Author Archives: schatzi

Adding a Garden to Your Home: Is It Worth It?

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Life in big cities and suburbs can be stressful. It seems that everyone is too busy with no time to relax and unwind. The result is chronic stress that kills thousands of Americans. One of the best ways to relax and have some exercise is by gardening. A hobby like gardening lengthens life and makes your surroundings beautiful.

The space problem

One of the first question that comes up to one’s mind when considering gardening is if they have space for it on their lot. Interestingly though, with proper planning and designing, you can have a garden in your lot even if you don’t have lots of extra space. In fact if you use 3D rendering programs or hire a landscape designer who knows how to use one, you would be surprised at how many plants you can grow with just limited space. All it takes is planning.

Landscaping

If you have a big lawn and you want to add a garden on it, it is important to define the boundary of the garden. That means you have to plan where to put your garden. You can also hire a landscape artist to do the task, but make sure that they make a 3D rendering of the design so you will know in advance if you like it or not.

Choosing the flowers and plants

While flowers look beautiful, your garden may not have a big impact if the flowers are not grouped together. When grouping flowers, make sure the same colors are grouped together so that when they bloom, you will be greeted with a beautiful scenery.

If you plant vegetables, it is important that you group them together too for easy harvesting. This also makes your vegetable garden look beautiful when they bear fruits.

Gardening helps you relax

People enjoy gardening because it lets them relax, especially when they work on it. You may think it is hard work to tend the garden, but if you try it, you will be surprised to find that it is actually relaxing and energizing. While working on your garden, you are getting lots of high quality oxygen from your plants and you are also surrounded by greens which relaxes the eyes and the mind. Many experts believe that gardening as a hobby combines exercise and relaxation in one. When your plant grows and blooms, you will also fill yourself with fulfillment and pride, which helps fight depression.

If you are looking for a way to relax your mind while being productive, having a garden is a good idea. Hire a landscape artist if you want to maximize your space.

Things You Should Know When Heading to the Furniture Store

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Choosing and buying furniture for one’s home is one of those activities that elicits a very strong reaction, one way or another: either people love to do it, or they hate it with great passion. That’s because when an item of furniture blends well with the surrounding feel of a home, the effect is extraordinary and wonderful; when that item of furniture contrasts too much and does not fit in, the effect is notoriously and regrettably awful! That’s why it’s a good idea to do a little research and planning before strolling down the aisles at your local furniture store in search of your next home item. Coming up with a plan will be the best thing you could possibly do before setting about acquiring your next item of home furniture.

The first thing that people should be thinking about before going down to the furniture store is: “What kind of style do we want to imbue our home with?” The answer may not always be as straightforward as you would hope, though there will inevitably be some sort of dominant trend or tendency in your home decorations that will give you at least a clue as to the correct answer. Of course, for truly eclectic individuals with home decorations representing just about every possible kind of aesthetic taste possible, it will be practically impossible to make a bad purchase; nonetheless, this is the case for only a small fraction of homes and therefore the possibility of making a poor buy is real and present for most people.

Modern furniture styles have been hewing to a relatively minimalist and basic format, with designer lounges and sofas being very uniform, smooth, and with noble contours. Just about any ordinary furniture store these days will be chock full of these items, and unless you specifically seek out an antique furniture store you won’t have any problem in getting your hands on such samples. Among the most popular items being sold at the moment would have to be recliners and barcaloungers, lounge suites and certain multi-purpose items of furniture like couch-beds, etc.

An interesting trend in furniture that has been around for many decades-but that has become much more sublime and attractive in recent times-is the tendency to use items of furniture to house or locate certain home entertainment or electronics appliances. Hence, when buying tables and stands, it is common to find designs that contemplate mounting a 30-inch flat-panel TV or something else of the sort. These models are not only very functional (a quality that the average customer values practically above all else), they are furthermore surprisingly sleek and elegant. Therefore, before heading down to your nearest furniture store, think about what home appliances or entertainment equipment you currently have or plan on buying in the near future and which of these items you would like to incorporate into your home furniture, in one way or another. Managing to create these relationships between furniture and other items in your home will have a very pleasant end result.

Flooring Should Be Chosen Based on Lifestyle

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Before picking out your new floor, you will want to take into consider your lifestyle while looking at styles and designs so you make the right choice for you and your family.

