Home & Garden

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Nearly every house and garden presents numerous attractive settings for container plants. Suburban gardens, estates, small city backyards, and summer cottages—all can be enhanced by this type of gardening. A few of the seemingly endless possibilities include entranceways, steps, courtyards, walls, rooftops, balconies, patios, breezeways, lawns, driveways, walks, sundecks, windowsills, porches, summer houses, even tree stumps can be utilized.

Let us start with the entrance, a focal point for every house. A simple arrangement consists of similar container plants at each side of the doorway. If the house is informal, painted tubs will make a cheerful note, while urns or ornamental pots are more appropriate if the architecture is formal. The arrangement, however, need not be symmetrical, since a single container at either side, particularly if the doorway is off-center, is pleasing. A large specimen can be balanced by a grouping of small pots, and various other interesting combinations can be worked out. Sometimes, the front entranceway can qualify as an outdoor place for house plants, but be sure they are not exposed to strong sun and wind.

Unexpected areas like side and rear entrances can also serve as backgrounds for pot plants in casual groupings. For sunny steps, consider tubs of petunias, or dwarf dahlias, or boxes of herbs to be used in cooking. Tuberous begonias, fuchsias, patient Lucy, and fragrant nicotiana solve the problem of what to grow in shade.

Porches or verandas, traditional or contemporary in style, offer numerous settings for pots, window boxes, and hanging baskets. Indeed, the entire container garden can be concentrated there so that plants can be easily cared for. If the porch is open on three sides, it will afford exposures to suit a variety of specimens.

The patio or terrace, beside or beyond the house, where family and friends gather to eat or relax, is an ideal location. If it is formal, select clipped evergreens and arrange pots in symmetrical rows, perhaps lined up against the house or along the edge of the terrace. If the site is informal, make casual groupings of one or two tall plants with smaller ones in front. Either way, allow for a few large plants in tubs or boxes for accent and height.

Container plants may line walks and paths that lead to the house, garage, or garden. They can rest on paved areas along fences and walls and on driveways where they are not in the way. If the driveway adjoins the foundation of the house, plant containers may be placed there.

Tops of garden or terrace walls are ideal places, too. Put small pots and boxes on tall, narrow walls and large containers on low, broad surfaces. Hanging plants of ivy geraniums in the sun and fuchsias in the shade will cascade from walls, as they do in the patios of Spain, Portugal, and Italy. On Rhodes, I recall a fifteen-foot wall topped with a row of thirty gleaming green tin cans full of roses and other flowers.

Think of what you can do with rooftops and sundecks where considerable space is usually available. Here sun-loving plants, like geraniums, most annuals, cacti, and succulents can be grown, but, again, include large specimens for height to give a garden feeling. A few large boxes and planters for trees and shrubs are sufficient but be sure to include some evergreens for year-round green.

Many gardeners like to insert container plants in flower borders to introduce unusual specimens, such as tropicals in the North. Large tubs can be set at the corners and small pots may be scattered among the permanent flowering plants. One gardener keeps a supply of potted pink Fiat Enchantress geraniums on hand to fill bare spots in her wide borders, moving them about as needed. Most of the geraniums are in four-inch clay pots, but there are larger specimens for the center of each grouping. Make sure their secure, sink pots a few inches into the ground.

You can always dress up the lamp post in your yard with container plants at the base or you can suspend a hanging basket of lantana, perhaps from the top. Ivy geraniums in an old-fashioned black kettle are nice for the base. Bare posts that support sectional roofs over patios or paved surfaces of contemporary houses look more attractive if potted plants are clustered around the bases or permanent boxes for plants are built there. Try planting climbing ivy in a pot and train it to climb the posts.

