Handy Man Fix Home Repair » Cabinets

6 Ways to Childproof Your Home

keira — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 16:54:17 +0000

Children are a blessing, but if you are expecting a new arrival, there are quite a few things that you will need to do to your home to make sure that it is childproof. As soon as they are able to crawl, they are able to get hurt, so it is vital to take necessary steps to secure your home. Luckily, most of these fixes are very simple and practically anyone can childproof a home. You don’t need to bubble wrap everything, but it is a good idea to really use a sharp eye around your home to see where the trouble areas are.

1. Outlet covers.

The first place to start is your outlets. They are right at infant/toddler level and electrocution is devastating. You can simply cap outlets to prevent children from sticking their fingers inside. There are also plug protectors available that will prevent children from unplugging a device and getting hurt.

2. Installing cabinet locks.

While it may not be feasible to remove all dangerous cleaning products, medicine and other dangerous items from your home, it is easy enough to install cabinet locks. We highly recommend these for any home with children and they can easily divert a disaster.

3. Sharp edges.

If you have tables, counters, or anything with a sharp edge, it is vital to either replace them, or purchase end covers that will provide a softer surface. Kids fall, especially when they are learning to walk, and a sharp edge may cause a head trauma. In a pinch, foam tape on these corners will work wonders.

4. Child safety gates.

These are very important, especially for children that are able to crawl or just starting to walk. They should be placed in doorways to rooms where children should not enter, and at the top and bottom of stairs. We highly recommend adding one to kitchens since this is an area where injuries frequently occur.

5. Securing decks.

Your deck may look safe to you, but imagine if you are only a few feet tall. Could you get your head stuck between the railings, or worse, fall through? Purchase sturdy lattice that can be nailed in or consider adding a steel mesh around these areas to prevent these accidents from occurring.

6. Curtain and Blind cords.

Every year, thousands of children die as a result of improperly secured curtain and blind cords. It is absolutely vital to make sure that they cannot reach these cords. Remove them from reach and secure them so that there is not enough cord for a child to play with.

There are also a few other considerations to think about. One accident that is unfortunately highly common is a problem with countertop fryers. If they are placed to close to an edge, or a cord is hanging down, it is all too easy for a child to pull it down on themselves. By taking steps to avoid a tragedy, you can rest assured that your children are protected.

Photo Credits: 1

Originally posted 2008-09-25 05:32:02. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Related Posts

How to Find Wall Studs Whether you’re hanging a picture or thinking about adding a door, finding hidden wall studs is no easy task. There is of course the method of thumping on the wall, but this is not very accurate and there is a lot of room for error. If you’re dealing with a......
Basic Tools – A Home Repair Guide Anyone who has had to hire someone to perform a simple home repair for them knows that it’s just not worth it. Repair services charge a lot to fix even the most basic problems, and if you have a major issue then it’s that much worse. Many people have been......
Proper Home Heating and Cooling Maintenance If you want to keep repairs at bay, home heating and cooling maintenance are vital. Rather than ignoring your appliances until you reach the point where they cannot be repaired, it is important that homeowners worry about consistent upkeep. A little bit of simple maintenance is usually enough to save......
Dealing with Mildew in Your Home As the warmer months approach, many of us have to deal with the ugly problem of mildew. From bathrooms, to kitchens to basically anywhere where there is water, mildew can be a health risk and it is incredibly unsightly and in many cases, very smelly. However, there are a few......
10 Ideas for DIY Home Improvement There are a lot of different DIY home improvement projects that you can take advantage of in order to change up the look and feel of your home quickly, easily and effectively. Why pay an arm and a leg for contractors and professionals when you can make grand changes to......

Online Stores

The Credit Crunch and Your Home – Raise its Value

keira — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 02:40:43 +0000

With the recent economic crisis, a lot of individuals are worried about property values in light of the current events. While nothing can be said to predict just how everything can pan out, there are steps that you can perform to raise the value of your home and give yourself some wealth during these turbulent times.

The number one place to improve the value of your home is the kitchen. Renovations there are going to be worth and additional 92.9 percent of what you put in. Bathroom improvements are a close second at 90.1 percent. Additionally, improvements elsewhere in the home (and on the outside) will increase the value of the home and give you something that will be a great asset for you.

Paint the Cabinets -

Replacing the cabinets can be a costly endeavor, so it is much cheaper to paint the cabinets or re-stain them. It is wise to pick neutral colors that are not black or white. A color near the middle of bright and dark is good and for extra protection and ease of cleaning, pick a paint that is mild, matte finished and weather proof.

