Kitchen Cabinet Organization Tips

Adding drawer dividers is a great way to make existing drawers more functional. You can buy them ready made from home improvement stores, or make them yourself out of wood to fit a specific size or shape.

Another option is to replace drawer bottoms with 1/4” pegboard and use dowels as adjustable spacers to accommodate everything from pots and pans to kitchen utensils.

Installing a pullout rack in your cabinet is perfect for storing cookie sheets, baking pans, and trays.

Rollout racks (or drawer slides) can also be adapted for use with a kitchen trash can, or you can purchase a pullout specially designed for that purpose. The cabinet door in front of the trash can either be hinged or attached to the front of the rack so it pulls out with the can.

Kitchen Cabinet Facelift Tips

To improve the looks of your kitchen cabinets, replace the cabinet doors and drawer fronts. Doors and drawer fronts can be custom ordered in various sizes from home centers in a wide range of colors and styles. They’re also available unfinished, so you can finish them yourself to match existing cabinets.

Another option for dressing up bland plywood cabinet doors is by attaching mitered strips of molding to the face. Stain and finish the molding to match the doors, then cut the miters and nail the molding in place.

Kitchen Cabinets Upgrade Tips

To increase the usable space in your kitchen cabinets, consider utilizing the open space above hanging cabinets for display or fill in the space with a custom cabinet for added storage.

You can add a touch of elegance to your cabinets by replacing some of the wood panels in the hanging cabinet doors with glass to display collectables, silver, or fine china.

A plate rack can provide an interesting design feature while making your kitchen more efficient at the same time.

Adding an island to your kitchen can make use of wasted space. Allow 42” between the island and other cabinets, and 36” for walkways.

If your kitchen doesn’t have space for an island, try a rolling cart instead. Park it against a wall when not in use, then pull it out into the room when needed for cooking or serving.

Kitchen Countertop and Backsplash Tips

A tile backsplash is a great way to dress up your kitchen while making it easier to keep clean. Mosaic tile kits, such as those from JEM Expressions, are available with unique custom images ranging from artwork to personal photographs.

Wood, both painted and natural, can be used for a backsplash as well. Vertical wooden beadboard can make a beautiful kitchen backsplash.

Granite is very popular kitchen countertop material, but it can be expensive. One way to have the look and functionality of granite without spending a fortune is by installing a granite insert on the counter next to the stove for pans hot from the oven.

To free up additional countertop space, replace your existing countertop microwave with a combination vent fan and microwave that fits over your stove.

Other Tips from This Episode

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Updating and improving the look of your home doesn’t have to put a strain on your budget. By using recycled or reused materials, along with a little imagination and creativity, you can make a big difference in your home for a very small investment. Here are seven simple DIY projects to get you started.

Where to Find Items to Reuse and Renew

There are a number of sources for used and discarded items, such as:

• Thrift stores
• Secondhand consignment shops
• Goodwill
• Salvage companies
• Habit for Humanity ReStores
• Online at The Freecycle Network
• Yard and garage sales
• Classified ads online and in newspapers
• Remodeling site dumpsters

How to Refinish a Ceiling Fan

Instead of throwing an outdated ceiling fan in the trash, consider refinishing it to make it look like new. Here’s how to go about it:

• Disassemble the fan components you plan to paint.
• Clean all the parts with denatured alcohol to remove any dust or grease.
• Rub metal surfaces with fine steel wool to remove the gloss.
• Lay all of the pieces out and spray with several light coats of spray paint for metal.
• Reassemble the fan components except the blades.
• Reattach the fan to the ceiling.
• Attach the blades and balance if needed.

How to Refurbish Old Furniture

Kendra Bennett is a homeowner who has a knack for taking old objects and transforming them into something new. She found an old credenza for $20 at a yard sale. After stripping off the black finish and refinishing it, the piece was converted into this unique conversation piece for her home.

The two cabinet doors in the center of the piece were removed and replaced by wine racks. As an accent, two wooden window frames were backed by mirrors then mounted on the wall above it. The whole project only cost $150 dollars and a little imagination.

How to Make a Fireplace Screen

To hide a fireplace from view during the summer, create a simple fireplace screen by hinging together discarded shutters found at a salvage store. Here’s how to go about it:

• Clean, sand, and make any repairs to the shutters.
• Apply two coats of interior paint and allow to dry.
• Link the shutters together with brass cabinet hinges.
• For screens of more than three shutters, install each pair of hinges on alternating sides so the screen can be folded up like an accordion when not in use.

