Giveaway of Home Decorator Fabric to show support for National Fire Prevention Week

Home decorator fabric and National Fire Prevention week ... what's the connection?

I love great fabrics ... did I mention this giveaway is for a designer fabric ... and one topic on this blog is fire safety (you can read why here).

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The purpose of National Fire prevention week (Oct 9 - 15, 2011) is increased fire safety education and awareness.

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Offering a fabric giveaway with the opportunity to (re)learn something about fire safety and show support for National Fire Prevention week seems a natural fit for this blog.

First, here's the fabric for this giveaway:

{My photo of the actual giveaway fabric: "Sonriza Print", a screen print designed by Trina Turk, exclusively for SCHUMACHER, in the Pool and Marine colorway.}

This fun Sonriza Print for SCHUMACHER by Trina Turk is a durable indoor / outdoor acrylic and would make wonderful accent pillows, a great bench seat cover, or even a designer tote! With one and a third yards of this giveaway fabric (54" wide x 48" long) there's enough to make a super-oversized lumbar pillow for your sofa, a very popular look in shelter mags and home decor blogs. And I'm sure crafters are already thinking of other creative uses for this fabric.  This fabric giveaway, including shipping, has a retail value of over $100 (U.S.).


Now for the fire safety education piece of this giveaway:

Fire safety today is much more than checking the batteries on the smoke detector twice yearly (but you still need to do that too).  Just in case you want to brush up on your fire safety knowledge, here's some great resources: 

• Children can learn about fire safety with your guidance by visiting the Sparky The Fire Safety Dog activity page, here or you can visit the Henrico County (Virginia)  Child Safety learning page here.  I bet you'll also find other children friendly learning activities if you visit your Fire Department's website.

• Adults might find the updated 2011 "Educational Messages" from the official Fire Prevention Week website an interesting read, here.  It's not the snappiest title for an article, but it has lots of great info all in quick read bullet form.  

• Seniors, or those who care for and about a senior, might be interested in an article about the changing needs of seniors in terms of fire safety due to mobility and hearing related issues, which can be found here.

And finally, the Giveaway Details and Eligibility Rules:

To enter this giveaway, leave a comment to this post describing what you'll do to support National Fire Prevention week ... something related to fire safety education or enhancing your own fire safety practices.   Examples:

• holding a run-through of your home escape plan
• checking with your PTA about planned fire safety presentations

It's perfectly OK - even encouraged, to review any of the linked resources noted above before leaving your comment!

Additional Bonus Entries
After leaving your comment to this post, Blog and link back to this post, or Pin the above "Designer Fabric Giveaway" image with a description of this giveaway ... then leave additional comments here letting me know about your Bonus Entries.  That's up to 2 additional entries!

GIVEAWAY CLOSES: Saturday, October 8, 2011 @ 5 p.m. EST

PRIZE SHIPS: via USPS flat rate small package service, U.S. and Canadian addresses only

WINNER SELECTED: I'll use random.org to select the giveaway winner.

WINNER ANNOUNCED: On October 9, 2011 I'll post the winner of the giveaway on this blog.   Good luck everyone!  Let's learn and share lots of fire safety information so we're all winners!

Alright, it's comment time!  Thanks for participating and being good sports!  And I guess I do need to say that comments are moderated, and any comment not complying with the giveaway rules will not be entered.  Also, comments may not appear immediately; we will publish comments several times daily.  Feel free to email me if you have a specific question or concern.

Disclosure: This is not a sponsored giveaway nor was the prize fabric given to me for any promotional purpose.  I wasn't paid or perked to host this giveaway, I'm just doing this on my own in support of National Fire Prevention week.  I'm providing both the fabric and shipping for this giveaway.  Neither this giveaway nor my blog are affiliated in any capacity with National Fire Prevention Week or Schumacher fabrics.  If there's anything I missed in this disclosure, please email me so I can update this statement.

Tips for working with D-ring Hangers

This weekend we (re)hung a couple heavy mirrors that both had two "dastardly D-ring" pre-installed brackets.  Don't know about you, but we always struggle getting the placement of our wall mounted hardware to line up with those D-ring hangers on the back of an object.  It typically is a "do over" situation, perhaps even a couple of times, even when we measure very.precisely.  Out of desperation facing hours of mirror hanging fun, the following idea was born, and it.worked.great.

