Episode 1848
Transform Your Home for the Holidays: Easy Weekend Projects
Looking to spruce up your home before the holidays without diving into a major remodeling project? This podcast dives into quick and effective upgrades that can transform your space in no time. From refreshing your kitchen with new appliances and cabinetry touch-ups to enhancing your living areas with smart lighting and new blinds, there are plenty of manageable projects to elevate your home. Expect practical tips on how to tackle each project efficiently, ensuring your home is ready for family gatherings. Join Eric G. as he shares innovative ideas and expert advice to help you make the most of your space before the holiday festivities begin.
As the holiday season approaches, many homeowners find themselves in the position of wanting to refresh their living spaces without undertaking extensive remodeling projects. Eric G. offers a wealth of practical advice on how to achieve this through various home upgrades that can be completed in a matter of weeks. The discussion begins with a focus on kitchen refreshes, suggesting that small changes, like replacing aging appliances, can have a significant impact. Eric emphasizes the importance of energy efficiency and encourages listeners to take advantage of fall sales on appliances before the holiday rush. He also shares a clever tip for cabinetry maintenance: hiring a furniture repair person to touch up worn or damaged cabinets, giving them a fresh look without the need for a full remodel.
The conversation then shifts to other areas of the home, such as lighting and decor. Upgrading lighting fixtures, particularly to smart lighting systems, can transform a space and improve ambiance, especially as daylight hours diminish in the fall. Eric highlights the benefits of installing new backsplashes in the kitchen and adding under-cabinet lighting for both functional and aesthetic improvements. He continues to explore various project ideas, such as enhancing curb appeal with new front doors or exterior lighting, which not only beautifies the home but also increases energy efficiency. The episode is packed with actionable insights that empower listeners to elevate their home environments without the stress of major renovations, setting the stage for a festive holiday season with friends and family.
Takeaways:
- Consider doing a kitchen refresh by replacing old appliances before the holiday gatherings.
- Upgrading your front door can significantly improve your home's curb appeal and energy efficiency.
- Installing smart blinds allows for better light control and energy savings in your home.
- A fresh backsplash in the kitchen can be a stylish weekend project that enhances your space.
- Investing in quality exterior lighting can elevate the aesthetics of your home and improve safety.
- Using a heated towel rack in the bathroom not only adds luxury but also helps reduce laundry.
Links referenced in this episode:
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- Lutron
- Pyramid Heating and Cooling
- Monument Grills
- Toto
To get your questions answered by Eric G give us a call in the studio at 833-239-4144 24/7 and Eric G will get back to you and answer your question and you might end up in a future episode of Around the House.
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Information given on the Around the House Show should not be considered construction or design advice for your specific project, nor is it intended to replace consulting at your home or jobsite by a building professional. The views and opinions expressed by those interviewed on the podcast are those of the guests and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the Around the House Show.
Mentioned in this episode:
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Transcript
It's around the house.
Eric G.:Next up here is something you can do in the bedroom.
Eric G.:You can do it anywhere in the house, living room, wherever.
Eric G.:But new smart blinds.
Eric G.:I ordered some new ones for this weekend show here that we did from Lutron.
Eric G.:And this is their kasida wireless.
Eric G.:Basically they are battery powered bluetooth roller shades.
Eric G.:So around the house shows brought to you by pyramid heating and cooling serving in Oregon, the Portland metro area and Bend, Oregon.
Eric G.:They are your one stop shop for heating and cooling and indoor air quality.
Eric G.: pyramidheating.com oregon CCB: Eric G.:When it comes to remodeling and renovating your home, there is a lot to know, but we got you covered.
Eric G.:This is around the house.
Eric G.:Welcome to the round the house show, the next generation of home improvement.
Eric G.:Thanks for joining me today.
Eric G.:I am Eric G.
Eric G.:This episode is brought to you by our friends over at Monument Grills for a killer grill for fall football season.
Eric G.:Maybe you're tailgating.
Eric G.:Maybe you're having a great time out back with friends.
Eric G.:That is a great place to start, and that is@monumentgrills.com today we are going to be talking about some quick upgrades before the holidays without having to tackle a major renovation project.
Eric G.:Cause, you know, between now and then, really, if you were gonna start a kitchen model or a bathroom model, you're probably running out of time if you haven't started it already.
Eric G.:But there are so many things we can do around the house to really kick this up a notch and have it ready for the family or whatever else here in just a few number of months.
Eric G.:So let's talk about that today because we've got some great stuff to talk about.
Eric G.:And if you want to find out more about us here at the show, just head over to aroundthehouse online.com dot.
Eric G.:You'll find our YouTube channels.
Eric G.:We've got a couple of those.
Eric G.:We've got all of our different stuff over there and a brand new website coming up soon that's going to have a lot of great stuff for you over there.
Eric G.:So first off, let's dive into the first one here, this subject, it's a great one.
Eric G.:And this is an important one here.
Eric G.:Doing a kitchen refresh.
Eric G.:You got Thanksgiving coming up.
Eric G.:You got Christmas, you got all the different holidays.
Eric G.:And with that, you usually have friends and family over.
Eric G.:No matter what you're doing.
Eric G.:It's a great time for everyone to get together and catch up.
Eric G.:So here's what I would do for a kitchen refresh.
Eric G.:And this is just something where it's maybe a little dated.
Eric G.:You're not going to do a remodel, but it's something you want to knock out in a couple of weekends.
Eric G.:So many times people go in and I need more energy efficient appliances.
Eric G.:They're over ten years old.
