Posts

What Is Luxury Vinyl Flooring? Luxury vinyl flooring differs from the older-style standard vinyl sheets or tiles in its ability to realistically mimic the look of natural materials—principally wood or stone. There are also luxury vinyl products that are realistic copies of ceramic and porcelain flooring. Luxury vinyl features a surface layer that is an extremely realistic photo-created layer, along with textures that are quite similar to that of the natural materials they attempt to mimic....

Despite its familiarity, however, there are a lot more facts about this member of the Trochilidae bird family that surprise even experienced birders and hummingbird lovers. Fast Facts Scientific Name: Archilochus colubrisCommon Name: Ruby-Throated Hummingbird, Ruby-ThroatLifespan: 4-6 yearsSize: 3-3.75 inchesWeight: .10-.13 ouncesWingspan: 4-4.5 inchesConservation Status: Least concern Ruby-Throated Hummingbird Identification The ruby-throated hummingbird is easy to identify by range, but in areas where this bird does overlap with other hummingbird species or where vagrant sightings are possible, birders should be familiar with the key field marks and characteristics that make this hummer distinct....

Since ordering custom furniture is not a cheap undertaking, you want to make sure you’re taking everything into consideration and not making any miscalculations or mistakes. There are so many positives to ordering custom-made furniture, so you want to make sure you’re doing everything you can to make the process run smoothly. To avoid hefty return fees and a customized piece of furniture that doesn’t fit in your room, here are the five mistakes to avoid that everyone makes when ordering customized furniture....

If you’re nodding your head to this—you’re not alone! Mama, we see you. So, whether your floor is covered with your toddler’s toys or your teen’s homework papers litter every free counter surface, here are some mom-hacks for making your home look nice (even if it’s not). 1. Use Bins to Create an ‘Organized Chaos’ of Paperwork From art pages to miscellaneous permission forms, if you have kids, the paperwork is endless....

What Is the Feng Shui Bagua Map? Feng shui is a philosophy and approach to working with your environment to create fluidity and harmony in your everyday life. It’s mindfulness of the spaces around you. The Bagua is the feng shui energy map. It can be applied to a single room, your whole house, or your entire property. The Bagua divides your space into eight life areas around a center. Apply the Bagua map with the cardinal directions of your home or individual rooms within your home....

However, few things are cozier than watching television next to a crackling fire. And due to the layout of some homes, as well as personal design preferences, often the best arrangement is mounting your TV over the fireplace. Viewing comfort as well as safety are both important considerations. Read on to see when it’s okay to put a TV above the fireplace. Why You Shouldn’t Mount a TV Above a Fireplace Viewing Height and Angle Can Be Incorrect Consult your TV manual for how high the TV should be mounted over a fireplace....

Laundry Superstitions After you’ve kissed a loved one at midnight, pay heed to some laundry superstitions. Here are four New Year’s Day superstitions concerning laundry: Don’t do laundry on New Year’s Day, or a member of the family will be washed away (i.e., die) during the coming year.Doing laundry on New Year’s Day will wash a year of good fortune down the drain.Don’t do laundry on New Year’s Day, or you will have more laundry than usual to do all year....

Oregon grape will be 3- to 10-feet tall and 2- to 5-feet wide. Oregon grape grows best from seed, and those should be planted in the fall. It grows slowly at first, but as it ages, it quickly grows to maturity. In April and May, clusters of cheery yellow flowers appear. The fruit is a berry that does resemble a grape in shape and color. They are edible but are quite tart and can be used to make jams, jellies, and preserves....

Finding the right sheet set is vital to getting a good night’s sleep, but with so many options on the market, it’s hard to know where to start. This 400-thread-count Pottery Barn percale sheet set claims to be especially soft and versatile. To see if these sheets were worth buying, I tested them myself, sleeping on them for several nights and evaluating their key features, from material and texture to color and fit....

Year Adopted as State Bird: 1927Range in State: Statewide in forests, parks, and gardens; year-roundShared With Other States: None These woodpeckers have been familiar in Alabama since the Civil War, when Confederate soldiers were nicknamed “yellowhammers” because of the yellow stripes on their uniforms. That historical connection led the yellow-shafted subspecies of the northern flicker, identified by the yellow coloration under the tail and the yellow edging on the primary feathers, to be adopted as the state’s official bird....

Remodeling the Bathroom With No Plan Jumping into the bathroom remodel haphazardly is a sure way to spend more money than is necessary. Even though bathrooms tend to be rather small, their dense cluster of services within that small space means that you cannot afford to do anything impromptu and absent a clear plan. For example, if you install the toilet and then decide that it should be moved a few feet to the left, the project will be more expensive than if you have situated it correctly the first time around....

Typical Features In addition to the eye-catching colors of flowers, the original cottage gardens also included vegetables and herbs that were used in the kitchen and for medicinal purposes. The inclusion of stinging nettle on a list of traditional cottage garden plants may seem surprising. While we think of it as nuisance weed, when cooked properly nettles serve as a nutritious potherb. These plantings were essential to help feed and sustain the family....

As the parent to two kids under the age of 4, finding a toy that keeps both little ones busy—without the inevitable screaming matches over whose turn it is to play—can be a challenge. The two-in-one Prextex Cartoon Vehicles are designed for kids ages 3 and up, so we gave it a spin to see if it would occupy our 3.5-year-old (as well as our younger 21-month-old) for a good chunk of time....

Except in a couple of rare instances, these two types of windows are mutually exclusive. The choice is clear-cut as to which window you should choose: new-construction windows for remodeling and new construction when the window frame is being built or replacement windows for applications when an existing window needs to be removed. New-Construction Windows vs. Replacement Windows this is a new housethis is an additionthis is a severely damaged wall that needs much repair workthe wall is being substantially rebuilt for any reason...

Why Become a Seed Saver? The bottom line reason for saving seeds is because you have a plant you love and want to grow it again. It could be the perfect blue campanula, the best tasting tomato or a champion pumpkin. You never know when a seed company will discontinue your favorite seed to make way for new varieties. Saving your own seed is the only guarantee. What Seeds Can Be Saved?...