Home Improvement Tips and Articles

by: Bob Janeway

In architecture, landscaping refers to the science and art of modifying land areas by organizing natural, cultivated, or constructed elements according to a comprehensive, aesthetic plan.

This landscaping involves the elements of topographical features like hills, valleys, rivers, and ponds or growing things like trees, shrubs, grass, and flowers as well as constructions like buildings, terraces, and fountains.

Today, landscaping is quite popular for homeowners who would want to improve their homes. The goal should be the house and the landscaping must complement with each other.

A GUIDE TO D-I-Y LANDSCAPING

Any house with landscape should complement each other. In order to achieve this harmony, you really need to consider and reconsider your options and the extent of landscaping you would want to have.

There are actually so many aspects in do-it-yourself landscaping like budget, skills, the climate of your region or place, personal design tastes, and the available resources. If you really want to beautify your home through landscaping, here are some do-it-yourself landscaping tips that can help you get by.

1. Make sure that you provide your landscaping with a year-round theme. The surefire tip in landscaping is to provide it something related to four seasons so you’ll never be outdated. A combination of a plant-selection with flowering trees or shrubs throughout, and fall foliage would do.

2. Try to layer the garden’s flower beds when planting. By layering the planting beds in rows of three that include a back row filled with tall plants, a middle row planted with the next tallest plants, and a front row containing the shortest plants. The repetition of each flower bedding will give your garden a unified look.

3. Consider the use pf evergreens for continuity. When it comes to DIY landscaping usually focuses more on trees and shrubs but this doesn’t mean that you cannot include evergreens because this will give the space more structure and the view of variety and continuity.

4. Experiment on using annuals to supplement perennial hues and colors. Perennial flowers are ideal for flower beds because they last for a long period of time. But since they bloom only in a specific period, it is best if you try incorporating annual plants with perennial ones so you can fill up the colorless spots in the flower beds when perennial flowers are not yet in bloom.

If you are quite particular about color coordination of the two kinds of blooms, try using a picture gallery so you’ll get ideas what is the right color scheme for your garden.

5. Don’t forget to assimilate hardscape into your initial and final landscape design. Aside from paying much attention to plants when landscaping, don’t forget to include hardscape features such as fences and other garden decorations.

If you want to be more specific, try including patios and decks to your garden because these will provide great transition from your indoors to your outdoors.

6. Don’t be daunted in installing water features. One of the best focal points of any excellent landscape designs is the water feature. Aside from being one of the hottest trends in landscaping today, installing a water feature will not only make your garden more visually appealing but it can only create soothing sounds great for relaxation. The most basic water feature you can install is ponds.

When you think you’re ready to do something bigger and better, consider conceptualizing a simple waterfall through the use of cheap fountains, flexible tubing, pre-formed rigid plastic liners, and durable pumps.

7. Always keep foliages and drought-tolerant plants in mind. When thinking of landscaping your house or garden, never forget to include the characteristics of a plant’s foliage. The varying foliage textures and colors are needed to help you liven up your yard while the presence of drought-tolerant plants so your garden will have a staple decoration.

8. Lastly, make sure that you can maintain your yard without so much hassle. Sure, you can do landscaping in your yard based on your taste and aesthetic sense, but never forget to keep it low-maintenance so you can enjoy the beauty of your work even if you don’t spend much time and money keeping it.

About The Author

Bob Janeway is the owner of http://landscaping.knowsmart.com/. Check it out for a great landscaping idea.

by: Linda Kevich

Secrets For Achieving “THE Look” When Decorating Your Home
Have you ever wondered what it is that professional décor stylists know that gives the rooms they design that clean, oh-so-polished, classic look, EVERY time? You’ve probably looked around the rooms of your house and struggled to figure out what’s missing from your style of decorating. How come you never quite seem to have it – whatever IT is?

Well, good news – here are some really simple secrets to give your house that star quality when it comes to décor. These ideas are completely simple to adopt, and they do not involve spending a lot of money, but rather, it's all about using what you already have in the best possible way. It's simple common sense, really – but sometimes the simplest ideas are the ones that seem to elude us the most.

So here we go – get ready to totally transform your surroundings:

- Never use decorative items simply to fill space. You should add items of décor to a space ONLY because they speak to you in some special way. For an item to make the cut and qualify to be on display in your home it should give you some type of really powerful, positive emotional reaction. Every single item should offer it's own 'Wow' factor. If not, you are far better off to leave the space empty until such time that something that really moves you comes along. Memorize this simple rule, and stick to it steadfastly: “If it doesn’t add, then it detracts”. It’s a simple phrase but every good interior designer will attest that the concept is worth it's weight in gold. What it is telling us, in other words, is that if the object you have placed in the room doesn’t immediately do something to give the room an extra dose of something very special, then it’s actually taking away some of the visual power and energy the room already has – that means it has to go!

- When grouping objects together in décor, say on a shelf, mantle, or hall table, be sure the objects relate to one another in some way through use of a theme. To avoid the hodge-podge effect and to achieve a pleasing sense of unity, there needs to be at least one common element that ties the various pieces together. That common element will most often arise from color, texture or pattern. So, say, for example, that you have a table on which you want to feature a lamp, a framed photo, and a pillar candle on a decorative candle base… One way these might all relate to one another is if the candle base is a tone of gold, the picture frame is a tone of gold, and the lamp shade is a tone of gold. In this instance, you have related all of the items together through color. Another alternative might be to choose a picture frame that is smooth and shiny, a lamp shade that is smooth and shiny, and a candle base that is smooth and shiny. In this case, the objects may not share a similar color theme at all, but what they do have in common – what unites them – is their smooth and shiny finish or texture. If you were to use pattern to unite all three objects, you might select a picture frame that is stamped with a leaf pattern, a lamp that has a shade covered in fabric with a leaf pattern, and a candle holder with small leaf designs engraved into it.

