Add Comfort

There’s nothing more delightful than a cozy kitchen, where all the delicious smells come together with a homey feel. One possibility – a heated floor. These floors are more established in the bathroom, but why not the kitchen as well? After all, kitchen floors aren’t typically made of carpet, making them conducive to heating. Also, cooking happens in all seasons and weather, including cold winters.

Anti-fatigue floor mats are another possiblity. These are pads that help to comfort your tired, overwhelmed feet so that you can continue on with your duties as head chef of the household.

Accessorize

You can add flavor by accessorizing with wall shelves, pot racks, and oddly enough, an appliance garage. This oft-unheard of concept is actually a nifty idea; it is a compartment built into your cupboards that allows for a space to hide your toaster, coffee maker, microwave oven, etc. While keeping these appliances handy and within reach, the appliance garage still allows for neatness in your kitchen.

Adding a splash of wood in your kitchen gives it that vintage warm and cozy feel. Some easy features are a wooden dish rack, wooden cutting board, wooden glass coasters, and a wooden silverware drawer. Finally, there’s a wide range of kitchen gadgets available to assist your cooking needs, from a shredder, slicer, or coffee grinder to less traditional items like food robots, fruit extenders, and entertainment centers.

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To get a better understanding of what fire hazard could be lurking in your yard or house, you can call your local fire department and state forestry. To start, there are five hazards that can create a serious fire around the home.

1. Fire wood against the house
2. Debris in gutters
3. Underbrush that begins to bed into the lawn; this becomes  fuel which will create enough heat for the fire to “jump” into the trees
4. Dried lawns and dead bushes/trees
5. Fire pits

A couple of fire prevention tips that can help are: Good water supply and continuous watering of yard, bushes, trees and plants. Trim any of your trees up to ten feet off the ground. For more information, check out: Fire Prevention Tips and Fire Hazards.

No matter where you live there are fire restrictions. For example, in Oregon, you are not allowed to mow lawns or use a chainsaw between the hours of 1pm – 8pm. Just clean up and keep basic yard maintenance and you are on the way to being fire safe!

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There’s nothing I love doing more than decorating and remodeling. I’ve been in the same boat, and these simple ideas helped me make the condo cozy.

• Start with the colors you’d like to see in your condo. A good way to establish this is
  by blending in colors that go with the location of your condo. Also, establish the feeling you want to create.
• Try moving walls to open up space.
• Depending on the condo size, do not put huge appliances in the kitchen.
• Be simple, yet bold with pieces you choose to decorate with.
• Do lots of research to get inspired!

Here’s a link that can help you with inspiration. Remember to  have fun, stay simple, and make an impression with the something old and something new!

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Here are four categories that can help you coordinate the vintage feel in your own yard:

Statues. These include cherubs, lions, figurines, etc. There aren’t any limitations on statues, you can even order specialty products or make them yourself!

Seating. Rustic metal chairs, wood benches and tables, a porch swing (I have one of these in my yard) – all transport you to another day and time.

Accessories. Celestial wall plaques, fountains, solar lamps, sun dials, and neat planters like an old bicycle, wheel barrel, or carriage. These always make your yard look like it’s been landscaped for years. Kinda like you grew with your yard instead of you growing with your yard.

Animal Invites. Bird Houses, bird baths, bird feeders. These can be metal or stone. My favorite, which may seem weird to a lot of people, is the little boy peeing water feature for a bird bath. This always made me feel like I was in a peaceful secret garden.

If you don’t shop online, then try everything from shopping at Home Depot, a neat craft store, or even garage sales and second-hand stores. If you are determined to get your very own secret garden, with vintage style, you will know where to find what you want.

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Once you’ve found the right hammock, the next step is to find a great spot to hang it. This is half the work and half the fun. Pretty much anywhere you want it will work for hanging your hammock, mostly because there are so many ways that you can hang them. The only thing that you need to work around is the length and height of your hammock. All hammocks have a minimum hanging requirement, usually consisting of the length of the hammock itself, plus an extra 3 feet or so (18in on both sides) for the tipping factor. The height of the hammock is a very important factor. You don’t want it too low or it will not hang and swing properly, let alone safely. The average hanging height for a hammock with spread bars is between 4-5 feet off the ground. You’ll want hammocks without spread bars to be hung at about 6-8 feet off the ground. Hanging the hammock properly makes all the difference in comfort. Once done, it’s ready for you to enjoy!

