Updating a Kitchen
Just last week, I was browsing around our local super home improvement store when I stopped to look at the kitchens that were on display. It caught my eye that the counter tops were no longer granite which is what I had gotten used to seeing in every store and every ad. So I decided to ask a sales person about the current counter top trend. I could not believe that the trend for the modern kitchen was now solid surface counter tops again. What is a homeowner to do!? Styles are constantly changing.
Today’s modern kitchen is all about open wide space. The kitchen has now become a part of the family room and the living room. In some places, it is called a great room. If you have an older kitchen that is cut off from the rest of the rooms, you can remedy this by taking down a connecting wall. It gives the appearance of a much larger room and no longer cuts off the activity of the kitchen. I once owned a home that had a separation wall between the kitchen and living room. The previous owner cut out a portion of the wall creating a large window opening to the living room. This worked great since it opened up the spaces but kept the living room noise out of the kitchen.
Another trend happening today is color. Appliances are being made in different colors while kitchen walls are being painted bright and bold. Even kitchen cabinets are now available in colors for a modern look.
Flat panel televisions are finding their way onto kitchen walls today. Refrigerators are being made with LCD TV’s on the door since 2005. High tech televisions in the kitchen are definitely part of today’s trend.
Some kitchen cabinets are looking more like furniture. Decorative moldings and raised feet on cabinets are the latest choices for remodeling a kitchen.
The one sink kitchen is gone. Any kitchen that has an island is now equipped with an additional sink similar to a wet bar. I found out when looking around that a lot of today’s trends for the modern kitchen are actually a blast from the past. The bright colors, the decorative moldings and the raised feet have all been around already. They’re just back in style again. So don’t get rid of that granite counter top. It is sure to be tomorrow’s trend.
I think next week I will check out what’s new in small appliances. I wonder if bread makers and pasta machines are on their way back.
If you have seen any new trends out there for the kitchen, let us know so we can keep up to date with what’s going on. Maybe the things we have packed away are in style again.
Divine Designs with Candice Olsen: Kitchens and Baths
Installing Kitchen Cabinets and Countertops: with Tom Law
Trading Spaces - Great Kitchen Designs and More
Blog Carnival Edition No. 4
Welcome to the July 30, 2008 edition of a carnival of everything home. The next carnival is scheduled for August 13th.
Remember to include a link back to this post. Thank you to everyone who contributed and is a part of this Carnival. I really enjoy hosting it and reading all of the posts. Enjoy!!
Green Living
Tiffany Washko presents Scrapping Green posted at Natural Family Living Blog.
Amanda Harris presents The Green Glass Company posted at Pajama Mommy.
Lovelyn presents Natural Weed Killer posted at The Art of Balanced Living.
Ben Dinsmore presents Heating Your Home with Geothermal Energy Can Save You Big! posted at Trees Full of Money, saying, “Geothermal heat pump systems are without question one of the most exciting products in the world’s quest for alternative and renewable energy sources.”
Jeff Tincher presents I Was Shocked to Learn My Daily Water Consumption | West Glenmoore, PA - Beautiful. Green. Home. posted at West Glenmoore, PA - Beautiful. Green. Home..
Kristy presents Money Monday: Carless for a Month posted at Our Life in Colorado, saying, “Can we boycott gas for a month?”
Fiona Lohrenz presents Going Organic…Why We Should! posted at Child Care Only.
michelle presents Green Tips to Save Money on Your Bills This Summer posted at InventorSpot.com.
Lane Wright presents Reducing Your Carbon Footprint posted at Vegan Bits.
Home Improvement
Alaia Williams presents What does your closet look like? « One Organized Life Blog posted at One Organized Life Blog, saying, “So, when doing your own organizing - in your closet or elsewhere - keep your focus on what is important to you.”
George L Smyth presents One Minute How-To - How To Finish New Furniture posted at George L Smyth, saying, “Marc Spagnuolo explains the steps that will allow you to properly finish that new piece of furniture.”
Mark J. Donovan presents Basement Remodeling | Finishing Basement | Finished Basement posted at HomeAdditionPlus, saying, “This article provides some important advice on embarking on a basement remodeling project.”
john carroll presents Economic forecast and home replacement windows: What you should watch for posted at Replacement Windows | US Home Improvement, saying, “Replacement windows wil save you money.”
Andrew Caxton presents Home Decorating Reviews Blog posted at Home Decorating Reviews.
Raymond presents How To Kill Roaches And Get Rid Of A Home Cockroach Infestation posted at Money Blue Book.
