Lever locksets are a great feature for your home, especially when accessibility is an issue. Lever locksets are easy to install, especially on pre-hung doors. The first piece to install is the latch set. Once in a place, the handles simply fit in with a couple of the screws. For someone with arthritis, a disability, or even just an armload of laundry, these are a great option because they are easier to use than typical doorknobs.

Here s another great tip from BobVila.com. On average, Americans recycle less than a third of our waste. If we doubled our efforts and recycled 60 percent, we d save 35 million barrels of oil a year. The best way to get your whole family involved in the recycling effort is to set up a system that s easy to use. Color-code and label bins with pictures if necessary, and post instructions where everyone can read them. Offer kids the incentive of keeping the refund for washing out, organizing and redeeming the bottles and cans. Whether your community collects recyclables at the curb or you bring them to a recycling center yourself, get a list of what they take, what you re required to sort and what can be crushed. That will determine the number and size of containers you need. Check your city or town s web site or call 1-800-cleanup to find the recycling center nearest you. Some communities provide recycling bins for curbside collection, but you ll probably want to keep the muddy bins outside and set up a sorting or collecting center inside. Locate it as close as possible to the source of most of the waste: the kitchen. Building your recycling center into your kitchen cabinets is ideal. Cabinet makers now offer a great pull-out drawer or even corner carousels with specially made plastic bins to sort recyclables and keep them out of sight and out of the reach of small children and pets. If you don t have room in your kitchen, stack or line a shelf with dedicated bins or baskets in the mud room, laundry room, basement or garage, or convert a closet into your recycling center. Keep the can crusher, extra bags, twine, scissors and any other tools and supplies there. If your recycling center is far away and you don t go very often, store sorted materials outside the house in tightly covered bins or barrels. Make sure containers are well-rinsed to avoid attracting pests and to keep recycling a pleasant job for everyone. Find out more at BobVila.com: the ultimate home improvement web site! 2008 BobVila.com

Here s another great tip from BobVila.com. Owning and maintaining a home can mean a lot of paperwork. While important documents should always be backed up and kept in fireproof storage, some things like appliance manuals can often be replaced if they re lost. First, check the manufacturer s web site. Most have manuals of their current appliance models available for free download. If your model is older or more rare, check with an appliance repair web site like repairclinic.com , managemyhome.com or howstuffworks.com . They re all good sources for info on smaller appliances. Consumer Reports has a listing of manufacturers contact information. And you can always check with a service professional. A good repair service can give you an estimate of the repair cost and parts needed for a small fee, even if you don t hire them to do the work. If the repair estimate is more than half of the cost of buying a new appliance, it might be time for a new one. Most dishwashers are designed to last around 10 years. Freezers, around 20 years. Everything else laundry, ranges and fridges all fall somewhere in between. The one exception is room air conditioners, which last around 7 years. So, if the clock s run out on your appliance, and especially if it s not energy-efficient, you can probably stop looking for the manual and start looking for a new, energy-saving replacement. Find out more at BobVila.com: the ultimate home improvement web site! 2008 BobVila.com

Here s another great tip from BobVila.com. Give your dog a sense of security and boundaries to keep him out of trouble while you re out of the house. A dog is happy when he knows where home base is. A pet crate, a designated corner, a closet with a pet door or even a laundry or mud room with a gate will define his space. A good dog bed is actually not just a luxury. While it keeps your pet off the floor and away from drafts, it also reinforces his place within your house. And it keeps pet hair concentrated; it s easier to throw the bed cover in the washing machine than to constantly clean the couch and the rug. Pet doors are liberating for both dogs and owners, and thru-wall doors are available for homes with glass doors. Some are even keyed to pets collars to keep out unwelcome visitors. If your pet tends to chew indiscriminately, keep extension cords out of reach. Avoid poisonous plants like tulips, azalea, lily, oleander, castor bean, cyclamen and kalanchoe. Keep the kitchen trash in a cabinet with a child lock. And store cleaning products, batteries, fertilizers and medications and any other toxic chemicals in a locked cabinet. Clean up spills right away, especially in the garage or on the driveway. Antifreeze containing ethylene glycol can actually taste sweet to dogs. Ingesting even a little will kill them, so buy the kind with propylene glycol instead. Other highly toxic household products dogs have been known to get into include rat poison, mothballs, fabric softener sheets and, believe it or not pennies. Keep dangers out of reach to keep your best friend safe at home. Find out more at BobVila.com: the ultimate home improvement web site! 2008 BobVila.com