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Get creative with container gardening

Kyle — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 11:55:12 +0000

Photo: ksbuehler / Flickr

There’s nothing more gratifying than growing your own food. It’s good for your budget and, if you grow your food organically, good for you, too. You can grow veggies and herbs in containers no matter how little space you have. And, as long as you use good plotting soil and compost, planting in containers means you don’t have to worry about weeds or bad soil quality. There’s no need to limit yourself to planting in containers, though. Get creative with these ideas for unique kitchen gardens.

A barrel of potatoes

A very easy way to grow your own potatoes is in a barrel. A discarded wine or whisky keg will work perfectly, but you could also use an old dustbin you have decorated. Fill the container with sawdust and plant sliced potatoes – which your new crop will grow from – push them into the sawdust until they’re covered and water. In a few days you’ll see new potato plants sprouting.

Cooking pots

Potting vegetables and herbs in old cooking pots gives visual interest to your garden. Old pots and pans can be picked up at second-hand stores and flea markets. Mismatched pots with retro floral designs look really good. To prepare the pots before planting, drill a few drainage holes into them and fill with potting soil and compost. Remember to place a layer of small rocks above the drainage holes to avoid soil seeping out.

A gutter garden

If you have some old gutters on hand, don’t throw them away. They can make an excellent vertical garden. Drill holes in the bottom at regular intervals and attach them to a simple wooden frame. Then plant your seedlings as you would do in any other kind of container. Choose gutters that are PVC free as lead in PVC guttering can leach into the soil.

Many plants can be grown in containers, including herbs, baby tomatoes, strawberries, salad leaves, chives and garlic.

The simple scatter cushion

Lindsey — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 13:00:23 +0000

Photo: mod as hell / Flickr

Scatter cushions can add a splash of colour and vibrancy to an otherwise plain couch, chair or bed and these simple cushions are easy to make and often inexpensive to buy. The trick to finding the right scatter cushions is in the simple things like colour and fabric choice. Scatter cushions can tie in with your curtains, accessories and blankets or they can act as accent pieces. So go out and buy some pretty scatter cushions for your home or dig around for some fabric offcuts and make your own!

Colour

The colour of your cushions can make all the difference when it comes to this simple accessory. Bright and bold cushions can add life to an otherwise dull and colourless room but they will catch people’s attention so make sure they are well made in a luxurious fabric. If you’re going for patterned fabrics consider pairing them with a few plain scatter cushions so that the room doesn’t appear too busy. Alternatively choose single cushions in different fabrics but similar colours for a bohemian effect.

Shape and design

Shape should also be considered when buying scatter cushions. Round and rectangular shapes are interesting to look at but may not be as comfortable as larger, square cushions. You will need to look at the shape of your room as well as your furniture and tie in your scatter cushions accordingly. The design of your scatter cushions should also be considered – try and stick to some sort of central theme and tie your scatter cushions in with it accordingly.

Make your own

If you have some fabric off-cuts or old tops or jeans lying around at home consider making your own scatter cushions. Cut your fabric into three squares: one 48cm x 48cm piece for the front and two pieces of35 x 48cm for the back or adjust the measurements to a size of your choice. Now hem a 2cm hem on one of your back pieces. Pin the back pieces onto the front piece so the one with the hem overlaps the one without, in the middle of the front square. Sewit all together, trim the edges and stuff with a cushion inner or a stuffing fabric of your choice. Now you have made your very own scatter cushion. If you’d like your cushions to have removable covers, try making them with hidden zips.

Interior design principles for non-designers

Manuel — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 17:15:27 +0000

Photo: Stock.Xchng

People are particularly sensitive about their homes around this time of year. The knowledge that guests will come and go with high frequency over the coming weeks tends to make us aware of our living spaces in ways we haven’t been previously. And it has the effect of turning everybody, especially those with a few extra pennies to spare, into part-time interior designers. And though it’s advised to hire a professional, we love to do it ourselves. If you must do your own interior design when giving your home a makeover, consider these key interior design principles first.

Unity and harmony

In a living space, everything must go together to create a unit, as well as being in harmony with each other. This is really just a fancy way of saying you should not put items of furniture that look great in isolation but terrible relative to the rest of your home in your space. Think of how everything relates to everything else, and how it will effect how your space looks.

