5 Cool Ways to Repurpose Old Home Furniture

Ladder into Towel Rack

This one’s so easy its ridiculous. So you’ve got an old wooden ladder in the shed that hasn’t been used in a hundred years and a bathroom, why not make a cool towel rack? All it takes is a bit of sanding and a paint job if desired, and voila! You’ve got a hip new towel rack in your bathroom. The best part about this project is that all the steps on the ladder can stylishly hold a ton of towels. If the steps are wide enough, it can even double as a shampoo shelf! The ladder can be placed vertically against the wall with the towels simply draped. Or it can be horizontally like a shelf high up on the wall, so that the towels hang down from the ladder steps. This project has become extremely popular because it’s so simple and easy to do. It’s sure to earn you a host of compliments when you hold the party to show everyone your redone house!

Closet Doors into Shelves

Here’s another easy project that’s tons of fun to do. All it takes are some window shutters or old closet doors with slats. Simply angle the doors and open or break some of the slats, then stick a plank of wood through them and you have instant shelving. This project makes a great bookshelf that looks great in any living room or bedroom when completed. You may even decide to put it in the bathroom next to your ladder towel rack so that it can double as a shampoo shelf! The best part about this project is its simplicity, and the fact that your shelving options are only limited by the number of slats on the doors you use. Just be sure the shelves are evenly spaced and that you don’t overload them. We don’t want your cool new project getting top-heavy and falling over.

Stepladders into Shelves

Got an old stepladder? Well, you’re in luck. Stepladders are one of the greatest repurposed house items around. All it takes is a little sanding, screw tightening, and some painting and these babies can make remarkable shelves and tables. They can be hung on walls to hold trinkets, or left open on the floor to hold even more things. If you like, many of them can become nifty end tables if they’re topped with a piece of wood or glass.

Lid Rack Organizer

This project requires almost no work at all. Sometimes if you want the coolest in office accessories use, the best way to get them is to make them yourself! All this project takes is a lid rack or dish rack and you’ve got an instant organizer for your mail and files. The lid racks can be painted however you like, and they look super cute just about anywhere, from office desks with modern style, to chic entry ways! They’re also great recipe holders in the kitchen. To get the most out of your new mail sorter and make things easier to see, be sure to place smaller objects like letters in the front, and bigger things like magazines in the back.

Cabinets in the Garden?

Looking for a way to spruce up your backyard? Why not make use of those old office file cabinets by turning them into planters? With the advent of computers, things like vertical file cabinets for office use have fallen by the wayside, but that doesn’t mean they have to become scrap. In order to turn your office cabinets into cool backyard planters, start first by removing the drawers and cleaning them. Then place the planters on their sides with the open end facing upward and set them on some cinderblocks. Spray paint the cabinets to proof them for the weather (be sure to use outdoor paint if they’re wood and special metal paint if they’re metal). Then drill some holes in the bottom for the water to leak through and fill the empty drawers with a landscape fabric to make sure the dirt stays where it should. After that, plant your plants and invite everyone over to see them!

Put Your Budget Travel Plans on Autopilot

Face it, the biggest cost of travel is usually just getting there. Airfare these days is driven by fuel costs, which are driven by whoever is about to sneeze in the Middle East. So what is a person looking for budget adventure travel to do?

I’m glad you asked.

Check out three sites that can help you find this information in this great article by Dennis Tanner in
MLive.com. Notice particularly what he says about having airfare information and the latest price changes emailed to you.

–FareWatchers (www.farewatchers.com) offers two types of e-mail alerts: one when Travelocity’s lowest fare between two targeted cities changes up or down by more than $25 and the other when the fare falls below a threshold set by the subscriber.

–The Orbitz Web site, [http://www.orbitz.com], offers Deal Detector, which keeps searching for a price you set for particular cities and dates. A nice feature is being able to have the service check on other airports in an area and enter a span of dates for your travel rather than being limited to specific days.

–Another option is Austin, Texas-based TripStalker that checks out air fares, rental cars and hotel space for specific dates. One drawback might be that you must download TripStalker software to use the service. The service, available at [http://www.tripstalker.com], will notify you through e-mail or by a text message to your cell phone.

I keep asking myself how we made it before the internet. But with Farewatchers, Deal Detector and TripStalker, you have even more tools in your budget adventure travel toolbox.

COPYRIGHT © 2006, Charles Brown. All rights reserved.

