How to Decorate your Haunted House for Halloween on a Budget

• Gather up your supplies: Old pieces of cardboard, colored paper, markers, and glue are some of the things you can use.
• Take cardboard and cut out bat shapes (use a stencil if you need to): After you cut them out, use markers or paint to add color. Black bats look great hanging with a bit of fishing wire or string.
• Make fake tombstones out of cardboard: Just cut out the shape, paint it gray, and write RIP or other sayings on them. They can then be placed in a window, or in a place where they won’t get wet.
• Use yarn or crepe paper to create giant spider webs for windows
• Use colored paper to cut out pumpkins, black cats, or other Halloween pictures: These can be placed in windows, or on walls.
• Recycle old costumes and clothes: Old masks can be used to make life-size monsters with just some old clothes and newspapers.

Need more Halloween decorating ideas? Take a look at these tips:

We love this spooky Halloween decorating tricks and tips from Homedit.com

These 14 Halloween projects from Popular Mechanic will help you will more decorating ideas.

Want to make Halloween Specimen Jars?

Try making these Halloween specimen jars for your Halloween party:

Haunted House Decorating Tips:

• Keep scraps of fabric and old clothes throughout the year. These will come in handy to make scarecrows or other life size beings.
• Alternatively, instead of the yarn spider webs, you can purchase bags of “fake webbing” for very little cost, these often include small plastic spiders and the occasional glow-in-the-dark ones as well.
• For a bonus, change out your front porch light with a black light. It gives an extra creepy glow.
• If you happen to be a gardener, save any dead flowers and plants. Putting out some dead flowers and plants can make your house look haunted (just get rid of all the dead plants after Halloween!)
• Stick bin-bags to front windows and stick CSI tape to the front of the house to make it seem deserted.

Haunted House ideas:

Watch the haunted house video here for more ideas!

For more DIY ideas on Stagetecture, & Stagetecture’s YouTube Channel, click here.

Here’s a post from the archives last year, that I think is very fitting for all of you – getting ready to bring in the New Year and pack up from the holidays. Trust me, if you have a basement, storage closet, or garage… this one is for you!

 

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I showed you how to:

• Organize your Kitchen Pantry

• Organize your Garage

• Creating a DIY Home Theater

Today we are going to focus on the very bottom your home, the basement. The basement is one of the rooms of your home that can either be finished off to use as livable space, or it can truly be used for storage. Either way, getting to the point of being able to use it is another story.

It always helps to see someone else have a method to organizing their basement contents. Here is a You Tube video that shows how to sort your contents into three areas, organize, label and store them.

Today I found an article from Martha Stewart on organizing your basement.

The first step to organizing the basement is to take a rough inventory of what you have: Decide what you can give away or throw out, such as old bikes, children’s toys, and broken tools.

Clean and Paint Walls and Floor

Painting the interior walls and floors will cut down on dust, mildew, and dampness, making the basement easier to keep clean. First, clean the walls and floor thoroughly with detergent and water (follow with a diluted bleach solution if mold is present); fill pores and gouges with grout or resin filler; then apply latex or oil-based paints or sealants.

Set Up Shelving

Wood or metal shelving units placed near the stairs can hold wine, paper towels, bottled water, cleaning supplies, and other bulk items where they will be most accessible. Stash a flashlight here, so it’s handy for power outages. On long-term storage shelves, use waterproof plastic utility crates or steel storage trunks to hold sports equipment or other seasonal items, tools, hardware, and cans of paint. Be sure your shelves are adjustable, to accommodate outdoor furniture and large boxes.

Install Pegboard

To keep loose items from falling off the backs of freestanding shelves, tack pegboard behind the shelves. Install pegboard on the wall in places where you need to hang things: an ironing board and a few shelves for light objects in the laundry area, for example.

Use Ceiling Space

Hang garden hoses, chairs, and lighting fixtures from joists in the ceiling. Avoid hanging items from pipes — the resulting stress on the pipes could damage them

Fire

Never store highly combustible items in your basement unless they are in a closed cabinet. Keep a clutter-free zone at least 18 inches deep around your furnace. Have a fire extinguisher handy (CO2 extinguishers are best; they don’t harm electrical systems). Install a smoke detector.

Gases

Check with your county extension agent to see if carcinogenic radon gases from uranium tailings in the soil are a problem in your area. If so, buy a tester; if you have elevated radon levels, hire an expert to vent the gases outside. Carbon monoxide is another gas that can be deadly, so install a carbon-monoxide detector.

