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Vanity lighting needs to be installed in a very specific location for the best possible results. Learn how low to place vanity lighting on the wall with help from a registered interior designer in this free video clip.
Updating your bathroom vanity can be accomplished in a number of different ways depending on your preferences. Learn how to update your bathroom vanity with help from a registered interior designer in this free video clip.
Designing a glass shower requires you to keep a few key things in mind. Learn how to design a glass shower with help from a registered interior designer in this free video clip.
Remodeling your bathroom can take up not only a lot of time, but a lot of your hard-earned money as well. Keep bathroom remodeling costs down with help from a registered interior designer in this free video clip.
Giving your kitchen a makeover doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg. Learn about do-it-yourself kitchen makeovers with help from a registered interior designer in this free video clip.
Putting a ceramic tile top on a vanity creates a durable, attractive surface, which can match the tile in a bathroom or accent the colors in a dressing area. You can use tiles of any size, unglazed or with a shiny glaze finish, depending on your decor. Choose tile that is easy to cut and work with. Some ceramic tile is very brittle and hard to cut with smooth edges. Ask a supplier or a hobby shop for advice and match tile to the size and style of the vanity. The right tile can complement any vanity form.
Banisters are vital to keeping people safe on a stairway because they both supply a barrier to prevent someone from falling over the side and they also provide a rail to grip to prevent slipping. Some banisters are straight pieces of wood that just go down the stairwell without any material at the very top. Adding a banister at the top of the stairs makes the stairway safer for anybody traveling up and down it.
A bathroom shell, also known as a shower or bathtub surround, is a cost-effective solution if you want an updated look and have a tight budget. Replacing the shell is also an ideal time to inspect the walls for water and mold damage, and remediate the problem before it gets worse and more expensive. Giving your bathroom an updated look with a new shell can take as little one afternoon, but it can take up to 24 hours or more for the sealants to cure.
Many homeowners and renters seek methods to add lighting to their kitchens without performing major renovation. In some cases, the desire to add an overhead light in a kitchen without drilling comes from the need to complete the project fast and with minimal cleanup. Other times, you don't want to make any permanent changes or damage the ceiling, or modify the ceiling otherwise. No matter your reason for adding lighting without drilling, you can do it yourself, installing an overhead light in your kitchen in about 30 minutes.
A dormer can change the outward appearance of a house, but it also can be a major improvement for the interior. A dormer window in a bathroom will open that room to additional outside light. A dormer also can be used to extend the space for a bathroom, by changing a section of the roof from a slope to a framed room with walls. Framing for either of two possible styles is similar, but may require the services of an architect because it involves changing the roof structure. It also will require a building permit.
The WordPress Theme Editor screen offers an alternative to downloading your WordPress theme files, editing them and uploading them again. However, under certain circumstances you may see a Parse Error when you try to access the Theme Editor or other pages in your WordPress administration area. If you've edited the custom functions file for the Thesis WordPress theme, it may be the cause.
Selecting kitchen floors and counters requires you to keep a few very important things in mind. Choose kitchen floors and counters with help from a professional kitchen designer in this free video clip.
Not every kitchen renovation will increase the value of your home. Learn about the types of kitchen renovations that will increase value and worth with help from a registered interior designer in this free video clip.
In most kitchens, the corner kitchen nook is up against a wall. Find out if corner kitchen nooks have to be up against a wall with help from a registered interior designer in this free video clip.
Splash pans, or splash guards, prevent water from running off the side of your tub or shower floor and damaging your walls or floor. The splash guard installs along the corners of your tub, shower or sink and blocks the water from running down along the wall. The guards are especially helpful to your home if you have small children who spend a lot of time splashing around in the bathtub. The installation process takes a few minutes and you can remove the splash guard at any time.
A kitchen breakfast bar is an area with surface space for eating or cooking and usually with some seating. Building a raised counter on the breakfast bar will increase the surface space available. You could place dishes and eating utensils on the raised counter or use it as a display surface for fruit bowls, flower vases or a centerpiece. Building a raised counter surface yourself allows for customization in size and color. Your finished structure will resemble a long rectangular cube with the sides closed and the front and rear open, and a support in the center.
