Newspaper Page Text
The Lee County Ledger, Thursday, November 29, 2001 - Page 5B
Is There a 'Handywoman' in the House? Look Out Weekend
Warriors - Ladies Are Now Doing It Themselves!
Move over aerobics, shopping
and cooking ... a new Home De-
pot/Yankelovich Partners study
reveals that home improvement
is the new "trendy" leisure time
activity for women. Of the 1.012
survey respondents. 37 percent of
women said they would prefer to
spend their weekend leisure time
working on a home improvement
project, such as gardening or
painting, rather than shopping in
a mall (28 percent) or cooking/
baking (25 percent). Another sur
vey by the American Hardware
Manufacturers Association said
women accounted for nearly 38
percent of all do-it-yourself prod
uct purchases last year. And, with
more single women becoming
homeowners, the trend seems
destined to continue. So just what
projects are most appealing to
women? The list is long and
sometimes surprising. 1. Painting
In the Home Depot/Yankelovich
study, painting was tied with gar
dening for the top spot. Gone are
the days when the paintbrush and
roller were the only tools of the
painter. Today's techniques call
for bold, colorful designs with
faux finishes often using sponges
and stencils. Many women are
now looking at painting as a form
of expression and look at their
walls as their canvas. Workshops
held at home centers and paint
dealers are teaching women to
paint like pros using some of the
latest color options, including
denims, dark blues, greens and
maroons. Painting is also one of
the easiest projects to take on in
a home and one that can be ac
complished at a relatively low
cost. Painting a room is also one
way to make a dramatic differ
ence - quickly - and color can re
ally open up the living space or
give a ho-hum room character.
Plus it provides immediate satis
faction and boosts a woman's
confidence to tackle other home
improvement projects. 2. Garden
ing/Landscaping Gardening and
landscaping provide a perfect ex
cuse to be outdoors - and get
something accomplished at the
same time. In addition, the results
of these efforts produce beautiful
flowers, foliage, shrubbery and
plants that can be enjoyed all sea
son. For a woman looking to
make an impact, home centers
and greenhouses offer a multitude
of options that allow a DIYer to
spruce up her own yard by add
ing mulch, new shrubbery or
flowers. Other options include
adding a small hedge for extra
privacy or a brick flowerbed bor
der for some additional yard defi
nition. 3. Wallpapering Many of
today's wallpapers are pre-pasted,
which means the woman DIYer
only has to wet the roll in water
and position it on the wall. Even
if a room is already painted, a
decorative border can add just the
right touch of style and color.
These borders are popping up on
all areas of the wall - not just near
the ceiling. Try a waist-level,
chair-rail border or even some
thing at eye level to break up the
room. Another option is to put a
border around a window to give
it a "framed" look. Much like
painting, wallpaper can change
the look of a room in just a few
hours - and if you do it yourself,
it is a relatively inexpensive
proposition. 4. Installing a New
Kitchen Faucet Creating a func
tional workspace in the kitchen is
a must for most women and
changing and upgrading faucets
are increasingly popular kitchen
DIY projects. Often, they opt for
a pullout faucet that offers the
ability to easily fill up large pots,
water plants or clean all areas of
the kitchen sink. Not only are
these pullout faucets functional,
they are stylish as well. Moen's
extensa pullout offers elegance
and a host of finish options to
complement any kitchen decor,
including today's hottest stainless
looks. There are also pullouts
available that offer the ability to
filter water, such as the
PureTouch filtering faucet. And,
one of the best things about pull
out faucets is that while they look
complicated, they are actually
easy to install - just like a regular
kitchen faucet. 5. Putting in a
New Floor Carpet and vinyl are
becoming a bit passe. Women are
opting for new tile options that
not only look great, but clean up
well too. An inexhaustible range
of patterns, colors and textures
make tile a great way to enhance
a room and add a little self-ex
pression, plus, tile is easy to in
stall. Once a pattern has been es
tablished, simply add adhesive to
the back, position it properly on
the floor and tap the tile with a
rubber mallet to set it in place.
Hardwood is also making a come
back as a popular flooring choice.
New parquet floors are installed
in much the same way as tile and
are much easier to work with than
older-style hardwood strip floor
ing. Specialized kits provide ev
erything the woman DIYer needs
to install the floor herself. 6. Up
grading Lighting Fixtures or Ceil
ing Fans Since outdated fixtures
give away the age of your home,
many women are upgrading their
lighting. Relatively inexpensive
and easy to install, changing out
existing lighting fixtures can
make a world of difference to
brighten up a home. Another op
tion is to change the look of an
older ceiling fan by simply
changing to new blades. 7. Add
ing New Window Treatments A
tab top valance, sweeping swag
or new blinds... women can eas
ily add some warmth and beauty
to their walls with new window
treatments. Once thought of only
for function, window treatments
are now a focal point in most
rooms. Women are integrating
their room's design elements by
having the pattern of their furni
ture complement or even match
that of the window treatments.
