THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 10, 1994 TAG: 9407070077
SECTION: HOME PAGE: G1 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: AROUND THE HOUSE
SOURCE: BY MARY FLACHSENHAAR, SPECIAL TO HOME
LENGTH: Medium: 89 lines
FORTY-TWO million Americans move every year - and one of them is usually Karen Adams. The military wife and mother of two is about to make her 30th move, this time from Canberra, Australia, where her husband is based, to Boston.
While most folks consider moving a headache, Adams has made it an art.
She shares the secrets of her system in a new book, ``Moving . . . A Complete Checklist and Guide for Relocation'' (Silvercat Publications, San Diego, Calif; $8.95).
A compilation of checklists and timetables that covers everything from how to hold a garage sale to how to file an insurance claim, the 140-page paperback is easy to read and use, with wide margins for making notes and lists.
Her recommendations are detailed (for example, wash your trash cans before you move in case the movers decide to pack household items such as lamp shades in them), but her general advice is:
Plan;
Do a little each day, including one big task and several minor ones;
Schedule at least one hour a day for yourself during this stressful time.
Check local bookstores for the book or order a copy by sending $8.95 to Silvercat Publications, 4070 Goldfinch St., Suite C, San Diego Calif. 92103-1865. The company will accept Visa and MasterCard and will cover the cost of shipping.
Also hoping to take the mayhem out of moving, the U.S. Postal Service has issued its ``Mover's Guide,'' a booklet replacing the traditional single-page change-of-address form. Available free at any office.
In addition to the official change-of-address form and moving notification postcards, the guide also contains moving tips, coupons worth $60 for moving-related products and services and answers to typical questions about mail forwarding.
Designed, printed and distributed by a New York company, , the booklet uses revenues from its ads to cover production and distribution costs. The Postal Service hopes to save about $1 million annually, the cost of printing its traditional change-of-address cards.
DIRTY LAUNDRY
Do you feel like you're spending more time in the laundry room these hot summer days?
You probably are.
Seventy-four percent of Americans do more laundry in the spring and summer, according to a Wisk Cleaning Census.
If we weren't so busy doing laundry, we could probably take the time to reason why. Most people are more active in the summer and change clothes more often. Also, a trip to the beach or a bath or shower after a game of tennis usually means that a few more towels will be dropped into the laundry basket. TRANSFORMING TABLECLOTHS
No, no, no. Don't throw out Grandma's old tablecloth with the funky fruit-and-flower pattern. Not even if it's tattered.
Two Norfolk businesses have a much better idea.
Turn the tablecloth into a slipcover.
Last winter, that idea occurred to Susan Siegel, owner of Imagine That!, an antiques shop in the Chambord Antique Center in Virginia Beach, which carries old tablecloths.
``What do you think?'' she asked Susan Pilato and Donna Irwin, co-owners of UnderCover, the Norfolk slipcover shop that popularized the ``chair bag,'' or baggy slipcover.
Pilato and Irwin loved the idea and have spread the word among their customers, some of whom are using the decorating technique in their beach houses.
If necessary, the UnderCover team will supplement your old tablecloth with new fabric that has a compatible texture, color scheme and design. Matching pillows can also be made, either with the old tablecloth or the new fabric.
Imagine That! is at 2224 Virginia Beach Blvd. UnderCover's address is 501 Botetourt St., Norfolk. FIGHT DECORATING FEAR
Faced with decorating several rectangular, white-walled rooms in a newly constructed home, a nervous reader asked Better Homes and Gardens magazine how to get started.
This advice, from a recent issue:
Tear out magazine pictures of rooms that appeal to you. Clip and save them.
Once you have at least a dozen clippings, spread them out and look for what they have in common.
You may find you are drawn to a certain look, mood or color scheme. by CNB