Kitchen Guides

Artful Organizers: Jars for Pretty Pantry Displays

The jar is a fantastic instrument for displaying the beauty of everyday ingredients. Jars supply beans, lentils and pasta a stage upon which they are permitted to show off their colors and shapes. Separated in their own boxes and plastic wrap, jarred rices, honeys, sugars and cereals are permitted to express their vibrant characters. Tea bags, tea leaves and coffee beans, too, seem so much better naked supporting glass. Reduce the packaging that’s hiding your spices and foods, and let every staple add its artistic quality into your pantry while remaining handy. East End Country Kitchens Candy jars. Let’s begin with the fun things. Candy shops are mesmerizing, both to adults and kids. Why? Because shopkeepers understand how to exhibit these hypnotically vibrant delights in an appealing manner. Create the same impact in your pantry with conveniently shaped jars such as those; they have wide mouths to permit palms or…

Eclectic Homes

Know Your House: Anatomy of a Brick Veneer Wall

Brick is more or less the earliest building material. Little, modular, easily produced from local materials, durable and requiring low maintenance, brick was a favored way to build for decades. Brick was used traditionally as a structural material. By creating walls and piers of brick, architects and builders were able to build large and tiny buildings, from the humble home to the cavernous Colosseum. Burns and Beyerl Architects But brick has always been a labor-intensive construction substance. As the price of labor increased, brick became more and more a substance reserved for higher-end houses. And as brick structure became more expensive, we started to use brick less as construction and much more as skin. The result has been the maturation of the brick veneer wall and the remedy of brick and a two-dimensional, decorative component. This is reasonable from a cost standpoint — but a brick veneer can harken back…

Tropical Style

Excellent Design Plants: Stars of the Succulent Garden

Each succulent stands out in its own way — that the variegated foliage of Aeonium, the elegance and size of agave, the cold-hardiness and durability of Sempervivum. Out-of-this-world color and yearlong attractiveness belong toEcheveria. Hailing in semidesert areas of Mexico and of Central and South America, Echeveria thrives in the mild climates of California and the American Southwest. Its vibrant, glaucous foliage and year-after-year flowering makes it among the most common succulent types. Cold sensitivity might be a concern for many gardeners, but handily enough, Echeveria creates a excellent container plant. After fall rolls in, just pack up and bring it indoors. Welcome your containers back. Gardens from Gabriel, Inc.. Botanical name: Echeveria sppCommon names: Echeveria, hens-and-chicksWhere it will grow: Hardy to approximately 32 degrees Fahrenheit, depending on species (USDA zones 9 to 11; locate your zone)Water requirement: Looks best with moderate watermoderate requirement: Full sun, but shelter it from…

Backyard Studios

8 Backyard Ideas to Delight Your Dog

Dogs or A puppy romping in the garden is a traditional dream. Achieving this, however, takes more consideration than simply sending your dog out in the yard and hoping for the best. Take some opportunity to make sure your lawn provides your pet with the amenities he or she needs and enjoys. Fortunately, pet-friendly yard amenities can also be great for people too. California Waterscapes Scot Eckley, Inc.. 1. Keep the water flowing. Fresh water, and tons of it, is critical. Why don’t you take this opportunity to bring a water feature to your landscape that your pet can access? A dash fountain or flow is ideal, and you’ll enjoy it, too. Huettl Landscape Architecture A small pond or pool is an alternative, especially for dogs. But before you assemble or perhaps allow access to an existing pool, do a security check. Dogs should be able to escape easily should…

Living Rooms

Find a Fitting Place to Store Your Own Firewood

One of those often-ignored sections of designing a brand new wood-burning fireplace is deciding just how to house all the essential wood. What is the ideal way to store the firewood you want while still keeping a fantastic focal wall? Whether you select a symmetrical or asymmetrical style, a modern or classic style, below are a few fantastic suggestions for wood storage which can boost a fireplace — rather than being a messy distraction. Crisp Architects Under the hearth. The spot beneath a raised hearth often goes unused. Make the most of it by developing a spot for wood storage beneath. Design suggestion: When designing for storage under the hearth, remember a raised hearth was designed to sit . Do your best not to expand the height of their wood storage past 18 inches, which is the standard sitting height. Into the ceiling. Take your wood storage all the way…