And, so many styles are now
available to fit individual prefer
ences - maybe a simple valance
in the kitchen or a swag posi
tioned on a brushed nickel deco
rative rod. Many of the new styles
only require material that is sim
ply draped over a rod for position
ing - no sewing skills are even
required. 8. Turning a Bathroom
Into a Suite Rather than live with
a bathroom featuring mismatched
fixtures and accessories, women
are turning their bathroom into a
suite with coordinated and inte
grated products. These suites pro
vide a continuity of style and
color throughout the entire room.
Catching on to this trend, manu
facturers are now offering a full
assortment of products that allow
consumers to produce this full
suite look without having to go
from store to store looking for just
the right products. For example,
Moen now offers faucets, tub/
showering products, and accesso
ries such as towel bars and tooth
brush holders, all available in the
same style and finish. Its M-Pact
valve system even allows for easy
upgrades once the fixtures are
installed so that changes can be
made without going under the
sink deck or behind the shower
wall. These quick changes allow
any woman to create a whole dif
ferent look in the bath by easily
changing from traditional chrome
to the elegant look of polished
brass, or even to a more contem
porary brushed nickel or matte
black look. 9. Improving the
Home's Exterior Aside from gar
dening and landscaping, there are
some other items that a woman
(ARA) - As the air turns cooler
and the days grow shorter, our
backyard gardens surrender their
last fruits and vegetables of the
year, and the last leaves fall from
the trees. When we pull out the
yellowing vines from the garden
and bag leaves from the yard,
we're a little saddened that we
must wait until spring to see new
growth again.
Autumn, however, is the perfect
time to begin a project that will
ensure a bountiful garden next
year: a compost pile. Harvest time
is a great opportunity to start a
compost pile because decaying
vines, vegetables, leaves and
grass clippings contain excellent
nutrients that break down over
time to recharge soil with nitro
gen for spring planting.
Building a compost pile is
simple with these easy tips from
the lawn experts at John Deere.
First, find a place for your com
post. Drive four 5-foot wood or
metal stakes one foot into the
ground. Fence in three sides with
chicken wire, leaving one side
open for easy access. If you like
the idea of a compost pile but
don't have time to build one, pur
chase a prefabricated compost
unit.
Next, collect chopped tree
leaves, grass clippings, and all the
vines and fading plants from your
vegetable garden and build a pile
that's at least three feet in diam
eter and three feet high. This will
build a hot internal temperature
that gets nutrients "cooking."
Flowers also contain many nu
trients that are great for
composting. If your annuals have
gotten "leggy," pull them up and
toss them in the compost pile and
till the bed. Leave the fall peren
nials while the leaves are green,
and then mow them down once
they turn brown and compost the
leaves.
Add the material in five- to six-
inch layers and sprinkle a 10-10-
10 fertilizer - ten parts each ni
trogen. phosphorus and potas
sium - on top of each layer, and
can do to the exterior of her home
to make the most out of it. Chang
ing the color of the shutters is
something that is very affordable
and doesn't take much effort - just
some paint. Women may even
want to paint the front door to
match the color of the shutters,
add a decorative kick plate or per
haps change out the doorbell. 10.
Refinishing Kitchen Cabinets
Many women might not be able
to completely replace their
kitchen cabinetry - but refinish
ing is definitely a job most
women can accomplish. With re
finishing, cabinets can be sanded,
stained or re-painted. It is amaz
ing what this simple facelift will
do for the look of a kitchen - a
dark kitchen can suddenly see the
light of day with white paint or a
light oak stain on the cabinets.
Even changing out the handle
hardware is an inexpensive way
to create a new look. So the next
time you are looking for a gift for
that important woman in your life
... maybe she'd like a hammer,
some nails, a paintbrush or a fau
cet ... these are the gifts today's
woman homeowner can truly use
(Uh, but you might want to check
with her first!) Courtesy of ARA
Content, www.aracontent.com, e-
mail: info@aracontent.com
MARy KAy
skip the
Holiday
rush
This holiday season,
enjoy fast, convenient
online shopping and
unbeatable customer-
service. Just visit my Web
site to find fabulous
Mary Kay- 1 gifts. What
could be easier?
Beverly L. Mathis
Independent Sales Director
www.marykay.com/bmathis
229-436-3779
Career opportunity available
P
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Fall Composting Ensures a Bountiful Garden
add a dusting of lime to prevent
odor. Cover each layer with soil.
Shape the pile like a volcano
and make an indentation on top
to catch rain. Water the pile oc
casionally to keep it moist and
turn it once in a while to move
drier outside material into the
middle where it can break down
into lush humus.
To avoid odor and bothersome
animals, never deposit meat or
bone into the pile. As a safety pre
caution. avoid adding diseased
plants or lawn clippings that have
recently been treated with herbi
cides or weed killers. John Deere
also suggests waiting at least four
mowings after the lawn's been
treated before composting grass
clippings.
Instead of having the autumn
blues, turn your attention to a fun
and easy project that will ensure
a healthy garden next year. Com
post now and in the spring, your
garden will get a shot of nutrients
that have been cooking all winter
long.
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