Caucasian female students unpacking in students room

Dorm Room Design on a Budget

Caucasian female students unpacking in students room

It’s that time of year again. High school graduates across the country are packing their belongings into boxes and making the drive to the college campus they’ll call home for the next few years. Many of them will spend at least the first year in an on-campus dormitory, sharing a small space with a roommate.

Whether you’re a college student or the parent of one, you’re likely already contemplating how to make that small space a little warmer. Often dorm rooms are equipped with only a couple of beds, a desk, a vanity, and a closet. Often with plain walls and outdated floors and furniture, dorm rooms can easily seem cold and bleak. Here are a few personal touches you can add that will make your dorm room feel more like home.

Area Rugs

Rugs can make a big difference in the look of a room, whether your flooring is tile or carpet. You can find inexpensive dorm room rugs online through sites like Dormco or eBay. You can also shop garage sales, thrift stores, and discount shops to find inexpensive rugs that will look great in a dorm room. Longevity and durability aren’t a primary factor, since many students will change their minds from one year to the next. Some students move into apartments and off-campus housing with friends after logging a year or two in dorms, so the dormitory furnishings bought today only need to last a short period of time.

Posters

Paintings and framed portraits may be ideal for decorating a house, but dorm room wall space is often limited. It can even sometimes be made of material like painted brick. Posters can be a much more affordable way to add character to a room without needing to drill holes in the wall. Posters can express a person’s favorite movies or music acts or provide inspirational reminders to help with those long nights of studying. Some campuses have strict rules about wall damage, however, so make sure all wall art is hung in a way that doesn’t damage the paint.

Get Creative

If you’re feeling artistic, turn your dorm decorating task into a creative endeavor. You can gain inspiration from sites like this one, putting together high-quality decorations using inexpensive items you may already have around the house. Best of all, the room will have a unique look, especially when compared to all of the other rooms in the building that have standard dorm room decorations. As you’re choosing projects, consider functionality. This do-it-yourself laundry bag can be great for toting laundry to the shared laundry room, while these creative storage boxes provide a great way to tuck items away when friends come to visit.

Being away from home for the first time can be unsettling and stressful. But with a few personal touches, a student’s dorm room can quickly begin to feel like home, providing a comfortable place to study, rest, and make great memories with friends. Even if you’re on a budget, you can make your dorm room stand out from the rest with a little creativity and resourcefulness.

Wooden kitchen counter with cooking accessories and stovetop

10 Easy Kitchen Projects to Enhance Your Space

Wooden kitchen counter with cooking accessories and stovetop

The kitchen is the place where we cook, entertain, do homework, and even surf the web. We want it to be functional, but we also want it to be stylish, too. Luckily there are some easy ways to tweak your kitchen to breathe new life into it. Consider the following simple projects to enhance your kitchen space.

1. Reface the Kitchen Cabinets

Building new cabinets from can be an expensive and labor-intensive endeavor. You can make just as much of a difference by sanding and repainting the surface of your cabinets to breathe new life into them.

2. Change the Cabinet Hardware

Replace all those dated knobs and pulls with brand new ones. There are so many variations on the market these days that you can create a completely unique look to your kitchen with the simple change of your cabinets’ hardware.

3. Install a Backsplash

You don’t have to be an expert to have an amazing backsplash. Consider peel-and-stick variations, or simply paint the space to change up the look.

4. Add Storage to the Backsplash

If you don’t like the thought of leaving your backsplash bare, consider using that valuable space for storage. Add a system that allows you to hang your pots, pans and utensils to maximize your wall space and expand your storage options. 

5. Choose a New Kitchen Sink

Out of all the components in the kitchen, your sink is likely used the most. There are so many options available as far as style, size, width, depth, color, and material.

6. Swap the Kitchen Faucet

A faucet is very practical in nature, but it can also work wonders at enhancing the esthetics of your kitchen. Modern faucets have more features that make washing the dishes a lot more efficient while improving the looks of the space at the same time.

7. Change the Countertops

Granite, marble, laminate, concrete, quartz, butcher block . . . the options are vast. A new countertop can make a huge difference.