Electricity

Install ground-fault-interrupting electrical outlets throughout the basement to prevent shock from improperly grounded equipment. Elevate the washer and dryer several inches off the floor to prevent electrical shock during flooding. Have a furnace shut-off switch installed at the top of the stairs.

Watch Stagetecture’s You Tube Channel for more DIY ideas

Happy DIY Saturday! As the weather gets cooler, the focus towards your interior home becomes more important. The interior of your home that you physically see is one area, but what about the part you can’t see? Termite damage, especially in wood framed and older homes is a common challenge.

Image courtesy of Rexo Home

Today’s Guest Blogger gives tips for protecting your home and a You Tube Video shows you tips for protecting your home against termites as well as what to do if you find damage.

You Tube Video – Tips to Keep your Home Termite Free

Although there are many things that can threaten your house and cause significant damage to its structure, they often are easy to prepare for or at the very least are not hard to see coming. There is one major exception to this, in fact there is something that cause over $4 billion worth of damage to houses in the United States every year and can often go unnoticed until the cost of repairs has already skyrocketed into the thousands of dollars.

This problem, of course, is the termite; a small and highly social insect that lives in large and elaborate colonies and subsists by eating and digesting the very wood that your home is constructed from.

Image courtesy of Termites in Home

Knowing the Signs of Damage

Adding to the problem is the fact that it can often be hard to tell whether your home is infested, even if you know the signs, which few people do. The most common signals that your house might be the victim of a termite infestation are easily missed things such as a sawdust-like substance around the exterior wood of the house in addition to mud tunnels running underneath the home.

If either of these are spotted, it is well past the time that action should be taken to ensure the removal of these pests. Getting rid of termites can be a difficult proposition if you’re not well prepared for the steps involved. The first thing you should do is try to ascertain exactly how widespread the problem is and if any serious damage has been done.

If you’re lucky and are not looking at any significant damage, you can begin the process to eliminate the insects. The first step in this process is to research and purchase the proper termite treatment and control products, usually best accomplished by going online to a site specializing in these sorts of products. Many people may not be aware that they can effectively and thoroughly eliminate even a fairly widespread infestation by themselves, if they find the right products and apply them correctly both inside and outside the home.

Image courtesy of SA Property News

Termite Products

The best bet for complete termite eradication are products that have a two-fold action, the first quality a good product should have is to be odorless and colorless so as not to alert the insects to its presence so that they can avoid it. It should also be slow acting, so that the individual insects will take it back to their main colony unknowingly, thereby leading to the death of many more termites than if it just quickly killed the bugs that are already in the home.

By finding and applying the correct termite treatment and control products, you will save yourself and your house from the stress of having to deal with the widespread and severe damage that these incredibly prevalent and threatening insects can bring about.

Discover the most effective termite treatment and control products from Do My Own Pest Control. Visit them at www.domyownpestcontrol.com.

For more DIY ideas on Stagetecture, & Stagetecture’s YouTube Channel, click here.

We are down to the last DIY Saturday on organization for January’s organization month! It has been great:

I showed you how to:

• Organize your Kitchen Pantry

• Organize your Garage

• Creating a DIY Home Theater

Today we are going to focus on the very bottom your home, the basement.  The basement is one of the rooms of your home that can either be finished off to use as livable space, or it can truly be used for storage. Either way, getting to the point of being able to use it is another story.

It always helps to see someone else have a method to organizing their basement contents. Here is a You Tube video that shows how to sort your contents into three areas, organize, label and store them.

Today I found an article from Martha Stewart on organizing your basement.

The first step to organizing the basement is to take a rough inventory of what you have: Decide what you can give away or throw out, such as old bikes, children’s toys, and broken tools.

Clean and Paint Walls and Floor

Painting the interior walls and floors will cut down on dust, mildew, and dampness, making the basement easier to keep clean. First, clean the walls and floor thoroughly with detergent and water (follow with a diluted bleach solution if mold is present); fill pores and gouges with grout or resin filler; then apply latex or oil-based paints or sealants.

Set Up Shelving

Wood or metal shelving units placed near the stairs can hold wine, paper towels, bottled water, cleaning supplies, and other bulk items where they will be most accessible. Stash a flashlight here, so it’s handy for power outages. On long-term storage shelves, use waterproof plastic utility crates or steel storage trunks to hold sports equipment or other seasonal items, tools, hardware, and cans of paint. Be sure your shelves are adjustable, to accommodate outdoor furniture and large boxes.

