Things to do with Kids in Green Bay During the Summer

/in /by

Green Bay, Wisconsin is famous for its football team, but the team provides little in the way of entertainment for kids during the summer. So what’s a kid living in Green Bay to do all summer? Try these fun activities to keep your kids happy and active this summer.

* Lambeau Field Stadium Tour offers a history-filled, behind-the-scenes tour that any football fan would enjoy. The experience will cost less than $11, depending on child’s age.

* Bay Beach Amusement Park is the 9th oldest continuously operating amusement park in the United States. The park is open from May through September and offers fun for the whole family.

* The Children’s Museum of Green Bay offers interactive play for children of all ages. Admission varies according to age.

* Fraluz Frozen Treats has all the best frozen treats under one roof, plus a large play area for kids. Enjoy your fro-yo while kids play, then let the kids build their own ice cream/custard/sorbet/frozen yogurt concoction from all the wonderful toppings offered.

* New Zoo & Brown County Reforestation Camp offers a zoo, hiking, biking and walking trails. Bring the kids to feed the giraffes and pet small animals, then take a walk around the zoo to view all the larger animals, including penguins and lions. $6 or less buys all day fun.

* National Train Museum is the place for train enthusiasts to come and learn about the history of the locomotive. Climb aboard a real train and take a ride with your kids. Special events occur throughout the year with some of children’s favorite trains, including Thomas and the Polar Express.

* The City Deck is a fun-filled quarter mile-long stretch along the Fox River in beautiful downtown Green Bay, WI. Dining on the deck and live musical performances are fun for adults and the splash pad is a winner with the kids. Many other fun things are to be found on the City Deck and most of them are free.

* The Pancake Place provides a hearty breakfast that’s sure to amaze kids as well as fill up their tummies for a day of fun. Sit down with your family and enjoy pancakes the size of dinner plates, along with a variety of other breakfast, lunch and dinner menu items.

How to Paint Kitchen Cabinets

/in /by

Painting your cabinets is easier than  you think. All you need is one weekend and a gallon of paint to update your kitchen. Applying a fresh coat of paint to existing kitchen cabinets will take your kitchen from drab to fab without the cost. Turn that dark, dull room that everyone hates into a bright, cheerful room where everyone congregates with these tips for painting kitchen cabinets.

Prepare the Surface

Here’s where the perfect cabinet finish begins – in the prep work. Remove the cabinet doors and all hardware and place them on a flat work surface. Saw horse set up outdoors or something along those lines will make the work easier on your back and safer for your respiratory system. Using a sawhorse outdoors will make the work easier while protecting your lungs.

Clean the years of built-up grease and gunk from the doors with a de-greasing product. After the cabinet surfaces dry, use 100 grit sandpaper to gently rough up the surface. This will enable the paint to adhere to the surface.

Repair any holes or pits with wood putty. Use the product according to manufacturer’s directions. Allow to dry, sand until even with the rest of the surface, then slightly rough up with sandpaper so paint will adhere to the wood putty.

Apply Primer

This step can not be skipped. Primer will make or break the cabinet finish. If you want to have a glassy finish on the wood, you will need to use a sandable primer. A high-build, sandable primer will fill in all the imperfections on the wood and allow you to sand the primer to a silky smooth finish before applying paint. Two coats of sandable primer may be needed, depending on the condition of the wood surfaces.

Drying Racks

Before applying paint, note that it will take time for the cabinetry to dry. Touching it during the drying time may leave fingerprints. The doors will need to be kept laying flat during the initial drying time to prevent paint runs, so create drying racks before painting.

Paint

Select a paint that is specifically formulated for cabinetry. A latex paint that is 100% acrylic will provide a smooth, durable finish. Apply paint with a steady hand and brush or paint sprayer, using thin coats and building the color with two thin layers instead of one thick paint layer.

Hardware

Finish the updated kitchen cabinet look by adding new hardware to the doors before re-installing the them.