Eric G.:They're getting towards the little long and the two, shall we say.
Eric G.:And you're at some point you're either going to have to fix them or you're going to have to replace them.
Eric G.:So some people will jump in there and go, hey, it's time to replace those.
Eric G.:And let's get that new refrigerator, the new range, new cooktop, new wall oven, get that stuff dialed in.
Eric G.:Catch some of these fall sales before the holidays and some of those close outs before the new model years that come out in February.
Eric G.:Not a bad time to get that stuff.
Eric G.:So you can do that.
Eric G.:Here's a trick that I do for cabinetry.
Eric G.:If you have painted cabinets, or if you have stained cabinets and you like the colors, but maybe they're just a little worn out, what you can do, and this is a trick that I used to do after construction projects.
Eric G.:I would actually hire a furniture repair person to come in with their airbrush, with their tools, and they would come in and touch up any damage.
Eric G.:Now, these guys can do a lot if you hired the right one.
Eric G.:I have seen them actually go into a door that was mis drilled for hardware, and it was going to take ten weeks to get it.
Eric G.:And the homeowner had a party, so they came in, filled it, because it was mis drilled by somebody on the job site, filled it, airbrushed it in, and you couldn't tell where that was, where that damage was done on the door.
Eric G.:Couldn't tell at all.
Eric G.:There was no way to tell.
Eric G.:So there's a lot of those things can be restored, repaired, and somebody spending maybe four to 6 hours or maybe even 8 hours if it's really beat up in that kitchen, getting that fine tuned, all the little scratches, covered up, all that stuff can make it look like a new one without having to go in and do a big remodel.
Eric G.:So that's one right there.
Eric G.:Now another great weekend project is tackling a new backsplash.
Eric G.:Maybe you don't, don't even have one there.
Eric G.:Maybe it's just countertop going up to the wall, and maybe it's a piece of laminate.
Eric G.:Maybe it's something up there or some tile that you want to get rid of.
Eric G.:Go in there and do a brand new, beautiful tile backsplash.
Eric G.:And that can be something that's really cool and looks really awesome.
Eric G.:So things to consider when you're doing a backsplash, make sure that where your outlets are, that it's not going to take up too much room.
Eric G.:You might need an extension on that box to be able to bring the outlets farther out off the wall to put the tile down.
Eric G.:The other thing is to it, it can be a great time when you're doing this to put in under cabinet lighting because you can open up part of the wall right there.
Eric G.:You have to worry about the texture.
Eric G.:You can go in there and run your electrical up so you have lights above.
Eric G.:That could be a nice little way to do that.
Eric G.:That looks really good.
Eric G.:You can hide it because you're going to put tile over the top for anyway.
Eric G.:And so you can run that in the wall cavity behind it.
Eric G.:Don't have to worry about matching wall texture and that other stuff.
Eric G.:You're just going to get it where you can cover it with tile appropriately.
Eric G.:So that's another great way to do that and go through it and it looks really good.
Eric G.:Now here's the thing.
Eric G.:I recommend tile, ceramic tile back there.
Eric G.:I see some people say, hey, I'm gonna get crafty.
Eric G.:I'm gonna put wood, I'm gonna put different flooring materials back there.
Eric G.:And you can do that.
Eric G.:But just remember, if it's back there behind the cooktop, that that needs to be cleanable and fireproof.
Eric G.:So you can't have a wood panel back there.
Eric G.:You can't have a wood bead board.
Eric G.:You need to have something that is going to be fireproof in case you have that kitchen fire going in the range.
Eric G.:You don't want to have anything back there that's going to be flammable, that's going to get hurt or damaged and catch on fire and make that fire even bigger.
Eric G.:So those are all solutions that you can do that'll make things really easy there.
Eric G.:New hardware, so new cabinets, knobs.
Eric G.:If you have exposed hinges, you can swap those out.
Eric G.:If it says eighties, nineties, or even older, exposed kitchen, the exposed hinges on the outside, those are ones that you can grab and order up and have those match the knobs and handles that can look really good and go through and do that.
Eric G.:So that's another great time to do that.
Eric G.:Now, the other thing is too, is you can replace that kitchen faucet, maybe put in a glass rinser, get rid of that soap dispenser and put something else in there.
Eric G.:There's a lot of cool things you can do around there as well, and including adding some accessories inside some of the cabinet doors.
Eric G.:Maybe you, you have a single 18 inch wide cabinet and you're like, hey, I want to put a trash can pull out in here.
Eric G.:Many times you can modify that cabinet to do that when it was just a door and a drawer, and then you can use that as a better spot and get that trash can off the kitchen floor and in a cabinet.
Eric G.:So it's hiding away a lot of great things you can do just inside the kitchen.
Eric G.:So that's another one there.
Eric G.:Now, the next one here on the list is a separate project, but it does relate to the kitchen, and that is upgrading your kitchen or living room lighting.
Eric G.:Now, maybe you have only lamps in the living room and you want to put in some recessed lights.
Eric G.:Maybe you've got just low quality kind of builder basic lights up there that are the, the round dome lights that you have in there.
Eric G.:A lot of people call them boob lights, but you know what I'm talking about.
Eric G.:Just those round dome lights, and they're the 20 to build, dollar 20 builder basic ones that were out there.
Eric G.:And maybe some of them, if you have the early ones, those are going to have the, the compact fluorescent bulbs in them sometimes.
Eric G.:And time to get rid of all that stuff.
Eric G.:Time for an upgrade and get rid of any of those fluorescent light fixtures and make sure you dispose of those correctly, that you're not hurting the environment with those because they can have mercury in them and that can be a serious problem.