The project was completed in less than a day for under $10.

How to Personalize a Child’s Chair

Lisa Brodie also enjoys giving new life to old pieces of furniture. Some of her favorite items are small chairs made for children. Here’s how to go about it:

• Clean the chair to make sure all of the dust and loose finish is removed.
• Apply a coat of primer and allow to dry.
• Apply two coats of paint.
• Decorate the chair as desired with contrasting colors and patterns.
• Personalize the piece with the child’s name.
• For a more durable finish, apply a final coat of clear finish (brushed or sprayed) to the painted surface.

How to Refinish a Wicker Chair

To make an old wicker chair new again:

• Use an air compressor to blow off dirt and dust out of cracks.
• Clean surface with a scrub brush and denatured alcohol.
• Use a hot glue gun to reattach broken or loose caning.
• Apply several light coats of spray paint, letting it dry for the recommended time between coats.
• Allow the paint to dry completely for several before using. A fan can help speed up the process.
• Store any leftover paint to use for touch up later.

How to Build a Headboard

To turn a discarded column and some leftover lumber into a headboard:

• Mark the cuts around the column with painter’s tape.
• Cut the column to length using a reciprocating saw.
• Construct a cubbyhole shadow box for the headboard from 1×6 lumber.
• Use 2×12 lumber for the feet and caps.
• Assemble the columns to the headboard.
• Paint the headboard and allow to dry.
• Use screws to attach the headboard to the wall studs.

Since all of the material used in the headboard was discarded or scrap, the project cost next to nothing.

How to Pour Concrete Stepping Stones

To make personalized concrete stepping stones for your yard:

• Cut down a 5-gallon bucket with a jigsaw to use as a mold.
• Spray lubricating oil around the inside of the mold to prevent the concrete from adhering.
• Mix up concrete and fill the mold with it.
• Smooth off the top of the concrete using a board as a screed.
• Customize the concrete while wet with handprints, decorations, or masonry dye.
• Allow concrete to dry before removing stepping stone from the mold.

Other Tips from This Episode

I’ve been in a rather strange mood lately. Perhaps I’m a bit batty after seven months of feeling like I’m staging a magazine spread rather than living in my home (if you’ve ever sold a house, you understand what I mean!). It’s been enough to drive a perfectionist crazy – constantly rotating spice bottles so they’re label side out, wiping water droplets off surfaces that are normally allowed to get wet, hiding things I use every day only to drag them back out again . . . you get the idea.

And as each month goes by, I get a little more obsessive, a little more determined to have every atom in place, preferably with electron clouds spinning in sync.

Even though this current arrangement is getting a little insane, I do enjoy organizing things. My grocery list is categorized, my forks all point the same way, and then there are my bookshelves. I’m the daughter of a bookstore manager, so really I have little choice but to divide hardbacks from paperbacks, sort by genre, and arrange alphabetically by author’s last name (What? You mean you don’t?). It’s in my blood.

One afternoon, in yet another flurry of cleaning for a house showing, I had had enough of this stiff, nitpicky existence. Before I knew it, I had swept every single book to the floor in a heap – fiction landing on nonfiction, Hemingway tangling with Cornwell – it was scandalous!

Having recently re-watched Close Encounters of the Third Kind, I feel a certain kinship with Roy as he throws shrubbery through the kitchen window in a fit of creative obsession. Books flew through the air, some landed on shelves, my face grew smudged with dust, and when I finally stepped back, I surveyed my creation – a rainbow.

Now, I realize that arranging my books R.O.Y.G.B.I.V. is no less perfectionistic (nobody said I was giving that up!). But as I looked at the rainbow, I was struck by one very distinct difference – this arrangement made me feel happy. The practical arrangement made sense, yes, but why not arrange the little details of our lives in a way that makes us feel joyful?

I mean, who doesn’t love rainbows? I loved it so much I went and did the same thing to my clothes closet.

It’s kind of a silly thing, but I can’t adequately express how wonderful it is to walk into my office and be greeted with a rainbow. That bookshelf full of dry, practical stuff is now a piece of colorful art. And from a home-staging standpoint, the colors draw attention away from the personal book titles, giving the whole thing wider appeal.

