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Do It Yourself or Not: Install a pull-down closet rod
If you’re thinking of upgrading your clothes closet to be more efficient and useful, consider adding a closet pull-down rod to take advantage of unused, often unreachable space overhead. It may be difficult to reach, but the space offers plenty of storage potential with an adjustable telescoping pull rod. The pull-down rod opens out and down ...Read more

Do It Yourself or Not: Install a solid surface tub surround
The three walls surrounding a bathtub take a lot of abuse, especially if the bathroom serves a house of family members who bathe daily. Those conditions call for a hard-working, durable wall surface with the ability to withstand the moisture and continued use.
Solid Surface is a manufactured material, made of acrylic resin, polyester resin or a...Read more

Do It Yourself or Not: Build in a wall niche
In many old homes you’ll often see a wall niche built into a wall as a focal point in a room as a showcase for a favorite piece of art or plant. The traditional design has a curved top with a recessed back, often a shell design, and a base shelf. The niche is custom-made of plaster or wood as an integral part of the wall. A wall niche in newer...Read more

Do It Yourself or Not: Install an electric water heater
When an electric water heater begins to produce lukewarm water, replacing it is an obvious choice. The simplest solution is to replace it with a new electric unit that will be more efficient and consume less energy than the old one. While a home improvement like decorating is more enjoyable and visible, an electric water heater is a necessity. A...Read more

Do It Yourself or Not: Install a towel warmer
If your bathroom just can’t be warm enough for you, especially in the winter months, consider treating yourself to an electric towel warmer. Not only is it heating your towels, it’s also making a cold space warmer. So, you’ll appreciate the luxury of stepping out of the shower or bathtub and wrapping yourself in a warm towel while adding ...Read more

Do It Yourself or Not: Install a weather vane
Make a striking impression of your home by adding a weather vane, an ornament atop your home, garage or outbuilding, to catch the wind. It can be a distinctive crowning touch on a rooftop to distinguish your home, and it’s a simple way to see which way the wind is blowing.
You’ll find a wide variety of weather vanes in home accessory ...Read more

Do It Yourself or Not: Install a suspended ceiling
You may know of a suspended ceiling, which is also called a drop ceiling, because of its design using metal channels that run the length and width of a room. Once those channels are installed on the ceiling to create a grid of cross runners and ribs, 2-by-4-foot acoustic panels slip and slide into place.
For years, a suspended ceiling solved ...Read more

Do It Yourself or Not: Install a pet door
If your pet likes being outdoors some of the time, you know how much they appreciate having their own private door to go outside and come in at their whim. So, a pet door makes everyone happy. The only downside is a pet door may invite animals other than your own inside your home, which can be especially troublesome if a raccoon or other ...Read more

Do It Yourself or Not: LED light strip
You have a lot of options when it comes to strip lighting, also called tape lights and ribbon lights. You’ll find choices in the color of lights, how to control them by a light switch or remote, and how to use them. LED light strips are ideal for accent lighting under a cabinet shelf, inside a dark closet, as perimeter lighting, for a task ...Read more

Do It Yourself or Not: Install a solar entry light
Light up your door entrance using the power of the sun, and provide security and safety in an earth-friendly way with a solar-powered light. At night the light is powered by the sun and three (NiMH) rechargeable batteries that have an estimated life of two years. It turns on and off automatically as the sun rises and sets, and it can provide up ...Read more

Do It Yourself or Not: Install a macerating toilet
Remodeling your basement into extra living space? Consider adding a bathroom using a macerating toilet system that doesn’t route the flush water through a drain in the floor like a traditional gravity force toilet. Instead, the “above ground” system is designed to move it to a macerator pump that grinds the waste in the flush water, and ...Read more

Do It Yourself or Not: Install a delivery vault
You can have your own dropbox and simplify home deliveries with a built-in or stand-alone locking parcel box. You don’t have to stay home for a package delivery, because orders are securely delivered. If you’re a frequent traveler, you know how annoying it is to reschedule missed deliveries.
You can have a stand-alone delivery vault ...Read more

DoIt Yourself or Not: Install pegboard molding
The simple design of classic, shaker-style wooden pegboard molding makes it an ideal addition to a mudroom, bathroom, closet or anywhere you hang things. It might be at the back door for a dog’s leash or a front entry for a hat; it’s a solution as well as an enhancement to a room. You can leave it natural, stain it or paint it, and it’s ...Read more