8. Install New Lighting

Hang pendant lamps over an island, line the cabinets with under-mounted LED light strips, and swap old fixtures with more impressive ones.

9. Add Seating

If you’ve got an island or a ‘peninsula’ in your kitchen, add some bar stools if space permits. It’ll make a great place for quick snacks and great conversations.

10. Create Charging Station

Everyone in the home has their own digital device these days. Instead of leaving a tangled mess of wires in the corner, come up with a creative way to house your devices while hiding their associated wires for a cleaner, clutter-free look.

Kitchen sink detail shot in a modern, renovated kitchen with black window frames, a dark faucet, white cabinets, farmhouse sink, and cozy decor

Things You Should Never Pour Down the Drain in Your Home

Kitchen sink detail shot in a modern, renovated kitchen with black window frames, a dark faucet, white cabinets, farmhouse sink, and cozy decor

Just because you pour something down the drain doesn’t necessarily mean that it will magically disappear through the pipes. Sure, you can expect most liquids and a few tiny solids to make their way through the plumbing with little issue, but there are plenty of other items that can wreak havoc if you try to pour them down the drain.

To avoid the messy job of having to clear the pipes in your home, make sure none of the following items are ever sent down the drain. 

1. Grease

One of the most deceiving items that clog your pipes is grease. After frying up a pan of bacon or other fatty meats, all the fat at the bottom of the pan will be in liquid form, but not for long. Once it starts to cool off, it turns into solid.

Imagine pouring that hot liquid grease down the drain. At some point, it’ll start to turn to sludge as it cools, which can block the drain. The best thing you can do to dispose of this type of grease is to pour it into a separate bowl and allow it to cool, then throw it in the trash.

2. Baby Wipes

The only thing that should be flushed down a toilet is toilet paper that has been designed specifically to break apart easily when wet. Baby wipes are much thicker and are not made to break down the way toilet paper does. If the toilet gets clogged as a result, a plunger likely won’t do much. Instead, you’ll probably have to call in a plumber to clean the mess. Even if these wipes manage to actually pass the drainage system in your home, they’ll continue to do damage to the municipal sewage system.

3. Starchy Food

Any food scraps should be wiped off of plates and sent straight into the garbage can. However, it’s typical for small food particles to make it into the sink. Certain types of foods can be more damaging to pipes than others, including starchy foods such as potatoes, corn, pasta, rice, and onions skins. These fibrous foods can expand when they’re in the pipes and clog them right up. Even if you have a garbage disposal installed, these types of foods can damage the motor. While handy, garbage disposals are truly only meant for crumbs, not larger food peels or other scraps.

4. Coffee Grinds

The fine grinds of coffee may deceive homeowners into thinking that they’ll pose no problem when washed down the drain. However, coffee grounds can easily stick to any items that have already made their way into the pipes, creating a blockage. In fact, coffee grounds are one of the biggest culprits in clogged drains.

5. Dental Floss

It’s probably no surprise that the accumulation of hair can clog pipes. The same sort of principle applies with dental floss, which is similar in size and shape. Floss may be very thin, but that doesn’t mean it will necessarily slide easily through the pipes. Instead, it can easily clump into balls of knots, creating a blockage that will warrant a call to the plumber.

6. Cat Litter

Don’t be fooled by the tiny pebbles of cat litter products. Cat litter should never be flushed down the toilet or poured down sink drains. Traditional cat litter is made of clay, sand, and silica, which are made to absorb moisture. This, in turn, results in clumps that will easily clog your plumbing.

7. Medications

Tiny pills may be able to easily make it through the pipes with little issue, but they can cause trouble for our natural waterways. While it may have once been recommended to flush medications down the toilet in order to safely dispose of them and keep them out of the hands of others, it is now suggested that unconsumed medications be brought to a pharmacist for proper disposal.

8. Conventional Cleaning Solutions

Like medications, cleaning products that are found on grocery store shelves should not be poured down the drain because they can harm the water’s ecosystem. Instead, try using natural or home-made solutions that still work to clean but do not contain any agents that would cause harm to the environment.

