If your flower beds start to look tired and get a lot of weeds, you can quickly and easily improve their look and eliminate weeds! Here is how. Buy mulch in your favorite color. We couldn't find brown mulch this year, so decided to go with red. This time of year mulch is on sale in many gardening centers, so you may save some money. Most nurseries charge more at the beginning of summer, so now it's a good time to look for deals on mulch and other gardening supplies. So, this was our flower bed before. The old mulch was from 2 years ago and it lost its color.
Remove the old mulch if you had it and of course all the weeds. Rake the soil really well. If you do it after the rain, the ground will not be as dry. Get landscaping fabric which protects weeds from growing but it lets water through. Apply it around your shrubs or trees.
Most landscaping fabrics will last 5 years, so can you imagine the freedom you will get by getting rid of weeds! Put top soil on top and then apply mulch.
Mulch works great in gardening, it makes your flower beds look good, keeps the moisture in, so you don't have to water as much. Our flower bed got a quick makeover and it looks like this right now. Let's just hope weeds are gone for good!
Most homeowners love to restore, reuse, renovate, so we are trying to do our best to be green but do you think about the environment when you buy bottled water? Even if you do, you don't imagine ocean full of plastic. But when you see it live how planet earth gets covered in plastic, it's absolutely shocking. If you want to find out more and get tips on how to live green, we recommend Mother Nature Network. Here you can find great ideas for making your home and your lifestyle a little greener.
In our neighborhood, we recycle paper, glass, metal and even organic waste, which is basically any food leftovers that can be turned into a compost. We use special 100 % compostable liner bags made from corn.
Organic waste is collected in green bins using biodegradable bags which eventually brake down and become part of the compost.
Take a look at this cluttered post. We talked about how to declutter your home and make money. It was part of our spring cleaning this year. We had no idea we could sell items we didn't need so easily and get over $1000 for them. It took us about 2 months of advertising, renewing our posts and responding to emails on kijiji (same idea as craigslist). At the end, we sold many items and got a total of $1024. It will be great vacation for money for us!
So you wonder, what we sold to make over $1000. Here it is:
- office chair $55
- kenmore ac unit $50
- sharp ac unit $65
- IKEA dresser $120
- bistro set $65
- two IKEA night stands $99
- WD TV $75
- IKEA tv stand $40
- portable AC unit $250
- old kitchen table $75
- old phone $25
- table saw - $85
- old office chair $20
Total $1024
Everything we sold was either old or we didn't need it anymore and it was just creating clutter.
Look around your home and garden. Do you have things you don't need? There are people who are looking for them online! Good luck with your sales.
We are so excited to be featured on The DIY Show Off blog this week. Check out our kitchen makeover!
Thanks to Roeshel who runs this great blog, we get a chance to see amazing makeovers. If you love before and after pictures of real DIY projects, visit Roeshel's blog. Roeshel's DIY projects in her own home are also featured there, so check it out - great inspiration for everyone looking for DIY ideas.
We showed you a while ago how we painted french doors. If you missed the posts, you can find it here and also here. Now it's time to show you the end result. It was a time consuming process but it was worth it. The entrance to our living room is now finished. We installed french doors, new trim and hardware.
Most people hate cleaning their fridge. It's difficult to move all the jars and containers around to get it clean. It's nice to have a clean, fresh smelling fridge. We got tired of wiping it with paper towel and started washing it the old fashion way. Here is our quick, easy and the most efficient way of cleaning the fridge.
You will need:
- dish soap
- paper towel
- dish sponge
- dish cloth
- multi purpose cleaner - we recommend environment friendly cleaners
- 30 minutes of your time
Here are the steps:
Wait for your fridge to be almost empty. This way, you will not have to remove all the groceries to get started. We shop weekly, so by Sunday, there is not much left in our fridge. It looks pretty much like this.
It's been a hot summer and after a busy day gardening and working around the house, there is nothing better than the satisfaction we get from our work. We can't imagine having a backyard without trees, shrubs or perennial garden. We treat our backyard like our private resort, where we can relax and enjoy the nature.
