The kitchen is the most expensive room in the house to build. The national average cost of a kitchen remodel is $50,000, though the real cost can vary widely, depending on where you live, the scope of the project and the materials you choose. New cabinetry can take up much of that expense. Make the most of this big purchase by treating your new cabinets as an investment.
Archives for September 2013
Smart Investments in Kitchen Cabinetry — a Realtor’s Advice
September 20, 2013 By Leave a Comment
The Best Way To Load Your Dishwasher
September 19, 2013 By Leave a Comment
There may be no two people who agree on the best way to load the dishwasher other than Mom and her favorite child, but it’s time to put that argument to rest with this helpful video from CHOW that shows exactly how it should be done and why.
[pb_vidembed title=”” caption=”” url=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_1rD2AhmkY” type=”yt” w=”680″ h=”385″]
14 Creative Ways to Hang Art
September 19, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Art wall feeling a little ho-hum? Try one of these 14 fresh, creative ideas and give your walls a new lease on life. From art that creeps around the corners to unique matting ideas, backdrops and even a pulley system, perhaps one of these art arrangements from around Houzz will inspire a change in your own home. One tip for all: Lay out your arrangement on the floor and snap a picture of it before committing — it will save you a lot of nail holes!
How Long Should Adult Children Live At Home?
September 16, 2013 By Leave a Comment
From our friends at KCM.
What Are Millennials Looking For in A Home?
September 15, 2013 By Leave a Comment
A survey of homebuyers between the ages of 18 and 35, conducted by Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, indicates that a significant number of Millennials are willing to purchase fixer-uppers and even do the home improvement themselves. Millennials also value character-robust homes that represent their personal and unique style. Watch the video for more information on what appeals to this demographic of 100 million individuals. –
Hidden Hangers: French Cleats Support Projects Big and Small
September 12, 2013 By Leave a Comment
From cabinets to birdhouses, wooden cleats hold projects securely in place. Learn about their construction and benefits here
Cleats are one of the most basic methods of hanging something on walls, but they’re often overlooked. Attaching them requires slightly more time and effort than attaching cabinet hangers, keyhole hangers or picture hooks, but their capacity to support heavy loads, especially when the cleats are attached to wall studs, makes the effort worth it.I’ve used a French cleat, which features two interlocking parts cut most often at a 45-degree angle, many times over the years for various types of projects, including a TV cabinet, a headboard and even a birdhouse.
|
|
How Cleats WorkCleats in general feature two parts. One is connected to the project (project cleat), and one is attached to the wall (wall cleat). Here it is easy to see how the two parts of a French cleat fit together. The bottom part is attached to the wall (notice the screw holes). I always recommend attaching heavy projects to as many wall studs as possible.You can base your screw placements on the width of the project (and the cleat), and the position of the screws relative to the studs. For smaller projects that can’t be placed at a stud, use heavy-duty wall anchors.
|
|
|
Project UsesFrench cleats have long been used by cabinetmakers to hang cabinets, but they can be useful for any number of projects, even something as simple as a birdhouse.
|
|
|
Here again you can see how the two parts of the cleat — one on the back of the birdhouse, the other on the fence post — come together. Notice that the project cleat is shorter than the cleat attached to the fence post. That’s to support the bottom of the birdhouse and keep it from tipping back toward the post. You could also add a smaller filler strip (with the same width as the cleat) near the bottom.
|
|
|
Cleats Included in the Structure’s DesignA French cleat also can be incorporated as part of the basic structure of a project, rather than being a component added to the back. As you can see here, the top rail of this frame has the 45-degree bevel cut on one edge. For heavy cabinets two project cleats are often used. This requires two wall cleats.
|
|
|
By adding the cleat this way, the entire frame is flush against the wall. In this design the wall cleat isn’t as wide as the project cleat. This allows the project to be set on the cleat more easily and adjusted slightly left to right as needed. If the wall cleat matched the width of the project cleat, it would be too tight to set in place.
|
|
|
Making a French CleatStart by marking a centerline across the thickness on the end of a board. Then mark a 45-degree line bisecting this centerline, as you see here. Line up this mark with the blade of the saw.Remember to allow for the thickness of the blade (kerf) when cutting, as this will slightly affect the width of the cleats. As a general rule of thumb, allow ⅛ inch for the blade.
|
|
|
Rip (cut lengthwise) the cleats as you would normally rip any board. It’s generally recommended to rip a cleat first, then crosscut it to fit later. Why? Longer boards are generally easier (and safer) to rip on a table saw, and you can cut off any imperfections that occur on either end of the board.
|
Great article Via Houzz by Chris Hill
|
|
Here, with safety equipment removed for clarity, you can see the blade slicing through the board.More: See how to use a French cleat to hang a headboard
|
Real Estate Market Update for September 2013
September 12, 2013 By Leave a Comment
The latest on what’s happening in our real estate market.
The latest figures from Northwest MLS show pending sales (mutually accepted offers) during August increased 8.7 percent from a year ago. Brokers in the 21 counties served by the MLS reported 9,065 pending sales system-wide. That’s a drop of 500 units from July, but an increase of 727 transactions compared to a year ago (August 2012). In the four-county Puget Sound region (King, Kitsap, Pierce, and Snohomish), the total of 6,916 pending sales was the highest volume for August since 2006 when members notched 7,692 sales.
Click for the entire article.
The architecture of living in the cracks
September 10, 2013 By Leave a Comment
While houses in the ‘burbs just keep getting bigger, there’s an opposite movement afoot in urban areas, where there’s a new breed of architect looking to take advantage of every inch of valuable city real estate.
Global roof window manufacturer FAKRO teamed up with the magazine A10 new European architecture to put on a contest with the goal of redefining the loft space.
The winner was Live between Buildings by Ole Robin Storjohann andMateusz Mastalski:
Their various prototype proposals have nearly no ground footprint, being instead suspended in part or entirely between existing structures. In testing the idea, they took actual buildings and voids, abstracted and simplified their forms, all to show how such interventions would work in major cities from New York and London to Amsterdam and Tokyo.
Here are a few whimsical modular designs from the team that take advantage of every inch.
Figuratively and literally, they rise above the rest.
Full story at WebUrbanist.