Read on to discover the eight things that belong on a well-organized nightstand. Light Sources A bedside light is a must, both for reading and for nighttime preparations for sleep. While a well-chosen lamp adds a big dash of style to your bedroom, if your space is limited, you can do just as well with a wall-mounted sconce just above and to the side of your headboard. If you like to read in bed, a lamp that’s around three inches taller than the height of your bedside table will shine a light right where you need it—on your book, not in your eyes....

As a hot sleeper (no matter the season), the Parachute Percale Venice Bedding Set sounded like my perfect cure. I need to sleep with some sort of cover or blanket, but my sale-rack sheet sets tend to leave me overheated halfway through the night. Sure, I could just blast my air conditioner 24/7, but that’s hardly eco-friendly. To see if the Parachute Percale Venice Bedding Set was my end-all, be-all cure to overheated slumber, I tested the set for a week....

After occupying a favored and familiar place in bathrooms for decades in the early 20th century, pedestal sinks were largely replaced by boxy bathroom vanity cabinet-counter combinations. While big vanities have their plusses, pedestal sinks—with their grace and surprising practicality—have emerged in bathrooms once again as stylish space-savers. What Pedestal Sinks Are Pedestal sinks consist of an upper basin and a lower shaft (pedestal). Pedestal sinks are largely made of porcelain....

The plants listed here only bloom once, so there’s no reason to deadhead. They bloom only once, but they remain attractive all season with flowers that dry right on the plant or have interesting seed heads.

If you’re looking for a serious upgrade to your bedding, consider the Linen Chenille Duvet Cover from Pine Cone Hill—a line of bed, bath, and home décor from Massachusetts-born designer Annie Selke. Made from a blend of linen, cotton, and viscose, the cover offers some smart design touches like corner ties that keep your comforter in place. However, it’s also the very definition of a splurge, starting around $400 (for a twin) and extending to about $600 (for a king)....

Material and Texture: Smooth, sturdy cotton These sheets are not made with just any cotton but with 100 percent combed cotton, which greatly contributes to its smooth and sturdy feel. Combed yarn is special because it undergoes a combing process that removes shorter fibers and impurities while also lining up the remaining long fibers so that they all run parallel to each other. The resulting strong and compact yarn translates into sturdy fabric....

Choosing Bulbs to Plant It’s important to remember that you’ll need to maintain both the flowers and the lawn. This can be a bit tricky unless you select bulbs based on these recommendations: Early risers: Select bulbs that germinate and bloom in the very early spring, so they will be done blooming with their leaves starting to fade once it’s time to begin mowing the lawn.Perennials: Choose bulbs that will live and spread for many years, so you won’t have to plant new ones every fall....

Here are 25 favorite flowering bushes to consider for your garden. USDA Growing Zones: 5 to 7Color Varieties: WhiteSun Exposure: Full sun to part shadeSoil Needs: Moist, well-drained, slightly acidic USDA Growing Zones: 5 to 9Color Varieties: Pink with red centers; cultivars offering white, red, lavender, and light blue flowers are also availableSun Exposure: Full sun to part shadeSoil Needs: Rich, moist, well-drained USDA Growing Zones: 5 to 9Color Varieties: Dark blueSun Exposure: Full sunSoil Needs: Medium moisture, well-drained...

This upright plant features eye-catching bright purple flowers and can grow to be up to five foot tall. It looks great supported at the back of summer borders or in a naturalized meadow-style garden, and they sit well alongside ornamental grass selections. If you’re trying to attract pollinators to your garden, this plant will be an excellent addition. It can also act as a food source for birds through the winter....

Tile roofing is a great choice for roofs that experience hot weather or exposure to salt air. This is why you very often see tile roofs in the Southwest, coastal Florida, and California. They can also be ideal for climates in which infrequent rains dump large amounts of water in a short time, since many styles are excellent at shedding rainfall from cloudbursts. If you’re considering tile roofing for your home, be aware that these roofing systems are very heavy and can break under certain conditions....

Using Shrub Shelters To avoid damage from winter weather to shrubs, you can build or buy a shelter within which to house the shrub for the winter. There is little to lose when sheltering a deciduous shrub (one that loses its foliage for the winter), as it provides minimal visual interest on the landscape. There are three main options for a shrub shelter: Build a shrub shelter out of natural materials....

This cone-like plant, known by the common name of Pink Mulla Mulla, is one of the biggest and rarest of over one hundred species within the overarching ptilotus genus. These plants have an ornamental silver-green foliage that’s thick and fleshy. Its soft plumes are about four inches tall and drape gracefully over the leathery foliage. Native to the dry, arid plains of Australia, the long-lasting blooms of the ptilotus appear soft and fuzzy, but they feel quite hard and bristly to the touch....

Plant taxonomy classifies red salvia plants as Salvia splendens. Despite an official common name of scarlet sage, many people refer to the plants simply as red salvia. They are members of the mint family and, while technically a perennial plant, red salvia is often grown as an annual in temperate zones. Although the scarlet variety is the best known, Salvia splendens comes in other colors including white, salmon, pink, purple, lavender, burgundy, and orange....

The sagebrush buttercup is native to the northwestern United States, including the northwestern Great Plains, and western Canada. In its native areas, it blooms very early in spring, sometimes as early as February. It is considered a somewhat problematic native species in some areas because it is toxic to dogs, cats, and other animals. In some forms, it is toxic to people. The plant is small, usually about three to four inches high, but is noticeable because of its vibrantly colored flowers, one of the first to bloom in spring....

Though the plant often grows as an annual in both meadow and prairie settings, there are some silene varieties with strong perennial tendencies, so they’ll reliably pop up in the same spot each spring. These varieties will self-seed readily. The silene’s foliage makes its grand debut in early spring and continues to persist through the late summer, however be aware that some varieties may go completely dormant in the heat of summer....

This fact sheet will give you the key information needed to spot and identify a snowy owl. In flight, snowy owls reveal rounded, heavily feathered wings that make the bird utterly soundless in flight. The feet, covered with heavy feathers, are nearly invisible when in flight, though you may spot them during takeoff and landings. The brownish-gray wing bars are more evident in flight than when the bird is perched....