Fire place in the Kitchen.

By on April 30th, 2008

My husband and I just bought a house. the kitchen is connected to a small room, they divided by a little wall. I thing to break the wall and connect two rooms, and have a big kitchen/dinning room. however, the room has a fire place, and I don’t know know if it will look good. I don’t want to turn kitchen into county kithcen. is there a way to have a fire place in the kitchen and the same time it will look modern.
where can I find other tips on remodeling my house.

Where are the best places to put sticky bug traps.

By on April 29th, 2008

We moved into a new house about 18 months ago. The previous owners made it appear to be extremely clean, but since we have moved in we have found disturbing things. I found mouse droppings so we put out poison outside and in the garage and we have traps. We also have a cat and we haven’t seen any more droppings. Anyway, I was cleaning the kitchen and when I wiped the under side of the hanging cabinets a roach trap fell down. EWWWWWW. I have seen 2 since we moved in, but I am terrified that there could be more. I have sticky bug traps under the stove, behind the refrigerator, in the kitchen cabinets, behind the toilet, along the baseboard, in the closet with the water heater and in the basement near the sump pump. I have not seen any in over 6 months and there are none on any of the bug traps. Can I be sure that there are no more, or am I just putting the traps in the wrong places.

P.S.
We have used one of those indoor/outdoor insecticides in a few rooms, but I never see any bugs.
I saw the first roach within the first week of being in our home and I didn’t see the second until almost 10 months later. I guess it has been more than 6 months since I have actually seen one. Also, my husband works in a shop that has roaches. Is it possible that he brought them home and we really don’t have them. This is so gross. I think that we are just going to bug bomb.

Decorating.

By on April 28th, 2008

I am decorationg my flat i need some ideas / website that can help me. One thing i am doing is painting my bathroom walls but they are tiled blue. so i need any ideas on the best tiole paint too use also my kitchen cupboards when i moved in they were already there and are blue also i need some ideas on the best way to paint or spray them and if anyone knows whats the best way to re vamp them
Thanks

Need help with color scheme for my new house.

By on April 27th, 2008

We will be moving and our new home (after we remodel) will have a mudroom that enters into the kitchen, which flows into the dinette and then into the great room . The mudroom (which will actually be a lovely laundry room with white cabinets) is the only room that can be closed off. The others all flow into one another. So I’m thinking that the colors are all going to need to coordinate. The cabinets are a medium (not a honey) oak, but are dated and I would like to paint them. I will be getting all new appliances, and had thought about stainless steel, but am concerned about fingerprints. My hubby has even less knowledge of decorating than I do, but likes the color blue. When I think blue in a kitchen, I think country, which isn’t my style. But I do like slate blue and I like chocolate brown. Should I paint the cabinets white and then accent with the slate and chocolate throught all the rooms. What color for the walls. Advice. My furniture will be neutral shades mainly.

Any advice on dark wood panneling.

By on April 26th, 2008

All my kitchen cabinets (lots) are this horrible very dark paneling with very deep grains. I have been trying to figure out what to do about it of long time.
I have two ideas;
#1 can a dark wood be bleached lighter or would it just look bizarre, or
#2 Would some sanding and a few coats of maybe yellow (thinking oil based) be able to cover it.

I just can’t stand how dark and depressing it is, Plus I rent and I am looking for the cheapest easies way to do something with it.

Any good advice greatly appreciated, thanks.
My landord won’t help or fix anything. Right now I am stuck here for a litle while with pets, etc.
I am not worried about the smell of oil, I like the finish better.

i need some advice on removing my ceramic tile backsplash from plaster walls in my kitchen. any pointers.

By on April 25th, 2008

i recently bought a house with kitchen that was last remodeled in the 70’s. i want to remove the avacado green tile backsplash and cause as little damage as possible to the existing plaster walls. what is the best way to go about this. thanks.

How come I can’t see other peoples furniture in their rooms at college in the Sims 2 University.

By on April 24th, 2008

Hello. I have the Sims 2, the Sims 2 Glamour Life Stuff, the Sims 2 Nightlife, the Sims 2 Open for Buissness, The Sims 2 University, and the Sims 2 Kitchen and Bath Interior Design Stuff installed on my computer. Whenever I have a sim at college, and another sims claims a room, you can’t see anything in his or her room. So, all the rooms are empty instead of mine. Whenever the other sim enters the room, you can’t see the sim either. You can only see the sim and furniture in the room when you enter the other sims room, and every other room accept yours and the other sims room your in is empty. Please help me solve this issue.

house design question.

By on April 23rd, 2008

would it be normal if the formal dining room (which is next to the kitchen) is right in front of the enterance/ foyer (which is about 2 1/2 to 3 ft away from the dining room).

Second mortgage for seller-financed home.

By on April 22nd, 2008

I love reading the advice here.

My wife and I are planning to buy a home in Indiana from our parents, which they own without a mortgage. We’re planning to let the parents finance the sale to us (at a reasonable, IRS-approved, rate).

The current value is about $350K. The home is about 20 years old. It is habitable, but needs repairs (roof, carpet, new mechanicals, cosmetic fixes, etc.) which should rapidly increase its value by 10-20%. We plan to buy the house as-is. We have the $30K for repairs.

Immediately after that (or during, if possible), we’d like to remodel the kitchen and baths. We will likely want to take a loan (5-20% of the home value) to do it. The parents won’t have the funds for that, so we’ll be looking for a mortgage.

What’s the best course for that second loan.

We don’t want to pay PMI or other unwarranted fees. We have decent credit, 690-710, a low DTI ratio, and good financial reserves.

Any other general advice is appreciated. Thanks.
I seen some answers that suggest a HELOC. I hadn’t thought of that, since I presume the rates will be significantly higher. Wouldn’t a 2nd mortgage make more sense.

Help me choose a new ceiling fan.

By on April 21st, 2008

I remodeled my kitchen and need a new ceiling fan. My old one is all white, 15 years old and looks outdated. My ceiling is only 8 feet so a pole mounted one more than 6 inches is probably out of the question. I have plenty of lighting in the kitchen so I could go either way on that. It will sit above the kitchen table.

I have honey brown hardwood floors, stainless steel appliances, black galaxy granite counter top, and cabinets that are a couple of shades darker than the flooring with stainless steel hardware. Thanks for any suggestions.