A Pergola Will Make Your Garden Look More Dramatic

For anyone looking to add space, style and elegance to their garden, these versatile wooden structures are practical projects that can be built in a single weekend.

Fall is an ideal time to consider outdoor architectural upgrades. While it may be your last major project of the season, your appreciation for the effort will grow when spring 2004 arrives. The structure is already in place, ready to enjoy as plants grow and flowers bloom around it.

A popular building material for a wooden pergola is Western red cedar. It’s stable, resilient, and durable without the dangers of chemical treatment.

“Safety is important for people making building material choices,” says Peter Lang, general manager for the Western Red Cedar Lumber Association. “Cedar looks beautiful and is among the most durable woods. For hundreds of years, cedar has been highly prized for its natural compounds that resist rot and mildew.”

While western red cedar’s natural qualities have always been recognized, these are taking on new, heightened value among builders, from professionals to do-it-yourself. Earlier this year, the Environmental Protection Agency issued a recommendation to avoid chemically treated wood, specifically wood treated with a form of arsenic. Recent studies have linked the arsenic in treated wood to cancer.

Above-ground structures like pergolas, which might once have been built with treated wood, can be safely built with real cedar, known as the “Tree of Life” to the Indians of the Northwest Pacific coast.

You may have seen pergolas on houses and called them trellises or arbors. Like a trellis or an arbor, a pergola can support vines or climbing roses. And like a free-standing arbor, a pergola can filter light with its lattice-like canopy. Pergolas are often used as covered or open-roofed gateways to homes, paths, and gardens.

Consider attaching the pergola to your home, using it to shelter a path between the main house and a garage or other outbuilding. Because the overhead spans are supported by uprights, they can be made any size. Remember, one of the great appeals of the pergola is that it's a piece of architecture.

In its simplest form, a freestanding pergola in the garden provides a unique focal point. It can also serve as an effective soft screen from neighbors, additional shelter for a walkway, or the frame for a view of another feature within the garden.

A pergola gives a deck character and provides new options for decoration and design. Pergolas and arbors are great for vines, other climbing plants such as roses, and hanging baskets. If you don't have a green thumb, adorn the pergola with lights or decoration for special occasions. With slight changes of the supporting columns and overhead lattice, a pergola can fit almost any house style.

The basics of pergola construction are readily available online or from your trusted home improvement store. Before you tackle the project on your own or with professional help, here are few handy reminders:

• Ensure that the posts can handle the weight of the overhead beams. For optimum performance, posts should be attached to ready-made concrete footings purchased from your building supply dealer. This will help keep moisture away from the base of the posts.

• Take special care when deciding the proportions of posts and crossbeams. A set of 4-by-4 inch posts would be ideal with 2-by-6 inch boards nailed vertically for main-beams and crossbeams.


• Make sure the structure’s angles are precise to fit the dimensions you want.


• Make sure the posts are vertically straight and even in height. Ensure the main beams are level and evenly spaced in parallel to each other. Use a carpenter’s level for precision.


• Finally, add decorative flair to the crossbeams with a simple cutting, such as a quarter circle from the underside ends of each crossbeam.

A pergola can make a dramatic change in the yard and garden. It can enhance a style or be the final detail. Better yet, you can do it in a single weekend.

Some Things to Think About Ceiling Fan

I love the decorative look of a ceiling fan as much as the next person, but there are things to consider when you put one in your house; especially the bedroom. Ceiling fans make wonderful decorating and utilitarian statements in a room. You can look at the fan and see how beautiful it matches the décor of the room, and then turn it on and realize how comfortable you can feel in the winter or summer. Ceiling fans will circulate the air anywhere at different speeds and look beautiful at the same time. Some fans have light kits that come with them, or you can install them another time. Other fans don’t have lights; they are just there to look great and circulate the air.