Running a Small Business – 3 Important Things to Do for Success in This Economy

Okay, let’s talk about the reality of being a small business owner in 2013 and all of the chatter regarding the disasters of running a small business. There are so many voices out there that it’s becoming more difficult knowing who to listen to, who to trust and what you should do! I want to share what I think are three important things to do for success in this economy.

Running a Small Business-Why Businesses Die

Did you know that a report from FOX news stated that from 2008-2010 over 200,000 small businesses have gone under? And the news continues to sound very bleak as this year continues. Let me share some of my observations with you; they are my observations mind you so just bear with me because there is a bright light at the end of this tunnel and isn’t a train. Often the first sign that a business has started its death walk is the cutting back on the quality of services and goods; if it’s a restaurant for instance, they start to cut back on the quality of their food products in order to save some money, then they start to serve smaller portions and keep the price the same and last but not least, they never engage their customers for feedback. The death of a business!

Running a Small Business-Knowledge Is Power

Listen, we all know the importance of marketing; well, it’s also important to know what you want and need for your business. Sounds real simple but, most small business owners really don’t have a clue what they need to reach their ideal customers. Unfortunately, most marketing companies just want to make money off of you and they tend to promise you the world even when they know that they can’t honestly deliver the goods. Here are some things that you need to keep in mind when it comes to marketing:

  • Have a marketing plan or strategy for your business. Running a small business means you have to make the time to know what you need to invest into your business; you have to identify what or who your ideal customer looks like and then market to them.
  • No quick rich marketing! Please! And here’s the trap; you go with the guys who tell you that they have a new and creative way that gets you instant results and fill your head with visions of dollar signs and then-burned! Now, you don’t trust anyone and that leads you towards the death walk. The right marketing will get you results but, it can take some time depending what tools are used.
  • Time is money. We have heard that so many times and it is a true statement but we have to look at it from a different point of view; if you don’t take or make the time to step back and look at your business as a whole you’re a goner, game over, it’s a wrap! Please, don’t own your job, scale your business. Taking time to honestly evaluate your business will pay awesome dividends! Even if it means having someone help you in the process. Oftentimes, when running a small business, you’ll find that things aren’t as bad as they look.

Running a Small Business-What Competition

Here’s a major trap most business owners get caught in; they market with their competition in mind instead of with their customers in mind. You are not trying to win your competition over; you want to get the attention of your customers. Listen; identify your ideal customer and market to them. Don’t start cutting back on the quality of your services or your products. The best way to solicit feedback from your customers is by using review sites. Running a small business can still be profitable in this economy if you follow these suggestions.

Online Education and Online Degrees – Many Options Available for Distance Education

Online education is the latest trend in alternative education choices. Also known as distance learning, options in online education are being pursued by people from all over the world who are looking to further their education. And it’s never been easier to join the growing class of Internet U.

Whether you’re interested in simply getting your GED or receiving your MBA from an accredited university, your options in adult education have doubled in the past five years with the advent of online education and will likely continue to grow as more colleges, universities, graduate schools, and trade schools begin offering distance learning classes online.

How Does Online Education Work?

In most cases, it is not the specific college or university that runs the online education portion of their program. Most schools outsource their internet education duties to companies that specialize in hosting distance learning classes. These companies (who have names like eCollege, SkillSoft and such) perform the actual tasks of running the online classes, assigning work, and conducting exams, all according to the curriculum provided by the specific school. Students that enroll in online education courses are typically required to provide their own computer and any necessary software needed to participate in the online classes and take the exams. In the world of online education your books, binders, and number two pencils are replaced by a PC (or MAC – but compatibility may vary), a word processor, and some form of multimedia player. Broadband internet access is advisable as well. It may be hard to get your masters with low baud.

Things to Look Out For

Online education is a very worthwhile trend in the evolution of education in our world and it is conceivable that sometime in the future nearly all official education will take place online. The internet, however, is the real-world equivalent of George Lucas’ Mos Eisley Spaceport; a wretched hive of scum and villainy. As online education becomes more prominent, there will be more companies looking to take advantage of the trend by offering sub par classes and fly-by-night degrees from non-accredited schools. Before you commit to any online education program, do your homework and make sure that the school is accredited. The last thing you want to do is spend your time and money earning a degree online that isn’t worth a byte in the job market or to other educational institutions.

To view our recommended sources for online education and
degrees, visit us here Recommended Sources For Online Education [http://www.ezerk.com/articulos.php?category=47].