Tag Archive 'cabinet knobs'

Mar 21 2010

Home Security Vacation Planning

Published by L.A. Remodeler under Home Security

As spring and summer approach, many families will be leaving their homes empty for a few weeks to enjoy a little R&R. Don’t let your opportunity to enjoy some quality time away with the family become an opportunity for burglars to invade your home.


A well-planned vacation includes a plan for minding the fort while you’re away. Some common strategies include: getting a house sitter, having a neighbor bring in mail and newspapers, leaving on some lights or putting some on timers, and possibly getting a security system.


The old standby in this situation seems to be: lights-timers-neighbors. Any plan is better than no plan at all, and ensuring that your papers and mail don’t pile up is a good place to start. Having a trusted neighbor take care of these items and possibly even park a car in your driveway can be a great help. Shedding a little light on the subject property can’t hurt either. Be careful with the lights though, when overdone it could actually send the message that the lights are on, but nobody’s home. If your home has a sprinkler system that is on a timer, you may want to set it up to operate intermittently while you’re away too. Just be sure to abide by any watering restrictions that might be in place.


While leaving some lights on or utilizing items on timers might give the impression that someone is home. Someone actually being in the home is a much better idea. Try to get a trusted friend or family member to temporarily take up residence in your home while you are away. Your home will truly be more secure and you will be able to enjoy your time away that much more knowing that it is.


If you already have a security system, use it. If you haven’t used it in quite some time and cannot remember exactly how, consult your instruction manual or your security company well in advance of your departure date. This will help you to avoid a great deal of last minute frustration. If you plan to have a house or pet sitter, ensure that they know how to operate the security system too. You should also communicate your vacation plans with your monitoring company. Let them know things like: the dates you will be away, your return date, if the house will be vacant or the numbers for your house or pet sitter, if there is to be one. Some companies may also let you request immediate dispatch if the home is to be completely vacant. This may temporarily bypass the need for a verification call to the home, which is required by most police departments and could speed up the dispatch process. You may also want to give them the numbers where you will be staying for ease of contacting you should they need to.


If you don’t have a security system and are thinking about getting one, plan ahead. Security companies get a rush of business around vacation time too. The best companies will book up just like the best hotels at the beach. You should do your research and shopping well in advance to ensure that you can get your security system installed in time and that you get to use your alarm company of choice.


With a little planning you can enjoy your dream vacation without the worry of a burglary nightmare.

Mike Jones is a security consultant for Bulldog Security Services Inc. in the Atlanta metro area.


For more information about home or business security, visit http://www.bulldoghomesecurity.com. Bulldog Security is a trusted local company based in the Atlanta metro area. A member of the Better Business Bureau, we’re dedicated to our community and our home and business clients. By building strong relationships, providing superior service, and offering quality security systems and alarm monitoring, we’re making Atlanta neighborhoods safer one address at a time. Contact us through our web site to see how we can assist you with your home or business security needs.

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Jan 11 2010

Knobs – Upgrade Your Kitchen the Fast and Fun Way

Published by L.A. Remodeler under Appliances

Ready for a new look to your kitchen but you don’t want to have to go through the expense of redoing all the cabinetry? Maybe your cabinets are in great shape, but you just want a little different look. It could be a simple change of the knobs will do the trick.

If the cabinets you have in your kitchen now are the stock set that came with the house, chances are they came with a series of stock knobs or handles that aren’t as exciting or personal as you would like them to be. You probably selected the wood color and finish, but the hardware is what the factory decided to put on your set. The good news is it can be changed. Whether you have knobs currently or have drawer pulls or handles, you can still change them out for a new set.

While you may not think something as small as a few drawer knobs will be enough to change the overall look of your kitchen, you will be surprised. Sure, they’re small, but they pack a major punch when it comes to the overall look of the kitchen space. How they out from the cabinet material will change the environment.

With this in mind you need to carefully choose which knobs you want to put on your cabinetry, as they will have a large impact on the overall look of your kitchen. Take note of what other colors and elements are in use in your kitchen. Anything from appliance colors to floor tile and even themes you have put into play in this space should be taken into account when you are selecting hardware for your cabinets. You want something that goes with the look you have created, without clashing.

Another consideration to take when you are purchasing hardware for your kitchen cabinetry is the kind of use and abuse it is going to get. While there are some beautiful decorative knobs on the market, many of these are also less durable than others. If they are made of ceramic, glass and other decorative materials they have a level of fragility to them. If you are the only one using them, or you are saving those decorative ones for drawers that are out of the reach of most people this may not be a problem. But, if you have a number of children who like to run around the kitchen, banging into things and slamming your drawers and cabinets open and closed, decorative hardware may not be able to stand up to this strain.

Finally, decide how much work you want to do to install them. If you are replacing knobs that were already in place on your drawers and cabinets, most new ones will fit the same holes just fine. But, if your old cabinets had pulls or handles, those have more than one hole. You may need to either use multiple knobs (on drawers), or put a back plate behind the knob to cover the other hole (on doors). The other option is to fill the old holes, paint or finish the filled holes, and then create a new hole for the hardware.

Author Jennifer Akre is an owner of a wide variety of online specialty shops like http://blog.eknobsandpulls.com/ that offer both items and information on how you can easily furnish and decorate your space. Whether it’s your living, bedroom, or even your deck or patio, there are many tips you can use to make those spots both functional and beautiful. Today, she offers advice on how to create a fabulous living area by using gorgeous cabinet hardware in your kitchen.

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