I get asked all the time about what's the best way to spend your money if you're planning on remodeling your bathroom. Well, I have a few big tips and tricks I always use that I feel help you get the most bang for your buck. This bathroom was a perfect example of how to really stretch your dollar and make your remodel look like a million bucks!
BEFORE
3. hide the toilet!
Not all thrones are created equal. While some are well designed, there is a way to hide your toilet…and I say make it happen! It’s a little more private and draws attention to the prettier parts of the space. We actually turned the old shower and tub and made room for that the new toilet. By using a pocket door we didn't have to worry about the swing of the door, which allowed us to create a larger vanity as well.
1. add natural light!
In a bathroom, the more natural light you can get, the better! I went all out in this particular remodel. The bathroom before was such a dark and closed off space. We added a huge skylight, and two huge windows: one above the tub; one in the shower. In my opinion, it was the most important element to make the small footprint of the bathroom feel much larger. It brought the outdoors in, but also helped to give the space a much needed feeling of being airy and bright!
2. add storage!
Storage is key in a small-space. Keeping it uncluttered and giving all of the things that go into the bathroom a designated place will help keep the focus on your beautiful bathroom and not all the products and stuff that inevitably will pile up! In this remodel, we created a huge 9’ vanity that created a ton of storage and gave them two sinks.
5. add natural stone!
A gorgeous slab of natural stone in a bathroom is an incredible way to add warmth and an organic element. Natural stone is not always cheap, so a great way to get the look of a natural stone without the hefty price tag is to buy tiles cut from materials like marble, or travertine. There are some beautiful options out there– hexagonal or subway tile–in various natural stone. Try tiling a shower or a sink backsplash with the tile material if you can’t afford to splash out on a slab. In this remodel we went a little marble crazy in the tub, and on the vanity counter top. We cut some budget corners in the shower by not doing any solid slabs and used the same Calcutta marble (in hexagonal tile sheets), which were significantly less expensive.
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Snow sports celebs star at museum opening
Washington Olympians and Hall of Famers came out to celebrate the grand opening on Oct. 10. Pictured from left are, back, Phil Mahre, Susie Luby, Debbie Armstrong, Mark Bathum, Scott Macartney, Steve Mahre, Judy Nagel, Angeli Van Laanen, and Patrick Deneen; front row, Libby Ludlow, Shannon Bloedel, and Randy Garretson.
On Saturday, Oct. 10, the Washington State Ski and Snowboard Museum held its grand opening with 13 Olympians in attendance.
Located directly across from the Summit Inn on the Snoqualmie Pass, the museum is home to many exhibits detailing the history of snow sports and how they have evolved.
David Moffett, president of the museum, said the grand opening was a success, with hundreds of people showing up to see the new exhibits and the specially invited Washington Olympians.
“It was fabulous, we had about 300 people there,” Moffett said. “We had 13 Olympians which was pretty amazing, and we had a lot of donors.”
Some of the Olympians at the grand opening included World Cup skier Judy Nagel, gold medalist Deborah Armstrong, and Phil and Steve Mahre, brothers regarded as some of the best skiers of their time.
Moffett explained that the museum is aiming to be a more lively, interactive place through the use of digital content in exhibits.
“It’s a very informative museum, we have eight monitors that tell stories, most are touch screens,” Moffett said.
Having a digital component to the museum also enables staff to change up the content regularly to make it a fresh experience for repeat visits, he added. The exhibits on display are not just a history of snow sports, but also a look at how these sports have evolved and the accomplishments of Washington athletes.
Exhibits include a 1940s-style rope tow that runs across the whole museum, a booth about the history of skiing gear, Nordic skiing traditions, and a booth for the Outdoors for All Foundation, which helps bring skiing opportunities to people with disabilities.
Moffett’s personal favorite is the awards display that showcases Washington athletes’ achievements over the years, like Mahre’s World Cup and Armstrong’s Olympic gold medal.
The museum is open from 3 to 7 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Fridays through Sundays. The museum is staffed by volunteers, including three from North Bend. Moffett said the museum is looking for more volunteers. Contact him at the museum at (425) 434-0826, or visit more at www.wsssm.org.
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The Newest Odd Couple: Real Estate Developers and Urban Farmers
It's an unexpected romance that's blossoming in surprising ways.
The roof garden on the Stack House Apartments in Seattle's South Lake Union neighborhood.(Michael Walmsley/Vulcan Real Estate)
At the Stack House Apartments in Seattle’s now-trendy South Lake Union neighborhood, residents can walk out onto a terrace and pluck a tomato right off the vine.