The Bottom Line

The pipes in your home were not designed as trash cans. Many items can cause major blockage in your plumbing system that will result in the need to manually extract them, which is not a pretty job. To prevent any blockages to the pipes or harm to our natural waterways, make sure none of the above items ever make their way to your home’s plumbing system.

Lovely young woman putting soft pillows and plaid on comfy sofa, making her home cozy and warm

7 Affordable Ways to Give Your Home a Luxurious Feel

Lovely young woman putting soft pillows and plaid on comfy sofa, making her home cozy and warm

Just because you’re not filthy rich, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be able to have a home that you can call “luxurious.” Sure, celebrities may spend over seven figures building and designing homes that are over the top, but there are plenty of subtle ways that you can achieve a sense of opulence in your home, affordably.

1. Add Molding and Trim

One of the most effective ways to add a classy and sophisticated feel to a space the affordable way is by adding molding and trim around the room. These elements provide an esthetically appealing framework for any space, and show that every detail has been taken into consideration throughout the decorating process.

You can add trim and molding in a variety of ways, including:

Baseboards – These begin at the floor and extend around the room’s perimeter.

Crown molding – This runs along the ceiling of a room, and should roughly be about one inch thicker than the baseboards.

Casing – This is found around widows and doorways, and is usually added to provide a transitional cue from one room to the next.

Be sure to take proper measurements, and use matching paint or stain on all of your molding and trim to get a united look.

2. Layer Your Floor Coverings

To add a charming and cozy feeling to your rooms, make sure not to skimp on the floor layering. Not only will layering your floor coverings provide more comfort as you walk around the space, it also adds a sense of luxury to the room.

Start off with a basic layer – hardwood is usually your best bet when it comes to adding a rich flavor to the room. Wood – or faux wood – complements a number of colors and textures quite nicely. Then add your personal touch with area rugs. While you can add just about any color or pattern you like to suit your tastes, Oriental designs have a natural capacity to add a luxurious feel to a room.

3. Create Ambience With Lighting

The ambience of a room can often be achieved with small elements, such as light fixtures. Rather than adding only one type of lighting to a room, consider adding a variety of types of fixtures to the space.

Lighting is key to creating a classic and comfortable ambience. Mix it up with pot lights, table lamps, wall sconces and pendant lighting with bulbs that are soft and diffused. You can even mix soft colors for added effect – for instance, white and pink complement each other well to create a subtle hue. For overhead light fixtures, install dimmer switches so you can control their brightness.

4. Add an Antique Element to the Space

Nothing adds more grandiosity to a room more than antique pieces. While filling the space with such decor can be expensive, sometimes all you need is one antique piece. Adding elements like these can provide visual interest while still keeping the space modern with more conventional pieces.

Antique mirrors are a great choice, as they will add depth and weight to any room. You can even anchor the room with an armchair or armoire. Sometimes even a decorative antique vase or lamp can do the trick if you’re a little hesitant about going the antique route.

5. Add Warm Colors to the Space

All luxurious spaces have one thing in common – they offer a welcoming and cozy aura. And one of the most effective and easiest ways to achieve this feeling is with the use of warm color palettes. There’s something to be said about using the right paint color.

For decades, psychologists have studied how specific colors evoke certain feelings and emotions in people, so there’s a real science to it. To create a luxurious feel in your home, stick to warm colors like yellow, orange and red, which are typically perceived as cozy and intimate. Tan hues also serve as an excellent neutral base that can help you build brighter, bolder colors.

6. Add a Focal Point

Every room that evokes a sense of grandeur has a focal point – be it a fireplace, a great piece of art work, or even a table and chair set. With a clearly defined focal point, everyone who walks in the room will immediately be drawn to that element.

The best way to choose your room’s focal point is to highlight an existing detail. If you’ve got a gorgeous, old fireplace, for instance, use that. You can add a new mantle to revamp it and add more character to it.

If the room has an oversized window that allows a ton of natural light in, you could effectively use that as a focal point too. Simply add a decorative chair under it to emphasize its magnificence.

