Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

The City of Bloomington Volunteer Network is your source for information about volunteering locally. For a complete listing, visit BloomingtonVolunteerNetwork.org or call 812-349-3433. The inclusion of an organization in this list does not imply city endorsement or support of the organizations activities or policies.

Information and registration information for the following opportunities can be found online at BloomingtonVolunteerNetwork.org.

Be a part of the people-power that will make this Thanksgiving Food Drive a big success. Thanksgiving is one of the biggest distribution days of the year for Pantry 279. This year, 2,000 Thanksgiving boxes will be assembled and distributed at the Monroe County Fairgrounds Community Building or delivered to homebound residents throughout a multicounty area. The work will be nonstop until everyone has been served! Individuals and groups can participate in this huge effort as helpers with Thanksgiving food box packing and assembly, as delivery drivers, or as on-site traffic volunteers. Two-hour volunteer shifts are available 2-8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 19, and 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 20. Groups are welcome! Volunteers are needed all month long for regular pantry duties as well. Sign up for a Nov. 19-20 shift here: https://bit.ly/30efxFo. Contact Cindy Chavez at 812-606-1524 or pantry279@yahoo.com.

Volunteers are the heart of the Community Kitchen of Monroe County. Open six days a week, Monday-Saturday, volunteers help prepare and serve free meals for in-house and carry-out patrons at two locations (South Rogers Street and the Express location at 11th and Summit streets). Indiana University students are an important component of the volunteer program, which makes school breaks and days around the holidays critical periods. The kitchen needs more than 100 volunteers each week most of the year to provide their meal services. There are two volunteer shifts daily Monday through Saturday. The six-volunteer prep shift, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m., helps with dinner food prep, puts together the cold carry-out meals, and lunches for the after-school programs. Some cleaning and washing dishes may be included. The3:30-6:30 p.m. serving shift of seven volunteers consists mainly of serving the evening meal "cafeteria-style" and doing some cleanup afterward. Those ages 14 and older may volunteer independently. Youth 10-13 may volunteer if accompanied by an adult. Please contact June Taylor at 812-332-0999 or june@monroecommunitykitchen.com and provide a phone number for confirmation.

The kitchen at Beacon's Shalom Community Center serves breakfast and lunch seven days a week to individuals experiencing poverty. It takes lots of volunteers to keep the kitchen running! Families are welcome to volunteer together and individuals age 14 or older can assist with doughnut and bagel pickup, meal preparation, meal service and clean up. Scheduling is flexible, so pick your shift today! Contact Novella Shuck at 812-334-5734, ext. 113, or novella@beaconinc.org.

Middle Way House

Middle Way House is a domestic violence shelter and rape crisis center that offers services including emergency shelter, legal advocacy, transitional housing and support services to survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking. Contact Madeline Plant at 812-337-4510 or development@middleway.orgto arrange a donation.

Featured wishes:$10-20 gift cards (Kroger, Walmart, gas stations), USB wall chargers, brown paper bags, ethnic hair care shampoo, conditioner, and coconut oil, housewares, linens, childrens clothes sizes 12 months-6T especially long-sleeve tops, pants and coats for the winter season, and more!

View their full Wish List online.You can find current in-kind, material needs on the year-round Community Wish List at BloomingtonVolunteerNetwork.org/communitywishlist.

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Volunteer Bloomington: Helping to feed local people in need - The Herald-Times

Yankunytjatjara Pitjantjatjara Elder Sammy Brown was behind a complaint to the ALRM three years ago.

He was caring for his two primary school-aged grandchildren when his power was cut off and owed $12,000.

The [grandchildren] didnt like it, so I had to get family to look after them, wash their clothes, and get them to school, Mr Brown said.

We had no electricity for the washing machine or baths or to stay warm.

It took more than five months to get reconnected, during which time the grandchildren had to live with other relatives while he relied on a backyard campfire to stay warm at night and cook his food.

They cut it off and I said, Ill have to make a fire just to cook in the morning, dinner and supper," he said.

Feel no good, Mr Brown said. touching his chest. I was going to move away.

