More Home Upgrades

This more home upgrades post is actually part two of this post that we shared with you last week.  After I wrote that post, I kept seeing things and thinking, “Oh, I should have mentioned that.” Well, I came up with enough additional conveniences to add to your existing home, that we decided to publish another post about them.  Now remember, most of these convenient upgrades can be added without too much hassle.  Although you might have to call in a professional to do the installation, there won’t be a huge mess to deal with or a huge expense.

 

Drop-Down Ironing Board

Here’s the first home upgrade we have for you.  Just like in our last house, we added a drop-down ironing board to our new laundry room. here.  Our laundry room was created by stealing space from two bathrooms,  It is small but very efficient, and the drop-down ironing board makes it even work better.  I don’t need to find a place to iron, and I don’t need to have a space to store a bulky ironing board.  It is installed between studs in the wall.  If you are interested in having one in your home, your electrician should be able to do it all.  Our electricians did the wiring, cut out the drywall and fit the ironing board into the wall.  Then our carpenters just added some quarter round trim to make it all look neater.  We bought a Nutone brand, and you can buy the same one we bought right here.

Rod in Laundry Room for Hanging Clothes

Here’s another upgrade for your laundry room.  Simply mount a sturdy rod that reaches from one wall to another to hang your wet clothes that don’t go in the dryer and to hang the clothes you just ironed.  The man who is customizing our closets will be hanging the rod in this house, but my husband did it in our last place.  Every one of our laundry rooms have had this convenience, and it just makes life easier.

Solar Tube

(Windowless upstairs hallway in our last house)

The person who invented solar tubes is a pure genius in my book.

(Windowless bath in our last house.  The larger circle in the photo is the solar tube.)

We had three in our last house, and this house already has three.  In our last house, we installed tubes in two bathrooms that didn’t have a window and another one at the top of the stairs to brighten the upstairs hallway.  In this house, we installed one in a bathroom that doesn’t have a window, one at the top of the third floor stairs, and one at the top of the main stairway.  And here’s the thing…..these new ones have solar lights in them, and when it gets dark, they become night lights.  Solar tubes are around $700.00 each, but one man installs them, and it takes a few hours to install each one.  Installation creates very little mess, and whatever dirt there is gets cleaned up before the man leaves.  Just google solar tubes where ever you live, and that’s how you will find your guy.  The brand we have is Solatube, and their website will even help you find a dealer in your area.

 

Mail Slot Trap Door

This home upgrade is a little more complicated, but a DIYer could still do it.  Since we live in town, and the mail is brought right to our door, we have a mail slot.  In out last house, we had a mail slot in the door, but we felt that cold air could work its way through the small opening in the winter.  So, my husband decided to put a mail slot trap door into this house like some of our neighbors have.  Rather than have the slot in the door, it is on the side of the entry.

And instead of opening into the foyer like most slots do, it opens into a secret compartment that we had our carpenters create from dead space.  They simply cut out a panel that was already in a wall, and then they added a magnet.  We simply bump the corner of the panel, and the panel pops open to reveal our mail.  The mail slot also creates security for the mail.

(ignore the construction dirt)

We don’t have to worry about someone seeing it sticking out of our mail box.  Installation would take a little bit of time, but if you don’t like having a mail slot in your door, check to see if you can find some space to have one in an alternative spot.  Since all of our knobs, and hinges are by Baldwin, we bought this Baldwin mail slot for this house.

Cedar Closet

We had a row of closets added to a blank wall in our basement, and we are turning one of them into a cedar closet for off season clothing.  Again, like so many of these home upgrades, we have had a cedar closet in each of our homes over the years.  I don’t even know if cedar closets are necessary anymore, but it’s an old-fashioned touch that I like.  We store our cashmere sweaters, wool clothes, and winter coats in our cedar closet.  To make one, we simply bought two bundles of  pre-packaged cedar at Lowe’s and had a carpenter install it. (We checked, and Home Depot doesn’t carry this product.)  If you have a DIYer in your household, it’s an easy weekend project.  You don’t have to cover the entire closet, either.  There’s enough fragrance in the boards for the entire closet.

 

Well, I think that we delivered on our promise of having easy upgrades that can be installed into your existing homes.  Are there any home upgrades here or in our other post that you will be doing?

 

Take care.