Escape to Sunny Mexico - at Home!
December 3, 2008
Can’t get away for a southern vacation this year? Don’t despair — plan a sunny Mexican style refresher for your patio décor and enjoy the festive atmosphere of a hacienda at home this summer.
As with every other decorating style, Mexican décor has its own basic elements.
Color
- The predominant color in the sunny Mexican look is yellow — bright, cheery and warm. If you’re lucky enough to be working with an outdoor space that abuts a stucco house exterior, consider painting the stucco yellow or soft terracotta. Otherwise, fashion walls for your space from a fence, a screen or a trellis painted an uplifting sunny hue.
- Accent the yellow with bright blue or vivid turquoise. Shades of terracotta, red, orange and bright pink are also popular.
Furniture
- Furniture made of heavy wood looks most authentic in Mexican style decorating. Small rough-hewn side tables are suitable. If you can’t get heavy wooden furnishing, paint simple wooden folding chairs bright yellow and blue.
- Alternatively, use wrought iron or hammered metal furniture. The Mexican influence of these materials can be also be used in gate hinges or accessories such as candlesticks.
Tiles
Light Up Your Garden And Brighten Your Life
November 30, 2008
Extending Your Living Space
The garden is fast being considered to be an extension to your living space and homeowners are putting as much effort into creating a harmonious environment outside as they are inside. A beautiful garden is also considered to be one of the biggest selling features of a home and can certainly help to add value and appeal.
As the short days of winter recede, many of us will be starting to think about our gardens and dreaming up projects and schemes that we plan to undertake when the days become longer and the weather warmer. For many traditionalists this will mean planting borders, manicuring the lawn and cultivating a myriad of blooms that will add colour and life to their gardens throughout the summer, whilst others will view their garden purely as an area in which to relax.
Metal Outdoor Furniture - Explained
November 26, 2008
Mention metal patio furniture and you probably think of the light, fly-away aluminium loungers of your youth or that half-ton cast iron table and chair set on your neighbour’s lawn.
But metal outdoor furniture has come a long way. Here’s a quick primer on the available types and their care.
Construction Methods
Metal is fashioned into furniture in one of three main ways: extrusion, casting, and welding.
Extrusion forces melted metal through long pipes and forms long narrow tubes of metal, sometimes solid, but often hollow.
Casting metal involves a form, or cast, shaped like the finished product. The molten metal is poured into the form and then the form is removed when the metal has solidified. Cast pieces are almost always solid.
Forging, a process in which metal is heated and hammered into shape produces the type of furniture known as “wrought” metal. It uses pipes and various solid pieces of the metal and joins them together by welding or bolting.
Common Materials
The most common metal outdoor furniture is made from iron or aluminium, although the use of steel, especially stainless steel, is growing.
Turn Your Patio Into A Voluminous Vegetable Garden
November 22, 2008
My first apartment was a second-story condo in an urban complex, far displaced from the groomed suburban landscapes and sprawling gardens I had grown up with. My only connection to the outdoors was a small porch, surrounded by brown siding and a fading carpet of artificial turf.
To add a little color to the patio, I adopted a few small tomato plants from a friend who had started his garden indoors, and planted them in large pots near my railing. To my surprise, they started to grow. Soon I had filled the 5′ x 10′ space with more than a dozen ceramic pots, plastic containers, and beach pails filled with peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce and pole beans. Before I knew it, my porch was a curtain of green and my meals regularly featured home-grown vegetables.
Well-planned patio gardens allow gardeners to make the most of a small space while maintaining a degree of control not available to those who plant in the ground. If a plant is not getting enough sun, it can be moved. If it is not draining properly, more holes can be added. Healthy plants prevent pests, and some, such as slugs, are not even a factor. Watering is more efficient, because it must be done by hand, making a patio garden ideal in a drought situation. And at the end of the year, even inexperienced gardeners can enjoy a bounty of vegetables thanks to the built-in advantages of garden containers, which include regular drainage and nutrient-rich soil.
The Perfect Porch Swing
November 19, 2008
There is a magical quality to porch swings. In his summertime classic Dandelion Wine, Ray Bradbury describes the “ritual of the front-porch swing.”
“In the garage they found, dusted, and carried forth the howdah, as it were, for the quiet summer-night festivals, the swing chair which Grandpa chained to the porch-ceiling eyelets?they sat, smiling at each other, nodding, as they swung silently back and forth, back and forth.”
Perhaps it is the soothing rhythm or the reassuring creak of the porch swing that attracts us. Perhaps it is the companionable silence or quiet conversation. Or maybe swings simply remind us of more genteel times.
Materials and Construction
Although porch swings can be purchased in a wide range of materials, the most common are wicker and wood. You can also make your own porch swing from one of the myriad of woodworking patterns available at garden centers, hardware stores, or on the Internet. You can even improvise with a rope chair or a wicker chair with the legs cut off and a support base added.