Novelty containers—donkey carts, wheelbarrows, and spinning wheels—can be fun in some places, but, of course, such planters must not be overdone. Usually they are set on lawns, on a terrace or beside a gate or doorway. (If you life in a neighborhood that has a house owners association check with them first to see if this is allowed). Steps leading to a driveway or street or to different levels in a garden can be emphasized with pot plants. A few can be arranged at the top or at the base of the stairs. And, there are other possibilities. Tree trunks cut to the ground or left a few feet high make good pedestals for large containers. In fact, this can be a solution to the problem of what to do with a trunk too expensive to remove. If you have a tree with heavy shade, why not construct a pretty sitting area around it and decorate the space with containers of coleus, wax and other begonias, caladiums, ferns and other shade-tolerant plants.

These are just a few ideas for using container plants around your house and garden. Use your imagination and have fun. Happy Gardening!

Copyright © 2006 Mary Hanna All Rights Reserved.

When you think about changes to your home interior, whether it is for a couple of rooms or for the entire house, your first thought is of color. As would everyone, you too would tend to choose your favorite colors generally, or colors which match your furniture pieces. However, a majority of people miss out on the most outstanding basic color combination – white and black – when looking for home decoration ideas.

These two colors, white and black, create a sensation in home decorating. White and black together create drama and pizzazz. A dash of black can beautify every room. This is an anchoring color and it grounds a room. It is eye-catching and speaks of a sophistication all its own. If you are using this color for enhancing your decor, you may like the idea of choosing accessories of this color such as furniture, trim or light fixtures. Black is the only color that creates a focus in a room, standing out boldly and making its own statement.

Use of white and black in home decoration makes an impact by creating a fresh, clean and elegant atmosphere. Any room in the house can benefit from this combination, creating a sophisticated space. Contemporary home decorating ideas often use this combination of white and black and in French Country Design, it is used to enliven other colors. Though it is difficult to imagine, there are a lot of wonderful ideas of home decoration with the use of only these two base colors.

Home decorating takes a great start if you focus on the flooring first, making a beautiful checkerboard pattern using white and black vinyl tiles alternatively laid. It really looks fantastic and elegant. Another wonderful idea is to use black marble flooring and accentuate it with wide white baseboards. Or you could paint the floor white or black and decorate it with stencils of the opposite color, or use black bordered white ceramic tiles to create a great effect.

Can you imagine anything more perfect than pure white walls? White walls or even an off-white color makes an ideal background for artworks framed in black. What a striking effect it would have! An aura of sophistication is created with elegant black treatments for windows or black shutters against a pure white wall. Perhaps black chairs lying around a glass-top black iron-trim table would complete the picture.

It would be lovely to decorate a bedroom using white and black. Iron bed-frame in white or black, covered with a comforter with white and black stripes; all white or all black pillow shames, with opposite colored cushions thrown in would be outstanding. The corner of the room could have a lovely white or black leather chair to accentuate it. For a contemporary feel, a piece of artwork elegantly framed in black handing on white walls would suffice. The pure white walls could provide a great background for the neat and tidy black furniture. The room could be jazzed up with silver candlesticks, pewter or vases and jugs. With a little color to enhance the beauty of the room, a bold colored cushion or throw in gold or red for the corner chair in the room would complete the picture.

There are numerous ideas to decorate a home. The trick is to find the one that suits you, even though it is great to do something radically new. After all, you must be able to really enjoy living in it day in and day out.

No matter what size lawn your property has, you may want to consider adding a patio walkway to make it more functional or attractive. A patio walkway shows the thoughtful attitude you have toward guests who may be using your yard as well as your interest in making the lawn look appealing and well-kept. One or more walkways between porch and shed, or garage and shed, or merely around the property’s perimeter provides a structured look to the property and provides easy access among the various outbuildings where people may be working and need to move heavy equipment around.

If your shed is several hundred feet from the house or garage, you may want to put in a walkway that will let you move the lawn tractor, wheelbarrow, or cultivator, along with other garden tools and lawn equipment, from the shed closer to the house where it will be used. If the shed is dark or filled to overflowing, it makes sense to move items like this to a well-lit garage, or your porch where you can lay out tools for doing a tractor tune-up or changing the oil, or simply clean up rakes, mowers, and trimmers before using them the next time. The walkway will let you move heavier items on a brick or stone path that can handle the weight, rather than pushing these things over the grass and possibly killing it or causing ruts, particularly on a rainy day.

