9 Tips for Creating Warmth at Home

During this exceptionally cold winter, it's challenging to find creative ways to bring in warmth and comfort into our homes - not only to help reduce our heating bills, but to make us all more comfortable.  Here are nine 'warmth & comfort' ideas for your kitchen and bath:

In the Kitchen:

1. Radiate warmth -  A few years ago, we wanted an island but there wasn't room for a radiator and I really dislike the forced air fans in the toe kicks because they are noisy and I didn't think it would be enough heat. We used a Runtal radiator wrapping the island instead & it looks great---basically flat--and it was really toasty to get up and sit at the island and read the paper with the heat right there!

2. Keep coffeemaker nearby - One way to create
comfort in your kitchen is to make things easy  and convenient... especially in the mornings while we're still waking up! One simple thing is to organize your morning routine into one area, for example, keep all of your coffee or tea making supplies nearby - filters, measuring spoons, coffee, tea, sweeteners, filters - all in one area.

3. Set back your thermostat electronically - Programming thermostats is complicated and irritating - but an un-programmed thermostat can waste 20% of your heating and cooling bill. So the Nest Thermostat programs itself. Just turn it up and turn it down. The Nest Thermostat learns what temperatures you like and builds a personalized schedule. Teach it efficient temperatures for a few days and, within a week, it'll start setting them on its own. https://nest.com/thermostat/life-with-nest-thermostat/.

4. Install an electronic dimmer switch - If you're a night owl, bright lights early in the morning can be a shock to your system and not a pleasant way to start the day.  Consider an electronic dimmer switch - it will adjust to your time schedule and slower raise the level of light each morning... giving  you time for your eyes (and your attitude) to adjust.

5. Keep clutter at bay - Cluttered kitchen counters can create stress, so find creative ways to keep clutter at bay to add comfort and alleviate stress on your busy mornings. Every kitchen has a "drop zone" where keys, purses, backpacks, mail and other paperwork lands.

• Add dividers to drawers for specific items you use every day
• Create a charging center for electronics with extra outlets

In the Bathroom: 

6. Install heated floors -  Stepping onto the warmth of a heated floor is an unexpected pleasure on a cold winter morning.  Consider adding radiant or hydronic heat to your bathroom floor:

• Electric radiant heat is commonly installed in existing homes and uses heating cables within a mesh mat. This is best for specific rooms or spaces and in existing homes.
• Hydronic heat is probably best for new construction. This type of flooring uses heated water that is distributed through a complex tubing system. For more information see http://www.wfca.org/Pages/Radiant-Heated-Floors.aspx
• Electric heating can even be run under the floor of the shower.  Now that’s toasty. 

7. Take a fresh look at organization - The old adage "a place for everything & everything in its place" still holds true... especially when looking for peace and tranquility in the bathroom! I've designed drawers for clients specifically to fit their electric toothbrushes (who wants that mess on the counter?) and placed outlets inside drawers for daily straightener or curling iron use. Think about your storage in new ways... how could you make your bathroom space more efficient?

8. Try heated copper towel bars - Now, why didn't I think of that? An innovative solution - hot water runs through these copper pipes... warming the towels while you shower!

9. Relax.  Light some candles and set out your warm slippers, soft robe, and plush towels so they are ready for you after a bath or shower - a little pampering at the end of a long day can help you sleep more soundly and melt away stress.

Basement Project #8: We Were Framed...and Other Dilemmas

Walling off the mechanical room

Finally, the framing began! My friend Mark arrived and started by framing in the walls that separate the mechanical room from the main living space and the exercise area.

Most of the basement ceiling was open to the joists but a small section in the exercise area was plastered and needed to be removed so Mark could box in the heating pipes that ran across the ceiling. I was glad that Mark insisted on removing this old ceiling in the work-out area because the ceiling is low enough that we wouldn’t have been able to have a surface-mounted light on it without bumping into it while standing on the treadmill.

A further bonus to having the ceiling removed was the electrician was able to run wires to the living room to repair one of the outlets there. In so doing he realized that the wires were bare and it was a good thing safety-wise that he was rewiring it.

A few of the dilemmas the electrician needed to address

Note: This happens often in old house remodels. Lots of problems are discovered once the walls are opened. Fixes that arise along the way can add up cost-wise. That’s why I always recommend adding 10% to the budget for unforeseen necessities. 

Once the walls were framed in with 2x4s the electrician was able to start wiring in earnest. It is a well-known fact among remodelers that the “might-as-wells” start with the electrician. Even though I was on a budget for this basement project, it didn’t make sense to skimp on lighting options or outlets. Not doing those things can drive you crazy later when you are using the space. So save yourself the aggravation and add the extras while it is convenient.

