Kitchen should be family-friendly

Dear Readers: If you are remodeling your home or shopping for a new one, here are a few suggestions to help make your kitchen a stress-free environment:

1. Place appliances to suit your cooking needs. It often works best if the sink, refrigerator and range form a triangle, known as the work triangle for most kitchens. Visit showrooms and look through magazines for ideas.

2. Keep in mind that not all counters have to be the same height. The stove top can be lower than the sink, or vice versa.

3. Install sliding shelves or turntables in cabinets to make it easier to retrieve items at the back.

4. Work surfaces should be stain- and heat-resistant. Consider how careful you are and how much maintenance you're willing to do! Ask friends what they like or don't like about their countertops.

5. Flooring should be easy to clean. There are many types to choose from — wood, laminates, vinyl, ceramic tile, marble, etc. All have advantages and disadvantages, so do extensive research before you commit — you will have to live with it!

A kitchen is the "hub" of the house — from preparing meals to the area guests seem to gravitate toward — so make it functional and family-friendly! —Heloise

Dear Heloise: Hotels rarely have enough hangers for me and my husband when we travel. So when we travel together, we keep all of our hang-up clothes on hangers and pack them folded neatly in our suitcase. When we reach our destination, we simply take out our clothes and hang them up in the hotel closet. We always have enough hangers, and the clothes are infinitely easier to unpack. — Lanell Hall, Hilliard, Ohio

Dear Heloise: We recently purchased one of the new floor sweepers that use a special soft pad for dusting floors. One run through the house makes the pad ready for the trash can. But I discovered that when you take the pad off, very little of the dust, etc., makes it through the pad to the back side. So now I turn it over and reuse the same pad for one more round of dusting the floor. It picks up a lot more than just a cleaning cloth, and I've gotten more use from the pad, and saved money as well. — Cheryl Wagner, Emden, Ill.

Dear Heloise: For an easy way to remove chewing gum from the bottom of a shoe or sneaker, spray the area with a spray lubricant. It loosens right up! I then remove the gum with a screwdriver, etc., and wipe the area with a paper towel. Works great. — Maria, Davie, Fla.

Dear Heloise: Whenever I put up a border in a room, I always buy a little extra. I put a strip around an inexpensive wastebasket and also a plastic tissue-box cover. This helps to pull the room together and gives it a designer look. — Jean Milici, Torrington, Conn.

---

Send a great hint to: Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, TX 78279-5000; fax: 210-435-6473; e-mail: Heloise@Heloise.com. © King Features Syndicate Inc.