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Painting Walls Red: How to Pick It and How to Get Rid of It
By: Caralee Adams

Published: February 3, 2011

Painting walls red–or any bold color–makes a definite statement, which you may want to take back someday. A tinted primer will cover your mistake.

Seeing red
Painting walls red is less forgiving than, say, painting walls Linen White. Make a mistake, and you’ll feel like you’re dining inside a tomato. Change your mind, and you’ll need at least two new coats of paint to cover your regrets. Here are tips on where and which red to choose.

Painting walls red can make large spaces feel more intimate, and small spaces look more interesting. Splash a little red in a powder room, or on just one wall in a den.
Bluish reds can be festive and a good choice for dining and living rooms.
Orange-hued reds are anxiety-producing colors–popular in casinos–so keep them out of the bedroom.
Paint your selection of a sheet of poster board–not on the walls–and place it in different parts of the room, at different times of the day, and in different sunlight conditions. At night, turn on lamps to see how your red reacts to artificial light.
Choose to re-choose
Red walls don’t play well with new colors: Whites turn pink, yellows become orange, and blues look purplish. You won’t be able to throw up a coat of crème and call it a day.

Here’s how to neutralize red:

Prime walls with water-based sealing primers, such as Benjamin Moore Color Foundations or Behr Premium Plus Interior Enamel Primer.
Tint primer to make it closely match your final color. Or, choose a grey or pink tint to help transition from red to a more neutral color.
Paint two coats of primer and let dry completely. Use fans to speed up the process.
After priming, choose a good quality paint and you’ll likely need only two coats. For a high-quality paint, look for 100% acrylic and stick to national brands.
Apply new color with a 3/8-in nap roller. The shorter the nap, the better the coverage, which is important when covering red colors.
Caralee Adams, a veteran journalist, has written for Better Homes and Gardens, Parents, Fitness, and The Wall Street Journal.

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FacebookTwitterEmail.Repair and Replace Door Hardware To Update Rooms
By: Jane Hoback

Published: January 14, 2011

Repair and replace door hardware that makes rooms look dingy and outdated. We’ll show you how door and cabinet pulls, knobs, and hinges can give your home new sparkle.

Repair and replace kitchen cabinet hardware
Replacing or repairing knobs and pulls on cabinets and drawers is a quick way to give your old kitchen a new look.

Cabinet hardware can be simple or ornate, and ranges from $1 a knob to $45 or more. Here’s your game plan:

Repair loose knobs and pulls by tightening holding screws, replacing stripped screws, or plugging gaps with wood filler applied with a putty knife.
Count the number of knobs or pulls you need before you head to the hardware store. Estimating will cost you time and money.
To replace pulls, which are attached to cabinets by a screw at each end, measure the distance between holes–not the length of pulls–to assure a perfect fit.
If you’re switching from a two-hole pull to a one-hole knob, choose hardware with back plates that cover door scratches and holes.
Tighten, polish, or replace door hardware
Nothing ages a room like a loose doorknob. You can tighten mortise-style doorknobs by simply tightening the setscrew on the side of the doorknob. For cylindrical doorknobs, you’ll need to take the doorknob apart.

Replace dated doorknobs with sleek door levers. For easiest installation, choose a lever handle lockset made by the same manufacturer. Prices range from $20 to $160.

Buy a commercial polish, such as Wright’s or Weiman, to make brass doorknobs shine. Warm water and a little dish soap or a homemade paste of equal parts vinegar and baking soda will scrub off dirt and make stainless steel and glass doorknobs sparkle.

Clean or replace door hinges
Telltale paint on door hinges says someone did a sloppy job. To restore hinges, try these techniques.
Wash with sudsy hot water.
Scrub with a nylon brush or a toothbrush. A wire brush could damage the finish.
Brush on paint stripper that is safe for all surfaces.
Polish with beeswax furniture polish or brass polish.
Jane Hoback is a veteran business writer who has written for the Rocky Mountain News, Natural Foods Merchandiser magazine, and ColoradoBIZ Magazine.