Joists reinforced with microllam

Speaking of might-as-wells, the joists below the future powder room were undersized and sagging because, for some strange reason, this house does not have bearing walls in the basement that line up with bearing walls above. So this seemed like the perfect time to shore them up.


Saga Woodworking “sistered on” a microllam to three joists to provide more support for the first floor of the house. A microllam is laminated veneer lumber. It consists of many thin layers of wood sandwiched together with strong glue. They can be much smaller and also lighter than traditional wood joists but have even greater strength. I was happy that the portion of the old joist that sagged could be cut flush with the other ceiling joists to allow the new ceiling to be more level. It felt wonderful to take care of that problem.

Dusty and Pathetic from
removing old sill insulation

Cavities emptied and ready to be filled

The next really horrible job was removing the old material out of the sills along the top of the basement foundation. When these houses were built the open cavities were just filled with a cement-like material that crumbled to sand with age. When I was removing it this incredibly dirty, fine dust went everywhere, even into my nose—despite the mask I was wearing. I wanted to remove the old material in order to insulate the dead spaces because lots of heat is lost at the point where the first- floor framing meets the sill plate. 

Ultra Touch "denim" insulation

My first thought was to fill the voids with “Great Stuff” but that proved to be unworkable. The foam wouldn’t adhere to the sandy sides. It would have been wonderful to have an insulating company come in and foam the areas, but that wasn’t financially feasible for such a small space.

Shortcut for cutting the insulation

I went to Natural Built Home and purchased Bonded Logic’s Ultra Touch "denim" insulation. It is Class A fire-rated, uses 100% recyclable fibers, doesn’t contain formaldehyde, is LEED approved and doesn’t irritate your skin or nose. It’s not necessary to wear gloves when working with it. We used the chop saw to cut it into pieces to fill the sill plate voids.


Meanwhile, the electrician kept working away, continuing to find things that previous electricians had done incorrectly. Ca-Ching! Ca-Ching!

Shimmed to a plumb line

Mark put up studs along the stairway wall, doing lots of shimming because the wall was so uneven. Finally the sump pump area, and the spaces under the stairs and around the main stack were framed in and the doors were hung.

At this point I realized it was time to bring in the plumber again to connect the waste pipe for the future main floor powder room—currently disguised as a front-entryway closet. I had hoped to do the main floor powder room after finishing the basement but I realized in order for the plumber to rough in the pipes, the waste stack and vent would have to be installed. Because we were entertaining that weekend, I not only had to clear out the closet, but I had to put all the stuff out of sight. 

We made a night of it—cleaning out our belongings from the front closet and shifting stuff around in the attic and back closet to create more storage space. Déjà vu!  Once again I wished that I was more of a minimalist! 

The worst of it was that the powder room wall needed to be opened up in order to run the pipe for the toilet, and the opposite wall needed to be opened to accomodate the vent pipe, which meant the wall in the upstairs bedroom above it also had to be opened up to connect the vent to an existing vent in the attic! More moving of furniture! And now the second floor and attic were impacted because of the vent pipe. Dominoes were falling everywhere…

Adding the drywall is an exciting step

After the walls are taped they are ready
 for priming and painting

Back in the basement the framing was completed and moisture resistant drywall was put up to prevent mold growth. It is always a high point in remodeling when the drywall goes up; you can really see progress. 

Next the taper came in to mud the drywall.

Since I am the painter on the job I have many hours ahead of me of priming and painting walls and woodwork but to me it’s very satisfying because I’m in control and it’s such visible progress.

Coming up next: the main floor powder room begins to take shape, too!

Basement Project # 7: Inspiration Pieces

Because I like to shop for antiques and other “finds” that speak to me I often accumulate most of the furnishings before I even begin to remodel or redecorate my own spaces! Twenty-five years ago I knew that we would someday have a cabin. I pretty much had it furnished before we even bought one: blankets to use as curtains, bronze elk candlesticks, rugs, framed fish prints, book cases, and even some vintage lighting. (Didn’t I admit earlier that I was a pack rat?)

Inspiration Side Table

Sometimes clients show me an inspiration piece—a piece of art, fabric or furniture-- that they want to include in their new spaces. I am the same way. It is fun to use that piece to set the theme for the space or use it to point the way toward a color palette for the whole project.

I was shopping recently at Hunt and Gather in Southwest Minneapolis (a favorite place for finds) and bought this inexpensive side table that is perfect for the new basement room. It actually began my obsession with Moroccan shapes and all things Moorish. 

