SWN_RefineYourHome_0312

March 2012

INSPIRING IDEAS FOR INDOOR AND OUTDOOR LIVING

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Page 2 • March 15-17, 2012 •

Refine Your Home

Table of Contents

Spring Trends

Refine Your Home Inspiring Ideas for Indoor and Outdoor Living Vol. 3

No. 1

Spring 2012

Home improvement tips and ideas Garden fever Got an itch to start planting? While March is too early to start digging in the ground, Peter Moe of the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum offers these early-season tips:



SPRING TRENDS



News briefs on home improvement items

Garden fever, LED bulbs, fences, garages and more ................... 2

DESIGN ON A DIME Affordable Window Coverings

Try these cost-cutting ideas for your windows................................. 6

INTERIORS Clearing the Air

Keep your home’s air healthy ........................................................... 9

KITCHENS Renew or Re-do?

Planning your new kitchen............................................................ 12



Sow onion seeds indoors and provide good light for the seedlings as they emerge. Onions grown from seed and planted outdoors in May will produce the best bulbs.

Annual flowers, including ageratum, impatiens, dwarf marigold and petunias, may also be started indoors in March. Use a sterile seed starting mix, supplemental light and bottom heat for best results. Keep the lights close to the young seedlings and trans-plant to larger containers as the plants grow.

Plant dahlia, tuberous begonia and caladium bulbs in pots or flats using a soil mix containing slow release fertilizer.

Plants should be ready for transplant to mixed containers, hanging baskets or flower gardens in May.

Source: www.arboretum.umn.edu/gardeningtips.

ON THE COVER: Window coverings and treatments can be expensive. And, if you’re renting, you may not feel like putting a lot of money into a temporary investment. Even if you own your home, you may not feel as inclined to make major investments as you were a few years ago. So, for these reasons, and more, check out our story in this issue on affordable window coverings, which starts on Page 6.

Advertising Sales Director: Jennifer Sorenson Editor: Angelo Gentile Designer: Jennifer Baker Contributing Writer: Laura French Refine Your Home is produced quarterly by Southwest Newspapers. We value your feedback and suggestions.

Contact: Angelo Gentile, 952-345-6676; agentile@swpub.com Advertising Information To advertise, call Southwest Newspapers, 952-345-6477.

LED bulbs Looking for a bright idea? Try switching out your light bulbs for LEDs. Light-emitting diode bulbs (LEDs) can last upward of 50,000 hours (33 times longer than a traditional incandescent bulb) and consume very little energy, meaning an immediate impact on your electric bill. LED bulbs come in cool and warm white. They are also shatterproof, run cool to the touch and do not contain mercury like CFLs. LEDs do have one downside: the cost. An 8-watt LED bulb, which would replace a 75-watt incandescent, could cost between $30 and $40.

Refine Your Home • March 15-17, 2012 • Page 3

What’s hot in the kitchen?

Cook up a new idea for your kitchen this spring with these ideas from Sass Construction Inc. in Chanhassen.



Juxtaposition: Combining seemingly contrasting styles is an ongoing trend. For example, pair modern, painted white lacquer cabinets with black granite countertops or rustic hardwood floors. The juxtaposition of light and dark, modern and traditional will create an instantly classic space that can easily survive style changes and ever evolving trends.

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Page 4 • March 15-17, 2012 •

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

Refine Your Home

Furniture-style detailing: Fancy fixtures, such as decorative brackets or intricate hardware that you might find on armoires, can add a grand twist when applied to the kitchen. On your base cabinets, try applying furniturestyle feet to your toe-kicks to create the look of the unfitted cabinets.

Colorful countertops: A pop of color can help to transform a space. Showy surfaces and bright bold colors are becoming increasingly popular. Not quite ready for a bold blue tile counter? More conventional surfaces such as quartz can provide a subtler color injection when the hue is bold and unexpected.

A fresh fence Make your deck or fence really pop this spring with a fresh coat of paint or stain.

Among popular trends this spring is twotoning, mixing colors between floorboards and railings. One popular look includes using a translucent shade of cedar stain with a solid white stain on spindles, according to HandymanWire.com. Or consider complementary stain colors for benches and flower boxes.

