Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Article on Designing and Remodeling Kitchens

Most newspaper/magazine articles on designing and remodeling a kitchen are deficient in some way or another. They usually contain misperceptions and outright errors that cloud the whole article.

I just ran across a great article called Get Cooking on a Dream Kitchen, by Matthew M. F. Miller of CTW Features, that calls me to task on my opinions. Great job Matthew!

I then Googled his name to try to figure out why he is so on-target in his writing and came up with his blog, Maybe Baby, about his ongoing attempt to become a father. He's a Chicago twenty-something who lost a lot of weight in the past and is married to a feminist. They just bought their first home. He writes well there too.

I then found his bio on Content That Works, the company that he works for. He's a content writer!

I then found another great article by Matthew called
RETRO Fit or miss for your kitchen? on the use of retro appliances and strong colors in kitchens. He's spot-on again!

Then I found another one,
Test your energy-saving savvy to save big bucks, on energy conservation in the home. Again, very well presented.

This guy is just a great researcher who really does his homework!
So great in this day of misinformation masquerading as gospel.

My faith in writers is reborn!

Peggy

Thursday, June 07, 2007

Swedish Integrated Farm Sink

In my blog roaming tonight I came across this absolutely wonderful concept on the great Swedish interior design blog Tinaminastina.

It's a farm sink INTEGRATED into the countertop!!!

How cool is this?


I can't tell if it's natural stone, concrete, or a synthetic...

But it sure looks great.

MUCH better than the choppy look of a typical undermounted farmhouse sink and it's a more comfortable height. For those late night cleanup marathons.

Peggy

Home Improvement Grant for the Disabled

Hi to all Home Improve Blog Readers,

I need your help!!!, we need your help...

I have returned after a shortish sabbatical from writing my blog to ask for any help or assistance or information anyone may have on finding a home improvement grant for the disabled living in the USA and elsewhere in the world.

I recently followed a line of research for a couple of families living in Texas - I was especially boosted in my search after reading a speech of a few years back, by the President about grants to help homeowners adapt their homes to their changing needs - to enable them to remain self-sufficient and stay in their own homes as long as possible.

It was such a positive speech that I blindly thought that all states must have a grant allowance for just such needy citizens. What more logical that basic home improvements to widen doors, change the bathroom suite, lower worktops and install hand rails around the home for homeowners who have suddenly found themselves to be wheelchair bound.

I found grants for all kinds of needs - for the young, families, the dependent and the elderly but nothing specifically for the disabled !

My search led me to that wonderful web site www.hud.gov - where I searched through their long list of grants and found the:-

FY 2007 SuperNOFA: Resident Opportunity and Self-Sufficiency (ROSS) Programs

I focused in on the CFDA: 14.876
Funding Opportunity No. FR-5100-N-17
Opportunity Title: Ross Elderly/Disabled
Competition ID: RED-17
Close Date: July 19, 2007

- You can see the information here at :-

www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/nofa07/grpross.cfm

I put some people in touch with the contact person given on that page - and they were told - (despite the title at the top of the page... Resident Opportunity etc.) that this opportunity title was for business owners who could claim a grant to adapt the workplace for disabled employees. I think that is a great idea - but I though the title clearly pointed to residential buildings.

Anyway, the help I am looking for is not to gripe about the above grant - but rather to ask if anyone has been able to track down a good grant in the USA that will be useful for any readers looking for financial assistance to help them adapt their home - and enable them to remain in their homes and keep their independence for as long as they are able to - or want to.

If you know of a real home improvement grant for the disabled - we want to hear from you with as much information and contact details regarding the grant as you are able to provide.

On behalf of everyone in the world who is looking for a home improvement grant for the disabled - thank you in advance and we look forward to hearing from you.

Susan
Home Improve Blog
www.home-improvement-and-financing.com