7. Add Plush Throw Pillows

It’s impossible to envision a luxurious home without visualizing plush, comfortable seating in the space. But rather than splurge on a completely new set of extra cushiony sofas and chairs, just adding a few plush throw pillows into the mix can be enough to achieve that feeling.

Opt for rich fabrics and gorgeous colors to maximize this effect, and use textures and patterns that will bring more depth into the space. No matter what your style is, include pillows in various sizes and colors to add depth.

Who wouldn’t want to live in a home that looks and feels like it could be featured in a magazine? The good news is, you don’t have to break the bank to achieve this look. With a few simple and creative touches, you can effectively create a luxurious feel in your home that you and your guests will adore.

Happy family celebrating moving day, playful young couple having fun at home, funny activity, laughing husband pushing excited wife sitting in cardboard box

6 Signs That You’re Ready to Be a Homeowner

Happy family celebrating moving day, playful young couple having fun at home, funny activity, laughing husband pushing excited wife sitting in cardboard box

Ready to buy your first home? Join the millions of others out there who are navigating the waters of real estate for the first time.

It’s exciting, yet it’s completely intimidating at the same time, and for good reason. Your home is most likely the most expensive purchase you will ever make, so it’s not something you want to jump into without making sure you’re emotionally and financially ready.

Are you truly prepared for homeownership? Here are a few signs that’ll tell you that you’re primed to become a homeowner.

1. You’ve Got Your Overall Debt Load Under Control

It’s important to be realistic about your state of affairs when it comes to your money. If you have mounting debt from credit cards, auto loans, student loans, and other personal debt, you should probably straighten these out before you add more debt to the pile. Including another payment will just send you spiraling deeper into debt.

On the other hand, if your debt is under control, you’re probably able to comfortably handle monthly mortgage payments. You can easily find this out by calculating your debt-to-income ratio, which represents the percentage of your monthly income that is dedicated to paying off your debts. If a huge chunk of your income is dedicated to paying debt, you might find it difficult to meet additional monthly mortgage payments. Not only that, lenders might not approve you for a mortgage either. 

Generally speaking, a debt-to-income ratio of 36% or less is usually considered doable. Anything over this percentage means you’ll probably be biting off more than you can chew. The lower the number, the more likely you’ll be comfortable making your monthly mortgage payments in full and on time each month.

2. Your Credit is Decent

Not only does your debt-to-income ratio affect your ability to secure a mortgage, so does your credit score. Do you even know what yours is? If not, it’s time to find out. Luckily, you can quickly discover what your credit score is by requesting a report from any one of the three major credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. It’s free to get this report once a year, so there’s no cost to you.

Lenders will look at your credit score to help determine how likely you’ll be able to meet your payments, versus default on them. The higher your score, the better. If your credit score is at least 620, you stand a much better chance at getting approved for a conventional mortgage. You may be able to secure an FHA-backed home loan with a score of at least 580. However, your ability to be approved for a home loan will depend on other factors well, including the following.

3. You’ve Saved Up For a Sizeable Down Payment

Not only will a decent-sized down payment help your lender look favorably on you, it will also impress the seller. A bigger down payment means you will owe less on the principal amount of your mortgage. It will also help increase the odds of getting approved for a home loan, and score a better rate.

Depending on the type of mortgage you are applying for, you might be able to get approved for a mortgage with a down payment of 5% of the purchase price of the home. However, if there are some questionable factors in your financial history, such as dings on your credit report, you could be asked to come up with more.

There are actually some home loan programs that allow as little as 3.5% or even zero percent down payment, but specific guidelines will need to be met in order to qualify. Just keep in mind that anything less than 20% on a conventional mortgage will mean you’ll be paying extra for Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI), which basically protects the lender should you default on your loan. The more money you’re able to put towards your down payment, the less you’ll owe on your mortgage.

4. You’re Planning on Sticking Around

If your intentions are to settle down for a few years, then you’re probably emotionally ready to make the commitment. It’s important to keep in mind that the selling prices can be an expensive and lengthy one.

Selling your home in less than two years after buying it can potentially wipe out any real estate profits. You’ll also be slapped with tax implications from selling too quickly. The IRS allows as much as $500,000 in profits from the sale of a property to be exempted from capital gains on tax returns that are filed jointly, or $250,000 for single-person filings. But you’ll need to show proof that the home was your primary residence for at least two of the last five years in order to make sure that money is exempt.