Elle Decor lattice inspiration

Then I remembered a picture from Elle Decor magazine that I had been drawn to earlier and saved: It’s a lattice screen in a New York apartment that was also Moroccan inspired. 

Leather Couch Inspiration

Luckily this Moroccan influence can be found everywhere at all price points, both new and used and other ethnic and organic pieces work together well with it.  These three things, the green lattice-work, the side table and the rust-brown leather couch that is actually the whole reason d’être for the basement project, inspired the dominant colors I wanted to use in the basement project. 

One of my secret mom-reasons behind the current basement project is to have a desirable space where my adult children can stay during Thanksgiving or Christmas. Last year my son, Max lucked out by scoring the guest room while my daughter had to make do with an air mattress in the dining room, an unlucky accommodation that also includes a dog and a cat to walk on top of you and lick your face.

  

Wall Bed "Find"

Our last house had an ancient wall bed stored behind a large double-door closet in the library. Metal springs with a mattress were attached to one of the doors that pivoted. The house was built for a judge. Neighborhood lore had it that the judge died in that bed, which of course creeped out the kids in the neighborhood. That aside, the concept of a wall bed has always made sense to me, so I was really excited when I found one a while ago at a local consignment shop. It had never been used, it was a top-of-the-line product, and the price was a real bargain. 

Wall bed ready to be moved

I didn’t discover any drawbacks to the deal until we tried to move it. It was incredibly heavy. Taking it apart without ruining the side furniture pieces was impossible—and it still did not make it light enough for me, my husband and my son to move it. So we did have the unexpected expense of hiring professional movers. And it was almost too heavy for those two brawny men, but they managed it somehow.

In general, I have discovered over the years that it is best to avoid buying furniture made of particle board with laminate because often it doesn’t last, much of it off-gasses VOCs (volatile organic compounds) which are thought to contribute to poor indoor air quality cause some short term and possibly long term health effects and, most importantly, is VERY heavy and not fun to move around. So buyer beware! However, I have seen some pretty cool Murphy bed set ups, and have even posted about them on the Celadon Facebook page, so I just couldn’t pass up this bed.

Wall bed faced with Moroccan lattice design

I enlisted the help of a friend, Charles Pederson of Saga Woodworking and Construction, to make a new “face” for the bed. I showed him the picture of the Moroccan screen and asked if he could recreate the lattice-work. He was quite excited with the idea, and intrigued by the challenge. 

This Moorish design is composed of two overlapping squares on the diagonal making an eight-sided star. A second repeated pattern is created when these stars are connected to each other. Assembling each star was tedious—16 mitered pieces separately nailed in—but the finished product is beautiful.  (Don’t call Charles because you want this too. I don’t think he ever wants to make one of these again!) 

For most of us the design inspiration is the fun part. The actual building isn’t always. It can be messy and frustrating, but nonetheless wonderful to watch the progress and see things take shape.  Next post:  pictures of that progress!          

Basement Project #6: Concrete Solutions

Most homeowners know, or will soon find out, that the least sexy repairs cost the most money. A new roof, new furnace, new wiring—or in my case, new basement walls and floor—inevitably eat up a giant share of the budget. However, these things are the basis of solid, enduring construction and good design.

Pouring a new cement floor and redashing the walls with concrete was by far the greatest expense items in my basement project—almost half of the total cost. But both were necessary. The walls were in a constant state of deterioration, continually sloughing cement sand and dust onto the floor and onto anything placed next to them. The floor sagged and heaved as though moles had been at work below the cement; numerous cracks were everywhere. When the sewer backed up earlier in the year we discovered that everything flowed to the middle of the rec room toward a floor drain that had been capped. All these conditions were reason enough to pour a new cement floor.

Floor is gone, new footing poured

I got a couple of bids from cement contractors, considered several other factors, such as reputation and workmanship, and decided to hire Jerry Gardner, Gardner Construction, Inc. I visited the home of one of their satisfied clients and was impressed with what Gardner had done to their basement walls. After hearing a glowing recommendation I decided they were the ones.

As a little aside here, it isn’t always cheapest contractor who is the best choice. Some contractors are just more skilled or experienced than others. It’s also important to get comparable bids. Sometimes a project changes or grows after consulting with the first contractor, so the second one might actually be bidding to do more work. If you have a written plan that all contractors refer to when making a bid you are more likely to get bids that compare “apples to apples”. 

Putting wire mesh on walls in exercise area

The concrete work in my basement was a huge job but they were very efficient—in and out in just a few days. They had about 7 guys working at once so things happened quickly.

