DasHaus AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2016
…a thousand words Murals add flare to any room in the home.
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CONTENTS
Always be prepared....4 September is Disaster Preparedness Month. Here are some tips to help you be prepared
At home6
One person’s junk....12 Junk markets have been popping up in the region the last few years.
Artist can provide unique addition to any room.
Das Haus is published and distributed by The Hays Daily News, 507 Main, Hays, KS 67601. Find it online at www.HDNews.net/DasHaus. Copyright Š 2016 Harris Enterprises. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. Das Haus is a registered trademark of The Hays Daily News. Printed by Northwestern Printers, 114 W. Ninth, Hays, KS 67601, northwesternprinters.com. Publisher, Patrick Lowry, plowry@dailynews.net Advertising Director, Mary Karst, maryk_ads@dailynews.net Designer, Nick McQueen nmcqueen@dailynews.net Account Executives: Joleen Fisher, Eric Rathke Creative Services: Chris Dechant, Jennifer Funk
Moving back........14 More and more, adult kids are moving back home.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT Linda Beech is a family and consumer science agent with K-State Research and Extension in Ellis County.
In case of emergency …
I 4 DAS HAUS August/September 2016
magine this scene. The doorbell rings at 3 a.m. to wake you from a deep sleep. You peek out to see a fireman in full gear standing at your front door. He tells you that your neighbor’s house is on fire and you must leave your home immediately. Would you be prepared for a situation like this? If you had to evacuate your home in the middle of the night, what would you take with you? Would you have the important information needed to recover if your
home was destroyed? This happened to us a few years ago when we lived in Garden City. We had time to grab coats and shoes, my husband’s wallet and my purse as we were ushered out the door. But that was all we had. Thankfully our home was not damaged, but afterward we reflected on how unprepared we were for that evacuation. Since then, we’ve taken steps to be better prepared for disaster.
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September is National Disaster Preparedness Month. In the weeks to come, K-State Research and Extension will be promoting Prepare Kansas, a statewide preparedness campaign. We’ll be sharing tips and tasks to prepare families and property in case of disaster. This is a great time to take action to become better prepared for emergencies. Prepare Kansas recommends these two important steps to help protect your family’s financial situation now and be able to recover and rebuild after a disaster: 1. Take inventory. You’ll need good records of your belongings after a disaster, both for insurance claims and to prove losses on your tax return. To get started, photograph or videotape every wall of every room of your home. Don’t forget the basement, attic, garage, outbuildings, etc. (It takes less time than you think — I photographed my entire house and garage in about an hour and a half). Open doors and drawers to photograph the contents of dressers, cabinets and closets. List large appliances, electronics and other valuables with model or serial numbers, appraisals, receipts or other records to prove the value of these items. Update your home inventory annually and store the images on a flash drive in a safe deposit box, on the internet cloud, or other safe location away from your home. 2. Make a grab-and-go kit. Assemble a set of your important papers in something you can quickly grab and take to the basement in case of a storm or take with you if you have to leave your home. Use a durable, sealed waterproof box, bag, backpack or briefcase. Put in copies of important papers that can help your family manage without access to your home for a long period of time. (Note: keep this information carefully secured and protected against unauthorized access.) Things to add to your grab-and-go kit might include: • Identification and other key documents that may be needed to prove identity and restore records, including copies of your driver’s license, social security cards, passports or
naturalization papers. • Copies of important legal papers such as birth certificates, deeds, mortgage documents, powers of attorney, wills and other papers which might be required after a disaster. • Copies of medical prescriptions, including eyeglasses, contacts and hearing aids. • Copies of children’s immunization records. • Copies of insurance cards and policies, including phone number of insurance agents. • Account information and phone numbers for all financial accounts. • List of important telephone numbers (family members, medical providers, attorney, religious advisor, etc.) • A copy of your home inventory– written and/or photos. • Safe deposit box key. • List of electronic access user ID’s and passwords. • List of monthly bills, contact information and when they are due.
• pocket notebook and pen or pencil for keeping records after a disaster. I hope a fireman never knocks on your door in the middle of the night. But my experience emphasizes the importance of being prepared. Taking time now to make sure your financial documents are up-to-date, accessible and ready to “grab and go” can save a lot of time and frustration in the event of a fire, storm, flood or other emergency. Want to learn more? Contact me at the Ellis County Extension Office, (785) 628-9430, to schedule a disaster preparedness program for your Ellis County group. For Prepare Kansas information via social media, follow us on Facebook. More information on creating a grab and go kit is available in the K-State Research and Extension publication “Get Financially Prepared: Take Steps Ahead of Disaster.” Use the search function at www.ksre.ksu.edu or contact the Ellis County Extension Office, 601 Main, Hays.