If you’re not sure if you want to stick around for long, you may want to rent first. If, on the other hand, you have intentions of sticking around for the long haul, that’s a good sign that you’re ready for homeownership.

5. You Want to Start Building Equity

Think of your home as investment. In actuality, it is. You’re not only buying a home to live in, you’re also building wealth over time. Every payment you make towards paying down your principal every month and appreciation in value over time both contribute to growing your home equity. In fact, one of the biggest benefits of homeownership is the equity that you can build as time goes on.

Having a lot of built-up equity in your home can give you a lot of options. It’s somewhat like a forced savings account that just gets bigger over time. You can eventually use the equity to fund some of life’s major expenses, such as a college education, major home renovations, or even a once-in-a-lifetime holiday. Borrowing against the equity in your home affords you with a financial safety net. If you’ve got your eye on building equity, then homeownership is likely for you.

6. You Have a Reserve Fund Stashed Away

When it comes to owning a home, it’s not just your mortgage payments that you need to worry about. Along with homeownership comes all sorts of other expenses, many of which can pop up unexpectedly. It’s important to ensure that you’ve got a reserve fund on the side, preferably at least 6 months’ worth to cover the cost of your mortgage, utilities, insurance payments, credit cards, and other debt obligations. If you’ve got this money built up, you’re in a much better position to buy a home.

The Bottom Line

It’s much better to take the time to determine if you’re ready to buy a house before you seal the deal. Even though it might be frustrating to hold off on the big purchase as you answer these questions, you’ll be in a much better position to buy knowing that you’re fully ready to take the plunge.

Happy smiling couple greeting broker with handshake at home

Don’t Do These Things Before Closing on a Home

Happy smiling couple greeting broker with handshake at home

You’ve found the home of your dreams, put in an offer, and the sellers accepted.

The agreement to purchase is signed, and the closing date is set. You’re ready to crack open that bottle of champagne to celebrate. Then you make a questionable move that could potentially steer the process of closing right off its tracks.

Even if closing day is just around the corner, you’re not exactly out of the woods quite yet. There are a number of blunders that you can make that will put finalizing the transaction at grave risk.

Quitting or Changing Jobs

Some clients will actually call their agents in the middle of escrow to tell them that they’ve either changed jobs, or quit their jobs altogether. And all the agent can do is cringe.

That’s the last thing you want to do if you’re depending on a lender to approve your mortgage. Being unemployed for any period of time or giving up a secure job in favor of becoming self-employed will only make your lender more uneasy about loaning you any money.

Lenders would much rather see a borrower with a steady job history. If you decide to make a job switch right before the house closes, it could put everything in limbo while your lender takes a second look at your current financial position.

Blowing Cash on Big Expenses

If you’re patiently waiting for closing day to come and go, do yourself a favor and resist the urge to make a huge expenditure – forget the new car, new appliances, or new furniture until after closing. This is especially true if you’ll need to put the purchase on credit or take out a loan to finance this expense.

Big expenditures like these that are on credit will do nothing but pile on your debt, which will have a negative impact on your debt-to-income ratio (a calculation that measures how much of your monthly income is dedicated to paying debts). This ratio plays a huge role in helping the lender determine if your mortgage will be approved or not.

Even if you pay these items in cash, you could still find yourself in hot water. Lenders look to see how much cash reserves you have when considering a mortgage approval. Instead, keep your credit card balances low and don’t tack on any new debt to your books while you’re still being considered for mortgage financing.

Opening New Credit Card Accounts and Closing Old Ones

Opening up new credit cards just before closing on your new house could have a negative effect on your credit score. This will make it look like you need additional credit to pay off future big expenses, or that you have intentions on adding further credit debt to your books.

If you’ve got old accounts that you never use, don’t close them. Having “old” debt can actually be a good thing – it helps to build your credit history which is exactly what lenders want to investigate when they consider you for a mortgage.

To reiterate here, don’t make any financial moves that will compromise your financial health until after you’ve secured a mortgage.