Eric G.:So just make sure you're getting rid of those things correctly.
Eric G.:But really, if you go in and upgrade that lighting, or you can go in and put in smart lighting controls.
Eric G.:So maybe it's a combination of both.
Eric G.:Maybe you're putting in a new light switch.
Eric G.:You can go with the Lutron Casita or any one of the other brands out there that whatever fits your smart home system and have some more lighting controls.
Eric G.:As it's getting darker outside, it's nice to upgrade those lights and it can really transform a space.
Eric G.:And even if you have to get up there and fish some wire and, and do some work, it's not that big a deal to knock that project out.
Eric G.:So take a look at that one.
Eric G.:And again, that's something you can do in the kitchen.
Eric G.:That's something you can do in a bathroom.
Eric G.:It's something you can do living room, dining room, whatever.
Eric G.:But upgrading that lighting this time of year is a great time to do it because you really have a chance to use it as that daylight just keeps getting shorter and shorter and shorter.
Eric G.:All right, guys, now when we come back, we're going to talk about some of these other projects around here that was a little more kitchen focused, but that's not what this whole show is about.
Eric G.:On this hour, we're going to talk about other things to do around the house.
Eric G.:So there's a lot of different options for you to tackle to make things a little bit nicer before all the friends and family come over for the holidays.
Eric G.:And it's stuff that you can knock out now before the weather gets too bad.
Eric G.:If you want to find out more about us and you're listening on the radio, head over to aroundthehouse online.com and you can send a message right on that website right there.
Eric G.:And of course, make sure you're following us on our YouTube page and of course over on Facebook, Instagram.
Eric G.:And we have a brand new TikTok that's out there now.
Eric G.:So we're showing some stuff there.
Eric G.:And tell you what, we've got a lot of new content coming up, even a few pictures if you've been paying attention over my TikTok, I was at a great rock festival this last weekend.
Eric G.:So put a few rock bands up on there as well.
Eric G.:So a lot of fun over there.
Eric G.:Something good to check out.
Eric G.:Saw some really cool stuff.
Eric G.:That was a lot of fun.
Eric G.:So coming up next year, we'll continue our quick upgrades before the holidays without a major remodeling project.
Eric G.:Just as soon as around the house returns.
Eric G.:So many people with welcome back to the around the house show, the next generation of home improvement.
Eric G.:Thanks for joining me today.
Eric G.:We've been talking here about our quick upgrades before the holidays without a major remodeling project.
Eric G.:And this is a lot of fun.
Eric G.:This is something you can tackle right before the holidays here before we get into that part of the season as we're getting into fall.
Eric G.:And you can really make a difference to your house before the family and friends come over for whatever events you are having at your place.
Eric G.:So last thing we're last segment, we were talking about kitchen refresh and upgrading kitchen or living room lighting.
Eric G.:And that's a good one.
Eric G.:Now, the next one here is something you gotta get after now because it can take a little bit of time.
Eric G.:But I tell you what, upgrading that front door can be a huge one.
Eric G.:Wanna helps you with curb appeal.
Eric G.:It's the entryway into your house and so you can really do a nice upgrade with that.
Eric G.:That looks super cool.
Eric G.:By replacing that door, you can put in something that's gonna be more energy efficient.
Eric G.:And if you've got, like, an old wood door that's getting weathered and it's moving around a lot, so it's never sealing up right.
Eric G.:Whether it's a summertime or the wintertime, you can go through and put in a new door, whether it's, geez, there's so many great brands out there.
Eric G.:I just did a really nice one with Therma.
Eric G.:True that.
Eric G.:We filmed for the around the house show.
Eric G.:I'll put that up on the website so you can find that over there at around the house online.com.
Eric G.:i'll throw that over there, but put that in for a segment for the tv show.
Eric G.:And I tell you what, beautiful fiberglass door seals up so nice.
Eric G.: I was replacing a: Eric G.:Just a bronze, aluminum, horribly inefficient, you know, hard to pry the door open.
Eric G.:It just was.
Eric G.:It was garbage.
Eric G.:It was time to dump that thing and put in something more efficient.
Eric G.:And it quieted up the room.
Eric G.:It has changed the entire room feel and look.
Eric G.:And anytime you're doing something like that, whether it's a front door, a back door, or a sliding glass door, something like that, and you could put in something that's going to be way more secure, you know, with a good deadbolt on it, something like that.
Eric G.:It's a game changer.
Eric G.:It's a game changer for you to be able to do something like that that'll really make it much more enjoyable and more weather efficient.
Eric G.:So take a look at that, and you can put a brand new, nice, like, Baldwin hardware door lock set on it and really just dress that up and make it look nice.
Eric G.:And that's a weekend project.
Eric G.:You know, if you get the door, if you order one like therma.
Eric G.:True.
Eric G.:They have their standard colors.
Eric G.:You can actually get a fiberglass one that's pre stained, which makes it super nice because you can dive in there and get that thing ready to go.
Eric G.:So when it shows up, I got to do is tear out the old one, put the other one back in.
Eric G.:Makes it pretty easy.
Eric G.:A few packs of doorshims, some flashing, that kind of stuff, and some caulking, you're good to go.
Eric G.:And you've got a door project on a weekend that looks like a million bucks.
Eric G.:So that can be something that's really good.
Eric G.:Anytime that you've got leaks around the door, that's going to save you on energy for the wind and the water, anything else that's happening out there.
Eric G.:So not a bad time to do that stuff.
Eric G.:And usually they can get those things turned around in a number of weeks.
