Kitchen Cabinet Project

Spring is finally here and this is a great time of the year to take a really good look at your kitchen cabinets. After a few years wooden kitchen cabinets tend to become dry and to build up a film from cooking. New wood cabinets can cost a fortune, but your old cabinets can be made to look like new with very little work, depending on their condition. If your cabinets are still in good shape and the hardware is still good a little sanding and light refinishing will wake them up.

You’ll need fine sandpaper, satin finish polyurethane, and an old pair of cotton underwear. Lightly sand your cabinets (not just the doors but all the wood that is showing) until you have removed the film from cooking and the wood is smooth. Wearing plastic gloves wrap the underwear around your fingers and dip the tips of your fingers into the polyurethane. Wipe the excess polyurethane off on the rim of the can and beginning in an upper corner of the cabinet, wipe a thin coat of polyurethane over the cabinet. Repeat until you have covered all you cabinets with a thin coat of polyurethane. Leave the cabinet doors open until the polyurethane is completely dry.

If your cabinets need a bit more rescuing, you can buy new hardware and that can make a huge difference. Be sure that the new handles match the old holes drilled in your cabinet doors and drawers. Otherwise you’ll have to drill new holes for the hardware and fill the old holes so that they do not show. For deep cracks or gouges you can buy filler crayons in the same shade as the wood in your cabinets. These will fill in the gouges and make the cabinets more uniform.

---------------------------------

Refinishing Antiques

This week, on the House and Home page we’ll take a look at refinishing antique furniture. How to proceed is dependent on how badly damaged your antique is. Most antique finishes turn dark over a period of time. This is caused by a variety of factors. Wax build up, dirt trapped in layers of wax, heat and the ultraviolet rays in sunlight reacting with the finish are a few of the reasons that this darkening occurs. If this is the only problem I wouldn’t do too much to your antique piece. Removing the old finish can decrease the value of your antique. You can rejuvenate the surface of your antique by very gently rubbing the surface with linseed oil and a powdered pumice stone. Scratches, dings and bumps only increase the attractiveness of an old piece. Don’t try to remove them.

If your piece is badly damaged or has been painted, and the finish is beyond repair, the job ahead of you is a much more complicated one. First you will need to completely dismantling the piece. I would take pictures of the piece before you take it apart. You may think that you know every inch of your great-grandmother’s sideboard, but once you have it apart you have no reference point for putting it back together. When your piece is apart, clean all of the old glue from the joins. Now you are ready to remove the old finish or paint. I use any of the commercial paint or varnish removers on the market. Follow the directions for the remover that you choose very carefully. Do not allow children access to the area in which you are working and wear gloves at all time. Be sure to remove all of the chemical at the end of the process. If you don’t the remaining solvent will affect the new finish and its ability to set. Also, be very careful not to get any of the finish remover on the areas that will be glued. The finish remover will impede the glue’s ability to dry, leaving your antique with lose joints. When the parts and pieces of your antique have dried they are ready to reassemble. Don’t sand out bumps and dings. They add character to your antique.

Start by re-gluing all of the joints. This is a very important step because the integrity of your antique depends on the sturdiness of the joints. Be sure to have all of your materials ready when you start this process. Do not try to re-glue all of the joints at one time. Do a couple of joints and then let them thoroughly dry before joining more. This does take time but you will save yourself a lot of work if you take your time. The types of clamps that you will need are dependent on the type of project that you are doing. Check with your local hardware store to see exactly what you will need for the piece you are working on. Again, your photographs will come in handy here. Take them with you when you go to the hardware store.

Start at the bottom of your piece of furniture and work your way up. Fit the two pieces of the joint together to be sure that they will fit together easily. You may need to do a little sanding.  The plastic wood glues do a fine job and be sure to apply glue to both surfaces. Have a few pieces of scrap wood around to place between the clamp shoe and the joint. This will prevent the clamp shoe from digging into your antique’s wood and damaging it. Be sure to clean any glue that might seep out of the joint when you clamp it. This can be done by wiping the joint with a wet rag. As you go, be sure to check and see that your piece is square. What may be “just a little” out of square at the bottom could cause great problems by the time you get to the top. Also, be sure to work on a level surface so that all the legs rest evenly on the floor.