Install Pegboard

To keep loose items from falling off the backs of freestanding shelves, tack pegboard behind the shelves. Install pegboard on the wall in places where you need to hang things: an ironing board and a few shelves for light objects in the laundry area, for example.

Use Ceiling Space

Hang garden hoses, chairs, and lighting fixtures from joists in the ceiling. Avoid hanging items from pipes — the resulting stress on the pipes could damage them

Fire

Never store highly combustible items in your basement unless they are in a closed cabinet. Keep a clutter-free zone at least 18 inches deep around your furnace. Have a fire extinguisher handy (CO2 extinguishers are best; they don’t harm electrical systems). Install a smoke detector.

Gases

Check with your county extension agent to see if carcinogenic radon gases from uranium tailings in the soil are a problem in your area. If so, buy a tester; if you have elevated radon levels, hire an expert to vent the gases outside. Carbon monoxide is another gas that can be deadly, so install a carbon-monoxide detector.

Electricity

Install ground-fault-interrupting electrical outlets throughout the basement to prevent shock from improperly grounded equipment. Elevate the washer and dryer several inches off the floor to prevent electrical shock during flooding. Have a furnace shut-off switch installed at the top of the stairs.

For more DIY ideas on Stagetecture, & Stagetecture’s YouTube Channel, click here.

Whether you are getting ready for the big game, or you enjoy watching your favorite movies on the big screen, home theaters have become a sought after feature that everyone wants in their home. The reality for some is that they don’t have the money, or the space to create a state of the art one.

Today’s D.I.Y. Saturday I’m showing you how to create a simplified theater, that can still have all the enjoyment, but not hundreds of thousands price tag.

The best part of today’s DIY Saturday is this You Tube video from a home owner who simplified their own DIY home theater and it looks fabulous! Take a look:

When choosing seating, use these tips: An article I wrote for Freshome: How to Choose the Perfect Home Theater Seating

• Measure your current space:

Before you go shopping, determine how much room you have to work with.  Home theater seating is usually large and bulky to have a spacious feeling when seated.  Measure your room and walking area or aisle that will be needed around your seating.  Allow at least 18”-24”minimum aisle in front and in the back of your seating.

• Determine how many people you want to accommodate:

If you have a large space to accommodate a large amount of people, theater seating with aisles will be a good idea.  If your room is smaller, this doesn’t mean you can’t have home theater seating. An intimate setting of 2-4 chairs arranged around the room would be a viable option for a smaller home theater.  Either way, make this decision before choosing your seating so you don’t waste time, money, and your back – trying to move the furniture around!

• Know your budget:

When you decided on what to put in your home audio visual system, you had to consider your budget, right? The same holds true for choosing your seating.  Lower end seating will have lower quality materials, but may be perfect if you don’t plan to entertain a lot or it is just going to be your family.  If you plan on entertaining a lot and status is important, your budget will need to reflect this when choosing your home theater seating.

• Decide what amenities you’d like:

Home theater seating has a variety of amenities to choose from. Select from storage areas to hold remote controls and miscellaneous items.  Chairs that have areas for beverages are convenient and help guests relax and enjoy themselves.  Recliner chairs can take you from a sitting upright position to a reclining position in an instant.  Theater seating can be intermixed with each other to form a variety of seating arrangements. Ottomans or foot stools are perfect for placing feet on and for kids that want to share in the movie watching!

For more home theater advice on Stagetecture, click here.

Watch Stagetecture’s You Tube Channel for more DIY ideas

Happy Holiday D.I.Y. Saturday!  The race is officially on, in one week the kids will be racing down the stairs, and waking you up at 5:00am to see what awaits them under the Christmas tree. With the hustle and bustle of the week, don’t forget to spend family time and enjoy what the Christmas season holds dear – traditions and family.

Today, instead of do it yourself home projects, I thought of “How to Enjoy the Holiday with Family” topic – but even better, for FREE! Here are 5 activities that you and your family can do without spending money, but full enjoying this magical time of the year!

ENJOY!

1.) Go Christmas Caroling:

Yes, believe it or not Christmas caroling is still popular and FUN!! The kids will enjoy singing Christmas Carols, and the adults will enjoy the camaraderie. Often times, your neighbors will bring you hot chocolate and you will see the smile on their face as you deliver your holiday treat!

2.) Bake a family tradition for family and friends:

What better way to bring the family together than baking! All family’s have baking recipes that have been passed down through generations. Even if you don’t start a new one! Go to the internet and look up your favorite treats that you enjoyed as a kid. Pick your favorite celebrity chef and one of their cake recipes.  If you make enough, give to family and friends as gifts!