Residents struggling with their bills have told SBS News it was suggested they apply to the local Native Title group for hardship funding - designed to help with one-off costs such as sorry business, a medical emergency or household goods -to pay their electricity bills.

Antakirinja Matu-Yankunytjatjara Aboriginal Corporation (AMYAC) board members say theyve contributed $65,000 to help 65 families with utility debts since 2016.

The board has recently stopped allowing grants to be used to pay power bills and is instead calling on state and federal governments to find a solution because we know the issue is much bigger than the Council itself.

In our view, it is unconscionable that AMYAC members and Native Title holders should have to access Native Title compensation to prevent their essential services being disconnected, an open letter addressed to parliamentarians reads.

If these services cannot be sustained without significant contributions from Native Title funds, government and industry on all levels need to explore longer-term, more equitable solutions to ensure essential services are available to community members at a sustainable price.

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Aboriginal residents of outback SA are having to choose between food and electricity - SBS News

An early lesson from Jan Showerss career: Buy what you love. It was the late 1990s, and the Texas designer was in Paris to buy a container full of antiques to kick off her Dallas showroom. This was her first big buying trip abroad, and she was facing a dilemma: At the time, Dallas was a brown furniture town, and there was plenty of that available in France. But Showers didnt like it. She split the difference, buying half a container of classic 18th- and 19th-century antiques and filling up the other half with the stuff she liked, mostly pieces from the late 1940s.

As soon as I got all the antiques in the store, what sold first? What I loved, Showers tells host Dennis Scully on the latest episode of The Business of Home Podcast. I had to book a trip back to Paris to buy more of it. And I then had to sit and look at all the pieces I didnt like. That taught me never to buy something I didnt love. If I dont love it, I cant sell it.

Showers, an interior designer, product designer and showroom owner, is the wearer of many hats and a doyenne of Texas design. The Lone Star State is a particularly good place to be a success in the design industry these days, as it is benefiting from the same COVID-era boom as the rest of the country, only more so (the lack of a state income tax has helped draw pandemic-era city escapers, especially from California). Thats especially true in Dallas, a town that, perhaps unlike Austin, isnt particularly shy about big houses decorated to the nines.

We had the wonderful head of Dallas Museum of Art [host an event], and he said the thing thats the best and worst about Dallas is materialism, says Showers. I dont think thats the case, but I do think people in Dallas want their houses done. Its very easy to find houses in Dallas that can be published.

In this episode of the podcast, Showers breaks down the recent Dallas Kips Bay Decorator Show House; talks about her own product lines rocky early days; details what young designers need to do to put themselves on the right track; and explains why she recently pulled her furniture out of showrooms to sell direct to designers online.

I had a couple of friends in the manufacturing business who encouraged me. My furniture has been out there for a long time, people know our product, people are buying online, she says. Ive been thinking about [making this move for] quite a while. We have 6,000 square feet of antiqueswe put those online and thats done great. So I thought: Its time.

Listen to the show below. If you like what you hear, subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. This episode was sponsored by Ben Soleimani and SideDoor.

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How Jan Showers learned to trust her instincts - Business of Home

There are a growing number of options to replace the plastic light switch.

When it comes to brutalist functionality, its hard to beat the white plastic rocker switch. Its an inexpensive, ubiquitous 21st-century incarnation of the switch dreamt up by the electrical engineer John Henry Holmes in 1884, which employed quick-break technology that turned lights on and off instantly.

Thirty years later, William J. Newton moved things on again with an elegant, brass toggle switch that replaced the push button.

It was the creeping functionality of light switches that interior designer Serena Herbert sought to address when she launched Forbes & Lomax more than 30 years ago. Its first invisible light switch: a simple, transparent Perspex plate that allowed the wallpaper or paint beneath to show through, with only a metal switch visible. It was an instant hit.

The type of light switch you choose comes down to a question of budget, believes Mrs Herbert. A white plastic light switch costs a few pounds, whereas ours start at 40. However, the effect, we believe, can be quite transformative.

For a relatively little outlay, changing these details can instantly albeit almost unconsciously smarten up a space.

