There are several ways to achieve the ombre look on a wall. You can hand-paint it ombre yourself by dividing the wall into two or three sections, and while still wet, blend them. You can spray-paint it — check Pinterest for a tutorial. Or, you can skip painting altogether and purchase ombre wallpaper instead. Any way you do it, you’re sure to achieve that striking ombre effect. The aesthetic can also be applied to elements in your home that go beyond walls, like shelves or crown molding....

Newspaper Pots for Starting Seed Gardeners can make newspaper pots for seed starting by purchasing a wooden form that twists the paper into small containers. Or, you can create paper containers made with newspaper pulp. This is a fun activity to do with children who are learning about recycling and gardening. Cut newspapers into one-inch strips and soak them in a bucket filled with water. Use a ratio of one part paper to two parts water....

Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’ (feather reed grass ‘Karl Foerster’) Sesleria autumnalis (autumn moor grass) Thuja occidentalis or arborvitae

It is not unusual to purchase a comforter, then find that it is too small (most common) or too large (less common) for your particular mattress. With the right measurements, you can ensure you get the right comforter size for your bed. Review Comforter Size Guidelines Although mattress sizes are standardized, comforter sizes are not. Below, find common bed, mattress, and comforter sizes in inches to determine which comforters are right for your needs....

Candles have always been my go-to for introducing soothing scents in my home, and now that my husband and I are in an over 100-year-old house, this is more important than ever. That’s why I decided to take things one step beyond candles. I wanted to add a fragrance diffuser to the mix—and preferably one that wouldn’t detract from my home’s clean, minimalistic aesthetic. Enter the Aera Smart Diffuser, a powerful little fragrance diffuser with serious scent results....

We’ve been there, too. But did you know you can significantly increase your chance of a successful propagation with another method that doesn’t require you to cut the mother plant? Yes, it’s called air layering, and we have step-by-step instructions on how to try this method without harming your plant, plus tips from a plant collector and YouTuber, SunnySideUp With Nicole. Why Is Air Layering More Successful? When propagating plants via a stem cutting, the end goal is for the cutting to establish new roots so a new plant can grow from it....

Best planted in early spring after the final frost, American elderberry is a moderately-fast growing bush that can reach up to 12 feet tall and 6 feet across once mature. It can be planted outdoors successfully in USDA zones 3 through 9 and harvested once the berries are dark purple or black, typically in August or September. For the first few years of growing American elderberry, just focus on allowing your bush to get established....

How Does an Automatic Chicken Coop Door Work? There are two ways that an automatic chicken coop door operates: light sensors or timers. Light sensors measure the amount of light outside, closing the door when the sun sets and opening the door when the sun rises. It is important to keep in mind where your coop is located when considering a light sensor. For example, bright car headlights or motion lights may be strong enough to trigger the light sensor, leaving your chicken door open during dangerous nighttime hours....

Regular foot massages provide foot relief after a long day. Buying a home foot massager allows you to get a massage on demand (and as often as you like) without blowing your budget on salon sessions. The Shiatsu Foot Massager is one of the more affordable electric foot massagers currently on the market, so we wanted to see if the lower-end model packed enough punch for our money. Read on to see what we found....

The same roofing materials used on homes, such as composite shingles, often make perfectly suitable shed roofs. Besides composite shingles, there are also some lower-cost roofing options that you might not choose for your house but are just fine for most sheds. Roll roofing is thinner, less expensive, and easier to install than shingles. Roll roofing can be installed with nails, as long as the roof has some pitch (slope) to it....

This shrub is quite hardy and doesn’t typically have any serious issues with pests or diseases. It has a good tolerance for pollution, as well as for being planted near black walnuts and other walnut tree species, which release a substance that’s harmful to many plants. In terms of its regular care, plan to water during dry spells and feed your shrub annually. Pruning also is typically an annual chore to maintain the shrub’s size and shape....

Boll & Branch is a bedding company that released its first mattress in 2018. The luxury mattress claims to offer comfort without the trendy memory foam materials that many mattresses use. We tested out the queen-sized Boll & Branch Mattress for one month to see how it compared. Here’s a rundown on this mattress. Delivery and Setup: Delivery takes several weeks The Boll & Branch mattress is available for purchase on the Boll & Branch website or at their flagship store in New Jersey....

Zero gravity chairs are the more comfortable cousin of a camp chair. They’re not quite as portable or lightweight as a camp chair, but when you’re relaxing around the fire, a zero gravity chair feels almost like you’re floating. With locks and pillows, you can adjust the recline and support based on your size and personal comfort preferences. I wanted to try out the affordable Caravan Canopy Zero Gravity Chair to see if it could offer the comfort of more expensive models....

Carpenter ants are native to forest areas, where their habit of tunneling through rotten, fallen trees aids in the breakdown of dead timber. But if the same ants start tunneling in the softwood in a home, it will weaken the walls and cause major damage that can be costly to repair. Identifying Carpenter Ants and Their Damage Carpenter ants are typically 3/8 to 1/2 inch in length and black or brown in color....

Photo – Adult Cedar Waxwing © Bill Thompson / USFWS Photo – Cedar Waxwing in Flight © Christopher Drake Identifying cedar waxwings at different ages and in different poses isn’t difficult once you learn the key field marks for the species and how they compare to other songbirds. By understanding their identification characteristics, you won’t have any trouble identifying active flocks of cedar waxwings. Photo – Juvenile Cedar Waxwing © Nick Saunders

Silver Gift Traditions Although the iris is representative of the 25th-anniversary flower, you can gift a rose that’s both silver and symbolic. Consider a silver jubilee or star rose, for instance. You can also look for presents that have stainless steel and sterling silver. Sparkly silver glitter on flowers, cards, centerpieces, gift wrap, and balloons are a great touch to any gift set. For dinner or decoration, you can also set the table with a paper silver tablecloth, rented china, and crystal with a silver or chrome trim....

Complete Fertilizer For most flower gardeners, a complete fertilizer is necessary to supply plants with the three major elements they require to thrive: Nitrogen (N): Promotes lush foliage growthPhosphorus or Phosphate (P): Promotes blooming and fruit formationPotassium or Potash (K): Develops healthy root systems The fertilizer packaging will list these three major nutrients in exact order (sometimes referencing them as “NPK”) with the numbers representing the percentage of each nutrient compared to other minor nutrients and filler ingredients....

Characteristics of Clematis Wilt Clematis wilt is a fungus (Ascochyta clematidina) that is also sometimes referred to as clematis leaf and stem spot. Clematis wilt causes the foliage and stems of your clematis vine to dry and wither, even turning them black. Initially, reddish lesions start to appear along the stems, but the onset and spread of clematis wilt can be quick. That means you may not have any warning before an entire clematis vine turns brown....

Please keep in mind that not everything is a feng shui adjustment, so if you love one (or many) of these feng shui errors, it’s okay. Just know you have it in your home because you love it, and not for its feng shui application. Dried lavender in your closet is okay. It’s not a feng shui decoration. And sometimes people have preserved flowers that are quite meaningful to them, like their dried wedding bouquet....