Chez Home Ideas

Archive for May, 2010

Whatever form it is in, water is one of the best features you can have in the garden. It is entrancing to look at, a joy to hear, and the flowers you can grow in water and near it are among the most beautiful there are. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t love water lilies, and the irises and flags swaying gracefully beside a stream or pond are a close runner-up.

The reflections in the pool can double your pleasure – or your distress – if you permit the pool to be placed where what you see reflected is the back of you neighbor’s tool shed, your own laundry wheel or garbage cans, or the dull, dreary face of an apartment building’s blank wall. I love to visit my neighbor’s pool where, instead, I can watch the reflections of gently moving foliage and ornamental grass, clouds, blooms and buds, and on summer afternoons the darting of dragonflies and swallows that pass over the pool hunting for insects.

If your garden is designed as an outdoor room for relaxation, water makes it twice as restful – or maybe more so. After you relax in the hot sun, a pool large enough to get into adds the extra pleasure of cooling you off. All pools and running water can cool the air somewhat, and the sound of water, as we know, gives the psychological effect of cooling, too. My garden gives me an intensified experience of the revolving seasons as I see in miniature and close by, the great sweeping cycles of the year. Water gardens intensify that feeling even more, and make the changes seem more poignant and more present.

Choosing Your Water Garden
If you can arrange for running water, do so. Where there is a slope, it is easy enough to foresee how pleasant a waterfall, and a small stream leading to a pool below would be. If you are so lucky as already to have a stream coming down a slope, it is even easier to imagine damming up the brook at some point and creating a pool. But even on flat land, you can introduce a mound of some sort, construct a waterfall down it, and a little stream leading to a pool in which you can have a circulating pump that will carry the water back up to the waterfall. In a way, this situation is the luckiest for you can choose exactly where and what kind of pool to have.

It is certainly recommend that all gardeners use recirculating water for their gardens. You save water that way but you also save yourself the bother of finding a proper drainage system, proper treatment of the soil, and the nuisance of having just one more thing to get out of order in case, for instance, the roots of nearby shrubs decide to invade the drain. Most important of all, you can maintain a temperature of the water suitable to plants and fish, without its being chilled unduly.

The great advances today in waterproof plastic materials such as PVC and polyvinyl chloride have made it possible to have pools and even streams with plastic bottoms, so you don’t even have to go to the bother and expense of concrete structures anymore. They have to be replaced, yes; but so do most concrete pools, too, when they begin to crack and leak. Obviously it is easier to pull out and replace a plastic pool bottom than a concrete one. And it is no more trouble to put the masking stones around a plastic pool than a concrete one. And no more trouble to put masking sand over plastic than over concrete.

A recirculating pool, where the rainfall is enough to replace the water lost through evaporation, can go on and on. When evaporation exceeds the new rain supply, tap water can be used to fill the pool again, as long as it is added in small enough amounts to keep the temperature from dropping so quickly it upsets the pool balance and disturbs the plants and the fish you will have in your pool to help maintain that balance.

Some other advantages of a plastic pool over a concrete one are that you don’t have to go through the big operation of pouring the concrete all at one time to avoid cracks, or the bother of having to keep filling and draining the pool for weeks until the alkalines are washed away. Since it is best to grow your water lilies and other water plants in tubs or boxes or baskets, you won’t have a soil bottom to the pool, and only need a sandy bottom of some attractive natural color.

What Size Should The Pool Be?
Though it is possible to grow a water lily in a space as small as a sunken barrel, a larger place is needed for most water lilies, especially if you plan to grow the kind you can leave in the water all winter. Where the weather will make the pool freeze over you will need a depth of three feet. Unfortunately the ready-made plastic or fiberglass pools you can buy usually are not that deep, so inspect the dimensions carefully before you buy. There are little waterlilies, the Chinese waterlilies, which you can grow in shallow water, as shallow as six inches; but the bigger ones are much more attractive.

If you want the biggest, most spectacular lilies of all, use tropicals in big three-foot boxes at least a foot deep, and, if you live in the north, treat them as annuals, and get new ones each year. The overall size of a pool is of course up to individual choice, but the thing to remember is that a really successful still water pool must have a large enough surface area in relation to the total capacity so that there are no drastic temperature fluctuations. Neither your plants nor your fish could stand that.

Landscaping is one gardening endeavor that could consume lots of your time and energy. If you are thinking of doing it at a grand scale, you will need major preparation. So, how about going over a few pointers on how to do your landscaping before considering hiring a professional landscaper that will most probably charge you more than how much you think you can afford.

Here are simple but indispensable tips to guide you in making your landscaping activity one rewarding feat.