Eclectic Homes

Love Luxury? Comb Through the Wonders of Cashmere

We deliberate for hours over the finishing touches in our homes. We want our couches to have lovely throws our curtains to feel luxurious, our cushions to be plump and our beds to become havens. Cashmere is one of those textiles which may help in all those areas. It offers texture, warmth, lightness and sheen. Surprisingly flexible, cashmere is an unbelievable cloth that has to be touched to be considered. Cecilie Starin Design Inc.. The origins of cashmere. The word “cashmere” originates from two words : “Kashmir,” from the Kashmir breed of goats that initially produced the wool, and also “pashm’,” that the Persian word for “wool.” This luxurious fabric is referenced in Indian papers as early as the next century. However it was not until the 16th century that the word “cashmere” was first used, when spinners traveled to India along the Silk Road and spun and traded shawls….

Fireplaces

3 Extreme Chair Makeovers — Plus DIY Reupholstering Tips

Sitting on the side of the road, left in a dark street or shoved in the back of a garage — chairs of all shapes and sizes are located and return to life courtesy of Andrea Mihalik. Working out of her studio, Wild Chairy, at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Mihalik reinvents lost designs using a no-holds-barred strategy and most of ecofriendly materials. Employing old-world tactics and new patterns, she generates boldly designed chairs that not only look good but feel great too. Curious about what is needed to create these wonderful layouts? We sat down with this reupholstery whiz to select her brain on her favourite endeavors, ecofriendly reupholstering and tips for DIYers. Wild Chairy Q. How can you begin doing this? A. I got started in upholstery almost 3 decades back. In my career, I was a photojournalist, traveling the globe shooting everything from popes to presidents. Upholstery sort of found…

Kitchen Guides

Kitchen of the Week: Budget-Friendly Boosts in Toronto

Not every kitchen upgrade has to get four zeros attached to it. This Canadian family wanted to dress their bland kitchen but were functioning with an extremely limited budget. Designer Gillian Lazanik of Affecting Spaces helped them get a new look without spending a lot of money. Sticking with the present appliances, using Ikea cabinetry and having dramatic colors resulted in a bold transformation. Currently this Toronto couple and both kids have the space and storage to take whole benefit of their trendy new kitchen. Affecting Spaces A bold backsplash originally wasn’t a part of the design plan. “But the more the children came up, the more I realized that we ought to give them something special to remember about growing up in their kitchen,” says Lazanik. Backsplash: Olympia Tile; countertops: Caesarstone, Espresso; undercabinet lighting: Ikea; stove: Crosley Affecting Spaces Chalkboard paint dresses up a previously blank wall, though a…

Eclectic Homes

Contractor Tips: 10 Hats Your General Contractor Wears

Contrary to a specialized contractor, a general contractor (GC) oversees all onsite aspects of a construction project. Whether the GC, any personnel or any subcontractors do the work, this is the person you call about everything. A good GC needs to know enough about everybody’s job on a construction site in order to estimate and oversee the work happening, but must also know about more than just painting and plumbing. To get through a substantial remodeling job, the GC fills any number of these roles. 1. Therapist. Remodeling or building is incredibly stressful. Delays, dust, design flaws — when customers will need to port, it’s frequently the contractor who listens. We may not be especially interested in hearing about your brother-in-law’s issues, but when we believe we could get you to pick a toilet paper holder when we stick with it, we’ll talk you through almost anything. 2. Mediator. Neighbors,…

Kitchen Guides

Find the Right Oven Arrangement for Your Kitchen

In the timeless stove setup, the cooktop and oven are combined as a single appliance, most frequently a 30-inch appliance with four beers over an oven. The concept of being able to have a separate wall mount (or two!) Is pretty exciting for many home cooks considering a kitchen remodel. Are you currently considering new cooking appliances? Maybe not everybody’s dream setup will work in their kitchen, and some appliance configurations function better than others in a specific space. Check out the options here. Connected: How to Remodel Your Kitchen thirdstone inc. [^] Double oven. Ovens separate from the cooktop offer homeowners more flexibility with their design. Also, a lot of men and women prefer elevated ovens rather than having to bend down to use a stove. It is definitely better in your spine! If you have room with this arrangement and can get a place for your microwave, then…