Guest Post - Tips for Planning Your Garden from Scratch

A garden brings out the elegance of a house. Along with the beauty that it portrays, it even reflects the creativity and dedication of the person who maintains it. If you have recently bought a house and this thinking of starting a garden, but have got no tips for starting a garden, then this is the best place you have come across. Though this article we can help you in giving ideas for planning your garden from scratch.

Plan What Kind of Garden You Want

When you start a garden from scratch, then the first thing you should think about is what kind of garden do you want.

Do you want an indoor garden?

Do you have enough space on the lawn to start a new garden?

What kind of plants do you want in your garden?

Do you want a vegetable garden, a herb garden or a flower garden?

What kind of layout do you want?

These questions are necessary to address before putting some action into building the garden.

Work Out With the Soil

After you have decided on a plan for building a garden, the next step in to check the soil, a garden should be preferably built on a ground which is fertile so that the plants have a long life. Even if the soil you are planning to start a garden is not fertile, then you can make the soil fertile by yourself.

To make the soil fertile by yourself, first, remove the weeds or unwanted elements from the ground. Then tilling is one option to bring out the fresh soil from the inside. After that, put a 3-inch layer of compost or organic matter over the soil and wait for at least a month to let it decompose. Keep digging or tilling the soil regularly so that the organic matter mixes up with the ground.

Pick Your Plants

Picking plants isn’t a hard job since you can do it with enough research from the internet or take the help from a person in the nursery. No matter what type of garden you have planned to build, it is important to remember that plants are either evergreen or perennial. It means that there are certain plants which grow around the year, while there are others which only grow in a particular season.

Moreover, before you pick up the plants, decide if you want seeds, sapling or full grown plants. Seeds will eventually take time to grow, but it is the best way to start a garden from scratch. You can observe the evolution of the plant in your garden.

If you choose for sapling or full-grown plants, then you must be sure about the kind of nutrition those plants needs and kind of soil it will grow on. Saplings would also need daily maintenance of the gardener, while a full grown plant would need less attention.

You must plant the plants according to their view or spaces within the garden so that the whole layout doesn’t get destroyed in seasons when a plant is not growing. Most people prefer evergreen plants for their garden which requires less maintenance. But for the ones who are passionate about gardening a can spend a lot of time into maintaining it, then you can go for perennial plants.

Water the Garden and Apply Mulch

Once you have picked your plants and have planted them according to your layout, start watering your plants daily. While watering your plants, you must pay attention to the sensitive plants which needs a specific amount of water, since some grow well in less water while some need more. This factor should also be kept in mind while planning the layout of the garden.

At last, cover the soil with a layer of mulch since it acts as a weed resistant agent. Mulch can be pine needles, cocoa hulls or even bark chips. Along with keeping weeds away, it even retains the water of the soil.

Conclusion

When one thinks about it, then starting a garden from scratch might seem like to be a tough job, but for the ones who are passionate about it, can do it in no time. Gardening is almost like taking care of a small child; you need to give it care, love and attention for it to grow beautifully.

Author’s Bio: OffBrick.com is a gardening resource.

The Teenage Room Dilemma

It’s challenging to organize your house when you have teenagers. Your priorities and theirs are different. You know you have been a good role model, you put your dishes in the dishwasher and empty it when the dishes are clean, your clothes are not lying on your bedroom floor, your bathroom towels are hung on rods or hooks, and your car keys are always in the same place. Why does your teenager not have the same thought process?

One of the most frustrating areas for parents is your teenagers bedroom. Usually you shut the door and do not look inside. At the holiday time you get a call that your relatives are coming for a visit. Oh no! Maybe you need your teenagers room for the bed, or maybe you just want it to look put together during the visit. Either way here are a few tips which may help you and your teen organize their living space.

Dirty clothes

Buy on Amazon

Make sure you have a laundry hamper and trash can in the room. The laundry hamper should have a large opening without a top to encourage your teenager to toss their dirty clothes in it. They make hampers in many colors to match the room. Here is an example:

Clothes on the floor

Goodbye wire and plastic hangers. Replace them with Huggable hangers. Huggable hangers have a velvety finish so clothes do not slide off. This will keep their clothes hanging and not on the bottom of the closet floor.