If you have a bathroom floor that you do not like, then you can transform the floor space with a few simple materials from your home construction supply and craft stores. Add a little creativity and you will have a new, inspirational bathroom floor by the next morning.
Extending a kitchen island by installing a ledge provides you with more surface space for cooking or storage. As with the original island countertop, a ledge extension requires a strong support to prevent its collapsing beneath the weight of the objects you place onto the surface. Unlike the original surface, you don’t need a cabinet beneath the ledge surface. Instead, the ledge is supported by a series of brackets underneath.
You can build your own bathroom cabinet with a minimum of parts and labor by building it into your bathroom wall. Such a hideaway cabinet uses the wall studs as the sides of the cabinet. The finished product will look less obtrusive than the standard design that is mounted on the wall itself. Before building your cabinet, consult your house plans or a plumber and electrician to make sure that no wires or pipes are hidden inside.
A home’s plumbing system is a network of water supply lines, drainage pipes and plumbing vents, all of which efficiently direct water flow in and out of the home. Because breaking out a concrete floor to plumb a bathroom in an existing home is expensive and labor intensive, many communities have building codes requiring the contractor provide for a future basement bathroom by installing the drains for a toilet, a sink and a shower before pouring the basement floor.
Electrical wiring is not something you treat like a toy. Even if you do all the work with the power off, wiring something incorrectly could create a short circuit or a fire hazard once you turn the power on. For this reason, follow all regulations concerning outlets. However, some aspects of wiring outlets aren’t regulated, at least not nationwide. The height of the outlet, except in certain circumstances, is actually up to you.
IKEA is a major manufacturer of bathroom furniture, including a wide variety of vanities. Although the selection of IKEA vanities varies in style and design, all of the company's vanities use standard plumbing fixtures and connections. That means that, no matter which vanity you choose, the plumbing is almost always the same. Connecting the plumbing for an IKEA vanity involves connecting the drain and hooking up the water supply lines to the vanity faucet.
One of the most difficult steps in installing a new vanity top is squaring the vanity top to the walls. The walls in older homes become out of square due to settling of the framing. Fortunately, since most vanity tops are either Formica or resin, trimming them is possible. Installing a vanity top with unsquare walls requires a belt sander to trim the edges without damaging the vanity top.
Waterproof spotlights in showers are standard canister lights with a waterproof trim that uses a gasket to keep water out. The waterproof trim makes the light suitable for installation over showers or tubs and in other wet or damp locations. Electrical codes and safe wiring practices make wiring the fixture to a GFCI protected outlet or circuit breaker the best practice. A GFCI protected circuit helps prevent electrical shocks by interrupting the electricity before a shock occurs.
Renovating a bathroom is challenging and time-consuming. If you haven't planned out your renovation project completely, the job is liable to be even more difficult. When you're getting close to a point of completion, you may not know how to finish. But finishing a bathroom doesn't have to be overwhelming. A few basic tools and a weekend are all you need to finish the job. Choose colors and materials that fit your budget and your home's decor to get the perfect finished look.
When homeowners remodel a kitchen, they often gut the entire kitchen so they can start from scratch. These types of projects can be very expensive, so any part of the remodel that you can complete yourself can save you money. One of the fairly easier parts of this project is building and installing wrap-around countertops. These countertops span multiple walls and meet in a corner.
Kitchen islands provide extra counter and storage space to many residential homes. Kitchen islands typically consist of cabinets on one side with a countertop that overhangs on the side opposite of where chairs are placed. Islands are freestanding structures that occupy the center portion of the kitchen, usually between two lines of cabinets. The process of framing a kitchen island counter requires significant carpentry skills and a few basic tools.
