Visual Screening

Over the years, we have found ourselves needing screening around our yard either giving us some privacy or to hide some unsightly areas of our neighbor's yards. As you will see, either using simple materials found at your local home improvement center or using trees and shrubs, you too can create the privacy and visual appeal you desire.

This screen was made using simple lattice pieces that we spray painted a color that would blend in with our foliage. We needed this screen in this spot to hide the side of our neighbor's house where they did not attend to rocks and weeds. I'm sure it is an "out-of sight, out-of-mind" situation, but as it is along the path to our backyard, we wanted to give it more visual appeal, so set up the screen and planted in front of it.

This particular screen was made out of lattice, 2 x 4's and trim pieces to give some much needed privacy to our deck. We spend a good deal of time on our deck eating, talking, reading, working, surfing, etc. and having our neighbor's driveway right along the side like it is, we just needed to construct a privacy screen for times when either we or they just didn't want to be bothered. I'm sure they appreciate it too for times when they arrive home and just don't feel like being exuberantly greeted by the Franz family when they've had a tiring, hot day at work.

This picture shows the use of a tree as screening. We like to sit on our front porch with a book, the paper, etc. and often times, are in our jammies while doing so. By planting this fast growing Cleveland Pear in this location, along with plantings in our window boxes, we have created a natural screen from cars and passersby without totally being blocked from our surroundings. We also have strategically planted a beautiful yellow maple tree in our parkway (that the village planted and split the cost of the tree with us) to block the view straight from our front picture window into the neighbor across the street's picture window. From the spring to fall, both we and they get complete privacy from the other being able to see into their home at night because of the placement of this beautiful, showy tree.

And, lastly, this screen was built to block unused items that our backyard neighbor would store behind their shed - an old basketball net/backboard, unused garden materials, etc. - again, a case of "out of sight, out of mind" I'm sure. Because this trellis was behind their shed and to the right of the bushes that line the back of their yard, it wasn't rude on our part that we were trying to block our view of their yard. It was just a really subtle, attractive way of hiding their unsightlies while giving us a lovely background for this particular part of our gardens. We have also hung lighting and bird houses/feeders from the trellis, so it has become a lovely addition to our gardens.

So if you like to create a visibly enjoyable experience in all areas of your yard along with enjoying your privacy, I hope you have gleened some ideas for how to accomplish just that for your home and yard.

Simple Fun

This past Sunday as a family we went up to Lake Geneva to celebrate Randy on father's day. He chose a very fun and eclectic cafe to eat at for lunch. Simple Cafe is a great little corner cafe that hold recycling in high regard, even recycling the building it resides in, it started as a Napa Auto Parts building. The decorations in the restaurant are even recycled, which gives the place an amazing rustic feel to it. Almost as if you're being transported back to the 50s, only this time it's hip. Even the lighting is vintage. Using bottles, wire baskets, mini chairs, and even old phonograph parts, the lights are fun and hip while giving the cafe great character.

The Simple Cafe prides itself on the fact that they buy their ingredients from local farmers. Diners there know that they're eating safe and non-processed food that is not only good, but good for you. When a food is grown locally it has a distinct flavor. You don't find grease or that feeling of regret after you eat a meal that is healthy and home grown. The food is full of veggies, herbs, and essentially taste. You have to be prepared to have full blown flavor when you order a dish. No shy chicken sandwiches here; just rich and flavorful ready to assault your taste buds with good taste. I ordered a simple club, and there was nothing simple about it. My sandwich came on tasty cibatta bread and boasted thick cut slices of turkey. Fruit wood bacon, spring greens, and tomatoes were a great accent to the tender turkey. And to top it all off the bread was covered in an aged tomato mayonnaise that was light and flavorful. And with every dish comes a healthy serving of red roasted potatoes. I can't remember the last time I left feeling full and happy about what I had eaten.
If you ever find yourself in the beautiful Lake Geneva do yourself a wonderful favor and stop over at Simple Cafe for breakfast or lunch. You'll be very glad you did.

An Easy Room to Remodel to Increase Your Home's Value

A great way to increase a home's resale value is to remodel a tired, out-of-date bathroom. Bathrooms were previously designed to be purely functional rooms, to just get in there to do what you're in there to do and move on. But these days, there are SOOOOOOOOOOO many ways that you can personalize a bathroom, whether it be a small powder room or a large master bathroom, that can bring peace and comfort to all who enter.

A quick, easy change to a bathroom is to change the paint color. The bathroom below felt so institutional with it's white walls and medium-grey ceiling. By pulling a color from the bath mat, the bathroom was brightened up in one weekend, with a quick and colorful paint job.With a few touches from Junk Warehouse to further personalize the room, it now has a sense of fun-chic and brings a smile to all who enter.