Stenciling is also popular by adding shapes, lettering or repetitive patterns to your wood fences and decks, HandymanWire said. Purchase a precut stencil or make your own.

Source: blog.sassconstruction.com

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Refine Your Home • March 15-17, 2012 • Page 5

Tackling the garage Is your garage a catchall for unwanted items? Give it a good spring cleaning.

Here are some tips from the DIY Network: 1. Move everything out. You need to see what you’re working with. Categorize in common groups (gardening, tools, sports, etc…)

2. Dispose of old junk. If you didn’t know your old golf clubs were hiding behind your lawn furniture, you probably don’t need them anymore. Donate to charity, organize a garage sale, take solvents and motor oil to a household hazardous waste facility or toss junk in garbage.

3. Clean the floor. Sweep thoroughly before taking an old mop and hose to floor. Use laundry or automatic dishwashing deter-gent to remove oil stains.

4. Get organized. Instead of haphazardly refilling the garage, use storage units, peg boards, wire shelving and stackable clear bins to zone similar items.

5. Sweep out your garage regularly to keep clean.

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Page 6 • March 15-17, 2012 •

Refine Your Home

Design & Décor

Design on a

Dime

Try these cost-cutting ideas for your window coverings

By Laura French

Serving all of the South Metro

Window treatments are a major contributor to your home’s unique identity. But there’s the rub: Most often, the window coverings you purchase for one home won’t transfer to the next one. If you’re among the higher-than-usual percentage of people who are renting your home these days, you may not feel like putting a lot of money into a temporary investment, and your lease may not allow you to put up rods and valences.

Even if you own your home, you may not feel as inclined to make major investments as you were a few years ago.

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For those reasons, and more, it’s time to look at window coverings in a new light. As with any investment, the best money-saving tip is to be clear about what you want and what you’re trying to accomplish, so you don’t waste time and money on something that doesn’t work.

If privacy is the major concern, you can think window covering, rather than window treatment.

So-called “temporary shades” are a wonderful option, according to Betsy Kahler Sangrene, a Shakopee-based interior designer. RediShades are pleated paper shades that come in light-filtering, roomdarkening and blackout versions. They have two major advantages.

First, they’re inexpensive. Second, they require no tools or hardware for installation.

The “original” version can be cut to size with a utility knife. To install, just press the adhesive strip to the top of the window sash.

Raising the “original” is a somewhat tedious process—you gather the pleats by hand and fasten them at the desired height with the plastic clips provided. That means they’re best for installations that are going to be mostly down—a spare bedroom, the windows in or next to an outside door—or lowered only on rare occasions. A package of four 36-inch light-filtering shades is less than $20 at local home improvement stores.

Redi-Shades also come in corded and cordless versions that are easier to raise and lower. The price is comparable to inexpensive vinyl blinds, but you still get trim-and-stick installation. That makes them a money-saver if you’d have to hire someone to install them, and a life-saver if your lease doesn’t allow you to drill into walls or woodwork.

Window film is another no-hardware privacy option, with the added

Refine Your Home • March 15-17, 2012 • Page 7

or slits in the fabric and thread the rod through, or make smaller holes and tie yarn or ribbon around the pole. Sangrene’s basement office, which is adjacent to her husband’s man-cave, has curtains tied with rawhide laces.

Rubber bands can also be a decorating tool, Sangrene says. Use them to gather fabric into swags or poufy flowers or tie lengths of fabric together to drape the full width and length of the wall. Wrap the rubber band around an inconspicuously placed small nail, or use Command hooks, which mount with removable adhesive.

If drilling or nailing into the walls is an option, consider substituting dowels or tree branches for standard curtain rods.

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benefit of adding a bit of pizzazz to your windows. Films come in glass block, etched glass and stained glass patterns. The film limits your ability to see out, but it also blocks the UV rays that cause sun fading. Home improvement stores usually have a wide selection. There are also companies that will create window clings from your own photos or designs. You can even buy packages of window-cling film in 8 /12 x 11 sizes and print your own.

If you want the warmth and luxury of window treatments, ingenuity is called for. Once again, break the problem down into two separate components: Hardware and fabric.

