Falls Church Fall Home Improvement 2022

Your Home: Design & Improvement

How to Banish Bathroom Clutter

BY TIM MCKEOUGH

Even the most beautiful, spa like bathroom can be defeated by a common foe: the clutter created by bottles, soaps, washcloths, toothbrushes, cosmetics and other toiletries left out on every available surface.

“The bathroom is a space that can set you up for success or failure in the day,” said Marissa Hagmeyer, co-founder of the home-organizing company Neat Method. “If it’s a disaster, it’s hard to get ready for the day, and you’re automatically heading out the door in a rough mood.”

But if your bathroom is neat and tidy — and every object has its place — “you can quickly locate what you need, do what you need to do, and get on with more important things,” Hagmeyer said. And at the end of the day, “you can come in, take a deep breath and relax.”

We asked professional organizers and designers how they banish bathroom clutter.

Take Stock of Storage Space

If your vanity drawers and medicine cabinet aren’t neatly organized — and you simply dump in whatever you buy from the drugstore — you may be surprised at how much space you already have. The best way to begin a bathroom cleanup, Hagmeyer said, is to take everything out and get rid of anything you know you’ll never use.

“When we’re organizing, people are really surprised by the number of samples and travel-size things they accumulate,” she said, in addition to expired bottles of lotion, sunscreen and medication. Keep only the few products you actually use, she advised, and dispose of everything else.

Once the purge is complete, look at how much storage space you have and consider whether the remaining items will fit in a reasonably uncluttered way.

Make More Room

If you conclude that you don’t have enough storage space in the bathroom to hold everything, it’s possible to create more.

During a renovation, one option is to recess one or a couple of cabinets into the wall cavity, between studs. “You’re capturing little nooks to create additional storage,” said Monica Fried, an interior designer in New York.

Many medicine cabinets are designed to be recessed into the wall above a vanity, but that is not the only option. Fried sometimes recesses shallow cabinets into other bathroom walls, with mirrored or painted doors. “Sometimes it’s a flat panel, so it just looks like part of the wall,” she said, but opens like a tiny closet to reveal toiletries.

Jessica Davis, founder of Atelier Davis, a design studio with offices in Atlanta and South Orange, New Jersey, has added armoire-size builtins to some bathrooms and semirecessed cabinets just a few inches deep to others.

“Shampoo and hair products don’t require a ton of space,” she

said. “It’s not like storing books on a shelf, where you need 12 inches of depth.” In the bathroom, 3 or 4 inches will usually suffice.

If you would rather avoid cutting

holes and mounting cabinets to the wall, an easier option is to add a freestanding piece of furniture. In larger bathrooms, some designers install

ORGANIZING YOUR BATHROOM Clutter

set

up

Rebuilding/Remodeling Your Home in Falls Church: The Process and Price

by Kylee Toland Falls Church

Home prices are increasing to a point where a person may label them as “skyrocketing,” many have turned to rebuilds and remodeling to keep up with these changes. In areas such as Falls Church, a permit must be received by a homeowner before starting to remodel or rebuild their home.

In the City, the permit ting process for remodeling/ rebuilding one’s home starts with determining if the work being done is in the City of Falls Church. According to The City of Falls Church web site, the mailing address “Falls Church, VA” extends far outside the City limits. For example, homeowners living in Bailey’s Crossroads, Columbia Pike and Seven Corners are technically

not in the City of Falls Church. This will allow a homeowner inside or outside the City to determine where to receive a permit.

The next step is to determine if a permit is required based on what a homeowner wants to do with their home. A homeowner does not need a permit for things such as painting or replacing windows in one’s house. A per mit is required if a homeowner decides to add/remove/change the height of the walls, add ing an opening or changing the size of an opening and anything “involving the framing or other structure of a wall.”

All permits require a signed application form. Maggie Redden, the senior communica tions specialist and marketing specialist for the City of Falls Church, said it is rare for a homeowner to apply for a per mit or inspection themselves; rather a licensed contractor will “lead the permitting process” of rebuilding/remodeling a house.

Redden said there are two types of plans required: grad ing plans and building plans.

Coming Soon Falls Church City

Grading plans cover the “site layout, water run-off and land scaping,” while building plans are “for the design of the home itself.” In most cases, the plans are submitted together, with the

Department of Public Works overseeing grading plans while the Building Safety Division reviews building plans.

