Wall Covering

Sometimes we get tired of the plain off white walls that are in most apartments or houses that are available to rent.

You might have an apartment manager or landlord who doesn’t care if you paint the walls a different color as long as you paint them back to the original color before you move. ASK FIRST!! They may not allow you to paint and you could be setting yourself up for an eviction if they should do a walk through or need to send maintenance in for a repair.

An alternative to paint is Faux Wallpaper…which really isn’t paper at all. It is cloth. You can cover the walls with it instead of wall paper but it will not damage the walls and is simple to remove. Most likely you would not get permission to put up wall paper as it is difficult to remove and if not done properly can damage the wall.


You will need:

           Fabric

          Liquid Starch

          Small pan or bowl

          Sponge

          Single edge razor blade

          Thumb tacks

          Step stool

          Newspaper

 
First measure the height and width of walls you want to cover from the ceiling to the baseboard. If the wall is 8ft tall and 12 feet wide you will need about 12 yards to cover it. In reality you may end up having more fabric than you need but it is better to have more rather than less. The extra fabric can be used to make covers for throw pillows.

You also may need less depending on the width of the fabric you decide to buy. Fabric comes in widths of 45 inches, 60 inches, 90 inches and sometimes 120 inches.

Select your fabric which you can find at fabric stores, craft stores, variety stores and etc. You can check for fabric store locations in the yellow pages of your phone book. Liquid starch can be found the laundry section of the grocery store.

Choose a light weight material. Cotton will work and lighter weight materials will work well too. After you have selected your fabric and gathered all the supplies you will need, put newspapers on the floor to catch any drips.  Pour liquid starch into the bowl or small pan. Do not dilute it. Saturate one end of the fabric with the liquid starch.  Standing on the stool, place the wet fabric at the top of the wall at the ceiling. You will need to use the sponge to spread and smooth the fabric across and down the wall. At the top, put thumb tacks in each corner and if needed in the center. This will help hold it in place and the wet starch will also help.

Continually wet the fabric, by dipping the sponge into the starch and wiping down the wall smoothing the fabric as you go. The fabric needs to be soaked with the starch. Smooth the fabric continuously as there may be air bubbles. If you can’t get the bubbles out,  use the corner of the razor blade and cut the fabric slightly to release the bubble.  At the bottom use the razor blade to cut the fabric evenly at the baseboard. Make sure the fabric is wet and smooth at the bottom with no air bubbles. Continue repeating the steps until the wall is covered.

The fabric will dry, adhering to the wall. After it dries you can remove the thumb tacks.

When you decide you are ready for a change or you are going to move just gently pull at one corner and continue pulling until the fabric is down. The wall should look just like it did before you put the fabric up. If there seems to be any residue from the starch on the wall then wipe it down with a damp sponge.

Water

Conservation within and around your home .....how to keep from using too much and therefore lowering your water bills dramatically, which means you spend LESS on your Bills! Even more important water is not wasted.

Today many areas in the country are at a severe draught stage. Some communities have actually run out of water. This may seem impossible but it is not. It did happen in Orme, Tennessee on the Tennessee Alabama border this past summer. Water had to be trucked in to the little town from nearby Bridgeport, Alabama. The town’s people were able to have water just three hours a day from 6 pm to 9 pm. During this time they had to water animals, do laundry, and bathe. In the meantime, while water was being brought in by trucks, work was started on a special pipeline which was built from Bridgeport to Orme to bring water to community.

Although that has solved the problem for Orme for now, other cities and towns may soon be in a similar situation …no water and their problem will be: no where to get it. Atlanta, Georgia is one of those cities.

It is only 150 miles from Orme. Build another pipeline you say?  Orme is 2½ miles from Bridgeport. The pipeline was made possible by a $378,000 federal grant. Atlanta is almost 150 miles from Bridgeport. It would take months and possibly years to build and millions of tax-payer dollars so it is unlikely that a pipeline would be possible for Atlanta. Remember too that Atlanta is not the only city in jeopardy of running out of water.