Making Late Bill Payments

This is a huge no-no for anyone, whether or not a new home purchase is in the works. If you’re waiting for your home purchase to close, make sure you stay on top of your bill payments.

Whether it’s a bill to the utility company, cable company, or anything else you’re responsible for making regular payments for, and be sure to make the payments on time and in full every single month. Making even one late payment can wreak havoc on your credit score, which will do nothing to win you points in the eyes of your lender.

Don’t make any moves (financially speaking) while you’re waiting to get the keys to a home you just agreed to buy. Even one slip up can cost you the home of your dreams. Speak with a licensed mortgage specialist or real estate agent to find out what you should – and shouldn’t – be doing while you’re waiting in escrow to ensure you’ll be drinking that champagne on the designated closing day.

Worker is paving a place in the garden.

Clever Landscaping Ideas for Tiny Front Yards

Worker is paving a place in the garden.

If you’ve got a teeny tiny front yard, you may have already discovered that landscaping can be pretty challenging. Having limited square footage doesn’t mean you should completely ignore this small piece of land – curb appeal is extremely important to the appeal and value of a home, so investing a little time and effort into landscaping the front yard is very important, regardless of its size.

Here are a few creative landscaping ideas for petite front yards to help you come up with a charming landscaping solution for your home.

Plant an Abundance of Flower Patches

There’s always room for flowers, even in the smallest of spaces. Plant a generous row of roses, hydrangea or other flowers of your choice along the street side of your front yard. Not only will it look lovely to those strolling along the sidewalk in front of your home, but it will also provide your property with a certain degree of privacy. Throw in a mini white picket fence to give the flowers something to hang over for added decor.

Take the Patio to the Front

An easy and low-maintenance solution for a diminutive yard is to pave the space with large flagstone and gravel to create a patio area that will require no watering or grass-cutting. Add a couple of chairs and small table and you’ll have the perfect place to enjoy a cup of tea or coffee with a friend while watching the passersby. If you are absolutely missing the greens, you can always throw in a couple of potted plants on top of the flagstone.

Create a Flower-Lined Pathway

Consider adding a pathway leading up to the front door with interlocking stone, lined with low-growing plants and/or flower beds. This will help to emphasize your front door while creating a visually appealing space. Fill the areas on other side of the pathway with grass or river stone.

Plant Dwarf Trees

Small trees added to an equally small front yard can provide a welcoming addition. To really boost the sense of depth to the space, plant the trees on each side of layered stepping stones leading up to the front door of the home. You can scale the look up or down by varying the size of the trees you plant, according to the exact size of your front yard. 

Build a Stacked Stone Retaining Wall

A classic stone wall can help create a more formal and polished look to the front of your home, especially when paired with finely-manicured hedges and bushes. The majesty of the stone wall, there’s really little else needed to complete the look of your landscaping – the wall should suffice all on its own.

Place Planter Boxes Along the Street Side

This is a great idea if your front yard is literally a couple of feet away from the curb. In this case, add a row of planter boxes along the street side and fill them with tall grass and plants that can handle minimal maintenance.

Hang Flower Baskets

Flower baskets that are hung under your front porch add color without taking up valuable ground space in the yard. The great thing about these hanging baskets is that you can change them every year to create a different look each time.

Limited space in the front yard doesn’t mean you need to sacrifice on curb appeal. Follow some of these ideas to create the perfect little oasis in your front yard that’s welcoming and adds extra value to your property.

Selective focus of a Ladybug on a green garden leaf

6 Ways to Make Your Garden More Eco Friendly

Selective focus of a Ladybug on a green garden leaf

A garden is inherently “green” in nature, so how is it possible to make it any more eco-friendly than it already is?

The truth is, there are plenty of ways that a garden can be both wasteful and even harmful. From the pesticides that can be used to all the water spent keeping plants hydrated, some gardens can use a total revamp when it comes to being more friendly to the environment.

Follow these tips to make sure your garden is as green as it can be.