Marsha Hudnall presents Healthy Eating: Saving Money at the Grocery Store posted at A Weight Lifted, saying, “Money-saving tips for grocery shopping”
Other
AdmirableIndia.com presents Trip to Ooty: Day 2: Part 1: Ooty Lake - Boat House and Thread garden, Ooty posted at AdmirableIndia.com.
TherapyDoc presents The Denial of Aging posted at Everyone Needs Therapy, saying, “Getting older means it gets harder to fix that faucet.”
Sheila Danzig presents Free to Earn a College Degree posted at Degree Talk Blog.
Fiona Lohrenz presents So You Want to Start a Home Day Care Business? posted at Child Care Only.
Jason Rusch presents Info On A Boxer Dog Diet posted at boxerdogessentials.com.
Laura Williams presents Around the Homestead Today… posted at Laura Williams’ Musings, saying, “Gardening and Canning”
Michael Davis presents 20 Money Saving Tips For Traveling with a Large Group. posted at Family Hack, saying, “A mother of seven shares tips on traveling cheaply with a large group.”
Jason Rusch presents More Useful Boxer Dog Training Tips posted at boxerdogessentials.com.
Andrew Scotchmer presents How To Better Budget Your Income posted at Complete Kaizen, saying, “How to tweak your household income and have more to spend and save.”
Larry Russell presents Living Expense Tracking Methods posted at Pasadena Financial Planner.
GP presents You Gotta Get Out of Your Kitchen posted at Innstyle Montana- Come on Inn, saying, “Beliefs about what we should be able to do often get in the way of actually doing. We feel we should be more organized, more creative, better in one way or another.”
John McKeen presents Rice Cooker - The Different Between Fuzzy Logic & One Button Rice Cooker posted at Rice Cooker Review.
GP presents Can?t Curb my Enthusiasm posted at Innstyle Montana- Come on Inn, saying, “Down home lessons learned from our horses.”
Real Estate
Adam presents How to Beat Mortgage Fraud posted at Mahler & Associates Appraisals, saying, “Mortgage fraud is a hot button issue in today’s housing market. Find out how to protect yourself from being the next homeowner to be foreclosed on.”
Adam presents Is Buying That House Right Now Right For You? posted at Mahler & Associates Appraisals, saying, “Before you jump into the housing market, which is beginning to lean more towards buyers, you need to ask yourself a few hard questions.”
Adam presents Feds to Release New Mortgage Lending Bill?Is It Good or Bad? posted at Mahler & Associates Appraisals, saying, “Who will this new bill really help?”
Adam presents The New Housing Market Bill Finally Passes the Senate. posted at Mahler & Associates Appraisals.
Adam presents The Government Seizes IndyMac Bank?What Does That Mean? posted at Mahler & Associates Appraisals, saying, “What does this seizure mean to the average person in the housing market, or who banks with IndyMac>”
Adam presents Mortgage Rates Are On The Way Back Down posted at Mahler & Associates Appraisals, saying, “Mortgage rates fell last week, after the Federal Reserve declared that inflation would level off sometime later this year. This news was released by the troubled Freddie Mac mortgage company.”
Joe Manausa presents Understanding Trends In Real Estate posted at Tallahassee Real Estate Blog, saying, “Actual inventory trend analysis helps us to understand the overall movement of our residential inventory over a period of time. Of all the trends in real estate that we study, inventory trends are the most important. The longer the period of time that we study, the less that “noise” affects our view.”
Adam presents What Happens To IndyMac?s Customers Now? posted at Mahler & Associates Appraisals, saying, “Now that the government has taken over IndyMac Bank, what happens to all their customers? That’s the question I’m sure thousands of people are asking themselves today. With the housing market already in a downward spiral, the seizure of one of the nation’s top mortgage lending companies only adds to the fear and confusion everybody in the real estate business is feeling, not to mention all the homeowners who got their mortgage through IndyMac. Even worse is the fact that IndyMac also has thousands of customers who bank with them.”
Adam presents Where is the Housing Market Headed? posted at Mahler & Associates Appraisals, saying, “the housing market slump may be just the thing you’ve been waiting for. With more and more homes going into foreclosure everyday and sellers getting so desperate to get out of the house they can no longer afford, there are many deals in real estate popping up all over the nation.”
Adam presents The Fed?s New Housing Bill Released?Too Late for IndyMac Bank posted at Mahler & Associates Appraisals, saying, “The Feds new housing bill is meant to protect the public from shady mortgage lending, but did it come too late?”
