Posts Tagged ‘Home features’

Choosing Your Color

Choose your colors carefully, what looks good on that paper sample at the hardware store will not necessarily translate well to an entire wall. If you can, buy a small amount of your color choice and try it out at home – in bright light, in the shade, next to a piece of furniture. You will find out quickly whether you made a good choice, or need to make an adjustment.

Preparing Your Surface

Once you have your colors, make sure your surface is ready to paint. This is the most important step of all. If you want the paint to look right on the wall, the walls need to be clean and stains need to be removed. Chipped paint must be scraped away, old caulk stripped and replaced, and any gaps or holes filled in. Depending on what surface you’re working with, you could be using, say, wood putty or spackle to fill in those holes.

But before your paint brush goes anywhere near those areas, you must sand your repair job to smooth away any bulges.

You simply can’t ignore the flaws and hope they can be painted away, because chances are, they can’t, and in many cases, the only reasonable solution will be to fix the problem and start all over again.

If you’re working outside, and you come across a piece of soft or spongy wood trim, don’t talk yourself into thinking you can paint over it and somehow magically stop the trim from rotting. You’ll need to replace the trim before you paint.

Masking

Take the time to mask off the areas you don’t want to be painted, and don’t assume you can avoid hitting places you don’t want to hit merely by “being careful”. You’re going to make a mess, and that’s OK. Just make sure you’re making it onto a drop cloth, and not onto your expensive carpet or hardwood floor.

Painting

It’s time to paint! And frankly, yes, this is the fun part. Bit by bit, that room will come to life, in the wonderful new palette of colors you’ve chosen.

Paint from top to bottom to avoid drips. Double check your strokes as you go. Take your time, and put precision ahead of speed. And when all is said and dried, you’ll have a new paint job, new colors and practically…a new room to boot. And you can proudly say to anyone who’s listening…’Yes…I did it!’

Whether it’s painting or plumbing, or even some planting, we hope you’ve found your next great do-it yourself project.

High price tag for one football

Dan Marino is still trying to find a buyer for his home in Westin, Florida, so he’s trying a new game plan. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Hall of Famer has decided to throw in $1.5 million worth of designer furniture…and one signed football. Marino first listed the house about three years ago, and has since cut the asking price twice. Marino says that since most of his kids have left home, with the last one about to go to college he and his wife Claire want to downsize a bit from the 15 000 square foot Tuscan style villa. The house sits on four acres, and has ten bedrooms, twelve bathrooms, plus two half baths. In addition, you’ll also find two guest homes, a pool, a putting green and a five thousand bottle wine cellar. And of course, don’t forget about the signed football.
For more information visit: www.online.wsj.com

“No horse’s head required”

You may remember we told you recently that reality TV star, and mob boss daughter Victoria Gotti was facing foreclosure on her Long Island mansion. Well, apparently someone has made her a deal she can’t refuse. The New York Post reports that Gotti has made a deal allowing her to keep her home. Gotti claimed that her ex-husband, Carmine Agnello, took out a mortgage on the property without her knowledge or permission. She had been petitioning to get money he allegedly owed her from their divorce. Now a court has granted her permission to take control of and sell some of Agnello’s property to raise money to keep the mansion. Sounds more like someone made HIM a deal he couldn’t refuse, no horse’s head required.
For more information visit: www.nypost.com

Bueller? Bueller?

Everyone remembers the movie “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”. Well, now you can own a piece of the movie. According to Chicago’s Daily Herald, the “Glass House” that Ferris’s best friend Cameron Frye lived in is up for sale. Of course, the house is best known for having an angry Cameron drive a Ferrari through one of its glass walls. The good news, that hole has been repaired, and the house now sports a collection of Ferris Bueller memorabilia. The owners of the home were avid car collectors, and the space is still sometimes used for special car events, most recently a Ferrari Club meeting was held there. The 5300 square foot home, located in Chicago’s Highland Park neighborhood is one the market for $2.3 million. Want to take a peek at it?

Start with the front door – at the hardware store, you can buy caulk and insulation for a small investment. If you caulk around your windows, insulate around the door, and make sure you put insulation in the attic, you can reduce your utility bills by about 30%.

Careful eating – As Clark says, most of us “bleed money eating” whether we’re eating out too much or even just shopping for groceries. He recommends conditioning yourself to shop differently; the site CouponMom.com is a great place to start. CouponMom — who has a self-admitted obsessive compulsive disorder — advertises that she can cut your grocery bill in half.

Watch TV for free — Clark believes everyone should cut their TV costs down to zero. Check out Hulu.com, a website that allows you to watch some of your favorite programs, or Boxee, a free software download available at Boxee.tv. Using either of these tools, you can plug your laptop into your tv, and watch almost anything you want. Hulu even stores old seasons of shows, giving you on-demand television!

Finally, disconnect your phone — Clark says you don’t need it. If you’ve got a cell phone, you should consolidate. And for that cell phone, Clark recommends using the company Boost Mobile. They offer unlimited calling, no roaming charges, email, and much more for a $50 a month fee. That’s a big savings for a lot of us.

Visit Clark’s Web site for more money saving tips — and tune into the Clark Howard Show.

Ron told Gil about three moderate green updates he’s made in his own home, and how much money he’s saved.

Programmable thermostats: At about $39 a piece, Ron was able to install the thermostats himself and immediately see savings. His home is heated by oil, and he already estimates that he’s reduced his consumption by about 8% from the year before.

Water-saving toilets: Water is a utility, too. Ron’s house was built about 25 years ago, and the toilets use about 3.5 gallons a piece. Ron invested in a “dual flush” toilet, which has two options: a .8 gallon flush and a 1.6 gallon flush — both of which save on water bills.

Light bulbs: For about $350, Ron changed all of the recessed light bulbs in his house to energy-efficient bulbs. In the first month, his energy bills went down $50 from that alone — a huge savings!

So if you’re looking to save $500, consider these small, effective changes—they pay for themselves sooner than you think.