{Making a simple template of those D-ring hangers using a strip of low tack tape.}

{Close-up of D-ring hanger: tracing the outline of the D-ring hangers ... also a tip for making the D-rings behave!}

{You'll want to check that the tape is level when placed on the wall.}

{Double D-ring hanger mirror installed in about than 10 minutes, no tears or terse words exchanged!}

Thanks for visiting and hope you found this information helpful.  Here's another tip ... this blog's first giveaway, Trina Turk for SCHUMACHER designer home decorator fabric, remains open until 10/8/11 and is posted here. (GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED)

-----Linking To-----
Debbiedoo's Blogging and Blabbing, Debbiedoos Blogging and Blabbing
Tip Junkie, Homemade Projects ~ Add Yours {9/27} — Tip Junkie
A Bowl Full of Lemons, A bowl full of lemons.
Clean & Scentsible, Clean & Scentsible
At The Picket Fence, At The Picket Fence: Welcome to Inspiration Friday No. 34!
Home Savvy A to Z, Freshmen Friday #4 & Becoming a Guest Blogger | Home Savvy
Lolly Jane Boutique, http://lollyjaneboutique.blogspot.com/2011/09/wgw-31-with-alli-caps-giveaway.html
Be Different Act Normal,Show and Tell Saturday - 10/01/11 ~ Be Different...Act Normal

Restyling Our Fireplace, Mantle, and Bookcases

Architectural details ... love 'em, right?  But what can you do when those details are wrong for the style of room you want to create?  Sure, there's the option of taking a room down to the studs and starting from scratch, but sometimes that just isn't do'able at the time.  Today I'm sharing how we restyled our built-in bookcases, fireplace, and mantle without going demolition tearing out a single element.  We made slipcovers ... wait for it ... out of wood?!

{Our restyled fireplace wall.  The big work is complete; there's still some finishing details like putting poly or wax on the wood mantle and fireplace surround. But now, the room is a clean slate and ready to be decorated!}

{A close-up of the fireplace}

I desired a more modern and fresh style in our Great Room than the very authentic colonial elements that were there.  So we did a lot of painting, and instead of ripping features out such as a puny very small mantle, we refaced those elements with ... best way to describe it is slipcovers ... slipcovers made of wood!  

Here's a compare and contrast between our "before" and "after" photos  ...

{Comparing our "before" and "after"}

Before I go into the details of how we approached the restyle, I want to say this project has been a l-o-o-o-o-n-g time in "the works".  I can't recall precisely when we began, but about mid-way (based on progress) through this project we had a house fire, which caused an unplanned hiatus from this project of over a year.  This wall was not directly harmed by the fire so we did not lose our work; unfortunately, that wasn't the case for our completed kitchen remodel, which I wrote about here.

Back to our “way before” photo ...

{Original architectural details included knotty pine built-in cabinets and bookshelves, fireplace, and mantle with colonial dentil moulding.  TV in fireplace is optional :) }

I refer to this photo as the "way before" because I feel like I jumped in a time machine when I see this picture; this definitely is an older photo but it shows the fireplace, mantle, and bookcases in all their original knotty pine glory with colonial dentil moulding.  I'm not picking on knotty pine ... I'm just saying I had it for a while, was never thrilled with it, and then I definitely wanted anything something else.  And yes, that is a large TV sitting in what others might think of as a fireplace!  We used to joke that we could still use the fireplace, all we had to do was put a tape on the VCR (another dated reference) of a burning log.  The TV didn't live in the fireplace that long, but boy did I have a difficult time finding a spot in the room that would accommodate that mammoth black box. I've drifted off-topic a bit, but just so you know, we resolved the TV issue; flat screen TV's are much more accommodating, and removing a wall between the family room and living room to create a Great Room scheme also helped create space!  If you want to see  a layout of our floor plan I've talked about that here.

Back to the restyling of the fireplace and bookcases ...

Like I've said, there was a lot of priming and painting. Too much painting.  Oh, the painting!  I think you already know how to go about painting so I won't belabor that aspect of the project.  But, at the end of this post, you'll find some of my painting tips and I hope you'll contribute your own tips in the comment section. Sharing the painting love, don't you know!

But key to our restyling is the change in both the fireplace and the mantle.  It might be hard to see in these photos due to lighting and my camera skills, but did you notice in the "after" we have a fireplace surround?  Let's look at the comparison photos again ...

I do apologize, but we don't have photos of building the surround; they were either destroyed or lost in the fire. I can tell you that the surround consists of basically four boxes made out of 2x4's with a nice facing board and trim applied … here’s a drawing.