With the proliferation of small appliances designed to make cooking chores faster and easier, you may covet more food preparation space. Few serious cooks would turn down extra storage space, too, but kitchen renovations are often expensive, messy and inconvenient. Kitchen islands provide a decorative and useful alternative, but they're still pricey. When you get a little help by using a bathroom vanity for the base and a prefabricated countertop, your island can be ready to use in a matter of a few minutes. Whether you “upcycle” a salvaged vanity or start with a new one from the home improvement…
If you're looking to improve the appearance of your bathroom, one project to consider is installing a soffit above the cabinet. A soffit is a box-like area of the ceiling that is often used to hide pipes or wiring. Installing the soffit above the cabinet eliminates the space between the cabinet and the ceiling, and can provide a way to install recessed lighting over the bathroom sink. The task consists of framing the front and bottom edges of the soffit box and then attaching it to the ceiling and back wall.
When remodeling a bathroom, you may choose to use glass sheets to cover the walls. Glass protects the walls from moisture and is easy to clean, making it a viable option for high-humidity bathrooms. You can use the glass sheets as a backsplash behind the sink to cover the wall areas. Glass sheets are available frosted, colored and as stained glass. A strong glue will hold the glass in place so it lasts for years. Installing glass on a wall is much like gluing a large mirror above a bathroom sink.
A galley kitchen is a very user-friendly space for a cook, but a bar area will make it more user-friendly for family members and guests. Figuring out where to place a bar will require going over options to see what works. Every family functions differently in terms of cooking, dining and entertaining. By envisioning how to install a bar and stools in various designs, you can make an excellent choice.
Smaller kitchens sometimes have inadequate space for refrigerators. If the house is old, the size of the space may have been calculated for a much smaller refrigerator. Other issues include inadequate wiring to support a modern refrigerator. One solution is to borrow space from an adjacent room to create a new niche designed to fit your modern fridge so that it will not jut into the room.
Open shower designs are becoming more and more common in contemporary homes, especially those that have small bathrooms, since the lack of a shower enclosure helps to make the bathroom feel more open. However, if you prefer more privacy or are simply looking to change the look of your bathroom, there are multiple options for enclosing a shower. Before you choose a shower enclosure style, talk with your contractor, as some styles are more expensive and labor intensive than others.
Lighting is important in bathrooms, especially over the vanity, so you can see yourself in the mirror. If your vanity lighting contains only one bulb, you can replace the single fixture with two fixtures, and gain additional light. As with any project involving electricity, be cautious.
A repurposed dresser, whether purchased new or found at a thrift shop, makes a charming bathroom vanity. The dresser adds storage space and creates a starting point for the bathroom's design. Substitute either a dressing table with a large mirror or a cupboard with doors for the vanity. While retrofitting the bathroom vanity with a dresser is largely uncomplicated, consult a professional if you have any qualms about working with plumbing.
While most breakfast nooks are built at standard table height and use benches or booth-style seating, modern decorators have taken breakfast nooks to a whole new level. Now, people are building counter-height breakfast nooks and using bar stools to save space and add some extra storage under the nook. If you have the basic knowledge for installing countertops, then you can easily make your own counter-height breakfast nook.
Adding a breakfast bar to an existing countertop requires a lot less effort than installing the countertop. There is no need to create a stable base of cabinetry when adding a breakfast bar, as there would be when installing a countertop. As long as you have enough room to accommodate the bar and seating, you can use the existing countertop as the support base. Only the bar surface and a few countertop braces are required.
A breakfast nook suggests an inviting, cozy space recessed into a corner of the kitchen. While they never really went out of style, breakfast nooks are making a big comeback these days because they make the most of available space, optimize seating and provide additional storage. In open kitchen layouts, a breakfast nook can define the eating area with flooring, colors or patterns that harmonize with the existing color palette. Ideally, a breakfast nook is placed near a window, but it can be located elsewhere as long as it is away from the flow of traffic.
Whether you live in an old farmhouse or are planning on designing a kitchen for your new home, the farm-style kitchen evokes feelings of country and comfort. Many designers and companies produce vintage or weathered new cabinets and items for your kitchen, so you can bring the farm look together. Mapping out a plan and a design for your kitchen is the first step in tackling a remodeling project.
