Each season there are easy steps you can take to maintain your home.  Winter is the time to go around the interior of your home and check for any little things you may have overlooked, or perhaps noticed and said, “I’ll get to that later.” Winter is your later. If you have any interior honey-do projects, whether it be painting, building shelves, etc., now is a great time to tackle those as well.

• Regularly check for ice dams and icicles. De-icing cables that sit at the front of the roof work well. Don’t let icicles grow, as much as the kids may want you to. They’re not only a danger to people standing beneath them, but they’re incredibly heavy and can cause damage to your home. They also can cause water damage to your foundation when they  melt.
• Test your electricity to the extent that you can. Always, always be extra careful when working with electricity. You can do a couple things on your own, though. Check that all outlets work; if they don’t, you can re-wire them on your own. Also, test your GFCI outlets. There are wildly varying opinions on how often to test this. Some say monthly, others say annually.
• Tighten any handles, knobs, racks, etc. Go through the house and inspect anything that could have a loose screw.
• Check all locks and deadbolts on your doors and windows. If anything doesn’t work right, replace.
• Check caulking around showers and bathtubs; repair as needed.
• Remove shower heads and clean sediment. This prolongs its life and helps with water pressure as well.
• Deep clean and inspect the basement. Basements are notoriously overlooked, especially if they’re primarily just storage areas. Dust ‘em up, clean any windows, make sure there isn’t mold anywhere, etc. Give your basement a good inspection at least once a year.

-Enrico Pozzo, Barry Bergner & the SeattlebyDesign Team

Maxwell Ryan of Apartment Therapy Discusses 12 Things Every Home Should Have 

Every home should be different, expressing the individuality and personality of the owner in its own way, but I believe there are a few things that every home should have. These are essentials, classics and key ingredients that make up the foundation of a good home, and if you are just starting out they make a useful checklist for setting up in a new space. Could you add to this list? You sure could, but 12 is a nice even number for the purposes of this post.

Aluminum push pins: Push pins are super useful throughout the home and work well when trying to attach or hang anything from sheet rock, cork or wood. Aluminum ones are easier on the fingers and don’t break (I actually use mine to hang all of the small art on my walls, as they are strong enough and don’t require me getting out a hammer).

All-Natural Cleaning Products: At this point in the evolution of our planet, there is no reason why any cleaning product in a home – from dish soap to glass cleaner to tile scrub – shouldn’t be natural and earth friendly. Even bleach whiteners for clothes and tubs can now be replaced.

One Set of Flannel sheets: You don’t need them for most of the year, but when it gets this cold they become your best friend.

A Landing Strip: I don’t consider a home complete unless it has an area near the front door – it can be tiny – that acts as a “landing strip” where you can hang your coat and drop your keys and mail when you walk in. A full landing strip has a landing surface, mirror, pin board, wastepaper basket and coat hooks.

Real napkins: I switched to real cloth napkins at home years ago and wash them each week. They’re softer on the face, less wasteful and add a really nice splash of style to your kitchen and dining room. Want to do make your own? I’ve been hemming fat quarters (fabric meant for quilting) to make my own and it’s really cheap to do it this way.

3 Lights in Every Room: I find that most homes I visit are underlit. They can be lovely to look at, but they’re dark and filled with shadows. I’m convinced that most people don’t notice this about their own home as they get used to it. The simple solution is to make sure that you have at least three points of light in EVERY room and that you turn them on when you’re home.

Dimmers: This is a simple install whether you own or rent. Dimmers allow you to shift your light and dramatically transform your space with your existing light fixtures. Light control is crucial to making a beautiful space.

A Good Vacuum: Cleaning is essential to a comfortable home and being able to easily, and happily vacuum makes sure that it stays that way – particularly with pets.

Art @ 57″: Most people hang their art too high and do different heights in different rooms (or even the same room). When I see this it makes be deeply uncomfortable as it makes it hard to enjoy the art and the wall it’s hanging on. The easy rule of thumb is to hang all of your art at 57″ on center – meaning the center of every piece is at 57″.