Adam presents Bush Lays Out Plan to Save the Housing Market posted at Mahler & Associates Appraisals, saying, “President Bush held a press conference today where he implied that saving mortgage lenders Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae and opening up offshore drilling where the answers to our country’s current economical problems. I don’t know enough about the world of finance to fully evaluate his plan, but I do know that oil had nothing to do with the housing market crash. True the price of gas is effecting the real estate industry right now, but the problem was originally created by shady mortgage lending practices that got people into homes the couldn’t afford.”
Adam presents How to Spot a Rise in the Housing Market posted at Mahler & Associates Appraisals, saying, “Ok, so the news doesn’t look so good for the housing market right now what with IndyMac being seized by the government and mortgage lenders Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae’s stock plummeting. But take heart, because real estate always seems to rebound, and in fact, there are areas of the nation that are beginning to see a brighter future.”
Adam presents Why The Rising Costs of Buying a Home Could Be a Good Thing posted at Mahler & Associates Appraisals, saying, “Here’s the good news; more and more people are calling mortgage lenders to check on home loans. Here’s the bad news; the price of getting into the housing market is higher because those in the real estate industry are tightening the requirements.”
maria gudelis presents Main Principle of Value in Real Estate posted at Maria Gudelis.
Adam presents Why the Future Now Looks Bright for Freddie Mac posted at Mahler & Associates Appraisals, saying, “Freddie Mac has a plan to stay in business and save taxpayers money. One of the nation’s top mortgage lenders, Freddie Mac, has been facing some serious financial problems of late, which has had severe implications for the housing market and real estate industry. But, on Friday, Freddie Mac announced plans to raise $5.5 billion by selling common and preferred stock, in order to bolster their economic outlook.”
maria gudelis presents Question to You - Does a Stripper Pole in Master Bedroom Increase Value of a Home? posted at Maria Gudelis.
Tammy Powell presents 3 Shocking Discoveries I Made after 52 Calls to Pre-Foreclosure Sellers posted at Majestic Tech by an Enlightened Wealth Institute student.
Joe Manausa presents Housing Prices Decline Slightly - A Clear Picture Is Forming posted at Tallahassee Real Estate Blog, saying, “While there have been many articles written on the declining real estate market, most are filled with facts and figures that are difficult for the lay-person to follow. This article is filled with easy-to-understand graphs that demonstrate the modest decline in home prices.”
Adam presents Increase the Value of Your Home Without Breaking the Bank posted at Mahler & Associates Appraisals, saying, “it’s always a good idea to spruce up your little corner of the world; it will help increase the value of your home and make you feel like you are living in a little piece of heaven. One more plus is the fact that mortgage lenders hire real estate appraisers to research the value of your home, and the better it looks, the more money you can get for it.”
Adam presents Nervous Home Buyers May Miss Their Chance at Cashing in posted at Mahler & Associates Appraisals, saying, “Is now the right time to get into the housing market? That’s what many people are asking themselves. With the price of real estate falling on a daily basis and more and more homes going into foreclosure, the future is looking bright for people who couldn’t afford to buy a house when the market was more favorable for sellers. While it is true that many mortgage lenders out there have either decided to stop giving out new mortgage loans or tightening up their qualifications for a mortgage loan, there are still mortgage lenders out there who are willing and able to take a chance on a qualified buyer.”
That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of a carnival of everything home using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.
Technorati tags: a carnival of everything home, blog carnival.
Money Saving Tips
Since the price of food and necessary groceries is going up, up, and up some more, I decided to post some more money saving tips. Some of these you may already be using and some your may never have heard of and then some I may have said before. Right now it seems that the majority of people are looking for ways to save in some areas so that they have the extra that is needed to spend in other areas of their life. Here is my most recent list:
- For outdoor lighting, use solar lights instead of electric.
- Instead of keeping the outside entrance light on all night, install a motion sensor.
- For indoors at night, use LED night lights which are now available.
- Cook with lids on the pots so that food heats faster.
- Turn off the heat dry cycle of your dishwasher.
- Don’t preheat the over unless it is really necessary. Most of the time it is only necessary for baking.
- Shut the oven or stove off a few minutes prior to the full cooking time. The heat will continue to cook the food.
- Insulate your electrical outlets and switches.
- Insulate your garage door with insulating foam sheets. Use tacky spray (used for headliners) to adhere to the surface.
- Use smart strips for plugging in electronics and turn off when nothing is in use.
- When landscaping, consider shading the house.
- Change your air conditioning filters so that the unit runs more efficiently.
- Keep your refrigerator and freezer full.
- Since it is summer, take shorter and cooler showers. Use a low flow shower head.
- If you wash dishes by hand, fill the sink at the beginning of the day with soap and water. As the day goes on, put the dirty dishes in and let soak. This will make washing time quicker.