I think this is an aspect of our project that can be applied to many other projects; if you (or someone you love or can talk into a project) know how to build a box, there's a lot of items that can be constructed by basically stacking boxes together.  This might not be how a commercial manufacturer of a product would build the same item, but it is certainly how a DIY'er can break a big deal effort down into manageable and do'able pieces.

Here's what the new fireplace surround does for our wall design:

• it helps transition / step down, from the bookcase depth to the brick.  The original transition between the base of the bookcase (which is a cabinet) to the brick was quite abrupt and severe with a difference of 22" depth between the two elements.  
• it reduces the amount of visible brick and changes the scale and proportion of the fireplace.
• it serves as a way to run speaker cable and other wires from one side of the fireplace to the other; typically, with the brick face and the firebox block construction, if you want to pull any cabling around a fireplace you'd either have to come down through the ceiling or up through the floor ... neither being a particularly friendly DIY option.  I'll show you how the cable is dealt with in a minute.

{Close-up of the fireplace surround and mantle "slipcover"}

If you consider building any kind of surround for your fireplace, definitely check your local building / fire code to learn how much brick or other non-flammable surface you need to maintain around the firebox.  Our surround was built to code even though we never use our fireplace; I know, there are many folks who can't believe we never use the fireplace, but I have respiratory issues with any kind of smoke.  That also gives you a little insight to the extra challenge we had recovering from smoke damage to our house.

Continuing with the fireplace, in the "after" you'll probably notice too that the mantle is different.  That my friends is what I like to call the "abracadabra, now you see it, now you don’t, mantle slipcover”. Here's that "before" / "after" comparison again ...

In my opinion the original mantle was just too small; it was very shallow at only 6" deep.  And it really was only 2" tall because the bottom portion of the mantle was just a piece of colonial dentil trim less than 1" thick.  It did not command any visual presence and it was suppose to be the focal point of the wall!  We actually attempted to rip remove the mantle.  Well, even though that mantle was small, it sure was mighty!  Probably the most well built item in our house … it wasn’t going to budge.  But design will.not.be.denied.  That’s where the abracadabra slipcover comes in.

The original mantle is still there ….

{This photo was taken before I painted everything bright white ... it provides a great detail view of the trim that I'll talk about next, but it also shows the original mantle is still there.}

... yes, the original mantle has just been covered up (slipcovered) with wood.  Before I go into those details, notice the speaker cables?  Men Some folks tend to love that aspect, so it's a great way to get buy-in to a project! Those cables come in from the bookcase on the left, run through the slipcover area and exit into the bookcase on the right, then run down behind the vertical trim facing.

{This is a close-up of the left corner of the above photo}

The mantle slipcover is very similar to the fireplace surround ... basically a “box”, but a bit less constructed. We took advantage of the flanking bookcases and secured the new top and face of the mantle (two boards, cut to size) by screwing through the inside of the bookcases into the ends of the individual boards. 2 screws per board on both the left and right side (placed through the bookcase sides).  So, to take the above photo, all we had to do was remove 4 screws to take the face board down.  Being able to so easily remove the facing board also makes painting a breeze ... no cutting in around the wood, no worries!

If someone in the future wants to restore the house to the original design, the mantle is there waiting.  But I can guarantee you, that person won’t.be.me.  Or at least I don't think it will be me; my style preferences do change over time.  And that is one of the benefits of the slipcover approach; "unsightly item" gone today but that element is available to return another day!

The last element on this wall we just completed is the trim design above the mantle.  I felt we needed more of a connecting element between the bookcases, so running trim both vertically and horizontally was a way to tie it all together while providing a subtle pattern and a bit more architectural interest.

{Close-up of finished trim painted white ... trim is very subtle but still adds detail and depth above the mantle.}

For the trim we purchased inexpensive craft board at Lowe’s, we cut it to measure, and nailed the trim. We decided to devide the trim into three sections spanning the mantle and used a ratio of 1:2:1 for the sections.   Here’s an in process photo.

{This photo shows the 1:2:1 ratio used to layout the trim sections. The trim installation was not complete in this photo.}

Once the trim was up I painted the trim to match the existing moulding, which is a winter white almost light tan. Then I decided everything - new trim, wallboard, and bookcases needed to be bright white. Sigh. Get that paint brush back out.  That color change added a week to the timeline but I do think it was well worth the effort.  The jury is still out on keeping the winter white color on the crown moulding and beams in the room; I really would like to avoid that painting effort, but if I do tackle it, it will be after we have our wall color up (they are currently just primed white).