Water conservation may not seem important until you are paying the bill, as well as all the other bills in your new life.  Saving on water not only helps the environment, but it helps your wallet too.  There are several ways to save on your water consumption. Below are a few that we know work.  As we gain new knowledge, we'll be certain to add them!

The first thing you can do is check your commode (toilet) if it is not conserving water you can remedy that by removing some space within the tank.  The tank is the back reservoir with the lid on it.  It holds the water that allows you to flush and then refills again for the next use.  Remove the lid carefully. It may not look like it, but can be quite heavy.  Be careful when removing it and laying it down because you don't want it to crack or break.  Replacing a commode can be costly!

After removing the lid you can use several things to take up space.  Do NOT put anything inside that can be worn down or away with water!  The best choice is probably bricks. One or two either atop each other or side by side will take up space.
 
Or, put a mesh bag full of polished stones (the kind you can purchase in the floral section of your crafts store for putting in vases).  Adjust the amount according to how much water it takes to completely run through the bowl.
A couple of small water bottles filled with sand and then recapped tightly will also work.

There are other items you may have around the house that you can use as long as they are sealed tightly, and will not wash away with repeated use of your commode.


DO NOT put METALS inside as they can RUST and CORRODE!


Also, if after taking these steps it takes more than one flush to empty the commode  completely then it isn’t going to save and other ways to conserve need to be found. Special toilet valves can also be installed to conserve water. If you are renting talk with the apartment manager or your landlord if renting a house about getting a valve installed.

If you have a washing machine for your laundry you can save water by adjusting the water level with each wash. All this takes is turning dial or knob that controls the water level  and adjusting it to the level  you need to wash the load.  If you only have a couple of pairs of pants and a few shirts to wash then do not use a large load setting.  You will be amazed at how much water this alone saves!
 
Limit the times that you take a bath / shower.  It takes many gallons of water to fill a tub for a bath. If you are taking several baths a day....then you are using a lot of water! Even more water is used when taking a shower. If you only take one shower a day it won’t make much difference unless you take one for fifteen minutes or longer!

The longer the shower the more water used and not only is water being wasted but either the gas or electric usage is going up in order to keep the water hot. Therefore, that increases the gas or electric bill, which will cost you more on those utilities. It really only takes 10 minutes to take a shower, and that includes washing your hair or possibly shaving. Some would argue that it takes less time that that.

If you have a lawn to water or a car to wash there are times during the day that are better in order to save water. The hotter the day is, faster the water evaporates and the more you have to use.  So it's best to use outdoor water in the earliest part of the day or sometime after 6 pm....when the day starts to cool off.

Water conservation is so important that some cities have regulated the usage regarding not only the times of day but also the length of time. There are cities that have curtailed out door usage completely and will issue fines for watering the lawn or washing the car. Other municipalities have based the acceptable usage on the amount used by you at your present address or the previous tenants at that address. If use today is over the amount used for the same time period the year before fines as much as $500 are levied. It would be wise to check with your water company to find out if there are similar regulations in your town or city. You do not need a fine to pay in addition to other bills. Also, last year, fewer people may have been living in your apartment or house and this should be taken into consideration by the water department or city.
 
If you are able to water your lawn (if you live in a house) or you are allowed to wash your car only have the water on when you are actually using it. Or, use a spray attachment!  This keeps the water from flowing out into the street or yard while you soap down and clean your car or walking around the yard to water the plants.

Other ways to conserve are:


 When brushing your teeth, turn off the water. Several gallons   of water probably go down the drain while brushing. Put the toothpaste on the brush, dampen the brush and turn the water off. Turn it back on to rinse. Or use a glass, fill it with water, turn the water off, brush and then rinse with the water in the glass.


Install a shower filter which will slow down the amount of water coming from the shower head.


Invest in plastic dish pans … Even is you have a dish washer they will be useful for washing dishes when there are not enough to fill a dishwasher and you are out of glasses or cups. Use one for the soapy water and the other for rinsing. This way you will not be washing and rinsing dishes with a constantly running water faucet and this will save gallons of water.


Wash your fruits and vegetables in a pan rather than washing them under running water. Fill a clean pan with clean water and wash them when you first bring them home from the supermarket. Let them dry on a dish towel and then put them away.