My family has a tradition, we build things. While other families take Sunday drives, play card games, or go and see movies, we spend a day in the workshop putting together something or other. I have three kids. The oldest is 17, but the youngest is only 5. She has not been able to get involved in putting any of our projects together in the past, so I thought that this summer I would find something easy to involve her in. We bought a  professional charcoal grill kit, thinking that nothing could go wrong with such a simple, straight forward project. Boy were we mistaken!

It was a patio professional charcoal grill, really nice and perfectly designed to fit into our backyard. The term  professional charcoal grill is really a misnomer, all kinds of different grills are used by professionals. For the most part, there are a few things that distinguish  professional grills from the rest. They tend to be better designed so that the charcoal can burn more easily. Many charcoal grill designs are made in such a way that most of the charcoal just sits on the bottom, not doing anything. You have to continuously douse it with lighter fluid to get even a spark. With professional charcoal grills, air can come through the bottom grate, allowing much easier and more even ignition of the charcoal. Besides that, they are a little bit better made and easier to clean as well.

This professional charcoal grill that we were building was pretty fancy. In retrospect, I probably should have started with an easier project. It was a kit that you could build out of bricks and metal grating. Working with bricks and mortar looks deceptively simple, but if you have never done it before, you are in for a few surprises. We couldn’t get anything to fit evenly and my small daughter accidentally dropped her teddy bear in the cement. By the time she pulled it out, it was completely ruined. Worst of all, the professional charcoal grill looks lopsided and uneven. The pieces don’t fit very well together and we can’t really get a consistent flame. Because I had put together a lot of different projects, I assumed that I was up to this one. I guess I was wrong. We still use our portable charcoal grill for barbecues. The professional charcoal grill sits, unused and slightly embarrassing, in the corner.

Indoor outdoor carpeting can turn a dirty old porch into a welcoming display for your home. There are many options in style and color and you don’t have to deal with Astroturf at all. The new indoor outdoor carpeting available on the market is the real thing only sturdier.  Everyone has been to a home that had the green, prickly Astroturf on the porch. It is supposed to look like grass, but it really doesn’t do such a great job. The entire thing looks like something that might grow under the porch instead of something that is placed on purpose in the area.

We have come a long way since the Astroturf days and indoor outdoor carpeting has paved the way to a bright, decorative future for both the inside and outside of the home. You can choose from a ton of designs as well as solid colors for your space. The options are vast and you have no reason to keep your porch bare any longer.  The indoor outdoor carpeting is perfect for anyone who has a breeze way like I do. I love that the breeze way serves as a kind of sunroom. There are two doors facing each other in the area and it is entirely enclosed with glass windows. It makes for the perfect place to stop right before entering the home.

When we first moved into the house, we immediately removed the Astroturf that seemed to be growing on the breeze way. Under the plastic grass rug we found lots of dirt and an unattractive cement foundation for the porch. While I was thrilled to be rid of the green stuff, I was just as turned off by the grey stuff.  My husband painted the breeze way with epoxy paint which made it appear better, but there was still something cold and uninviting about the space. I didn’t think about indoor outdoor carpeting as an option just because we had just gotten rid of the Astroturf. I just couldn’t imagine covering up my husband’s paint job.

That is, until I was at a home improvement store. I saw indoor outdoor carpeting that boasted blue and yellow tones that matched the French country decorating theme I had started. I bought the indoor outdoor carpeting immediately and took it home.  We are thrilled with the results. The breeze way is now an extension of our house. It is warm and inviting and we spend many hours enjoying the beautiful space. It is amazing how something like indoor outdoor carpeting can make such a difference.

In today’s backyard, we see more and more garden sheds made of metal popping up every day. You might wonder why anyone would choose something so bland and plain looking as metal for gardening sheds. After all, wood is much more appealing. So what exactly are the wonderful benefits that come with a metal garden shed?  Aesthetically they’re nothing to look at, so no wonder it’s impossible to figure out where the appeal lies.

Anyone who’s ever owned one can testify as to how much better they are compared to wooden sheds. More than anything, a hefty, well built metal garden shed is worth their weight in gold. If you’ve ever looked at a wood shed closely, you’ll see evidence all over the structure of blistering and cracking. This doesn’t bode well for the smooth look wood is allegedly supposed to provide. With a metal garden shed you’ll never have to worry about that unsightly image.