Whether you are buying or making, here are things to look for:
Pine Furniture Care Guide
November 15, 2008
First, some background on PINE WOOD. Pine is a naturally soft wood which continues to “breathe”, based upon changes in the local (home, office, store, etc.) humidity and temperature. On the individual furniture piece there may be slight defects, such as knots,and shakes(small cracks in the surface of the wood). Some minor shrinkage may sometimes occur. These natural irregularities in pine enhance its overall uniqueness.
Do not place this product next to a radiator or in direct sunlight. Wood is a natural product and will expand if subjected to damp and will shrink and may crack if subjected to heat. This product is made of pine, which is a timber that is common for furniture, but susceptible to temperature changes. With pine furniture it is recommended that an even room temperature be maintained with no sudden temperature fluctuations, up or down.
Do not place HOT or CHILLED items directly on to the surface, use a place mat. Or marking will occur.
For general cleaning use a duster or damp cloth (ALMOST DRY) not wet.
Ship Ahoy! The Nautical Touch in Your Outdoor Living Space
November 12, 2008
Would you rather be sailing or are you strictly a shore bird? Whether you’re land-locked or seaside, you can create a nautical look in your outdoor living space by following a few easy principles. You’ll find that even landlubbers can answer the siren song of the sea.
Although any outside space can be adapted to this motif, wooden decks are particularly suitable. And if you can manage to install a water feature so that the deck overhangs it, you’ll increase the “on-board” feel. Be sure to include the following elements.
Color
For a real yacht-club feel, think navy, as in uniforms. Not only does navy recall the color of the ocean at night, paired with cream accents and brass “buttons”, it looks as classy as a ship’s captain. You can also add red accents for additional color.
Fabric
Make cushions of canvas or canvas-like fabric. For a trim nautical look, edge thick square cushions in contrasting rope piping. Blue and white striped mattress ticking also makes great throw cushions.
Use sailcloth or awning fabric for drapes. Trim them with navy stripes and hang with grommets on brass curtain rods.
Wooden You Like to Know? A Primer to Wood Outdoor Furnishings
November 8, 2008
To many people, wood is the quintessential building material for furniture, both indoor and out. There’s a wooden furniture form to suit every budget and décor — from rustic twig loveseats to classis cedar Adirondack chairs to sophisticated teak tables and benches.
In fact, the varieties of wood are dizzying. Which should you choose? How should you care for it? And is wood an environmentally-friendly choice for outdoor furniture?
Types of Wood
First, understand that hardwood is not necessarily hard and softwood is not always soft. The terms refer simply to the type of tree from which the wood is obtained: hardwood from broad-leafed trees, and softwood from needle-bearing trees.
All wood outdoor furniture may be cleaned with warm water and mild detergent.
Here are the most common types of wood used in the construction of outdoor furniture.
- Redwood is a durable hardwood, grown on the west coast of North America (the Coast redwood) and in China (the Dawn redwood.) Redwood is straight-grained with a reddish color, and has a high resistance to termites and rot. Treated properly, it can last more than 25 years.
The redwood harvested in North American is cut mainly from private lands that are zoned for timber use. Over 95% of these areas are previously harvested — that is, they are not virgin, old-growth forests. The Coast redwood can grow to 130 feet in just 30 years.
Plan Before Buying Rose Bushes
November 5, 2008
So, you have decided to plant rose bushes in your yard or on your patio, porch or balcony. Now all you have to do is go out and buy some bushes and plant them. Right? Wrong!!
There are several things that you have to decide before buying:
1. Where are you planning on planting?
2. Are you going to plant in the ground or in containers?
3. Do you want roses that are scented or unscented?
4. Do you want bushes, trees, climbers, vining or do you want them to grow into a hedge?
5. Do you want large, medium, small or miniature blooms?
6. Do you want roses for cutting?
7. What colors go best with your garden, patio, porch or balcony?
There are several types of roses, among them are:
Hybrid teas bloom frequently, are hardy, come in a wide range of colors, are well sented and are good for cutting for vases. The size of the blooms and the length of the stem depends on how they are pruned. They make the best long stem roses for cutting.
Bare Root Roses
November 2, 2008
Bare Root Roses, what to look for when buying
The first thing to look for is the plant’s grade.
Nearly all bare root roses sold today are grown in the field and are approximetly two years old. They are sold in three main grades.
Grade 1 is the best and most expensive grade. In order to obtain this grade the plants are required to have at least three strong cains, two of which must be at least 18 inches in length for hybrid teas anf grandifloras. The canes should be at least 1/8 inch in diameter.
Grade 1 1/2 is the most popular grade due to it’s lesser price. In order to obtain this grade the plants are required to have at least two strong canes which must be at least 15 inches long for hybrid teas and grandifloras. The canes should be at least 1/8 inch in diameter.
Grade 2 is the least expensive grade. These plants are only required to have two canes 12 inches or longer. These plants can be a gamble as they may be stunted.
