazzarello, that little stretch of wall is now a functional—and beautiful!—mud space.

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Posted in Kitchen | 1 Comment »

Beat Those Laundry Room Blues

by , October 21st, 2011

Laundry Room/Mud Room Bob VilaIn between my rebellious college days and learning the difference between a Phillips- and flat-head screwdriver, I became my mother.

I’m a “Felix,” not an “Oscar.” I find myself spending more time cleaning than enjoying the great outdoors. But while I do consider myself a neat freak, there are some chores that get under my skin more so than others.

I don’t like doing laundry or dusting. I’ve learned the hard way that jeans and white sheets don’t go into the washing machine together. I don’t enjoy having to separate clothes for different cycles or waiting for a load to dry before folding the wash into neat little piles to be sorted later.

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Posted in Other Rooms | 3 Comments »

“Great Camp” Architecture of Today

by , October 20th, 2011
Great Camp Architecture of Today

Treetops, a five-year-old "Great Camp" near Keene, NY

Five years ago, friends of mine finished building a gracious family retreat on a beautiful, remote site in the Adirondack Mountains. My friends’ getaway—Treetops, they call it—is a mini version of the rambling, timber-and-stone “Great Camp” compounds constructed by the Gilded Age wealthy.

The original camps—less than 40 survive—combine stylistic elements from Swiss chalet design and the English Arts and Crafts movement. On the material level, however, Great Camp architecture, with its reliance on locally sourced timber and indigenous stone, exemplifies a special, uniquely American vernacular mode.

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Posted in Historic Homes & More | 2 Comments »

Organize Your Garage to Keep Your Sanity

by , October 19th, 2011
Garage Storage Organization

Photo: Flickr

Those of us lucky enough to have a garage space in our home tend to take it for granted. This private and secure parking space can quickly become a ‘catch-all’ for myriad tools, products, and boxes of clothing—anything we just want out of sight. The problem is these items can also disappear from our mental inventory of possessions and, before you know it, become a garage full of stuff that you never use—or worse—forgot you ever had.

One of the problems with all this accumulated clutter is that the legit items that you need in your life, such as your tools or space for long-term storage, tend to get squeezed out or lost amid the mess. Here are some tips to help organize your garage to retain your sanity before you lose all hope.

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Posted in Basement & Garage | 1,361 Comments »

Are You Smarter Than Your Refrigerator? The 12-Year Kitchen

by , October 18th, 2011
Kenmore Elite control panel

The display panel on our new fridge speaks for itself.

We are so close to finished I can almost taste the ice. It’s been more than seven months since this project began, and although conventional wisdom is that it’s smart to do a kitchen in the summer, when you can barbecue, hot weather without a freezer handy can be a challenge. Even as we moved into autumn, I think what I missed the most was the tinkle of ice cubes in a glass.

But now… oh, now things are about to change. Twenty-eight cubic feet of sheer joy await us in our new fridge. It’s got variable temperature-controlled vegetable and meat compartments, adjustable shelves in both the main fridge and the doors, and an in-door ice and water dispenser that takes up almost no space inside.  It has a bottom freezer below the French door refrigerator, with tilting door, adjustable divider, and extra ice bucket for storage when I’m in the “ultra-ice” mode.

It also has a 60-plus-page owner’s manual, replete with the usual warnings of what could go wrong  (I promise I won’t stick my fingers up the ice crusher or let my children crawl into the freezer drawer) along with instructions on how to power down this majestic  piece of equipment when we’re on vacation. (Vacation? We’ve spent so much on this project there won’t be a vacation any time soon!)

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Posted in Kitchen | 1 Comment »

Black Roof Stains? Check for Algae

by , October 17th, 2011
1877960roof.com algae-streaked asphalt shingles

Photo: 1877960roof.com

It’s not mold. It’s probably not soot. The black spots discoloring your asphalt roof are more than likely the pervasive and prevalent algae known as Gloecapsa Magma.  These roof-invaders require a moisture-rich environment, usually supplied by dew and shade. The first stains usually appear on the north-facing sides of a roof, which receives less light, and in areas with heavy tree coverage. Algae travels through the air, so if one neighbor receives a few spores, the whole neighborhood will soon be sporting the black streaks.  Unfortunarly, they love to feed on the calcium carbonate contained in most asphalt shingles.  According to Tom Bollnow of the Asphalt Roofing Manufacturers Association (ARMA), “The algae is mostly an aesthetic nuisance, although with time, the moisture retained in the algae can prematurely age the shingles.”

No matter how tempting, don’t attack the discoloration with a high pressure washing system, which will affect the integrity of shingles. Instead, William Woodring, the Director of Technical Services at GAF, suggests gently spraying on a solution made from one cup of trisodium phosphate (available at most hardware stores), one gallon of bleach, and five gallons of water and letting it sit for about twenty minutes. “Apply the treatment on a cloudy day so the liquid doesn’t just evaporate,” says Woodring. Be sure to protect the plants and bushes that might be affected by the bleach runoff with plastic tarps. Then, rinse with a soft-pressure wash.

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Posted in Roofing & Siding | 0 Comments »

 
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