Ceiling fans come in every decorative style imaginable. You can even make your own to match the room you want to install it in. The one place I choose not to have a ceiling fan is the bedroom. All ceiling fans all have one thing in common and that is they have “blades”. When you hang a fan above something, metaphorically you are hanging spinning blades above that object; such as a table, bed, couch etc. It is usually a little disconcerting if you are sitting beneath blades spinning above your head, don’t you think? Have you ever tried to sleep under a moving ceiling fan? It could be the quietest fan in the world; but the spinning blades will always keep me awake. I don’t like to sit under one either. Logically, I’m sure ceiling fans are installed with great care and they won’t come crashing down, but they symbolize just the opposite. In Feng Shui, we look at things such as this and analyze how they make you “feel” energetically. I don’t mind ceiling fans if they are hung high from a cathedral ceiling. They are well out of the way and not right above the head. I do like the way they move the air, just as long as I don’t have to sleep under it.

In Feng Shui, we always look at things and how they represent other things. Metaphorically what are you trying to tell the Universe? There may be alternative ways to keep cool in the summer that don’t involve spinning blades above your head. Why not place portable air conditioners in the house? They are ideal when window air conditioners won’t fit, or you don’t have central air. You might just want to put a portable rotating fan a distance away from the bed. The positioning of items in rooms with Feng Shui (the Chinese art of placement) will determine if you have a good flow of energy in the room. Sit quietly in your bedroom and see how it “feels”. If your master bedroom is large enough that you don’t have to place the bed directly under the ceiling fan; then you are ok with the aesthetics of having it in the room. You can use it to feel cooler to your hearts content.

10 Important Feng Shui Design Tips

If you wish to learn how to manage interior design according to feng shui design guidelines, there are some major tips you must know. We wish to help you achieve a balanced and harmonic feng shui design for any environment you wish it to be. Read the next paragraphs and learn the feng shui design most important tips.

1. Feng shui design should always be done having the people who will be in it in mind. People's comfort must be a priority, and all you do must be done thinking of that.


2. You should be guided by the bagua map and the areas it indicates within that space in order to distribute objects and furniture in it.


3. Make use of the main feng shui elements. An interior design uses furniture and objects which may contain the different elements. These elements should always be in harmonic quantities and according to the bagua map indications.


4. You should choose colors according to what they symbolize and represent. Different colors represent different elements and have different symbolisms.


5. Good feng shui design does not allow dark spots in it since that doesn't allow chi flowing properly.


6. You should choose carefully the shapes of the objects and furniture; different shapes provide different feelings as well as tend to balance in different ways.


7. Couches and chairs should always be placed in a way that allows those who sit on them to easily look at the door.


8. According to feng shui design guidelines beds should not be right across the door and ideally should have a wall at one side as protection.


9. Mirrors should be placed strategically, thought according to the light amount wished as well as which objects you wish it to reflect.


10. Correct feng shui design would allow people to feel good and comfortable in that interior without really noticing it has been carefully thought of. It should be natural and balanced, providing comfort to those occupying it.

How to Choose a Spice Rack for Your Kitchen

Today you have almost as many choices of spice racks as you do of the spices they contain. Spice racks are wonderful kitchen home organization gadgets. And a spice rack is a wonderful gift too for a cook. In our household, my husband is the chef. But I'm the shopper. And we own three functional and handsome spice racks that are in use every day. Before you buy your next spice rack for yourself or as a gift consider these factors:

1) WHERE WILL YOU PUT IT? Naturally, you want your spice rack in the kitchen so it's handy for cooking. The only caution here is that some people advice not putting your spices too close to the stove or oven for fear that the heat will be harmful to some of the spices' potency. So other than that spot, consider all the available spaces in your kitchen. There are probably more available spaces than you think. Here are some styles of spice racks that should give you more ideas about available kitchen space:

• No counter space? Buy spice racks that are "wall mountable". These spice racks usually have single or multiple vertical shelves.
• Hard to reach counter space? Put a "carousel" spice rack in the corner. Think of a carousel spice rack as one that spins on a circular-shaped Lazy Susan. You can make use of that hard-to-reach corner countertop space with such a revolving spice rack.
• Like to view your spices in one glance? By a "slanted" spice rack. Or buy a "three-tier expand-a-shelf" (like a staircase or stadium seating) that fits conveniently inside a kitchen cabinet. You'll triple that cabinet space with this type rack too.
• Got a free drawer? Some stores are now selling a "spice rack drawer liner". It lays flat in your drawer much like the flatware drawer liner that holds your forks and spoons. You lay the spice jars or containers on their sides in slots (lay with labels upward for quick reading).
• Not utilizing the bottom of your kitchen cabinets? Buy an "under-cabinet spice rack", also called "undercounter spice rack" or "pull-down spice rack". Much like electric can-opener gadgets that attach to the underside of kitchen cabinets, so does this under-cabinet spice rack. It swings down for easy viewing and picking. Otherwise, keep it folded upward underneath the cabinet for its space saving attribute.
• Is the inside of your pantry door empty? Use a "door-mounted spice rack". Just a few screws and you can hang a multi-shelf vertical spice rack here. Also, some stores are selling racks that have slots that individually adjust to the jar size. The rack adheres to the inside of the door with double-sided tape.
• Lots of kitchen counter space or open shelf space? Get a "free-standing spice rack". You can buy a countertop spice rack that spins or one planted firmly on a solid base. Some of these come in tapering shapes so that they're narrower at the base but flare out at the top.

Also consider....

2) HOW MANY SPICES DO YOU USE? If you use a lot of different spices, would you like one large single-level or multi-tiered shelf spice rack that holds all of them? Or like me, would you like a few different spice racks clustered in one area of the kitchen? If you only keep a few spice jars, then perhaps a spice rack that holds six to eight spice containers is sufficient (especially if your space is limited to a small area of the kitchen). And if it's a gift for someone else, visualize the available space they have in their kitchen. You don't want to give someone a gorgeous spice rack that they have to stuff in a closet for lack of a place to put it.

3) CAN YOU CONVENIENTLY ACCESS THE SPICES? For instance, if you hang a vertical double-shelf spice rack on a wall underneath a kitchen cabinet, you need enough room between the spice containers on the top shelf and the underside of the kitchen cabinet to be able to easily remove and replace the spice containers. You don't want to keep scraping your knuckles against the wood on the underside of the cabinet. Wherever you plan to put the spice rack, it's probably a good idea to measure the intended space for it and then compare that to the dimensions of the product listed on its sales box before you purchase it.

4) ARE YOU BUYING A SPICE RACK WITH OR WITHOUT SPICES? Some spice racks come complete with full containers of spices and others come without jars or containers of spices. Some spice racks don't even use typical container or jars; instead you fill them and then turn a dial for the measured spice amount to filter through a dispenser, which is removable from the spice rack.

Remember that you're trying to save space when buying home organization gadgets. So if you buy a spice rack complete with new spices, you'll just have to store the new or existing set of spice jars in the pantry until the spice jars in use need a refill.

And if you buy a spice rack with containers, make sure they're what you want. Some are glass jars; others aren't. Some have corks as lids; others have screw tops. Some come with snap on sifters or shaker ports. Also check to see if the jars come pre-labeled or with an extra set of blank labels.

5) WHAT MATERIAL COMPRISES THE SPICE RACK? You can find spice racks or spice shelving in many types of material: wood, acrylic, metal/stainless steel/wire, plastic or chrome. What matches the style of or colors of your kitchen? Or if the spice rack isn't going to be clearly on view, maybe you're just interested in a durable material or one that wipes clean easily.

6) DO YOU LOVE IT? Spice racks are very durable products. You'll be seeing your spice rack choice in your kitchen for a long time.

Turning Your Bedroom Into a Romantic Space

Want to spice up your bedroom to let some romance in?