When you clean out the garage, you may want to move some unused things to storage in your shed. Using the wheelbarrow to transport boxes, crates, and cartons for storage in the shed’s loft will be easier than trundling across the lawn, dodging rocks, hills, and pets that may be leashed outdoors. The patio walkway makes for smoother movement, decreasing the risk that something will spill from the wheelbarrow, or that you will drop anything that you may be carrying. Just be sure to keep the walkway in good shape by sweeping away crumbled stone and removing weeds every few weeks.

A patio walkway around your property’s borders is a great place to walk n indoor dog on a leash for its toileting needs. That way you know where the dog is toileting, and you will have fewer concerns about the kids stepping or rolling in it when they play in the other areas of the lawn. If it is big enough, the patio walkway around the yard’s edge makes a nice area for strolling after dinner or in the moonlight in nice weather, especially if the walkway is accented by birdbaths, flowerbeds, and ground lights.

Your yard walkway can make lawn work easier. It can help you move heavy objects to various points of your property with convenience and ease. It also adds an attractive focal point that you can design for outdoor beauty. Find out how to put in a walkway yourself or the cost of getting professionals to do it for you so you can enjoy the added value of this helpful design.

Do you need a simple and fun decorating style to use in your home? If that is so, you need first to gain some decorating idea on what is home decorating all about. Home decorating or designing has nothing to do with gender when you want to practice it- all of us desire to have a well-decorated home.

Working on home design can be on two major classification- the interior design and the exterior design. Interior, of course, refers to all design tasks done inside and for indoor usage. These include furnishing design, wall, floor, ceiling designs, etc. Exterior design can include gardening and landscaping, and other related tasks. Making a home design can not just be a good hobby, it is a potential hobby to make money. If you are good enough on this, you can make it as an additional source of income. You can start by providing service for your friends who need such a service.

We as today’s modern home owner today enjoy a great deal of joy and freedom when it comes to how we design the interiors of our homes and we continue to buy and read a great deal of material on home design, interior decorating and the many related topics that there are in existence. The philosophy of home design is very much in line with a postmodern world view where rules and regulations are thrown out the window in favor of an almost anything may go approach.

We all love our homes and the amount of money that we spend on them accounts for a large part of the overall money spent in the economy. Our bathrooms has evolved as a part of home decorating over the past decades from a strictly useful and functional room to one that is similar to a spa. And just because there aren’t thousands of dollars available for decorating doesn’t mean that a bath can’t be unique, dramatic and thoroughly satisfying. The amount of money spent on the place where we now luxuriate in water is growing in popularity as time goes by.

We as today’s modern home owners enjoy a great deal of joy and freedom when it comes to how we design the interiors of our homes and we continue to buy and read a great deal of material on home design, interior decorating and the many related topics that there are in existence. The philosophy of home design is very much in line with a postmodern world view where rules and regulations are thrown out the window in favor of an almost anything may go approach.

If you want to build an attractive landscape, but do not where to begin, there are plenty of common landscape design ideas and features available for you to gain inspiration. You can use the ideas yourself or add a little twist to make the landscape design all your own. There are any number of conventional landscape ideas that can help you get started on your own projects and provide inspiration for future projects.

Some of the most common landscape design features are decks and patios. These can either be professionally installed or you can build one yourself. Patios and decks provide a great deal of enjoyment on many levels as part of the use of space in the landscape design. You can use decks and patios for family gatherings or for entertaining. They can also be used to great effect as places to just sit and relax and enjoy. While a basic square shape is the most common of these landscape features, it is also possible to get them in different shapes, depending on your preferences and your needs. However, if you care for your landscape yourself, the square is very convenient for other activities, such as mowing and trimming the lawn.