Paint color is just the beginning. You can really let your own personality shine with sink styles and cabinet styles, not to mention cool lighting (and cool lighting abounds these days!!!). Unless you're remodeling for the sole purpose of moving, DO NOT hold back on reflecting your own style in your bathrooms. When it does come time to move, your cool, stylish bathroom will no doubt give you a leg up on any competition!

You can further stylize and personalize your bathrooms with your choice of tiles, countertop materials and of course your faucets/fixtures and choice of shower door. The possibilities are absolutely endless! If you do not use your tub at all, change your shower/tub to a walk-in shower. Many people are removing their spa tubs to achieve a spacious shower space and turning their old small shower spaces into linen closets. What a perfect way to make the best use of all of your bathroom space.

Check out the latest Cost vs. Value report to find out exactly what value remodeling a bathroom adds to your house.

And, lastly, especially because a bathroom remodel involves plumbing and electrical, you absolutely MUST use a qualified remodeler to get the job done. The damage done by water can be devastating and by improperly wired electrical work - downright dangerous. Randy is a NARI certified Kitchen and Bath Remodeler and we would absolutely LOVE to help you turn your dreams of a new bathroom an absolute reality.

Do Your Homework Before You Sign!!!

Sometimes I feel like I'm beating a dead horse when I preach about this, and because I feel that way, I back down and just don't preach it, yet again. But, honestly, you can't hear this sermon enough, folks. Randy & I work hard to run a professional business and we want to be our customer's advocates, protecting them from unscrupulous contractors and vendors.

On a recent job that we looked at, an entire basement had been remodeled, complete with bathroom and kitchen. The kitchen was designed so poorly that corner cabinets couldn't even be opened. The shower in the bathroom wasn't drained properly, if at all, and when the homeowner went to take a shower - the water poured out into the bathroom. This improper draining also caused a mold situation to arise, also affecting the kitchen cabinets on the shared wall. The toilet was drained into a common drain and the customer was told they had to clean it out periodically (WRONG). The dryer vent was vented out into the basement, so the lint was blowing out into the basement. And there was more, but I think you get the picture. This contractor was recommended by a well-known tile store. I can totally understand why this customer would trust that recommendation. But, you can't stop there - on our website, there is a list of items you should check - and PLEASE check out every single one! Yes, this takes time, but in the long run, you are saving yourself a HUGE headache!

Everyone has heard at least one remodeling nightmare story . . . either the work was done so poorly that it had to be replaced (as is the case with the aforementioned basement), costs went well beyond the estimate, or the contractor simply disappeared with the money. To avoid becoming another statistic, you absolutely MUST take the time to do your research and homework. You want your project done right the first time. Especially these days, you cannot tap into more money to repair mixtakes or to take your contractor to court. As I mentioned before, on our website, visit our Choosing a Contractor link for tips on how to cover your bases. PLEASE make sure to check off each and every suggestion when you are choosing the company that is going to be in your home, around your loved ones, pets and valuables and making changes to the structure of your home. Also, please watch the NARI videos on the NARI link of our website for more information. When you are comparing contracts, if one contractor is thousands less than others, THERE IS A REASON FOR THAT!!! Sorry, my passion on this subject is rearing it's ugly head. Here is a list of why that could be:

• The contractor just wanted to get your money and has no intention of doing your work - they are leaving the area with your money.


• The contractor is using sub-standard materials that aren't going to last.


• The contractor is using sub-standard subcontractors who don't know what they're doing.


• The contractor doesn't know how to run their business and could possibly run out of money during the job and come to you for more to complete the job.


• Also, in not knowing how to properly run their business, I guarantee you, they won't be able to stay in business, thus rendering them unable to honor their warrantee (if they even offer one) when things go wrong (and with a cheap contractor, chances are REALLY good that things will fall apart).


• The contractor is quoting you a low price to get the job and will hit you up with change orders so you end up paying the same if not more than the scrupulous contractors were charging.


• The contractor hasn't listed all aspects of the job and you are assuming they are included and guess what? They're not! DO NOT BE AFRAID TO ASK FOR CLARITY!!! A good contractor will be more than happy to answer your questions/doubts/concerns, etc. If they're not - RUN!

There are other reasons for a cheap bid, but these are definitely common ones that we have heard have happened to potential customers and others we have met and talked to.

While it is never a good thing when we lose a contract to another contractor, we at least can deal with it if we know they are another reputable contractor. When that is not the case, it makes us heartsick for our potential customer and we just truly wish them well and pray that they don't become another statistic or news story.