Eric G.:And so you might be able to at this time get that project done before, before Thanksgiving, let's say.
Eric G.:And that's going to be one of the things this year.
Eric G.:It's going to be interesting with Thanksgiving being at the very end of November.
Eric G.:This is the way that plays out.
Eric G.:It's going to make our holiday season way more compact.
Eric G.:So it's three and a half weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Eric G.:So it is way jammed together.
Eric G.:So by the time we do that, that's going to be hard for companies and their holiday parties, all those different things.
Eric G.:Everyone is going to be super busy, which means also that you're not going to get building materials made as well during that time as well.
Eric G.:Because here's what happens in many manufacturing out there.
Eric G.:They will close down like the week of Thanksgiving so they can do plant maintenance.
Eric G.:They will do the same thing many times over the week of Christmas.
Eric G.:And so when you've got four weeks, five weeks, and two of those are closed, it really slows down production for you getting something custom made.
Eric G.:And so that can be a big issue.
Eric G.:So something to consider when you're going through this and you're ordering time to order now versus later.
Eric G.:And that's why I was saying it's now not the time to be probably starting that kitchen remodeling project only unless you've ordered cabinets two months ago and they're coming in because a lot of the good cabinet companies out there, if you order stuff, you could be four to twelve weeks for cabinets, depending on what you got going.
Eric G.:And you're way deep into the holidays on that.
Eric G.:And that's just a not time of a not great time of year unless you're going to be traveling and not away from the house and not people over.
Eric G.:It's not fun doing a big construction project between Thanksgiving and Christmas because all the people out there that are doing their hard work tell you what, it can get in your way of your life and family, and that makes it pretty stressful for people.
Eric G.:Next one here is exterior lighting.
Eric G.:This is a great one.
Eric G.:And I'm not talking about just the porch light out front or the one by your garage door on the front of the house if you've got one of those.
Eric G.:But I'm talking about doing exterior landscape lighting, getting something good.
Eric G.:And I'm not talking about going down to the home improvement store and grabbing the plastic stuff off the shelf there off the aisle.
Eric G.:I'm talking about going to a lighting store and actually order up stuff that you pay once and you're going to pay a little bit more than what you pay in the home center, but you're not going to be thrown away in two years when it quits working either.
Eric G.:And that's where the big difference is.
Eric G.:There is a big difference between the stuff in the home improvement store and even worse, the solar ones out there.
Eric G.:That stuff, you buy it once and the next year youre throwing it away.
Eric G.:That just seems to be such a waste and its just a waste of resources on that kind of stuff because they just dont last.
Eric G.:So for me, I say, hey, if youre going to go out and do it, do it right, get the right materials, yeah, its going to cost you a little bit more, but really youre going to have something that you can put out there instead of lasting a year.
Eric G.:You could last five to ten years.
Eric G.:I got stuff that ive had thats probably eight years old, almost ten years old, and uh, it's doing awesome.
Eric G.:So I can't complain.
Eric G.:And it still looks like brand new.
Eric G.:And that's the difference.
Eric G.:When you buy the nicer stuff from the lighting stores is the stuff that you see that's made out of like the abs plastic and some of the stuff that you see in the home improvement stores.
Eric G.:That stuff gets weathered looking after about two years, if it's still working, starts to look pretty rough and depending on if you've got, if you've got sun beaten down on it, that plastic just doesn't hold up.
Eric G.:The new stuff that you see out there is more of an anodized or a powder coated aluminum and it's really meant to last.
Eric G.:And so that's where your return on investment is, is because you buy it once and you're not.
Eric G.:It's like going out and buy, buying like $200 barbecue grills.
Eric G.:Right guys?
Eric G.:You're going to throw those away every year and it's just not one of those things that's really conducive to being a good investment.
Eric G.:If you go out and spend five or $600, it'll last you and you won't be buying grills every two years.
Eric G.:So that's where that stuff really helps to pay off for what you're doing.
Eric G.:So next up here is an interesting one.
Eric G.:And I think this is a fun topic to dive into here.
Eric G.:And that is going to be working on that bathroom refresh.
Eric G.:Maybe it's the master bathroom.
Eric G.:And yes, I use the word master bathroom versus primary because it has nothing to do with the connotation that people think it does.
Eric G.:So that is the master bathroom.
Eric G.:And guess what?
Eric G.:In that master bathroom, it's where most people are getting ready in the morning.
Eric G.:The, the head of the household's in there and everybody's in there getting ready.
Eric G.:And that can be something that really redefines your morning routine.
Eric G.:If you do some things in there, maybe you put in a new tile floor, maybe you're putting in a heated towel floor, maybe you're just putting a heated towel warmer in there or a bidet, toilet seat, things like that to make life a little bit easier and a little more healthy.
Eric G.:And so some of these things, we, we talked about this in a previous show, but if you go on there and I bring on a heated towel warmer that plugs in, that will reduce your laundry.
Eric G.: ause when you hang them up in: Eric G.:So they dont get musty smelling.
Eric G.:They just feel cleaner for weeks on end if you want to go that long.
Eric G.:So its really cool of how you can really save on laundry and give yourself a nice warm towel when you get out of that cold shower in the morning.
Eric G.:Not a bad thing to have.
Eric G.:So think about that.
Eric G.:That's another great one within that, it's a great time to replace that old, ten year old or older toilet in there and put in something that's going to be really nice.
Eric G.:I always recommend company like Toto.
Eric G.:They are the king of toilets out there.