When you have finished gluing your piece together, check the surfaces to be sure that no glue remains. You are now ready to give the surface of your antique a new finish. There are many finishes to choose from. Bee’s wax dries to a hard surface and it does a wonderful job of protecting the surface of furniture against moisture. You can also use varnish, shellac, lacquer, paint, oil, or one of the urethanes. The finish you choose really should depend on what the use will be for this particular piece of furniture. I have several pieces that I refinished several years ago when my children were small. I refinished a child’s rocking chair, bookcase and trundle bed. Because I knew that these pieces would receive a lot of rough and tumble wear, I chose to refinish them with polyurethane. The “Purest” out there will cringe, but polyurethane is tough and resilient against whatever children can dish out. It is also removable and the pieces can be returned to a more pure form, as with bee’s wax.

-------------------------------------------

Children’s Furniture

          There are many wonderful pieces of unfinished furniture that you can purchase quite reasonably. They are well built and will serve you well for a very long time. I bought chairs, a small table, bookcase and a small stool (for the bathroom) at my local hardware store and painted them in enamel paint in bright primary colors for my children to use. I put decals of the children’s names on the back of the chairs and each child’s name on one of the shelves of the bookcase. That way each child had their own shelf to keep their books, crayons and other things neat and up off the floor.  The enamel paint created a strong surface that was washable and resisted bumps, bangs and chips.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

How to Frame Art

The first rule in framing art is to frame to the artwork, and not to the room in which the piece will hang.  If you are framing a lithograph of civil war soldiers, and the main colors in the lithograph are red, white and blue, then you probably shouldn’t hang this piece in your mauve and dusty rose living room.  Always frame to the colors and the mood of the artwork.

The second rule of framing is to be sure that anything that touches, or can migrate to your artwork, is acid free. Acid, sunlight, moisture and heat are your artworks biggest enemies. Therefore, never hang a framed piece over a fireplace or a heating vent. The heat from the fireplace or vent will damage your art. Never hang your art in the sunlight (direct or not) unless you have a high grade of UV glass over the art to prevent fading. Always provide airspace between your art and the glass that covers it. This airspace will help to prevent moisture from building and foxing (mold) to occur.

The third rule is to always use UV protective glass. The cost is minimal and the protection for your artwork is immense. It does not change the look of your artwork at all. Even though you may be hanging your art in a dark place in your home today, there is no guarantee that you won’t be moving it to a sunny place later on. Be smart and protect your investment.

Oils
When framing a work that is done in oils, one usually does not mat or cover it with glass. Oil paintings should be framed only. I have seen very serious damage done to oil paintings that were covered with glass. Knowing this, if you do choose to cover an oil painting with glass anyway, be sure to provide plenty of air space between the surface of the painting and the glass. Also, do not hang the painting in direct sunlight.

Art on paper
If you are framing art on paper you can choose to use matting or not. If you do not use matting be sure that your framer adds a spacer (a clear piece of beading on the inside of the frame) to create a space between the art and the glass. I have most of my lithographs triple matted with a foam core spacer between the top and middle mat. This creates a large air space between the art and the glass and it also adds a degree of depth that really compliments most artwork.

Textiles
Framing textiles is a wonderful way to protect and display them. Again, you can mat or not, but if you do not mat your textiles be sure that there is a spacer in place to create that all important air space. Textiles must be stretched around acid free foam core or sewn to acid free foam core. This your framer can do for you. Do not allow anyone to stretch your textile with pins. Pins can rust and ruin your textile.

Memorabilia
Memorabilia does very well in a shadow box frame. The larger depth of a shadow box allows the extra space necessary for campaign buttons, hats, pennants, etc. Display all your favorite things together. They are great conversation starters and they help to define who you are.

Mats
Your framer can help you to pick the right mats for your artwork. Be sure that your mats are acid free and compliment the main colors in your art. Suede mats can add a touch of drama to the right artwork as can metallic mats. Be sure to trust your framer as to what is the right mat for your work.