I keep mentioning the bookcases; you saw them as bookcases in the "before" shot but in the "after" we're using the space as a display alcove.  I know bookcases are well loved in home design but for some reason it didn't work for me; didn't have the right items, or enough of them for display (lost a lot of tchotchkes in the fire), and I didn't want to max out my VISA just to pull off a styled bookcase ... I have a lot of other things in this room I still need to spend money on! I still have the bookcase shelving and can always reinstall, so who knows, perhaps in the future the bookshelves will return.

If you have construction questions about the surround and the mantle that I did not cover, feel free to leave those questions in the comment area or send me an email and I'll run them by David and post an update.   In the meantime I continue painting the walls and working toward my "beachy + modern Scandinavian + artsy" look.  I need to add more pillows and work on curtains, and am looking forward to bringing more pattern and color into the space through these elements.  There may also be another restyling effort around our desk on the other side of the room.  I wrote about some artwork that has already been brought into the room here.  I hope you'll stop by again to see how it all comes together or I'd love to have you as a follower so you'll know when I post something new!

Oh, and since I've been doing so much painting lately, let me share a couple of my painting survival tips:

• I keep a package of Baby Wipes (non-fragrance) with me at all times when painting.  They are the best.paint.spill.clean.up.towel.ever.
• When using a paint brush that will be used again for the same color (later that day, next day, even next week) I wrap the brush tightly in plastic wrap and place it in the fridge.  No clean up necessary until you are done with that paint! Also works for rollers!  This tip only works for latex paints.  
• Cleaning latex paint from brushes is a breeze if you first soak the brush in a mixture of water + liquid fabric softener.  A ratio of 1/4 cup softener to 2 cups water works well; or you can make the mixture less dilute (use less water).  When I have paint that has hardened on the brush I just soak it in pure fabric softener; I've yet to encounter a latex paint laden brush that I couldn't resuscitate with this trick.
• When using a paint roller tray I don't purchase liners; I just use heavy duty foil to line the pan.  The way to get the foil perfectly molded to the shape of your roller tray is to turn the tray upside down and press the foil onto the back of the tray, really working those rounded corners to mold the foil.  Remove the foil, turn the tray right side up, and slip your foil liner into the tray.  No ripped foil when molded this way.

How about you?  What are your great painting tips?  Let's share the painting love ... heck, I still have lots of painting left to do and I'd love to hear your tips!  If you have some great tips please share them in the comment section below. I'll summarize all the tips shared here into a single list and post it to the blog so all can benefit ... it could be a fun early Halloween-ish post ... painting Tricks & Tips!  Just trying to help everyone out!

Thanks for visiting!

------ Linking To: ---------
Between Naps On The Porch, Between Naps on the Porch: Bamboo Mat for the Upstairs Family Room: Welcome to the 139th Metamorphosis Monday!
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia: Tuesday's Treasures
A Bowl Full of Lemons, A bowl full of lemons.: One project at a time... Tuesday Link Party.
Home Stories A to Z, Tutorials & Tips Tuesday Link Party {28} | Home Stories A to Z
Hope Studios, Hope Studios: Tutorial Tuesday!
Savvy Southern Style, Savvy Southern Style: Wow Us Wednesdays #32
At The Picket Fence, At The Picket Fence: Welcome to Inspiration Friday No. 33!
Addicted 2 Decorating, Addicted 2 Decorating: Addicts (not so) Anonymous Link Party No. 25

Great Room: Progress

I think? I recently mentioned I was starting to work on the Great Room; I know I've mentioned I had a few things to finish in the Den.  I also have a few new small projects I can't wait to get underway in the Dining Room.  Safe to say, I have something "in process" in every room; I'm very good at getting a project started but I can struggle crossing the finish line at times.  I actually hope that blogging about my activities will help me focus on completing projects in a timely manner.

Remember when I talked about turning the photo of Beaver into a modern art canvas here?  Well, I picked it up from Costco today, and wow ... what a great job their Photo Gallery group did ... the colors are spot on to the image I created and the lines are so crisp.  I've seen canvas prints from other companies that didn't turn out so well.  Here's a peak of mine ...

