Photo: World Monument Foundation
My February trip to Havana with the Finca Vigía technical team was a short, three-day visit focused on paper conservation and the planning of a new laboratory. Ernest Hemingway’s home outside Havana was where he kept his personal library of over 9,000 books, journals, manuscripts and so on. Papa was a pack-rat and held onto all sorts of souvenirs, from bullfighting posters to shopping lists for his fishing trips.
We know that the kitchen is the most popular room in the house—and, as such, the one most homeowner’s dream of updating. That’s why we partnered with our friends at Amana to launch this month’s Bob Vila Ultimate Kitchen Give-Away.
Beginning today and every day this month, you can enter here for a chance to win a complete suite of Amana stainless steel appliances, including a French door refrigerator, self-cleaning range, Energy-Star dishwasher, and countertop microwave (combined value, $3,386 MSRP). You can also increase your chances of winning by entering daily on the Bob Vila Facebook page.
The Amana 25 cu. ft. French Door Refrigerator makes it easy and convenient to access the full fresh food compartment, outfitted with adjustable and EasyGlide glass shelves, clear door bins, dairy center, bottle caddy and more. The refrigerator offers TempAssure freshness along with a temperature-controlled Chef’s Pantry Drawer and two humidity-controlled Garden Fresh Crisper Drawers. An EasyFill internal water dispenser with a PUR water and ice filter is also included. ($1,899 MSRP)
Amana’s Self-Cleaning Gas Range features easy touch electronic controls and delay-start options that let you prepare meals based on your schedule. It also features an extra-large window and hidden bake burner to facilitate cooking with minimal clean-up. ($779 MSRP)
The Energy Star Tall Tub Dishwasher allows you to save money and conserve water and energy while cleaning dishes. The unit features heated dry, delay start, and high temperature wash options, along with a triple-filter wash system that leaves dishes spotless. ($429 MSRP)
The 2.0 cu. ft. countertop microwave—the largest in the Amana line—easily accommodates a 9″ x 13” dish. The appliance comes with 1,100 watts of power, 10 power levels, and a variety of auto-cook selections, including 7 sensor options that monitor humidity levels and adjusts cooking times. ($279 MSRP)
For official rules and entry, click here. Be sure to enter Bob Vila’s Ultimate Kitchen Giveaway daily on the site and on Facebook to increase your chances of winning.
Looking for more fabulous kitchen appliances? Be sure to visit Amana.
The “Bob Vila’s Ultimate Kitchen Giveaway” sweepstakes is open only to permanent legal U.S. residents. No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited. Contest Period runs from 12:00 a.m. (EST) Tuesday, May 1, 2012 through 11:59 p.m. (ET) Thursday, May 31, 2012. One entry per household per day on BobVila.com and/or Facebook. Alternative means of entry for Drawing is available by faxing your name and address to 508-437-8486 during the applicable Entry Period. Odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries received. See Official Rules.
Sandra Ramos' "No Matter How Much I Run, I Can't Arrive" (2003)/ Photo courtesy: The Farber Collection
I’ve been fortunate to have had the opportunity to travel to Cuba three times in the last several months. Each trip was associated with a particular group or project, as individuals are still not able to travel to Cuba on their own legally. If you are of Cuban descent, as I am, and you have relatives on the island, then you can obtain a permit easily to go visit family. Otherwise you need to go with a group.
Friends from the San Francisco Art Institute invited me to join them on one such trip to tour the art museums in Havana and meet with contemporary artists in their studios. Many of these artists have made their reputations in Latin America and Europe, but because of the trade embargo that our country has imposed on Cuba for over 50 years, they remain relatively unknown here.
Two of my favorite Cuban artists are:
April has ushered in a burst of color, and we’re not just talking about floral blooms. According to a 2012 Spring Home Improvement Survey conducted by the National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI) and Sherwin-Williams, seven out of 10 homeowners are planning home improvement projects this spring—and of those, nearly half (49%) cite painting as their top “to do.”
It’s no secret that painting is one of the easiest ways to freshen up a tired bedroom or bath, give new life to a piece of furniture, add a splash of color to kitchen cabinets, or create enhanced curb appeal to the outside a home. To help consumers jump-start their spring paint projects, NARI and Sherwin-Williams have named this week National Painting Week (April 16-23).
