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How to Grow Cacti and Succulents—Green Thumb Not Required!

September 15, 2016 by

Equal parts attractive and easy to care for, cacti and succulents are just the thing to to dress up a sunny windowsill. Learn how to keep your cacti and succulents beautiful and healthy with these tips—green thumb not required!

  • Place your plant where it will get a lot of bright light, such as a sunny windowsill. Cacti and succulents grow best with four to six hours of sunlight a day.
  • Cacti do best in porous pots, which tend to allow the potting soil to dry quickly. Glazed pots don’t dry out as fast, which can lead to root rot. Opt for terra cotta pots.
  • A good soil mix is also important. You want equal parts of coarse sand and all-purpose potting mix.
  • The worst thing you could do for a cactus is to water it on a regular basis. You only need to water them when the soil is bone-dry. Sometimes this occurs once a week or sometimes it occurs once every three weeks.
  • You should repot your cactus or succulent every three to five years. This involves the removal of most of the soil from the roots and replacing the plant in the same sized pot, or larger if need be.

Cacti And Succulents Inside Your Home [Gardening Know How]
Cultivating Cacti and Succulent Plants [HGTV]
Growing Guide-Cactus [Cactusland]

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Super-Simple Fixes for Kitchen Clutter

August 4, 2016 by

Out of every room in your home, the kitchen seems to be the space that gets used the most—and it's also the space that's first to attract clutter! Sound like you? Follow these tips to help maintain order in your busy kitchen.

  • Go through your cabinets and donate or toss out the items that are not frequently used. Your main goal is to have only the items that you love and use.
  • Create groups or categories for your items. For example, sort all of your baking items together in one section and your cooking items in another.
  • Use clear containers to store items and place them inside your cabinets. This keeps everything from being scattered all over the place.
  • Place hooks underneath your cabinets to hold mugs or use a stemware rack in the same spot to hold wine glasses. You could also use adhesive hooks inside of your cabinets to hang measuring cups or oven mitts.
  • Use rotating trays in your cabinets to hold oils, vinegars, or spices. You can also use them in your refrigerator for beverages.
  • Use a small bar cart to store some silverware or your coffee pot and mugs.

Organize Your Kitchen Cabinets [Container Store]
10 Kitchen Organization Hacks To Keep Clutter Contained [The Stir]
10 Steps to an Orderly Kitchen [HGTV]

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Add a Touch of Summer to Your Rental Home — Here’s How!

June 16, 2016 by

Summer is just around the corner, and even in a rental, you can't help but want to make some warm weather improvements to your home. Outdoor space or not, there are a number of ways to add a summer flair to your decor — and these stylish tips will show you how.

  • Let the light in. Take advantage of the brighter sunlight and longer days by making the most out of your home's windows. Replace your heavy winter drapes with light-colored, sheer curtains, and give your windows a good scrubbing inside and out.
  • Mix up your throw pillows. While cozy, rich hued throw pillows are great in the cold of winter, they feel stuffy and too dark once the summer rolls around. Store your usual throw pillows in plastic bags during the summer months and replace them with pillows that are bright, colorful and even a bit eclectic.
  • Keep the cold beverages on hand. Whether you frequently host guests on a porch or patio or you simply want to create a cool, relaxing place to hang out inside of your home, creating a well-curated bar cart is a must for summer entertaining. Stock yours with ice buckets, various types of glasses, cocktail napkins and your favorite libations (alcoholic or otherwise).
  • Fill your place with plants. Another great way to take advantage of the summer sunshine is by creating an indoor garden. Hang plants from the ceiling using macrame plant hangers, place them in pots on bright windowsills and even add larger plants to fill empty corners of a room.

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Creative Uses for Paper Towel and Toilet Paper Tubes

July 23, 2015 by

Instead of throwing away those empty paper towel tubes and toilet paper rolls, you might want to keep them around. There are a number of fun projects that you can create using these cardboard tubes, and best of all, they even help to keep them out of the landfill!

  • Cut a toilet paper roll in half and use it to plant seedlings. Simply fill the roll with soil, cover one end with plastic wrap, and plant your seedlings. When it’s time to transplant, you can bury the whole thing.
  • If you’re an avid crafter, use a toilet paper roll to store tangled string by cutting a notch into one end of the roll, slipping the string through and winding it up inside. Cut another notch into the other end to keep the whole thing in place.
  • Prevent creases in your pants from the clothes hanger by cutting a paper towel tube in half lengthwise and sliding it over the length of the hanger. The next time you hang your pants, the tube will help minimize creasing.
  • Make cute (and cheap) napkin rings for your next get-together by cutting a toilet paper roll into smaller rings and covering them with leftover fabric scraps.

18 Incredible Uses for Cardboard Tubes [Reader’s Digest]
10 Unconventional Ways to Use Old Paper Towel and Toilet Paper Rolls Around the House [One Green Planet]
15 Surprising Uses for Toilet Paper Tubes [Care2]

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Pucker Up! Here Are 6 Ways to Clean With Lemons

May 7, 2015 by

Not only do lemons smell great, they’re also packed full of naturally disinfecting properties that are said to be safer and gentler on your household than store bought cleaners. If you want to make the switch to a green cleaning routine, check out these tips for cleaning with lemons in every room in your home.

  1. Clean the copper bottoms of frequently used pots and pans by sprinkling coarse salt on half of a lemon and scrubbing away.
  2. If you’re unsure of how to properly disinfect wooden cutting boards, rub lemon juice onto stained areas and watch as they fade away overnight. You can also use lemon juice to clean your cutting boards after each use.
  3. Remove odors from your microwave by filling a cup 3/4 of the way full with tap water, then adding two tablespoons of lemon juice. Heat the mixture to boiling, and then let it sit for approximately 10 minutes to fully dilute odors.
  4. Create an all-purpose cleaner for countertops and tables by filling a spray bottle with diluted lemon juice.
  5. Clean grout from the bathtub or shower by using lemon juice and an old toothbrush. Simply dip the toothbrush in the lemon juice, then scrub until the debris disappears.
  6. Polish the faucets on your bathtub and bathroom sink by gently rubbing them with half of a lemon and coarse salt.

Cleaning With Lemon Juice [DIY Network]
24 Things You Can Clean With Lemon [Mother Nature Network]
10 Ways to Clean the Kitchen with Lemon Juice [How Stuff Works]

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