- Keep clutter to a minimum. When you love décor and you love to decorate, is easy to get carried away with cramming too many decorative objects into one space. It can be difficult for some of us to avoid doing this when we are lucky enough to have so many lovely things that we completely adore. We want to display them all at once so that we can enjoy them, but that will often backfire, resulting in what will ultimately end up looking like clutter. When this happens, the various objects compete with one another, and it has a very unsettling effect on the eye. Pieces that would have looked awesome had they been displayed on their own end up being part of one big visual circus. Don’t overdo it. Learn to recognize when enough is enough and when you’ve crossed the line into too much.

When you follow these simple but fabulous tricks used by professional decorators and stylists, stunning décor is easy as well as fun to accomplish every time. Why not put these ideas to work for you today – go redo a room in your home, or the entire house if you are feeling so inclined, right now using these winning principles. A fresh new look in 15 minutes – what better way to make both you and your home feel fabulous!

About The Author

Linda Kevich is a leader in lifestyle arts. An internationally recognized wedding expert for the last 15 years, Kevich is often cited in the national and international media and is well known for showing couples how to have the weddings of their dreams through her popular web site SuperWeddings.com (http://www.superweddings.com) . Now, through CreativeHomeStyle.com (http://www.creativehomestyle.com), Kevich, with her killer sense of style and academic background in design, takes her followers to the next step - beyond the wedding - inspiring them with ways to inject creativity and style into life at home.

About CreativeHomeStyle.com: CreativeHomeStyle.com is a free online source of creative ideas and inspiration for a blissful home life. Get the most of daily living with stylish ideas for decorating, gardening, and entertaining, how-to-advice, free recipes, and craft projects. Live the life you love at CreativeHomeStyle.com

Copyright (C) 2006 by Linda Kevich. All Rights Reserved. Permission is granted to re-reprint this article provided it's contents and by-line / resource box remain fully intact and are not altered in any way. This article may not be changed, modified, or edited in any manner unless express permission by the author is granted in writing.

by: Rob Buenaventura

Many people choose hardwood flooring because it is easy to maintain and keep looking great. True, you will not have to worry about hardwood staining if you spill grape juice on it, as you do with carpet. However, there are a few things that you need to remember when you are dealing with hardwood. Once you have spent a great deal of time and money on your beautiful hardwood floor, you will want to keep it looking fantastic. Many people choose hardwood flooring because it is easy to maintain and keep looking great. True, you will not have to worry about hardwood staining if you spill grape juice on it, as you do with carpet. However, there are a few things that you need to remember when you are dealing with hardwood.

1) The most important cleaning tip for hardwood is preventative maintenance. By cleaning your floors regularly and sweeping or vacuuming dirt and debris, you will save yourself a lot of time and expense in the long run.

2) Wipe up any spills as soon as they occur. Although you will not have an instant stain when you spill on hardwood floor as you do with carpet, you may expose your hardwood to staining if you do not wipe up spills in a timely fashion. Once stains have a chance to set into the hardwood you may have to refinish the floor in order to get the stain out.

3) Sweep your floor everyday or as needed. It is important to sweep up any dirt or debris off of your floor as necessary so that the dirt doesn’t scratch the wood. This will vary from house to house of course. If you have a high traffic home, you may need to sweep a few times a day. Although, you may only need to sweep every few days.

4) Use a hardwood cleaner once a week to keep your floor looking its best. Hardwood floor cleaners are available at any home improvement center or at a flooring center. They are quite easy to use, and with a little preventative maintenance, you will thank yourself in the future. Simply spray the cleaner on and use a cloth or hardwood broom to buff the floor gently.

5) Never use water and soap when cleaning your hardwood. Hardwood is not like linoleum or even laminate flooring and you cannot use a bucket of sudsy, soapy water to clean it. In fact, you can damage your floor if you try to mop it in a traditional style. Because wood is susceptible to water damage, you want to minimize the contact that your floor has with water. Water will seep into the cracks of the boards and can cause swelling, discoloration and deformation of the boards.

6) Protect your floor from furniture scratches and gouges. It is a very good idea to place felt on the bottom of all of your furniture in order to protect it from scratches. This is particularly important for furniture pieces that move a great deal such as your kitchen chairs. But it is a good idea to protect all pieces equally. You can purchase felt at the local hardware store, and cut it to size to fit the bottom of every piece of furniture that you have.

7) Polish your floor regularly. If you have a hardwood floor with a wax finish, you may want to wax it on a regular basis to keep it looking shiny and new. The waxing process will also will also help buff any scratches out of your floor as well. Every wax product is different so it is important to read the directions carefully and also consult the manufactures guidelines of your flooring before applying any wax product.

With a little bit of preventative maintenance and some common sense, you will be able to keep your hardwood floor looking fabulous for many years. There are only a few simple steps and rules to follow when dealing with hardwood flooring because it is actually one of the easiest flooring types to care for.

About The Author

Rob Buenaventura invites you to http://www.hardwoodscene.com. Here we provide tips on hardwood refinishing and installation of wood flooring. Find benefits on what to look for when considering a hardwood flooring vacuum.