The advent calendars of cardboard windows or chocolate surprises are a thing of the past. Instead of only options filled with sweets, you can find an advent calendar for just about anything. And yes, that includes advent calendars that plant parents and gardeners will love. Here are a few of our favorites to help you get into the holiday spirit.
Here are seven of the more popular home design styles. The traditional style offers comfort, orderly decorations, and predictable rooms. Furnishings air on the side of classic rather than out-of-the-box, so as to keep things simple, matched and consistent. If you want a place that feels homey and welcoming, consider a traditional style with wood furniture, crown moldings and accessories like framed prints and china vases. In this contemporary bathroom from dudiduarte, elements like metal, stone and glass really complement the space....
To solve the problems, decorators and architects have taken on the challenge of creating storage space in very small spaces. If you’re starved for storage space, these seven lessons learned from tiny homes will help you accomplish the seemingly impossible task of creating more room. Tip: Make vertical storage a treat for the eyes. Colorful shelving, good-looking storage containers, and beautiful lighting will add visual interest to your space. Tip: Check out the two nightstands in the photo....
Go Dark You’ve probably always heard that a small room needs white walls to open up the space. While it’s true that white does give an airy, open appearance, it’s also true that dark colors visually recede, making something that’s dark look further away than it really is. Take advantage of that color wizardry by painting your walls a medium-to-dark shade of a cool color like indigo blue, hunter green or charcoal gray....
There are tons of beautiful holiday and Christmas plants out there that look great in the winter and some that even bloom. We rounded up a handful of plants that make perfect holiday gifts, no matter who is on your list this year. Some care tips: first, do not overwater these plants, They’ll start to drop their flowers if their soil is too wet, so only water when it is dry to the touch....
It might feel frustrating walking into one of these empty cement boxes, but think of them as blank canvasses ready to be morphed and melded. With a few inspirational images and handy tips, it can be just as personalized as your room back home (or at least close to it). These tips will transform stuffy dorms into sanctuaries conducive to late-night study sessions and cozy enough for getting a good night’s sleep....
Criteria for a Great Spring Tree or Shrub Several virtues will make a particular spring-blooming tree or shrub a good choice for your landscape: Showiness of bloomFoliage interest, including multi-season colorInteresting branching patternsCold hardinessBerry output and beautyEase of maintenance, including disease-resistance Some very popular spring-flowering shrubs (azaleas and rhododendrons, for example) don’t make the list because they are not particularly attractive after the spectacular spring bloom season is completed. The trees and shrubs selected below are divided equally between early bloomers and late bloomers....
Bamboo as a Privacy Hedge and Sound Barrier Living bamboo can be an excellent choice, both as a noise barrier and as a privacy screen. The ideal way to buffer street sounds is to interpose a mass of sound-absorbent material between your home and the street. A bamboo privacy hedge can form just such a mass, because its canes grow together so densely, by nature. It also offers the benefit of doing the job very quickly, since no other hedgerow plant grows as quickly as bamboo....
On a quest to figure out how to best get ourselves organized, we turned to professional organizer Joanna Wirick of Joanna Organize and asked for her one secret item she uses on every kitchen re-organizing job. Her secret? Investing in spring-loaded dividers to conquer your drawer clutter. Read on to see why she loves these organizers and thinks no kitchen should be without them. Wirick’s Secret to a Tidy Kitchen Though a kitchen may seem neat on the outside, what lurks inside drawers can reveal it’s not so clean after all....
The large leaves remain evergreen, lending year-round color and interest. The growth habit lends itself to covering a trellis or gate, scrambling over a bed beneath a tree, or pruned and trained into a sculptural shape, but its most popular use is as a ground cover. Being fast-growing and with sturdy roots, it can help control erosion and is used for this purpose in coastal California. Plant Algerian ivy in the fall or spring, before or after seasonal frost....
About Concrete Bird Baths Molded cast stone and concrete bird baths are popular designs for many yards and gardens, and they come in a wide range of styles and designs. Pedestal bird baths are the most popular and include a concrete pillar base and detachable basin. Ground level concrete baths are also available, and are just the basin without the pedestal. Basic gray is the most common color for concrete baths, though they can be painted in different shades if desired....
Underground water supplies become hard because of the nature of the rock through which rainwater percolates as it filters down from the surface. Regions that are high in limestone, chalk, and gypsum usually have hard water in their groundwater reservoirs, while regions where the predominant rock is granite or another low-calcium stone have naturally soft water. Water can also become hard in regions where certain agricultural amendments such as lime are used in large quantities....
Furniture stores and upholstery shops typically toss samples when they’re discontinued. If you ask, they’ll probably give you the discards for free. Among the offerings, you may find expensive designer fabrics you’d probably never buy by the yard. Fabric samples vary in size, but they’re ideal for lots of home decor projects, including covering dining chair seats. Most hanging samples are large enough to cover a single chair for your desk or den....
In this series, This Is Home, we’re sharing unique houses from all around the world in which everyone from DIY enthusiasts to design experts has transformed an unexpected space into one that’s not only livable but design-focused, too. These stories delve into the backgrounds of remarkable places, the processes, and all the challenges and wins along the way while making a home out of it, whether it’s a barn, castle, cabin, or schoolhouse....
Epoxy Floor Coating Preparation An epoxy coating requires a clean and slightly porous surface to adhere properly. Epoxy may not bond to sealed or polished concrete. The concrete also must be fully cured. Before apply epoxy floor coating, it is important to patch and repair all major cracks and chips in the concrete surface and to remove all grease. If the concrete is old, test the surface for previous layers of epoxy or other products that might have been applied over the years....
Help is here, and all it takes to have nice, clean towels is knowing what causes the problems and learning how to properly wash bathroom towels and washcloths. Funky Smelling Towels You’ve washed your towels and they smell pretty good as they come out of the dryer. But the minute they get damp, the funky odor returns. This is because the towels were not really clean. One of the main causes of the odor is that your washer is not clean and body soil and bacteria are redepositing on the terry cloth during the rinse cycle....
AZ Patio Heaters is a 17-year-old Arizona-based company that specializes in outdoor heaters, heater repair, and replacement parts, so clearly it’s pretty dedicated to its niche. The company distributes the Tall Quartz Glass Tube Heater, part of the Hiland Premium Series. This top-rated patio heater combines form and function with a format that showcases the tall, propane-fueled flame responsible for the radiant heat. It adds tons of atmosphere to outdoor gatherings, but does it provide enough warmth?...
Metal Standards and Brackets Metal standards and brackets probably don’t qualify as a formal wall system, but they nonetheless offer terrific low-cost shelving. In a garage with unfinished walls, the standards can be attached directly to exposed studs. You can put shelves as high and as low as you like on the wall, and you can run them from one end of a wall to the other. Pegboard Pegboard (perforated hardboard) is available at home centers and lumberyards....