There is nothing that stirs the senses quite like color. Consider how a sunny day affects your temperament, and why we are drawn to the color yellow when we want to create a cheery environment. Or how blues and greens are more restful colors, and red evokes feelings of passion, rage or danger. Color can alter our perceptions, making a small room appear larger and a big space more intimate.
It serves as a reflection of personal taste and style. We are identified by color as individuals—just look at your driver’s license or passport. And conversely, we use color as a means of defining who we are, from changing hair color to choosing clothes that will make us look younger, slimmer and hipper.
Don’t think that designers, marketers and advertisers haven’t realized the impact that color has on brand recognition and consumer purchasing. Just envision the purple and orange coloring of FedEx, the Starbucks green, the Coca Cola red and the golden arches of McDonald’s. They are recognized as much for their color as they are their logo design.
When we were weighing options for our home, a new construction, I was almost certain we wouldn’t elect to put in a central vac system. The price tag was high—we could buy 5-10 amazing vacuums for what the system would cost to install. Besides, what did I care? I’d always hated vacuuming and left most of it for my husband. But when I saw the way his eyes lit up at the salesman’s pitch during our selections appointment, I decided we should splurge. It would make him immensely happy, I knew.
It’s easy to overlook the obvious, especially when you’re busy, distracted or anxious to get something done. But oversights when tackling home improvements, and even routine chores, can have serious consequences, particularly when it comes to personal safety.
In Preventing Home Accidents (Hunter House, 2012), author and certified safety professional Dan Hannan, serves up a comprehensive guide for raising home-saftey awareness. As an experienced safety educator and trainer, Hannan acknowledges that, while safety isn’t the most thrilling topic, it is an important one; especially since 46 percent of all accidental deaths each year occur in the home, outpacing automobile and workplace fatalities combined (according to the National Safety Council).
One benefit of moving to suburbia from New York City and building a new home was getting to customize our space. At the top of our must-haves list for the house was what we’d had too few of in our old apartment—windows. You have to understand, city life can be dark. In many midtown apartments, you’re lucky to have more than 3 or 4 windows, and even luckier if they don’t face an air shaft. So when we were choosing options for the house, we chose light, light, light!
It may strike you as odd for a home improvement web site to publish an Oscar-related blog post, but while Bob Vila is surely a leading man of our DIY world, it may surprise you that he actually shares common ground with a number of Oscar-nominated actors—including one up for top honors this Sunday. With just three days before the live telecast of the 84th Annual Academy Awards in Los Angeles, here is our salute to some of the other leading men of home improvement:
Harrison Ford/Fanshare.com
We know HARRISON FORD for countless films, from American Graffiti to his best-actor-nominated performance in Witness, but he is most often remembered for his role as Han Solo in the original Star Wars trilogy and as the title character in the Indiana Jones movies. Before his career took off, Ford paid the bills as a carpenter—a self-taught carpenter, that is. “I bought a house in the Hollywood Hills and started to fix it up,” the actor told Barbara Walters in a 1977 ABC Specials Reports. “I got some books on carpentry and started buying a few tools. Pretty soon I had too much invested in tools to buy materials. So I went and got a job as a carpenter,” he said. In that role, he became a stagehand for The Doors, built a sun deck for Sally Kellerman (the original “Hot Lips” Houlihan in M.A.S.H.), and assembled a recording studio for musician Sergio Mendes. It was his carpentry work for director George Lucas, however, that would be the job that paid off. In 1975, Lucas hired Ford to read lines for actors auditioning for parts in Star Wars and eventually cast him in the part of Han Solo. Clearly, good carpentry pays off!
The Noonan family's first trip to the basement
Late in 2010, my husband and I, and our two young children (2 and 9 months old), moved from our teensy New York City apartment to Southern Delaware and began the process of building a new house. It was like hitting the square-footage jackpot—we could afford so much more for the same money. We were like kids in a candy store. First on our wish list: a full basement. We fantasized about a home gym, an office, a playroom for the kids, storage for tools, a craft area, media room, kitchenette, and guest room with an extra bath!