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Repair Walls to Give Rooms A Fresh Face

By: Jane Hoback

Published: January 14, 2011

Sooner or later you’ll repair walls that make rooms look worn out. Erasing dings, dents, and scuffs is an easy fix. We’ll show you how.

Patch drywall to smooth walls

A putty knife, Spackle, or joint compound can repair wall damage that ages a room.

Dents and dings: A quart of Spackle ($11) and a putty knife can fill dozens of small wall indentations. Spackle adheres to painted walls better than joint compound, though it takes a bit longer to dry. Cut wall repair time by thoroughly wiping away excess Spackle.

Fist-sized holes: Joint compound is your best bet when covering the mesh or drywall patches that cover big holes. You’ll need at least two thin coats of compound and fine grit sandpaper to blend repairs into the rest of the wall.

Nail pops: Nail pops travel in packs: Rarely do you see just one. To repair walls pocked with pops, hammer the popped nail back into the wall or pull it out with a needle-nose pliers; refasten the drywall to the nearest stud with a couple of screws, then fill dents with two or three coats of joint compound. Sand until smooth and flush with the rest of the wall, then repaint.

Remove marks for a clean start

Microfiber cloths are little miracles that erase the evidence of a childhood well spent, drawing on and caroming off walls. To get rid of scuff marks and fingerprints:

• Spray an all-purpose cleaner onto the cloth (never directly onto walls to avoid drips) and swipe the scuff. (Test a hidden spot to make sure the cleaner doesn’t take off paint with the mark.)

• Pour a little dish soap onto a damp cloth and wipe the mark.

• Dip a sponge into an earth-friendly and slightly abrasive paste of dish soap, baking soda, and water, and gently scrub grime.

• To repair walls decorated with crayon marks, dab toothpaste onto a towel or toothbrush and scrub marks.

• Use Mr. Clean Magic Eraser ($3), the best instant wall cleaner around. Wet and wring the eraser before attacking scuffs.

Touch up what you can’t wipe out

Prepare for inevitable touch-ups by keeping leftover paint or at least recording the paint number and/or formula (paint names change). Don’t have the original? Scrape off a little and ask your paint store to match it.

For touch-ups, use the same type of brush or roller the original painter used. Feather the paint from the outside borders in.

If touch-ups stand out, paint the entire wall, making sure to paint corner to corner and avoid splatters onto the ceiling and adjacent walls.

Jane Hoback is a veteran writer whose work has appeared in the Rocky Mountain News, Natural Foods Merchandiser magazine, and ColoradoBIZ Magazine.

Super Sunday is finally here! Woo Hoo!

With Pittsburg facing  Green Bay, this Super Bowl should be a historic game to watch.  Of course there’s always the Half-time show and commercials to look forward to as well.  The game will be played in the new ultra-modern Cowboys Stadium. The weather outside of the stadium reminds us of the “good old days” of  games like the  1967 NFC championship Ice Bowl  that matched Dallas against Green Bay.    

Since most of us will be inside enjoying the game in the comfort of our own homes, we want to wish you the very best for your Super Bowl Sunday!

Enjoy the game and GO______________________(fill in the blank)

Like the old saying goes, If you don’t like the weather just wait an hour and it will change.

We’ve been fortunate so far this year with our winter weather.
It’s January and we’ve posted some 60 degree weather along with a lot of 40-50 degree days. We’ve had one good dusting of snow and that’s it! Of course next week is supposed to bring colder temperatures. We are expecting highs in the 20′s and 30′s. Cold for some but bearable for most. I was talking to a lady from Louisiana the other day and she commented that the weather down there was cold and in the 30′s. I laughed and told her I’d been telling everyone the weather here was warm – in the 30′s.
Again, we count ourselves lucky not to have extreme temperatures or big storms.
Winter will be gone before we know it. How do I know? The seed catalogs are coming in my mailbox! Spring is just around the corner.

There has never been a better time to buy real estate in southwest Missouri. We have a ton of new listings on great properties that are very affordable.

We’ve added 2 new listings this week. Neither of these are repo’s but well cared for and maintained homes. Each of the listings have at least 3 bedrooms and 2 baths with attached garages.
Check out our listings at www.farmhomesrealty.com
for more information and then give us a call at 417 967-2221 or 1-800-753-0103.

