Home & Yard Handbook

How to take 10 Years off the appearance of your palace

It’s Spring! Hooray! As I walked around the yard picking up fallen twigs and debris blown my way, I looked at the old place and decided that there are a few things that I should think about to give my home a facelift. While in the budgetary mode, a few simple changes can still be made.

Assess what needs attention. Is your home suffering from year old dirt on your siding, windows, and roof? The simple fix to clean just about anything, is a power washer. Power washers can be rented, but they are a relatively inexpensive purchase. Start at the top of your home and spray your way down. The roof can be washed and cleared of dirt and debris, work on the gutters too while there. If the paint is not in good shape, stand about 3-4 feet away while spraying.. you don’t want to loosen the paint even more. Wash the siding using a sweeping motion and let the water run down, until all the dirt is removed. While you have the sprayer out, wash the deck to remove stains and mildew.

Clean the yard. Pick up sticks, rake autumn’s leftover leaves, and clean up debris. Walking around the yard with your wheelbarrow , rake and garden clippers, visually decide what needs attention. Is it the garden? Does your house need painting? Is your patio furniture looking shabby?

Paint your shutters. A fresh coat of paint on the shutters will give your home a lift. Try a new shade of dusty aqua on a grey house, or a deep, blackish green on a brick home. While painting the shutters, also give your front door a color change. Try something new. Add a bright color, maybe orange or sunny yellow. Do your window boxes need a boost? Plant your window boxes with herbs this year. It is convenient to have your herbs close and off the ground when cooking. One year, I planted mine with different varieties of parsley. They were lush and full, and so easy to care for.

Edge your lawn. Place a stake at one point and then a stake at another point. Tie a string between them to make your straight line. Follow it with your garden tool to scribe an edge. If you have a sidewalk that has grass growing between the grooves, easily remove the grass with an old steak knife or sprinkle salt between the cracks. Use new mulch around your shrubs. Some towns offer it free. Call your town to find the location, bring some heavy plastic bags and a shovel and you are in mulch heaven.

How does your porch furniture look? Buy new throw pillows for the chairs, Pier One has so many to choose from. Remember they don’t have to match. Mix it up. Be creative. Try fresh, bright colors like grass green or orange. I made new slipcovers for my pillows from remnants in my fabric caboodle, using all mismatched stripes.

The most important fix to add Spring freshness to your home is buy a new door mat. There are so many to choose from this year. At your home stores, you can find florals, stripes, and amusing designs- more than a boring black ”welcome” mat. I found one that mimics a post card- too cute!

Have fun with your home’s appearance. Add color, bright color, this year. You will improve your home’s curb appeal, while taking years off your home’s face. 

Lana Torre is the owner of Evergreen Interiors and recipient of multiple Interior Design Awards including several Best of Show for Homearama.  Contact Lana at 223-8776 or email her lana@homeandyardhandbook.com.

Cooking at home is the hottest trend today. In the difficult economic times, preparing the family meal with ease and fun, while saving lots of dollars is the way to go. If you are a viewer of WHAM 13 TV, you may have watched me prepare delicious meals that are budget friendly and restaurant good. My family owned an Italian restaurant, and while growing up, I learned how to make wonderful, classic, Italian meals. Now that I have recently been married, my husband and I are becoming reacquainted with the kitchen, and having a wonderful time, while saving many dollars. This month’s article is not about the perfect kitchen, but what is essential in the kitchen in order to prepare many great meals.

There are some tools in your kitchen are absolute must haves. A good working kitchen should always have an assortment of pots and pans. A large non- stick frying pan is a must, make your quick marinara sauce in it. So is a large stock pot for soups and pasta. A strong blender is needed for smoothies and drinks, but also for sauces and dressings. When making a smoothie, add a banana or fruit sorbet to thicken it. Food processors, now available in colors, can process your dips and spreads, make pie dough, and chop vegetables. Use it to grate your hard parm cheese. My favorite large appliance is the Kitchen Aid mixer,{ I received a stainless steel model for a wedding present}. I use it frequently, and it is so handsome. I leave it on the counter all the time, like a centerpiece.