Eric G.:The other brands are catching up in the toilet realm with these guys, but Toto is still king of the hill no matter how you look at it.
Eric G.:All right, we come back, we're going to finish this discussion here on bathroom refresh.
Eric G.:Got some more to talk about there just as soon as around the house returns.
Eric G.:Don't go anywhere.
Eric G.:Welcome back to the around the house show, the next generation of home improvement.
Eric G.:Thanks for joining me today.
Eric G.:We're, of course, brought to you guys by our friends over at monument Grills.
Eric G.:If you're looking for a brand new grill that's under $900, if you want something that's going to be nice and portable to move around your deck or out to the, to the game for a barbecue out there, check out moneymcrils.com dot.
Eric G.:We've been talking about quick upgrades before the holidays without a major remodeling project.
Eric G.:And thanks for bearing with me, you guys.
Eric G.:I've got a little bit of allergies or fighting today, so I'm a little under the weather.
Eric G.:I believe, but we're still powering through the show today, so trying to get through this and get you guys the best information possible.
Eric G.:And if you want to find out more about us, head over to around the house online.com.
Eric G.:and we've been talking about these quick upgrades before the holidays, and we were talking about really diving into that bathroom refresh, whether it's the, the main bathroom or the master, whatever one you're working on, or even a little powder room, really getting that dialed in.
Eric G.:So I was talking about earlier about new toilet or bidet.
Eric G.:One of the big ones is a new vanity, and there's a couple ways to do that.
Eric G.:You can find the off the shelf ones that you see at the home centers or Ikea or that kind of thing.
Eric G.:And if you can't make that work, that's okay.
Eric G.:You can just order that from your favorite cabinetry supplier.
Eric G.:So whether it's at the home center you're going to, or you're going over to a custom cabinet manufacturer, that's another place to go.
Eric G.:That's another place to go that really, really works out well.
Eric G.:So take a look at that.
Eric G.:Go back if you want to.
Eric G.:We'll probably end up doing an upgrade on this again here soon.
Eric G.:But I did a whole cabinetry type one on one thing here a few months back that you can go back and, and learn a lot about cabinetry to make sure that you got it dialed in.
Eric G.:But that's really where I, where you can go in there with a vanity, a new countertop and a sink and a faucet and get it looking good.
Eric G.:Now here's one thing, and I'll say this.
Eric G.:When you go into in stock vanities, in home improvement source, here's the problem we run into with the vanity in a box kind of situation, whether it's a Costco or Home Depot or Lowe's or wherever, the problem that I see is you go running in there, and most people's vanities are up against a wall.
Eric G.:So they're up against the wall on the right or the left side, and they're sitting in there.
Eric G.:When you install a cabinet, you need to have a scribe filler goes between that cabinet and the wall.
Eric G.:So that's where the issues arrive in the countertops.
Eric G.:Usually not long enough for that scribe filler to fit.
Eric G.:They didn't design it that way.
Eric G.:So those vanities, you almost have to go with an off off the shelf vanity and get something that's going to be smaller and keep it a few inches off the wall on the other side and let it float in the space.
Eric G.:But then you lose storage, you lose, you know, countertop space, you lose all of those things.
Eric G.:And so that can be troublesome.
Eric G.:So really, if you're going to do that, maybe you need to order that cabinet, get it to come in, have a countertop company come out and make the countertop for you, whether it's stone, quartz, or whatever.
Eric G.:If you want to tackle your own, you can do tile, you can do products like paper, stone, things like that to make it look really well and work.
Eric G.:So these are all things that you can do.
Eric G.:And, and then, of course, a nice sink and a nice faucet with that.
Eric G.:But I just remember that you need, if it's going up against the wall, you need that scribe filler, and the countertop needs to be longer.
Eric G.:And most of those off the shelf solutions won't have that for you.
Eric G.:So that's really meant to be with it sitting in the middle of the room and there's no, no, no end walls on one side or the other, that it's just a floating, freestanding vanity, like a piece of furniture out on the wall.
Eric G.:So that's one thing there.
Eric G.:Now, another thing you can do too, which is really cool, is you can do heated towel racks in there, you can do towel warmers, you can do towel bars, just basically new bars.
Eric G.:You can add in some handrails if you want, in the shower system, if it's blocked out correctly, and you can grab stuff.
Eric G.:So there's a lot of things you can do to really kick that up a notch in there.
Eric G.:And the other one is, is probably the easiest.
Eric G.:It does take a lot of time, and that's going to be repainting that bathroom.
Eric G.:And a good refresh with that is smart.
Eric G.:And at the same time, add in a new bath fan in there, get that dialed up so you can get more CFM through that.
Eric G.:Take a look at the Panasonics.
Eric G.:Those are my favorites for putting in.
Eric G.:They're just the most durable and the quietest.
Eric G.:And so they'll move a ton of air for you.
Eric G.:And that means that you've got a bathroom that dries out quicker and is easier to clean in the long run because you removed all of the chemicals in the air.
Eric G.:And of course, all of that steam, which helps dry the space out.
Eric G.:So really important with that, to really get that dialed, basically dialed back in.
Eric G.:So the next thing here in there is you can do with the paint, is in painting a bathroom is a tough one.
Eric G.:Many times you have to take the toilet off to get in, paint behind it.
Eric G.:There's a lot of little corners.
Eric G.:Painting a bathroom is, is a complex job because there's a, it's not like a bedroom.
Eric G.:Okay, I'm going to paint between the moldings and paint on the walls and we'll be good to go.
Eric G.:Or paint the ceiling.
