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Even if you're a dedicated housekeeper, the kitchen is one of those rooms that tends to attract messes. You can blame it on the kids, the dog, or the chef, but however you slice it, kitchens can get wild and woolly around the edges if you don't keep an eye on them. As part of our ongoing series on resolving to clean those tough areas around the house, we're tackling kitchens next, with some tips and tricks on cleaning the green way, and, because we like things to be simple around here, cleaning the easy way, too!

As always, we recommend spending at least ten minutes a day on cleaning and tidying some area of the house, so messes don't get a chance to snowball. If your ten minutes today is in the kitchen, take the time to remove everything from the counters and wipe them down, clean out the dish drainer and tray, go through the fridge to compost expired food and reorganize, take out trash and recycling, and a few other little things around the room.

You should also be thinking about deep cleaning projects for the kitchen, like cleaning the stove top to bottom (plan on budgeting at least half an hour for this), emptying and cleaning the fridge (and defrosting, if necessary), moving and cleaning under appliances, running the dishwasher on a cleaning cycle, and dusting all the cabinets. Those are the kinds of projects you can turn into a checklist that you choose from once a week, once every two weeks, or even once a month, so everything gets cleaned on a schedule.

So, how do you do all this the green way?

Green cleaners for the kitchen

One of the most pervasive, and stubborn, problems in the kitchen is greasy messes, especially around the stove. A basic baking soda and vinegar mix can work like a charm, though. Apply it in paste form, allow it to sit, and then wipe down. The mild abrasive action combined with the chemical reaction should loosen numerous stains. If you have a more determined stain, add a coarse scrubber to the mix to lift it up.

Salt and lemon are a miracle pair as well, because they act as their own built-in brush scrubber set. Cut a lemon in half, sprinkle salt on the surface you're cleaning, and rub the lemon on it like you would a sponge. The salt will gently abrade stains, while the lemon juice will help lift messes, including greasy ones. (P.S. Salt is also an eco-friendly silver polish, so back away from that harsh chemical cleaner and rub your silver with salt and a soft cloth before washing and hand-drying.)

Cream of tartar, meanwhile, lifts messes on stainless steel appliances without damaging the finish, something you may need to be careful of thanks to the current trend for stainless steel in kitchen remodels!

Orange oil can also be useful around the kitchen. To make your own basic orange oil cleaner, dump orange peels (piths included) into some plastic buckets. Add distilled vinegar to cover (no more, you don't want a dilute solution) and keep in a cool dark place, like the garage, for two weeks, stirring occasionally. When it's done, strain it, and keep it in concentrated form -- dilute when you're adding it to spray bottles for a great all purpose cleaner that's also aromatic.

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Green cleaning in the kitchen

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Some big changes are in the works for The Modern Hotel's tiny kitchen. For the past few years, the boutique hotel has been cranking out top-notch small plates on nothing more than a four-burner electric stove, two induction burners and a panini press. But sometime at the end of February or the beginning of March, The Modern's kitchen will shut down for two weeks for a remodel.

"So mainly it's putting in a full hood with a 10-fire gas range, a couple ovens. Pretty much upgrading the kitchen from more of like a sandwich deli kitchen to a full restaurant kitchen," said Remi Courcenet, Modern food and beverage manager. "Inside the kitchen, nothing's going to change. We're not taking away more rooms to make a bigger kitchen or anything. It's just upgrading it to more of a commercial standard."

Since the cocktail lounge will remain open during the remodel, Courcenet is searching for other ways to sate hungry patrons.

"We still would like to be able to have some food options for our guests, so we're trying to get some food trucks together to be there at night during that time period," said Courcenet.

The Modern's revamped kitchen should be up and running by mid-March. And that new set-up will pave the way for an even bigger change--The Modern will start serving brunch Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

"The brunch menu is keeping the same vision of food that we have at night, where we're kind of a bar that offers an interesting food selection," said Courcenet. "The brunch is going to be in that same range of ideas; trying to serve something different than the regular eggs benedict. ... It won't look like the traditional brunch menu that you can find everywhere else. We're trying to set ourselves apart."

Chef Alex Cardoza, formerly of the Boise Co-op deli, (full disclosure: He's my boyfriend) will take the reins of the brunch program. Possible dishes include steelhead lox with potato cakes and creme fraiche, scones with fresh berries, and graham cracker pancakes with lemon curd. Courcenet hopes to have brunch in full swing "somewhere around May"--just in time for prime patio weather.

Speaking of remodels, Woodland Empire Ale Craft is currently repairing the damage caused to its roof after a fire broke out Feb. 3. But a little ash isn't stopping the brewery from hosting a grand opening bash Saturday, Feb. 22, from noon-11 p.m. The celebration will feature live music by The Pint Scoundrels and DJ Winkle. Neckar Coffee will be on hand in the morning serving pour-over coffee, and Archie's Place and Boise Fry Co. will be parked on-site serving food. The previous day, Friday, Feb. 21, Boise Mayor Dave Bieter will drop by the brewery for a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 2 p.m.