If you can sew—even a little bit—you can create lush looks on a budget with fabric-store remnants and new or thrift-store shower curtains, sheets, tablecloths and even clothing.

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“I had a dress that I cut into panels and repurposed for a window,” Sangrene says. “It was one of those big, huge white t-shirt dresses that nobody wears anymore, but it had a hand-painted design on it.” Sheet and pillowcase sets sometimes come in coordinating patterns that can become curtains and valance, she says.

A no-sew solution, Sangrene says, is to layer two fabrics, cutting patterns in the front layer so the back layer shows through. Other no-sew options: Use t-pins to create fake pleats and traverse rod pins to hook two pieces of fabric together.

Tension rods for small windows, or shower rods for larger ones, create a solution that’s no-drill, as well. You can simply cut holes

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Refine Your Home

“When trying to make a statement, mount the hardware higher and wider to make illusion that window is bigger,” Sangrene says.

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Laura French is a Minneapolis-based freelance writer.

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Refine Your Home • March 15-17, 2012 • Page 9

Interiors

Clearing the Air Keep your home’s air healthy

By Laura French

M

ost of us put time and attention into making our homes look and feel warm, comfortable and safe.

But one of the most important comfort and safety factors is something we can’t see. The quality of indoor air can make all the difference between feeling healthy and alert and feeling groggy or even ill. Fortunately there are ways to prevent air quality problems or fix them when they occur.

One of the most serious indoor air problems in the Southwest metro area is radon gas. The Surgeon General has said that radon is second only to smoking as a cause of lung cancer. Test kits are inexpensive, readily available at hardware and home improvement stores, and testing takes only a few minutes. If your test is over 4 pCi/L, there is cause for concern, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

James Hunt, one of the owners of Quality Heating and Air Services, Inc. in Shakopee, says, “Some houses in Shakopee have had over 16 pCi/L. It’s amazing the number of houses that have had it.”

Hunt says newer homes are built with a vapor barrier under the basement concrete, with drain tile that collects the gas. In older homes, however, “open sump pits funnel radon gas into the house. That’s a big health hazard.”

Black mold, more formally known as aspergillus, is the other major health hazard in homes.

Hunt says that high moisture levels in winter can lead to mold problems as water vapor turns to water and then freezes inside walls. On the other hand, Hunt says, dry air is “hard on furniture and hard on your body.”

Refine Your Home

Page 10 • March 15-17, 2012 •

These days, there are lots of add-on devices for your home’s heating and cooling systems, Hunt says. “We have filtration that can kill mold and viruses, some that will capture things. There are options ranging from HEPA filters down to the regular one inch blue poly filters that just capture the big stuff,” he says.

One of the most important do-it-yourself solutions is to change the furnace filter frequently.

Hunt says that cleaning ductwork can be an option for people with sensitivities to dust mites or pet allergies—“especially the return ducts, because that’s the dirty air drawn in before the air filters. They’re larger ducts, the air is moving slower and things tend to settle out.”

According to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, many of the products we buy to upgrade our homes can actually downgrade air quality. Carpeting is a major culprit—it harbors dust mites, mold spores and other allergens. In addition, synthetic materials in carpets and pads as well as carpet adhesives can pollute the air. Consider hardwood, ceramic tile or stone. If you do install carpet or buy new furniture, do so in warm weather, when you

can leave windows open. You can also look for Green Label Plus, an industry standard that indicates the lowest available levels of emissions from carpet, cushions and adhesives.

If you’re painting, check the levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the paint. Oils are higher than latex formulas, and glossy finishes have more VOCs than flat finishes. You can also buy lowVOC paints from a range of manufacturers, including Hirschfield’s.

Even wood finishes now come in water-based formulas that have lower emissions. Natural Built Home, in south Minneapolis, offers a full range of environmentally friendly paints and primers, stains and even a soy-based paint stripper.

Many of us grew up thinking that a heavy pine or lemon scent was a sure sign that our floors, walls or sinks were clean. In fact, those chemical-based scents are simply another form of indoor air pollution. These days, there are natural alternatives. Do It Green, Minnesota! has a page of cleaning product recipes that are easy on the environment and gentle

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Refine Your Home• March 15-17, 2012 • Page 11

on your budget, as well. Use white vinegar as a fabric softener and a salt-and-lime solution to remove rust, for example. Go to http://www.doitgreen.org/article/diy/ household for more recipes and how-tos.