Eric G.:If you've got a paintable ceiling and doing that kind of thing in the bathroom, youre painting around all these different pieces, cabinetry, toilets, showers, tile, whatever.
Eric G.:And that can be a significantly bigger project to tackle with that.
Eric G.:Even though its small, it can take a while to do it.
Eric G.:So give yourself some time.
Eric G.:And in that, you want to make sure you take the time to prep.
Eric G.:Because many times in bathrooms, theres hairspray, theres, theres all these different chemicals that are on the walls in there.
Eric G.:So you really want to take the time and scrub it and wipe it down and do the prep work.
Eric G.:And if you've got an old bathroom that's got the glossy paint on it, then I would either declass that or over, go over the top of that with a great adhesion type primer and really get that so the new paint will stick on that semi glossy surface.
Eric G.:Because people did a lot of when bath fans weren't working as well, you would see a more semi gloss finish in there because the water would sheet off it a little better.
Eric G.:If you got anything condensating on the walls nowadays, you just want to move that out of there so it's not as big deal.
Eric G.:But you want to make sure that you've got that dialed in so you can go with a flat, it's washable in the bathroom.
Eric G.:You just need to make sure that you've got one.
Eric G.:A really good vent fan and ventilation system to work and the door underneath the door that enters into that.
Eric G.:Or if you've got another place to bring in makeup air that needs to be big enough to allow that fan to work so you can really get more air into that space.
Eric G.:And another trick for that, if you're going to replace that bathroom door, take a look at Van air doors.
Eric G.:We're going to have him on the show again here.
Eric G.:Coming up.
Eric G.:Those guys make a great bathroom door that lets a lot of CFM back into that space and really gives you good airflow for that bathroom, which means that vent fans going to work a little bit better.
Eric G.:And then, of course, make sure that vent fan is gone all the way out of the attic space or out the wall or wherever it's supposed to go.
Eric G.:You don't want that going into an attic and then kind of like terminating next to a ceiling vent or something in there.
Eric G.:You want to make sure that thing goes through its own thing properly, goes outside the building, under the roof soffit or into the eaves of the attic.
Eric G.:Get that out of there so that way you don't have to worry about that damage anymore.
Eric G.:So that's a really big one right there.
Eric G.:So think about that.
Eric G.:That's all great stuff that you can do in the bathroom.
Eric G.:Tell you what, probably ten years ago, we were doing, you know, heated mirrors and all these things that we're trying to, and luxury bathrooms to keep them from fogging up.
Eric G.:And finally we went, hey, why don't we just ventilate it?
Eric G.:We don't have to worry about the mirror getting steamed up.
Eric G.:Sure enough, solve the problems, so don't have to worry about that.
Eric G.:We haven't had a steaming, a steamed up mirror in our master and I have a steam generator in there.
Eric G.:It still won't do it because we have the right ventilation for the space.
Eric G.:So that's something great to do on that.
Eric G.:Next up here is something you can do in the bedroom.
Eric G.:You can do it anywhere in the house, living room, wherever.
Eric G.:But new smart blinds.
Eric G.:I ordered some new ones for this weekend show here that we did from Lutron.
Eric G.:And this is their casita wireless.
Eric G.:Basically, they are battery powered bluetooth roller shades.
Eric G.:So if you think about it, you put the Lutron app on your phone and now you can control the blinds.
Eric G.:You can set up schedules.
Eric G.: So at: Eric G.:If you want them to open up or close, you can control those.
Eric G.:And they're really good for high ceilings, too, because nobody wants to get up there or have long cords hanging down.
Eric G.:And what's cool is they have batteries in these things and they take a lot of batteries.
Eric G.:They take 8d batteries, the ones I was putting in there, which is great.
Eric G.:And they last years with normal use, so you're not throwing a lot of batteries at it.
Eric G.:So which means you don't have to run wire over there to power them.
Eric G.:If you have power, sure, they can do this for you as well, but that's a really great way to do that.
Eric G.:So you can really control that.
Eric G.:And it's going to save you some energy, too, because that's going to add reflecting the heat back out.
Eric G.:It's going to keep the heat in the wintertime, in the space a little more.
Eric G.:That's just like a new insulating blanket there.
Eric G.:And that will help keep that space just a little bit warmer and cooler when you want it to be.
Eric G.:So take a look at those.
Eric G.:You can run those.
Eric G.:You can put light switch on the wall to control them.
Eric G.:You could put it a lot of different ways to do that, but it's really cool, really easy, and a little bit more money.
Eric G.:But I tell you what, it's not going to be the price of what you do there.
Eric G.: to: Eric G.:And I think that's something that we should be doing is a little self care for ourselves, making sure that we've got a, a great new mattress that you've got.
Eric G.:I've got a company here that I work with that I just absolutely love.
Eric G.:Here in my area, they actually make custom mattresses.
Eric G.:I went in on a Friday, took a look, went, wow, this is exactly how I want to have this.
Eric G.:And they made a mattress Monday morning and I delivered them out Monday afternoon exactly the way I wanted it.
Eric G.:We'll finish up our quick upgrades for the holidays without a major remodeling project just as soon as around the house returns.
Eric G.:You threw my clothes out on the line.
Eric G.:Welcome back to the round the house show, the next generation of home improvement.
Eric G.:Thanks for joining me today.
Eric G.:Appreciate all of you out there that are listening, you know, on the talk media network, on the radio all across the country.
Eric G.:We've added so many great stations out there and I love talking to you guys on social media.
Eric G.:So feel free to reach out.
Eric G.:You can find us.
Eric G.:Just look for around the house show.
