At Home Living 070117

Saturday, July 1, 2017 An advertising feature of The Topeka Capital-Journal

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Home remodeling

A coastal feel

Design updates transform Lake Sherwood home page 6 n Wanna be a Master Gardener?, page 2 n Preparing for an estate sale, page 5 n Backsplashes get sleeker look, page 7

keith horinek/THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

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Time to sign up for Master Gardener training Ever wonder if you have what it takes to become a Master Gardener? You may be pleasantly surprised to know that, if you have a high school diploma or equiva lent, all it takes to enroll in Jarboe the Shawnee County Extension Master Gardener Program is an interest in gardening and community volunteerism.

Whether you know a little or a lot about horticulture, you’ll gain valuable, research-based horticulture information through the K-State Research and Extension Master Gardener Program.

Enrollment opens July 1 and ends Aug. 11.

Master Gardeners don’t usually join the program because they are expert gardeners. Most find out they may know a lot about one aspect of gardening but very little about horticulture in general. That’s why they continually receive additional training.

A desire to continue learning and a willingness to share your knowledge and skills with others in the community are two of the best traits a Master Gardener can have. Master Gardeners are a vital part of K-State Research and Extension and donate their time and talents in exchange for horticultural training from K-State specialists, Extension agents and local experts.

The mission statement of Shawnee County Master

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

n Master Gardeners will answer lawn and garden questions from 7:30 a.m. to noon July 8 and 22 at the Downtown Topeka Farmers Market, S.W. 12th and S.W. Harrison. n Shawnee County Master Gardeners will present a worm composting workshop from 1:30 to 3 p.m. July 12 in the upper meeting room at the Shawnee County Extension Office, 1740 S.W. Western Ave. Participants will assemble and take home a functioning, indoor worm composting bin, including the worms. Registration and a $10 materials fee are due July 7 at the Extension office, which is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday. n Shawnee County Master Gardeners and Kansas State University specialists will diagnose what’s making your plants look puny or dead and what you can do about it at a Sick Plant Clinic from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. July 15 at Fairlawn Plaza, 2114 S.W. Chelsea Drive. Bring your plant samples.

Gardeners is “Improving our community through horticulture.”

Master Gardeners assist Ariel Whitely, the new Shawnee County horticulture agent, in meeting the public’s need for researchbased, horticultural information. They provide this

assistance through various avenues, including six demonstration gardens (with two more in the planning stage); the Kansas Garden Show; a Speakers Bureau; a booth at the Downtown Topeka Farmers Market; the Garden Response Line at (785) 232-0062, Ext. 105 or

106; an annual plant sale on the first Saturday of May; and an annual Sick Plant Clinic in July.

Master Gardeners in Kansas make a huge contribution. They donated more than 100,000 volunteer hours during 2016 for a total value of more than $2.2 million — equivalent to more than 50 full-time Extension program assistants.

After the enrollment period closes, applicants will be required to attend a pre-acceptance orientation on Aug. 22. Fifteen-minute meetings will be scheduled individually between 9 and 11 a.m. and 6 and 8 p.m.

Once accepted into the program, the participant attends classes for eight weeks, from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursdays Sept. 7

through Oct. 26.

The training includes 40 to 50 hours of instruction

by K-State professors and other specialists, Kansas horticulture agents and local experts, all speaking on their area of expertise. When classroom instruction is completed, the training continues at monthly membership meetings.

Each new Master Gardener volunteers 40 hours in the next calendar year, with half of the time working the Response Line, where learning never ends. After completion of the in-training requirements during their first year, volunteer requirements drop to 25 hours per calendar year.

TRAINING continues on 4

Did You Know…

Our Local Real Estate Market in the month of May had…

503

New Residential Listings on the Market

Median List Price

$129,900

401

Homes Sold/ Closed

Median Sold Price

$122,500

39

Average Days on Market

This information is provided by the Sunflower Association of Realtors and is for all of the residential properties in their entire MLS database, which includes but is not limited to Shawnee, Douglas, Jefferson, Jackson, Osage, Pottawattomie and Wabaunsee counties.

Artwork provided by The Topeka Capital-Journal

MAY 2017

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Spading fork is must-have gardening tool

By Maureen Gilmer Tribune News Service

Before plastic nursery pots, real American gardeners were always big transplanters. Our grandparents and their ancestors off the farm knew how to move plants of all kinds.

Transplanting, sowing, grafting, trade and cuttings were the way you got new plants, so these skills were essential to creating a beautiful landscape or a productive garden affordably.