1. Generate Your Own Organic Compost

Good quality soil costs a pretty penny, but creating your own compost can minimize the expenses of nourishing your plants. Not only is composting exactly what your landscaping craves, it’s also incredibly easy. In fact, a lot of the items you’d otherwise toss in the trash can be diverted to your compost instead.

Food scraps like egg shells, coffee grounds and leftover vegetables are perfect additions for homemade compost. And all that landscaping debris that you need to get rid of – including dead leaves and bush trimmings – can be added to your compost instead of discarded with the trash.

Organic compost brings healthy microorganisms that break down to fuel plant growth, prevent plant disease, aerate and moisten the soil, and provide a safer solution to chemical fertilizers. Once you’ve built up your compost, place it in a warm, partly sunny area of your garden, which will help stimulate decomposition of all the items you’ve included.

2. Attract the Right Type of Bugs

While you obviously don’t want to be pestered with mosquitos and other bothersome insects while you’re outdoors enjoying your garden, that doesn’t mean you should scare off all bugs altogether. Certain bugs like beetles, ladybugs and lacewings are helpful in warding off all the potentially harmful bugs that can destroy your plants and flowers.

For instance, ladybirds and lacewings eat black flies. If these particular bugs are a major problem in your garden, add some marigolds and sunflowers to draw the attention of these good bugs to protect your garden.

3. Recycle Your Rainwater

Particularly in drought-sensitive areas like California, conserving as much water as possible is essential. Luckily, there are easy ways to harvest rainwater to minimize excess use.

All that rainwater that winds up in your landscaping can be captured to water your lawn and garden. You can even use this recycled rainwater to wash your cars and polish your windows. Consider adding a barrel to collect rainwater that can be later used to hydrate your landscaping.

When you’re actually designing your garden, consider incorporating elements such as permeable paving and dry creek beds to minimize runoff that wreaks havoc on storm drains and pollutes bodies of water. 

4. Create Shade With Trees and Shrubs

All those trees and shrubs that you plant to beautify your exterior can serve more than one purpose. While they certainly are esthetically appealing, they can also be strategically positioned to provide shade just where you need it the most.

Large trees that spread out and drape over can be placed on the south and west sides of your home where the most intense sun tends to beam down. Planting shrubs adjacent to these exterior walls can also help to keep the temperature comfortable. Trees and shrubs can effectively cut down on the energy needed to cool your home, and inevitably slash the cost of your utility bills.

5. Attract Birds For Plant Protection

Much like certain bugs can add a layer protection to your landscaping, so can many types of birds. Not only can many bugs destroy your garden, so can grubs, snails and slugs. Birds love to prey on these pests, so attracting them to your garden can help add natural protection to your greenery.

Incorporate nesting boxes and bird feeders will help create a more inviting environment for birds, which will get rid of the need to use toxic insecticides that are dangerous both for the environment and for anyone who frolics in your garden.

6. Choose Native Plants

Whatever plants happen to be native in your area, consider adding these breeds to your garden. Whether it’s Mountain Lilacs in California or Coneflowers in Florida, adding native greens to your garden can help cut down on the care and maintenance needed to keep them healthy, since they’re already adapted to the climate and conditions in your area. Not only will this cut down on time and effort on your part, it’ll also reduce the amount of water and fertilizer needed, as well as minimize pest infestation.

Your garden is meant to be a natural space, so make sure it’s as eco-friendly as it can be by incorporating these tips to cut down on waste and chemicals, and even create an inviting habitat for friendly wildlife.

Overhead view of an open book, plant, tea and couch in living room interior design

Creative Ways to Make Your Home Feel More Spacious

Overhead view of an open book, plant, tea and couch in living room interior design

Small spaces certainly pose a set of design challenges, but there are plenty of savvy decor tactics that can be employed to make a room seem larger than it actually is, while keeping it stylish at the same time.

Here are some creative ways to decorate your home to make it appear bigger if it’s short on square footage.

Declutter

Too many knick-knacks in a tight space will make it feel even tighter. Get rid of anything that you haven’t used in over 6 months. You might have an affinity for all your little figurine collections or like to have stacks of magazines available at your discretion, but too much “stuff” in a room will make it feel smaller.

