Frugal kitchen updates
I have kitchen envy. Several of my friends have spruced up their kitchens with new cabinets. I priced cabinets at Lowe’s and Home Depot and nearly fainted at the cost. How can I make my old cabinets look better with the biggest bang for the least expense? I absolutely have no do-it-yourself skills.
— Caroline G.
Dear Answer Angel Ellen:
Dear Caroline: I, too, have been astonished at the cost of what would seem to be minor kitchen changes. Just repainting or resurfacing cabinet doors is not as inexpensive or easy as I blithely thought. You can spend days online looking at kitchen redo suggestions, but here’s one that is easy and satisfying: new cabinet hardware.
You’ll have to measure to make sure the hardware holes in your current cabinets and drawers will work with your new choices — especially if you chose pulls that require two holes where you currently have one. I learned the hard way that drilling new holes is exacting work. So I recommend a service like task rabbit.com (people who know their way around a drill and precise measuring) to install them if your skills, like mine, aren’t up to the job.
Dear Answer Angel Ellen:
My home has floor air vents and my kids’ Legos and other small plastic toy pieces fall into them. It seems amazing to me that these things have such an uncanny way of rolling directly into the vents where they’re so hard to retrieve. Is there a way to
extract the lost items without unscrewing the vent cover?
— Penny L.
As you might imagine, you have plenty of company in this problem. Hardware stores and the internet sell magnets on a stick to get errant screws and such out of vents, but that doesn’t help with teensy little plastic toy accessories, swords and tiny dog bowls and other such items that so easily fall into the grates.
What you need is a spider/grabber/claw device. Be sure the little claw is small enough to fit into your tight spaces. Amazon has them for under $10. Often, exactly what you’re looking for is readily available online, but the challenge is coming up with the right search words. “Spider” wouldn’t be the first word that comes to mind when looking for the tool you need.
Dear Penny: Angelic Readers
A big thank you to the many readers who have had success in recycling clothes that are too worn out to wear. Many of you recommended Goodwill, Salvation Army or other thrift stores. Not every branch of these giant chains accepts them, so
you need to check first, then separate the wornout clothing for textile recycling and label the bag/ box before drop-off.
Reader Rant
Lindy H. writes: “I know that jean trends come and go, but what’s up with the current proliferation of high-rise styles? As someone who prefers a relaxed (preferable curvy) fit, it is practically impossible to find anything that sits at my natural waist. I find the high-rise styles to be ridiculously uncomfortable, especially when they bunch up around my waist the minute I sit down. Do you or your readers have any suggestions for a curvy relaxed fit jean (full length, not ankle) that will cover my booty without rubbing up against my rib cage?” (From Ellen: Let’s help Lindy out, readers! Send me your favorite jeans styles that flatter and don’t bunch up or ride down.
Oh, and please be super specific. Sometimes the style number and maker are the only way to tell one from another.)