For digging out plants to divide, pot-up or move elsewhere, no tool is better than a spading fork. Don’t confuse this flat-tine spading fork with a hay pitchfork, which has round tines. Spading forks are essential to lift the root crown of large, heavy plants up from the bottom of a deep hole.

When plants are too big for

Tribune News Service

Flat, wide tines distinguish a gardener’s spading fork from a hay pitchfork. one fork, two gardeners each armed with a fork dig in on opposite sides, then simultaneously lift and pop out a difficult specimen.

The spading fork takes mus-

cle, so it’s a very personal tool that should fit your body. A spading fork may have a long handle like that of a shovel, which my tall husband prefers. I like average height and

a short handle with a “D” grip, ideal for tight spaces.

You also can use a shovel for transplanting, but differently. Shovel blades invisibly sever every root encountered no matter the diameter or importance. When moving old woody shrubs with very deep woody roots, you must cut them to move the plant. This is when the clean severance by a sharp-edge shovel blade ensures rapid healing and formation of new roots once transplanted.

The spading fork is vital for perennials and succulents and plants that are in rocky ground or bear soft fleshy roots. The fork can be used to loosen soil all around a perennial so it lifts gently and intact, ready to carry elsewhere to replant or pot.

FORK continues on 4

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Fork: Strength of tines important for tool Training: Volunteer

opportunities available

Continued from 3

The spading fork is the primary tool for raised bed gardening to blend soils and turn the ground with compost for renewal.

There’s little doubt that during the Great Depression every man turned his wife’s vegetable patch by hand with a fork. It is renowned for more easily turning over backyard soil to make a new vegetable garden from scratch just like grandpa did. Shovels leave dense clods packed by pressure of the blade that must be broken up.

If there’s one tool to make gardens and get yard work done, it’s a spading fork. Buy the strongest tines you can find, because they take a lot of pressure prying plants out of the root bed.

Also pay attention to the handle connection, because weak ones fall apart where the stem of the tines is inserted into the wood handle.

Continued from 2

Tribune News Service

The spading fork is essential for transplanting aloes and other large succulent garden plants.

American-made spading forks are superior to imported ones, except for those manufactured in England, where men are very serious about their forks.

The longer you use a spading fork, the more indispensable it becomes.

All those special tools you see advertised on TV can be discarded in fa-

vor of this one universal gardener’s fork. Where weeds are deeply rooted in, use the fork to loosen the soil before you pull them out with the roots.

Stick it into dense soil or lawn to open up the drainage. Nothing works better to sift out all the detritus from your raised beds or clean up at the end of the season.

Perhaps after you give your husband or dad a great spading fork this summer, be ready to show him where you want the new garden so he can try it out.

Maureen Gilmer is an author, horticulturist and landscape designer. Learn more at MoPlants. com or contact her at mogilmer@ yahoo.com.

If you like to get your hands dirty, you can volunteer to work in any of the six to eight demonstration gardens in Shawnee County or on the Compost Committee or the Special Needs Gardening Committee. Or maybe you’d prefer growing plants in the greenhouse for the plant sale; selecting recipients for the program’s annual scholarships; teaching educational programs to school-age children; promoting a healthy environment through the Green Team; getting involved with community gardening; planning the plant sale; helping design and build the main attraction at the Kansas Garden Show; providing information and answering questions at the Downtown Topeka Farmers Market; planning social events;

providing membership services; presenting public programs on horticulture; writing or photographing for the monthly newsletter and website; or offering technical assistance to other Master Gardeners.

With more than 30 committees, there is something to satisfy everyone.

Applications for the 2017 Master Gardeners class are available at shawnee.kstate.edu or the Extension office, 1740 S.W. Western Ave. Or you can call (785) 232-0062, Ext. 109, with questions or to request an application by mail.

Enrollment also is open to residents of nearby counties without a Master Gardeners program.

Brenda Jarboe is a nutrition educator, coordinator for the Community Garden Network for the Shawnee County Extension Office and a Shawnee County Master Gardener.

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Preparation can make estate sale more profitable

By Cathy Hobbs

Tribune News Service

When a loved one dies, there are a number of financial aspects that need to be handled, including in many instances the sale of one’s home. For most Americans, their home is their single-biggest asset, and for those loved ones and heirs left behind, ensuring the proper preparation and sale of the home may be top of mind.

While some may opt to sell a home that is part of an estate as is, for others the desire is to maximize the return. From home staging to repairs, a thoughtful plan can help make the sale go more smoothly and in many cases more profitable. n Removal of personal items, including furniture.