Eric G.:You'll see my mug out there with the logo and tell you what.
Eric G.:It's so great to talk to you guys and we've had some great debates on the radio about some of these subjects we talk about.
Eric G.:And of course, we get people that agree, disagree, and that's fine.
Eric G.:I respect everybody's opinions out there, but my experience on these products, I've worked with them.
Eric G.:If it's something I know about, I've got my opinions.
Eric G.:And hopefully I can help you with your next project and give you the information so you can do it correctly out there.
Eric G.:So we've been talking about those quick upgrades before the holidays without a major remodeling project.
Eric G.:And another one here is a good one, as long as the weather isn't getting too crazy outside is really cleaning up and dialing in those landscape beds around your house, like new bark dust or refreshed landscaping for the winter months if you did a nice spring planting.
Eric G.:And a year later, I want to get back to spring and it looks a little rough.
Eric G.:If you can go in there and clean up the flower beds, get all the dead stuff out of there, trim the things back that need to be trimmed in the fall.
Eric G.:And it's throw a little nice new bark dust on the front.
Eric G.:That looks so good.
Eric G.:Gives you fresh color.
Eric G.:Now, if you get snow on the ground and stuff, hey, it doesn't matter when it comes back down, snow goes away, it's still going to look good.
Eric G.:But cleaning up some of those things really give you a freshen, neat look.
Eric G.:And it's really not that expensive.
Eric G.:You know, you can go down, if you have a truck or a suv, you can run down to your local tool rental place.
Eric G.:You can rent a trailer, a dump trailer, come home, drop it, and then, you know, have it delivered, whatever you want to do.
Eric G.:Now there's a lot of places out there now that are doing this, too.
Eric G.:And I did this in my back because I was so much stuff to do.
Eric G.:I was going to spend a week with a wheelbarrow, but I had them come in, and as we were doing the backyard project last year, I had man a company come in and they brought in a blower truck, and they blew soil in on my backyard because I needed to put in some good soil because it was just tough, rocky ground.
Eric G.:Came in, got it cleaned up, got it dialed in, got it looking really good.
Eric G.:And it really makes a difference by doing it that way.
Eric G.:Brought that in.
Eric G.:It just took all the hard work out of it.
Eric G.:They were there for, well, 3 hours maybe, and they put in 26 cubic yards of soil in my back, and they just blew it out of a big, huge six inch hose and came out and did that.
Eric G.:Next day they showed up and we had the play area for the dogs wanted a little bit area so we could throw the ball and frisbee and whatever.
Eric G.:And so we did that right there.
Eric G.:And we put in cedar chips for that.
Eric G.:And that was something that my arborist recommended for our house because I've got all these big, huge fir trees that are 300 plus years old.
Eric G.:And he's, hey, let's keep the, keep the moisture in the soil, put in this.
Eric G.:It'll be great for the dogs to play on.
Eric G.:And of course, that'll break down and be good every few years.
Eric G.:You can refresh it and it looks really good.
Eric G.:And it's just a great way to do that.
Eric G.:So another thing that really makes a difference is if you're doing that, if you've got a big project, just come have them blow that stuff out and write your check and have it done.
Eric G.:It'll save you a lot of time and a lot of effort.
Eric G.:It's not that much more to do it in many places.
Eric G.:And it can be really a good way to go, especially when you're trying to move dirt.
Eric G.:Moving dirt's tough work.
Eric G.:And they can blow it out and really not much raking to be done if you do it that way because it'll go in there and then you can settle down and, and add six inches of soil where you need to and, uh, really give it a good cleaned up, nice new yard out there.
Eric G.:And so that's another thing here, too.
Eric G.:It's a great time this time of year to be doing your fall maintenance on your yard.
Eric G.:Making sure that you've got the right fertilizer in there.
Eric G.:You've got things aerated if you need to, if you had to thatch it so you can reseed it, whatever.
Eric G.:It's a good time to do all that stuff before the weather gets too cold.
Eric G.:Some places probably already too cold now, but like us this last week here, it was in the seventies and eighties and still a good time to get out there and get any of that over seating done and stuff that you need to get done to make it look good.
Eric G.:So that's another one there.
Eric G.:Here's the next one.
Eric G.:Here is a good one.
Eric G.:It's part of maintenance anyway.
Eric G.:Good time of year to get out there and do that exterior paint touch up.
Eric G.:A little caulking, little repaint of the gutters are looking a little dirty.
Eric G.:Maybe a new color on that.
Eric G.:Really getting that dialed in, really getting it cleaned up and recon.
Eric G.:It's good fall maintenance anyway.
Eric G.:But if you do that, it just gives that really fresh, clean look.
Eric G.:And, you know, with me, it's a lot of maintenance on my house here.
Eric G.:And this is something that I learned when I painted my house black a few years ago.
Eric G.:I was in shade, so didn't, it wasn't a thermal issue because I'm in full shade here with all the trees around me.
Eric G.:But you got to be really careful because any of the dirt that splashes off off a driveway or a walkway or even landscaping that ends up on the, on the black.
Eric G.:So it's like owning a black car.
Eric G.:So there's a little more maintenance or I got to get out there sometimes and get some house wash and get stuff cleaned off and sprayed off just to make sure that we've got that cleaned up looking good.
Eric G.:So that's a new one there that didn't realize when you paint the house black and makes sense, but like having a black car, it's going to show a lot more dirt in that.
Eric G.:Next up, here's a smart one, and this is a good little, good little one with fall cold season coming in and all of that stuff.
Eric G.:An air purifier for your h vac system.
