Episode 220: Nagging Laundry Room Projects, 8 Key Design Elements for Kitchens, Budget-Friendly Ways to Update Your Kitchen

SEGMENT 1: Nagging Laundry Room Projects

We talk about these things often, but that’s because they’re important AND easy to forget about! So today we cover a couple laundry room maintenance tasks that you should be accomplishing.

SEGMENTS 2 & 3: Eight Details to Consider in Your Next Kitchen Update

We chat with Interior Designer, Lauren Figueroa, about eight design details you may want to consider if you’re looking at a kitchen update. Check out her blog post below:

SEGMENT 4: Budget-Friendly Ways to Update Your Kitchen

Not everyone is in a spot right now where a full kitchen update is possible. (I’m not!!) And so, for those of us in that situation, we thought we’d talk about the tremendous difference a simple kitchen cabinet repaint can make in your home!

EP23 – September 9, 2017: Bold Cabinets, Clogged Drains, Cold Weather Painting, New House “Must-Do’s”

 

It’s getting colder and we’re heading into sweatshirts and jeans weather, football, beautiful fall colors, and all the other great things that autumn brings. But with the dropping temperatures raise a lot of questions about exterior painting: when is it officially too cold to paint outside? We’ve got the answer to that and much more in this episode of the RepcoLite Home Improvement Show!

Listen here:

Show notes for episode 023:

Is it time for a kitchen makeover? Are you thinking of just painting the cabinets white? Have you thought of stepping outside the white box and into a little bit of color? We want to challenge the thought that kitchen cabinets should be white. Kim Scott, of KJS Interiors, joins us in the studio to talk about ways to bring color into your kitchen. Kim is an interior designer who is not afraid to use color in her decorating. She encourages people to the out of their comfort zone and try out a new, fun color. It's amazing how great a little color can look in a kitchen.

How many times have you been brushing your teeth and spit the toothpaste in the sink, only to find that the drain is clogged and the water refuses to drain? Yuck!

We tackle how to unclog a drain, before you call a plumber. And Dan gets the chance to talk about his favorite plumbing tool; a sink auger. The consensus is that he likes it just because it pulls some of the most disgusting looking things from drains!

As the weather gets cooler, we start to get the same questions over and over again in our stores, "Can I still paint outside?" Yes, you can, but there are some very important things that you need to know before doing so. We also talk about proper fall/winter paint storage and how to estimate how much paint you need to paint the exterior of a house. Many people think it is more complicated than it really is. It's just like estimating paint for your walls. You just have to find the total square footage of surface area. To do that:
  1. Assuming you have 4 sides of the house to be painted, take each side separately and find the square footage. To get this, take the length of each side and multiply by the height. Add square footage for 4 sides together.
  2. Subtract windows, doors, and anything else that won't be painted with the body color.
  3. Divide remainder from step 2 by 350-400, depending on surface to be covered. (Ex. 2500 square feet÷350=7 gallons. You would probably need just a bit more; maybe just a quart more.) This is for one coat.
When people move into a new house, usually the first thing they do is unpack. But wait! Before doing that, read this list of things you should be doing as soon as you move into a new house. And even if you haven't just moved, this list might still help you get organized and prioritize home projects. The article, 20 Things to Do When You Move Into Your New Home, originally appeared on the Family Handyman website. We took our favorite ideas and put our own spin on them. Here are our top 13 favorites:
  1. Make a prioritized list with help from everyone in the household
  2. Clean refrigerator coils
  3. Clean dryer (we covered this on Episode 8)
  4. Install a new toilet seat (we thought this was absolute brilliance! Why didn't WE think of that?!)
  5. Replace furnace filter
  6. Clean air conditioner (we covered this on Episode 5)
  7. Locate and mark main water shutoff
  8. Locate electrical panel (it might not be where you anticipate)
  9. Check smoke and CO detectors
  10. Make sure sump pump works
  11. Live in your home for a year before making major changes
  12. Make one room a retreat
  13. Meet your neighbors

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EP21 – August 26, 2017: Tankless Water Heaters, Back-to-School Safety, and Unique Kitchen Decor Updates

 

We’ve all flipped through magazines and seen amazing kitchens. We dream of something similar in our homes. Then we stop to realize the cost that could be incurred with something like that. But don’t worry! We’ve got some budget-friendly kitchen decor ideas that will let you have an enviable kitchen this weekend!

Listen here:

Show notes for episode 021:

Have you ever considered a tankless water heater? Do you want hot water that never runs out? Mark DeVisser from The Plumber is Here!, joins us in the studio to tell us everything we need to know before we buy one. Mark also has more in-depth information about tankless water systems on his website.

It seems a little out of the ordinary for a Home Improvement Show to talk about back-to-school safety. But we believe that no home improvement is worth it if your family isn't there to share it with you. So we are making it our mission to help you with home improvements AND keep your family safe.

Tom DeGraaf, Principal at Lincoln Elementary School, and Dave Meeuwsen, Director of Transportation for Zeeland Public Schools, join us in the studio to give us an idea of what we can do to keep our kids safe as they head back to school.

Kitchen updates can cost thousands of dollars! It's our goal to help give your kitchen a boost, without breaking the bank. We've got some unique kitchen decor updates that will have all the neighbors talking when they stop by for coffee.

To help get your creative juices flowing, we've got two Pinterest boards you are going to want to check out!

Our Favorite Kitchen Island Inspirations!

Inspired Ways to Use Color In Your Kitchen!