Using these tips and tricks will give your kitchen the makeover you are looking for without the cost of replacing your cabinets.

In the end, painting your kitchen cabinets is an economical choice. Some people may be a bit afraid of the unknown of painting their cabinets, but the process is not too much different than what you may accustomed to with exterior house painters… prep work, more prep work, prime, and a coat or two of paint. Or if you’d rather leave it to the pros, give us a call if you’re in the Green Bay area.

Garden Inspired Cabinetry

/in /by

If you are considering updating your kitchen with new cabinetry, take a walk in through a garden for color inspiration. Browns or neutral colors are not the only color choices for cabinetry and countertops. The pops of color in nature can help you design a kitchen with pops of color that will stand the test of time and still look appealing a decade from now.

Garden Colors

If you must have neutral colors, remember that green is considered as neutral color. The stems and leaves of flowers come in various shades of green. Grass and trees will also present you with varying shades of green that you may find as a good starting color for your kitchen wall color, backsplash, countertops or flooring. Then build the color pallette with colorful kitchen accessories.

Color Choices

As you walk around a flower garden in full bloom, which draws your eye in the most – flowers of different colors planted together or a monochromatic flower garden? Just as a garden can be planted with either mixed floral colors or just one, so can a kitchen be designed with mixed colors or just one.

If you find mixed flower colors more eye-appealing, mix up the colors in your kitchen. Start with the cabinets from Distinctive Cabinets and select from different woods for color variation. Dark wood cabinets complimented with a section of brightly colored laminated cabinets add a touch of whimsy to a classic kitchen, or perhaps an all-white kitchen with a colorful glass backsplash would be more your taste. It’s your kitchen so have fun with colors that make you happy. There’s no right or wrong way to go with color.

Texture

Gardens are filled with texture and your kitchen can be too. A variety of wood and laminate finishes can provide you with cabinets that have a distressed or smooth texture or somewhere in-between. Natural, eco-friendly choices for building materials can be discovered while walking through a garden. Bamboo is an example of a textured, renewable resource found in nature that is great for use in the kitchen.

Countertops, flooring, backsplashes are also other areas of the kitchen that can reflect garden-inspired texture. Rough, smooth, hard or soft, all textures can be incorporated in a customized kitchen.

The weather is finally warm in Green Bay, so take a stroll through a park or go out for a hike and find inspiration in nature that you can bring into your home.

 

Custom Built Desks – Green Bay

/in /by

Finding the Perfect Desk for Your Needs

Custom desk Green BaySince many employees have been able to trade their workday commute for working from home (at least part time) a home office is a must-have for many people. Even for those who don’t earn their paycheck working from home, a dedicated work space is still essential for their electronic and pen and paper endeavors. Finding the perfect desk for your needs, big or small, is easy when you have your work space custom built.

A custom built desk can be free-standing or built in as part of the room. The style, size, color and all other attributes that will help you be more productive while working can be designed to your specifications. Creating the perfect custom built desk for you starts with a series of question that will determine your needs and how best to meet them.

First, you have to look at how much space you have to work with and design the custom desk and work space to fit into that space.

Desk shape is the next important question to ask yourself – do you prefer a traditional straight desk with drawers on one or both sides? Perhaps an L-shaped or U-shaped desk would better suit your needs and can easily be built for you.

Size and shape may also depend on the number of people who will be sharing the desk and office space. Will you be working alone all the time, half the time or will the space always be shared with one or more people? Height and chair space for the desk is also a consideration. A desk custom built for a 6‘5“ man will need to be higher than a desk custom built for a 5‘ 2‘ female.

Storage is also an issue to address when designing a custom built desk. Even in this day and age of electronic storage, there are a multitude of items that need to be physically stored within arm’s reach.

How many electronic devices will be used at this desk? Take into consideration the need for electrical outlets, usb hubs and the like so all your electronic gear with be at your fingertips.