Balance and symmetry

Rooms shouldn’t feel heavily weighted in any single section at the sacrifice of the rest of your home. A key interior design principle is to make your home as balanced as possible, by carefully thinking about the effect on room symmetry and asymmetry of every object positioning, and size.

Photo: Stock.Xchng

Focal points

Though you have to be mindful of balance, unity and harmony in your home, you certainly want to have specific items in your various rooms that are the focal points of those room. By focal point, we mean defining characteristic, and this interior design principle is what sets an average looking home apart from a fantastic looking home.

Rhythm

Rhythm is how you ensure the room flows beautifully. And the way you achieve rhythm is by having lots of repetition, in the form of shapes, colours, patterns, transitions and progression. Remember, a home is basically a collection of different items of furniture and decorative ornaments, so interior design is how you place all these items together in relation to each other.

If you pay attention to the rhythm of your home, by being mindful of how one ornament or piece of furniture translates to the next and so on, you will have conquered potentially the most important interior design principle.

Yet in addition to this focal point, you need to pay careful attention to detail. Every ornament, every pattern, every item, even how you place the odd beanbag seats will effect the rhythm of your home. If you understand these interior design principles, you will be well equipped to transform your home.

Get inspiration

Finding the right piece of furniture, whether it is a couch, a lamp, or even how your home theatre should look is difficult if you do it manually. Fire up a price comparison site, and see what options you have, and reference your online findings against what you’re trying to do in your home. Not only will you likely save money by shopping this way, you will get to test to see if you’ve gripped the essence of the interior design principles we’ve covered.

Photo: Stock.Xchng

Make sure you also keep up with the latest trends in interior design, by reading fantastic blogs like Dezeen.

Designer Wall Clock: Unique and Stylish Way to Decorate your Home

Paul — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 11:22:34 +0000

Many companies are engaged in manufacturing a wide range of Designer Wall Clock. These are available with various other features as well. These clocks are priced as per the features provided in the clock. The clocks are available in various sizes, designs and shapes and you can choose as per your requirement. Some of the biggest companies engaged in manufacturing designer wall clocks include Karlsson, Nextime, Seiko Instruments, ZACK and Oregon Scientific. These companies are manufacturing designer clocks for a very long time.

Some of the best designer wall clock includes Karlsson KA450050, Nextime 2610zw Plug inn, Seiko QXA405K, Karlsson KA4306, Oregon Scientific Jumbo JM889, Oregon Scientific JM 888 K and Karlsson KA4862. Karlsson KA450050 is one of the designer wall clocks with an analogue display. It is made using quality acrylic that provides long functional life. The clock is battery operated and the clock measures about 76 cm. The Karlsson KA4306 is another designer wall clock that has an analogue display and is quite stylish, though not as far out there as some other retro flip clocks. It is made using quality plastic that makes it very strong and abrasion resistant. The clock is designed using blocks that can be rearranged. Nextime 8050 Marilyn is a very stylish wall clock. It also has an analogue display and measures about 43 x 43 cm. It is made using quality glass. Oregon Scientific Jumbo JM889 is manufactured using quality plastic. This clock measures about 22 X 23 cm and has a digital display.

These designer clocks are available in a large variety and can be chosen as per the specifications.

Outdoor Garden Fountains: Add Aesthetic Value to your Garde

Jay — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 15:06:29 +0000

Outdoor fountains in your garden add aesthetic value. They not only enhance the looks of your garden but also add value to your property. When it comes to outdoor garden fountains, most people have a rigid outlook and think of installing large and bulky looking centrepieces for their gardens. However, this need not be so any more. Outdoor garden fountains can be installed in any part of your garden like a drab corner, a walkway, the centre of the garden or even the deck.

Why do you require having outdoor garden fountain in the first place? Well, you garden will look more beautiful and the flowing water will bring about a serenity calmness and tranquillity in the garden. With an outdoor fountain in place, you will find yourself enjoying being in the garden more often watching and listening to the flowing water. Moreover, you can turn a drab looking backyard more beautiful with an outdoor garden fountain.