1. Draw your landscape plan.

Not just any plan. It needs to be a GOOD landscape plan. Or, you are doomed to lose money, time and energy. You need to take account of the style and function of your landscape. An idea of the plants you want to be there will also help. Focus on an area where you spend most of your time. That’s where your landscaping power must all be directed.

2. Take a double-take in hiring a pro.

Hiring an independent designer might cost you hundreds of dollars as opposed to the small amount of money you will spend if you ask for a free plan from nurseries where you will buy your plants.

3. You and your home’s style must be taken account of.

In planning your landscape, its style must complement the design of your house and your personality as well.

Here are the various landscape styles you can choose for your own garden:

a. Formal. This style uses lots of straight lines and perfect geometrical shapes. Orderly arrangement of plants instead of random positioning is employed. Close arrangement and pruning is seen on many landscaped gardens with this style.

b. Informal. This kind of landscaping goes well with houses with cozy looks to them. Beds with curved edges instead of straight lines and random placement of plants suit this landscape style.

c. English Garden. This style emphasizes on the harmony between the house’s architecture and the garden.

d. Formal/Informal Garden. This style often comes with a brick walkway that exudes formality. This walkway leads to the rear with a circle of plants. The arrangement of plants resembles the English garden style but it has no formal borders.

e. Oriental. It is often the kind of garden found in houses with small backyards. It uses rocks, evergreens and water. A wide variety of plants create several angles with this style.

f. Woodland. This landscaping suits a house that has a wooded backyard and an inclined terrain.

Keeping those tips in mind will not only make your landscaping a very fruitful activity but a money-saving one too.

While it’s true that the world we live in isn’t getting any safer, there’s no reason why you have to let this stress you in any way. Indeed, there are a few things you can do to strengthen your family’s security. The biggest thing that you can do is getting a good security system.

This is an arena where there are plenty of different options at different price points, but you will want to focus on getting something quality that will protect you and your family for a lifetime. This means that brands and reputation are two things that are absolutely paramount to a quality home security system.

One brand you will want to consider is the ADT security system, which you can find at http://www.adt.com. One of the biggest reasons why the ADT security system is one of the most popular around is that it provides families with a comprehensive security system.

There are other systems out there that can complement the adt security system. For example, Sonitrol security features alarm verification, which is something that’s become required in some cities.

Overall, whether you choose an ADT security system or go with Sonitrol security system, you will be one step closer to making sure your family will be protected for a long time!

One of the biggest goals any homeowner has is to make sure that their home is as safe as possible for their family. From a practical point of view, this means that you will have to make sure that all aspects of the house are properly secured. Any area that isn’t as secure as it could be is a weak point that can be exploited by potential burglars and other unsavory types.

One of the most overlooked areas of home security are the windows — people do not focus as much on the windows as they do on the doors. If you don’t have a great set of windows on your home or they need replacing, it’s not the end of the world. You can start the security process right by getting Penguin windows — a great brand that focuses on special security features.

The security features you can count on with a good Penguin window are double locks as well as triple pane glass, two things that will make it incredibly difficult for any unsavory types to get into your home.

Thankfully, getting these security features in your home isn’t difficult — you just need to get started today in order to give your family great Penguin windows!

Bamboo window shades are an elegant window treatment option. Several varieties of bamboo shades are available in the market and some varieties are easy on the pocket. Bamboo shades can be used in a décor that has a rustic theme. Bamboo window shades can also be used in rooms that use furnishings in earthy tones.

Bamboo window shades are ideal for glass doors that get a lot of sunlight, screened in porches and similar spaces that let in a lot of light. The charm of bamboo shades is that light filters in partially, creating interesting patterns where it falls. Bamboo window shades sit in graceful folds when raised.

Customers are given a choice of neutral tones and subtle textures to choose from. Most manufacturers offer to custom make bamboo window shades as per customer preferences.

The natural color of bamboo is a shade of brown; however manufacturers offer multicolor options too. Color options offered usually are beige, black, blue, gold and gray. Most bamboo window shades filter in some amount of light, however manufacturers use some add-ons to provide added features like different types of lining to cater to requests for amenities like insulation and room darkening.

Bamboo window shades are manufactured in a few different styles like artisan, contemporary and traditional. This allows customers to choose shades as per their décor requirements. Various types of weaving give interesting variations in looks to create a wide range of options for customers.

Bamboo window shades are generally top mounted- fixed either to the ceiling or to the top of the window frame. These shades are easy to clean and generally require vacuuming or a wipe with wet sponge and mild soap.

The usual ready made bamboo window shades are available in a minimum dimension of 16 inches width to a maximum of 120 inches width. Larger windows are covered using more number of shades. Odd sized windows can use custom made bamboo window shades.