Our flower urn was showing its age, so it was time to restore it and give it a fresh new look. We use it throughout the year, so the weather conditions damaged the paint over the years. In the summer, we use it mostly in our backyard. This is from last year. You can tell the urn is starting to show damage.
In the fall, the same urn becomes our front door sinamey arrangement with fresh pumpkin.
So here it's how to give an old urn a great new look for less then $10. First, we sanded it to remove the old paint as much as possible especially in the most damaged spots.
Next, Joe used a black spray paint to apply a first coat. Make sure it's done outside in a well ventilated area. Always wear a mask and protective glasses (gloves are also a great idea).
Cover all areas with paint and then let it dry outside according to the manufacturer's instructions. If the first coat doesn't cover the damage, apply a second coat and let it dry.
Unforgettable Florida Road Trip by George Christodoulou from onetravel.wordpress.com
A road trip can be extremely fun and exciting. There’s nothing like spending five to ten hours in a car with your buddies while you drive down to your favorite vacation spot. My recent road trip from New York to Florida was certainly a trip to remember. Excited about the idea of riding in a car for several hours, I could not wait to get the trip started. Approximately two hours in and I was already tired and ready to reach the time share. Worst of all, my friend had create a tape of his most recent collection of favorite songs. There is nothing like hearing “On the Road Again” 16 times in a row. Truly, that song never gets old, and the idea of being on the road certainly made listening to it for 30 minutes straight all the more scintillating.
Okay, so the actual ride to the timeshare was a bit nightmarish, but it was well worth it. The house was beautiful and featured two rooms, two bathrooms, a large living room, a dining area, and a well equipped kitchen. I looked forward to preparing some meals for my friends. I enjoy cooking and I hardly ever get to show off my skills since I only cook for myself. The first thing we had to do was take a trip to the local Walmart to stock up on the necessities. In case you were wondering, going to the store with a group of 8 people can be disastrous. Nobody was willing to take control and make decisions so we ended up spending hours just trying to figure out what to purchase for the week. At the end of the day we were tired, but how can anyone pass up taking a dip in the pool? We pushed our bodies to the limit and decided to hit the pool. It was a refreshing way to end the day.
The rest of the week all followed a simple schedule. Either we headed to Universal studios for a day of rides and roller coasters or we stayed at the house and enjoyed swimming, working out, and relaxing. Universal Studios was a great experience. There were so many types of rides I had never experienced before. The 3D rides featuring movies, comic books, and television shows were a lot of fun. I’m not sure which one was my favorite, but the Simpsons ride would definitely be at the top of the list. There’s nothing like being put into a giant baby’s mouth, or falling down to hell to be rescued by Professor Frink. All in all, the activities were entertaining and enjoyable. The end of the week neared and we had another long ride back home, but I did not mind this one as much. Everyone was tired and ready to go home and sleep so it was quiet and relaxing. We even met up with a friend living in South Carolina for breakfast. When we finally reached New York, I was exhausted so I jumped into bed and ended my wonderful adventure.
George Christodoulou is a travel blogger for the onetravel.com (Offering cheap tickets) blog. He loves to travel and hopes he can move to Cyprus one day when he is done traveling the rest of the world.
We love the sound of water in our garden. It's very relaxing. There are many options in water garden design to choose from, depending on your budget and the size of your garden. You can even install a great wall fountain on your balcony if you live in a condominium.
For small outdoor spaces or balconies, we recommend wall fountains. It's very easy to install it. Basically, it has a hanging mechanism just like a picture frame. When we bought our wall fountain, we added extra support on the bottom.
For any garden, regular fountain is a great option. We love to watch birds having a bath on a hot day. This fountain is on our front yard, nice way to welcome guests to our home.
Pond requires the biggest space, budget and maintenance but it's the best in water gardens. You can add floating plants or fish if you like. Check out our post on how we built the pond. If you have questions, let us know and we will be happy to contact you. All the hard work is so worth it when we sit outside and enjoy our garden.
We also love to visit botanical gardens when we travel. They usually have amazing water gardens. This one was in Montreal, Quebec.
Do you have a water garden? We would love to hear from you.
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