The idea of removing personal items — from documents to clothing and furniture — may seem overwhelming. The first step should be to try to lo-

cate all critical documents, including those related to the mortgage and taxes on the home.

Next, look to donate clothing to a local charity. As far as furniture and home decor items, these may become quite useful if you decide to stage the home for selling purposes. Professional staging companies have stagers on staff who are trained to handle the aspects relating to selling the home. Their services typically include the sale of personal items, including clothing and furniture, delivering personal items to charities and disposing items that may no longer be of use. n Updates and improvements.

In many cases, the home may not have been updated for years. From older fixtures to appliances, the home may need improvements and updates.

Fresh new bathrooms and kitchens are two of the most desired features for

potential buyers. With this in mind, there is no need to do a gut renovation.

Instead, consider investing in cost-effective improvements that will help increase the value without breaking the bank. In bathrooms, consider reglazing old tiles, replacing toilets, updating sinks and changing fixtures, such as showerheads and faucets. These improvements will go a long way to create a fresher, more modern look at an affordable price.

For kitchens, if replacing appliances is too costly, consider a new tile floor or inexpensive sheet vinyl. Cabinet refacing, or even something as simple as replacing cabinet handles, can go a long way. Another option may be to place a countertop. n Painting.

Painting remains one of the most affordable improvements for a home. If you desire to spend little to no money, investing in a fresh coat of paint will

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Real estate stagers pack away a client’s personal items to prepare for staging. be worth your investment.

The reality is potential buyers see even small tasks such as painting as worry, money and work.

The best color is to go with a basic white. Neutral colors appeal most to potential buyers as opposed to colors that are more personalized. n Home staging.

Home staging is the

process of preparing a property for sale. This can include everything from decluttering to repairs, furniture rearranging and bringing in rental items and accessories.

A professional real estate stager will help ensure that a property shows in its best possible light, highlighting the positives and downplaying the negatives. In

many instances, a real estate stager can oversee the entire sale process for you.

Cathy Hobbs, based in New York City, is an Emmy Award-winning television host and a nationally known interior design and home staging expert with offices in New York City, Boston and Washington, D.C. Contact her at info@ cathyhobbs.com or visit www. cathyhobbs.com.

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Remodeler, designer transform Lake Sherwood residence

Coastal style

for a lake-front home

By Linda A. Ditch

Special to The Capital-Journal

When you live on Lake Sherwood and plan to remodel your home, taking advantage of a beautiful water view is the top priority.

That’s what Golden Rule Remodeling owner Matt Vincent and designer Tammy Thiessen did for homeowners who purchased a 1970s-era home on the lake.

The owners knew their new house needed a lot of work to emphasize the panoramic view and bring everything up to modern-day standards.

The result is a home with a coastal feel, thanks to the light wood flooring and color palette of white, blues and beige.

The decor is a mix of traditional grace and casual comfort often found in East Coast ocean-front homes.

Plus, there’s no need for cliched accessories, such as boat paddles, a lighthouse or starfish figurines. The view is enough.

“This client has a fabulous sense of style, so it was fun collaborating with her to make that style come to life,” Thiessen said.

To get a more modern, open-concept design, walls were torn down and the living room ceiling was vaulted. Now, there are clear sightlines from the front of the house to the back, which features a wall of floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the lake.

Two seating areas were created — one for viewing television and the other for enjoying the fireplace. Paneled wainscoting, crown molding and build-in cabi-

Keith Horinek/The Capital-Journal

A massive fireplace was removed to make way for the new kitchen. Some of the brick was reused for the new gas fireplace in the living room. nets along one wall give the room a traditional feel, as does the textured blue wallpaper and elegant light fixtures.

A massive fireplace was removed to make way for the new kitchen. The brick was reused for the new gas fireplace in the living room, as well as the backsplash in the kitchen.

“By reusing the brick, it looks like it’s always been here,” Thiessen noted.

On this particular day, Vincent and Thiessen were going through the home to make sure all the finishing touches were complete while the furniture was being put into place. Thiessen was helping with the furniture placement and staging

some of the accessories.

While the homeowners had a clear idea of what they wanted, Vincent said he’s worked with people whose remodeling visions aren’t so clear.

“Each one is different,” he said. “Some have actual plans, while others have COASTAL continues on 7

‘‘

This client has a fabulous sense of style, so it was fun collaborating with her to make that style come to life.”