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AT HOME
Artist uses skills to add unique flare to living space
Unique touch A
Scott City artist is helping people see their walls as more than just a place to put solid colors. For about three and a half years, Mindy Allen has been living her dream of decorating people’s homes and workplaces with her business, Mindy’s Murals. “I love my job,” she said recently while in Hays to create a dinosaur-themed bedroom for Taylon, the 6-year-old son of Heather Kaiser. A T-rex looms over a lake, while
6 DAS HAUS August/September 2016
Story by Juno Ogle
a pteranodon soars nearby on the adjacent wall. On the opposite wall, a triceratops stands near a smoking volcano, and a velociraptor snarls on the fourth wall. The mural was partly to celebrate Taylon’s birthday in July. “I gave him a choice, superheroes, dinosaurs or Ninja Turtles,” Heather said. She found Allen through her Facebook page, Facebook.com/MindysMurals.
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Photos by Jolie Green
“I get excited when it’s something I haven’t done before.”
- Mindy Allen, Mindy’s Murals
“I think I’ve been following you for a couple of years and watching pictures and thinking, ‘Oh, I need something in the house,’ ” Heather said as Allen swept blue and white paint to create the lake in the T-rex scene. “I can’t believe how many people love it,” Allen said. “It’s not just kids in their bedroom.” Some jobs she’s done are as simple as a name painted on a wall, while others are more complex, such as a Dr. Suess theme that scrolls along all four walls of a bedroom. It’s not just homes, either. She has painted drinks and the school mascot on the walls at Scott City’s Sonic. At Jac’s Kitchen, a restaurant in Liberal, her murals depict local history, the famed pancake race, a local sports hall of fame and “The Wizard of Oz.” The first step on a new job is to determine what
the client wants and how much they are willing to spend, Allen said. She charges by the hour, with a minimum of $150. “If someone says they want dinosaurs, I can do one dinosaur, or I can do a whole room as a prehistoric forest with tons of dinosaurs. It just depends on how much money they want to spend. “Some people don’t care. At that point, I do whatever I want, which means painting a whole entire room,” she said. The most a client has paid is approximately $1,300 for a mural of the ninth hole at Augusta National Golf Course for a businessman’s office. “Most of the time people have a budget, so I try to stay within that,” she said. The murals take from one to three days to complete, depending on the complexity. She also charges a mileage fee, preferring to limit herself to a two-hour drive from Scott City so she can return home to her family, but she has painted in Kansas City and Salina. Her work also adorns walls in Liberal, Hugoton, Ulysses, Dodge City and Colby. “If people are willing to pay me for the travel and I can fit it into my schedule,
I will travel,” she said. While she will use pictures or a sketch of a particular item for the mural, Allen said she prefers not to draw out her ideas beforehand. “Some people ask for sketches, but I don’t really do sketches because, first of all, the amount of time it takes to sketch out every room I’m going to paint is a lot of extra time, and I don’t always get to see the rooms before I get there. “So I like to wait until I get there and make a plan from what I see. Once I show up, it might look totally different,” she said. She tries to accommodate the client’s vision as much as possible. Taylon, for example, wanted water and a volcano in his room. Once in a while, though, it just doesn’t work out, especially with kids. “Sometimes they have some pretty crazy ideas,” she said. “I can usually convince them this one thing isn’t going to look good. I’ll ask them what is one thing you really, really want and I try to get it in there.” Other popular concepts are favorite verses or quotes on walls, or sports logos for a guy’s “mancave.”
“When I paint a sports team for a man in their basement or whatever, they probably get more excited than some of the kids do,” Allen said. “Everyone has something different they want, I think,” she said. “I get excited when it’s something I haven’t done before.” Allen has always been an artist, she said, copying drawings from coloring books and magazines as a child. She studied graphic design at Kansas State University. After graduation, she married a farmer and moved back to Scott City. “There weren’t really a lot of jobs in graphic design,” she said. She designed advertising for the Garden City Telegram, then became a stay-at-home mom, dabbling in mural painting from time to time until her kids were older. Her son is now 20 and her daughter 17. “I opened up my own business framing pictures, and that’s when I started doing this,” she said. She soon was painting murals full time. “My goal is to give you what you want. That’s what I love about my job, is it makes people happy.”
