Need to spice up a room? Consider a wallpaper border

Wallpaper borders are a very simple way to add some pizazz to a room. The cost is very minimal, and the results are big. Today it's even easier than ever, and the variety of designs is practically endless.

A wallpaper border can be placed at the base of a wall, at the top or right in the middle of a wall. Once you decide where you want to place the border, use a level and pencil to mark where the bottom of the border will sit on the wall.

You want to start placing your border in the most inconspicuous corner, because the place where the end will meet it will not match.

Most new wallpaper borders are sold with a paste already on the back. You should unroll the paper and then reroll it inside out, being careful not to crease it. Then place it in a bucket of warm water for the length of time directed by the manufacturer.

After the adhesive has been activated, remove it from the water and let the excess water drip off. Then loosely fold it, accordion-style, without creasing it, and give it time to start setting up.

Now you are ready to start placing it on the wall. Start in the corner, lining up the border on your level line, and use a sponge to gently press it into place and wipe away any excess adhesive. Make sure to eliminate any bubbles caught under the paper before it dries. Continue all the way around the room until you reach the starting point again. Use a very sharp utility knife to cut the edge of the paper at the end.

Now that you have tried your hand at a border, you are ready to wallpaper the dining room … or at least a bathroom.

By the gallon

Lots of plastic milk jugs end up in landfills. There are a lot of things you can do with milk jugs before they get tossed. One thing you can do is make them into storage bins. By turning a jug on its side and cutting off the other side, you can create a super, shallow storage bin for small items. It will be perfect for your workbench or to set in a shop drawer to keep things organized. These also can be used in the home office or kitchen for more storage.

Simple shelves

Shelving is an easy and inexpensive way to store lots of items in a garage or storage shed. Probably one of the easiest shelving systems can be made by simply drilling into the wall and inserting dowel rods or thin pipes into the holes so they stick out and hold up your shelf. If your shelves will be 10 inches wide, then your dowels should be about 12 inches long. Drill into the wall studs about 2 inches and set the dowels every two studs on the wall, horizontally, for the best support. This will be able to hold plenty of weight and give will you the added storage we all need.

Super hints

Ÿ When dealing with a small paint touch up, try using a fan or hair dryer to move things along. It actually can cut your drying time in half so you can move on to bigger and better problems.

Ÿ Grapevine is a super vine for covering a fence in a short amount of time. You can practically see them growing. Best of all, they need to be pruned drastically every year, so you can have a lot of material to play with afterward. Once cut, form it into wreaths for border fencing. It's very pliable when freshly cut but dries quickly into a tough material that holds its shape nicely. Make a new wreath for your front door every year!

Ÿ If you cover or store away metal patio furniture for the winter, give it a good spray with a waxy furniture polish before you do. This will protect it from moisture damage and rust during the winter.

Q. I have a light in my study that makes a humming sound all the time it's on. It's a fluorescent fixture, and I like the amount of light it gives off when I am working on projects. Please tell me there is a way to make the noise stop?

A. It sounds like the problem is with the ballast. This is part of the fixture inside the unit that easily can be replaced. Cut the current to the fixture, remove the cover and disconnect the ballast a heavy, rectangular box. Buy a replacement, install it in the fixture and hook everything back up. That ought to do it.

Q. Here's my question. I want to vent the clothes dryer into the sunroom because the humidity would be good for the plants and would help heat the house. My husband thinks it will make a mess in the room because of the lint. What do you think?

A. If you install some type of lint filter on the end of the hose, then you can do it without the lint creating a problem. Of course, the humidity can get pretty high from a dryer. Just make sure you can open a window or run the vent outside if the extra humidity becomes a problem.

Q. I have older ceiling tile in the basement. There are a couple of tiles I would like to replace, but I no longer have any extras. I have some that are behind a wall that I could swap out with the damaged ones. How do you get the ceiling tiles down without ruining them?

A. It depends on how the tiles are attached to the ceiling. If they are stapled to the ceiling, you can gently pry them out, make the swap and staple them back into place. If they are suspended in a grid, you just need to push them up and angle them out to make the switch.

If you find that they have flanges that hold them together, tongue-and-groove style, then you can cut through the “tongue and get the tile out that way. You then can glue or staple it back up.

If they are glued, then prying them out is going to be very difficult, and you might choose not to bother.

Reader tips

Ÿ I can't tell you how many times I tore the trash bag just getting it out of the trash can in our kitchen. The tall trash bin might hold more stuff, but it's hard to pull a tall bag out of it because of the suction in the can. I solved the problem by drilling a series of small holes around the base of the can to let air in. Now air gets pulled in at the same time I'm lifting the bag out, and there's no more tugging or ripping.

Ÿ The last time I made waffles for the kids, I almost had a nasty accident. The waffle iron was wobbly on the table and some of the hot batter poured out and burned me. After I cleaned up the mess and finished the meal, I flipped the waffle iron over and could see the problem. One of the rubber feet had come off, so I replaced it with a small rubber washer. Now the waffle iron doesn't wobble. That should cut the degree of difficulty down to a reasonable level for me.

Ÿ Our upstairs bedroom had a loud squeak from a loose floorboard under the carpet. I drove a finish nail down through the carpet and padding, and straight into the subfloor. The first one didn't totally quiet the squeak, but the second one, placed a couple of inches away, did.

Ÿ thesuperhandyman.com

© 2010, Cowles Syndicate Inc.