Rock gardens are features that are rising in popularity as well. These landscape features can provide a great deal of attractiveness, but make use of fewer plants. Landscapes that include rock gardens need less water and less attention. Additionally, the plants that often go with rock gardens are usually hardier and need a little less care. These are easy to care for, and can save money. Additionally, it is possible to build your own rock garden in the landscape, saving you even more money.

English cottage gardens are known for their lack of formality. There is no rigidity in their designs, and because they are more or less allowed to “just grow” require less maintenance than some other types of gardens. These are common gardens because they evoke a sense of charm. They are most common in backyard landscaping, for those who want to enjoy the garden and show an informal sense of elegance while entertaining. In the United States, of course, the lawn remains the most dominant landscape feature, especially in the front. But an English cottage garden can be very fine due its riot of flowering plants. Most landscape features of this sort include rose bushes, perennials and vines. Sometimes they are even allowed to go across pathways. Because perennials are so used, they grow back every year, without much effort.

An increasing trend in landscape design is incorporating elements of the Japanese garden. Of course, in Western circles, many of the times this is interpreted to mean showy flowers. These showy flowers grab attention, and many times landscapes will centre around these plants. They can be difficult to take care of, as they are often non-native. They can also be expensive. However, some people are turning their backyard landscapes into gardens that are more in keeping with traditional Japanese garden principles of simplicity including more foliage and design structures. These types of gardens are less expensive and can be equally attractive.

Of course, the most common landscape feature is the lawn. This is because the lawn allows a platform for family activities. Additionally, overall, it is also fairly easy to care for. It need only be mowed by machines that are relatively easy use, and it can be fertilized and watered fairly inexpensively, if one does so properly and with common sense. Different people do a variety of things with their lawns, and it has become increasing popular to add a small flowerbed in the middle of the lawn for decoration. Having trees on the lawn is also another popular way to adorn the lawn and make it more inviting and attractive.

Creating a beautiful landscape is a matter of enjoyment for many people. However, many of them find it difficult to know where to begin, and know what is possible. But it you are hesitant about where to begin or what to do, trying a tried and true landscape feature can help you succeed in your endeavours to beautify the home environment.

Tired of looking at the same bedroom, same dining room and same living room again and again? Then it’s time for a change. This time to not just change the furniture or the color of your home, rather go for a completely different look. Decorating your home in Moroccan style is the latest trend these days. Morocco is like a melting pot of different cultures and styles and so the Moroccan style décor will have some of the features of every culture and style. One can even see hints of Arabic style in it.

Moroccan home décor can be classified into two types – urban Moroccan decor and rural Moroccan decor. The urban décor involves the use of ceramics, metal, wood and leather. On the other hand, the rural décor has more of the Middle Eastern influence, with an emphasis on the use of rugs, fabrics and embroideries. The best feature of having a Moroccan style decoration is that the objects used in it are usually those that have use in practical life too. Given below are some tips that will help you in decorating your home in the Moroccan style.

Moroccan Style Decorating Ideas

Use of Bright Colors

When decorating your home Moroccan style, make sure to use bright natural colors. The colors like green and blue, found in the sea of the area, and the ones like gold and yellow, found in the surrounding desert, should be used as much as possible. You can combine other colors like vibrant red, orange or purple with blue or gold to create an effervescent ambience. Feel free to use of vibrant colors such as pink fuchsia, lavender, and orange while keeping the aesthetics in mind.

Bring Nature Home

For creating the tropical atmosphere seen in Morocco, you can make extensive use of plants. The more exotic the plants, the better look they will bring to your house. At the same time, they will also provide you with some greenery in the ‘concrete-jungle’ world of today. If it is feasible, you can also get textured walls.