Technology in the home The home is more automated than before
High-end upgrades FAMILY FEATURES
10 DAS HAUS August/September 2016
For most people, the home is their family’s most significant asset. Upgrading is a smart approach to protecting and growing the value of that investment. Home upgrades come in all shapes and sizes, from minor landscaping projects to large-scale security installations. When looking to make an impact, it’s smart to opt for high-end upgrades such as those that boost security or enhance the technologic features of your home. These upgrades not only lend an upscale feel, but can bring families peace of mind while enhancing the ways to enjoy their home. Home security Whether you’re aiming for a
stronger sense of personal safety or extra protection for your valuable possessions, today’s security systems take home monitoring to a whole new level. Basic keypad alarms have been replaced by a host of features, such as silent alarms that allow authorities to catch a burglar in action; cameras that allow you to monitor the premises from inside the home or while you’re away using a connected device; motion detectors that simultaneously trigger exterior and interior lights while activating security cameras and more. There is no one solution for every home, but a home security expert can talk through your concerns and guide you to the system that best fits your needs.
Standby generators When seasonal weather or other circumstances cause power outages, the impact on a home and family can range from inconvenient to unsafe. A standby generator system keeps a household humming even when the power is out — automatically. An important feature to look for is power management technology, which manages the power balancing act that is your home’s appliances. For example, Briggs & Stratton Fortress standby generators are equipped with Symphony II Power Management, which lets homeowners prioritize what in their home they need powered by proactively monitoring and managing the home’s backup power needs, allowing for whole-house power with a more affordable generator. This power management system also uses remote power-switching modules that are installed directly to a home’s existing wiring, to help reduce installation costs. For more information about standby generator systems and their features, visit powernow.com. Wireless automation You may think of it as just a phone, but the tiny computer you carry every day packs the power to control an ever-growing segment of your home. Using an app on your smartphone, tablet or computer, you can control everything from your locks and lights to the temperature setting on your thermostat. What’s more, you can create settings that integrate multiple functions to set the perfect ambiance
for whatever you have in mind. Planning on a movie night? Cue the movie setting, with dimmed lights, blinds lowered and the TV powered on. Hosting a party? Count on your custom entertaining setup, with lighting in all your guest-friendly rooms, lively music playing on your whole-home sound system and a lower temperature to
keep things cool as the party heats up. The options are nearly endless when it comes to elevating your home’s features. By combining practical functions and indulgent improvements, you can take your homeowner satisfaction to new heights. Family features
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Berry Berry Quite Contrary Kayla Berry is a stay-at-home mom who enjoys creating, decorating and re-purposing old furniture and decor.
Funky Junk E
12 DAS HAUS August/September 2016
ver been to a junk market? If not, you are missing out. The last few years, junk markets have really started to pop up all over the surrounding areas. They mostly take place sometime in spring or fall or in between, and can be outside or inside. Dozens of vendors rent a “booth” space and bring all their treasures to sell to people like you. Antiques, vintage items, re-purposed items, homemade items, junk, etc., usually are what you can expect to find at a junk market.
Looking for something unique for your home? There’s no better place to find it than there. Looking for something fun to do on a Saturday with all your friends? A junk market can be a whole day of fun. Shopping, browsing, hanging out with friends and family, eating good food, and meeting new people are all part of the junk market experience. These photos are a few of my booth at the Funky Junk Market in Holdredge, Neb.
Moving back More young adults today are living at home than away.
FAMILY FEATURES
Back to the nest
Practical tips to welcome adult kids back home
F
or the first time since 1880, more young people are living with their parents than any other living arrangement. A recent report from the Pew Research Center showed the number of 18- to 34-year-olds living at home is higher than the number of young adults who are married or cohabiting in their own home. From student loan debt to saving for their own home, young adults have many reasons for returning to the nest. However, if your child’s bedroom has been turned into your home office, gym or craft room, you might find their return home presents a unique set of challenges.
14 DAS HAUS August/September 2016
Adding living space Rather than give up your newfound space, look for other areas in the home to designate as a private room. Converting a garage or basement into a small apartment can provide a sense of independence. If you’re looking for something more short-term, consider a dual-duty room. Get creative with solutions such as murphy beds, which can turn any space into a multipurpose room. Storage Options
With another adult under your roof, additional storage becomes even more important. Young people circling back home often bring a large collection of things, meaning more clutter. A storage option such as ClosetMaid’s SpaceCreations offers the ideal solution. Whether it’s a walk-in, reach-in or custom shaped closet, this DIY system can be designed to fit your needs. Featuring frames you can customize with open shelving, hang rods, drawers or shoe shelves, SpaceCreations curb every type of clutter and replace it with a designer look and feel. Another win-win solution to combatting clutter is to help your new housemate decide what to keep and what can be tossed or sold. This can free up space and give your child a quick financial boost, and you can clear out some clutter of your own. Experts agree it’s best to handle the situation as if you are welcoming a new roommate, allowing families to reconnect as adult children get back on their feet. In the meantime, young people can save money for when the time comes to spread those wings again. Find more solutions for your unique living and organization needs at ClosetMaid.com.
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