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Home
Improvement Tips |
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Some of our best tips to help you, home improvement-wise.
We hope you find these tidbits as useful as we do. |
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Automatic closet light
When you open a refrigerator, the light comes on. How would you like that feature in a closet? All you need is a spring-loaded jamb switch and some basic carpentry and electrical skills. The automatic light switch is located in a chiseled notch into the hinge side of the closet doorjamb. Power has to be run from the light to the switch. Many times, removing the door casing does the trick. Tools needed are a drill, chisel and screwdriver. When wiring it, the hot wire (most often black) runs to the switch then back to the light fixture. Electrical supply houses sell jamb switches, as do hardware stores and home centers. If you're unsure about either the carpentry or the electrical work, consult a pro. Then -- as with a refrigerator -- it's door open, light on; door closed, light off.
Improving kitchen storage
If your attempts to locate that special pot, pan or can of soup make you feel like Sherlock Holmes, chances are you can use this. A few inexpensive and simple-to-install organizers will not only improve the storage capacity of your kitchen cabinets, but will make your kitchen a more pleasant place to work. Lazy Susans, pullout shelves, spice racks, cutlery trays, trash-can pullouts and undersink pullout caddies are just a few of the accessories found at your hardware store or home-improvement centre, and installed in an afternoon. For specialty items or installation help, check with a local cabinet shop.
Two rooms in one
Many houses today have a home office that doubles as a guest bedroom. But when no guests are visiting, the bed sits there, taking up valuable floor space. It winds up loaded with books and papers, just like a tabletop does. Is there a better way? You might try a wall bed -- sometimes called a Murphy bed. During the day it folds up out of the way, and the room becomes a den or office. At night, with just the touch of a finger, a full bed lowers into place and the room is once again a bedroom.
Dust-free storage
Zip it, clip it, hang it. Wall-mounted pegboard is ideal for storing tools. It's great for organizing other things, too, such as safety gear, including goggles, dust masks and respirators. Or small hand-held electronic gadgets such as a stud-finder, multimeter, voltage tester or calculator. Even fresh batteries and various small tools and parts can be organized using pegboard. To keep such things dirt-, dust- and moisture-free, seal them in plastic food-storage bags, then put metal spring-binder clips on the tops of the bags. Hang them from a handy pegboard hook. They'll be easy to see and reach.
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NOTE: The comments contained on this
web site are for information purposes only and do not constitute legal
advice.
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