Improvements by Replacing all old Appliances -

Your cabinets could be stellar, everything looks perfect, but the value of the furniture lessens the appeal of a kitchen. The cheap way to get them replaced is to visit a scratch and ding facility, with most appliances 50 to 70% off. They are likely guaranteed to look new compared to the old furniture, and that raises the potential value greatly.

Improve Bathtub and Shower Fixture Improvements

One way to increase the apparent size of a bathroom is to replace a shower curtain with a glass door, and by replacing the shower head with one more luxurious, you have turned a small bathroom into a lavish getaway. The glass door lets light in, and allows the viewer to see past the edge of the shower and see a larger space.

Paint Improvements -

This is the easiest thing that one can do to make the house more inviting is to freshen up the pain in all of the rooms. Pick neutral colors, since a colors are personal and a more bold look could make the house worth lesser than before.

Conclusion -

The value of your home is a measure of what a potential buyer will pay for the abode. The key to successfully raising the value of a home is the anticipation of what will and will not be desirable enough. One of the best ways to do this is to think of a change and consider what would cause the change to fail for you. Then you'll think of the appropriate and safe colors to use, and enough to make the environment one that is welcoming and will make the new tenets feel like they are getting a new home.

Photo Credits: 1

Originally posted 2008-10-27 05:57:35. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Related Posts

How to Save Power in Summer Summer is usually synonymous with high electricity costs and as our cities become more overloaded, there has never been a better time to start saving power during these months. It's actually quite easy to start cutting your power costs, and it only takes a few minutes to implement some changes......
Establishing Remodel Cost: Home Remodeling Critical First Step Nothing ruins a fantastic remodel more quickly than exceeding the project budget. Why is this phenomenon so common in residential remodeling? Simple: Many homeowners struggle to establish a detailed budget at the appropriate time in the course of the project. Why is establishing remodel cost one of your most important......
Review: Welcome Home: A Home Improvement and Decorating Organizer by Christina Poggi and Nick Beilenson Welcome Home: A Home Improvement and Decorating Organizer is released as a three ring binder, with each of its many pages ready to store information about your home. Included are pages for placing contact information for your realtor, repair people, utilities, and other important contact information. It will also help......
Kitchen Remodeling Ideas Under $1000 If you've spent much time looking through magazine or home improvements stores, you might not realize that some of the best kitchen remodeling ideas are small ones. In most areas, a high-end, completely top to bottom kitchen overhaul is less likely to give you a return on your investment when......
Three Great Easy DIY Projects Sometimes, all it takes to improve the look and feel of your home is a simple DIY project. It doesn't have to take too much effort or be difficult. Not only will this make your space a more interesting place to live, but it will increase the value of your......

Online Stores

Kitchen Cabinet Remodeling: Refinish or Reface?

keira — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 13:56:44 +0000

Instead of replacing your kitchen cabinetry when you redo your kitchen, you can save money and hassle by cabinet remodeling instead. Rather than the need to remove the old cabinets and install new ones (or pay someone to do it) you can opt to either refinish or reface your cabinets. What's the difference between refinishing and refacing?

Refinishing involves keeping your original cabinets and changing the finish, either through staining or painting. If your cabinets are any material other than wood, you can't refinish. Laminate cabinets, for instance, are a poor choice for cabinet remodeling. They won't hold paint and sanding or stripping will just destroy the surface. But if you have wooden cabinets that you want to change, refinishing is an option.

Refacing, on the other hand, involves leaving the cabinets in place but replacing drawer fronts and doors. This allows you to give your cabinets a new look and even a new style, no matter what materials they're made from. If replacing cabinet doors made from laminate, considering switching to wood to give yourself more durability and options in the future.

If you're kitchen cabinet remodeling and your cabinets are wood, you may wonder if either refinishing or refacing has any particular benefits. The choice between refinishing and refacing is chiefly personal. It depends on what you like, how much other kitchen remodeling you plan on doing, and how much you want to spend.

Refinishing is cheaper than refacing, because you're keeping all of your existing cabinetry. This option costs about 1/3 less than refacing. So if you're happy with your cabinets' look and the doors and drawer front are all in good shape, you can save money by refinishing. The cost is even less if you do the work yourself.

But bear in mind that stripping and refinishing the cabinets requires harsh chemicals and fumes, and it's work intensive. It's harder to get good results by refinishing when cabinet remodeling than if you were refacing, whether you finish them with stain or paint. You'll also need to purchase special equipment, if you don't regularly strip varnish and stain wood. If you're in doubt, hire a professional.