{My Beaver canvas art is in the upper right corner.  The leaf sconce was recently purchased at Home Goods and that's the Costco flameless candle I blogged about on the sconce.  The large art canvas is one we've had for several years. Oh, to the left of the sofa is the pillow I recently made too!}

Well, I believe that's the first you've seen of the Great Room.  The wall color is actually just white primer at this point.  A few days ago that wall looked like this ....

Yep, I've been painting.

Seems the Hawthorne Yellow (picked for this room just about a year ago when the painter was here helping to get our house restored so we could move back in) wasn't a good selection for us.  There's nothing wrong with the color per se; it just doesn't relate to the furnishings that ended up in this room.  I'm chalking it up to picking colors under duress ... I was a bit frazzled at the time.

And today I'm a bit frazzled all over again about having to repaint this myself.  Oh well.

So what color is the wall becoming?  Not sure.  Really.  Know it won't be Hawthorne Yellow.

We decided to prime first and then hopefully it will only be a single topcoat since we are definitely thinking very light.  The yellow had just so overtaken the room we really couldn't get a good sense of how well our choices might work.  Right now the top contenders are both Ben Moore colors: Grey Owl or Hazy Skies.  Obviously we want a light and neutral wall to allow the pops of color we have to shine, but not glare at you, which is a bit of the effect that is going on with just a bright white primer.

Here's what I'm going for in the Great Room:

Upscale Beachy + Modern Scandinavian + Artsy

I hope to have more to share from this room real soon.  So are you working on a total room redo or an update to a key item in a room ... love to hear what's going on at your house! Thanks for stopping by,

Fudge Brownies

Before we revamped our diet years ago and eliminated refined sugars and processed white wheat, I used to l-o-o-o-o-v-e a gooey sugar-laden bakery brownie.  When I think back to how those brownies tasted, I thought I tasted chocolate because, hey, it's a brownie, but I really only tasted "sweet".  Today, when we have our super quick and easy home-baked brownies, we enjoy the taste of real chocolate while knowing they are a much healthier treat than a sugary traditional brownie.

{Our brownies use whole wheat flour or non-gluten flour mix, Smart Balance "butter" stick, Splenda or other alternative sweetener, and 60% Cocoa chocolate chips for a true chocolate taste}

Depending on your frame of reference, you might feel this treat is more fudge-like or you could be in the brownie'ish camp with me.  Either way you look at the dish ... fudge or brownie ... what's not to like?


Baking Tip: Use a digital kitchen scale to measure ingredients to streamline clean-up
I really hate washing dishes.  So in addition to modifying ingredients in this recipe I've added gram measurements so I can use my digital kitchen scales and only have to wash a large glass measuring cup and two spoons.  I don't even have to wash the baking pan because I line it with parchment paper; all I have to do is rinse and air dry, and it's ready for the next use :)


Even though these brownies freeze well, I only bake small batches because the aroma of the warm chocolate is so intoxicating that I want to bake them often!  If however, you need a larger batch you certainly can double the recipe and use a 9"x12" pan.  


Also, I find this recipe very versatile; for instance, I've halved the recipe below and baked it in a pie pan and used it as a pie crust (bottom of pan only).  It.was.yummy.  I'd love to hear your creative ideas for using this brownie as a base for other delectable treats ... looking forward to your comments!


There are several printing options at the end of the post; right now, here's the recipe.  


The Recipe
I adapted a recipe that was published long ago in the Parade Magazine insert of my Sunday newspaper.  I **think** the recipe was by Dorie Greenspan, but the original recipe clipping was lost in our house fire, so I cannot - with certainty, provide credit for the original recipe.  


The below recipe is how I bake using modified ingredients and gram weight measures.  If you are interested in the original ingredients or Cup-based measures I've included both in the printable file for download at the end of the post.  

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325 conventional oven, 8x8 pan, parchment lined pan or (buttered and floured pan)

Bake for 30 - 33 minutes
 


75 grams, New Balance “butter stick” (do not use the tub version as that product contains too much water for successful baking)

170 grams , 60% or greater % Cocoa chocolate chips (I use Ghirardelli chips)

20 grams , Splenda 

2 large eggs

55 grams, whole wheat flour 

walnuts, chopped, as much as desired, Optional

Pre-measure all ingredients using gram weights.  I use a piece of wax paper on the counter to hold each ingredient pile until needed in the recipe, pouring the ingredient into my measuring cup and tossing that wax paper sheet.