Tammy Thiessen Designer

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Coastal: ‘Expect the unexpected’ in remodel Continued from 7

just a concept. Generally, it’s a good idea for a homeowner to know what they want before we get started.”

Part of the process Vincent and Thiessen go through with new clients is to figure out just how much of their remodeling dream is actually possible from a practical and budgetary viewpoint. The current trend in homes is an open-floor plan, which typically means removing walls and installing costly engineered beams.

Other remodeling trends include removing bathtubs in master bathrooms and designing outdoor entertainment areas.

When looking for a remodeling contractor, Vincent suggested homeowners find someone who fits their personality and with whom they feel they can communicate and work with throughout the project. He said to make sure the contractor is insured and bonded and to ask for references.

He recommended homeowners find someone who is a member of the Topeka Area Building Association.

Vincent said homeowners also should “expect the unexpected.”

“You never know what you’ll find when you start tearing into walls,” he said.

“You want to have a budget for your project, but also plan for the unexpected.”

Thiessen, who went through a major remodel of her own home earlier this year, noted, “The process is fun in the beginning when the work is starting, but it gets hard for a while. You’re not seeing the beautiful tile you picked out going in, but instead seeing the electrical work getting done. But it gets fun again in the end.”

Linda A. Ditch is a freelance writer from Topeka. She can be reached at lindaaditch@gmail.com.

Backsplashes for kitchen grow sleeker

By Melissa Rayworth The Associated Press

The kitchen backsplash — that surface behind the stovetop or sink that protects the wall from damage during cooking and dishwashing — has long been used to add color and beauty to an otherwise utilitarian space.

But dramatic, ornately patterned backsplashes, once popular, are being replaced by sleeker, simpler designs, says interior designer Jenny Kirschner.

Many designers are using monochromatic tiles arranged in simple patterns to create beautiful backsplashes that won’t quickly go out of style.

We’ve asked New Yorkbased Kirschner and two other interior designers — Florida-based Andrew Howard and Californiabased Sayre Ziskin — for advice on creating a kitchen backsplash that is as timeless as it is gorgeous.

KEITH HORINEK photographs/The Capital-Journal

Top: The remodeled Lake Sherwood home has coastal feel, thanks to the light wood flooring and color palette of white, blues and beige. Above: Brick from the old fireplace was reused for the backsplash in the kitchen. Left: Two seating areas were created in the home — one for viewing television, shown here, and the other for enjoying the fireplace.

Quality and handcrafting

Howard says: “I make it a point in every kitchen to do a standout backsplash.”

But that doesn’t mean the project has to be expensive.

Because a backsplash covers a relatively small area, he says, it’s possible to use high-end and even custommade tiles while keeping costs down.

There is usually a space of just 18 inches between upper and lower cabinets, so it doesn’t take a lot of tile to fill that area if you wish to ex-

tend the backsplash beyond the sink or stovetop.

All three designers suggest hunting for high-quality porcelain or ceramic tiles, or commissioning them in custom colors and finishes. For ceramic tiles in custom colors, Kirschner recommends Fireclay Tile, a California company that ships nationally. Ziskin is a fan of the handmade tiles by Anne Sacks, which she says offer the beautiful flaws and uniqueness that machinemade tiles don’t have.

Coordinating vs. contrasting

It’s tempting to add a burst of color in your backsplash. But by keeping the backsplash neutral and adding brighter colors through more easily replaceable things like curtains and upholstery, you’re less likely to get bored. And if you’ll be selling your home within a few years, a neutral backsplash in classic white subway tile or a pale gray glass tile is a much easier sell than a distinctive color.

Kirschner likes designing backsplashes that are coordinated with the countertop material. By matching the materials instead of contrasting them, she says, “you don’t run the risk of saying, ‘What was I thinking?’”

One way to do this is to use faux-marble porcelain slab countertops in a neutral color, and then use tiles or a solid slab in the same BACKSPLASH continues on 10

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Downsizing can mean upgrading new home Kitchen, dining room changes brighten space

This column was adapted from Mary Carol Garrity’s blog at nellhills.com. She can be reached at marycarol@ nellhills.com.

By Mary Carol Garrity Tribune News Service

It started as a whim. My cousin Anne, who is a designer at Nell Hill’s, has three daughters who would soon be out of the nest. Why not sell their larger family home and downsize into a fixer-upper she could renovate?