Light switches havent always been utilitarian, notes Mrs Herbert, who remembers that those at her school were made of cast brass in the shape of a friars head.

You would toggle his nose up and down. The Forbes & Lomax collection includes a range of rotary dimmers and momentary switches that come in the form of a toggle, rocker or button. I think the whole idea of a switch is not to notice them, she adds.

Interior decorator Irene Gunter has more forthright views on the matter of white plastic light switches. We never use them, except in functional spaces such as garages. I wouldnt even use them in a utility room.

She turns instead to Forbes & Lomax or Focus SB for more elegant solutions.

The Forbes and Lomax invisible switch

Antique brass and bronze finishes are still very much in fashion, but it depends on the scheme: bronze sockets can look like dark blobs on a cream wall, explains Mrs Gunter. The ideal is to make them so subtle you hardly notice them. Well go as far as to powder-coat switches and sockets in the same colour as the walls, if the budget allows.

Mrs Gunter says that clients arent generally aware of the impact the right switches and sockets will have, until its pointed out. She also adds that our approach to switches is different to that of Europe. In Belgium, they take it very seriously and there is a whole array of brands available that we dont have in the UK.

Heralding that shift is the arrival of the Wiltshire-based Corston Architectural Detail. The online company was born out of a demand for a coherent range of fittings, explains founder Giles Redman.

He sees a further reason for white plastic light switches falling out of favour: customers are demanding more sustainable materials. All our switches and sockets are made from solid brass, a natural material that is also recyclable.

He adds: We also strongly believe that the tactile parts of the home you interact with every day are really important, hence they should be a joy to use.

A generation or two ago, kitchens were routinely re-done in bright colours and there's something in colourful kitchen design even

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Light switch alternatives: Why its time to ditch plastic - Country Life

First, Sidney Carter was laid off from his job as a dishwasher, when the restaurant where he was working lost business as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last month, Carter lost his apartment, after his savings ran out and the states eviction moratorium expired. Since then, he has been living in a tent in Touhy Park, 7348 N. Paulina St., joining a dozen or so homeless men and women who began camping out in the six-acre park in July.

I just came here one day and I saw the tents, and I just started hanging out here, said Carter, 49. Its safer out here than riding the train all night. You do what you have to to survive.

A tent and a sleeping bag donated by neighbors calling themselves the Rogers Park Solidarity Network keeps Carter warm, even as temperatures at night approach freezing. The Night Ministry bus delivers meals and medical care once a week. A Just Harvest and Rogers Park Food Not Bombs also donate food to the homeless.

There have long been homeless jungles in Margate Park, in Uptown, and at Roosevelt Road and Des Plaines Street, alongside the Dan Ryan Expressway. This year, though, tents have been appearing in neighborhood parks, as a result of the economic distress caused by COVID. Homelessness was already on the rise in 2020, and the pandemic has only made the homelessness crisis worse, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge declared earlier this year.

Its hard not to see it as an effect, said 49th Ward Ald. Maria Hadden. Go up Lake Shore Drive. You see more people camping out. Were definitely seeing more people unsheltered during the pandemic. Some of them may previously have been able to crash with a friend, but thats no longer considered safe because of COVID.

Elsewhere in Haddens ward, homeless people are sleeping under the viaduct at the Howard Street L station.

Over the weekend, Hadden held a public meeting outside the Touhy Park Fieldhouse to announce a plan to find permanent housing for the campers. On Thursday, officials from the Department of Family and Support Services will drive the homeless to the Broadway Armory, where theyll be able to sign up for one of 20 available units. Hadden is calling it an Accelerated Housing Event, or Rapid Rehousing. Those who apply should have permanent homes within two weeks to a month. Funds from the federal CARES Act have enabled the city to speed up the process, which previously took as many as 200 days.

Theyre going to take us downtown to get state IDs, said Jerome Smith, a 70-year-old ex-Marine who has been sleeping in the park since the summer. I had one, but Im homeless. I been on the L. They stole my wallet.