In the South Bronx, an 8,000-square-foot hydroponic greenhouse atop an affordable housing development is creating jobs and food for the residents below—along with cooler summers and warmer winters.
And in Somerville, Massachusetts, Assembly Row, a still-under-construction mixed-use development, features a small garden that serves several local restaurants and is a learning site for area employees.
Environmentally conscious construction and building systems are old news at this point, but building-integrated food production is a relatively new, though growing, area of focus. And it’s led to a bit of a strange bedfellows situation: As both urban agriculture and real estate boom in a number of U.S. cities, real estate developers are looking to small-scale local growers to augment their plans. At the same time, food activists are beginning to recognize how even luxury builders can advance their cause.
Henry Gordon-Smith, who advises schools, builders and cities as they roll out vertical farming projects, says he now receives up to 10 calls a week from builders and architects inquiring about such technologies or, increasingly, seeking experienced growers.
“The building has to be productive,” he says. “All of that creates better occupants, and better citizens. Food is the next frontier in this.”
Instead of seeing Boston’s building boom as a threat to her urban farming business, Jessie Banhazl, founder and CEO of the Somerville-based Green City Growers, looks at new development as a positive. She started out installing terra firmagardens in backyards and public spaces, but says much of her work of late has been meeting with major developers and architects to build rooftop and grade-level farms into their plans from the conception stage. A rendering of Sebastian Mariscal Studio’s forthcoming Mission Hill project in Boston, a mixed-use development that will incorporate a rooftop community roof garden and solar farm. (Courtesy SMS)“It’s really important that developers understand the value of this, and that they can provide amenities and lots of value to their property by having a rooftop farm,” she says. “There’s so many different applications where the tenants would value having food growing on the property.”
Indeed, many of these developments view urban agriculture as an added amenity for tenants, similar to a gym or a media lounge. As a perk for tenants like Google and Akamai, commercial property management company Boston Properties asked Green City Growers to initiate a garden and education program at its Kendall Center building in Cambridge. Another firm, Beacon Capital Partners, collaborated with a local beekeeper to put beehives in a number of its Boston buildings, which allows building managers to bring little jars of honey to their tenants, providing a “rare opportunity for a landlord to come by when they don’t need something,” says Noah Wilson-Rich of Best Bees.
Across the country in Seattle, the same is true for a number of newer residential developments. Vulcan Real Estate, run by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, has included rooftop community gardens in many of its recent projects. At the 24-story Martin apartment building downtown, residents chose to tend their rooftop gardens themselves, while the terrace garden at the Stack House Apartments in South Lake Union is maintained by Colin McCrate and a team of farmers from Seattle Urban Farm Company. McCrate and Vulcan are now working together on another, larger residential development, and they say gardens appeal to a younger generation of Seattleites who carry with them “a more holistic environmentalism.”
“A lot of our residents wished that they had some green space to tend rather than just a shoebox in the window,” says Brandon Morgan, development manager at Vulcan. “It’s also a visual amenity, as part of our landscaping, it’s sort of a centerpiece on that roof deck. And it also encourages healthy living by basically providing residents with greens, if they want it, for consumption.”
Food activists are starting to see the long-term benefits of integrating agriculture into existing or new infrastructure, says Holly Fowler of Northbound Ventures, who facilitated the yearlong urban agriculture visioning process on behalf of the City of Boston that ended this summer. “Typically, the land that is slated for housing,” she says, “agriculture is not going to be competing with that land. Period. The end.” When conversation at meetings turned to combining development and agriculture, Holly says, “reactions were always, ‘we should do more of this.’”
This is not to say concerns do not exist among the urban food justice crowd. Chief among them is the fear that access to an urban garden is an amenity available only to those who can afford it, says Andrea Dwyer, executive director of Seattle Tilth, a large nonprofit with a variety of urban agriculture projects throughout the city. And after the initial luster of that new bed of veggies at the apartment complex or office wears off, she adds, what will become of the project then?
“I do worry that some of these trendier developments, that while it’s a fad, people will incorporate it, but it will fade and they’ll do the equivalent of asphalting over it and turn it into something else,” she says. “In order for urban food production to have staying power, there has to be a real commitment and dedication to it from all perspectives—from people who are developing the buildings, the planning departments, the politicians.
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For a home to remain in good shape throughout the winter it needs regular care and attention. When a home is occupied, many of the things that are necessary to keep it in good working order happen by default. But when the home is vacant, it is up to the owner or the property manager to prepare it for freezing temperatures and other winter risks.