If you aren’t in a do-it-yourself mood, one of Minnesota’s oldest companies, J.R. Watkins, makes a full line of natural home care products. Their website is www. jrwatkins.com.

If you want to fill your home with fragrance, be sure you choose products that don’t fill it with hazardous chemicals, as well. There are commercial air fresheners that contain “such nasty chemicals as formaldehyde, petroleum distillates, limonene, esters and alcohols,” according to a November 2011 article in Time magazine.

The chemicals can cause headaches and dizziness and even induce asthma attacks.

Finally, you can take a tip from NASA, which conducted a study of houseplants to see which were most effective at filtering the air in the International Space Station. The winners: English ivy, spider plant, golden pothos and Peace lily. Use your green thumb to beautify your home and clear the air.

Laura French is a Minneapolis-based freelance writer.

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Page 12 • March 15-17, 2012 •

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Renew or redo?

Planning your new kitchen Upgrading the kitchen is on many homeowners’ “to do” list.

And for good reason. A minor kitchen remodel ranks fourth on the list of the top 10 home improvement projects that deliver return on investment, according to Remodeling magazine’s 2010-11 Cost vs. Value Report.

But whether you’re in it for the investment, or just to freshen up the space in your home where people spend the most time, a new kitchen look could be a fun, impactful improvement to your house. Some may start with a weekend project and a $40 can of paint, while others will jump into a $50,000-plus remodel. Either way, one thing is for sure - you can’t go wrong with a beautiful, highly functional kitchen.

Refine Your Home• March 15-17, 2012 • Page 13

A simple refresh If time or budget constraints limit you to changing just a few basic elements of the kitchen, focus on things that make the most impact. Even novice do-it-yourself homeowners can complete many of these items on their own: Paint the walls. Painting always tops the to-do list when a mini makeover is in order. It’s an affordable, high-impact way to change the decor of a kitchen. If you’re not changing out cabinets or countertops, be sure to select a color that complements those major elements.

Add new accessories.

Switching out the small decor details in a kitchen can make the room feel entirely new.

Maybe it’s replacing bar stools at the island, reupholstering pillows or a bench cushion, or even hanging a few new pieces of art or photos on the wall.

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Change the faucet. Often underestimated, the kitchen faucet has a lot of influence in the overall style of the room.

Choosing a more up-to-date pull-down or pull-out faucet not only improves the look of the room, but can add significant convenience and functionality.

“Faucets in the kitchen are much more than what they used to be,” says Kevin McJoynt of Danze, a manufacturer of decorative plumbing faucets and fixtures. “They play an important role in setting the decor and focal points of any kitchen.”

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Homeowners throughout the country are staying in their homes longer than they once did. Because of that, significant remodeling projects tend to rise to the top of the priority list. If you’re in it for the long haul (or even to ensure you get that return on investment), a complete kitchen remodel could be for you.

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Page 14 • March 15-17, 2012 •

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Install display shelves. This hot kitchen trend is an eye-catching alternative to hanging wall cabinets. Taking down cabinets is a pretty simple task for two and hanging the shelves is even easier.

Evaluate the flow of the workspaces. Adding more water sources to your room could improve efficiency and ease. Consider a simple, yet beautiful faucet on the island for prep, a pot filler by the stove to help while cooking, and a hard-working faucet at the main sink for clean-up.

Mix and match your surfaces. Replacing countertops is one of the most noticeable changes to any kitchen venue. Quartz surfaces are a popular choice, providing a unique combination of quality, hygiene and a look of natural stone. Selecting a lighter color surface for the perimeter and a darker, bolder color for the island is a great way to add another design element to the room.

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“With today’s growing popularity in cooking and a rise in the number of at-home chefs, kitchen flow and workspace needs are critical aspects to consider when completely remodeling your kitchen, says McJoynt.

“The sink and faucet choices for each of these areas can play a big role in the functionality and enjoyment of the space.”

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