Last but not least, consider the finish and hardware you want on your custom built desk. A wide variety of finishes can be chosen from along with many styles of hardware for custom built desk. Give us a call today to discuss your custom desk needs. 

 

Custom Entry “Lockers” – Green Bay

/in /by

Wooden lockersThey’re new, modern and old school all at the same time. We’re talking about custom lockers and they can store your stuff with style. Custom lockers suit the workplace, home, gym or any other place where stylish storage with easily accessible items is needed.

Lockers conjure up images of the old, smelly metal storage units we used in high school. Modern custom lockers are all about wood and blending into the surroundings as pieces of custom built furniture which is exactly what they are, pieces of furniture.

Custom lockers offer quick access to items by creating shallow, open, vertical cubby holes that provide hanging spaces for coats, scarves, book bags and the like without the use of a door. At the base of each vertical cubby can be your choice of seating, open or closed cubby holes. Cubby hole can also be incorporated into the overhead or vertical design. Custom lockers that provide seating help make getting ready to go outdoors easy or coming in from the great outdoors an easier transition.

Custom built lockers can reach from floor to ceiling, fill up an unused corner or be free-standing units. As any custom built item, wood lockers are built to your size and design specifications and can solve a big storage problem. They can be built as large or small as needed and finished off with variety of finishes to blend into any decor. The finished product can be natural to let the beauty of the wood shine through, stained or painted to match the other wood furniture in the home or distressed and made to look like an antique. The choices for custom lockers are limitless, just as the uses for these wonderful storage units are.

Custom lockers green bayCustom lockers are perfect for the home in mud rooms, laundry rooms, entrance ways, basements and even in children’s rooms. The work place can also benefit from the addition of custom built lockers so employees can have their own personal spaces to stash coats, umbrellas and rain boots for the day. Gyms, indoor playgrounds and other facilities that require patrons to change shoes or clothing would also benefit from the use of custom lockers.

Keeping gear corralled into one stylish unit that looks like a part of the room itself is a good thing, and a built in always adds resale value to a home or other facility. So give us a call today to discuss your custom locker needs. 

Need More Room in Your House? Consider Building Custom Closets

/in /by

custom closets Green BayWho doesn’t need more storage space in their home? The answer is no one. We all could use more storage space, but a small room with a rod to hang clothes on isn’t always the right answer. A clothes closet is a good start, but how much better would a clothes closet with built in drawers, shoe racks and double rods that allow for double the amount of clothing to be neatly suspended be? A dream come true for most of us and a custom built closet can provide you with more room in your house.

A place for everything and everything in it’s place, that’s a what building custom closets can give to you. A clothes closet does not have to be a dark, dreary, tiny, disheveled room that wreaks of foot odor, but it can be bright, shining retreat complete with chandelier, seating, television and mini fridge in a room that houses all your clothing and footwear.

Shelves for shoes can be stationary or rotating, and allow you to see and chose the perfect pair of shoes to go with your outfit. Various levels of hanging rods will keep your short dresses, long pants and evening gowns all in neat rows and at your fingertips.

Built in floor to ceiling shelves and drawers will neatly house lingerie, sweaters and other garment items that require folding. Overhead cubbies or cabinets will provide space to keep out-of-season clothing neatly organized. Custom made spaces for laundry receptacles and dry cleaning can be incorporated into the closest design, as well as spaces for a home safe, necktie rack and purse collection. Comfortable seating, full length mirror, center island that houses chargers for electronic, jewelry and a mini bar can also be built in to a closet if space permits.

 

Custom built closets can also be for items other than shoes and clothing. Linen closets, game and toy closet or custom designed spaces in which to tuck away your world behind closed doors can also be custom built to meet your needs, big or small. We’ve even built “hidden closets” for customers. 

The sky is the limit on custom closest features. Modern, sleek, traditional wood or cedar or a variety of other materials and styles can be used to custom build your closet to suit your needs and desires. So give us a call today to discuss your closet needs. 