Light Color Floors and Walls

Darker colors tend to be rich and sophisticated, but they don’t often work in large amounts in smaller spaces. Go for lighter colors on your walls and floors so that light is reflected rather than absorbed, creating a sense of more space.

Keep the Flooring Consistent

If your living and dining area are linked, make sure to keep the same flooring throughout. Breaking it up with hardwood in the living room and ceramic tiles in the kitchen will just cut the space in half, which does nothing for visually expanding the space.

Ceiling Height Shelving

Adding a wall bookcase or floating shelves that extend all the way up to the ceiling can help create the illusion of more space. This helps generate a focal point that draws the eyes upward and visually expands the area by pushing the ceiling and walls out.

Multi-Functional Furniture

A small room obviously doesn’t have the luxury of housing a variety of furniture. As such, try to find pieces that serve double-duty. For instance, an ottoman that also acts as a coffee table can serve more than one purpose without having to outfit your room with two separate pieces that will take up extra space.

Scale Down Your Furniture

Furniture that’s sleeker and less bulky will make the room look larger.  Instead of a puffy sofa with a skirt, for instance, a thinner sofa with exposed legs that offers the same amount of seating is perfect for a smaller room.

Lots of Mirrors

Mirrors obviously have reflective properties, which can be harnessed to reflect light all around a room and make it seem bigger. Hang your mirrors across from windows or lights so that they can more effectively allow the light to bounce off them and illuminate the surrounding space.

‘Float’ Your Furniture

If the space permits, try pulling your furniture away from the walls a few inches. Lining up your sofas and chairs against the walls will only make the room seem tight.

Natural Lighting

The less obstructed your windows are, the more natural light will be allowed in. If you want some privacy, you can always hang blinds that can be drawn up when not required. These offer more versatility compared to curtains, which tend to make the room feel cramped.

Color With Consistency

Creating harmony in a space can be done by using two different shades of the same color. For instance, a leather sofa can be effectively paired with off-white throw pillows to create coherence and make a room feel much more open and airy.

Backyard hardscape entertainment area with built-in kitchen

Grilling Out This Summer? Here’s How To Update Your Backyard

Backyard hardscape entertainment area with built-in kitchen

As the weather heats up, homeowners almost always gravitate toward their back yards, inviting friends and family over for cookouts and holiday parties. If you’re lucky, you’ve created an oasis that makes gatherings more enjoyable. Even if you don’t have the nicest back yard in town, you can add little touches that will make your get-togethers more fun for everyone.

Outdoor Kitchen

If you’re tired of traipsing food from your kitchen to the grill and back again all summer, an outdoor kitchen is a great option. You can make it as elaborate or as simple as you’d like, from food prep counters and barstools to outdoor sinks and refrigerators. You don’t have to limit yourself to what you can throw on the grill, either. Brick ovens open up your outdoor cooking possibilities to pizzas, bread, vegetables, and desserts.

Tiki Bar

Tiki bars have become more affordable than ever in recent years, with homeowners realizing what a great addition they make to outdoor areas. You can set up your bar by a pool, on a patio, or in the middle of your back yard and instantly start serving drinks to your guests. Not only does a tiki bar offer a convenient place to mix drinks, it adds a tropical island feel to your back yard.

Outdoor Shower

Outdoor showers and baths have evolved in recent years. Once reserved for encouraging cleanliness around pool areas, these bathing areas can be set up to provide a private shower or bath in your own back yard. If you live near the beach or on a lake, these bathing areas can also have the added benefit of keeping sand and mud out of your home.

Hot Tub

If you can’t afford a pool, a hot tub may be a more reasonable option. While hot tubs usually cost thousands of dollars, they’re still far cheaper than an in-ground pool and they can be installed within days of purchase. Instead of lounging around the pool with all of your friends, you can gather in the hot tub to relax. When friends aren’t around, you can use the hot tub whenever you need to relax and unwind after a tough week.

If you kick off the summer with a small back yard upgrade, you’ll make your back yard more enjoyable. Friends and family will enjoy visiting and your own family will be able to get out of the house and spend time together, rather than sitting on the sofa, staring at the TV during the warmest months of the year.