Do you want to dine in style without the hassle? This video offers tips on selecting dishes, silverware, napkins and placemats as well as something special for the center of the table. Did you know napkin rings are staging a comeback?
MODA Partners With Agape Youth and Family Center
From May 1-30, MODA Floors & Interiors will make a contribution from sales to the Agape Youth and Family Center’s COVID-19 Emergency Assistance Fund. Agape is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides academic-based after-school programming, day programming for seniors and disabled adults, family emergency assistance, ESOL in schools and athletic-based health and wellness enrichment camps for girls and boys during the summer. Agape serves a community that includes more than 2,000 school-age children who live in an impoverished area of northwest Atlanta.
MODA Floors & Interiors, an Atlanta-based flooring and window coverings resource, has worked closely with Agape for 10 years on its Extreme Bedroom Makeover and Great Backpack Giveaway projects.
“Agape does an excellent job empowering and supporting under-served families in its community,” said Dean Howell, president of MODA. “The COVID-19 Emergency Assistance Fund will be used to help struggling families pay their rent as well as utility and grocery bills.”
MODA will donate $50 for any sale of $1,000 – $4,999 or $100 for any sale of $5,000 or more. Tax deductible contributions also can be made on the Agape website, https://agapeatlanta.org/emergency-assistance-fund/
MODA Introduces Virtual Shopping Experience
Life’s simple pleasures begin at home. Find your new floors from the comfort of your home using our new virtual shopping tools. See which type of flooring and color might work best in your room. View the video to learn how simple the tools are to use.
20 Ways to Help Fight Boredom
Has cabin fever set in yet for you? Are you struggling to find things to do for you and your family? Here are 20 suggestions.
- Take a virtual tour of five historic homes.
- Enjoy virtual tours of botanical gardens throughout the South.
- Catch up on your reading.
- FaceTime with family and friends.
- Change up your décor scheme.
- Take a power nap.
- Complete a crossword puzzle.
- Call an old friend.
- Teach your children how to cook.
- Plant an indoor herb garden.
- Make lists (work lists, home lists and even your life goals).
- Look through your old photos and share them digitally with family members.
- Learn a new language.
- Support your local restaurants by buying gift cards for future use.
- Organize your computer files.
- Clean out your closets.
- Go on a walk while practicing social distancing.
- Plan a future trip or party.
- Check out the exercise videos on YouTube.
- Sit back, relax and savor the feeling of having nothing to do.
What other ideas do you have?
Maintaining and Changing the Look of Wood Floors
Photo: Bona
How should I maintain my wood floors?
Routine maintenance for wood flooring is really very easy. Simply sweep, dust mop or vacuum with the beater bar turned off to remove dirt and grit from between the floor boards. Wet mops and steam mops should be avoided because excessive water and steam can dull the finish or even damage the wood. When spills occur, clean the area immediately with a dry or slightly damp cloth.
If the floor begins to look a little dull, using a wood flooring cleaner recommended by the installer or manufacturer will help renew luster. Avoid mass-market rejuvenators, polishes or restorers. If you are not sure which cleaner to use, visit a reputable flooring store like MODA Floors & Interiors for a recommendation.
Will I be able to change the look of my wood floors?
One of the advantages of wood floors is that they can be refinished, which makes them a great long-term value. A wood flooring professional will clean the floors to remove all contaminants and then lightly abrade the floor and apply a new coat of finish. If scratches are deep in the wood, or if there are large dents or damaged boards, trained refinishers will be able to repair the damage without affecting the rest of the floor.
The numbers of times a floor can be refinished will depend on the floor itself, the degree of repair needed and the skill of the refinisher. A professional refinisher will remove very little of the wood to make repair – generally 1/32” or less – while those without proper training or equipment might remove much more wood than that, which generally reduces the life of the floor.
What are the Benefits of Wood Floors?
Wood floors offer great long-term value, are easy to maintain and add value to your home. When properly installed and maintained, wood floors can last for hundreds of years. Other flooring options that won’t last as long will need to be replaced more often at additional expense both financially and to the environment.Routine maintenance requires nothing more than a broom or dust mop. Periodically, using a wood flooring cleaner made for the floor will help remove surface dirt.
Wood floors also add value to your home. Real estate agents report that properties with wood floors sell faster and for more money than properties without wood floors.
Wood as a building material has excellent insulation properties. It has 10 times more insulating capacity than steel or aluminum and five times more insulating capacity than concrete or cinder blocks. As a flooring material, wood retains warmth from heating systems, both from HVAC systems and radiant heat systems, increasing the overall physical warmth of the room.
Can I Install Wood Floors Myself?
Photo: Bona
Installing wood floors is a lot more complicated than painting your walls or replacing the hardware on your kitchen cabinets. Wood flooring requires special tools that you will likely have to rent. You will need to make sure the room you are working in is flat, that the subfloor material will work for wood flooring and that no moisture issues are present that will damage the wood long term.
You also will need to know how to center the room, how much space should be left for expansion gaps and how to work around obstructions like closets, fireplaces, bay windows, staircases and cabinets. If you make cutting mistakes, you may end up running short on your material and not have enough to finish the job.
For all these reasons, installing wood floors is not recommended as a do-it-yourself project. In the long run, you will save money and time by using a professional installer.