Another reason one made of metal is a better buy than a wooden one is the fact that during the winter months, wood sheds experience serious problems. Once the warmer months hit you’ll notice the horrible splitting within the wood panels. Frost and extreme cold temperatures can play havoc on your wooden building. With a metal garden shed, there will never be any splitting or tearing on any of the walls or roof. You can be sure that when those cold months hit that your metal garden shed will be able to withstand the cold winter weather.

If you’ve bought a wooden shed, you’ll soon notice that after any hard storm with high winds, the first thing to suffer is the shingling. No matter how many nails that you force in, wind always seems to rip one or two off. A metal garden shed will come with a metal roof. And while it’s true that extreme high winds could potentially destroy even this heavy structure, you won’t have to worry that a little thunderstorm is going to destroy your building.

Unlike other structures and buildings, it also has a natural benefit. When you pick up one of these gardening buddies, you’ll be able to store fertilizer, grass seed and mulch without having to worry about vermin chewing through the walls of your metal garden shed. This protects you from having to constantly spend even more money in the home improvement stores than you already do. Aside from protecting the inside materials, a metal garden shed will ensure that because mice can’t chew through metal, your structure will be sound.

With just about every wooden shed, you have to always spray and treat for termites. These wood eaters can destroy a wonderful shed in a matter of months leaving you high and dry. With a metal garden shed, your treatments are unnecessary, leaving you time for other, more important things. No broken glass, no warping of wood and no swelling leaves you content and a very happy gardener!

If you have a home that looks amazingly unique on the inside, but horribly plain on the outside, you know what frustration really is. You’re desperately wanting to give the outside of your lovely home a beautiful and welcoming feel, but have no idea of how to go about it.  You probably haven’t considered metal window boxes as a suitable option. It’s really never too late to do something different, so starting with your windows is a great step.

Everyone loves flowers, but if you’re living somewhere that doesn’t give you the option of having a beautiful garden.  You can try to spice the outside appearance up with metal window boxes. These mounted flower gardens are very diverse and you can find them in almost any color you could ever think of. From pale whites to luscious blues, the color themes are endless when it comes to metal window boxes.

Aside from the amazing colors you can find, they also vary in design. In general, there are three main styles of metal window boxes available on the market today. The first is the French wrought iron window boxes. These are classically stunning and can add a great aesthetic touch to your window frame as well as your home. The second style is the lattice wrought iron metal window boxes. These are more modern, but can add a very homey feel as well. Finally, the solid planter metal window boxes are very attractive. While these are rather simple in design, they are great for adding an elegant splash to a modern styled home.

In general, they are great for your outer home décor, no matter your budget. Depending on the type of metal and brand you choose, these simple but beautiful flower paradises can be inexpensive or pricey. No matter what type of metal window boxes, it’s nice to know that you don’t have to be rich in order to have an appealing home. They are widely available in home improvement stores as well as online..

Another great benefit they provide is easy maintenance. If you’re a person who’s got a busy schedule, you don’t have time to waste on something that’s going to eat up a lot of your time cleaning and caring for. With metal window boxes, there really isn’t that much involved. Aside from the occasional wiping down, these eye pleasing blessings practically take care of themselves.  The last, but obviously not the least, benefit is how weather resistant they truly are. You’ll never have to worry about rot, warping, or cracking. Above all, this makes metal window boxes a must have.

The sun gives life and makes us feel good. There are times when you just have to limit the amount that comes through your windows for a variety of reasons. Some like to have window tinting done in their home and others like this on their cars. While both help, having this in your car can be a rather complicated issue. Some cars and trucks come with tinted windows when they are new and some people choose to add it on their own. You should know about your state laws before you decide to go about this for your vehicle.

My husband recently bought a used truck to use for work purposes. This truck came with window tinting already added. What he didn’t know was that this was something he had to be careful about. He was not sure he liked it, as it made it hard to see at night, but it was helpful in the day. This window tinting also gave the truck a rather nice look. The need to see at night outweighed the look of the truck though and he had every intention of taking the tint off of the windows on his own.

He waited too long and he was pulled over for having too much window tinting on his truck. He was not aware that it was too dark and it was violating the law. When you get window tinting, you have to find out what percentage of darkening you can get in your state to stay within the legal limits. Most dealers and auto stores will know your limits and will not sell you something that is too dark. If you go to a different state for this, you are in danger of getting your windows too dark. That is why knowing is always a good thing.