Life in the encampment has been pretty good, Smith said. They give us sleeping bags, blankets, food, snack packs. Still, Smith is longing to sleep indoors.

All I want is a one-bedroom or a studio, he said. I got all my stuff in storage by the Red Line. Im gonna have my own little place. Im an interior decorator. I got everything. Get me in. Break that tent down.

Smith said campers use restrooms at Walgreens and Jewels, but during the meeting, Hadden heard from residents who complained that the homeless have been urinating and defecating in alleys. Since the park fieldhouse is usually closed, the alderman is working with the park district to install a portable toilet.

Drinking and drug use are also problems in the encampment. Men sit by the fence at the north end of the park, sipping from Miller High Life tallboys. On Oct. 17, Carter watched as paramedics pulled the body of an overdose victim from a tent an incident confirmed by the alderwomans office.

Some are dope fiends, some are addicts, Carter said. Ive seen a guy OD. Just a bad shot of heroin.

The Rapid Rehousing event does not necessarily mean the end of Touhy Park encampment, Hadden said. Some campers may refuse housing, either because its in a part of town where they dont want to live, or for personal reasons. If they do, the city has a policy of not forcing the homeless out of parks.

It still doesnt mean people might not live in Touhy Park, the alderwoman said.

Carter wont be one of them; he plans to be at the Broadway Armory on Thursday, to sign up for housing.

Im just passing through, he said. Im not going to be in the park when the weather really hits hard. Im hoping I can get some kind of housing the same day, and then go back to work.

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A Rapid Rehousing Event Looks To Help the City's Homeless - Chicagomag.com

The digitization of the art world is in full swing, given a hefty push by the Covid-19 pandemic. Arts professionals accustomed to dealing with traditional mediums, such as painting, struggle to make their material intelligible to digital natives. While digital content should ideally serve as a teaching tool that leads viewers back to the original artwork, the two modes of communication are not always compatible. The dazzle of the newer media can overwhelm the smaller, quieter art of earlier times, as is the case with the two immersive Van Gogh experiences now on view in New York. Such presentations function as autonomous entertainments, effectively superseding their sources.

Google Arts & Culture recently launched an online hub, Klimt vs. Klimt: The Man of Contradictions, devoted to the Austrian Art-Nouveau master Gustav Klimt (1862-1918). It is chock-a-block with features that will be familiar to anyone who spent time in lockdown browsing art-related websites: videos, of course; digital slide shows with seductive zoom features; a virtual Klimt exhibition that could never be duplicated in real life, both because of the cost and because some of the paintings no longer exist. As one would expect from Google, the Klimt site is technologically impressive and easy to navigate. High-resolution images were solicited from the worlds foremost Klimt collections, including those at the Belvedere, Albertina, Leopold Museum and Wien Museum in Vienna and the Neue Galerie in New York. The project was overseen by Franz Smola, curator of 19th- and 20th-century art at the Belvedere. The stories that accompany the artworks were for the most part scripted by the Belvedere, or by the institution responsible for the visuals.

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Klimt vs. Klimt: The Man of Contradictions Review: Exploring an Art-Nouveau Master Online - The Wall Street Journal

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A timeline of the Tory sleaze allegations - The Week UK

Mel is with Molly Bardwell, design consultant from ACME Cabinet Company and she is going to show us the process of taking the kitchen you have and turning it into the kitchen you want.

Molly says an open concept is really popular lately and with the older homes in Buffalo most of the time a wall has to come down in order to do that. She says they start that process by coming into the persons home, assessing the area, talking to them about their needs, how they use their kitchen in their day-to-day life. Then she says we go back to the office and play around with the dimensions and cabinets and find something they love.

Functionality is also really important. Molly says they listen to the customer and figure out how they use they their kitchen. Something like pull-outs in a pantry are a good use of vertical space and they are really accessible for children.

Molly says all of their cabinets come standard with soft-close doors and drawers so there is no slamming your fingers in them or no loud banging of opening and closing. She says you do have the option of glass doors in all three of their lines.