Easy Ways to Expand Your Closet Space

/in /by

 Closet space is always in demand, the more stuff we get, the more space we need to store the stuff. However, building a new, larger closet is not always an option so it’s good to know there are easy ways to expand your existing closet without taking away space from another room.

Nook Shelves

Long, narrow closets have a recessed end on each side. The space is often unused and easily be re-claimed and put to use with nook shelves. Several wire shelves can be added to each recessed end space and used to store shoes, hand bags, blankets or other items that are not used daily but need to be easily accessed.

Inexpensive wire shelving can be purchased at any home supply center and cut to fit your closet space.

Double Decker Closet Rods

Instantly double the hanging space within your closet by adding a second hanging rod. If the existing rod is at least 66 inches from the floor, there is plenty of room to install a lower rod under it. If the top is lower than 66 inches, moving it up will provide room for the second hanging rod.

A rod and hardware can be purchased at a home supply center and easily installed by attaching the metal hanging brackets into the walls studs in the closet.

Overhead Storage

Most closets have one overhead shelf for storage and by adding a second overhead shelf you can easily double the storage space. A standard 12 inch wide board can be purchased and cut to length at nay home supply center and installed in your closet with three mounting brackets. Install one bracket on each end and one in the middle for shelf support and double storage space.

Back of Door Space

Adding a shoe bag to the inside back of the closet door provides slots of shoes, handbags and similar items. So will an over-the-door hanging shelf that can be purchased at most big box retailers.

Install a length of fine wire across the inside back of closet door every 12 inches, then place clothes pins on the wire. Use the clothes pins to hold gloves, scarves, hats and other small items and keep them at your fingertips. Several self-adhering hooks placed across the inside back of the closet door will also increase storage space with putting any holes in the door.

These are just a few simple ways to expand your closet space. You can also find tons of cool storage ideas at Pinterest. 

Custom Staircase Gates – Green Bay

/in /by

Post by Distinctive Cabinets of Green Bay.

When you live in a home that has a second floor and/or basement, certain situations make it needful to block access to the stair case. An adventurous toddler, an elderly family member that is not as sure-footed as they once were or household pets are some examples of why a stair case gate would be a good thing to have to block access to potentially a harmful stairway.

A trip to the local home supply center will garner you a one-size-fits-all white plastic or flimsy wood stair case gate that may serve the purpose, but will be an eye-sore in the process. If the need for blocking the stairs arises in your household, you may want to consider investing in a custom built stair case gate that will provide security and peace of mind while being aesthetically pleasing at the same time.

A custom built stair case gate will look as though it was built as part of the stair case. Easy to use… pretty to look at… you may even leave the gate in place even after the need for it is no longer there.

Safe and securely installed to open from the side of your choice, a custom stair case gate will prevent someone you love from taking a tumble down a flight of stairs. And if rambunctious pets are the issue, a custom gate will keep them on the floor you want them on while allowing you to see and hear them at all times.

Store bought gates that are held in place with pressure rods don’t provide enough security for a toddler who may try to climb over the gate or push against the gate to get through. Pets will also try to climb over and will be able to knock a gate held in place with pressure rods over. Most store bought stair case gates have a plastic mesh or thin wooden slat centers and the toenails of a puppy or dog trying to climb over the gate will shred the flimsy center in no time. Should an elderly person take a spill and fall into a store bought stair case gate, the blow would probably topple the gate and down the stairs would go your loved one and the gate.

A custom built stair case gate will not topple over because it’s securely attached to the stair case or wall stud. The center of the gate is custom built to match your stair rails or to meet your specifications, providing strong and lasting beauty. So give us a call or email us today if you’re interested in a new custom staircase gate for your home. 

