EPISODE #3 -
SATURDAY APRIL 18, 2009
The warm sun of spring has returned but there are so many
projects in the house that we can’t get out… oh well! I guess we
can’t stay inside all the time. But you can still bring the
beauty of plants indoors; check out our story in this weeks
show.
Indoor Containers You can enjoy great
colorful plants indoors all season long by rotating your
container plants in a pot. We stopped by
Al’s
Garden Center (503-726-1162) to learn from Andrea how to
plant a container that can be freshened up with new plant
material all through the season to give your indoors a boost of
color and texture. She used a ‘snake plant’ to create a ring of
‘interest’ around the pot. Then she had an empty container that
can be filled with different plants every few months. She filled
the middle with an orchid, a bromeliad and an Easter lily. The
options are endless!
Pick
a Color Picking the right color
for a room can be a daunting task. The right color can be the
key to a successful room design. Amy Troute from ‘design
for home’ (503-805-0811) walked Ken through some of the
rules for picking colors at the
Sherwin Williams
(503-222-1200) in the Pearl, and some common mistakes. Mistake
#1 in choosing a color is not taking the whole room into
consideration during the process. There are a number of elements
in a room that go into creating a ‘look’ and you need to look at
all of them. That leads into mistake #2, don’t use small paint
samples. Small paint chips can never give you the right
impression of the final color. Paint a large piece of cardboard
to give yourself a good visual of the color and how it will
look. Mistake #3, don’t get frustrated and give up. Amy called
this the ‘give up and go beige’ syndrome. But even choosing a
neutral color like beige still can create a huge number of
choices. Instead of getting frustrated at the paint store, you
should look a full range of colors and then pick out colors that
you are drawn to. This means that you will start out with a
group of colors that you already like. One other design tip…
look at possibly using more than one color in a room. Paint
different colors on different walls to make a statement. If even
this seems tough you can always give Amy a call to walk you
through it!
Lucky
Bamboo Bringing luck to your home
can be as simple as adding a Lucky Bamboo to your indoor plant
collection. Lucky Bamboo has been around for decades and even if
you don’t believe in the ‘magic’ properties of this plant, you
can’t deny the ‘cool’ look of this plant. Lucky Bamboo is not
even a bamboo; it is a Dracaena, a member of the lily family.
Tradition says that you should keep it in groups of 3, 5 and 6
stems (always avoid 4 stems). Try it in your house and see if it
works to bring you some luck!
Easy
Tomato Sauce Creating a good sauce can
make all the difference in your recipes. A good sauce can mask a
dish or it can bring out a fuller flavor for whatever you are
cooking. Chef David Musial joined us to show us how to make a
good basic tomato sauce. This sauce can stand on its own or you
can use as a base to make a variety of different sauces. This
one combines carrots, celery, garlic, tomatoes, and onions to
make a fantastic sauce! You
can find the recipe here.
Kitchen Ants The weather is warming and
that means that the flowers are blooming, it also means the
appearance of a common pest in the kitchen, the ant. Robin told
us about some of the ways to get rid of them -- or at least
deter them. First we talked about the commercial products that
are available. ‘Grant’s
Kills Ants’ is a product that has been around for many years
and it is VERY effective. Another commercial product is Terro.
This one is a borax based product that is also very effective.
There are other more organic solutions to repel them. You can
use a white vinegar, pepper, cinnamon, and a bay leaf to mask
their trails, and that can also send them away.
Furnace Filters Did you know that you
could be losing a ton of money due to an inefficient furnace?
Having a dirty air filter in your furnace restricts the airflow
and makes it work harder to get the same amount of heat. You
should check your filter once a month and replace it every 3
months to get the most out of your heating and cooling system.
For answers to all your heating questions check with
Roth Heating
and Cooling.
Water
Efficient Toilets One of the appliances that
uses the most water in your home is the toilet. But you can help
put a dent in your water usage with a new high efficiency toilet
from
George Morlan Plumbing (503-224-7000). Dave joined us to
show us the evolution of the water efficient toilet. If you have
an older toilet you could be using up to 5 to 7 gallons of water
per flush. The newer toilet can bring that amount down to 1.28
gallons per flush; a big difference in water and money savings.
These toilets are designed to use the smaller amount of water
and still get the job done. But that isn’t the most efficient
model available.
Toto Toilets
has designed a dual-flush system that uses a smaller amount of
water for liquid waste and a larger amount of water for solid
waste. This type of toilet is so efficient that it is rated as a
‘Water Sense’ appliance and that can qualify you for a lot of
rebates. These new toilets can save your THOUSANDS of gallons
over the life of the toilet! Check with your tax advisor and
your local water provider to see what types of programs may
apply. Finally, we went to see the ‘Cadillac’ of toilets. This
‘ultimate in toilet comfort’ is not actually a toilet, but a
seat. This features a cleansing head, a dryer, a heated seat and
a ‘soft close’ seat that doesn’t slam. What will they think of
next? For answers to all your toilet and plumbing questions,
stop by your local George Morlan location. |
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