3 Curtain Rod Alternatives

From time to time, it’s good to change things up a bit. Instead of going with a traditional curtain rod, why not try one of the following alternatives for a more creative option?

Image Source: Flickr

Rod-Free Curtains
Curtains don’t have to be hung with rods. Instead of using a store-bought or homemade rod, hammer a line of nails across arched and straight windows. Evenly space the nails and paint them to match the walls or the curtains. Once the paint is dry, loop the curtains over the nails or hang them with ribbons or large hooks. Another unique option is to space old door or cabinet knobs about 12 inches apart along the top of the window; use wood screws or nails to secure them in place. Cut holes in the curtains or use tab top panels and loop them over the knobs. If you’re using brass or metal knobs, paint them to ensure that the curtains won’t be stained should the knobs tarnish. Source: EHow

Coat Hangers
You can use coat hangers as another alternative for curtain rods. Put the coat hooks on the window frames. You can simply attach the curtain to the rods. Or, if you want something really eye-catching, you can use a ribbon to tie the openings of the curtain to the rod. This will add a whimsy appeal to your curtains. This style goes best in the living room or children’s room. You can even paint the coat hangers to make it stand out or blend with the colors of the walls. Source: DoItYourself

Branching Out
Sometimes the perfect object for a lightweight drapery rod may be sitting right outside your window. Branches can make for excellent, sculptural drapery rods with a few simple do-it-yourself updates. Search for a branch with the proper length and width to fit above a window and handle the weight of the chosen drapery panel. Next, cut it to size and spray-paint it in a color which contrasts well against the wall. Lastly, secure standoffs, ready-made drapery rod brackets or L-brackets directly to the wall using plastic drywall anchors, then attach the branch with screws or bailing wire. Source: HGTV

Tell us your creative plans! We’ll try our best to help you out. Contact us!

 

Contact:
Universal Blinds
601 – 1550 W. 10th Ave
Vancouver, V6J 1Z9
Canada
Phone: (604) 559-1988

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3 Tips for Buying Bathroom Faucets

Content originally published and Shared from http://perfectbath.com

Having a hard time looking for faucets that best match your bathroom style? Luckily, we have some tips for buying bathroom faucets, such as: knowing the different styles, choosing the quality and matching with the number of mounting holes.

Below are 3 tips for buying bathroom faucets:

Knowing the Different Styles
Widespread: Most commonly found on pedestal sinks, widespread faucets are made for sinks with three pre-drilled holes that are 8″ apart. When purchasing a widespread faucet you’ll receive three individual components: two handles and one spout.
Vessel/Single-hole: On single hole faucets, the handle is attached to the spout and is for use on a sink with 1 pre-drilled hole. If you are in the market for a vessel style faucet but have a sink with 3 pre-drilled holes, it’s sometimes an option to purchase an additional deck plate to cover the existing holes on the sink. Contact the faucets manufacturer to see if that is an option before buying.
Wall-mounted: Ready for it? Wall-mounted faucets are mounted to …the wall! Normally, your water supply lines come up from the sink, but in this case they’ll need to be installed into the wall. One thing to be aware of when purchasing these types of faucets is that the spout is actually long enough to reach from the wall over the sink basin.
4″ Centerset: These faucets are found on sinks with 3 holes set at 4″ apart. The components sit on a deck plate that connect the handles with the spout body, and can also be found with single handle components.
4″ Minispread: Similar to centerset, these faucets fit 4″ configurations on sinks with 3 pre-drilled holes. But instead of purchasing a faucet with a 4″ deck plate, a minispread faucet looks more like a widespread faucet with three individual components: two handles and one spout. Source: ApartmentTherapy

Choosing the Quality
You’ll have to pay for it up front, but buying quality now means you won’t be paying during the life (or lack thereof) of your faucet. Look for an all-brass body, as opposed to brass- or chrome-plated. And keep in mind that the tub faucet has a larger flow rate than other household faucets, which means you can’t use a kitchen faucet or your tub. Bathtub faucets should have a 3/4-inch supply line, as opposed to 1/2-inch for the rest of the house. Some tubs hold up to 60 gallons of water, so you’ll want a faucet that can get the job done in a timely manner. Source: HGTV

Matching with the Number of Mounting Holes
Most sinks come with mounting holes pre-drilled for faucets and accessories such as side sprays or soap dispensers. If you’re keeping your original sink, you’ll need to match what you have or get a base plate to cover any extra holes. The base plate sold with your new faucet can be used to cover holes in your countertop, but don’t buy a faucet that requires more sink holes than your sink has; it’s not a good idea to try to drill additional holes in an existing sink or countertop. Get additional information on how to best match sinks and faucets.  Source: ConsumerReports

 

Contact:
Perfect Bath
Phone: Toll Free 1-866-843-1641
Calgary, Alberta
Email: info@perfectbath.com

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With $8 million up for grabs, Portland kicks off series of Safe Routes to School open houses tonight

(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)

Have traffic safety concerns in your neighborhood that prevent you and your kids from biking to school? Listen up…

Thanks to the voter-approved, 10-cent increase in the local gas tax, the City of Portland Bureau of Transportation expects to raise about $64 million over the next four years. The money will be spent on a wide range of projects between now and 2020. About $8 million of that total amount is set aside specifically for making it safer and easier for people to walk, bike, and roll to school. This is important because safety concerns are a major barrier to people when deciding how they’ll get their kids to school. The most recent City survey of people who live 1-2 miles away from their school found that 51 percent of respondents were concerned about traffic safety — more than any other limiting factor in their travel choice.

