How to Design Your Front Patio for Optimal Security

Your front patio is essential, as this is where you can spend memorable moments with your family. Barbecues can never be as exciting as when you host them at the front patio. Security is one of the chief concerns for every homeowner. You can never spend a peaceful evening in your front yard without maximum safety.

Your furniture and any other equipment found within your compound need to be safe from harsh weather or theft. Continue reading to understand how you can design your front patio for optimum security.

Use a Steel Cable to Secure Your Outdoor Furniture

Steel cables are available in hardware stores and are ideal for securing outdoor furniture. They are affordable and come with an easy-to-use interface. Pass the cable through your furniture, locking the edges with a padlock. The tool serves as a criminal deterrent joining your valuable equipment to make one heavy package that an intruder cannot lift or drag.

Secure Your Patio With a Lock

If you have designed a courtyard for your furniture and space for tools, it is not secure if it remains unlocked. Lock the front patio when not in use. Add more security measures like CCTV cameras if the courtyard is far from your house. Keep the keys to the security doors safely to prevent them from getting into the wrong hands.

Consider Indoor Storage

Even though you may have security measures in place, it is challenging to keep your valuables entirely safe if you leave them outside. Moving the furniture indoors prevents them from harsh weather and possible theft. However, you do not need to move your furniture in and out of the house every day, but you must protect them during winter.

Leaving furniture outside for long makes them fade, rust, and develop cracks, among other damages. While it may be a hilly task to move outdoor furniture indoors, it is worth the hassle. Quality has more weight than effort, so this is the cost for keeping your valuables in perfect condition. If moving them is more challenging, use secure covers when not using the furniture.

Keep the Lights On

In conclusion, one way to enhance security at your front patio is by leaving the security lights on. It keeps away intruders and allows you to see clearly from your house. Install bulbs that distribute light to all corners of your home. If necessary, install motion sensors configured to trigger the floodlights automatically. Besides keeping criminals away, sufficient lighting allows you to move around your compound safely at night.

Tired of That Blank Wall? Creative Ways to Display Wall Art in Your Home

Wall art is a great way to spruce up your walls and make a space feel more like your own. But there are so many ways to utilize artwork that it can be difficult to choose what works best for your space. Here are some creative ways that you can display wall art in your home.

Examine the Artwork You Already Have

If you have a few good pieces, you don’t have to go out and buy more art. To give your space a smart, artistic upgrade, gather all of the artwork in your home, garage, attic, or basement. Take a close look at each piece and take note of the designs. Would a piece work best as an accent piece or somewhere where people will pass by every day? Is it flashy and loud, or subtle and subdued? 

If you don't own any wall art yet, what kind of artwork do you want? Once you round up some artwork, you can start transforming rooms.

Use Wall Art to Create a Cohesive Theme

You can use wall art to create a theme either in just a room or two or throughout your home. Using wall art right will make a room feel more cohesive, which will make it more comfortable for anyone who lives there or who is visiting. You can use art to complement your decor in many different ways. For example, you might choose something that picks up on the architectural elements of your interior design, like wood grain or brick walls. Or you might choose artwork that complements the color of the paint, furniture, and decorations.

Use Wall Art as a Focal Point

The most striking way to display wall art is by making it the focal point of a room. This is especially good for pieces that are meant to make a statement or bring attention to something. For example, if you have an expensive painting or a piece you made, show it off proudly. This technique also works well for pieces that have a strong visual style, like abstract paintings or art with bold colors and contrast.

Hang Wall Art With Custom Framing

Whether you want to make your wall art pop or stay subtle, you can invest in some gorgeous custom framing. A custom frame around a piece of art can change the way that it looks, and even the mood of the artwork. Try choosing different custom frames to perk up your picture gallery. For a low-key look, you can choose custom frames that are wooden or metal and made. Another way to display wall art is to put it in a frame that is a similar shade to the wall. This gives the artwork room to breathe and stand out more, as opposed to having to compete with a bold wall color. You can also choose to use a frame that contrasts with the color of the artwork to make the art pop.

Hang Wall Art That Makes a Statement

Wall art that’s striking and modern can really make a statement. If you hang great artwork in a living room or another space where it can catch people’s attention, it can become a conversation piece. This technique does not require artwork to play by the rules. For this, choose wall art with bold color schemes that have an intense amount of contrast or patterning to them. This works well for pieces that have a strong visual style as well, since you want it to stand out from the rest of decor. If you have a strong opinion, then having a piece of art that shows it off in a way that people will notice is great for making your views known.

Some wall art works best when it’s the main focal point of a space, and other pieces work better to pull the whole space together. Depending on what your design goals are, you must determine where to place the wall art you have. Whether you want to perk up your living space or tone it down, the right wall art can help you reach your goal. Now that you know some creative ways to display wall art in your home, you can get started.

Are you a digital hoarder?

Spring has sprung, which means organizing enthusiasts naturally have spring cleaning on their minds. But there’s one area of our day-to-day that even the most detailed cleaners overlook: our digital lives. 

Especially after 2020 — a year that put us all online more than ever — it’s best we all take the time to consider the digital clutter we’ve acquired. Think of those old cell phone photos, bookmarked recipes on our browsers, and even old, broken devices. All of these considered, and you may even be teetering toward digital hoarding. Of course, it’s hard to give attention to the clutter we don’t physically see. 

Which is why downsizing your digital data — deleting those cell phone photos, erasing the bookmarks, recycling those devices, and then some — is something we must proactive about. It’s not a one-and-done deal like decluttering your whole home. 

To put you on the right track, Norton pared down some digital hoarding tendencies to consider, plus tips to spring clean your digital lives, noted in the infographic below:

How to Tell What Extra Features You Have Room for in Your Yard

When you're ready to upgrade your yard for leisure and fun activities, check out your lawn area to see what type of additions might fit within the available space. Here are some ways to consider possible alterations to your home's outdoor area.

Shed

A shed can be small or large, depending on your storage needs. Usually, it will contain lawn equipment, including a lawn tractor if needed, along with lawn maintenance tools and supplies. However, some sheds are used for hobbies or a home office. Look at your open space to see how a shed the size you need will fit and look in that spot. Will it stand out as an eyesore or fit in as an accent point?

Playground Equipment

Young children love scrambling around the yard and climbing on sliding boards or playing on swings and monkey bars. Give some thought to the type of equipment you might be able to accommodate that won't use too much of the grassy area. You could start with one or two swings, and if they work well, add more play equipment as the kids get older.

Deck or Porch

Outdoor decks and porches extend the living area of your home for many purposes. Family members may want to sunbathe, grill food, or listen to music under a beach umbrella. You can entertain guests or enjoy some quiet time alone. Measure the dimensions of the deck you would like to install in comparison to the amount of lawn adjoining your home that can be used for this purpose. Check the zoning laws in your community to see if there are any requirements or restrictions for building a deck. Also decide whether adding a deck will leave adequate yard space for other activities.

Flower or Vegetable Garden

Planting a flower garden is a great way to teach kids about the wonders of nature. They can watch butterflies and bees hover over the flowers and see which birds are attracted by the blooms to build nests nearby. A vegetable garden can supply seasonal veggies for fresh eating or canned for winter meals. Putting up a scarecrow or a fence can be a fun activity to help kids learn about boundaries and borders. Measure the amount of lawn space needed for a garden before deciding how big to make it.

Use your lawn to full potential by considering features like these. Time spent outdoors can be relaxing and entertaining, so make the most of your available yard area.