She says trash pull-outs are really popular and another great accessory is the spice pull-out. Molly says it is really handy to have it right by the stove so when you are cooking you can very quickly season as needed and its another great use of vertical storage and nice to have.

Molly says they work very closely with your contractor just to make sure everyone is on the same page. If they do have any questions during the process, Molly says we have our project liaison, who will come in and help out as needed. Molly goes on to say the contractors are the most important part of the job beside from the design. She says it really does take a village but together we can do it.

For more information visit acmebuffalo.com or give them a call at 716-381-8888.

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Tuesday tips for a dream kitchen - The process of remodeling your kitchen - WKBW-TV

DES MOINES, Iowa With the pandemic and the changes in the housing market within the last few years, you probably know someone who has done a renovation or bought a new home.

According to findings from a survey on Houzz.com, a home design and remodeling site, from 2020 to 2021 the amount people have spent on home renovations has gone up about 15 percent.

Lynn Johnson, a local real estate agent, said that renovations run from basic to extreme, but there are a few things you should be evaluating right off the bat depending on whether you want to sell your home or stick around.

If you really are looking to sell your home, what are some things that you know about your house. Things that you already dont like are also going to be things that buyers are not going to like. But if youre looking to stay in your home, make it your own, with a neutral palette, said Johnson.

Kitchen and bath remodels are the most popular and they usually cost the most but have the highest return on investment.

Johnson wants people to know that they can remodel things without breaking the bank. Purchasing new handles and faucets for your bathroom or kitchen areas or painting outdated wood cabinets are good places to start.

As for when to accomplish these projects, now is the time.

When that weather starts to warm up after the first thing, thats when we hit a new market or spring market starts, and sometimes were well into the spring market before we even realize it, said Johnson. Its one of those things where we were in it and weve been in it for two weeks and you dont want to miss out. So do your projects now. But I would also consult with a professional. Sometimes what you have in mind that you like is not what the buyers want. And those are different trends that are really a big deal.

Johnson does recommend consulting someone like a designer or stager for more extreme home projects, especially if someone is trying to increase the value of their home.

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Looking to sell? Or stick around? Home renovation recommendations for any situation - WHO TV 13 Des Moines News & Weather

Your home has become a refuge, a school, an office and more over the last two years.

Whats the best way to make it better and improve your investment?

Replace the roof?

Expand the owners suite?

Add a fancy bathroom?

Remodeling magazine creates an annual cost-versus-value report, comparing the cost of home renovations and the return on investment at resale.

The 2021 report explores which projects add the most value to your home. In Lancaster County and throughout the country, most of the top projects are exterior upgrades. That makes sense. The curb appeal of a garage door and siding can make big impressions. And while decks are popular, they did not make the cut with the increased cost of materials.

The Top 5 in Lancaster County are:

Replacing an old 16-by-7-foot garage door in Lancaster County costs an average of $3,847, one of the cheapest renovations. The return, based on the percent recouped in the sale of the home, is the highest: 96%.

Wrapping the front of a home with stone veneer (an average cost of $10,247) is another project on the lower end for the cost of renovations. The return is 88%.

Replacing 1,250 square feet of siding (an average cost of $15,683) brought a return of 74.8%. In Lancaster County, thats a slightly better return than fiber-cement siding.

Replacing the same amount of siding with fiber-cement will cost about 17% more than vinyl siding (at an average cost of $18,715) but the return is still high at 70.9%.

Only one high-return project came from indoors. Renovating kitchens, bathrooms and bedrooms have so many options, its tough to have a wide appeal, according to Remodeling Magazine. However, a minor kitchen remodel still is a top-return project.

With an average cost of $25,302, the return is 70.8%, more than double the major and upscale kitchen renovations.

What is a midrange, minor kitchen remodel? Remodeling magazine defines it as a dated 200-square-foot kitchen with new shaker-style wood cabinet and drawer fronts, including new hardware. Replace cooktop/oven range and slide-in refrigerator with energy-efficient models. Replace laminate countertops; add a mid-priced sink and faucet. Add new resilient flooring and paint.

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Renovating? These home projects have the highest return on investment for Lancaster County - LNP | LancasterOnline