Outdoor garden fountains come in amazing styles and materials and they can be customized to suit your budget and needs. A wall fountain is recommended for small backyards. Plants grown around the fountain and lights placed strategically will help to enhance the area more. Make sure to take good care of the area surrounding your fountain by mowing regularly with a reliable lawnmower like the Bosch Rotak 43 LI. This will help to accentuate the beauty of your fountain and enhance the overall look of the garden. Indeed, yoor garden will truly look like a fairyland with the plants, fountain and lights at night. The material used for garden fountains include ceramic, wood, copper, porcelain, concrete, and fibre glass. If price is not a consideration then you should go in for a concrete or ceramic fountain. Take care to place your fountain on level garden in order to prevent uneven water flow.

Luxury Kitchen Sinks exude class and glamour

Kyle — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 14:14:23 +0000

Times have changed. Gone are the days when the kitchen wore an ordinary look with just the basic amenities. Today’s kitchens have turned glamorous making them designer kitchens. Luxury kitchens are here to stay and they make meal times very pleasant and enjoyable. The glamorous kitchen oozing with luxury is helping families bond closer.

What tells a luxury kitchen apart from an ordinary kitchen? Host of modern kitchen appliances like gas burners with the latest cook tops, luxury kitchen sinks, kitchen utensils, etc adds to the kitchen attraction. Luxury kitchen sinks are a very essential part of any kitchen and when they come in colour and designer versions, they add class to your kitchen. Luxury kitchen sinks not only make your kitchen look pleasant and high tech, you will find using them helps relieve you of cooking stress and provides you with an opportunity to clean up with ease. When you install a luxury designer kitchen sink in your home, the value of your home also increases.

You can opt for luxury kitchen sinks in various materials like stones, stainless steel, and glass, wood and copper. Stone kitchen sinks come in granite, marble and ceramic. While granite sinks are great to look at, marble sinks add a touch of elegance. Both these materials will last you a lifetime. However, marble sinks require great care as stains spots can appear and need proper cleaning and maintenance. Copper kitchen sinks make any kitchen look luxurious because of its unique shine that adds to the attraction. Stainless steel sinks, like the Franke Active Kitchen AKX 654 inset sink, are also good options for kitchens and easy to maintain; however, they are not nearly as glamorous as their marble counterparts.

Easy ways to create personalised Christmas Cards

Jay — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 12:54:51 +0000

Many things change with time, and tradition is also one of them. Traditions are invariably acted upon by many contemporary elements, and along the way the tradition picks up a thread here and another there and consequently adjusts itself to the present context. We as human beings, both consciously or otherwise, twist and turn around these traditions so that they best serve our interests. However there are certain traditions that are best left un-tampered, just like the tradition to send holiday greetings during the sacred season of Christmas festivities. Christmas cards are such a wonderful way of making up with your distant friends, relatives and dear ones, and with a little bit of effort on your part you can make it a really personalised affair.

Here are a few simple ways to create personalised Christmas cards:

You must realize at the very beginning that it is a time consuming process and therefore prepare yourself mentally for the task. It is creative as well, though you don’t have to be a genius at that. Try using your imagination and stress on a specific message that you want to convey to the person concerned.

Again, it is not important to hanker around shops searching for materials to create the cards. Look around and you will discover enough material to work with. Left over wrapping papers are a great example, and you may use it in your cards depending on the design and texture of the paper. Montages can be formed by cutting pictures from it, while strips will be a good bet to trim the border of the card.

The amazing thing about self-crafted cards is that you can decide on the photos that you are going to have on it. There is no fixed rule that you need to follow while picking the pictures. you can even edit photos using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom to produce anything that proliferates the ethos of Christmas celebrations.

Another important advice is let your children put in their inputs which will make the process a really enjoyable one.

Christmas cards also have business benefits as well! These days there are a growing section of people who use these cards to further their business interests. It is however important to ensure that the cards stands out from the ones that your client will be receiving. A good way to ensure that is to gift something that is related to your profession, rather than something that he couldn’t identify with.