Eric G.:So something like that.
Eric G.:You can buy the air purifiers, the, the HEPa ones that work really well that you could put in your house, but you could also put those in your h vac system as well.
Eric G.:So that's something else that can look really good as far as giving you that clean air inside your house.
Eric G.:So when you're stuck inside and the weather's bad, you've got really clean, healthy air in there.
Eric G.:There.
Eric G.:And that's one thing that if you're like, I don't know how bad my air is in there, go grab.
Eric G.:You can jump online and there's a lot of air quality monitors you can put inside your house.
Eric G.:So you can see that if you've got issues in there.
Eric G.:And that's a really smart way to go because you go, wow, I've got a lot of chemicals in my house.
Eric G.:It's showing up with low, low air quality.
Eric G.:So you want to make sure to go through there.
Eric G.:If you've got too much particulate matter, which they call PM 2.5, be careful with that.
Eric G.:That's another one of those.
Eric G.:You go, okay, we've got too much particulate matter here.
Eric G.:Need to get that cleaned up.
Eric G.:And that's where that HEPA filter system or some of the other air purifiers.
Eric G.:And if you're putting it into your system in there, just talk to your heating and cooling professional and see what they recommend for your house to make sure that you're putting in the right system that's going to work with that, and that's going to take care of you in that.
Eric G.:And so when in doubt, you know, you can get ahold of my friend Caroline Blasowski, America's healthy home expertise.
Eric G.:She does a lot of air testing.
Eric G.:So she can send out some air testing stuff where you can do it as a DIy and then send it all back to her.
Eric G.:She'll take it over to the lab and then be able to tell you what's in your air, what chemicals are there and what you should do to resolve it.
Eric G.:So it's a great way to make yourself healthy, especially if you're a person out there that is fighting.
Eric G.:Maybe you're a little bit older or you've got asthma or you've got chemical sensitivities.
Eric G.:Take a look and see what's in your environment.
Eric G.:It's a great thing to do as a project to get that dialed in so you can make sure that that's looking good.
Eric G.:Now here's the last one.
Eric G.:And this was a fun project that we did, and a company named come again with a K created this lighting brand that is really inexpensive and cool.
Eric G.:So you can do LED stair lighting.
Eric G.:So what that does, it gives you a lighted staircase, but the lights are down near the tread.
Eric G.:So what you can do is if you've got a carpeted one, they make ones that basically stick on the wall and they run up the wall there.
Eric G.:And you can really do something really nice and it gives a light down that way.
Eric G.:If you've got more wood stair treads, then you can go along the front edge of that stair tread and do a down led tape lighting.
Eric G.:That's a really cool feature.
Eric G.:And so what's nice about that is at night you can have literally all the lights off in the house.
Eric G.:And then you've got this little led stairlight that makes the stairs glow.
Eric G.:So it's a really cool safety trick.
Eric G.:It looks awesome.
Eric G.:Makes your house look like a million bucks.
Eric G.:It is a great little project to tackle.
Eric G.:And that's one of those fun ones that I really, really enjoy and look so good.
Eric G.:And if you've got like that in the perfect world, you've got the staircase.
Eric G.:And you got like that storage room or whatever underneath the staircase.
Eric G.:If you can get back into there, it's really easy to be able to drill through that and drop it down into that space.
Eric G.:And then you can put, if there's power down there, you can put the control box and everything and the remotes on the wall and you're good to go.
Eric G.:So it's a really clean system to put in there.
Eric G.:And I'll put the link here in the show notes for that if you want to take a look at those guys.
Eric G.:And this isn't a sales pitch for that, but it's a fun little project that looks really good.
Eric G.:If you've got stairs in your house that are inside, it's a great way to go.
Eric G.:If you're outside, that's another one you can do is to put some stairlights on the stairs coming up to the house to really give you that kind of lighted pathway and staircase look.
Eric G.:One, it's a lot safer and two, that's a fun project to go tackle.
Eric G.:So think about that.
Eric G.:It's a good little wow factor that really makes that pop.
Eric G.:And it can really give you mood lighting for the inside of your house so it can be a really cool look.
Eric G.:All right, guys, this is ending up at the end of our number one of around the house.
Eric G.:If you want to find out more about us, head over to aroundthehouse online.com dot.
Eric G.:Make sure and check out our two YouTube channels.
Eric G.:We've got two of those.
Eric G.:One of them is just around the house.
Eric G.:Eric G.
Eric G.:Then of course, we have our one where the Fox twelve KPTV, Fox twelve has theirs.
Eric G.:We have our own playlist there with 500 plus videos on there from the around the House Northwest television show.
Eric G.:And we've got a lot more information there.
Eric G.:And if you're listening on the radio, make sure you catch us on the podcast and your favorite podcast player because there is a midweek special or a weekday update that we now call and we'll be doing that.
Eric G.:And coming up, a little quick announcement.
Eric G.:In the coming weeks, I'm going to put out a few new episodes of our around the house, our Trades podcast.
Eric G.:We're going to dive into that a little bit more and have some fun with that.
Eric G.:So I'll let you know on that.
Eric G.:A little warning for you guys out there as well that we'll be talking about some trades, specific stuff for all you people out there working hard.
Eric G.:All right, everybody, I'm Eric G.
Eric G.:Thanks for tuning into around the house.
Eric G.:If you're listening on the radio, we've got another hour coming up on most of our stations out there.
Eric G.:And if not, just check the podcast on your favorite podcast player.
Eric G.:We'll see you soon.
Eric G.:Thanks for tuning in to around the house.