Lately, I am into new knives. I have purchased the new colored varieties that have their own sheave. They stay so sharp and cut so perfectly. Tomatoes can be cut so paper thin, that you can see through them. And the colors are fun too, lime green, orange and pink- if you see these while shopping, grab one, they are worth the money. Layer thin tomato slices with thin mozzarella slices, drizzle with olive oil add salt, pepper and basil and you a have caprese salad. Another new purchase is a microplaner. Lemon zesting has never been easier. I use zest in so many recipes, try lemon zest in your next batch of blueberry muffins. The taste is so fresh. Another item to own is a lemon reamer, squeezing fresh lemon juice with a good olive oil on your greens makes a perfect and tasty salad.

Certainly we all have baking pans. Now on the market are beautiful colored ceramic pans. They are reasonably priced and make a beautiful presentation of lasagna. Own a few of these in different sizes and colors. A good solid wood cutting board is worth the dollars. Use it for chopping veggies and herbs, but always use a different board for cutting meats and poultry {I use plastic for this}.

Other must haves are, of course, measuring spoons and cups, a set of mixing bowls- having one with a pour spout can make pancake making very easy, especially for the kids.Trendy kitchen tools come and go. Remember the bread baking machine and the vegomatic? The old stand bys resist time, but new and improved equipment can turn your cooking ho-hums into cooking hoorays.

Tune into the morning show on WHAM 13 and watch me prepare Italian classic food, using all these tools I have talked about. Get back into cooking for yourself and your family. Teach your children how to prepare healthy food.

Jump back into your kitchen, it’s vogue again!  

Lana Torre is the owner of Evergreen Interiors and recipient of multiple Interior Design Awards including several Best of Show for Homearama.  Contact Lana at 223-8776 or email her at: lana@homeandyardhandbook.com.

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by Lana Torre

As I write this month’s article, I am sitting in a Zen styled condo,  just about an hour outside of Shang Hai, China. So ironic, last year’s Homearama home that I designed was all Zen, and now I am living it for two weeks. I guess that’s called life imitating art!

The condo where we are staying is a large, open space. The walls are all swathed in soft, white paint. The trim is stained in a walnut color, to match  the hardwood floors. The furniture here is contemporary, clean, with long and low  lines. Leather, in clean white again, covers all the upholstered pieces here, including the sofa, chaise, armless chair, and dining room chairs, even the king headboard in the master suite is white leather, tufted and overstuffed. I am amazed at the toss pillows, large, soft and covered in linen stripes of grey, black and cream. This condo is a lesson in texture. From the glass topped coffee table to the Asian rug gracing this room, and the pillows, all have texture, all different.

The windows are large and tall. Mostly double treatments were used here, and some triple. This would cost many dollars in the states, but here in China, fabric is very reasonable. Roman shades in a soft grey linen are the first treatment. They diffuse the light as it passes thru, and can be raised to allow all the light to stream in. The second treatment is full length long panels, in a more neutral linen. These are hung from ceiling to floor on a traverse rod. And lastly, the third treatment  is sheer panels, in a striped silk, tone on tone in olive shades. { this condo in China could be in any contemporary living room in the states }. Today, we are visiting the silk farms to watch those little worms spin their magic into future window dressings.

The bathrooms are very modern, very western influenced. The walls are tiled from ceiling to floor, the floors are tiled too in large, textured, white,  square blocks. The cabinetry is a clean design, very contemporary, and it is a reddish hardwood, similar to cherry, but not. The handles are long , simple and brushed nickel. The lighting here is almost all  halogen, which we know is a hot, clean light. Mini spots shine down in every room. In the shower are glass shelves and stainless hooks to hold all your bath needs. {Pottery Barn must have gotten a few ideas from Chinese designs}

The kitchen is a small separate space. It’s glass paneled door hides the room from view. Cabinets in a grey composite material reminds me of cabinets from Swedish Ikea. The all stainless appliances  are of clean design as well. No crushed ice and water in the door. The oven, mounted on the wall, appears like just another cabinet, only sideways. There are large deep drawers to hold dishes and pots, and small narrow cabinets with smaller cubbies inside. I cannot figure out what these are for, unless they are for specific Chinese cooking pots.