Candles at Meals: While certainly not necessary, I have found it a great and simple ritual to light a candle at meals (even breakfast). There is something very ceremonial and calming about accompanying the meals of the day with a wam and flickering flame. Children really like it and it helps them to stay focused at the table.

Mat Knife & Scissors: I find that I need this almost every day from opening packages to cutting off labels to prepping flowers.

A Plant & Fresh flowers: I’ve always advocated for having fresh flowers in your home as part of a weekly routine as I find they bring an indescribable liveliness and beauty to an interior, regardless of its chic-ness or fashionability.

Plants, whether indoor or outdoor, are a part of this as well.  It’s an easy way of keeping me in touch with nature, even with the temperature near zero.

-Enrico Pozzo, Barry Bergner & the SeattlebyDesign Team

Original Post: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/12-things-every-home-should-have-199606

Preparing your home to go on the market?  We have several tips and tricks – so contact us today.  Here is just one quick and easy way to freshen up your curb appeal – paint the front door.

Bright Green

New project for a new year: Display your favorite images of loved ones for the most personal gallery wall of all

 

Project: Create a family photo wall.Why: Crookedly hanging a haphazard collection of random family photos is akin to spreading the contents of your junk drawer across the wall. A little thought can make a photo wall a work of art.

Who to hire: Although it’s a project that could lend itself to a DIY weekend, you can get a polished look with the help of an interior designer or a professional art hanger. If you want to resize, reprint or change the color of a large number of photographs, a photography lab can make quick work of it. You might also consider using the services of a professional framer.

 

Basic steps: Decide where you want your photo wall. “Because they do tend to look busy, I like to locate them in more private spaces, such as a hallway or bedroom,” says Mughannam.Next decide whether you want a grid or an asymmetrical display. No matter which you choose, Mughannam says uniting the pictures through a common element will give them a sense of order. That common element could be photograph color, frame color or image size. For example, you could have a lot of photos of different sizes together on a wall if they are all black and white.

In this project from David Rausch Studio in Zionsville, Indiana, black and white family photos framed in the same scale and grid pattern as the nearby windows make a big architectural statement.

How: To avoid having to constantly make room for more photos, and to create an instantly finished look, Mughannam will create a display using frames whose contents can be easily changed. “I hang all of the frames the family wants to use, even if I have to insert a landscape photo as a placeholder,” says Mughannam. “As the family grows and changes, they can add or swap out photos.”

 

The architects at Slade Architecture in New York gave a family the ability to display a large number of photos in an asymmetrical display by lining a stair wall in metal, which allows the photos to be attached by magnets. The fact that they are all color images brings them together and makes a very personal work of abstract art.Mughannam has achieved similar results with magnetic paint, a primer with very fine iron particles that allows lightweight magnets to stick to the wall after the topcoat is applied. “This kind of paint can be tricky for homeowners to apply, because it takes many, many coats,” says Mughannam. “If you are doing it yourself, it is easier to deal with if you apply to a board and hang that on the wall.”

 

For this room in a San Francisco decorators’ showcase, Mughannam created a sweet asymmetrical display by using cool thumbtacks to affix pics directly to the wall in a heart shape. “The idea was that it was a room for a teenager. I thought that a teen would enjoy the ability to frequently and easily change her photos,” she says. “These days there are so many high-design thumbtacks on the market, it makes it easy to make a cool project where the tacks become part of the art.”

 

Although Mughannam personally likes to use frames of the same color and size, she says it’s not the only option. “You can certainly hang a collection of vintage frames,” she says. “But I think it looks best if they are all the same distance apart.”This photo wall, by Hufft Projects, for a home in Kansas City, Missouri, includes a wide variety of frames, but it has discipline because the outermost edges are aligned and the frames are spaced equidistantly.

 

Cost: Mughannam says a DIY installation can cost $300. A larger installation involving reprinting photos and having them professionally framed and hung could cost as much as $3,000 or more.Typical project length: Creating your own photo wall could be done in a weekend. To have photos professionally printed, framed and hung could take several weeks.