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The Modern Remodels Its Kitchen, Plans To Offer Brunch

By Janis Mara Marin Independent Journal

If you're about to do a renovation on your home, there's something you should know: If the house is more than 20 years old and has water-wasting fixtures, you must replace them thanks to a new state law being phased in this year.

SB 470 requires that low-flow toilets, shower heads and interior faucets replace non-conserving fixtures in single-family homes more than 20 years old undergoing remodels or additions. This part of the law became effective Jan. 1, and other elements will kick in over the next five years.

As far as the age requirement, "It's going to affect most of the homes in Marin County," said Bob Ravasio, an agent with Coldwell Banker. "Most of them were built before 1994. For example, last year alone, of the 3,452 homes that sold, about two-thirds were built before 1994."

A water conserving shower head is photographed at Jackson's Hardware in San Rafael, Calif. on Friday, Feb. 14, 2014. (Alan Dep/Marin Independent Journal) Alan Dep

Ravasio emphasized that many aspects of the law's enforcement haven't yet been finalized.

"This thing is still in the stages where we are trying to figure out what the consequences are," the agent said.

"The law provides an enormous amount of gray area and we're trying to get to the bottom of how it's going to be implemented," said Blaine Morris, president of the Marin Association of Realtors.

The law affects remodels, not resales.

"There is nothing in the law that requires the installation of water-conserving fixtures as a condition of sale," said Lotus Lou of the California Association of Realtors.

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Marin homeowners compelled to combine water conservation with renovation

View Slideshow Chris Russell | Dispatch The Franklin County Office on Agings minor-home-repair program did about $4,000 worth of work to Stanford Carters East Side home, including installing these handrails. View Larger Local More Local Stories US & World More US & World Stories By Encarnacion Pyle The Columbus Dispatch Monday February 17, 2014 4:53 AM

When Stanford Carters furnace broke one brisk day in October, he didnt know where he was going to come up with the cash to fix it.

Carter, 64, of the East Side, spends more than three-quarters of his retirement benefits and pay from a part-time job as a barber on his monthly house payment and utilities.

That leaves the Vietnam War veteran with barely enough to cover food, gasoline and other necessities. The last thing Carter needed to worry about was a pricey repair to his modest 63-year-old house that has more than started showing its age.

Carter might still be without heat if a local agency hadnt directed him to the Franklin County Office on Agings minor-home-repair program. The group helped nearly 1,400 senior citizens last year, including 565 older than 75, so they could stay in their homes.

It has taken a lot off my mind, and I dont have to worry anymore, he said. Its given me peace of mind.

Providing minor home repairs is one of the easiest ways to keep older people living independently, experts say. However, demand for such programs often surpasses what groups are able to provide, and money remains limited.

The U.S. has at least 13 million low-income households of people age 50 or older living in unaffordable or inadequate housing, the AARP Foundation says.

For vulnerable older Americans, housing upkeep is a challenge to maintain, particularly in these tough economic times, the foundations president, Jo Ann Jenkins, said.

The foundation awarded $780,000 to four groups last year to repair and add safety features to 1,179 homes across the country, including some in Ohio, with the hope of showing other groups that the work can pay big dividends.

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Repairs keep needy seniors in their homes

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With an attention to detail, a focus on honesty, and an emphasis on quality, Als Contractors Inc., located in Kinnelon, is a general contractor that keeps their customers satisfaction their top priority with each and every job that they tackle.

PHOTOS BY SANDY STUCKI

(Left to right) Joe Love, a Glendale Terrace homeowner, Chris Lawrence and Al Zor of Als Contractors Inc., stand in the kitchen they worked on inside a Kinnelon home.A view of the tile work over the kitchen stove in a Glendale Terrace home. From kitchen designs and remodels, to finished basements, to siding or to bathroom restorations, Al Zor and his crew can do it all.

Owner, Al Zor, began his business in 1996, and he is so appreciative of his customers and their loyalty, as this word-of-mouth referral he has seen throughout the years even got the business through recent hard times that the economy and other local merchants encountered first hand.

"Over the years, I want to thank my past customers for their trust and dedication through the hard times of the economy," explained Zor. "We rode through the rough times of the economy crisis because of word-of-mouth, and it has gotten us through it where we were able to not only keep our crew, but add on to it as well."

Zor said about 95 percent of his business is from repeat customers or by word-of-mouth. He and his crew can complete little home repairs, to big renovations, and have even started to dabble in light commercial repairs.

With a crew of four Zor at the helm, Joe Love (foreman), Chris Lawrence (helper), and Sean Donnelly (designer and sales) Als Contractors Inc. is a one-stop shop for all customer renovation needs. From kitchen designs and remodels, to finished basements, to siding or to bathroom restorations, Zor and his crew can do it all.

They also have many long-standing relationships with other local subcontractors, so if there is a job that requires work that Zor and his crew cannot complete on their own, he knows who to call to get the job done right the first time.

"We are very fortunate to work with the right people," he said.

With the recent addition of Donnelly to his crew, Zor said Donnelly, like his other crew members, focuses on not only customer satisfaction, but a specific attention to detail by listening to customers needs and wants, and then transcending this vision into a magnificent design.

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Als Contractors of Kinnelon makes it easy to renovate

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