Decorating your bedroom for romance doesn't even have to be difficult or expensive. You can really let your creativity run wild here.

The most important thing to keep in mind is that you want to soothe all of the senses to both take away other distractions and relax completely. This should be your oasis, your refuge to reconnect and enjoy your partner's company.

A great place to start is lighting. Get rid of the glare, and you're well on the way to more romance!

Candles, candles and more candles can bring a lot of romance into the bedroom for a pretty small investment. Candles, both large and small, tapered, pillar or votives all generate a warm, inviting, flickering light to the room. Group them together in several areas of the room for the best effect.

Adding a dimmer switch to lighting can also be quite effective in designing bedrooms for romance- and cost very little as long as you can install it yourself. It isn't as difficult as you might think!

Placing mirrors to reflect your softened light will add more depth to your bedroom.

Window dressings that are plush and appealing should darken the room and prevent lights from traffic or other external noise from interrupting the romantic mood you are creating. The window treatment can match or contrast the bedding and often can be found as an accessory to the bedding set you select. Draperies that billow and flow can add a touch of romance to the bedroom as well.

The bed, of course, is the focal point of the bedroom in most cases, and the bedding you select for romance can set just the perfect mood.

Many people think of silk and satin when thinking of romantic bedding. Both silk and satin can be costly and a bit slippery on the bed. The good news is that the same luxurious effect and feel can be created with 100% cotton sateen sheets if you don't want the added expense of genuine satin or silk linens.

Choose bedding for your romantic bedroom that centers on relaxing, romantic colors. Avoid using too much grey, yellow or pink. Red, black, white, blue and green is very popular. Newer colors like pearl, bronze and even gold can really create the feeling of luxury and are quite romantic.

Remember that all of your senses should be involved for the perfect touch of romance- so adding interesting texture for bedding can be another opportunity to bring out romance. Velvet, faux fur and velour are rich, soft to the touch fabrics that can be used for comforters, blankets and throw pillows.

Peacock Alley is one of the most well-known luxury bedding maker.

They offer an especially warm, romantic bed linen set called the Marrakech Ebony. It features shades of green, gold and ebony in prints reminiscent of the African plains and looks especially romantic when highlighted by candlelight. 55% linen and 45% rayon create luxurious sheets which are easy to care for.

The Vienna Ensemble from Peacock Alley is 100% Egyptian cotton in white on white featuring eyelet lace. Euro sham, coverlet, boudoir pillows add wonderful interesting detail to the bedding which brings back the romantic 1800s.

And if you'd prefer to keep your expenses down a bit, then you could go for the shabby chic approach, which means focusing on your own sense of style, mixing just about any romantic touches into the bedroom- as long as the overall result is soothing and relaxing. You don't have to follow anyone else's idea of romance. Just be creative!

If you really want to go all out, you could add a canopy to your bed. You can easily create the same effect of a canopy bed with about 10 yards of material like linen, silk or satin and four hooks placed in the ceiling. Simply drape the cloth so that it billows and flows to just above the bed linens. This touch will enhance any spacious bedroom and can provide a bedroom with low ceilings a more spacious feel.

Finish your new romantic bedroom with a bit of soft music, maybe some potpourri and some fine chocolates and champagne, and there you have it!

You can live in a bedroom that surrounds you with romance every night if you wish. Simply bring together your own creation of romantic touches and enjoy.

A Bit About Bathroom Cabinets

So, you have decided to remodel your bathroom and you have also decided to replace those old, worn out cabinets which have seen better days. Bathroom cabinets play a major role in maintaining an organized bathroom. Besides being of maximum utility, they are one of the most eye catching fixtures of the bathroom. They also consume most amount of the bathroom remodeling budget.

Since cabinets take a huge chunk from your budget, decide how much you want to spend on cabinets, in advance. You can do this by first deciding where you want your cabinets. Then take measurements of the area. Decide whether you want stock cabinets, semi-custom or custom cabinets. Stock cabinets are the most inexpensive ones followed by semi-custom and then custom cabinets. When you meet the expert with these rough ideas and figures in mind, he can give you a more accurate picture.

