The spring
is here and we are trying to get everything
done all at once, both inside and outside
the home. We walked through the neighborhood
and the yards are getting into shape pretty
quickly. How is the inside doing? Don’t
worry, the rain will return and you can then
focus on the chores to do inside your home.
Bassett
Design Tips
Are you having trouble trying
to figure out how to design a large room?
Where to put all that furniture!?! We went
to an expert to learn some tips for
designing a room. Monique Stantliff from
Bassett Home Furnishing (503-469-8333)
walked us through the process. First of all,
think about the space. What function is
going to be happening in the room, how many
people will be using it and then measuring
the room to make sure it is the right size
for the furniture and still have space to
move around. You are looking for a minimum
of 18 inches between furniture pieces and
for walkway areas you are looking for 3 feet
or more. And don’t forget the lighting!
We then moved to the design center of the
store to check out colors and fabrics.
Monique also talked about how you can design
a room to include important, or heirloom,
pieces so they don’t look out of place. For
those older pieces you focus on their
primary color and then create a palate from
that to work from. Once you have that rough
color palate, then you can look at area rugs
and they become the base on which you build
your room. Now if you want to try to build a
design on your own, you can go to the
Bassett website and use the helpful design
tools.
Chicken
Mojito – MiBook
We recently heard about a new
computer/viewer that you can use in the
kitchen and so we thought we would try it
out. The
miBook is a multimedia cookbook and home
helper. David and Robin decided that they
wanted to see how it would do if you used it
to cook a dinner. David selected the recipe
for Chicken Mojito. The way it operates is
that you select a small computer card,
insert it in the unit and select your
recipe. It then walks you through the steps
to make the recipe and stops between each
step. You advance the recipe at your pace
when you are ready. The first thing it does
is list the ingredients you need. Then it
lists the utensils that you will need. Then
once you have everything assembled you just
start following the instructions.
After it was done it turned out great. David
recommends that you watch the recipe a
couple of times so you get a feel for it.
This may not be a gift for chef or a foodie
that likes to improvise a recipe, but for
beginning cook, young single person or even
a teenage cook it could get them excited
about being in the kitchen! The miBook comes
with a large selection of recipe cards and
covers other home and garden topics as well.
You can find it at Best Buy and on
Amazon.com.
Thermostats
Coming home to the
perfect temperature in your home is not
tough. Brent Smith from
Roth Heating and Cooling (503-266-1249)
showed us how you can always have the right
temperature in your home with programmable
thermostats. The first one was the
top-of-the-line, computer controlled device.
It has sensors in every room that feed
information back to the main unit and that
controls everything in the house. Now, if
you don’t have the dough for the high end
control unit, you can get an easy to install
simple model. Mike pulled out a unit from
Honeywell that can save you from 5-30
percent on your annual energy costs. It can
be programmed to turn your heat or air
conditioning on and off depending on when
you are home. It is a great way to save
money and be more comfortable in your home.
Hot Stove
Tops
Things are heating
up in the kitchen! This week we stopped by
Standard TV and Appliance (503-619-0500)
to learn about the newest in cook tops. Tony
Gayaldo took Robin through a couple of their
design kitchens to show us the ‘hottest’ in
gas and electric stove tops. First we looked
at gas. Gas is great for most cooks because
it is so responsive and it heats up quickly.
The only problem is that they wouldn’t go
very low for simmering. The newest models
have a feature that allows them to barely
have a flame so they can do the low simmer
that you may need sometimes. Also the
materials have improved. You now have brass
fittings that will resist corrosion and the
surfaces allow for better cleaning and they
also hide the smudges better!
Next we moved to the latest in electric cook
tops. We checked out the induction cook
tops. These burners are actually magnets
that place all the energy at the base of the
pan and so none of it is wasted heating the
air around the pan. It was really freaky
when Tony actually touched the stovetop near
the pan while it was in a full boil! The
whole crew had to touch it! It showed that
all the energy was just going to cooking the
food and none to heating the unused surface.
Tony also showed us how responsive the
burner was. He turned the heat down and it
went from a full boil to a simmer in just a
few seconds! To see these and the newest in
other appliances, stop by Standard TV and
Appliance.
Fixing a Leaky
Toilet
If your water bill
is a little bigger than usual it could be a
signal that there is a leak in your home
somewhere and one of the most common
locations for a leak is your toilet. We took
a couple of minutes to show you how to find
and replace possible leaking parts to your
toilet. First, we turned off the water and
flushed the toilet to get the water out of
the tank so we could work better. We then
checked the flapper. This is the part that
stops the water from draining into the lower
bowl. If you notice flaky pieces, worn edges
or cracks you will want to replace this
piece. Take the old piece with you to the
hardware store so you can get the right size
replacement part. Next we showed you how to
replace the flush valve assembly. This is
the part that has a float attached to it.
Sometime the seals wear out and the valve
will leak. Before removing the valve we got
a bucket, a couple of towels, a wrench and a
mirror. We placed the bucket under the valve
and unscrewed the valve from the tank. This
is where you use the mirror to see the
underside of the tank to loosen the valve
nut. Once we removed the valve assembly we
took it to the hardware store to make sure
our replacement valve was the same size. To
install the new valve we just reversed the
steps we used to remove it. It looks like we
fixed the leak, but we will check the toilet
in a couple of weeks to make sure there is
no other problem. For more water saving tips
we recommend contacting the
Regional Water Providers Consortium
(503-823-7528).
How to
Choose a Vacuum
Cleaning your home
well is not just a springtime chore; it is
something you can tackle year-round. To do a
good job you need the right tool! To learn
about choosing the right vacuum we went to
Starks Vacuums (800-230-4101) and talked
to Ken Raasch. The first thing you need to
think about; what are your needs? What kind
of flooring do you have? Do you have
allergies, pets, or children? All those can
help narrow down the type of unit you need.
Next we looked at the benefits of canisters
versus uprights. If you have primarily
carpet in your home, the upright is the way
to go. If you have a combination of
different flooring or stairs then a canister
may work better for you. Another
consideration is allergies. If someone in
your family has an allergy then you will
want to get a unit that filters the air with
a HEPA filter. These filters remove much
more dust and pollen particles than the
older units do.
Pay attention to price too. The higher
priced models are designed to last longer
and do a better job of cleaning. Of course
you can check with an expert at Starks to
learn about the different models they have
and which one will work for you.