“It sounded so fun,” Anne remembers with an eye roll. “Looking at pictures and finding what you want is fun. But living through it isn’t as much fun.” Anne’s home sold lightning-fast, so their busy family of five had to move in with her sister-in-law for nine months. Taking on the renovation was a lot more work than she had anticipated.

Now that she and Andy and their girls are settling into their new home, Anne knows she made the right call. The beautiful, bright, happy and inviting home fits their family to a T, particularly the kitchen and dining room.

Kitchen

At the time they were looking for their “project” house, Anne had some friends who were also in the market. When she told them which house she bought, her friends thought she was crazy.

“That house was awful,” they said.

“It was,” Anne agrees. “It was awful.”

The floorplan of the existing kitchen, long and narrow and divided by a stairwell to the basement, wasn’t going to work for the active family, who was used to spending time around a big kitchen island. So they moved the stairwell, took out the dated cherry laminate cabinets and bumped up the ceiling by taking advantage of unused attic space above.

Anne knew she wanted a bright, white country kitchen. She covered the cabinets in a clean white paint and extended the subway tile up the wall around the range, pairing it with a charcoal grout so each tile would pop.

Because the family spends a lot of time gathering around their kitchen island, Anne wanted to rim it with comfortable seating. She picked a great bench and slipcovered it in a Sunbrella fabric so spills weren’t a problem. If she ever gets tired of it, she can just replace the slip cover.

Anne’s contractor discovered some reclaimed wood that they turned into display shelves in the kitchen. Anne re-

Tribune News Service

This large-scale buffet is the perfect place to store china. ally likes warm metals, so she perched the rugged wood on gold brackets. Her design talents came to life in the display she created on the shelves, which will change with each season.

In addition to cabinets and cupboards, Anne likes to use free-standing furniture as storage in her kitchen. A large-scale buffet stores her china. Anne used baskets to collect small pieces like cups and saucers and weave in some texture. Anne says that it wasn’t until she added her accents, layer by layer, that the new house began to feel like home.

Dining room

Anne was faced with these things

when imagining what the dining room could be: a small, awkwardly situated fireplace; low ceilings; and a floor that had seen better days.

To open up the room and give it more light and life, they bumped up the ceiling into unused attic space above, covered the wall in shiplap, accentuated the fireplace with hand-painted tiles and used a piece of reclaimed wood as the mantel.

Anne is a master at making any space feel warm and inviting. The centerpiece on her dining room table has touches of blue that echo the tile in the fireplace.

My next question for Anne is, “When can I move in?”

Tribune News Service

A contractor discovered reclaimed wood and turned them into display shelves in the kitchen.

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Service Directory

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Backsplash: Keep design simple if you plan to resell the home Continued from 7

material for your backsplash. You also can choose a tile in a slightly different material than your countertops but exactly match the color.

Creative placement

One way to make tiles in a neutral shade like white or gray look more striking is to get “playful with shape, rather than color,” Kirschner says.

If you like subway tiles but feel they’re overused, choose an oversize version or a very elongated one. To make classic tiles look fresh and surprising, try arranging long, narrow tiles vertically instead of horizontally.

Another fresh twist: Ziskin likes lining up edges of tiles so they are stacked neatly, rather than offsetting

them in a traditional brick pattern.

Also popular right now are hexagonal tiles arranged with the top edge left uneven. It’s traditional to cut a few hexagonal tiles in half to create a solid top line straight across. But designers are now using only whole tiles, creating a playful, uneven line across the top.

Slabs and steel

Some homeowners rarely cook, Howard says, so they can choose a backsplash that’s purely about beauty. But the rest of us give our stoves and sinks a workout, so we need to be more practical.

“If you’re in your kitchen a lot and it’s getting heavy use, I would shy away from marble or a grouted backsplash,” Howard says.

“Because you don’t want to spend all your time scrubbing down your backsplash.”

Ziskin agrees: Lots of thick grout lines can be “a cleaning nightmare.”

One solution is using a faux-marble slab backsplash (real marble may pick up stains you can’t remove) rather than tiles.

That way there’s no grout to clean.

Another option is using tiles but keeping grout to a minimum. Kirschner has used stainless steel tiles with no visible grout lines to create a sleek backsplash in kitchens that also have stainless steel appliances.

It’s a unique look and easy to clean.

Any design that you love can be beautiful, Ziskin says, “as long as the surface is wipeable and it doesn’t stain.”

The Associated Press

Although kitchen backsplashes are often made of porcelain or ceramic tile, interior designer Jenny Kirschner used stainless steel to give this open, airy kitchen a fresh, modern look.

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