Frames
Choose a frame that compliments your art. A rustic frame for hunting scenes or antique pieces and metal frames for the modern look. A frame can make or break the look of your art so don’t skimp. Get just the right frame for your piece.
The width of the frame is dependent on the size of the art. The bigger the picture/photo is the wider the frame needs to be. This is true not only for aesthetics, but also because the frame must be sturdy enough to hold the weight of the art without the risk of the frame flexing. Again, a piece of foam core behind the painting will help to protect it. After your art has been framed your framer will attach metal “eyes” to the frame about 1/3 of the way down the frame. They will then stretch a wire from one eye to the other. Be sure that the framer uses a plastic tubing to cover the raw edges of the hanging wire. This will help to prevent the frayed wire ends from scratching your art or your walls.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Preservation

            Most of us have items of historic value to our family. These items may range from family documents on paper, quilts or embroidery and other fabrics, paintings, books, photos and more. We have these wonderful family heirlooms, but what do you do with them? How do you care for them? There are many sites on the web and kits on the market, but not all of them are developed or marketed by people who truly know how to preserve historic artifacts. The watch word is BE CAREFUL! Be sure that the person who you trust your wonderful items to is a person who knows what they are doing. Ask for references and proof of knowledge in the form of degrees and always ask for references.

            The place I go for help and for information including a list of certified conservators is AIC. AIC is The American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works. The AIC web site has loads of information that you can access and that will aid you in caring for your artifacts. When the job is too big or too complicated they have a list of conservators who can do the job of conservation for you. AIC is located in Washington, D.C. and began in 1972 in a response to a need to support conservation specialists, to set conservation standards, and to preserve our cultural heritage. For more information look for AIC on the web or you can contact them:

See AIC on the RESOURCES page.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Care of the older home’s porch and some money saving tips.

            There are many things that you can do to make your porch safer. I’m talking about the porches on older homes like the house in the picture on this page. Built in 1758, this house had many of the old world ways of avoiding problems built right into it.
            For example, paint the ceiling of your porch a light blue. Flies won’t light and thus you’ll avoid fly specks on the ceiling of your porch. Also, there will be fewer flies to bother you. Another idea that has been lost over the years is the idea of throwing a little sand on the steps of your porch while the paint is still wet. When dry, the sand adds traction and helps to prevent slips in the icy winter months. Plant your bushes and flowers at a distance from the porch, so that when they grow bigger, they won’t touch the porch. Thus when it rains, and the bushes get wet, their wet branches won’t hold the moisture on the wood and cause the edges of the porch to rot.
            Here’s a great idea borrowed from the Old South. Many houses have shutters on the outside of the home and they have no function other then to create a look for the house. That’s great, but if you put shutters inside your home, a pair of shutters for each window, you can close the shutters during the heat of the day (summer) and keep the house cooler, saving hundreds of dollars in cooling costs. By buying louvered shutters you can block the sun while allowing for air circulation. Shutters are much easier to clean then blinds. Shutters block the heat of the sun far more effectively then do curtains, although you can still hang your curtains as before “for looks”. These same shutters can stay open in the winter months and the room will be warmed by the heat of the sun.
            It is especially important to plant disingenuous trees around a home so that they can provide cooling shade for the home in the summer, but when the leaves have fallen in the winter they let the sun’s heating rays into your home.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mailbox Fun!

            Place an old mailbox (you can find some really cool ones in antique stores) some place in your home that is accessible to all. The kitchen is a great place. Paint the mailbox whatever color the family chooses and then let the kids decorate it. When dry, the mailbox can serve as the message center for the family, leaving the refrigerator free of notes and scrapes of paper. The kids can “mail” there homework papers and tests to the parents and the parents can “mail” treats and notes to the kids. It’s a great way to stay connected with a little more privacy then magnets and the refrigerator can provide.