Cabinetry Accessories & Options

/in /by

Once upon a time cabinets were simply wooden boxes with doors suspended from the wall or placed on the floor and held kitchen utensils. As the years passed, the plain-Jane styling gave way to ornamental hardware and a variety of wood finish options for the cabinets and that was topped off with something other than colorful Formica countertops. And today cabinetry options have increased even more. Someone in the market for a new updated kitchen can now select from a wide variety of materials, finishes, hardware and countertops…but the options don’t end there. Both the interiors and exteriors can be designed and customized to suit your needs and preferences. Below are just a few of the options you can choose from. 

Slide Out Shelves

Slide out shelves for bottom cabinets provide for easy access to all that’s stored inside. No more having to get down on your knees and drag out several pots and pans before you find the one you need, just slide the entire shelf out and make your pot selection.

Pull Out Garbage

A pullout lower cabinet that holds two standard size trash cans keeps the garbage out of sight and out of reach of toddlers and pets. A pullout cutting board can be installed in the cabinet above the trash receptacle to make cleanup a breeze after chopping vegetables.

Pull Out Spice Rack

Hidden from view yet right at your fingertips, a hidden spice rack helps to keep spices fresh and readily available when you’re preparing your favorite dish.

Drawer Dividers

Everyone has a junk drawer in their kitchen that is filled with a jumble of items. Drawer dividers and removable boxes will keep that junk drawer neat and will create separate spaces in other drawers for all your cutlery and kitchen utensils. No more prowling through the drawers to find the salad forks and soup spoons. They will be right at your fingertips and neatly organized with drawer dividers.

Soft Close Doors

After pulling out and opening up your cabinetry, a gentle push will close each door and drawer softly and quietly when you select the soft close cabinetry option. Soft close doors save wear and tear on the cabinetry and cut down on the kitchen noise.

Also be sure to check out our video page to see these awesome accessories in action. And if you’re interested in any other cabinetry options or features, please let us know and we will help you find a solution that’s tailored to meet your needs.

How to Clean a Smelly Refrigerator

/in /by

Kitchen remodel Green Bay, WIOut of sight, out of mind. Spills inside the refrigerator happen. Leftover food gets shoved to the back and forgotten. Vegetables in the crisper lay there so long they sprout their own seedlings. Illness-causing mold and bacteria grow and multiply in the fertile ground behind the closed door of a dirty refrigerator interior. Follow these easy steps to clean your smelly refrigerator and prevent inadvertent science projects from growing inside.

Remove Shelves

Remove all food items then remove all shelves, racks and drawers and allow them to come to room temperature before washing. Fill the kitchen sink with warm, soapy water and wet a paper towel or two and place over any dried spills inside the refrigerator so they will be easier to remove later. If bottoms of drawers have dried spills cover them with a wet paper towel or put a little water inside of drawer to soak the dried food debris loose.

Once the shelves, racks and drawers have reached room temperature, wash them in warm, soapy water, rinse well and let dry.

Wash Interior

Use a baking soda and water mix to clean the inside of refrigerator. Baking soda is a natural, food grade cleanser that won’t leave a scent inside the fridge, whereas commercial cleaners will leave a scent behind that can be absorbed by food.

Mix one part baking soda to five parts warm water. Dampen a clean sponge or cloth and begin to wipe down the interior from top to bottom. Use a nylon scrubber to remove the dried debris which has been soaking under wet paper towel. Toothpicks and an old toothbrush will get into those hard-to-reach crevices and clean out debris. Wipe away food particles with a damp paper towel, then wipe down with baking soda mixture. Wipe interior dry with paper towel.

Reload Fridge

Wipe all interior components dry and put them back in their proper places. Mix up a fresh batch of baking soda and warm water, then grab a clean cloth. Dampen the cloth in the baking soda water and wipe down the outside of all jars and bowls before placing them back on the shelf to prevent drips and spills from starting the mess all over again. Keep the refrigerator interior tidy and clean between deep cleaning by routinely wiping down the outside of containers before placing inside the fridge. Place a fresh, open box of baking soda inside the refrigerator and freezer to absorb food odors.