Now PBOT wants to hear your feedback to make sure this $8 million helps ameliorate those concerns.

Chart taken from PBOT Safe Routes to School Fall 2016 survey report.

PBOT’s Safe Routes to Schools program reaches 100 schools citywide and there are currently 11 projects that will split the funding. PBOT has mapped the projects according to “high school attendance areas”. Right now each project is just a placeholder around these various high school feeder zones. From tonight (2/28) through the beginning of May PBOT is hosting open house events where members of the community can show up and tell them specifically how to spend the money.

Here’s more from PBOT about how the money will be spent:

Safe Routes to School divided Fixing Our Streets funds geographically across Portland’s 12 high school clusters, each including boundaries of 3 to 13 schools (elementary, K-8, and middle). The allocation process considered cluster-wide demographic information (including student body population) compared with the existing network of pedestrian and bicycle facilities. The final funding recommendations prioritize communities of concern across the clusters, namely schools with high rates of communities of color, free & reduced lunch, and English language learners.

Is there a street on the way to your child’s school that needs a safe crossing? Perhaps the bikeway leading to it isn’t as safe as it could be — or perhaps there’s no bikeway at all. PBOT needs to know your insights and concerns and school travel habits

Here’s a list of all the open houses:

The events are drop-in style from 6:00 to 8:00 pm. Learn more here.

— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org

BikePortland is supported by the community (that means you!). Please become a subscriber or make a donation today.

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Gray Day. Gray Clay.

Gray & gloomy in Chicago today.
Good day to finish up a batch of vases with some stamping & colored flashing slip
accents before teaching class tonight!

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Help TriMet make transit better

As transit goes, so goes biking.
(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)

Like flowing water that takes the path of least resistance, so too will people when deciding how to get from point-A to point-B. Unfortunately in Portland today, driving a private car is still way too cheap and easy so it’s not surprising that the majority of people still prefer to drive.

To get the transportation results we need in order to save lives, save time, save money, and save our health; we must make options to driving more attractive. In Portland that means we must get more out of our significant investment in transit.

While they’re good at chasing mega-projects (including ones that have nothing to do with transit), TriMet is not doing enough to make bus service great. The result is fewer people taking transit — and more importantly, more people opting to drive.

A recent report by the Federal Highway Administration showed that more American are driving — but transit ridership is going down. In the Portland region there was a 1.3% decrease in the amount of people who use transit from 2015 to 2016. This trend should cause concern to everyone who cares about safety and livability. But as Streetsblog reported last week, two cities who bucked that trend — Seattle and Houston — have managed to increase transit ridership. Why? It could be because they both made significant investments to improve transit options – particularly bus service.

TriMet is working on bus improvements and they can’t come soon enough. We think it’s crucial for the success of cycling — and for Portland’s future in general — that transit gets better. You can help TriMet help themselves by taking their Rider’s Pulse Survey to share your input. (You might have to join their Rider’s Club before you can take the survey.)

— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org

BikePortland is supported by the community (that means you!). Please become a subscriber or make a donation today.

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Martin Greenough: City and state settle lawsuit while new path shapes up

The new bike path being built where Martin Greenough was hit and killed while riding in December 2015 is being built as I type this. While the path nears completion, so too does the lawsuit filed by his family last April.

Greenough’s family named the City, State and the man who was driving drunk while intoxicated with marijuana prior to hitting him in their $3.6 million lawsuit. Last week The Oregonian reported that they’ve accepted a settlement with the City and State for $23,000. Here’s more from The O:

That’s far less than the $3.6 million that relatives of Martin Lee Greenough sought, but they’re pleased because they believe the lawsuit prompted the state to finally fast-track construction of a bike lane along the stretch after years of delay, their lawyer said.

I rolled over to the location yesterday to see how the new path was shaping up. A tractor was working on the site and seemed to be leveling out the first layer of gravel and dirt that will be the foundation for the coming pavement. Headed eastbound, the path will transition from the on-street bike lane just east of where eastbound NE 42nd Avenue traffic merges onto Lombard. The path then becomes separated from motorized traffic via a guard-rail and continues under the overpass. It then transitions back onto the bike lane about 100 feet east of the overpass.

The new path begins just beyond these signs. (ODOT crews need a lesson in safe work zone management.)

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West of the 42nd Ave overpass.

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East of the 42nd Ave overpass.

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Keep in mind that there’s still a gap in the westbound direction. ODOT says there’s simply not enough room to add one and they’re not willing to narrow or change the existing two-lane roadway. We’ll see if there tune changes after another person is hit and injured or killed in that gap.

The Oregonian reports that the City of Portland is paying $3,000 of the settlement while the State is paying $20,000. The State owns and manages this section of Lombard, but the family felt the City of Portland also shared responsibility because their official bike map recommends this route. As we first reported, Greenough was new to town and was using the map to find his way home when the collision occurred.

If this obvious, well-documented, and dangerous bike lane gap was closed with a path like this prior to December 2015, Greenough would very likely still be alive today.

— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org

BikePortland is supported by the community (that means you!). Please become a subscriber or make a donation today.

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Coming & Going : Beautiful At Belmont Harbor

My morning started out early at an empty Belmont Harbor.

It was another beautiful morning. Good clouds. Good color. Great ride.
Not too shabby as we get close to finishing out February, huh?!

And back again at Belmont Harbor… a bit brighter than it was a few miles earlier!

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