Place “butter” and chocolate in a large (at least 4 cups) glass measuring cup and microwave @ level 3 (based on my 1200 watt micorwave oven) until melted, stopping midway to stir.  I typically microwave the chocolate for 2 minutes, stir, and continue for another 2 minutes.

{This is how the chocolate & butter appear when melted slightly; stir and return to the microwave}

Once fully melted, remove from microwave.  Add Splenda to the chocolate, a third of the Splenda at a time, stirring between each addition. Beat for an additional 1 - 2 minutes after all Splenda is added. Batter will have a granular appearance.

{This is the mixture after stirring in all the Splenda; note the granular appearance}

Add eggs to mixture, beating for several minutes until mixture turns very glossy and smooth. 

{The chocolate mix is now smooth and glossy}

Add flour and stir to fully incorporate. Add walnuts if using.

Spoon into baking dish and smooth the batter. Tip: You may want to first dip the spoon in water to prevent the batter from sticking to the spoon.

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These treats will keep for several days on the counter, sealed well.  If they harden a bit before you can eat them you can microwave at a very low setting for just a few seconds to return them to "just baked freshness".


Here's the link for printing the PDF for the recipe including original ingredient options and Cup-measures, no photos, and no text from this post.


But wait!  There's also another printing option located below in the Comments area; that option let's you decide if you want either photos or the complete text from this post.


Thanks for visiting and I'd love to hear about your brownie baking adventures!

---- Linking To... ------

Tammy's Recipes, Everyday Kitchen Inspiration, Kitchen Tip Tuesdays: When your grilling plans go awry | Tammy's Recipes

Simply Sugar and Gluten Free, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday; 9/13/11 | Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free

This Chick Cooks, This Chick Cooks: These Chicks Cooked Link Party - Featuring Your Recipes from All Around Blogland #17

A Bowl Full of Lemons, A bowl full of lemons.: One project at a time... Tuesday Link Party.

Pillows ... Made by Me!

{My first pillow ... ever!}

I made my first pillow ... ever, complete with zipper!  From start to finish it took less than 1 hour and that included a lot of time reading the tutorial (repeatedly) and convincing myself I could do this.  With a bit more experience I believe I can do this in a half hour or so.  I'm feeling pretty pleased right now!

{That's a real zipper on the pillow ... and it works!}

Can you see the zipper in the photo?  The zipper color blends well with the fabric but the real reason the zipper is well integrated with the pillow is the tutorial I followed.  I learned how to sew so long ago that I've managed to forget just about everything; use it or lose it, don't you know!  And I never learned how to sew the items I was interested in sewing ... home decor items; I was taught how to sew clothing.  So I really needed a tutorial that covered the basics and threw in a few tips too.


If you are interested in learning how to sew pillows with a zippered closure here's the tutorial I followed on the Casa Brasi blog; the blog is currently on hiatus but the tutorials remain posted.  


Update 9/30/11: Interested in pillows and sewing?  If so, you may want to read about my current giveaway ... Trina Turk for Schumacher Fabric, which I wrote about here. The giveaway ends 10/8/11.  Now back to the rest of the original post.


This pillow is destined for our den that I've written about here (our new floor plan), here (new FLOR carpet), and here (tips for hanging a gallery wall). I have a few more pillows to make and curtains to trim and then I hope to post finished room photos soon.


Hope you have a great weekend!  I'll be Happily Home ... making pillows!

----- Linking this post to -----

My Simple Home Life, Simple Home Life: Features & Simply Creations Link Party # 24

SomeWhat Simple, Blog Link Party with Target Gift Card Giveaway from GroopDealz | Somewhat Simple

Find Fabulous, Finding Fabulous: Frugalicious Friday!

Rummage Living, T.G.I.F. (Thank God I’m Finished!) Link Party and Favorites! | Rummage Living

A Few More Kitchen Design Details

The oven is installed!  As I stand here looking around I realize there's a few kitchen details I've not previously highlighted.

{my Chef statue ... a gift from my husband}

Because our new exhaust hood that I mentioned here has a glass canopy (rather than solid stainless steel) the cooktop lighting is greatly improved as the light from recessed ceiling pots can actually reach the cooktop!  Also, due to both the glass material and curved shape of the canopy, it feels so much more spacious around the cooktop.  Since the visual space has expanded I've been able to bring my Chef statue into the kitchen so he can keep a watchful eye on me as I toil cook.  I love that pig statue ... every time I look at him he makes me grin from ear to ear.  