As we walk the streets of Suzhou,  purple orchids for sale from flower vendors , fill the sidewalks. The streets are lined with large flowering trees, I think Magnolias, the landscape reminds me of Savannah. Flower gardens abound here, Suzhou is famous for its gardens, and canals, they call themselves “the Venice of the East”. 

Cement footbridges, adorned with  inlaid floral patterns, are seen everywhere. The new buildings are modern and tall, some with English designs and most with red tiled roofs. Pattern is everywhere.. From the sidewalks, bike paths and iron gates. Truly artistic.

China is an amazing , picturesque, country. I am most surprised by it’s western influenced designs, that are still infused with the old China.  This is a country and  a people  proud of their ancient culture, while growing into a more modern world. 

Lana Torre is the owner of Evergreen Interiors and recipient of multiple Interior Design Awards including several Best of Show for Homearama.  Contact Lana at 223-8776 or email her lana@homeandyardhandbook.com.

The calm of the winter months allow us to dream about Spring. We dream about planting the garden, we dream about the warm breeze blowing through the open windows, and we dream about what can we do to improve our homes. It could be a new kitchen for you, new bath cabinets, re-landscaping the yard , or just as simple as a fresh new coat of paint.

A good and simple change could be new carpet. Old carpets harbor aliens and dust. A new wall to wall broadloom will add value to your home and health. Carpet is looped, cut, or a combination of both. If you have animals, always install a cut product. Dog’s nails can get caught in the loops of carpet, and once pulled it is difficult to repair. If you are tired of carpet, rip it out and install hardwood floors or tile. This will add value to your home, and give you a personal boost.

Want to make a bigger investment in your home? New windows offer energy efficiency– you will save dollars in the long term. Any insulating done to your home is always smart, whether it be new windows, doors, or simply caulking your existing ones. Remember this at tax time, there is credit for energy improvements.

Want to update your home’s exterior? New siding is the perfect choice when you want to recoup dollars spent on improvements. You will gain that money back when it is time to sell your property. New siding will also make your home easier to maintain, while adding beauty to your home’s exterior. Popular color choices of vinyl siding are clay, light cream, sand, and always white. Top the house off with a new roof, and ahhhhhhhhh, sit back and relax for 30 years.

If you have yearned for a new kitchen, now is the time to plan it. Cabinets in painted finishes are very popular. Cherry, oak, and maple woods are also a great choice. If budget is a concern, consider refacing your cabinets, a good choice at about 1/5 the cost of a new cabinet.  After selecting the wood species and door style, a new counter surface is the next choice. 

Laminates such as Formica or Wilsonart are popular and the most inexpensive . So many colors and patterns are available now. There are some that are textured and look like granite. After laminate on the price scale, are acrylic products.

They tend to scratch, but scratches are easily smoothed out. Next would be a composite product, made mostly of quartz, they are Zodiaq, or Cambria. These products are a great choice, stain and mildew resistant, and zero porosity. 

The most expensive and very beautiful is natural granite. Installing granite in your kitchen will add many more dollars to the value of your home. While making your countertop selection, a new sink and faucet selection is necessary. If using  a quartz or granite top, an undermount sink is a clean, functional choice. Consider a faucet with a pull down sprayer, making only one hole in your counter.

Wish for a new garden or sidewalk? Rip out your walk and add pavers. They look so neat and tidy and will add so much curb appeal to your home. Easily installed, this is a project for do it yourselfers. Want to create a new outdoor space? A new deck is your answer. New products are easily maintained and will last for many years.

Any dollars spent on your home are always well spent dollars. A project can be big, but any small project will also give you a lift.

When looking for contractors, remodel professionals, and products, use your Home and Yard Handbook as a reference guide, And listen to Len and Bren on Home and Yard radio. We are here for you. Here’s to a new look and a new Spring! 

Lana Torre is the owner of Evergreen Interiors and recipient of multiple Interior Design Awards including several Best of Show for Homearama.  Contact Lana at 223-8776 or email her lana@homeandyardhandbook.com

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