Newly redashed wall, drying

Another redashed wall

The first day they took up the old cement floor, hauled it away, and began putting wire mesh on all the walls. The next day they were back early to finish putting on the mesh and to spread the first coat of cement over all the walls. The third day a second coat of cement was applied. Voila! The walls were done. 

Walls alone might have taken the average DIY homeowner several months to complete. 

Yes!  New floor drain next to new water heater

Before they could pour a new floor I had a plumber come out to remove the old floor drain which had been previously capped off. He added a new floor drain and new water heater in the mechanical room. He also ran a sewer pipe for a new powder room which is planned for the first floor (more about that soon).

Pouring new floor

Leveling the new concrete floor

The concrete crew came back, the walls were marked with a laser and the sand leveled so the new cement floor could be poured. The floor was poured in just one day and then they were gone.

Old floor gone, moisture barrier down

Deciding how to finish the new cement floor came next. Home Depot carries a product called DriCore which acts as an insulator and barrier between any moisture in the cement floor and the finished floor. It allows carpet or engineered floors of wood and linoleum to be installed in a basement without having to worrying about mold and mildew. I am a big fan of cork, so my first choice was to float a cork floor. However, the 3/4” of DriCore plus the 3/4” of cork would raise the level of the floor by 11/2". Given that my ceilings are only 88" tall unfinished, cork was not a practical choice. It also would have made the final step down to the basement only 6” while the other steps have a 71/2" rise. If you’ve ever stepped on irregular steps you know how annoying and almost dangerous it can be.

An advantage to my newly poured concrete floor was I didn’t really have to cover it with anything. So I decided to save money by simply staining the new concrete and putting down jute rugs from IKEA. An 8 x 10’ rug costs about $130 so if it should get wet it would not be a big loss.

Okay, solid walls and a new floor may not be sexy but nonetheless they are very exciting to me.

My friend Mark has offered to trade carpentry work for design work so now he can now come over and we can discuss the plans for walls, ceiling, insulation etc.  More about those developments soon…

Basement Project #5: Radon, Radon Go Away…Come Again Some Other Day

Radon is a cancer-causing radioactive gas that occurs naturally in the soil. No level of radon gas is completely safe. The Minnesota Department of Health estimates that 1 in 3 Minnesota homes have harmful levels of radon gas in their homes. The air pressure inside our homes is usually lower than the pressure outside; this difference makes our basements act like a vacuum bringing radon in through cracks or other openings.

Why is it harmful? Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the world and is thought to be responsible for 20,000 deaths a year. The Minnesota Department of Health recommends that every Minnesota home be tested for radon. Just because your neighbor’s home doesn’t have radon doesn’t mean yours won’t be affected.

The EPA website states:

The U.S. Congress has set a long-term goal that indoor radon levels be no more than outdoor levels; about 0.4 pCi/L of radon is normally found in the outside air. EPA recommends fixing your home if the results of one long-term test or the average of two short-term tests show radon levels of 4 pCi/L or higher. (The World Health Organization recommends  2.7pCi/L.) 

When we purchased our home nine years ago I did a radon test and found that the level was a bit elevated. Knowing we would be spending more time in the basement once it was remodeled I tested for radon a second time using the method described in the following Minnesota Department of Health video.

Those tests results indicated a 3.9 pci/L level not terribly high but it could be reduced.

I consulted with Walt of Advanced Radon Services. His company sealed the two sump pumps in our basement floor to stop air from seeping up through them. I am hoping that pouring the new concrete floor and repairing the walls will also help lower the level.

When our project is over I will retest. If the level hasn’t been reduced I will consider having an air exchange system installed. Due to the fact that the Midwest has a fairly high incidence of radon I feel that designers, contractors and builders have a responsibility to encourage homeowners to test for radon and to lower the levels in their homes if necessary.

If you have further questions about Radon, this Environmental Protection Agency site should help answer your questions.

Basement Project #4: Asbestos Abatement

Unfortunately our basement floor dropped 3 inches from one end of the basement to the other. It had a big dip at one point where there used to be a floor drain that had been capped off many years before. In the 60’s the previous homeowners remodeled our basement into a “wreck room” for their children and covered the floor with tile. Like most vinyl tiles of that era ours contained asbestos. Our tile was also chipped with some pieces loose or missing. It would have been great if I could just put a new floor over the old but that wasn’t possible. The asbestos tile had to be removed in order to tear out the old concrete floor and pour a new concrete floor.