******************************************************************

Small Porch Vegetable Gardens

            For those who live in apartments or condominiums gardening can be a bit confined. There are a few things that you can do to increase your gardening area and to increase the yield from your garden. I’m a big fan of container gardening. Use containers of varying heights so that one container of plants won’t block the sun for the plants behind it. Consider how big your plants will become and put the bigger plants to the back. Plants such as strawberries, peas, and beans can be grown from hanging containers. Through the use of hanging containers you can increase the variety of foods that you can grow.
            Remember your neighbors. Be sure to make your garden a beautiful place and not an eye sore. Add a few containers of flowers. This way you can help to pollinate your plants and add color to you garden.  If you are gardening on a balcony, remember the family below and be careful not to let your plants drip on their patio furniture.
            Enjoy fresh fruits and vegetables all summer and fall and if you have more then you can eat you can share with friends. If you still have more then you can eat you might want to can or freeze your extra crops!

******************************************************

Get ready for winter

            It’s hot out and all you can think about is going for a dip in the pool. Well this is also a good time to think about winterizing your house. Do it now before the snow flies and you can save yourself money on both your heating and your cooling bills. Here are a few easy and quick things to do to”tighten up” your house.

            1.   Replace the weather striping around the doors and windows of your house. This will help to eliminate drafts and keep the cold air out.
            2.   Take the electrical plate off of light switches and plugs and spray a foam sealer or install and insulating kit into the open space.
            3.   Be sure to check your basement windows for air leaks and cracks. Repair or replace damaged windows.
            4.   Replace the door sweep at the bottom of all doors that open to the outside.
            5.   Check the entry point for all pipes that come into your house and caulk or seal if necessary.
            6.   Where ever possible, check the insulation to be sure that it is in place. This is especially  important if the insulation hangs from a ceiling as in a basement or crawl space.
            7.   If you don’t have one, be sure to place a mesh cover over your chimney to keep leaves and small animals out. Be sure that the cover is appropriate for a chimney, especially if you are going to use the chimney for venting a furnace or fireplace.
            8.   If you have storm doors and storm windows check them and have any repairs made now when the repair shops are not busy.
            9.   Clean gutters and drains and consider investing in gutter covers to prevent leaves from clogging your gutters.
            10. Find the valves that turn off the water to outside spigots and label them so that you can turn them off and drain spigots in the fall.
            11. Put a blanket around your hot water heater. This will help save money all year long.
            12. Close your flue when your fireplace is not in use.
            13. Install a programmable thermostat for your furnace. They cost anywhere from $25.00 to 130.00 and can save you enough money to pay for themselves in 1 to 3 years, depending on the type you purchase.
            14. Have your furnace and ductwork checked and cleaned. Be sure to include your dryer vent in the ductwork cleaning.
            15. Check your roof for loose shingles and places where air can leak into your house. Repair and replace.

***********************************************************

Rainy/Snowy Day Fun

            Not everyone knows it, but the local newspaper has bolt ends of newspaper that they will never use. If you go down to the office and ask they will give you these bolt ends of paper for free. They are about 24” wide and very in length and are great for making banners, large charts, etc. I always kept a couple around when the kids were little so that we could make paper villages on days when we couldn’t go outside. The old house you see in the upper left corner of this page is an old farmhouse that we once owned. It was built in 1753 and had wide chestnut plank flooring. The rooms were large enough that we could push the furniture to the walls, roll up the carpet and clear a large place in the middle of the room.
            Once the floor was cleared, we’d carefully tape strips of paper from the bolt ends to the floor covering all the bare space. The kids would take their crayons and draw roads, sidewalks, parking lots, and gardens etc. on the paper. Next we’d take the old paper grocery bags that I’d saved and make houses, schools, a firehouse, police station, etc., out of the paper bags. All you need to do is to cut a door and some windows into the paper bags (parental supervision needed) and then color with crayons. Old shoe boxes make great tunnels.  If you have a train set you might want to add that too. It all depends on how far you are willing to go. Add a little bit of poly fill for smoke coming out of the chimneys and you’ve got a village!       Now, add some Tonka trucks and matchbox cars and you’ve got a great way to spend a gloomy day!