How to maintain Chic Velvet Curtains

Jay — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 10:12:19 +0000

Curtains can make or break the look of your bedroom, living room or any space for that matter. Therefore it’s not a surprise that a lot of people now opt for velvet curtains because of their exquisite looks and grand appearance. The problem is that many do not know how to maintain them. This defies the whole purpose of getting velvet curtains in the first place. After spending a lot of money on them, it is important to maintain velvet curtains correctly and carefully.

The most important aspect to keep in mind while cleaning velvet curtains is that you need to know how to wash them without shrinking them. It is a very good idea to dry clean such curtains. You must also take care not to iron them. The best thing is to steam wash velvet curtains. Some people may advice you on a certain type of washing machine, like a Hotpoint washing machine with multiple washing modes, for cleaning the velvet curtains. However, it is always better not to take chances of washing a velvet curtain in a machine. Hand washing is a really tedious method and if you don’t do it right or spend enough time on it, it can be a disaster. So it’s better to be safe than sorry.

You also need to take in external factors into consideration. If you have pets you know what is being talked about here. Always use a vacuum cleaner to remove your pet’s hair that the velvet curtains are sure to attract. Use these kinds of curtains in proper environments so that you have less work to do later. This way, you can always maintain your chic velvet curtains and retain the look that you wanted to create in the first place.

Welcome Your Guests with a Beautiful Dinner Table this Christmas

Jay — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 19:01:29 +0000

Have you invited your friends or relatives for a Christmas dinner at your place? It is great to celebrate the festival with loved ones but at the same time you are concerned about the dinner arrangements. As a host, you have to take care of a lot of things like decorating the home, preparing food and laying down the dinner table.

You can make the occasion more special by welcoming the guests with a well-laid out dinner table. Your little efforts can make a big difference in decorating a unique table. Make use of the following ideas to make the celebration memorable:

• Be more careful in choosing a tablecloth that fits the table well. You can look for the ones that have Christmas prints such as Santa or gifts etc. Another idea is to go for a red and white tablecloth to follow the festival’s colors.
• Decorate the table with beautiful candles, flowers and seashells. Take care to match this decorative material with the tablecloth to create a perfect theme.
• If you are using a plain tablecloth, compliment it with your patterned or colored crockery to complete the look.
• Take small pieces of red ribbon and tie it around the cutlery.
• Set the table with exquisite dinnerware and glasses, like the Spiegelau Soiree Red Wine Glass set.
• Pick up some tiny baubles or flowers to decorate the rolled napkins.
• Let the candles spread some fragrance. You can either use scented candles or add few drops of aromatic oils to the ordinary ones.

Christmas celebrations are incomplete without gifts. So show your thoughtfulness and select a personalized gift for every guest.

Make it a point to Decorate your House this Christmas

Jay — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 13:14:22 +0000

Christmas times are festive times and people for once are determined to forget the difficulties and ordeals of their life, while deciding to take part in the celebrations. Christmas season not only brings a smile to our faces, but also elevates us spiritually. It is therefore important that we prepare for Christmas in earnest to get the maximum benefit out of it. And there is no better way to prepare for your Christmas celebrations than by beginning with decorating your home.

Hey guys, it is also not that difficult! Just follow the following tips:

One very cute way to celebrate the onset of the festivities is to display seasonal dolls or bears, and you can even try adding small Christmas tree with little presents. You can even make your own customised Christmas cards using the Greenstreet Christmas Card Maker. Only make sure that you involve your tots during the process, as it will not only make them happy to be a part of the process, but also end up making them feel more responsible.

You should use a Christmas ribbon to tie bows all over your home. There is no hard and fast rule where you can tie them, and it actually depends on your own imagination.

Why don’t you try something as dramatic as hanging stockings around the house? It will really look cool and also bring in an edgy feel…

In case you want to have engagements with your tots, try painting a white table cloth with fabric as it will add to the festivity and also complement your child’s personality.

Ornaments are a good way to decorate your houseplants and should keep you happy with the feeling that Christmas season is fast approaching! For those who can’t afford something as extravagant as ornaments, Christmas cookie cutters are a viable option.

One thing, and a important one at that, that you should do well to follow is please try to decorate Christmas books out on your table. That way both you and your child can go through them. Both of you will get invaluable knowledge by going through these books, and your child will thereby remain ever grateful to you.