Lighting

Lighting plays a very important role in adding that perfect Moroccan flavor look to your home décor. Moroccan light fixtures are totally different from those used in the other parts of the world. Moroccan light fixtures include Moroccan sconces, Moroccan chandeliers, Moroccan lanterns, Moroccan hanging pendants, and Moroccan lamps. A great source for quality handmade Moroccan light fixtures as well as Moorish lighting is a California company called Saint Tropez Boutique that design and handcrafts Moroccan light fixtures in Casablanca, Morocco and exclusively distributes them in the U.S.A. The reason why I like Saint Tropez Boutique because they are unique Moroccan light fixtures designs, plus they handcrafted from top quality Moroccan solid brass that has been carved into refined and intricate patterns. Addition to that Saint Tropez Boutique is the exclusive dealer in the U.S.A that has Moroccan light fixtures pre-wired for the UL-Standard (pre-wired for the U.S Standard wiring). To learn more about Moroccan lighting by Saint Tropez Boutique, please visit them online at: http://www.sainttropezboutique.us

Extensive Use of Textures

Moroccans love extensive use of textures in their home. So, if you want to have a Moroccan style look, rule out too much use of smooth and sleek materials. In fact, the fusion of multiple textures and shapes will be best. You can have darkened wood plank floors, which can be covered with natural fiber rugs of sand-ish color. This will not only add texture to the room, but also provide you with some comfort under the feet. You can also try draping fabric from the ceiling.

Some Other Tips

Colorful mosaic tables not only give a Moroccan feel to your place, but also help to brighten up a dull room. Use of handmade Moroccan tiles will go a long way in creating a Moroccan décor. Use of Moroccan tent as a Moroccan lounge getaway in your own backyard. Use of Moroccan wood lattice screens also known as Jali Screens in your windows doors, kitchen and bath cabinet doors, or even as a room divider wall Last but not the least, you can buy silk bedcovers or cushion covers, in jewel tones, to create that perfect Moroccan look.

To learn more about Moroccan home decorating, please contact  :

Saint Tropez Boutique

25 Evelyn way, San Francisco

California 94127

Phone: (415) 513-5920

Email: sales@sainttropezboutique.us

Web: http://www.sainttropezboutique.us

The decorations have come down after Christmas and the rooms are looking rather bare. Winter is often a drab time of year and, even though the promise of Spring is just around the corner, why not liven your January days up by investing in some home decorating. Home decorating ideas do not have to break the bank; there are plenty of ideas which can make an immediate impact on the interior of your home without spending too much money. At the other extreme, however, you could hire an interior decorator and go the whole hog! Whatever you choose, however, there are plenty of home decorating ideas around – from chic and sophisticated to ultra modern, or the contemporary cottage look with beams and home-crafted cushions. Home decorating ideas is really a matter of personal preference and depends on the kind of home you have and the lifestyle you live there.

To change the look on a shoestring, alter the positioning of the furniture. If, previously, it was against the walls, pull it all out and reposition it at angles. What about changing the dining room to the lounge and the lounge to the dining room for an immediate change? Even in the smallest houses, there is usually sufficient room to make this change. I did this one weekend a few years ago and it has become an almost annual alteration. My front room [the traditional lounge area] runs through into the traditional dining area with a large opened out area in the wall between. This ‘opened-out’ area was knocked through before I bought the house, and it is neither an open-plan nor an appropriate size to be closed off by double doors. It looks what it is – a big square gap in the wall, with a wood surround to finish it off! I have actually arranged with a local builder to have this altered to a brick-faced archway. It will certainly look a lot better!

If you are on a budget, even painting one wall as a focal point will look cleaner and brighter. There are plenty of inexpensive wall hangings you can buy from companies like IKEA, the Swedish company with many outlets in the UK. Plants will also liven up any home decorating ideas – they come in a multitude of styles and sizes and are readily available from garden centres which often have huge arrays on display. If, like me, you keep forgetting to water your plants, you would probably be better advised to place silk plants around your home. Their quality is extremely good and they look remarkably lifelike these days.

Home Decorating Ideas offers quick cheap tips on how to decorate your house. Includes tips on decorating the office, living room, bedroom, kitchen and more.

kitchen décor coupon codes are great way of saving money when shopping online. When you think about redecorating a kitchen, you can paint, tile, add new hardware, and brighten things up with lighting. But when you’re planning a new kitchen or renovation of your existing space, you need to plan in advance to think about making the room more efficient, safe, and workable. It’s useful to know different things about safety, spacing, and convenience. There are some good ideas to follow when redecorating your kitchen.