Wet towels

Hooks are your friend. When kids share a bathroom there is never enough room for wet towels. Try putting a hook behind their bedroom door. Encourage your teenager to hang wet towels on the hooks to dry. Hooks are also great to hang handbags, jewelry, caps, belts, etc…

Papers/Keepsakes

Clear plastic under bed storage bins are great for papers and keepsakes. If your student knows they have a place to put their papers they will not leave them in piles all over the floor. At the end of every school year, they can review and discard what is no longer necessary. Papers that are important to keep can be kept in a remote location to free up the bin for the new school year.

Most important, as hard as it can be try to be patient. Explain your expectations without getting upset. You may suggest putting on music and a timer for 20 minutes once a week.

Music makes everything more fun, even if it is not music you like listening too! If your teenager knows that once the timer goes off they are done, it may make the clean-up easier.

Guest Post - How to Maintain Exterior Concrete Surfaces in Your Backyard

Concrete surfaces may look like you don’t have to fuss so much about them, but the truth is, they will get ruined with time if you ignore them completely. If you clean and grit them regularly, you will be pleasantly surprised with the results.

Make a plan

There is no need for you to clean and grit concrete surfaces in your backyard every single day. It would be enough to do it once or twice a year. That way, you will get rid of dirt and grime and also remove stains and rust. Remember that concrete absorbs liquids very easily so if you don’t clean it soon, your lovely floors will be full of stains. And you don’t want that, right?

Determine the concrete hardness

In order to choose the best type and grit of diamond for grinding concrete surfaces you have to determine hardness of concrete in question. It can be checked easily with a Mohs Hardness Test that is based on Mohs scale. This test will show you ranking of your concrete substrate and make it easier to choose the best tools for grinding.

Preparation

Before you start with grinding, you should thoroughly clean the concrete surfaces. All you need is a household detergent, warm water and a bristle brush. Scrub the concrete, rinse away dirt and foam and let your floors or countertops dry. If you have to add some chemical cleanser, you have to remember not to mix chemical products!

Perfect tool

Technology has made life so much easier, especially when it comes to hard housework. There is no need for you to pay someone to get your concrete surfaces in order when you can do it yourself. You will easily remove all imperfections with a concrete grinder, which can be used for smoothing not only concrete floors, but also countertops of marble and granite. The best thing is that, with this amazing tool, you can also grind surfaces in the corners, remove the paint or do the leveling.

Fix the cracks

Before polishing, you should take care of the cracks in your concrete floors. Get a special concrete filler and mix it according to the instructions on the package. Squeeze appropriate quantity of the filler in the cracks and wait until it gets dry completely. Only then you can start grinding.

Choose a grinding method

You can do the grinding in both wet and dry conditions. If you use water for grinding, it will lubricate the polishing tools, cool them down and get rid of the dust. However, this method can have quite messy results. Dry grinding will enable you to polish the concrete surfaces and remove even the tiniest spot or crack, but don’t exclude wet method either. Combination of these two methods will turn floors into a smooth and shiny concrete surface!

Grinding

Once you start grinding the floor make sure that you don’t move the grinder in circles. That way you will not end up with swirls on the floor. Move the grinder from side to side until all the stains, cracks and holes are gone. Start with a coarser grinding block to fix all the imperfections and continue with the finer ones so you can polish the concrete surfaces to perfection. Don’t forget to wear protective gear and follow safety rules.

A final touch

After you are done with grinding, it is highly recommended that you clean the grinder immediately. Don’t leave that task for tomorrow because the polishing materials will get dry and you will need much more time to clean them. To get perfect results in your home, mop your floor the next day and you will almost be blinded by the shine from your concrete surfaces.

Maintaining concrete surfaces may make you feel tired at the end of the day, but one look across all those floors and countertops around your house will make you see that it was totally worth it.

Lillian Connors can’t resist the urge to embark on a myriad of green living/home improvement projects and spread the word about them. She cherishes the notion that sustainable housing and gardening will not only make us far less dependent on others regarding the dwellings we inhabit, but also contribute to our planet being a better place to live on. You can check her out on Twitter.

Guest Post - How to Organize Your Bathroom

Morning person or not, having a well-organized bathroom can help ease any stress you’re experiencing. You can start your day right and get to work on time without having to rush out of the door every morning.

