Simple Garden - Love the idea of fresh veggies or herbs to add to cooking but don’t have the room or time for a large garden. How about creating a Kitchen Garden Basket’. Trailing cherry tomatoes, sage, lettuce growing right outside your kitchen door equals fresh ingredients right at your fingertips. Learn How

Painted Chevron Vase

Customize a plain vase by taping off a chevron pattern with painter's tape (it need not be perfect). Spray-paint the exposed area with a lighter shade of the vase color. Remove the tape when the paint is dry.

If you don’t happen to have extra vases, visit second hand stores, flea markets or local tag sales where you can pick up several for a low cost. A grouping of these done in bright colors would make the perfect summer accessory. Get creative with the designs, tape off different shapes or use a variety of stencils.

• Four Tips For Clearing The Clutter - Spring…. Fresh breezes through open windows, sleeping trees come awake with bright new leaves, flowers begin to bloom and the grass becomes green once more. Now along with the obvious, there is another sign that the season has arrived, our yearly pledge to clear the clutter and organize our homes.

• Paper Avalanche Control  -  Little yellow post-its with phone numbers, reminders and lists, mail consisting of bills, letters, magazines and store flyers and paper work brought home from school. It all comes in the door and tends to land on the first available flat surface.

• Save Money & Time... Plan Home Decorating Projects - Why is planning home decorating projects important? Let’s start by asking the following question. What do the following have in common - boxes of odds & ends collecting dust in the basement, discarded curtains, bedspreads and pillows in the attic, half empty paint cans stacked against a wall in the garage

Spruce Up Your Homes Curb-Appeal By Adding Container Plants

Turn your home's entry into an inviting focal point by adding a few well-chosen and nicely arranged plants on the front porch. Vary the plant and container sizes and arrange them on multiple level. This will add visual interest along with bright seasonal color to the front of your home.

Breath New Life Into An Old Dresser

Budget conscious? Transform an old dresser into a new useful piece of furniture again. These pieces are great for entry ways, family rooms or home office providing lots of storage. You may have an old dresser somewhere around your home or check out yard sales, second hand furniture stores for bargains that need some work. Get creative with your new found treasure using paint, stain, decals, new hardware. How about removing a couple of drawer then adding decorative baskets. Another idea is to remove the legs which then gives you a bench. The possibilities are endless.

• Hummingbirds … Attracting The Little Flying Powerhouses - It’s early in May a beautiful fairly warm day so I’ve decided to sit on the front porch and enjoy it. While relaxing in a rocking chair with my eyes closed, just enjoying the sun and early warmth I begin to hear a sound off in the distance.

• Gardening With Perennials - A perennial is generally a plant, which has showy flowers unlike ornamental grasses grown mainly for their foliage. Two terms you’ll find are herbaceous which are plants with soft green stems that die back in colder climates another is woody-stemmed meaning trees or shrubs.

• Personalize Your Garden - Decorative Accent - Think of your garden like you would a room in your home. After planning the shape, tilling the soil, choosing the right plants the last step is to add those personal touches. And just like indoors this is accomplished with accessories

Gift Card Wrapping

If you like giving gift cards but sometimes feel it’s not very personal here is a simple clever idea to dress them up. You will need a package of lacy paper doilies, origami paper (origami paper is easy to fold) in what ever color or colors you choose, a glue stick and ribbon. When choosing ribbon pick colors that will coordinating with the paper.

Cut a circle (about 1/2 in smaller than outside of doily) out of the paper, glue to inside of doily, place gift card in the center then fold left and right sides in. The top and bottom are folded inward next, finally tie ribbon in a bow. The end result is a personal gift that otherwise can sometimes seem impersonal.

Photos used throughout our site are courtesy of  Country Sampler Magazine , Plow & Hearth, Piper Classics, Better Homes & Gardens  Pinterest

Pet- Friendly Design  -  Your home can be beautiful and pet-friendly, too without sacrificing style or comfort. Pet owners aredecoratin g and remodeling their living spaces with their pets' needs in mind, turning pet-friendly decorating into a full-blown trend.  Learn More

Plantscaping - What is plantscaping? You have more than likely come across the term candlescaping, which is the art of creating decorative arrangements of candles to add warmth and beauty to any room. Plantscaping is the same principle or instead of candles it’s applied to plants. This is an easy way to add interest and lots of color to an outdoor space. More Idea Photos

Entryway Shoe Storage

If you have a back-up of shoes at your door a narrow sofa table with shelves maybe your solution. This piece will also perform double duty by having a place to drop keys, phones or mail. If you are not crazy about seeing the shoes, several wicker baskets in various sizes will help to conceal what is really there.