Decorative Hardware

 You can never lose by expanding the living space of your home. weather it is exterior space or interior space, your home will be improved by extra space studies suggest that adding deck space on your home can return 86.7% on resale.  decks are a great outdoor space in summer or winter conditions.

For summer time, the deck can be the most relaxing place to sit and watch the sun set,  or a cozy place for the kids to warm up after building that snowman in winter.  In order to accomplish this, try adding a nice outdoor set with an outdoor heater around a fireplace.  In the summer nothing says home like a good old fashioned barbecue.   Remember to bring that outdoor space indoors by adding windows that look out ontoo your new deck. also, French doors with lots of glass are a good way to add volume to your home and a touch of class as well.  Decks can be fun for the whole family, you just need to get everyone involved, ask their opinion on such things as stone and decorative hardware style.  the space can be enjoyed by all with a little creative touch.

It all started out as a hobby, then the addiction sets in, and not long after that it grows into a full blown fever, the gold fever that is.  After a good many years of prospecting, a man finally starts to get old and tired, not to mention lonely, but keeps digging day after day in hopes of making a strike.

Then it happens!  The nugget the size of a kitchen cabinet knob ends up in the bottom of your gold pan, like a ghost appearing out of no where!  And then you find the vein not far from where you found the nugget!  Alas, what bliss.  Maybe it took a lifetime, but it was definitely well worth it.

It was early in the morning as I headed out to one of my favorite fishing holes located in the western part of my home state of beautiful Montana.  After arriving at my secret destination, I grabbed  my pole and tackle and started my daylong hike along the river.

The lure of my choice would be a Rapalla deep diving crankbait that was made to the likeness of a small Brown trout minnow.  It was a large lure indeed, about the size of the door handles on my trucks doors or about 6 inches in length. 

After about 2 hours of constant casting, I hooked into a monster of a fish that gave me the fight of a world heavyweight.  20 minutes later, I landed a giant Brown that ended up being 28 inches in length and tipped the scales at 8.5 lbs..  Truly, the fish of a lifetime!

Have you ever tried to walk a dog that’s almost the size of a horse?  Junior as I call him, weighs in excess of 300 lbs. and if I’m not paying close enough attention when we go on our little stroll, I end up laying straight on my face.

He pulls so hard sometimes when he sees a little kitty, I think it would take 20 men to sop him!  As big as he is, one would think not to get him angry, but he’s one of the gentlest giants around, and with a heart as big as one.  Junior is just one big lovable hunk!

I never knew what to expect when the door bell rang especially since I was involved with search and rescue.  I had been informed when I answered the door that an Alaskan bush pilot had made an attempt to send an s.o.s. before apparently going down in some remote wilderness not far from where I lived.  So off I went to help find the down plane and its pilot.

It was one of those miracles that all of us hope and pray for, because we found both the pilot and the plane in good shape not long after we received the call.  Apparently not long after take off, the engine stalled and the pilot was forced to crash land on a mountain snow field and ended up flipping top end over before burying itself in a large snowbank.  Not only did the pilot come out unscathed, but the plane was repaired and ended up flying back to the airport that it took off from!

I am a Sumo wrestler by profession.  I have never lost a match yet, but was a little worried about my next opponent nicknamed “The Pup Crusher”.  We were both were tied in the canine nationals, and would be versing each other next week in Nagasaki Japan.

The match was about to begin with both of us sitting in our cages waiting for the bell to ring to begin the first 3 minute round.  When the door locks to our cages were released, all heck broke loose!  You see, that’s when some idiot let loose a rogue alley cat in the stadium and need I say more?  I did eventually win the match, and was given the “Golden Bone” award for the 5th straight year.

I had always wanted to make a gingerbread house, and if I did a good job, thought maybe it would be fun to enter it in one of those local Christmastime art contests.  So off I went in search of all of those delicious ingredients used in the creation of my to-be masterpiece, and wasted no time geting started.

Constructing the main frame of the gingerbread house was actually quite simple, and now came the time consuming details that gives it that colorful charactor.  I used fluffy icing for the snow, different colored sprinkles for special effects, and little sweet candies for the door knobs and window shutters that finalized my sweet showcase. 

Oh did I forget to mention, my sweet tooth overpowered me one day and my delicious looking entree never made it to the contest table!

The bedrooms are another important place to consider.  The average American spends almost half of their lifetime in this room.  Adding another bedroom can really increase the value as well as the marketability of your home.  If you can add a bedroom in your attic space you are likely to recoup about 82.7% on your investment at resale.

 The average attic to bedroom make-over costs $35,000.  With properly placed dormers, gables,  you can make this addition less noticeable, and the extra bedroom can increase the size of the market that your home appeals to.  Remember that lighting is also especially important, and in many cases skylights work great in the attic room. If you have a big attic space, try putting the master bedroom up there and stacking the bathrooms to save money.  The savvy investor may even consider creating a studio apartment with outside access to rent (where covenants allow), and thereby achieve some additional income from this unused space. For a quick face-lift to your existing bedrooms, replace those old doors and door knobs and slap up a fresh coat of paint.  Replacing doors can really update an interior with very little invested capitol.

According to the 2004 survey in Remodeling Magazine the forth best return on investment is the addition of a family room.  Family rooms are a fairly recent trend that has developed.  Because of this you may need to sacrifice space in other areas to make room, but this costly addition (on average $50,000 plus) can net a ROI of 80.6%.  This type of addition is only practical if you do not have to sacrifice to much to achieve it.

The most common type of remodeling projects in the family room include lowering the floor, raising the ceiling, opening up closets, and adding bay windows.  If you already own a family room and are just looking to upgrade try opening up door ways or adding a loft room in the attic space.  Family rooms do not have to be all fun and games, add a touch of formality with classy wall hangings and door handles.  What ever you do choose wisely, with this being the one of the most costly remodels you don’t want to spend frivolously.

The door hardware just had to look rustic.  I finally found some very beautiful  restoration hardware  from a company that specialized in wrought iron hand crafted door handsets and other decorative hardware that caught my attention.

I was tired of the brass/molded form look that most door hardware seemed to have.  But after doing a little research and scouting on the Internet, I finally had found what would best suit that rustic cabin look that I had been looking for and was very happy with the results.  My cabin was now complete and as cozy as ever.