Books that lend knowledge now also add beauty. And, incidentally, I’ve yet to have trouble finding a book (turns out, it’s pretty easy to remember what color they are). I love it!

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Installing mosaic tile as flooring or an accent strip requires a bit different technique than laying large tile. Some mosaic tile are held together in squares with a mesh backing, while others employ paper facing. To lay mosaic tile:

• Apply thin-set adhesive to the surface with a notched trowel.
• Embed the squares of mosaic tile in the adhesive, positioning them carefully so the joints between the squares are even.
• If the tile is held together with a paper backing on the front, wet the paper and peel off the backing once the adhesive has set.
• Finish up by grouting between the tile with a rubber float and sponge off any excess grout.

Laying mosaic tile requires a little extra work, but the results are worth it. Watch this video to find out more.

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Recent advances in plastic laminate have made a product that closely resembles natural granite. Laminate, such as Formica 180fx, come in a range of colors and patterns that are so realistic, it’s hard to tell them from the real thing. Watch this video to find out more.

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Danny has remodeled a lot of bathroom over the years, but this job is personal, since it’s in his own home. What started as a simple upgrade, expanded into a complete bathroom renovation that included replacing the tub surround and tile floor, upgrading the plumbing and faucets, and installing a new vanity and accessories.

Danny’s bathroom before remodeling.

Demolition

Work began by tearing out a built-in closet and removing the existing pedestal sink. Next, the 20-year-old cultured marble tub surround was removed, along with the tile floor. In addition, part of the engineered wood floor in the powder room had to be replaced to cover the area occupied by the closet.

Wiring

Replacing the two wall scones over the sink with a single light fixture required cutting a new hole in the drywall, rerouting the wires, and repairing the holes in the existing drywall.

Plumbing and Fixtures

The faucets for the tub and sink have an oil rubbed bronze finish and are from the Vestige collection by Moen. The tub faucet includes a pressure balance valve that automatically adjusts to changes in water pressure to maintain constant water temperature and prevent scalding.

Flexible PEX pipe was used to connect the existing polybutylene water lines to the copper pipes on the new faucets.

Tile Floor and Shower Surround

Once the plumbing had been roughed in, cement backer board was attached to the studs around the tub. A plastic pan was screwed to a cutout in the backer board to form a recess to accommodate shampoo and soap.

Seams in the backer board were covered with mesh tape and coated with thin-set. Before the tile were laid, the shower walls were coated with a waterproofing compound—such as Durex Blue Shield from Durabond Products or RedGard by Custom Building Products—to prevent moisture from penetrating through the tile or grout. The concrete floor was primed as well, and a floor leveling compound was poured on the slab to make sure it was flat and smooth.

Rather starting the first row of tile on the tub, guide boards were attached to the shower walls to provide a level support for the tile. To minimize the size of the grout lines, toothpicks were used as spacers between the tile.

The walls of the tub surround were tiled with 12”x 12” Crema Cappuccino tiles from The Home Depot. Moroccan Desert mosaic blend glass tile from the Tessera collection by Oceanside Glasstile were used for the bathroom floor and accent band around the tub surround.

After the tile adhesive had set, the paper backing on the mosaic tile was peeled off, and grout was applied to the joints with a float. Darker colored grout was used on the mosaic tile floor and accent band, with a lighter grout for the tub surround.

Bathroom Vanity

Once the drywall in the powder room had been repaired, the walls were painted. When all the work was finished, a Socotra vanity with a black Galaxy Granite top and white oval sink was set in place and the plumbing attached.

After a little clean up and decorating, Danny’s bath renovation was complete.

Other Tips from This Episode

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A number of high-density urethane building products are available from Fypon that can be cut and finished just like wood while providing added resistance to decay and termites. Products include turned spindles for porches, ceiling medallions, and easy to install crown moldings that don’t require mitering. Watch this video to find out more.

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Some of the new plastic laminate countertops can mimic the look of natural stone at a much lower price. Made by various manufacturers and known as honed, etched, or textured, they not only look like stone but feel like it as well. At 50% to 65% less than stone, you can have the look you want while your budget remains intact.

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Watch this video to see how easy it is to finish existing appliances and hardware with Thomas’ Liquid Stainless Steel, which can be brushed or sprayed on almost any surface in your home.

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When choosing a faucet for your kitchen sink, it’s important to take into consideration:

• Style
• Finish
• Controls
• Sprayer
• Accessories

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