As mentioned earlier, there are three types of cabinets available in the market. You have to choose from them according to your budget and your specific requirements. They are Stock, Semi-custom and Custom cabinets.

Stock cabinets are inexpensive and most popular. They are mass produced and built in standard sizes and shapes. The choice of color, design and style is limited.

Semi-custom cabinets are basically stock cabinets which can be changed in some ways to meet individual requirements. They offer more choice of color, finish, design and size. They are more expensive than stock cabinets.

Custom cabinets are the most expensive cabinets. They are made to order cabinets. They are made to suit your specific, individual requirements. They offer the widest range of color, design, style and size.

According to the method of assembling, there are Framed and Frameless cabinets. Framed cabinets are American cabinets and frameless cabinets are European style.

In framed cabinet, a frame is placed around the front of the cabinet opening. It is also called face frame. It is used to secure the door to the cabinet. Framed cabinets are more expensive than frameless cabinets because they use more material.

In frameless cabinets, there is no face frame and door is hung directly on the cabinet box. Frameless cabinets occupy lesser space than framed ones.

While selecting cabinets for your bathroom, keep in mind that your cabinets should match the rest of your bathroom.

Doors and drawers of the cabinets should operate smoothly.

Don't just go by the looks of the doors of the cabinets because it's the quality and construction of the whole boxes that counts.

Choosing a Kitchen Sink

In any household, a kitchen sink is one of the central fixtures and always sees plenty of action. It is used both for preparing food and for cleaning up after every meal. It can add to or take away from the overall effect of your kitchen’s design. Durability and attractiveness are both important qualities in kitchen sinks.

More than simply functional necessities, sinks now offer more design appeal, softer lines, and a variety of finishes. Every homemaker faces the challenge of choosing the right sink for the kitchen, and the kitchen sink provides the finishing touch to any new kitchen project.
Modern sinks are not just made of a simple faucet and bowl. They come in multiple bowls of various sizes and shapes and are designed with integral drainers, cutting boards, soap dispensers, instant hot water dispensers, purified water taps, sprayers and more.
Sinks are also made of stainless steel, enameled metal, solid surfacing materials and quartz composites, and of course the traditional porcelain.

There is a great amount to consider when choosing a kitchen sink. Size, in width and depth, is of course the biggest choice you will make when choosing a sink to fit your kitchen. You also have a choice of materials used in making the sink - stainless steel, granite or copper.

Stainless steel sinks are made in many sizes and several thicknesses. Enamel on cast iron or steel sinks are made in an assortment of colors. Quartz composite sinks also come in a variety of colors and patterns.

Many people prefer stainless steel sinks because they are believed to be easier to care for. Some solid-surface countertop materials may be formed to include rimless, seamless sinks that are a perfect match.

Your sink choice is restricted by the size of your cabinet and counter top. All kitchen sinks require a minimum cabinet size. You can find out the size of your cabinet by measuring under the existing sink or where the new sink will go.

A Guide to Buy a Waterbed Mattress

If you need a new waterbed mattress, there are a variety of things you should know. For starters, waterbed mattresses come in different levels of firmness. Since even the firmest waterbed is less firm than a traditional bed, most experts recommend buying the firmest waterbed mattress that you can afford.

Let’s take a look at the different types of waterbed mattresses:

Free Flow: as its name suggests, a free flow mattress allows the water to flow freely. This makes the bed feel as though it is always gently rocking. Sleeping on a free flow waterbed mattress is much like sleeping on a boat. This type of mattress is not recommended for someone who desires support. Some people have trouble sleeping on a bed that moves freely with every toss and every turn. In addition, the free flow mattress doesn’t have any mechanism to balance it. This means that if one partner is larger or heavier than the other, the mattress will be lopsided.

