Top Tips on Giving a Garden Makeover by: Vincent Norman

Gardens need makeovers, too, for many reasons. These include changes in the soil conditions, change in seasons, change in lifestyle preferences and even just a change of mind! Whatever the reason, these top tips on giving a garden makeover will help you get the job complete to a high standard and in no time at all.

Plan Before Buying

Plants can be expensive and doubly so when they wither and die unexpectedly, in which case you would have to replace them. Therefore, it is always best to plan your garden according to your preferences such as; colours, seasonality and plant quality before purchasing from the nursery.

Even when you can ask from your family and friends for the plants themselves, you still will have to spend out on containers and fertilisers, not to mention investing your time. Therefore it is advised that you plan and research before planting and growing.

Think in Containers

Often, you only need to transfer existing garden plants to new containers to see them in a different light. Think fun, fashionable and fabulous containers to dress up an otherwise common-looking plant. You can think of this garden makeover activity as changing the look of an outfit with the right accessories.

You can also rearrange the plants in unusual designs, at least in terms of your previous preferences. For example, instead of the usual Shakespeare-themed garden, you can have a Japanese-themed garden makeover.

Speaking of accessories, the right statues, chairs and tables, ornaments, jars and even garden umbrellas can change an entire look and feel to a garden. Find inspiration from the houses architecture itself since you want to complement it with the gardens structure, not clash with it.

Go for Annuals and Perennials

Although some gardeners will not mix the two plant types, when it comes to garden makeovers, you will be surprised at the difference it makes. You can fill your garden with perennials like lilies, daisies and black-eyed Susan's and then add splashes of colour with annuals like petunias and pansies.

Look into garden design books to find ideas on how to mix and match these plant types to suit your gardening tastes and skills. You will discover new trends as well as classic arrangements that ought to withstand the test of time, or at least until the next garden makeover comes along.

Create Illusions

Gardens are meant to be fantasies come to life, so think of them as your own Garden of Eden that you can play with.

For example, create an illusion of a larger space with flower-adorned ornaments bordering a small flower patch, or an illusion of fairyland with twinkling lights in the trees. Your imagination is the only limit in your garden makeover.

Patronise Local Plants

When you want to save money on a garden makeover, one of the best ways to do so is to purchase from your local nursery. They ought to have more competitive prices and fresher stocks, which will be to your benefit.

Also, try to look for native plants. Not only will you be able to inject local touches into the garden but you will also be saving on cost because these plants are adapted to the environment. More adaptation, less care and less costs.

Indeed, garden makeovers can be easier than you first thought! Now, dig into the dirt and plant.

home designs strategies

by : candi randolph
It happens to all of us at one time or another, and it doesn't matter what type of home you live in, whether renting or you are a homeowner. You take a look around your home and decide that it's time for a 'design facelift'. The surroundings that have provided comfort and enjoyment are now looking tired and ordinary. But, your home decor budget is slim to none, so what do you do? Don't give up before you start. Here are five easy, simple, inexpensive to no cost home decor changes you can make right now that will give any room in your home a fresh, new and interesting look. These strategies will be applied to your living room in this article, but will work effectively in any room of your home. First, clean out the clutter. The 'stuff' we own can accumulate over time, and eventually can become a hindrance and get in our way. Take each room in your home individually so you won't become overwhelmed with the task. Then, remove anything that you have not used in the last three months. If it is an appliance taking up space on your kitchen counter, put it in a cabinet and out of sight. You may have set a floral arrangement or some other type of nic-nac on a table thinking you would find a permanent home for it later, and there it still sits. Move it. You may be surprised at how much brighter your rooms look when they are clutter free. The next home decorating idea in this project is to rearrange the furniture in at least one room, and preferably two or three rooms of your home. You may need to enlist some help with this step, so plan ahead and gather a few pairs of hands to accomplish the task. If you have not moved your sofa in two years or more, it is time for a change! You may not have many options if your living area is small or limited in other ways. At a minimum, pull the sofa away from the wall (I know that's where it is right now for most readers) and angle it toward the television, or whatever the focal point is in this area. You might be limited to a move as subtle as pulling one end of the sofa about a foot or so from the wall. But wait, you're not finished yet. Then, take the other seating in the room and angle it just a little bit, swapping locations of chairs (if you have more than one in the room). Now step back and notice that your room has taken on a different feel because the position and angles of the larger pieces have been changed. Your interior decor project is making progress! The next step after giving your room's largest pieces a new perspective is to rearrange the accessories. I always advise that you physically remove them from the room or area you are working in. Bring in accessories from another room, or take the extra inventory of pictures out of the closet and try something different in this room. Go ahead and take a decorating risk! That leads right into the fourth easy and no cost home decorating idea for you. Take a careful look at the color scheme in this room and add a new, never before used accent color to the area. If you're not sure what type of color could be added, here is one course of action. Purchase something small and returnable, such as an accent pillow, and just try it. What is the worst thing that will happen? You won't like it and will take it back to the store. But, you might love it, and it is always so much fun when the decorating 'aha!' light goes on. When that happens, you will be able to add, in a small way, more of this color to the room. Remember this rule, though; more is not always better. Be thoughtful and particular about where you place this new color. If you make careful selections and placements in the room, your room will have a breath of new life. If you desire, there is one more home decor idea to introduce to the room, and that is the addition of some beautiful greenery. Placing greenery in the room can provide the finishing touches to your interior design project. Again, use a light touch with the silk plants or trees, and if possible use good to better quality merchandise. The thoughtfully placed, better quality silks will enhance the class and polish of your newly redecorated area. Now that you have successfully made these easy, simple and low or no cost home decorating changes, step back and enjoy your surroundings. Better yet, take a break, have some refreshment and enjoy the view from a new perspective!

gardens

By : Jason Kay
The first thing you need to know about PODS may be exactly what are they? A POD (Portable On-Demand Storage) is a storage and moving system where the POD is dropped off at your home or office and you fill it up with stuff. Once you have the POD filled, you call the company back and they come and pick up the POD and put it in storage for you.

PODS aren’t just for moving from one location to another and there are a number of ways you can utilize this ingenious system for other needs. Some of the benefits of using PODS versus a typical moving company are that you can take all the time you need to fill your POD and you can get it back when you are ready. Essentially, for moving purposes, this allows you to move your belongings back into your house at your own pace.

Here are some tips on using PODS to make your life a little easier:

1) Moving: Instead of having a moving truck show up and having to fill it all up at once, you can rent PODS weeks or months before your move and get the process started slowly and at your own pace and then bring everything back room by room. It sounds a lot better than having a house full of boxes for a few weeks.

2) Storage: These are not just for moving, if you have a lot of stuff that you want to keep but don’t have the room for them in your current space, you can rent a POD and just use it for storage. This is particularly useful if you have a growing family and are running out of room in your house. You can store old clothes and toys until they are needed again as well as summer items like above ground pools, bicycles and other yard equipment.

3) Visitors: If you have a big extended family and they are all coming over to you house for the holidays you may need to get rid of some of your clutter for a few days or even weeks. PODS are a great way to put all that stuff in storage without you having to haul it all back and forth to the storage center. This way, you can take a week or weekend to choose what you want stored and move it all in at your own pace and they will bring it back when your guests are all gone.

4) Remodeling: Are you remodeling your house? Maybe doing a lot of painting and you don’t want to get paint on some of you furniture? Using a POD you can store these items outside the house and know they are protected from the remodeling process. PODS all have locks on them so your belongings are safe. Once the remodel is done, simply move the items back in and the company will remove the empty POD from your driveway.

By : Jason Kay
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author : jem jamey