 

More: “When I hang photos myself, I use an easy trick,” says Mughannam. “I arrange the photos on a big sheet of kraft paper. When I have them as I want them, I trace them. I tape the paper to the wall with painter’s tape and use a nail to mark the spot where I want to place my hangers. I take the paper down and nail the hangers into the wall. It works great!”

Are you in need of a contractor to help you with this project?  Are you ready to sell and want to tone down your family pics?  Give us a call and we can help!

-Enrico Pozzo, Barry Bergner & the SeattlebyDesign Team

Original Post: https://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/21387870?utm_source=Houzz&utm_campaign=u418&utm_medium=email&utm_content=gallery12

New project for a new year: Opening up a room? Learn who to hire, what it’ll cost and how long it will take

 

Project: Removing a wall.

Why: The goal of most wall removal projects is to connect rooms and create a more open floor plan. Removing a wall can also bring more light into a space and create better flow. (An exterior wall can also be removed and the area bumped out to increase space.)

 

Creating a pass-through or additional seating space is another reason.

 

A wall was removed in this Los Angeles kitchen to open it to the adjoining dining room. A peninsula adds additional seating and counter space.

Who to hire: This depends on the structural bearing of the wall and what’s inside it — plumbing, HVAC, electrical etc. An experienced general contractor can do an initial consultation and assess your wall for as little as $100, says builder Jeff Andreson.

But an architect is probably the best bet. “They might have a different way of approaching the situation that may not require taking as much wall out, which can save you money,” says architect Jeffrey Veffer. Removing an entire wall may completely change the character of a space, he says, so keeping parts of the wall might be in your best interest.

A structural engineer may also be required.

 

Things to consider: Removing a wall in a one-story house is much different than in a two-story house, and the cost can be significantly more in the latter. “A two-story home definitely needs a structural engineer,” Andreson says. “It’s a major engineering effort to accommodate the stress the second story will be putting on the other walls.”

Also, it’s sometimes difficult to determine whether a wall is load bearing or not. So it’s always best to call in a professional. “I’ve been in houses and said, ‘I don’t think that’s a bearing wall,’ and then go into the basement and find that it is. It may not look like it, but it’s best to figure out before you start swinging the sledgehammer,” Veffer says.

 

When removing a wall, you’ll have to consider what’s going to happen to the floor and ceiling. Hardwood floors will be difficult to patch between rooms and be made to look seamless.

“It’s difficult to patch that one missing wall area and make it blend in,” says Andreson, whose wall removal project is shown here. Ideally, you’ll replace the floors to make everything match up.

Veffer says he’s seen projects where they were able to match the wood pieces, sand the area and restain it with good results, but not perfect. Carpet is much easier.

Ceilings are another thing to consider. Matching popcorn ceilings or smooth skim is fairly easy, Andreson says, but molding is where it gets tricky. If you have older molding that you want to keep, it’s going to be difficult to match that with the new space.

 

Dealing with what’s inside the walls is a major factor in removing a wall. Rerouting gas, electrical, HVAC and more can make all the difference. For example, relocating supply and return vents can impact how your heating system works. “If you remove the supply ducts, it makes the house feel less comfortable,” Veffer says. “You get a ripple effect.”

Plus, he says, you never know what you might find in the walls. When removing a wall in a 1920s house, he found an unused gas line running to the second floor. He had to bring in a professional to remove it — an expense the homeowner hadn’t anticipated.

Cost: It all depends on the kind of wall and what embedded systems will need rerouting. Labor costs also vary by region. Here are Andreson’s estimates:

• To remove a non-load-bearing wall, one story or two, when you’re installing carpet: $2,500 to $3,000
• To remove a single-story, load-bearing wall: about $10,000
• To remove a two-story load-bearing wall: $20,000 to $30,000

Whatever your budget, Veffer suggests adding 20 percent for any unforeseen things that may come up inside the walls.

 

Project length: About two weeks, not including putting in flooring and finishing touches on the ceiling.

Permit needed: Will vary from city to city. The rule of thumb is that if it’s not a structural wall, a permit is not required.