No matter how small, a bathroom is where most of us unwind after a long day’s work. Having a clutter-free space makes life so much easier. After an exhausting day at work, you can light some candles, open a bottle of wine, and run a nice hot bath.

Who wouldn’t want a calming space all to themselves?

If you need a little help with organizing your bathroom, you can follow these tips, and create your stress-free sanctuary.

Quick Tips for Organizing Your Bathroom

The bathroom is often the smallest room in the house. Compared to much larger rooms, it will be easier to organize. And when you’ve done so, it will be easier for you to clean.

Here’s how you can start organizing your bathroom:

Declutter: Take a good look at your bathroom. Find items that you don’t actually want or use, and dump them in the bin. The makeup products you’ve never opened and perfumes you never liked, you can give them all to charity.

Clear out the counter: Remove all unnecessary items from the counters. You can leave a few products that you actually use and bundle them together. Whether you use a tray or a wicker basket, your items should only take up a third of the space in your counter. This makes it easier for you when you’re getting ready.

Add organizers for extra storage space: Hang extra shelves on the walls. Add a few cabinets. You can gain so much storage space by using these organizers. These items can make your bathroom clutter-free and stylish at the same time.

Add a laundry bin: Place a laundry bin for your wet and dirty towels. This way, you won’t have to worry about towels on your bathroom floor. Also, it will make your laundry routine so much easier and quicker.

Use clear acrylic containers: You can easily find what you’re looking for when you store items in clear containers. The great thing about its design is that it’s versatile. No matter what theme you have going on, these will surely blend right in.

Label your drawers: Make it even easier for your family to find the items they need by adding labels on your drawers. Everyone’s morning routines can run smoothly with these labels in place. More importantly, labels make it easier for the family to maintain a well-organized space.

7 Bathroom Organizers

Having enough storage space is important for any bathroom. From modern ladder shelves to rolled-up towel racks, these are the most functional and fashionable ways to keep your bathroom organized.

Over-the-Toilet Shelves

Buy on Amazon

Don’t have enough space for traditional cabinetry? No worries. You can add modern ladder shelves over the toilet to make the most out of the space you have. Depending on your shelf, you might be able to place a few rolls of toilet paper, towels, or a plant or two.

Corner Shelves

Whatever layout your bathroom has, corner shelves can fit perfectly in your space. You can store extra rolls of toilet paper on these shelves, and even a few plants and candles.

Cost: $27.99, wayfair.com

Rolled-Up Towel Racks

Buy on Amazon

Make your bathroom clutter-free by adding rolled-up towel racks. Whenever you decide to switch up your décor, you can always transfer this to your kitchen. Your wine bottles can fit perfectly in the towel holders!

Functional Wall Décor

Consider getting a functional wall décor if your bathroom has enough space for it. It can hold your candles, bottles, toilet paper rolls, and potted plants, all while looking stylish.

Cost: $29.40, etsy.com

Drawer Dividers

Use drawer dividers to keep all your things in place and prevent them from moving around. Your morning routine can run smoother, and you can make cleaning a whole lot easier.

Cost: $16.99, ikea.com

Mason Jar Units

Buy on Amazon

If there isn’t enough space in your drawers for your makeup brushes or your cotton balls, store them in mason jars. You can do a DIY project, or purchase one from Amazon.

Wicker Baskets

Do you have jute baskets that don’t fit in any of your cabinets? Well, place them on your walls! You can hang two baskets right above your toilet for easier access to those toilet paper rolls.

Cost: $9.99, ikea.com

How to Organize the Shower and Bathtub

Showers and bathtubs aren’t always the easiest areas to organize, especially if you live in an old house that’s yet to be modernized. That’s because a lot of these tubs and shower spaces weren’t built with storage in mind.

As mentioned, you can always use organizers to add extra storage space. You can use corner shelves to keep essentials such as shampoo, conditioner, and soap within reach.

How to Organize the Sink and Countertops

To keep the counter organized, you can place items closest to where they are used. For instance, hand soap should be next to the sink for easier access. You can place your items in a tray to keep everything neat. If you need more space, you can have mason jar units on your walls.

Author Bio: Nicole Andrews is the marketing manager for euromarble.com in Sydney, Australia. With a background in interior design, she enjoys writing about the latest industry trends. In her spare time, she walks her dog Rusco down at Bondi Beach.