US $2.99

Sale

FRANCE NICE Vintage Travel Kitchen Fridge Magnet T6

US $2.99

Sale

Photo Credits: NancyHugoCKD.com

Originally posted 2009-09-16 12:19:58. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Related Posts

Easy Ways to Increase The Value of Your Home As the housing market continues to struggle, many homeowners are looking into ways to increase the value of their homes. However, a common issue that keeps these homeowners from making improvement is the lack of availability on home improvement loans, and a lack of available funding. Luckily, there are many......
How to Update Bathroom Cabinetry Whether you have only a little bathroom cabinetry or a large vanity and other cabinets throughout the room, updating the cabinetry can refresh your bathroom in the absence of a total remodel. Bathroom cabinets can start looking worn prematurely, usually much faster than kitchen cabinets, because of all the moisture......
Kitchen Remodeling Basics Remodeling your kitchen can dramatically increase the value of your home. Whether you are trying to sell your home or you just want it to look nicer, there are a lot of options you can use when remodeling your kitchen. Before you get started, you're going to want to come......
How to Install Kitchen Cabinets Installing new kitchen cabinets is a great way to give an old kitchen a facelift. In addition to being more useful, new kitchen cabinets can add value to your home and make it look a lot nicer. Before we get started, let's make sure you have all the tools you'll......
How to Choose and Install Cabinet Knobs and Pulls Cabinet knobs and pulls don't really get noticed much. At least, we've looked at our own for so many years we barely noticed them. It's something that's more easily noticed at someone else's house and at the home improvement store where there are dozens of different, eye-catching kinds. New cabinet......

Online Stores

Refacing Kitchen Cabinets: New Cabinets on a Budget

keira — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 08:47:45 +0000

Replacing kitchen cabinets can cost at least a few thousand dollars, but refacing kitchen cabinets can cost a great deal less. Refacing kitchen cabinets is a great option when you can't or don't want to refinish. If your cabinets aren't wood, you can't simply refinish them. And if the doors are damaged, warped or otherwise worn, your kitchen cabinetry is ready for a refacing project. Cabinet doors that don't open or close properly or that looked very dated are prime candidates for refacing.

One of the biggest boosts to a home's value is remodeling. And no remodeling project adds value like the kitchen, and to a lesser degree, the bath. So if you redo your kitchen cabinets, you can increase the value of your home as well as improve the appearance of the room.

It's affordable to have the refacing done by professionals, especially since you're saving thousands by refacing kitchen cabinets instead of refinishing or replacing. But there are materials available that let you do the project on your own, which will save you even more money.

When refacing kitchen cabinets, you have more options than ever before. Not only will you change the entire look of the cabinetry, you can improve your storage at the same time with shelves, rolling or sliding drawers and other great organizational features.

For professional refacing, they'll come out and measure your cabinetry and then set about creating custom-built doors and drawer fronts. For the DIYer, you can purchase the drawer fronts, doors and other facings to reface the cabinets yourself at less cost.

If you want to tackle refacing kitchen cabinets yourself but you're unsure about many of the changes, then try giving your cabinets an updated look with things like molding or new hardware. You can even purchase wood veneers. These veneers are applied with heat and give the cabinets the look of wood. You can then stain it just like regular wood.

And of course, since you're replacing your cabinet doors when you're refacing kitchen cabinets, you'll want to make the most dramatic difference here. You can choose doors in three different finishes from most companies: rigid thermofoils or RTF, wood, or plastic laminate. Wood is a classic choice, because then you can refinish it later and paint or stain if when it starts to look worn. RTF is the surface of fiberboard that can be made to look like a smooth, painted surface. Plastic laminate is popular and comes in many different colors but it's more expensive than RTF and not as durable.

You can also choose a different style of door. A flat-panel door is simple, while a slab is just flat and has no raised or recessed design. A framed glass door will be a drastic difference from years of dark or dingy cabinets.
Another thing you can do when refacing kitchen cabinets to make a dramatic difference is to switch from visible hinges to concealed or vice versa, as well as change out the knobs and drawer pulls.