Keep at least 36″ space for walking between fixtures, appliances, and cabinets. For ease of movement, you don’t want to be cramped. And you need room to open the dishwasher door, cabinets, and the refrigerator.

Give a room for comfortable in-kitchen dining. Avoid that cramped feeling by allowing a minimum of 36″ between the edge of the table and a wall. You’ll have plenty of room to push back the chairs comfortably.

Make a distance of 30″ to 48″ of floor space in front of appliances. You’ll need to walk in front of the dishwasher, oven, and refrigerator, and have space to stand at the sink.

Place the dishwasher near the sink. Your rinsing and washing will be easier if the sink is 36″ or less from the dishwasher.

Keep sufficient counter space near the sink. Install at least 24″ of counter top on one side and at least 18″ of counter top on the other side of a sink to provide for food preparation, dish washing, and work space.

Provide proper ventilation for cooking appliances. A fan should be installed above any surface cooking to allow the air to clear.

Install or place a microwave 24″ to 48″ from the floor. It’s easier to insert and remove food from a microwave if it’s at a convenient height. Too high or too low could mean dropped pans.

Keep a place to put microwave-cooked food. Provide at least 18″ of counter space to place food that’s coming out of the microwave.

Buy easy-to-use hardware. Since you don’t know what you might be doing, choose knobs and hinges that allow you to open and close cabinets and drawers with one hand.

Try to use different types of lighting for each area in the kitchen. For general lighting, recessed can lights or track lighting will illuminate the whole room. Use under-counter lights for counter work spaces. And choose a decorative fixture or chandelier for the eat-in space.

It is better to use dimmer switches on ceiling and under-counter lighting. Every work space can use a bit of atmosphere. Dim the lights in the evening when you aren’t working in the kitchen.

Kitchen décor are quite expensive but online coupons and coupon codes can help you get huge discounts and save money. Online coupons are a great way of saving money online keeping in mind the economic instability. Through Coupons one can save time and money and also get big discounts from famous online shopping stores. There is wide variety of merchants to choose from. You will find coupons, coupon codes and promo codes just with the click of a mouse at the comfort of your home or office. Grab Coupons and Coupon Codes on kitchen décor items for instant savings.

Kitchen remodeling can help you restore your kitchen into central space of the house. From conventionally a dungeon-like place to cook and wash dishes to a multi-use action center of the entire family, kitchens have absolutely become a vital part of the modern homes. The homemakers now want to get the best kitchen remodeling done in order to have the best possible in-kitchen experience. Kitchen is after all a place where you have to spend very important time, and good cooking comes with good surroundings.

Kitchen remodeling can be an exceptional mean to add value to your home. It is a very wide topic and consists of many smaller areas. It takes time and planning.

You’ll want to make sure you are choosing the right kitchen remodel for your home and your budget. It is important that you research designs from several sources in order to make sure you have found the design that is perfect for your kitchen.

The first kitchen remodeling tilt is to believe the three basic kitchen functions: storage, food preparation, and clean-up. Additional considerations for small kitchens include space-saving built-in appliances at any time possible.

Using Local home improvement contractors gives you the advantage of working with well-informed home improvement experts. The difficulty of a house remodeling project depends upon the room being remodeled, the nature of the work to be done, and the capability of those doing it. Surviving the stress of a major home remodeling project can be a challenge.

For ideas regarding good custom made kitchens try to read up on as many articles and books on kitchen design, architectural style, cabinets, countertops, flooring, faucets and fixtures, as well as lighting. Great kitchen remodeling design takes the harmonization of kitchen design ideas, the assortment of kitchen cabinets, the arrangement of contractors and other professionals, and lastly, the conclusion of exceptional workmanship to create the kitchen of your dreams. In a family, generally everybody has a say in kitchen remodeling ideas because, even if they don’t cook, they will spend time in the kitchen eating breakfast and extra meals if the dining table is located in the kitchen.