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PBDE’s are everywhere! They are found in your couch, TV, computer, house and office dust, toaster, hair dryers, microwaves, carpet padding, mattresses, and upholstered furniture. When you sit on a cushion seat, you release this invisible toxin right into your air, into your clothes, and onto your skin. You breathe it in, you wash it off and down the drains and into the sewage, which believe this, gets used to fertilize our very own farm fields!! Scientists have found that this chemical sticks to fat. Scientists have done breast milk tests and have found that this chemical sticks to breast milk, the women who bare families and breast feed their babies are feeding them this chemical too. This PBDE chemical contaminates our food too, mainly the meat and dairy products, but these foods are abundantly eaten. There’s no getting around it.

It has also been found that while this chemical burns, hence it is a fire retardant, it creates a toxic substance with a form of dioxin- a deadly carcinogen. Firefighters probably have the worst of it all, their uniforms are made with this chemical, but still the heat and smoke stick to their bodies and clothes and they are breathing this stuff in for up to a month or two after the fire they fought.

It’s a scary thought isn’t it? I was shocked to have learned this myself. Fortunately, at this time the government is trying to ban this product from ever being used again, and some furniture stores don’t even carry furniture that have PBDE’s in them any more.

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There are quite a few ways you can add a creative finish to your kitchen. You can use techniques like the following:

• Crackling. This gives the natural, weather-worn effect.
• Distressed edging. This provides a beautiful, aged look.
• Wood graining gives the illusion of real wood.
• Stenciling is fun and allows for word art and wall decoration for borders and corners.
• Tissue paper texturing adds a dimensional texture for walls, lampshades, and candle holders. Plus, there are endless possibilities for color.
• Faux metallic leafing creates the look of real metal leafing.
• Highlighting adds elegance and enhances raised details.
• Chamois stippling gives a mottled, gentle aged look.
• Striae glaze antiquing can simulate the look of wood.

Simply, your kitchen is the entertainment room of your house, and everyone talks about the kitchen. So add the you into your kitchen, use creative finishes to create that personal touch and style. Really, when it comes down to it, decorating your kitchen is all about you and not the money. So make sure that no matter what you decide, have fun with it and make it just the look you wanted!

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1. Sprays
2. Intumescent Paints
3. Penetrants
4. Saturants
5. Coatings
6. Caulk/Putty
7. Non-Toxic
8. Commercial Use
9. Household Use
10. Interior/Exterior

When you are shopping around for fire retardants, a great thing to know is that you can purchase them by the quart, gallon, drum, and tote. Prices vary by the size and application type. There is no “all purpose” fire retardant. Fire retardants are rated A, B and C, and most materials need a specific formula. Depending on what you want to protect, whether it’s wood, fabric, pressure treated wood, or even foam, there are different application types for the job.

Before you get too comfortable with the thought of protecting your home from fire, take a look at Fire Chemicals.com for information on how chemicals work. Become enlightened by fire safety, and take every chance you can to protect you and your home!

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Theme your party, add some spunk.

Theme the party according to what people will wear, the transportation they arrive in, or by food and décor.

• You can easily theme a green, eco-friendly party with hemp and organic cotton and fresh fruit and veggies for eatin.’
• For décor, you can use recycled fabric, glass, or crafts that you made from other objects, such as candles made from crayons.
• You can also add beauty by decorating with potted plants; this way they are fresh and beautiful to look. They can also be given as party favors.

Create the party mood.

For a fun time, play music rather than listening to the radio. This way you are saving energy, and having a blast with your friends by having an interactive party that everyone can enjoy. A great way to create the party mood can be done with the type of lighting you use.

• If your party is at night, use fluorescent lighting; these bulbs have less carbon footprint.
• Use candles. A great aspect about using candles is they come with different types of scents, and even bug repellent.
• Or, just have your party at midday; the sun creates an energetic mood for your guests.

Using these tips and just being yourself, you can make every party you host memorable and eco-friendly.

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