3.) Go Christmas window shopping:

What fun it is to browse around shopping malls with the holiday decorations, beautiful window displays and Christmas music piped throughout the store!  Have your eye on a favorite tech gadget or small appliance.. you never know, touching it and learning how it works may bring you one step closer to you having it one day!

4.) Spend time together in nature:

Yes, it’s cold, but isn’t is supposed to be!!? Bundle up for an hour or so, and make snow people in the yard, go collect pine cones in the yard, or just go on a short walk to look at the Christmas lights throughout the neighborhood. Crisp and cool air will get you out of the house, and may make you remember how much you love this season!

5.) Find the North Star:

In this week leading up to Christmas Eve, find the north star. They say if you make a wish on the north star on Christmas Eve, your wish will come true… hey, what can it hurt?

Watch Stagetecture’s You Tube Channel for more DIY ideas

The exterior of your home is subjected to the sun, wind, and elements 365 days of the year.  Exterior wood siding and trim take a beating from the elements as well.  How about sprucing up the exterior of your home with a fresh paint job? I showed you how to choose exterior paint colors a few weeks ago, today I will show you the materials and process of how to paint the exterior of your home.

Ensure that you first inspect and prepare the surface first. Here are some tips for surface preparation from, Dulley painting guide.

Surface Preparation:

The first step should be a thorough inspection of your home’s exterior, checking for peeling paint, dirt, grease, cracks, knots, rusty nail heads, bare areas and mildew. Follow these steps to obtain the smooth, clean, dry surface before painting:

• Scrape all surfaces clean of peeling paint and rust.
• Remove oil, grease and dirty by washing with a detergent or commercial cleaner recommended for washing paint. On siding, remove dirt and chalk with a solution of the above type detergent and a sponge, brush, or pressure washer. (Paints often chalk slightly to prevent dirt collection. Latex paints are sensitive to heavily chalked surfaces.)
• Remove all traces of mildew with a stiff brush and a commercial surface cleaner recommended for removing mildew. Or, mix one quart of household bleach with three quarts warm water. Rinse well with clean water before painting.
• Cracks in siding or open joints between building materials should be caulked. Prime unpainted surfaces before caulking.
• If siding has wood knots that contain resinous material, use turpentine or mineral spirits to remove resin, then seal with a special knot sealer available at your paint store.
• On iron and steel, rust should be sanded or wire brushed away.
• Fill particularly rough, unpainted masonry surfaces with masonry block filler — a thick material that creates a smoother, less porous surface.
• Glossy painted surfaces should be roughened with sandpaper — particularly important under eaves or overhangs. These areas must also be washed with detergent and water to remove soluble salts which have collected.
• Sand rusty nailheads, then sink them slightly below the surface with a hammer and nail punch. Apply corrosion-resistant primer over the nailhead and add putty if necessary. Then sand smooth.
• Spot prime bare areas. Even if siding is factory primed, spot priming will be necessary on bare or rusted areas. Minor scratches, dents and raw edges should be feather sanded and spot primed.

Painting Steps:

Behr Paint has a step by guide on how to paint wood siding

STEP 1:

Begin your painting project by pouring thoroughly mixed paint into a bucket and dipping a quality 2”–2½” wide nylon/polyester brush into the paint.
TIP: When working outside, it is best to work out of direct sunlight and in temperatures between 50º–90ºF with moderate humidity.

Painting your home will not only make it look better, but it will extend the life of your wood siding.  But painting it you are painting a protective shield over the wood to protect from the damaging effects of the elements.

STEP 2:

Starting at the top of your project area, paint (cut in) horizontally along the top and bottom of each sideboard. Next, cut in vertically along the left trim of the sideboards and then on the right trim of the sideboards.

TIP: Remove the excess paint that collects between the sideboard panels by working your brush between the grooves of the boards.

STEP 3:

Reload the brush when necessary to maintain a wet edge. Repeat the process until the cut in section is complete.
TIP: To eliminate unwanted brush strokes, smooth out the cut in section by taking a lighter stroke over the newly painted area.

STEP 4:

From the bucket, pour paint into a paint tray and work your roller into the tray until it is fully loaded with paint. For best results, use a ⅜”–¾” roller cover.
TIP: For larger areas, consider using a 5-gallon bucket and a bucket grid.

STEP 5:

Starting at an upper corner of the cut in section, fill in the remaining areas of the boards with the roller. Be sure to roll over the cut in area as well.