The worst risk comes from bursting pipes, which can lead to water damage that can significantly impact the value of the home. Left alone, water can ruin everything it touches – walls, floors, electrical systems, etc. It can even damage the foundation. Other risks exist as well, such as pest infiltration, that can leave nasty surprises for the homeowner.
Taken together, the dangers of failing to winterize a home are too severe to ignore. Any real estate agent who has been involved with selling bank owned properties or vacant short sales can certainly tell you the necessity of knowing how to winterize a vacant home! In order to get an informed opinion on the subject we reached out to a well known real estate agent in Westborough, Mass., Bill Gassett, who has been selling homes for nearly 30 years. Gassett runs a popular real estate blog known as Maximum Real Estate Exposure that offers numerous tips to buyers and sellers. Below he shares all of his tips for getting your place winterized.
When readying a vacant home for winter weather, there are several things you can do to prepare before freezing temperatures and other winter risks arrive. These include:
Bring in a plumber.
Hiring a professional plumber to winterize the pipes and water system in the home is extremely important if you want to avoid the incredibly expensive water damage that can occur from freezing pipes. The plumber can examine the entire system, inside and out, and then prepare it for freezing temperatures. The plumber will drain all areas where water is stored, like water heaters and hot tubs, and will use an air compressor to expel water from the pipes throughout the house. With the water removed, you do not have to keep the house heated to prevent freezing. The pipes are protected and you save money in utility costs.
Drain outdoor garden hoses.
Water hoses must be disconnected from the home and drained of water to prevent damage to both the hoses and the spigots where they attach to the house. Left undrained, the water inside will freeze and burst not only the hose, but often the spigot as well. If winter watering must be done to keep landscape plants alive, make sure the person who does the watering drains the hoses and disconnects them from the house after each use.
Close up all openings to the house.
To prevent animals and insects from entering the home for shelter, you will need to close up all openings throughout the house. These include dryer vents and the chimney.
Have the gutters cleaned and repaired if necessary.
Gutters must be free of debris and attached properly to the house to funnel water away from the roof, siding and foundation. When debris accumulates, the gutter may stop working properly. If enough water collects and a freeze hits, the weight of the ice can pull the gutter away from the home, damaging the siding and leading to potential ice hazards where water collects at the base of the house. If you live in a cold weather climate then you understand just how bad ice damning was last year. Knowing how to prevent ice dams is something every homeowner should have a grasp of. Ice dams can cause serious damage to a home including mold behind ceilings and walls that you may not be able to detect! Have the gutters cleaned periodically until all leaves have dropped from the trees, and make sure they are in good repair.
Remove anything touching the side of the house, such as leaves and firewood.
Water and insects can accumulate in firewood and debris, causing damage to the siding and leading to potential infestations. Keeping everything away from the house creates a safe barrier and prevents water damage. This includes shrubbery and other landscaping. Keep a minimum of a couple of feet to allow the home to breath.
Have trees trimmed over the home.
Remove any tree branches that may touch the house or hang too closely. Tree branches increase the leaves that accumulate in the gutter and can also break and fall on the house in a snow or ice storm. If you are negligent about keeping branches over your home it could lead to insurance denying your claim.
Use moth balls to keep insects out of the house.
Moth balls may smell unpleasant, but they are effective at keeping insects away. Use them anywhere you think insects may be a problem.
Talk to the gas company about disconnecting the gas supply.
A gas explosion can cause even more damage than frozen pipes. Let the gas company know the home is vacant and ask them to disconnect the gas supply to the home. Obviously if you are not living in the home this becomes important because if a gas leak were to form it would be too late for you to do anything about it. This is one of the major reasons why nearly all bank owned properties get winterized.
Make the home appear occupied at a glance.
It is better for potential buyers and discouraging to unwanted visitors if the home appears occupied. You can setup lights on timers and have the landscaping tended to periodically to keep things looking nice. If snow is an issue you can also have the driveway cleared. We provide a list of many tips on how to sell a home in the winter. This advice applies to both occupied and non-occupied homes. Keep in mind that if your home is on the market you are going to need to get it un-winterized with fairly short notice when the buyer schedules a home inspection. Buyers will want to be able to check the heating and plumbing systems and will not be able to do so if the home is winterized.
Hire a landscaper to perform a fall cleanup.
As the weather gets colder, plants will die and you will be left with a disheveled looking yard and landscape. It is beneficial for the sales process if you have someone come in and cleanup around the home after the first freeze or two, when most of the vegetation has died off. The landscaper can cut back any dead growth, rake up leaves and prepare plants for the winter.
Check on the home periodically.