Asbestos tile is not hazardous if it is in good shape and if left undisturbed. But tearing them up releases “friable” asbestos fibers into the air. These fibers are so tiny they can’t be seen but they are easily ingested into the lungs. They don’t immediately make you cough or feel sick. It can take 10-40 years to develop an incurable form of lung cancer known as mesothelioma or asbestosis.
 
Asbestos abatement can be really expensive—thousands of dollars. Although it’s probably best left to professionals, homeowners are allowed to do the abatement themselves. I visited the Minnesota Department of Health’s website to see how to do it safely.  It seemed doable.


Famous last words!

It turned out to be grueling work and much harder than I could ever have imagined. I allocated a couple of days but it took me a week.

Sealing the walls, ceiling and doors with plastic was easy enough.

But no amount of soaking with soapy water helped in removing the tiles. I pushed my body to the limit physically because I had to muscle and chip the tiles up with a 9” blade.  Each tile shattered into hundreds of pieces. It was hard to breathe through the mask and I got more than a little claustrophobic being in a sealed room.

When all the tiles were finally removed, I realized that the mastic (adhesive) was going to be even tougher to remove. (It too can contain asbesto fibers.) In tears, I got on the phone to see if there was some “product” I could use to remove the mastic. I didn’t want to use anything caustic. I was working down in a basement where there was no airflow because the windows were sealed off with plastic.


Knowing they carry many healthy products, I called Natural Built Home on Minnehaha Avenue in Minneapolis. Lo and behold they had something called Beano that is intended to soften the mastic. 

Wow, did it ever! It turned the mastic into a liquid. Soon I was walking in what felt like an inch of oil, but at least I didn’t have to scrape and chip any more. I used the bag of terry rags I had purchased on the recommendation of the Health Department to sop up the liquefied mastic.  

Disposal of asbestos is really important. It can’t be mixed in with other construction materials. I had to bag all the asbestos tiles and rags in plastic bags, enclose the bags in cardboard boxes and then wrap each box in plastic, wiping them down to make sure no asbestos fibers remained on the outside. The plastic covered walls and ceiling also needed to be washed down to remove any fibers. When the plastic was finally removed it too was discarded using the same process-- plastic bag, box, then plastic wrap. 

The whole kit and caboodle had to be hauled to a special dump. Homeowners are limited to just a few disposal sites for dumping hazardous materials. I drove my boxes to Vonco II in Becker, Minnesota, a trip that took about 3 hours round trip. Be sure to call first to make sure weather conditions are acceptable that day for dumping. The fee was about $60, money well spent.

I learned a lot of valuable information doing my own asbestos abatement – but I’ll never do it again!

Basement Project #2: The Best of Intentions

Hang-Out Space

When we moved into our house 9 years ago we had the best of intentions for the basement. Our last child had just graduated from high school and still needed a place to hang with friends. I figured the basement would be perfect for that. And I already had the furniture. We had recently purchased a very comfortable and expensive-enough couch with a matching chair and ottoman for the family room in our old house. The only complication was getting the 7-foot long couch into the basement of our new house.


That challenge was resolved quickly—by our extensive kitchen remodeling project. Until the kitchen walls were framed out, our basement was temporarily accessible to a 7-foot couch. We knew that once in the basement it wouldn’t come out again in one piece. But in the mean time we would get great use from it. What I didn’t count on, was all the other home projects that always seemed more pressing than fixing up a hang-out space in the basement, and nine years later the couch was still wrapped in the same plastic that the movers wrapped it in. What a waste of a good couch! It’s time to reclaim it.

Plant and Dog Grooming Room

The basement space has been useful over the years – just not as accommodating as we need it to be. For instance, there is a great plant room. Every fall I bring my tropical plants inside that have been outside in the garden all summer. I hang lights from the plant room rafters to sustain the plants throughout the winter. I don’t have to worry about water overflowing onto the concrete floor because there is a floor drain in the room. The room isn’t heated, so it’s perfect for overwintering. With a few more amenities this area will continue to function well as a plant room. And with the added benefit of a new sink it will also be a place where I can bathe my dog at home rather than pay to have her groomed elsewhere.

Workout Area

The basement is also the logical space to locate our treadmill and recumbent bike. When working out we have relied on a monster of an old TV that requires us to crank up the sound in order to hear it over the noise of the treadmill. Because the ceiling wasn’t finished the noise from the TV could be heard even in the second floor bedrooms! So a feature of the new basement must include a flat screen TV that we can use with earphones. The ceiling will also have to muffle some (preferably most) of the sound emanating from the basement.

I just hope the reclaimed couch is not so comfortable that I neglect plants, dog and working out. All the more incentive to make all the renewed basement spaces equally inviting!