**********************************************************************************

Swing Set

            Many years ago I called my local electric/phone company to find out what they did with the damaged poles they replaced. Some are in such bad condition that they send them to the landfill. Others are available for little or no cost. (Check with your local company to see what their policy might be). These poles have been treated to prevent rot and bug infestation so they have many uses around your yard.
            On of the tings we did was to make a swing set for the kids. We cut our two free telephone poles to 9 feet in length. Next we dig two holes two feet deep and placed the poles into the holes. We poured cement into the holes to add stability. When the cement was good and dry we cut parallel groves into the tops of the poles 6”wide. We had purchased a 6 X 6 piece of wood 10 feet in length from a local lumber yard. We place our 6 X 6 into the groves in each pole and secured the 6 X 6 with bolts.
            We had purchased chains, replacement swing seats and a tire from our local hardware store and with the addition of these we had a great swing set. 

Take the floor to the wall!

            There are literally thousands of types of hardwood flooring on the market right now. Many of them are woods that were not available a few years ago. This means that you have much more from which to choose. There is a wide array of color and grain (for texture) available, and there is also a wide range of pricing available. If you install your own, you can save hundreds of dollars. Most of these floorings are available as both hardwood and laminate flooring.
            You can buy the same type of wood, in varying lengths and widths and that will add interest to any floor or wall. Yes, I did say wall! Why not take the floor right up one wall for accent? It’s a great way to add warmth and beauty to any room. If the wood planks are run horizontally they will make the room look wider, run vertically and the room will appear to be higher.
            Parquet or inlaid wood tiles can add a decorative touch to any wall. Carpet the floor and place the wood tiles on the wall for a very rich look. Paint the walls a shade drawn for the many tones in the wood or contrast colors.
            Another great look can be made from using reclaimed flooring. That is, boards that have been harvested from old farmhouses and stores. The wood is aged and polished by hundreds of feet treading along them. This flooring is not easy to come by so call your local lumberyard to see if they can get it for you.
            If you grew-up on the east coast of around the Great Lakes you will be familiar with beadboard. It provided the ceiling for great wide verandas and was also used as a wall covering. As a wall covering it would reach about three feet from the floor and be topped with a chair rail.  If covering the whole wall with flooring isn’t for you then consider beadboard. You can place beadboard around a room and up the stairway or just about anyplace you want and it will add a light and airy look to your room.
            When choosing your flooring be sure to ask if the wood was Green Harvested. Green Harvesting of wood means that the wood was harvested in such a way as to sustainably maintain ecosystems. Companies that Green Harvest maintain a responsibility to the environment while managing a profit.

________________________________________

Fall Wreath for your door

            What you’ll need –

            1 wreath form (straw)
            Several bundles of floral wheat
            Several gourds, small pumpkins, sprigs of berries etc.
            Florist wire
            Wreath hanger
            1 large velvet bow (green, orange, or brown)

            Put your wreath form on a table and place a small bundle of wheat on top of one side of  the wreath and wire it in place. Place another small bundle just three inches below the first and wrap the wire around that bundle too. Repeat until the wreath is covered in the wheat. Trim the ends of the wheat as necessary. Find a good spot for your bow and wire it in place. If your gourds, pumpkins and berries have florists stakes on them then just stake them where you want them. If they do not have florists stakes then hot glue them in place. If desired, you can add a small scarecrow to the center of your wreath by wiring him in a sitting position on the inside of the center of your wreath. What a nice way to greet your fall guests!

-------------------------------------------------------------

Pumpkin Snowman

            Buy three pumpkins that range in size from very big, medium to small. Place the medium pumpkin on the large one making sure that hey are secure. Take the small pumpkin and paint a face on it. You can take that old Halloween wig and put it on him too. Then place a scarf around his neck and you have a wonderful pumpkin/snowman to welcome your fall guests!

Stain Glass Window Box

            Finished basements tend to be dark and feel claustrophobic because they have no (or few) windows. Here’s a neat way to remedy that problem. When finishing the basement, decide how many windows, where you would like to have them and the size of the windows you would like to have.
Now, build a window box frame and insert it into your wall. You’ll need to run the appropriate electrical wiring and receptacle to the window box. If you would like to just have the light you can place an opaque plastic cover in your window box. If you would prefer a splash of color you can purchase, or have made, a stain glass window the exact size you will need for your window box. When lit from behind, the stain glass will add color and light.
Mix it up if you like by placing three window boxes on one wall. The two outer boxes can be opaque and the center can be stain glass. These window boxes make wonderful conversation starters!

----------------------------------------------------------------