An unoccupied home, even when the lights come on and the driveway is plowed, can be appealing to burglars and to squatters. It can also be a destination for kids in the neighborhood to come hang out for fun. The only people you want visiting are potential buyers, so you should maintain a schedule of visiting the home periodically to make sure it is being left alone and to discourage unwanted visitors.
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There are exciting things happening up in Snoqualmie Pass, with the opening of the new Ski and Snowboard Museum on October 10th, 2015. The Museum is in the same building as the new Commonwealth Restaurant, and the BruPub. A great addition to the area. Here is a YouTube video of the opening: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gW8YIEubBuQ
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9 Ways To Make Your Home Cozy Without Spending A Ton Of Money
Home shouldn't just be the place you sleep at night — ideally it's a place where you can unwind from a long day and where you can look forward to spending time. And that's why if you're like me, you spend a lot of time looking for affordable ways to make your home feel cozy and inviting. In a piece for the HuffPost Healthy Living section, psychotherapist Robi Ludwig said, "we need our home environment to be the place where we can take both personal and physical refuge. It is here that we can balance ourselves and our psyches, because our home is the place where we can relax, regroup and reinforce the best part of who we are."
While creating a cozy living space is important, it also doesn't have to be expensive. There are a ton of big and small things you can do to a room or space that will quickly and affordably take it from average to a super inviting. And you don't have to have a background in interior design or decorating either — literally anyone can rework their space to make it feel more relaxing and restorative. If you're looking for ways to "cozify" your home, here are nine inexpensive ways to do so.
1. Layers
Interior Designer Toni Fairley said that one of the fastest ways to make a space warm and inviting is by layering furniture with blankets and pillows. She recommended layering a bed or couch with a comforter and soft cotton blanket on top so you have options for warmth, and then adding pillows of various shapes and sizes to accommodate different activities, like reading and napping.
2. Warm Wall Colors
In an article for Better Home and Gardens, professional color consultant Barbara Jacobs said that the importance of room color is often underestimated, and that "the effects of color are subtle and significant; physical and psychological." She said, "for a quieter ambiance, make sure your colors are not extremely bright," and recommended warmer shades like oranges, yellows, and neutral browns for coziest of shades.
3. Soft Rugs
According to Nancy Mitchell, Senior Writer at Apartment Therapy, a patterned rug with a texture you want to touch is a great way to add comfort and warmth to a room. Not to mention rugs on bare floors help keep in heat, meaning they are literally warming your space.
An article on how to choose the perfect curtains and drapes on My Fancy House noted that curtains can radically change a room, and that, "colored curtains create a spacious aspect while dark ones transform a room into a comfortable and welcoming place." They also recommend opting for thicker curtains for south-facing windows that will be in direct sunlight all day, and lighter curtains in oranges, yellows, and browns for windows facing other directions, as they will "enliven the light," and create a welcoming atmosphere.
5. Pay Attention To Lighting
Lighting is an extremely important part of creating ambiance in a space. In an article for WholeLiving, Joseph A. Rey-Barreau, a lighting designer with the American Lighting Association, stressed to avoid bright or [fluorescence]FLUORESCENT overhead lights, instead opting for floor and table lamps with dimmers. "Not using a dimmer is like buying a radio with no volume knob," he says.
To continue with the lighting theme, don't be afraid of candles! The Bliss and Home Design team said that, "Candles can help transform the mood of any room with their soft glow, and many offer an enticing fragrance to complement the décor throughout your interior." They also recommendusing candles of various different sizes to create dimension, as well as finding candle holders that fit the theme of the room.
7. Use Flowers
YouTuber and lifestyle expert Danielle Smith said fresh flowers are a great way to bring some vibrancy and natural beauty to a room while also making the space feel extremely welcoming. She has a great video on YouTube for simple ways to make inexpensive flowers look amazing in basic containers.
8. Create A Nook
In an article on WholeLiving, Zen Buddhist priest and author Karen Maezen Miller recommended creating a relaxation nook somewhere in your home. "Designate one chair as your 'quiet chair,'" she said. You can throw a cuddly blanket over it and use a foot rest to make it extra comfortable.
9. Start Seeing Red
The overall color-scheme of a room is one of the most important aspects to creating a welcoming space, and to to "give it soul," as designer Anthony Baratta said in an article on Country Living. He recommends introducing shades of red, like cranberry and Nantucket Red, in a few places throughout the room.
Loving your home is an important part of feeling good, and a cozy living space is not only completely achievable, but it's affordable too. Just keep color, lighting, and soft fabric in mind when choosing basic, inexpensive pieces and you'll soon have a comfy space you'll probably never want to leave
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