Air conditioners (AC units) are essential for countless homes and families. But AC units are not known for being the most attractive devices. In fact, many homeowners get frustrated when seeing those big gray boxes in their yards. If you have an AC unit in your yard, you probably wish it would just disappear. Well, you can't exactly get rid of your AC unit or magically make it vanish. It’s also important to be able to access it if you need to call an air conditioning repair service for essential maintenance or repairs. However, there are still plenty of innovative and effective ways you can hide your AC unit from view—or at least make it less of an eyesore. Here are some smart design hacks that will help to hide AC units and beautify your property. Home, Garden and Homestead is a member of several affiliate programs, and we receive a commission from qualified sales generated by the links in our stories. Thank you for supporting this website! Easy AC Unit Fence or … [Read more...] about Hide Your AC Unit with Smart Design Hacks
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Make a Perfect Dried Flower Wreath from Your Old Bouquets
Making a dried flower wreath is an attractive way to repurpose old floral bouquets into something new and functional. Whether you use your wedding bouquet, an arrangement from another important occasion or cut flowers from your garden, your old flowers and this simple DIY project will unleash your creativity. Plus, we guarantee you will have fun! Here are some helpful tips so that you can make a perfect dried flower wreath from your old bouquets. Choose Your Dried Flower Wreath Florals Start by looking at your bouquet and determining which flowers and greenery are best for your project. You may decide that a few flowers have started to fall apart over time, and they aren't right for your display. If that's the case, work with what you have and choose the best-looking pieces for your wreath. Consider adding greenery or grasses to your arrangement to give the flowers a fuller, more inviting look. Pampas grass and dried flax are two popular options for dried flower … [Read more...] about Make a Perfect Dried Flower Wreath from Your Old Bouquets
5 Ways to Bring the Outdoors Indoors
How can you bring the outdoors indoors? How can you make nature a bigger part of your indoor decor? It’s not as difficult as you think. If you’re a big fan of nature, then you already know there’s something soothing about being outside. But being outdoors all the time just isn’t practical, such as when the weather is bad or you have a list of chores to do inside the house. That’s when being able to bring the outdoors indoors is wonderful. If you want to feel at one with nature without leaving your house, here’s how to get started. Tip 1 to Bring the Outdoors Indoors: Put Some Plants Inside the House Some people buy artificial plants for around the house but keep the real plants outside. But clearly, that’s old-school decorating. Houseplants are a booming trend. (Photos courtesy of Pexels) So, it’s time to bring some real plants inside. After all, plants are not only beautiful to look at, they can also purify the air, increase oxygen within the … [Read more...] about 5 Ways to Bring the Outdoors Indoors
Add Natural Elements to Your Kitchen Design
The benefits of being in nature and its healing, calming effects are well documented. Unfortunately, we live busy lifestyles that allow little time to enjoy our favorite outdoor activities in nature. Maybe it’s time to add natural elements to modern kitchen design. Being surrounded by natural and organic elements instantly makes us feel calm and at peace. In recent years, we have grown more aware of the decreasing natural resources of our planet. That’s why it is essential that we bring more natural design elements into our homes. No wonder kitchen design and architecture experts always try to incorporate a natural touch in our homes. Bring Nature Inside Your Kitchen There are plenty of ways to use your kitchen design to bring nature indoors. You can incorporate lots of green plants, add natural stone or brick, or even plan your window placement so it overlooks your green backyard. Adding natural furniture elements, such as modern wooden tables and chairs, makes perfect … [Read more...] about Add Natural Elements to Your Kitchen Design
How to Build a Cedar Hot Tub
I always wanted to build a cedar hot tub. The vision of a long soak in a hot tub under the starry skies on a clear, crisp night in Santa Fe is quite compelling. Doing it in a natural tub constructed from cedar made the thought seem even better. As an experienced DIYer, I was taken by the idea that I could design and build a classic, red cedar hot tub myself. And I could save several thousand dollars over the cost of a kit from an established hot tub supplier. After all, how hard could it be? I built my own home in 2014. A cedar hot tub is a far simpler and much smaller project. This is the basic hot tub I envisioned: Research I spent several weeks scouring websites of commercial suppliers and DIY builders for ideas about wooden hot tubs. In my search, I discovered three things: How to Build a Cedar Hot Tub: The Design After my research was finished, I began the design phase. The tub would be circular, five feet in diameter and about 40 inches deep. I would use … [Read more...] about How to Build a Cedar Hot Tub