Home prices are very reasonable and interest rates are at record lows.
So NOW is the time to buy!  Call ME!

Recently I was contacted by a lady who wanted me to sell her house.  This lady had lived in the same house for over 50 years.  The home held great sentimental value to her as she and her husband had bought the home when their only child was just a few months old.  There had been years of birthday parties, Thanksgivings and Christmases in the home for them as a family and later when the grandchildren and great grandchild had joined the family.  So, after much thought and many tears she knew it was time to move closer to her daughter.

This was such a neat well loved older home that we had absolutely no problem finding a buyer right away. We actually had our first offer on the house within 24 hours of the listing agreement being signed.  Overall, it took about 10 days to get a solid contract on the home. 

Plans were made for a big yard sale and movers were hired to finish the packing on the day of closing.   The closing went like clockwork.  The movers were finishing up at the house.  The keys were dropped off at my office to be delivered to the proud new owner and my client was on her way to a new life in a new city with family just a few blocks away.  We had hugged goodbye, made sure that every thing was wrapped up when my clients daughter came back into the office.   She was tired after a day of packing and emotional because this had been her home as well.  It didn’t help that we were having an unseasonable heat wave and the temperature outside was over 100 degrees.  But when she walked into my office I knew immediately that something wasn’t right.  She said as she was pulling onto the highway her mother had suddenly called out “Oh No! We’ve forgotten Cricket!”  From the look on my face the daughter realized more explanation was needed.She told me that several years ago after her father had passed away the family had suggested her mother get a dog for company.  This was Cricket.  Cricket had been her mother’s constant companion for many years until he’d passed away.  She had Cricket cremated and buried near the back steps of the house.  One of the conditions of her making the move had been that Cricket would go with her when she moved.

It had been such a whirlwind getting her home sold and making arrangements for her new home that she’d almost left town with out Cricket.

I asked them to go back over to the house and wait there for me.  Without hesitation I jumped into my truck, went to my house, retrieved the right tools for the job and headed over to meet them.  Within a few minutes “Cricket” was put into the car to make the 4 hour drive to his new home along with my client.

Although it was well over 100 degrees and the ground was hard as cement it would have broken my heart to see my client leave here without her cherished companion. 

While someone was leaving a well loved home filled with memories another person was moving in to make memories of their own.  

I love my job!

Houston Herald has published the results of a recent

city-wide survey. Results show that Houston residents

like our community’s quality of life.

   More than 80 percent of respondents gave positive

ratings to Houston as a place to live and raise children.

About 77% thought Houston was a good place to retire.

About 95% said they felt safe in their neighborhood

during the day.

Nearly everyone wants the city to encourage existing

businessess to expand and seek out new businesses.

Overall, the survey proves what we’ve known all along -

Houston, Missouri is a great place to live!

Summer’s here and the living is easy in Southwest Missouri.  Although we are blessed with all 4 seasons, summer is my favorite .  There are so many things to do when the weather warms up, it’s hard to fit everything in after work or on the weekends.   So far we’ve been lucky to have nice rains to keep the rivers running at a good pace. This is great for those of us who enjoy a lazy day on the river without having to drag the canoe too much.

Locally, the Raymondville Picnic starts this week.  The 59th annual event is held in the small village of Raymondville, Mo.  It’s always a great time for the kids since there are carnival rides and games and for adults who gather for gospel music, country music, dancing,crafts, food and fun.

Then begin the 4th of July celebrations.  June 25th the Houston Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring a fireworks display at the fair grounds.  This is always a good time. 

This year the “Wall that Heals” will be in Cabool, Mo. beginning July 1 thru July 4th. The half-scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial will be located at the Cabool High School football stadium and will be open 24 hours a day.  Freedom Celebration fireworks display sponsored by Cabool Park Board begins at 9:45 p.m.

Every 4th of July we are reminded that we are privileged to live here, raise our families here and celebrate with our neighbors the freedom to enjoy living in the beautiful Missouri Ozarks.

Happy Summer everyone!

                                                           God Bless America