REBUILDING ONE’S HOME in Falls Church is common nowadays. (Photo Courtesy: Rob Zimmerman)

FALLS CHURCH has seen many of its homes remodeled or totally rebuilt. These projects come in various forms, like this top floor addition. (Photo: Sue Johnson)

Honey, I Shrank the Lawn!

by Sandra Tarpinian

The impacts of climate change on our local weather patterns — more days over 90 degrees and flash droughts punctuated by flash flood ing — result in more stormwater flowing into our streams, rivers, and the Chesapeake Bay and carrying with it more fertilizers, pesticides, and debris. We now pay fees for the City to upgrade essential stormwa ter drain infrastructure to carry that water away. But what if we could keep more of that water on our prop erties in ways that would help slow, filter, and absorb it into the ground rather than running it into the street? We can, by adopting landscaping practices that provide long-term, sustainable solutions to stormwater management.

For decades, a green mown lawn has been the standard for home landscapes. Lawns are useful for play spaces, entertaining and pets. But turfgrass now covers more than 40 million acres in the continental U.S., making it the single largest irrigated crop in the country. Typical turf lawns, often made up of nonnative grass species, do not provide food or nutrition for wildlife (or

humans!) They require enormous amounts of fresh water and chemi cals to maintain. They are shallowrooted and absorb very little water into the ground, and the emissions from mowers, leaf blowers, and other lawn equipment contributes to climate change.

Ready to reduce the size of your lawn this year? Here’s how to start:

Step 1: Assess your lawn. Do you need lawn for use by the kids or the dog? Are there areas where the turf doesn’t grow well, or a slope that is difficult to mow? Is there a tree that has turf surrounding it where you could create a mulched bed?

Step 2: Track the flow of water onto and off your lawn during a heavy rain. Where is water leaving your property and running into the street or onto an adjoining property? Is water settling in an area every time it rains? These areas could be ideal locations for a new plant bed or a rain garden to better control storm water runoff. If water does not drain from an area within two days, the soil is likely compacted. Add more plants to beds uphill from such low spots, particularly in beds that roof downspouts flow into.

Step 3: Plan your lawn removal

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project over time. Almost every lawn has some possible place where turf can be removed and replaced with a mulched bed, ideally with a new tree or a few native plants, grasses, or shrubs installed. Remove lawn in manageable tasks that are reasonable for your time and energy. If you plant new trees or plants, you will want to factor in caring for them properly.

Step 4: Remove turf. One simple method is to define your area, lay down thick layers of newspaper, and cover the area with several inches of mulch. Over the winter the grass will die, and the newspaper will decompose. Another method is to dig up the turf, turn it over so roots face up, and cover the upside-down turf with several inches of mulch. By the spring, the soil should be ready to work. Turf is often planted on very compacted soil, so it is best to do a soil test when you are planting a new area. Soil test kits are available at most area libraries. The soil may need to be amended with leaf mulch or compost before you plant.

Step 5: Adopt new habits to maintain remaining turf. The fol lowing practices can also help with stormwater retention by improving the soil structure under our lawns.

Set mower height to 3 inches or higher: Taller turfgrass slows the rate of runoff and will produce a deeper and denser root system. Setting the

mower higher means mowing less often, too.

Retain grass clippings and chopped leaves on-site: A mulchmower is ideal for retaining and spreading clippings on your lawn.

The clippings decompose quickly, provide important nutrients for your lawn, and settle to create an organic layer on the soil that encourages stormwater infiltration.

Reconsider broadleaf. Clover provides nitrogen to turfgrass. Including clover or letting native violets take hold in your lawn creates a low meadow for bees and insects.

Step 6: Plant locally native trees and native plants. Tree leaf canopy slows the rainwater as it falls, and tree roots soak up gallons of water. Trees also store carbon, removing it from the atmosphere. Native plants

build deep root systems that absorb and filter stormwater, build the soil structure, and prevent erosion far more than turf. Native plants and trees are adapted to our climate and require little water, fertilizer, or maintenance once they are estab lished. And they feed the pollinators, who feed us!

In our area, there are now more sources for native plants and a great resource for learning more about native plants and trees is PlantNOVA.org. Learn more about rain gardens by searching rain garden design at fairfaxcounty. gov. And check out the RainSmart program at VPIS.org to find out how to qualify for rebates when you eliminate lawn and install planted mulched beds, rain gardens, and/or rain barrels.