{photo looking up through the Miele stainless / glass exhaust canopy}

Can you see the wall and cabinet above the cook exhaust hood?  Really, the glass is so practical for cleaning (windex and go) and lighting.


I love organization anywhere but especially in a kitchen.  Mise en place, don't you know.  Here's a couple of my fav organization elements in my kitchen.


A very handy, shallow extra drawer under my cooktop ...

{I agree, for an "organization" photo, these items look a bit like they were just tossed in there!}

The utensil tray that is my third rack in the dishwasher ....

{all Miele dishwashers have a utensil tray / rack}

A pull-out tucked into a typically unusable sliver of space just to the side of the inside corner of my base cabinets ...

And on the other side of this inside corder, another pull-out devise that allows us to make use of the deep storage space typically lost in the blind corner of an L-shape configuration; first you pull this section forward ...

... then you pull that section to the right and the next section automatically comes forward.  These sections are stacked in the cabinet to the left side of door, the "blind side".

Finally, there's our pseudo-kitchen island.  It really is an IKEA kitchen cart.  David added locking wheels (IKEA of course) to the cart so it can easily be moved.  He also added 4 pull-out metal baskets (um, yep, they're IKEA baskets designed to be used as interior cabinet accessories) to double the storage capacity of the 2 shelves in the original IKEA design. I think the "made by IKEA, hacked by us" brand is great!

{our "made by IKEA, hacked by us" kitchen island}

My kitchen is not large.  But because we make good use of every square inch, my kitchen functions very well.  If you'd like to read about the rebuilding of our kitchen and the products used, I wrote about that here.


What are your favorite features in your kitchen?  If there was anything you could change about your kitchen what would it be and why?  I'm always eager to hear about great kitchen design so please share!

There's An Oven In My Foyer?

I've shared other photos of my oven in odd places (at the end of this post here).  Now there's an oven sitting in my foyer ... it's a nice accent, don't ya' think?

I guess we're playing a version of "where's Waldo?" only with large kitchen appliances!


Today the new oven moves to the kitchen and tonight I can cook ... I'm doin' a happy dance.


Why do we need a new oven?  My (only a couple of years old) oven was in the kitchen at the time of our house fire; by all outward appearances, it was unharmed and fine.  But you can't judge a book by it's cover.  Although the oven looked fine, it has been deemed unsafe for cooking due to contamination from the fire. Sigh.  I really don't want to go much more in-depth on that aspect of the story because it just makes me feel ill.  Literally and figuratively. 


But there are a few points I want to highlight about this oven misadventure.


Point #1
My previously cherished oven is being disposed of at a facility that will crush the oven to ensure no one will attempt to resell / reuse the oven.  I hope this is how all appliances deemed unsafe or potentially unsafe are disposed of.  Word to the wise, if you ever come across a really really really unbelievable deal on say, electronics or an appliance, ask lots of questions about why it is being sold and why it can be sold for such a super low price.


Point #2
Our house fire was almost 14 months ago but the replacement of the oven will be covered by our insurance claim.  Claims remain open for 2 years from the date of occurrence.  Good thing, too.  Since moving back home 9 months ago and beginning to use items that outwardly appeared fine, we have now replaced our cooktop exhaust hood and the oven.  If the claim wasn't still "open" that would have been an unfair expense for us to cover since the items were damaged by the fire.  


The installers have arrived!  Gotta go answer some questions.  I'll post again soon.

Insurance Claims: A Basic Primer for those with No Previous Claims Experience

Watching the news coverage of the destruction wrought by Hurricane Irene makes my heart ache for all who have experienced a storm-related loss and now face rebuilding or restoring a home, their community, and their lives.  

I have some experience with a property loss claim and restoring a home.  I know how daunting it is to enter into this new experience already physically and emotionally exhausted; and the challenge level is magnified if you are experiencing acute anxiety and / or post traumatic stress issues.

Whether you personally have experienced a loss, or you are a friend or family member of someone who has, here’s a little primer from my personal experience about “working your insurance claim”.

Lesson #1: Working Your Insurance Claim

You experienced a covered property loss.  You have a contract with your insurance company to compensate you, within the limits of your policy, for your loss for the express purpose of restoring the covered property to pre-loss condition.  The insurance company will make payment to you for the approved expenses you incur in your restoration.  