Photo Credits: Greg_e

Originally posted 2009-09-12 12:20:19. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Related Posts

Buying a Circular Saw Circular saws are excellent tools, and are perceived to be one of the most common tools that you will find within a workshop. The circular saw was originally invented back in the year 1780. The circular saw is also regularly regarded as the Skil saw or the buzz saw, but......
Kitchen Cabinet Remodeling: Refinish or Reface? Instead of replacing your kitchen cabinetry when you redo your kitchen, you can save money and hassle by cabinet remodeling instead. Rather than the need to remove the old cabinets and install new ones (or pay someone to do it) you can opt to either refinish or reface your cabinets.......
Top Five Ways To Increase the Value of Your Home If you are looking for new ways to increase the overall value of your home, there are numerous projects that you can tackle on your own. Whether you are an experienced DIY’er, or just starting out, these projects are fun and add more than just monetary value to your home.......
Ways to Green Your Home There are many different ways that you can green your home and your options will vary depending on your home improvement skills and what your budget is. You can find lots of things to do on a low budget, but they might require more work on your end to get......
Taking Care of Stained Wooden Floors Whether you live in an old house that has original wooden floors, or if you have a pet problem with staining, taking care of stained wooden floors doesn’t have to be difficult. Before you think about replacing expensive wooden floors, there are a few options that you can try that......

Online Stores

How to Refinish Kitchen Cabinets

keira — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 07:16:27 +0000

If you choose to refinish kitchen cabinets instead of replace them, you'll save thousands of dollars on this improvement. From replacing cabinets at a cost of $3,000 to $5,000 to refinishing them for a few hundred, it's easy to see why this is a popular remodeling decision. Of course, you must have wood cabinets in order to be able to refinish them at all.

1. Remove the draw pulls knobs, hinges and other hardware.

2. With 100-grit sandpaper and a random orbital sander, sand the cabinet frames and doors. Use about 60-grit sandpaper for small areas. Be sure to retain sharp edges and don't sand down any detail or round off edges or corners.

3. Using wood putty, overfill any dings, nicks and dents then smooth it over with a flat surface like an edger or a flat tool. Once it's dry, sand it until smooth and the clean the wood with a damp cloth. After it's dry, you're ready to refinish kitchen cabinets with paint or stain.

4. You'll either want to apply stain at this point, if you want a wood look, or you'll use a primer to prepare for painting. Choose an oil-based primer. And don't scrimp on the brand. Spending more on great quality primer is worth it when you won't have deal with cabinets that are peeling or flaking down the road. If you have stained cabinets, particular from anything oily, and it won't come off, opt for a primer that doubles as a sealer to keep the stains from seeping through and showing in your paint job. Oil-based primer is more expensive and much messier to use, but oil-based primers and paints are much more durable than latex.

5. Using oil-based paint and long, smooth strokes, apply one coat of your choice of paint, starting at the backs of the kitchen cabinets to avoid dragging your arm through wet paint later. Choose an oil-based paint in semi-gloss or full-gloss to get a professional looking finished result. Let dry and apply a second coat.

6. Depending on the look you're going for, you can paint the trim and molding a different color than the base of the cabinets or the doors. If the doors have framing molding and they're square, then painting the open area on the doors can give a dramatic look, especially if it's vastly different that the framing molding.

US $8.99

Sale

Flourescent Cabinet Light 20 FA201HB

US $9.00

Sale

Photo Credits: raleighwoman

Originally posted 2009-09-15 03:33:12. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Related Posts

Beginners Guide to Wood Putty Most woodworkers that are novices do not realize how powerful wood putty can be. Most of them have probably heard about what wood putty is, and they may have even worked with it in the past, but because they never learned to harness its great powers, the results were poor.......
Refacing Kitchen Cabinets: New Cabinets on a Budget Replacing kitchen cabinets can cost at least a few thousand dollars, but refacing kitchen cabinets can cost a great deal less. Refacing kitchen cabinets is a great option when you can't or don't want to refinish. If your cabinets aren't wood, you can't simply refinish them. And if the doors......
4 Easy Little Touches Anyone Can Do To Their Home When it comes to home renovation, many people are under the impression that it means big projects that are costly. Actually, there are many different small and inexpensive projects that can be done that will not only make your house look great, but also increase its value. Most of these......
How to Choose and Install Cabinet Knobs and Pulls Cabinet knobs and pulls don't really get noticed much. At least, we've looked at our own for so many years we barely noticed them. It's something that's more easily noticed at someone else's house and at the home improvement store where there are dozens of different, eye-catching kinds. New cabinet......
Kitchen Remodeling Ideas Under $1000 If you've spent much time looking through magazine or home improvements stores, you might not realize that some of the best kitchen remodeling ideas are small ones. In most areas, a high-end, completely top to bottom kitchen overhaul is less likely to give you a return on your investment when......

Online Stores