Hydraulic: a hydraulic waterbed mattress is filled with tiny round vinyl coils. These coils fill with water and float just beneath the top of the mattress. This helps to regulate the movement of the water. The more coils a mattress has, the firmer it will be. In addition, the coils help to balance out the bed. This means that even if one partner is heavier than the other, they will stay on the same level.

Fiber Fill: in fiber filled waterbed mattresses, the manufacturer fills the mattress with fiber. This helps to reduce the movement of the water and to increase the firmness of the mattress. The more fiber the mattress has, the firmer it will be.

Waterbed mattresses are available at many online stores, including My Waterbed Shop, All Waterbeds, Bedroom Discounters, and Simmons.

For additional waterbed mattress resources, do an Internet search for “waterbed mattress.” Also check your local bedding, mattress, and furniture stores.

The Luxury Comforter that We All Would Love to Have

For those striving to create a bedroom retreat, a haven from the rest of the world, luxury is a necessity. Along with good color choices and fine furniture, a lavishly dressed bed is top priority. One of the most important ingredients for an extravagant bed is a luxury down comforter, and price is no object.

Down comforters are made from a variety of materials. They can be made from the down of ducks or geese. The most luxurious, though, are those made from goose down. Goose down is heavier and produces warmer, fluffier, and more luxurious down comforters.

Different geese produce different qualities of down. Eiderdown comes from the Eider duck of Iceland. As you can imagine in such a cold climate, the Eider duck has a very full and luxurious down, resulting in a warm and fine comforter. Eiderdown has to be hand harvested from Eider duck nests, making it difficult to acquire. At around $7000, its price reflects that quality and rarity.

Siberian goose down is considered the best, and is available for around $1000. Siberian goose down is known to have superior warming power, and is fluffier than all other varieties.

In shopping for luxury down comforters, one of the most important things to consider is the fill power rating. Fill power refers to the comforter’s fluffiness, the higher the rating, the better. While any fill rating over 550 is considered good, the more luxurious down comforters often have ratings of over 800.

Thread count is another important consideration. The thread count refers to the number of threads per square inch. Again, the higher the number, the better the quality of the comforter. A high thread count means the comforter will be softer, lighter, and less likely to leak filling.

The comforter cover material is less important because the comforter itself should be covered with a duvet. However, some truly luxurious cover materials exist. Some comforters are covered in silk or Egyptian cotton for optimum softness.

4 Simple Steps to Help You Keep Your Bathroom Clean

One of everyone's least favorite chores is cleaning the bathroom. You put it off ... and put it off... until it takes nothing short of an atomic bomb to get it clean. It doesn't have to be that way.

4 steps, about 2-3 minutes a day- and you will never have to deal with soap scum build up or scrubbing the bathroom ever again.

The tools you will need-

• a shower squeegee
• paper towels
• glass cleaner
• Scrub Free

These should be kept in the bathroom. Splurge on the extra bottle of glass cleaner and an extra roll of paper towels to keep in the bathroom.

Here are the 4 steps-

1. When you get out of the shower, after you have dried off and put on your lotion and such... do a once over on the shower walls with the squeegee.

2. Take 2 pieces of paper towel and clean in this order- mirror, counters, quick wipe over towel bars, chrome in shower, and toilet lip. Throw paper towel away.

3. Do one of these chores each day or two-

• Spray tub with scrub free and do a quick wipe down with wet rag or sponge, or
• Clean the toilet, or
• Do a quick wipe up of the floor, or
• Do a quick cleaning on your shower doors, if you have them, or if you have shower curtains- spray any spots with Clorox Cleanup.

Each of these only take seconds if you don't let it get bad in the first place.

4. Watch for any mold, or discoloring of the grout. Spray with Clorox Cleanup and just let it work.

That's it. Your bathroom will always look terrific, and it'll be a lot healthier too.

Don't let build up happen in the first place. Keeping it clean in the first place is so much easier than trying to clean it later.