After the initial process of determining the scope of loss and necessary restoration activities, and assigning a dollar amount to your claim, you will select, hire, contract and manage the trades, merchants, service providers, and others, who will restore your property.  Based on the terms and conditions of your insurance policy, your insurer will reimburse you for the cost of these services, but you will manage the work performed at your house and it is your responsibility to make sure the work is being performed to your satisfaction.  If you have an issue or complaint about work being done you are responsible for addressing this issue with the person or company you hired; resolving on-site work quality or performance issues is not an insurer role.

Depending on the scope of your loss and the recovery timeframe established, you may find that working your insurance claim is all-consuming (a full time job).  If yours will be a large scale rebuilding effort, a critical element to the success of your effort is the selection of a General Contractor.  I strongly encourage you to interview both contractors and their reference customers, inspect samples of their work if possible, and to consider how easy it is for you to talk with them (do your styles “click”).  You may be provided with a starting list of General Contractors for consideration, but if you know of someone not on the list that you want to consider, you most certainly should.  Furthermore, if you have the time, inclination, and knowledge, it may be possible for you to function as the G.C.

As you work your claim you may came across folks who leave you with the impression they are in charge (of decisions, of how to proceed, of selection, etc.).  Always remember that you are still the king of your castle, and last I checked, that means you are in charge.

Lesson #2: “It’s a marathon, not a race”

Really, I got goose bumps just writing that phrase.  

I never, never, never thought I would personally repeat that phrase, let alone validate it.  We heard that trite phrase way too many times.  But it is the way things work.  Things take time.

I was sure I could speed the process along.  I stayed up for days, writing lists, pulling together background information, searching for online photos to say “this is what I like”, anticipating questions folks might have and preparing hand-outs that I carried with me in case those questions arose (I can be a bit of a type A personality and compulsive).

In the end we returned home slightly quicker than the average “time out of home” for the scope of loss we experienced.   Meanwhile, my blood pressure jumped 50 points immediately after our fire and held that level until we returned home.  I literally slept less than 2 hours each night during this time and I experienced an unhealthy weight loss (although you couldn’t tell it by looking at me today).  My husband referred to me as a “high functioning zombie”.  Sexy, huh?

If you think you and I might share similar traits and work styles, and you are about to embark on a “race” to the finish with your claim, then please consider my experience (hindsight is 20/20) and ask yourself if the toll it may extract from you is worth it.  

Let me end this lesson by sharing a part of a conversation I had last October when we began the process of returning home; “he” is a professional who worked on our restoration and he also is a fire survivor, having experienced a multi-million dollar fire loss in his business a few years before.  

He: “… did you have a good summer?”

Me: “Um, we had a fire.”

He: “I mean other than the fire.  Did you take a vacation?  Things like that.”

Me: (just looking dazed and baffled by the question) “Um, we had a fire.”

Here’s my point … Take care of yourself.

Lesson #3: The Troika

Person 1 … your insurance agent

Person 2 … your insurance adjustor(s)

Person 3 … the Claims Manager / Representative at your insurer’s national office

Our insurance was purchased through an agent who is a  member of the independent insurance network; our agent is a broker for multiple insurer’s policies.  He was our sales agent.   He did contact us after learning of the the fire, expressed remorse for our loss, offered assistance, and really hit a home run for us when he called our insurer to find out who our Claims Manager was, and passed along his name and contact information.

If you purchased insurance, for example, from an office called “Acme” and your insurance policy is written by “Acme Insurance”, then I don’t know the real term for it, but you are not part of the independent insurance network.  In this case your insurance agent might have more involvement in your claim than ours, but you’d still have the Claims Manager that I mention next, so read on.

The “big picture” person is the Claims Manager.  I’ve already referred to our agent as a sales representative.  And the adjustor helps determine the value of items and the cost for the claim.

Have questions about the process, what should or shouldn’t be happening?

Have compliments or complaints about the process?

Have an issue or problem other than those related to someone you’ve hired?

Need some overall reassurance or advise?

Your go to person is the Claims Manager.

I hope you found this basic primer helpful, or at least thought provoking, and most certainly that it didn’t seem like a rant of a crazy woman.  

If you have questions or comments about anything I wrote, feel free to leave a comment below … you do not have to agree with what I said, but please present all thoughts in a respectful manner.  I may not be able to provide answers to questions specific to your experience - I almost certainly will not be able to do that, but perhaps someone else who reads this will be able to respond based on their personal or professional experience.  Please take care and stay well.