When it comes to window tinting for your home, you don’t have to worry about how dark they may be for the sake of the law, but you do have to consider the look you are going to get. When you get window tint, you are going to have a dimmer view of the outside. It might be a good idea to get it on some windows where you need it the most, but then leave some open for a clear view of the outdoors. Most do this for safety reasons, but some want to control sunlight because it can fade carpet, furniture and even hardwood floors. Use it where you must, but think it through first.

Southern Living at Home is a sales and marketing company that specializes in merchandise for the home. You can find a lot of wonderful one of a kind objects and utensils for every room of your home through Southern Living. You have to order all items through a consultant, but this can be part of the fun.  One of the appealing features of Southern Living is that the program is perfect for mothers who want to stay at home with their children during the day. You can build your own schedule and work when you want to work. Your income depends on the amount of time and effort you put into the company.

Basically, your job is to host parties and encourage others to host parties as well. These get togethers revolve around the Southern Living line of products. These gatherings are a great way to make money from home and they are a great way to spend some quality time with friends and family.  My sister-in-law is a consultant for Southern Living and she loves it. She has quit her day job to pursue a career with the company and she has no regrets. She loves making her own schedule and she adores the idea of entertaining. In fact, she has come up with some wonderful themes for Southern Living parties.

The first theme involves the classic tea party. She chose Victorian decorations and she made scones and tea for the Southern Living party. The guests all wore Victorian style clothing or they simply wore lacy clothes accessorized with hats and gloves. The tea party was a real hit.  During the summer we have the annual luau for our Southern Living party. This popular beach party is fun for everyone in the family and by the time you have a few frozen daiquiris, you forget that you are at a consultant party.  Some of the other themes they are coming up with for consultant parties include golf widows’ day (you can insert just about any other sport there) in which the ladies dress in their best golf attire. Of course, the holidays always make for great Southern Living theme parties as well.

There are many themes out there and I am very curious to find out what my sister-in-law comes up with next. Even though the products offered by Southern Living are exquisite it is always fun to have a theme party to go along with the shopping.

There are so many aspects to owning a home that it is hard to think through all of them when you are in the market to buy another one. My husband and I spent twelve years remodeling a five bedroom rambler on 20 acres. First we had water problems in the crawl space under the house. We raised the house and put in several more courses of blocks to make a complete basement.  This opened up many additional possibilities regarding what we could do with this additional space.

Initially we thought that we would just leave the space unfinished. We decided that we did need to have some source of heat in the area due to our harsh winters. We had a wood stove and electric base board heat on the main level. It was very expensive to heat the entire house with electricity and quite inconvenient to try to heat continually with wood. We decided that we would install an energy efficient gas furnace. As the man was installing the furnace he mentioned that he would include vents in the duct work that would accommodate central air conditioning, if we would decide to install this at a later date. He went on to tell us that we would save money having them both installed at the same time because we would not have to have them come back out and pay the labor cost. We had talked about having central air conditioning. We live in Minnesota, so we do not have that many days when we need the central air conditioning, but it is helpful to have it going to help remove the moisture from the air. We do get quite humid weather in the summer months.

Within six months of having our home exactly as we wanted it we found a lake house that was very appealing to both of us. We stumbled upon it be mistake. The house was over a hundred years old and needed some cosmetic work done to it. The couple had it listed with the understanding that they were going to replace the furnace because the existing one was not working properly. We offered them less money than they were asking for because we would buy our own furnace. We wanted to install central air conditioning at the same time. They accepted the lower offer. We placed our home up for sale and sold it within 72 hours. Everything fell into place so well.

We are glad that we had the central air conditioning installed at the lake.  Cool breezes do come off the lake, but the humidity by the water will warp the wood moldings. The air conditioned air is much more comfortable to be in. We are glad we had it installed and we are glad that we are now living on the lake.

My friend and I used to watch the show Trading Spaces together all the time. I’m not sure why this became a habit for us, but it was something that we did each weekend. One of the things I never understood about the show was why it seemed each and every one of the designers they had on the show had a deep hatred for each ceiling fan they came into contact with. I used to wonder why it was considered such a hated item and if perhaps they had all taken a class in college called, “How To Hate A Ceiling Fan 101.”

Each and every ceiling fan that they came into contact with was doomed. There was no saving any of them, no matter how practical they might be. Perhaps they have money to throw around, I don’t know, but sometimes you have to be practical above all else. It may not be the perfect look, but if it saves you from spending a lot of money on air conditioning, why on earth would you consider the ceiling fan to be something evil?

