Hansen. It’s best to clean and rinse the tile first before attacking it with steam. Some traditional looks work best with smaller tiles; small tiles are also what you’ll need if you want to design patterned floors or borders. Only leave a small layer of ash. Top-of-the-line vinyl floors have a thick urethane wear layer that offers the most shine and shine retention, as well as the greatest stain resistance. On the fun side, vinyl also offers the greatest range of styles at a price, from ’50s boomerang motifs to ancient Roman marble tiles. As with ceramic tile, have your marble or granite tiles laid close together to eliminate grout line maintenance. But things don’t have to be so complicated. Soft woods, most often pine, have a country-style charm but do show wear and damage more than hardwoods. It’s many, many times more wear-resistant than countertop laminates and can usually be laid directly over an existing floor. In the next section, we’ll move onto the part of your kitchen that suffers the most wear and tear: the floor. Tidal undercurrents can also spin freestanding “tidal turbines” placed strategically on the sea floor. As for photos and videos that you’ve posted to your Instagram feed for the whole world to see, you can remove these by going to your profile, selecting the post, and then tapping on the three dots and Delete.

Plank flooring features boards three to seven inches wide and three-quarters of an inch thick that are cut to lengths up to about eight feet. Strip flooring features narrow boards (under three inches wide). Ideally, boards should run parallel to the room’s long axis. Wide planks show off the grain of the wood and are associated with traditional looks, especially when wood dowels, plugs, or decorative nails are used to anchor the boards. While this isn’t something anyone would ever consider, tests show that the toilet is actually cleaner than the kitchen. In the next section, we’ll show you the best ways to light up your kitchen. In this section, we’ll tell you how to best remove tarnish, as well as how to clean other metals, including brass and pewter. One of the newer synthetic flooring options, laminate flooring looks like wood, stone, or marble because the pattern is actually a photograph of the “real thing.” Laminate flooring is made of multiple layers of material including a super-hard plastic top layer over a layer with a photographic imprint of wood or stone. Contemporary and retro-style kitchens take naturally to fluorescent lights, including whimsical neon-colored options.

Halogen lights, the most recent de-velopment, create intensely bright, sunshine-quality light from a relatively small bulb source. Then toss small items that need cleaning into the water, such as your soap tray or toothpaste cup. In the Good Housekeeping Institute Home Care and Cleaning Lab, we test dozens of surface cleaning products every year, from all-purpose cleaners that tackle messes all around the home to dedicated products like stainless steel cleaners that keep your appliances fingerprint-free and glass and window cleaners. What are the general features of registry cleaners? Better-quality vinyl flooring features “inlaid construction” with color and pattern uniform throughout rather than printed on top, for richer color and less noticeable nicks. Warm, natural, and resilient, wood floors only gain charm and character with life’s inevitable nicks and dents. Hardwood kitchen floors can last a lifetime and harmonize with just about any kitchen decor. Gas heaters can work fine without being serviced for a couple years, and electric ones can last even longer. In addition to ceiling-mounted fixtures, many people choose to install strip lights under every upper cupboard that has a work surface counter below. Water weakens the fibers, so work quickly and dry thoroughly to extend the life of these rugs.

Rinse the area thoroughly with clear water and allow to dry. Drying times for natural varnish average about 24 hours, but water-base varnish and polyurethanes often dry more quickly. Recent improvements have made more natural, “warm white” fluorescent lighting available. Larger tiles, 12X12 inches and up, are at home in contemporary-style kitchens and have the advantage of minimizing grout lines. For contemporary-style kitchens, track lights with incandescent or halogen bulbs combine spotlights with floodlights and let you aim the light wherever you choose. Recessed spotlights or floodlights are the most unobtrusive choice and provide excellent ambient and task lighting, but they are costlier to install because they require cutting holes in the ceiling. In too many kitchens, a central ceiling fixture leaves the cook working in his/her own shadow, for example. It is ideal for retro-style kitchens, especially those striving for a 1920s to 1950s feel. One of the challenges is that poor lighting is hard for the average person to detect; the kitchen just may not “feel right.” If your family didn’t tend to congregate in your old kitchen, look at this renovation as a chance to see the space in a whole new light. Contemporary fixtures in chrome and colored glass are often simple and Space Age inspired, hanging like jewels in the functional space.