GARDEN BED full of native plants. (Photo: Sandra Tarpinian)

The Permit Process Of Building In Falls Church

The Zoning Division reviews both sets of plans while the City and the contractor will notify neighbors of the impending work.

Before a permit can be issued, Redden said there are several things required. These include the grading plans being approved, utilities must be cut off, the site must be prepared for the work and bonds must be posted covering the demo lition clean-up, site maintenance and landscaping.

Once those requirements are met, the demolition permit is issued and the house can be remodeled/demolished. If the building plans are ready, the building permit can be issued with the demolition permit, so construction work can begin as soon as possible if the house is being demolished. Redden said the process typically takes “10 to 15 weeks” from application to permit issuance.

Permit fees vary with the size of the house remodeled/constructed, Redden said, with “typical fees” ranging from $12,000 to $16,000. She stated The City will inspect the work throughout the process to ensure “it is safe and correct.”

When the work is completed, the City will issue a Certificate of Occupancy which will allow move-in and use of the new home.

Rob Zimmermann, the owner of Zimmerman Homes, said the rebuilding of homes in the Falls Church has become “very common” as a lot of the original homes in the City are “too small for the modern family.” He said the process of building a new home has “increased to as much as 16 months from start to finish” so he recommends homeown ers to “plan ahead.”

If a homeowner wants more informa tion or has questions about the process or anything to do with permitting, visit fallschurchva.gov/Building or email per mits@fallschurchva.gov.

Renovation

Designing Space for Containers Helps in the Declutering Process

bathrooms, some designers install chests that look as if they were pulled out of a bedroom.

In smaller bathrooms, you could buy a multitier rolling cart that can be tucked under a washstand or in an unused corner, said Wendy Silberstein, founder of the Aesthetic Organizer in New York, who likes models from the Container Store. A rolling cart is “freestanding, and you can put a set of towels on the bottom and everyday items on top,” she said.

For a truly tiny bathroom with no available wall or floor space, Silberstein recommended an Elfa over-the-door rack with baskets.

Design the Inside of Drawers and Cabinets

When you’re ready to put your toiletries back into drawers and cabinets, grouping similar objects will help you keep things organized.

“You want to categorize everything — but think in broad categories,” Hagmeyer said. “Face, everyday things, lotion, hair, teeth, travel, vitamins, medicine. The broader you go, the more likely you’re actually

going to be able to keep up with it.”

Then use drawer dividers or small bins to keep each category separate. Silberstein likes using clear plastic bins, which makes it easy to see things stored in drawers and medicine cabinets. And she often removes products like cotton swabs, floss, bandages and razor blades from the packaging and stuffs them into bins, to minimize the amount of space they take up.

“It’s a money saver, because you can see everything that you own,” she said. “Not only is it easier to use, but you don’t keep restocking when you don’t need to,” she added, just because the box of cotton swabs has disappeared under the washcloths.

Larger items like hair dryers, brushes, toiletry bags and cleaning products can be stored in baskets that fit into a big drawer, cabinet or closet, or stowed under the sink.

Put Daily Items on Display

It’s impractical to store every last bottle in a drawer all of the time. Products you use every day — hand soap, shampoo, conditioner — should stay where you need them: by the sink, shower or bathtub.

If you plan to keep soap, a cup, a few cosmetics and perhaps a bottle of perfume on the vanity top, an easy way to make them look organized is to put them on an attractive tray. “That way, it’s all corralled into a single, beautiful small tray,” said Barbara Sallick, co-founder and senior vice president of design at Waterworks, whose latest book, “The Ultimate Bath,” will be published in September.

Develop a Plan for Linens

To keep your bathroom looking serene, figure out where you’ll put your towels and washcloths. A stack of clean, fluffy towels can be a beautiful thing, so when they’re freshly laundered, fold them nicely and pile them up in a closet or on a shelf. “They all need to get lined up, whether you sort them by color, by size or by trim,” Sallick said.

Once those linens are in use, you’ll need enough hanging space for every wet towel and washcloth — which isn’t always the case in busy households — to avoid having them left on a doorknob or tossed on the floor.

“It’s essential to buy hooks and

BATHROOM SHELVES allow for clutter to be out of sight and stored away.

By TIM MCKEOUGH © 2022 The New York Times