Home Improvement

The practice of herbal medicine dating back 3,000 years to ancient China has given Korea yet another unique storage chest — the medicine chest. Miniature drawers for storing herbs and roots cover almost the entire front of the chest; the contents identified by characters carved on each drawer. Larger drawers at the bottom were for storing poisons. The scholar’s desk or clothes closet are two other gems of Korean craftsmanship. Many other items like the mirror box, comb case, jewelry box and document box are smaller items which can easily slip into a little corner or displayed on the shelf in a home. (more…)

A den, study or home office should be protected from house hold noise and traffic. Just how you protected you want it to be depends on the work you’ll be doing and on your powers concentration. Some people need tomblike silence and blank brick walls to get their thoughts flowing; others prefer a bit of background babble and a window with a view. If you plan to bang away at a typewriter until dawn you’ll want to protect the rest of the house hold from your racket, either by distance or by sound absorbent materials like insulation or acoustical tiles. A wall of books will help deaden sound too and all you need is home improvement. (more…)

Only a low home improvement separates the den area from the rest of the house. Plaid wallpaper on the beams caries over into the kitchen and dining rooms to link the three areas. The country-style furnishings proffer a casual welcome to anyone who enters the den. Design: William Kefauver.

Climb to the top of this house and you’ll find yourself in a combination den and study with a spectacular view on three sides. You’ll feel as though (more…)

Home improvement is the easiest way to have a built in bookcase is to take over a shallow closet. Remove any shelving and shelf support and paint or panel the closet as you choose before installing a new shelf support system. Decide on the number of shelves you want, then paint the shelves or face them with paneling strips to match the closet. Now you are ready to select new shelf mounting –it can be blocks, bars or brackets. For enclosed storage, use hinges to attach a door to the bottom shelf as  a plan in your home improvement. (more…)