What Is Compost? At the most basic level, compost is decomposed organic matter. However, many forms of organic matter are decomposing in many different locations all the time. When we say “compost,” we are usually referring specifically to organic matter that has decomposed in a compost pile (often contained in a bin or tumbler). Many gardeners keep such a pile in their backyards to make their own compost. This is one of the differences between compost and fertilizer: While you can buy compost, you also have the option of saving money and just making it for yourself....

Adding to the mystique is the fact that concrete can be etched, acid-stained, stamped, and sealed to create a countertop surface that is unlike almost any other available material. Modern concrete kitchen countertops are no longer cold impersonal slabs of gray concrete. More often, they are warm and gleaming surfaces that are functional and also remarkably stylish. Yet concrete does have some significant downsides that make this a product you’ll want to consider carefully before you make the purchase....

Luckily, there are some heavy-duty fabrics that can withstand a few claw marks, prevent clinging pet hair, and resist dirt marks and stains due to the occasional accident from a cat or dog on the couch. General Recommendations While training your pet to behave (and not to jump up on or scratch the couch), the best defense against furniture wear is pet-friendly upholstery fabrics. Select a fabric with a tight weave and one that is free of complicated textures....

Historically, some of the oldest patios are courtyards. Some courtyards serve as enclosed entryways to a house. Growing in Demand The popularity of adding a courtyard space to a residence correlates with homeowners’ increasing desire for outdoor rooms. Architects surveyed by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) report an increase in clients requesting more outdoor living spaces. Courtyards provide several advantages, including: A framework within which other types of landscape layouts can be developedPrivacy and seclusionCreating microclimates for various types of plantsWalls and privacy or outdoor screens can be created with various types of plants or constructed of trellis-type or permanent building materials...

How to Deadhead a Plant For soft plants, you can deadhead by hand (although it still helps to have long fingernails), pinching the stem between your thumb and forefinger. For those with tougher stems, you may need pruners to make your cut. Be sure to remove the entire flower. Many beginners make the mistake of removing just the petals, missing the part of the flower where the seeds are actually forming (which defeats the main purpose of deadheading)....

If you’re looking for a way to get around that big, bad rental agreement, you’ve come to the right place. Get inspired by these clever and creative nursery ideas for renters. Choose a Bright Color Scheme Love color? Embrace those whitewashed rental walls, and opt for brightly colored bedding and accessories instead. Nothing makes a bold hue pop like a fresh, white canvas. It’s a clean, contemporary look that never fails to impress....

The Love Language you resonate with the most will dictate how you create, modify, and revamp your living spaces. So, whether you’re partial to physical touch or passionate about words and their emotional impact, here are some tips for how to design with intention, based on your love language. Words of Affirmation If you resonate with Words of Affirmation, you are, of course, all about the ways vulnerability and honesty can connect people’s hearts....

Daylilies have the added benefit of increasing clump size each year, providing gardeners with divisions to plant in other areas of the garden or to share with friends and family. For gardeners new to transplanting and dividing plants, the daylily is a most-forgiving specimen. Why Divide and Transplant Daylilies? It’s so satisfying to see a daylily patch growing ever larger and more vigorous year after year. For weeks on end, the plants push up new flower scapes and every morning a new bloom or two opens....

Choosing the Pine Cone While any size or shape of pine cone can be turned into an easy feeder, a larger, broader cone will hold more food for the birds and will be easier for birds to cling to, swaying less as they feed. Ideally, the cone should be fairly open, but if the cones you have available are closed, you can place them in a warm oven (150-200 degrees Fahrenheit) for several minutes to allow them to dry out a bit and open more fully....

Whatever the species, elephant ears are dramatic, exotic plants with huge heart-shaped leaves, used as accent plants or as a feature in tropical-themed water or bog gardens. Their leaves can reach 3 feet long and 2 feet wide in the tropics; in colder climates, they will remain smaller but still have impressive leaves. In warm zones (8 and above), the plant can be left in the ground as a perennial, while in colder zones, the plants are either treated as annuals, discarded at the end of the season, or dug up and stored indoors for planting the following spring....

Some homeowners would love to have this look enough to remove ceiling drywall and expose joists above, with the notion that ceiling joists will automatically create an exposed beam look. Before undertaking this major project, it’s important to look at the pros and cons of opening up the ceiling drywall to expose joists. Plus, it helps to understand the nature of joists and beams and what the project would look like upon completion....

You will have a choice of four basic paint sheen groupings: flat or matte, satin/eggshell, semi-gloss, and gloss. Your home’s exterior is subjected to major stresses that include rain, snow, UV rays, and physical wear. All of that is compounded by the sheer difficulty, cost, and extended timeline for painting a home’s exterior, making the question of the perfect exterior paint finish a critical one. What Is Paint Sheen? Paint sheen relates to both the appearance and the performance of the exterior paint....

My children (all five of them) are born climbers, adventurers, and thrill-seekers. They climb, flip, and jump anything that crosses their paths—however, they’d never tried slacklining. So, when I came across the opportunity to try out the Flybold Slackline Kit, it felt like destiny. Keep reading to find out if my kids flipped for it. Design: Acrobatic ABCs While slacklining, or walking along a suspended length of flat rope, takes time to master, the Flybold Slackline Kit is a comprehensive set that includes everything your family needs to get started: a smooth, 2-inch-wide lime green main line, a 1-inch-wide bright orange training line and arm trainer, ratchets for the main and training lines, a ratchet protector, dark green tree protectors, a tote to put it all in, and an instruction manual....

A Brief History of Kitchen Cabinetry At one time, you had no choice: every kitchen was a freestanding kitchen. In most pre-World War II kitchens, all items were free-standing and moveable: table, pantry, refrigerator, stove, and storage cabinets. Only the sink was fixed in place, and that was because it was attached to the house by plumbing. During the 1940s, continuous metal kitchen cabinets began to appear in American kitchens, the result of innovations in mass production brought about by the war materials industry....

For some reason, golden shrimp never caught on to the same degree as houseplants. There’s really no reason for this: Given the right warmth and light, and a little snipping here and there, these fast-growing plants can be wonderful and exotic additions to your collection. Be aware that the true golden shrimp plant is the Pachystachys lutea. It’s closely related to the Justicia brandegeana (syn. Beloperone guttata), but not as cold-hardy or drought-tolerant....

Get to Know the Eyeball Plant Eyeball plants belong to the Asteraceae family, which includes all types of daisies. Although at first glance you may think that the eyeball plant looks like anything but a daisy, there are some minute ray petals on some wild forms of eyeball flowers. In the case of the cultivated eyeball flower, only the showy central disk floret is observed. Leaves are triangular and deeply veined and may show flashes of burgundy....

We spoke with McCarney about her own love for the Halloween season, her experiences designing sets that range from campy to bone-chilling, and her tips for bringing the frightful fun home. Find Inspiration Everywhere When it comes to sourcing inspiration for her set designs, McCarney’s inspiration is as varied as the scenes and sets themselves. “I find my inspiration from a variety of sources … art history and photography books, architecture texts, Taschen’s Decorative Arts series, the Library of Congress (for period reference), Architectural Digest, interior design, Flickr, Pinterest, and classic films," she says....