Living Lifestyle for Springfield, Virginia home owners and businesses

Change or bring in a new door chime sound.

A gentle “ding-dong” signals that someone is at your front door. The sound is one that you’re familiar with, but you may be ready for a change. Change is particularly welcome if you have chimes for two or more doors and those chimes are hard to tell apart. Most homes are outfitted with electromagnet door chimes, making it easy for you to have one bell ring “ding-dong” and the other emit a simple ding. In any case when your traditional door bell fails, you may encounter a hefty repair bill.

Wireless Door Chimes

Given that electromagnet doorbells are being replaced by wireless door chimes, we’ll share with you an example of a GE one-button system, one that makes changing a door chime a snap.

Your doorbell has failed or it simply fails to chime as needed. Many homeowners have given up replacing their old, electromagnet systems and have switched to a wireless door chime that can be installed within minutes.

Low-Cost Option

GE, for example, offers a door chime that comes with one button. You’ll need to buy a second and subsequent set for each additional door of find a chime system that comes with two buttons. Given that these sets run for about $20, you’ll still pay much less for a new battery-operated chime system than having an electrician fix your old system. You can do it yourself if you’re handy with electrical matters.

Battery-operated door chime systems provide an operational range of up to 150 feet. You’ll need to install a 12-volt battery and check it from time to time for wear. The chime itself plugs into any electrical outlet and has settings to allow you to choose different chimes. Simply select the desired chime for your front door and do the same with the chimes for your other doors. The GE system, by the way, offers seven unique sounds. That’s several more than the number of doors you have to your home.

Digital Signal

Wireless or electronic doorbells send out a digital signal via an integrated circuit to trigger a sound. Such systems dispense with solenoids, tone bars and wiring, providing a modern way to tell you that someone is standing at your door.

Related Articles

• ‘Star Trek’ door chime sounds like the future (news.cnet.com)
• A Sleek, Stylish, and Portable Wireless Door Chime (smarthome.com)
• Star Trek Electronic Door Chime Marks Futuristic Doorway Bell (gadizmo.com)

How to store your bulk food items.

Having enough food on hand is important for many families. Not just what you need for the next few days or weeks, but food you can keep months, even years. Buying food in bulk can be good decision as you’ll pay less and have a hedge against possible shortages. Those shortages can occur whenever a natural disaster strikes or in a war. Read on for some tips on a how to store food properly and rotate your stock correctly.

Your needs — Firstly, you’ll need to estimate how much food you want to store and for how long. For example, if you have a family of six and would like to have a six month supply of food on hand, then you’re going to need a large storage area, one that goes well beyond what your kitchen, pantry and stock room can supply. Most of your long-term food items will be dry goods, items that you may be able to store in dry basement, in a room converted to house these goods or elsewhere. Set aside your storage area, build shelves and buy bins to handle the project.

Storage ideas — Accessible food storage means putting your food where it can easily be retrieved and used. Your areas need to be well lit and sealed from outside access, particularly from vermin and insects. An assortment of storage bins and containers can be used to house dry goods. Label each container, but also label each bag or box that goes in the container. Describe its contents and the date it was put into storage. For example: Wheat Crackers, 05/01/2012.

Rotation and placement — Your food storage area should be well-marked and easily understood. If you cannot keep all of your food storage in one place, then assign different areas for various products. For example, legumes, whole grains an dehydrated foods have the longest shelf life and can last for many years if properly stored. Compressed food can be stored furthest away, perhaps in that back closet you have set aside for long-term use. For the rest of your foods, you’ll want to ensure that items that will perish sooner are up front and items that are newer are placed in the back — just as you do in the refrigerator.

Organize and systemize — You can track everything on a spreadsheet and reference that, but ask yourself an important question: will you be able to access your computer if the power goes out? Consider a dual system — one that allows you to keep soft copies of your information on your computer with hard copies kept in a loose-leaf binder or on a clip board. Create the tracking system that works best for you, but is also one that everyone in the family involved can easily follow.

Extend your plan — If interior space is limited or if you want access to more food, you can also purchase cans of seeds from suppliers. Unlike most store bought seeds that have to be used within a year if not months of purchase, seeds stored in airtight cans can last for three or more years. Those seeds can be planted in your garden, to provide fresh fruits and vegetables that can be eaten or canned. With canning, you’ll need to create a storage system and include these goods with your other foods.

A food storage plan should also encompass other items including ample amounts of bottled water, chocolate drinks, sterno cooking heat cans or a propane cooking stove, and even backup radios, batteries and weather alert stations. However you store, you’ll need to track it.

Reference: Managing Your Food Storage Space Wisely

Are certain nooks and crannies in your home being neglected? Is stuff just piling up everywhere in your house? Personally, I took a look around my house one weekend and could not believe the amount of clutter there was around and that was just in the visible areas! Enough was enough and I took action

First Attack

The first place I took to cleaning out were the vanities in my master bathroom and the medicine cabinet. Yes, I do see these areas daily, but hey, I can easily shut the cabinets and not look at the mess! Call it the Spring weather setting in or the longer hours of sun, but it is time to come out of hibernation and deal with the reality of clutter.

First, I began by taking everything out of the vanity and medicine cabinet. I gave everything a good scrub and wipe down. Next, I applied new shelf/cabinet liner. Then, before shoving all my stuff back in, I went through each and every item. I threw away expired medication, old make-up, half-used lotion bottles and even broken barrettes. I even found items that I thought were missing (i.e. my favorite hair clip and my face bronzer)!

Next, I gathered similar items together so that everything had a common place under the vanity or in the medicine cabinet. For example, all sunblocks and after-suncare items were placed together, my hair accessories were all placed together in a cosmetic bag, and all my make-up was finally placed in my train case, without it being sprawled out all over the bottom of my vanity! Since the vanities are split ( I have a double sink), I was able to have his and her containers, so that my items would not get mixed up with my husband’s items. I was actually surprised at how much got thrown out (8 bathroom trashcans worth)! The results were simply amazing and the two and half hours it took to do it was totally worth it because now I know where everything is!

Second Attack

Since I was on a cleaning roll, I decided to tackle to kids’ bathroom next. I basically did the same thing to start: took everything our of the medicine cabinet and vanity; wiped and scrubbed everything down; applied new shelf/cabinet liner. The next step is extremely important, even more so in a children’s/guest bathroom – double check expiration dates on everything, from prescribed to over-the-counter medications and even lotions. Children’s bodies are quite different than adults and can easily be injured if taking expired medication. There were even a few items, which I threw out.

Next, I gathered all first-aid items together and created a “boo-boo” bin. In it, is gauze, ointments, band-aids are other items for scraps and cuts. This way if an injury occurs, we head right to the boo-boo bin.

Next, I designated a small bin for oral hygiene. From extra toothbrushes, floss, floss picks and fluoride rinse, it is all located in one area for easy access. Then, I created a similar bin for cough and cold: a thermometer; cool packs; cough drops, etc. I did make sure to lock up cough and cold medicine though. I kept going through the items and grouped them together for easy identification and access.

Now, both my kids and I (and even my husband) can locate bathroom items easily and there is no need to ask mom where something is!

Ann Martin is a contributing writer for Dinnerware Center, which specializes in dinnerware and flatware sets, such as the Noritake and the Noritake colorwave. Ann writes for other cooking and home and garden sites as well. When Ann is not writing, she travels and is an avid reader.