Incorporating some kind of accent lighting is wise to achieve aesthetically pleasing lighting in a room. It might not have a purpose other than to be eye-catching and dramatic, but that is reason enough to look into bathroom cove lighting. The easiest way to put cove lights in an existing bathroom is to add crown molding a few inches from the ceiling and run cable lighting behind the molding. The resulting defused, upward lighting adds a glow to the perimeter of the room that gives it an expensive, appealing appearance.
Removing or cutting the baseboards when you install a new bathroom vanity can lead to problems in the future. If you decide later to replace the vanity cabinet with one that's narrower, you'll have blank gaps on the wall -- unless you either match or completely replace the baseboards. Although you must anchor the vanity cabinet to the wall, you can drive the anchor screws through the cabinet and into the wall studs while leaving the baseboards intact.
Remodeling your kitchen doesn't have to be an expensive project that you pay someone else thousands of dollars to complete. It's possible to give your kitchen a complete overhaul, on your own, to suit your personal tastes and preferences. Whether you decide to modify just one or two focal points of the space, such as the counters or cupboards, or everything from the walls to the floors and appliances, you'll have a sense of accomplishment knowing that you took the time to customize it yourself.
It is not uncommon for homeowners to spend a small fortune remodeling their kitchen, but there are many simple ways you can transform your kitchen for less. Creating your own rustic kitchen island, for example, is a way to give your kitchen a new look without spending thousands of dollars. You do not need to be a master carpenter to complete this project. In fact, you can repurpose an old desk to form the base of your island and distress and paint the wood to give it a rustic appearance.
Adding an extra recessed cabinet inside a small bathroom requires you to plan carefully on the placement of the new cabinet. You cannot install the cabinet inside the wall where electrical wiring or plumbing runs, since such obstacles do not allow you to anchor the cabinet properly. You also need to consider how far out of the wall the medicine cabinet will protrude, including how far out the door will swing. Placing the cabinet in a tight space, such as near a doorway, can compromise its utility.
Upgrading a second-level bathroom in a split-level or raised-ranch home often involves upgrading the room to make it more spacious and luxurious than the more utilitarian first-floor bath. This is especially true if the second-floor bath is part of a master suite. If you're thinking about doing this kind of remodel, you'll need to think about the decor, but you might also want to consider expanding the space.
If you are planning to remodel your kitchen, it's best to do the job properly. Part of the process may include acquiring any work permits necessary. Permits vary, according to local ordinances and remodeling plans, but in general, similar guidelines apply to most situations.
When installing new fixtures in your bathroom, making sure the water supply lines and drains are properly placed does more than help you meet local code. It also makes it easier to remodel in the future, since vanities, sink basins and even toilets are designed to accommodate those standards.
If you are remodeling your bathroom and have advanced carpentry skills, you may want to make your own laminate vanity top. While you can purchase ready-made countertops to fit over base cabinets, the laminate countertop you create will be one-of-a-kind made from the laminate of your choice. A custom laminate vanity also gives you more options about where to set the sink, the style of sink you can install in the vanity and the size of the countertop.
Lights that carry an insulated contact or “IC” rating are fully insulated. The insulation in these recessed lights prevents energy loss when they are installed in ceilings. If conditioned air can exit your primary living space through your lighting fixtures, your energy bill will grow. Airtight recessed lighting fixtures prevent air from escaping through the light housing and subsequently prevent energy loss. In addition, the Pennsylvania Housing Project Research/Resource Center warns that the moisture in conditioned air can cause mold growth should it leak into dry, insulated areas. Installing airtight IC lights in your bathroom prevents moist bathroom air from…
Bathroom stalls offer privacy in a bathroom shared by two or more people. With the stall, one person can use the toilet while another uses the sink or shower. A stall does not require floor to ceiling coverage, just short walls to offer enough privacy. Building a stall requires panels and the proper hardware to hang the panels and create a door. You should be able to assemble and install this partition over a weekend.