STEP 6:

Reload the roller when necessary to maintain a wet edge. Repeat the process until the project is complete.
TIP: For optimum results in quality of color of finish, apply a second coat.

You Tube video:

How to paint your exterior wood and trim of your home.

For more DIY ideas on Stagetecture, & Stagetecture’s YouTube Channel, click here.

Your home is appealing in the daytime with its gorgeous windows pouring in natural light, but what about in the evening? Can you see clearly how to get from the curb to your doorway? Is the landscaping accented with lighting to give beautiful aesthetics and security? Landscape lighting helps the curb appeal of your home at night, but it also protects your home and keeps visitors safe while walking to and from your home.

On DIY Saturday today, I will show you how to install your own outdoor landscape lighting.  Outdoor lighting is categorized by what function you need it for.

Outdoor Lighting Categories:

• High voltage: lighting used for commercial buildings. Should be installed by a professional electrical contractor
• Solar powered: used for aesthetics, powered by solar cells on individual lighting fixtures.
• Low voltage: Used for safety and security, hardwired in to your electrical system of your home.

Low voltage installation:

(Provided by This Old House.com)

Where to install:

Installed along walkways, steps, and driveways, or pointing up at trees, walls, and fences, the typical low-voltage lighting system requires just three components: a transformer, low-voltage electrical cable, and the fixtures. You don’t have to be comfortable with wiring—or even have ever done any—to install this type of system.

The transformer steps down the 120-volt house current to just 12 volts. It must be plugged into a GFCI-protected outdoor electrical outlet fitted with a “while-in-use” cover, and oversize plastic box that closes over the power cord. The transformer needs to have enough capacity to support the cumulative wattage of the lights in the system. Between fixtures, the cable is buried in a shallow trench. As long as you have a nearby outlet, you’ll be able to give your home and yard a welcoming glow when the sun goes down.

Step-by-Step Guide:

1. Lay out the components

Set the pathway light fixtures on the ground where they’ll be installed — usually about 8 to 10 feet apart.

Lay the low-voltage cable along the concrete walkway, following the line of light fixtures. Use 14-gauge cable for lighting systems that total 200 watts or less and 12-gauge cable for systems that are more than 200 watts.

When you come to an obstacle, such as a fence or shrub, string the cable under or around it.

Tip: Put first fixture at least 10 feet from the transformer.

2. Turn over the sod

Move the light fixtures out of the way.

Take a flat-blade shovel and slide it underneath the top layer of grass, about 12 inches in from the edge of the walk. Then lift up on the handle to separate the grass from the soil, and fold over this scalped portion of sod. Continue in this manner all along the walkway.

Use the corner of the shovel’s blade to scratch a 3-inch-deep trench in the soil where the wire will go.

Tip: If necessary, set the light fixtures on top of the folded sod to prevent it from flopping back down.

3. Bury the electrical cable

Set the low-voltage electrical cable in the trench. Leave a bit of slacked cable at each fixture point for making the connection to the light fixtures.

Smooth the soil over the trench, but leave the cable sticking up out of the soil near each fixture.

Make a slit in the detached sod where the fixture will sit and fold the sod back over the soil, keeping the cable for each fixture above the grass.

Tip: Don’t bury the cable more than 3 inches or you’ll have difficulty connecting the light fixture.

4. Plug in the transformer

Run the cable up to the outdoor electrical outlet. Then use
wire strippers to cut the cable and strip off ½ inch of the rubber insulation.

Slide the stripped wires under the two terminal screws on the bottom of the transformer. Tighten the screws all the way to hold the cable securely in place.

Drive a wood stake into the ground next to the outlet. Then screw the transformer to the stake. (It can also be mounted directly to the wall of the house.)

Lift up the “while-in-use” cover on the outlet and plug in the trans

5. Prepare holes for the fixtures

Set all the light fixtures back into position, checking to make sure they’re equally spaced.

Position the first fixture as close to the edge of the walkway as possible without any part of it hanging over. (If the fixture extends into the walkway, people will constantly be bumping into it.)

Make a hole in the ground for the fixture’s stake with a large screwdriver or long steel punch. Never use a hammer to drive the fixture into the ground.

Tip: Don’t place a light within 10 feet of a pool, spa, or fountain.

For the rest of the steps to installing your outdoor landscape lighting visit: This Old House.com

You Tube Video: Installing Outdoor Landscape Lighting

For more DIY ideas on Stagetecture, & Stagetecture’s YouTube Channel, click here.

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You Tube Video: Installing a Glass Tile Back splash

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