- Don’t leave the television running while doing something else. Turn it off.
- Teach children to take showers and enjoy them while they are young. This will save filling that tub with water. Leave playing in the water for the kiddie pool which heats up in the sun.
- If possible, keep the exterior doors closed during the day so that the heat stays out too.
- Put weather-stripping around the garage entry door to the house. This will keep the heat from seeping into the house.
Finally, enjoy the summer months. Get outside as much as possible because when you come in, most of the time the house is going to feel cool.
If you have more money saving tips that you would like to share with the rest of us,, please do so by leaving them in the comments below.
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Outdoor Cooking
How To Avoid The Monoxide Burger
Have you ever had a Monoxide Burger? Do you know what it is? More importantly, do you know how to avoid having a Monoxide Burger?
During a recent visit to see our nephew, he told us a story about the Monoxide Burger. We had no idea what he was talking about. In fact, we didn’t know if we had ever had one. Is it from a foreign country being imported for us to eat? Everyone stood around in awe as he began his tall tale about his stepfather who invites him to dinner several times a week. Each time, dinner turns out to be a barbeque. His stepfather smothers the charcoal with lighting fluid. He waits as it soaks into the coals. Then he throws the match in and the flames flare up. Not a minute goes by, and the burgers are put on the grill. He has just created the Monoxide Burger. Don’t really know if there is a real chemical name for it but this is the name my nephew gave it. It is that delightfully, delicious burger now smothered with the flavor of lighting fluid, crispy on the outside and raw on the inside.
What a terrible taste! Anyone who has ever had one knows that unforgettable taste. I’m here to rescue you from making this mistake. Although it is simple and easy, you must make the time to prepare your charcoal barbeque correctly.
Tips For The Perfect Charcoal Barbeque
First of all, use regular charcoal. Do not be tempted to use charcoal that has been soaked in lighting fluid. Purchase lighting fluid separately and put it on the coals. Let it sit for awhile until it has soaked in.
In the meantime, spray the cooking grill with cooking spray or brush on olive oil or vegetable oil. This will keep food from sticking to the it.
Of course, you must light the barbeque. Once lit and the flames are roaring, you must wait and the waiting time all depends on how big the grill is and how much charcoal you have added. It is going to take awhile for the flames to die down. But you must wait. For a small grill, waiting time is around one-half hour.
When the coals are gray and the flames have died down, then and only then is the time to put food on the grill.
Remember to keep turning your food so that it does not burn on the outside. Each time you turn, you can baste it with your favorite sauce for more flavor.
By following these steps, you will have great tasting barbequed foods that are fully cooked and not burnt on the outside. It may sound too time consuming to wait for the charcoals to turn gray, but in the end your dinner will not taste like the Monoxide Burger.
Do you use a charcoal barbeque? Have you ever had a Monoxide Burger? Feel free to share your tips about charcoal barbequing. We love to share advice.
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Sharper Image 18-Piece Barbecue Tool Set with Case
Home Maintenance
Outdoor Home Maintenance
START BY TAKING A WALK AROUND YOUR HOME:
- Take a good look at your siding. Does it need to be replaced or painted?
- Inspect the walls and masonry for cracks or crumbling.
- Check the doors, window frames and trim and make a note of all deficiencies such as cracked caulking or peeling paint.
- Take a look at your gutters and downspouts for separation points that will need to be sealed. See if the gutters need to be cleaned out of debris such as old leaves.
- Check any outdoor wiring for wear and tear, breakage or fraying
- Take a look at your lawn so see if there are any patches that will need fresh seed.
- Check your roof for any damaged shingles that will need repairing. Look for cracks and peeling.
- Check the roof overhang for any water damage. Also take a look at the soffits and fascia.
- Check windows for broken glass and screens for tears.
- Look around for signs of termites. At the same time, check for any type of nests or rodent damage.
INSIDE HOME MAINTENANCE:
- It is time to change the filters in your heating and air conditioning systems.
- Check each room for paint that is cracked or peeled.
- Inspect each door, doorway and window from inside. Make sure that all seals including door jambs are still in good condition.
- Test the smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors. Now it the time to change batteries if you haven’t already done so.
- Look around your basement for water leaks. Any moisture can be a sign of trouble.
- Inspect for wood rot, termites and wood destroying organisms.
- Inspect your attic for openings or signs of water damage. Check for any signs of rodents such as nests.
This is just a basic ordinary list of what every homeowner should look for during their home maintenance checking. Each individual home will have its own distinctive things that will need to be checked. These things should be checking regularly to keep a home in tip top shape.
Cleaner Brush for Blinds/Shutt