Many people are opting for hard wood floors these days, giving that crisp clean look throughout the house. Once just wooden planks to choose from, wood flooring options have evolved into a catalogue of choices for the home owner. Some people still choose to go with the traditional wood floor boards in oak, pine or even cherry. All wood floors will have their choice of sealants as well and your flooring professional can recommend the best one for the style you choose.

Some other people are more environmentally conscience with their flooring choice and want to go with a renewable resource such as cork or bamboo. These renewable sources pose a bit of a challenge when installed into homes with large dogs, for example, as both cork and bamboo are softer materials than oak or mahogany. A large dog and it’s claws easily leave marks on a new floor, as opposed to a harder wood like mahogany for instance that can withstand almost anything due to its strength. However, for small dog owners cork or bamboo would be a fine choice as once it is sealed it can typically withstand light use and wear and tear.

A good compromise for the environmentally concerned home owner is to go with a reclaimed wood source. Many older building like tobacco barns and older homes have had their wood floor boards, overhead beams and staircases reclaimed and repurposed for flooring in someone’s home. This avenue gives the home owner the peace of mind that no new trees or forests are being destroyed or disrupted by them getting a new floor installed, while they still get the harder wood that they may desire. Reclaimed wood tends to be more expensive than manufactured wood flooring, but the uniqueness of it makes it all worth it.

Carpeting is another route altogether for the home owner to consider. Carpet is still a great choice for many people, especially preferred for families with small children. Carpet, just like wood flooring, comes in a wide variety of grades and styles and the price will adjust according to what you end up choosing.

Whichever path you choose for your next flooring option, make sure to fully consider your home’s and family’s needs and use patterns to ensure you make the right choice for your lifestyle.

All You Need To Know About Electric Smokers

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For anyone who loves good food, finding equipment that makes preparing exceptional food can be exciting. Modern smokers are a pleasure to use; electric smokers cut the job of smoking food shorter without sacrificing the woodsy flavor that comes from traditional smoking. If you are a fan of smoked food, having an electric smoker on your patio can be just as essential as owning a kettle to boil water. It’s a must have item for serious cooks.

A typical electric smoker has a digital smoker which is enclosed with a rack and an automatic bisquette feed. Bisquettes are compressed wood chips that end up looking like patties the size of a normal hockey puck. These bisquettes are inserted into the chamber meant to funnel the smoke to the compartment containing the food. The bisquettes last about 20 minutes.

The self feed system in an electric smoker makes smoking easier than the traditional ways of feeding the fire every now and then to regulate the temperature. The self feed system ensures that you eliminate the hassle. The digital temperature control regulates the temperature, leaving little room for error and guesswork.

The process of smoking involves cooking, flavoring and preserving food by exposing it to the smoke from smoldering woods. Different woods give off different flavors. Some other varieties of foods that can be smoked include pork, turkey, beef, vegetables and even cheeses.

Alder has been used in traditional smoking and oak is also becoming a favorite wood to use when smoking foods. In America, the hickory, pecan, cherry and other wood types are used. There are many other popular smoking woods that can be used. In some smokehouses they use corn cobs to smoke ham and bacon. Corn cobs bring their own unique flavor. Sawdust from tea trees is used in New Zealand for smoking fish.

In the olden days, American farms had smokehouses, where meat was smoked and stored. These would be separate from other buildings to protect the rest of the other buildings from possible fire damage. There are different types of smoking like hot, cold and smoke roasting amongst others. Electric smokers can be used for all the types

Hot smoking food is exposed to smoke and heat. Ham is considered fully cooked after being properly smoked. Hot smoking is done at temperatures of 165 -190 degrees F in an electric smoker. At these temperatures food is cooked if you go hotter than that the food will shrink as food loses its moisture in excessive heat.

Cold smoking is used mainly as a flavor enhancer for beef. Cold smoking allows for food to be smoked for longer periods and then finished off by being roasted, grilled or sautéed with an electric smoker. Items can be cold smoked for a short period for a more concentrated flavor. Temperatures for cold smoking should always be below 100 degrees F.

Smoke roasting is the process of both smoking and roasting at the same time. This is sometimes called barbecuing or pit roasting. Smoke roasting should be done at temperatures as high as 250 degree F.

The advantage of using electric smokers is that you never have to buy propane gas or dirty charcoal. An electric smoker allows you to enjoy smoked food all year-round.