Whether you’re hosting a party, staging the backdrop for this year’s holiday card, conjuring some holiday magic for the kids, or making sure to impress Santa when he passes through, here is some Christmas living room decor inspiration to get you started.

1. Rent a Christmas Tree If you and your family celebrate Christmas, you can still partake in all of the fun that comes with decking the halls without having to purchase a tree, all thanks to rental companies that make it easy to borrow an evergreen. “Not only will the tree be delivered to your door, but when you’re done, the company will replant the tree,” Dodds notes. Even artificial trees, which can be reused year after year, have a large carbon footprint, Dodds comments....

If you have a room adjoining the living room that you don’t mind sacrificing, you can remove an interior non-load-bearing wall and take over that space. While a messy job, it’s not all that complicated and it can be done by a motivated homeowner. Just make absolutely sure that the wall is not load-bearing and that you have secured all permits. One alternative to an open plan is a broken plan home, which provides small niches of privacy while still maintaining an overall sense of openness....

But this is balanced out by how easy and relatively inexpensive it is to repair your sprinkler system. Individual replacement hoses, tees, elbows, and valves can cost just a few dollars. Tubing, buried seven or eight inches down, is easy to retrieve. Sections or parts can be repaired or replaced individually, with no need to pull out the entire system. Follow these tips for repairing your sprinkler to keep it in good working order....

Whether you’re looking for something low key or wanting to go all out, check out these creative, stylish ideas for both traditional and modern Thanksgiving front door decorations, wall decorations, living room decorations, guest room decorations, table décor, and more. Remember that Thanksgiving décor is all about celebrating the beauty and bounty of the fall season, and many holiday-appropriate decorations can take you all the way from Halloween through Turkey Day and the end of autumn....

What Are Hydroponic Gardens Hydroponic gardens use nutrient-rich water to bathe the plants’ root bases. With a hydroponic garden, you can grow vegetables, flowers, and herbs indoors or outdoors. No soil is needed and maintenance is kept to a minimum since pest and weed control are less of a problem compared to soil-based gardens. Depending on your needs and available space, you have a choice of several types of DIY hydroponic gardens, ranging from the simple wick and water culture systems, to more ambitious NFT (Nutrient Film Technology) and drip hydroponic systems....

1. Landscaping Guests will notice how manicured your home is, says Deliece Knights-Barnett of Dhalia Events in Westchester, NY. After all Knights-Barnett points out, “This is often where [guests] spend the most time!” Looking to improve your outdoor space in a pinch? The best thing you can do is declutter. “Remove as many unnecessary items as possible,” Knights-Barnett advises. “That ladder? Put it in the garage! Same for frequently used items like watering cans, hoses, sprinklers, etc....

The platform lets people share everything from the latest skincare regimens to mouth-watering recipes, home design hacks to outrageous decor trends that we know are unrealistic (and yet, we’re still tempted to try them). And then there are the viral TikTok cleaning hacks—the ones that have us scrambling for new products, changing our habits, or furiously attempting to make DIY cleaners. While there are, of course, some tips that make sense, there are quite a few ‘hacks’ that don’t actually work....

Modern living rooms draw from past design styles and aesthetics, reinventing traditions to create spaces that are less a particular style than a sensibility. Built for relaxed family time and casual entertaining, today’s living rooms have evolved to include elements like ultra-comfortable seating, a focus on natural light, and flexible layouts that may be part of open plan spaces, combined with dining rooms or share space with kitchens, a far cry from the stuffy and formal living rooms of the past....

Below, we’ll break down seven different types of popular bed sheets to help you find the perfect set for a comfortable, restful night’s sleep. Flannel sheets are normally made of 100 percent cotton in a medium-to-heavy-weight bedding fabric. Flannel has a napped finish on one or both sides, creating the “fuzzy” and soft feel that is characteristic of this material. Flannel sheets are ideal for winter because the fuzzy weave holds in body heat for a cozy night’s sleep....

Timeless, crowd-pleasing colors like blue, yellow, red, or green are go-to exterior paint colors that add a hint of personality without stealing the show. And if you love bold color, live in a place where you are allowed to paint your house any color that you want, and are looking to make a statement, there is a world of vibrant hues to choose from that will give your home some stand-out personality and unforgettable curb appeal....

1. Being Impatient When you bring a new plant home, it has to adjust, says expert Lindsay Pangborn of the plant site Bloomscape. “It’s going through an extreme change in environment,” she says. “This change causes the plant to go into shock, which means it ‘pauses’ all of its systems. The plant has gone into lockdown mode in order to conserve all of its energy until it figures out its new environment....

Today the company released their picks for 2023. Here are eight Pinterest trends to look forward to in 2023.

While some plants are almost a true black, many are actually dark purple or, less often, dark blue. But regardless of their precise shade, their dark leaves can provide a striking color contrast with plants that have bright leaves (for example, golden foliage). Some of them have attractive flowers, too, but more often people grow them for their foliage. Most succulents are great low-maintenance alternatives to plants that demand more of your attention....

So how do you know when it’s time to change them out? Here are 8 expert-approved signs that your pillows are overdue for a refresh. “The reasons pillows expire is simple, and actually, kind of gross—over the years, your pillows will harbor a build-up of dead skin cells, dust, and oils from our hair and skin, as well as any liquids, spills, and stains,” he says. “All of which create the perfect environment for dust mites to thrive....

We wanted to know what traditions lifestyle pros look forward to every year, so we talked to nine creatives to find out their holiday traditions that help to make Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Hanukkah feel extra meaningful. Trimming the Tree “A holiday tradition which I look forward to all year long is trimming my tree with vintage chandelier crystals. When we were engaged, my husband and I scoured flea markets and thrift stores to find them for our wedding centerpieces....

Cover the Walls The most classic use of wallpaper is to cover all the walls in a space. The key to making it work is to erase the memories of the garish patterns of the 1970s and the delicate florals of the 1980s and think in terms of contemporary colors, patterns, and styles. In certain rooms, a bold, graphic paper can look fabulous covering all the walls, while in other rooms a simple pattern or texture can create subtle interest....

The five bright hair chalk pens in the ALEX Spa Hair Chalk Salon Craft Kit offer an easy, mess-free way to indulge kids’ love of accessorizing and trying out new looks. Whether they want to play around with pink, blue, or rainbow hair, or just go a little glam, kids will have fun experimenting with color combos and threading metallic beads onto strands of hair. We put the chalk pens in the hands of our 12- and 15-year-old daughters (and a few of their friends) to see how simple they were to use, how vibrant the colors were, and whether or not it was easy to wash away the colors when the fun was over....

On the flip side, because asphalt is a petroleum product, it is more flexible and less susceptible to cracking than concrete. Asphalt can also get hot in the summer. Consider these and other factors to help decide whether or not asphalt is a good choice for your driveway. Asphalt Driveway Cost Installing a new asphalt driveway costs about $5 to $7 per square foot with minimal grading. Asphalt costs about $2 per square foot, and installation averages about $5 square foot....

General Cable Support Runs of NM cable must be supported at least every 54 inches. They also must be secured within 12 inches of an electrical box that includes a cable clamp or within eight inches of a box or enclosure without a cable clamp. Keep in mind that “support” does not always mean fastening the cable to framing. For example, with a typical cable installation inside a framed wall, the cable passes through holes drilled into the wall studs for most of its horizontal run....