I suspect they were looking at it from the design aspect and I can understand that. I don’t think all fans are ugly though and they certainly have an important use in life. I have found that one ceiling fan set on low can keep a room cool enough in the summer that I didn’t have to turn on the air conditioning. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that running a ceiling fan is a lot cheaper than running an air conditioner. We aren’t all made of money folks! Quite frankly I felt that those designers were so bent on the perfect room that they don’t realize the perfect looking room doesn’t do much good if you can’t bear to be in there because of the heat. It just seems like common sense to me.

If you want to have a ceiling fan in your home, don’t worry about what the designers on Trading Spaces think. They are a cost efficient way to keep a room or a home cooler and they don’t really look that bad at all. In fact, if you get the right ceiling fan, you may find that you like the look of it and that I can compliment what you have done with the room. You can find them in almost any finish and you can find them to match a child’s room décor too.

As a British citizen, I can look on the Stars and Stripes with an objective eye. The America flag certainly seems to be more important to the American people than the United Kingdom flag is in the UK. It’s significance seems to lie in its symbolism and it’s history. In the UK, we take our flag for granted. I’ve been to a lot of countries in the world and it’s safe to say that no other country flies it’s flag as often as in the US. The British tend to bring out the flag when there’s an important sporting occasion and we want to show our support for the team, usually for soccer, rugby or cricket. The America flag is flown on more public buildings and private homes too.

The symbolism associated with flags gives an insight into a nation’s consciousness. It’s been said that the stars of the America flag represent a goal to be reached and the stripes signify the sun rays coming down from above. The flag is tied in with the Pledge of Allegiance, the Constitution and the upholding of liberty. It has evolved over a number of years, having gone through 26 changes, into the flag we know today. The final America flag design was achieved in 1960, after Hawaii had joined the United States.

Images of the southern flag are still used today and a lot of southerners like to fly their old America flag as a display of their love of the south. Some people embrace this flag as a show of defiance, the south will rise again. Given it’s association with the slave trade and racial conflict of the south, a lot of people find the flying of this flag to be offensive.

There are numerous rules and guidelines covering the use and display of the America flag. Often, these guidelines are ignored. The flag is not supposed to be used to advertise anything, to be draped over vehicles or to be displayed on the side of garbage trucks etc. It should not be used on anything disposable like a cushion cover. Respect for the flag is paramount and the ultimate sin is to burn the flag. Anti-America protesters around the world have burned the America flag on occasion, as have anti-Vietnam War protesters within the US itself. A flag is a powerful symbol and none more so than in America where the citizens had to fight a war to gain their independence.

There are many things that bring my mother peace and some a of these things are her hummingbird feeders. She has a few of them hanging in various places in her yard, and she can spend quite a bit of time watching the hummingbirds coming in for a quick drink. There are only a couple different hummingbirds in her area, and she and my grandfather often joke that they are fighting over the same birds. They are quite fun to watch and I have even been able to take pictures of them while they were feeding.

My grandfather has his hummingbird feeders hanging near his plants, and he and my grandmother often sit and watch them out the big picture window they have. My mom does not have this luxury, so she has put one of her hummingbird feeders right next to her kitchen window. This is the best place because she spends a lot of her time in her kitchen. She can see them when they fly up for a drink and she can then watch them without spooking them. I’m not sure if they can see her or not, but she can walk right up to the window and they don’t budge. They didn’t spook when I took photos either.

The funniest part about the hummingbird feeders has to do with one of my mom’s cats. She has a large, orange cat named Otis who you might confuse with Garfield. He is a huge loveable guy, but still has his natural hunting instincts. Otis sits on her sink and watches the hummingbird feeder for hours on end. He has his ears back most of the time and his tail is twitching. The funny part is that even though he is right there through the glass, the hummingbirds come anyway and they don’t seem to think a thing of him. Perhaps they are not even aware that he is there.

If you want to have bird feeders in your yard, but you aren’t sure what you want, you might want to consider having hummingbird feeders instead. They are different from other feeders because they fill up with a sweet liquid rather than bird seed. Hummingbirds usually swoop in, take a quick drink and then fly off, but I have seen some hover around the feeders for quite a long time. We don’t know where they nest or where they go when they fly away, but we can always count on seeing them almost every day.