So, to sum it up - this is your home, your family and your hard-earned money we're talking about. Doing your research and some homework is a must. You can then rest assured that you will get a great job done by a great contractor who stands behind their work.

Visit us are our website to learn all about who we are and what we believe in and then give us a call to discuss your remodeling project. We look forward to talking to you!

Take Time to Enjoy the Good Things in Life!

This morning Randy & I attended the funeral of a customer of our's. Bruce and his wife wanted a screen room built so he could enjoy the beautiful sights and sounds of his yard in comfort. The job was completed last fall and we've had quite a chilly spring - I sure hope that Bruce was able to spend some time in the room. I am so thankful that Bruce recognized something that he wanted in life that he knew would bring him great happiness and he went for it, I just wish so much that he was given more time to relax and enjoy his new room so close to his beloved nature.

With death, comes the reminder, again, that we need to live life to its fullest and to enjoy that and those that we hold dearly before it's too late.

Rebuilding Together

After a week of various serving opportunities, I feel supernaturally at peace today!

Last Thursday, Randy, Chelsea and I went down to Willow-South Barrington to help with seed packing (read more here). On Friday, Brandon and Randy took the work truck to pick up donated building materials to deliver to Cary-Grove Neighborhood Life. Then on Saturday, we got a random team together to help Rebuilding Together's Restore Aurora project - 30 homes in the Aurora area were rebuilt/restored by various volunteer groups.


We teamed up with James Frangella and ServPro of LaGrange Park / N. Riverside and brought down with us one of our employees, Brandon; the husband of one of Women's Group friends, Steve; our daughter's youth pastor, Kevin; a dear friend of our's, Carrie; and our roofer sent down two of his employees. Along with Jim's team, we had a State Farm employee and her boyfriend, and two men who are part of a real estate investment club and one of their daughter's. Like I said, totally random group, but the most awesome group I could have hoped to work with. There was not one ounce of ego or attitude floating around and we got quite a bit of work done in a pretty short amount of time.


Check out our quick photo album from the day on Our Facebook Page.

If serving isn't your thing . . . make it your thing. Your soul will thank you!!!

Happy Earth Day!!!

Okay, before anyone comments that "saving the earth" is all hooey and something the government made up, think about this . . . The earth is a beautiful planet. Stop and take a gander at nature today, I mean REALLY check it out. It can be a thing of immense beauty!!! It should just be a total given that we desire to be good stewards of the planet we live on. It's our home, why on earth wouldn't we want to keep it clean and fresh??? And, yes, that pun WAS intended. Sorry!

Now, pay attention to all of the garbage gathered along the roadways as you drive on them. Look at how quickly the garbage at your favorite coffee house gets full of recyclable cups. Smell the assaulting stench of chemicals as we clean our homes and cover up those "offending odors". It's the ugly side of life and it brings us down. Who wants that???!!! And, okay, sidenote here . . . why was a chemical spray invented to cover up odors in our homes??? Don't cover up nasty odors!!! Find the cause AND GET RID OF IT! But, I digress . . .

If we would all just stop pretending that our actions don't affect the planet and get on with behaving ourselves and doing the right thing, this planet would be the thing of beauty it is intended to be.

Here are a few easy tips that you can get started with RIGHT NOW! As they say over at Nike - JUST DO IT!

• When going to your favorite coffee house, ask for your drink in a mug or take the cup home with you and make sure to rinse it out and recycle it.
• Get a group together to spend an afternoon picking up trash along a roadside. This is perfect for a church youth group, a school community service group, National Honor Society kids, etc.
• Turn off the water when brushing your teeth or rinsing dishes for the dishwasher. This is a BIGGIE that I need to get better at. Too often, my honey needs to ask me, "why are you in here and the water is running in the kitchen". I turn it on over a sink of dishes needing rinsing and walk off. UGH.
• Turn lights off every time you walk out of a room. Turn computers off when not in use. Unplug phone chargers (another we need to work on), etc.
• Refresh old furniture instead of trashing it. We have become such a huge throw-away society. Instead of spending your money on something new, spend it on employing someone to paint, sew, cane your furniture back to good shape.
• Clean with earth friendly products. Good old vinegar and water is an amazing cleaner!
• Instead of using pesticides on weeds, use boiling water. I tried it the other day on dandelions and the next day, they were completely brown and shriveled up.

The list can go on and on and it does. Search the internet for whatever area of your life you know you should be approaching in a much more earth friendly manner.

And, let's be painfully honest here - as you can see from the list, it all involves effort. Let's not be a lazy society of wasteful consumers. Let's pull up our bootstraps and be active caretakers of this beautiful planet we call EARTH!