Best time to do this project: If you’re planning to redo your floors, that’s the right time to remove a wall. Also, the project tends to kick up a lot of dust and cause a fair amount of noise, so if you have an opportunity to stay with friends or relatives or at a hotel, that’s the time to do it.

Contact us for a list of construction professionals in our area!

Enrico Pozzo, Barry Bergner & the SeattlebyDesign Team

Original Post: https://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/21682450?utm_source=Houzz&utm_campaign=u418&utm_medium=email&utm_content=gallery1

Say goodbye to the old-style light bulb.

On Jan. 1 it will become illegal to manufacture or import 60- and 40-watt incandescent bulbs because of federally mandated efficiency standards signed into law in 2007 by then-President George W. Bush.

Traditional 75- and 100-watt incandescent bulbs were phased out in earlier stages, but the coming ban on 60- and 40-watt bulbs will have a greater impact on consumers because of their popularity for residential lighting, experts said.

That means the sort of general-service light bulb we’ve used for more than a century can no longer be made in or imported into the United States.

It may not be completely noticeable until a few months into the next year when those light bulbs are bought and not replaced, but businesses are expecting to provide a bit of education to consumers unaware of the new change.

What does that mean for you?

On the plus side, it means more choices and smaller electric bills. On the minus side, it means an end to dirt-cheap light bulbs and grab-and-go bulb shopping. Now you need to read labels.

The new lighting standards, part of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, were intended to make light bulbs more efficient and reduce the amount of energy needed to power them. They’ve done that, but they’ve also left some consumers confused in the face of all the choices in the lighting aisle.

“You’re used to buying that 60-watt bulb and knowing what it looks like and everything else,” said Cordell Blackmon, manager of the Batteries + Bulbs store in Ohio. Now, he said, customers who buy bulbs in haste often bring them back when they find the bulbs don’t meet their expectations.

Buying the right bulb requires more attention than it used to, Blackmon said. But with a little education and guidance, he said, his customers end up with what they need.

The Jan. 1 phaseout of old-style 40- and 60-watt bulbs is the third step in the change to more efficient forms of lighting. The first step, in 2012, targeted 100-watt bulbs and was followed in 2013 by the elimination of traditional 75-watt bulbs.

Although the lighting law has commonly been called a ban on incandescent light bulbs, lighting experts say that’s inaccurate. The law doesn’t ban incandescent bulbs but only requires them to be more energy-efficient.

What’s more, the law doesn’t affect all incandescent light bulbs, just general-service bulbs — pear-shaped bulbs with a medium base, the kind that for years were used most commonly in the home. A whole lot of bulbs are exempt, including three-way bulbs, 150-watt bulbs and bulbs with narrower candelabra bases that are often used in chandeliers.

The law may be frustrating some consumers, but many lighting specialists and sustainability advocates cheer the innovations it has spurred. The lighting standards “have led to more lighting innovation over the past five years than we saw during the 100-plus years since Edison invented the light bulb,” Noah Horowitz, director of the National Resources Defense Council’s Center for Energy Efficiency, wrote in his blog.

Now consumers have essentially three choices: compact fluorescent light bulbs, LED bulbs and halogen bulbs.

Compact fluorescent light bulbs, or CFLs, are long-lasting and stingy on energy use and relatively inexpensive. But they have features some people don’t like, including the inclusion of a tiny amount of mercury.

LED bulbs are illuminated by light-emitting diodes. They last for decades and use even less energy than CFLs, but they’re still fairly expensive.

Halogen bulbs are the most like the old familiar incandescent bulbs. They don’t save nearly as much electricity or last as long as the others, but they’re probably the best choice for people who really don’t want to change, said Terry McGowan, director of engineering for the American Lighting Association.

Consumers will pay more upfront for LED and CFL bulbs, but the new technologies will save homeowners about 85 percent and 75 percent, respectively, on their energy bills. In addition, LED bulbs can last up to 23 years, and CFL bulbs last about nine years.

Enrico Pozzo, Barry Bergner and the SeattlebyDesign Team

Original Post: https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/jan-1-changes-to-shed-new-light-on-what-bulbs-we-can-use/