Small Appliance Tips

Small appliances are indispensable in the kitchen. If you need some easy ways to keep yours clean and running well, these ideas are for you!

1. To clean and sharpen the blades on your coffee grinder, pour half a cup of uncooked rice into the grinder and then run it for a minute or so.

2. To keep electric and manual can openers turning smoothly, run a piece of waxed paper through the blades.

3. Get all of the food out of your blender by throwing a handful of ice cubes and some lukewarm soapy water into it. Turn it on and let it run on high for a couple of minutes. The ice scours the blades and can get all of the hard to reach areas nice and clean!

Autumn Checklist

Fall, it brings football, crisp cool air and the knowledge that winter is right around the corner. Well I've got a checklist so you don't fall behind this season.

1. Clean and put away your gardening tools, wash them with warm soapy water making sure to get all of the surfaces clean. When the tools are clean and dry coat them with a thin layer of oil or petroleum jelly to prevent the formation of rust while they're not in use.

2. Clean and put away your patio furniture.

3. Have a heating professional come in and check out your furnace before you need it. Annual maintenance makes good sense and taking care of it before you need the heat will save you long wait times later on.

4. Walk around your house and check the caulking and weather stripping. This is an ideal time to remove or replace any that is damaged or missing.

5. Autumn is also a good time to order and stack wood for wood burning stoves and fireplaces.

6. An easy way to help prevent wet basements during the rainy season is to simply install a splash block at the end of your gutter's downspout. This will help keep water away from your basement and help with dampness.

Knob Know How

Don't think of knobs and drawer pulls as simply functional, think of them as jewelry for your furniture. They can transform the look of a piece in a few minutes, and it's a relatively inexpensive update.

1. There are a huge array of replacement knobs and pulls on the market and you can find them everywhere from home improvement centers to superstores to antique stores so look around.

2. To give a piece an eclectic look, use a different color or style knob for each spot. Glass knobs can give a newer piece an antique look for a fraction of the cost of the antiques.

3. You don't have to limit your self to what you can find in the store either, try picking up knobs at your local craft store and painting them yourself for a one of a kind look.

4. For a kid's room try some wooden blocks or small toys for drawer pulls.

*Knobs courtesy of House of Antique Hardware

Cozy Fireplaces!

There is nothing like a roaring fire to help warm a chilly night. Well, I have some hints to help keep your fireplace in tiptop shape!

1. Each and every year have your chimney checked by a professional to clean away excess creosote and clear any obstructions.

2. When you're cleaning out your fireplace spritz the ashes with water before scooping to keep dust to a minimum.

3. Leave behind a layer of ash under the grate. This will protect the floor of the firebox from excess heat and will catch coals so the fire will burn longer. Just remember embers burn for a long time so make sure that you wait a couple of days to remove the excess ashes.

4. When building a fire only use seasoned firewood and plain newspaper or white paper. Wad it up tightly or twist it into a small log shape. This is also a great way to recycle the paper from your home office. Remember never burn colored paper in your fireplace.

5. Sprinkle your logs with salt before lighting the fire it will help keep soot to a minimum.

6. Fires need oxygen to burn; poor air circulation can cause carbon monoxide build-up. So make sure that you leave the doors of your fireplace open slightly to give it plenty of air.

Tea Time!

It's teatime. I have some smart ways to put regular tea to use around your home!

1. Potting plants? Use tea bags as your drainage layer; they'll accomplish a couple of things. They'll absorb water so they won't leak out of the bottom of your pot and they release nutrients into the soil to help your plants thrive.

2. Tea is also a great grease cutting cleanser. If you have greasy spills on your counter or stovetop, soak a cloth in some tea, it will cut through the grease and clean the spill away in no time.

3. Looking for an easy way to clean your wood floors? Steep a couple of tea bags in a couple of quarts of water until it cools to room temperature. Dip a micro fiber cleaning cloth into the tea and wring it out. Then using the two-hand method, rub the tea into the floor while immediately wiping it up with the other hand. The tea will cut right through dirt and build-up. This also works well on wood furniture.

4. If you want sparkly clean mirrors, turn to tea. Rub it into the surface of the glass and then squeegee your way to a stunning streak-free shine!

CNY Concrete Counters

Looking for some cool counters? A spectacular sink? Give my buddy Steve at CNY Concrete Counters a call - he rocked my powder room sink - he can build - or he can show you how in his DIY workshops! Check it out!

Snow?

We had snow in NY this past weekend! Are you ready? Did you know that a little cooking oil sprayed on your snow shovel will help keep the snow from sticking? It's true!