Decorate Ideas

The time of year is here when we all start spending more time outside. Look at your deck or backyard as an additional room. An easy way to do this is by bringing some of those items that you have inside your home to your new “garden room“. There are great colourful and floral cushions to be found at all of the great home decor storesdon’t just use them inside as accents for your living rooms, bring them outside and add them to your benches and patio chairs. Use cloth table coverings and placemats as well, after all, they are made to be washed. This way they will get double duty. You can also bring out some of those mirrors and framed artwork that have been collected. This will give the feel of an additional room to your home. The mirrors will also reflect your garden, and add additional interest to your garden “room”.

If you have live greenery (that can stand up to the elements), bring some of those out as well. For those of us that don’t have a green thumb, great silk greenery is readily available in craft and home decor stores. This concept of having an additional summertime room compliments all types of dwellingsfrom large gardens to balconies. As in all decorating projects, lighting also plays an essential role. This is the easiest part of outdoor decorating with the great variety of lanterns, candles and mini tree lights. Place candles in decorative clear glass containers for safety. To add interest to these glass containers, add layers of coloured sand by creating interesting patterns in the sand. Place your lanterns at varying heights throughout the garden. This will have your eyes dancing around the garden allowing you to take in all the interesting focal points you have created. The key is to expand your living space with colour by using fabric and flowers, and of course varying degrees and sources of lighting. This also extends the use of your “garden room” into the evening hours, with minimal effort in changing the decor from day to evening.

Barb Singleton is a Certified Interior Decorator and Home Stager

For more decorating ideas and advice contact Barb Singleton at (705) 437-3419 or email at barb@heartandsouldesigns.ca Please visit my web-site as well at www.heartandsouldesigns.ca

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Over the last fifteen years, solar energy has become a highly flexible power source. One of the best ways to use it and cut costs is go with solar lighting for your walkways.

A common misconception among many people is that solar energy requires large, bulky panels to work. While this is true if you want to produce large amounts of electricity for a structure, it leaves out a large segment of cheaper solar users.

The solar industry has made major advancements in creating one piece solar platforms that are cheap and can be used for practical purposes. Using solar lights for pathways around your home is one area.

Solar lighting is now the choice for gardens, landscaping and lighting paths. Lighting products typically come in sets of two to six self-contained lights. Each light typically is comprised of a metal or plastic stem with a lighting mechanism on the top. The lighting mechanism uses LED technology and is powered by a small solar panel built into the top of the piece. The lights can be purchased with or without backup batteries depending on your needs.

Once you’ve selected your solar lighting pieces, you simply map out where you want to add lighting in your landscaping. Next, you put the solar lights in place by sticking them in the ground to a point where they are snug and will not blow over in the wind. Congratulations! You now have lighting for your pathways that isn’t adding to your utility bill.

Your lights will charge during the day and light up in the evening. Depending on the particular brand, the lights may stay on throughout the night. Alternatively, certain brands will run for 8 hours or so, which means they go dark around midnight or one in the morning.

Maintaining your solar lights is very simple. You really don’t have to do anything. If the lights start to dim or go out earlier than usual, they are not broken. Typically, the problem is you have dirty solar panels. Clean them off with water or follow the manufacturer direction. Once clean, the lights should work perfectly.

Using the sun to power your outdoor lighting needs is a great way to highlight your home and save money on energy costs. Keep them clean and the lights will last for years.

Rick Chapo is with SolarCompanies.com, a directory of solar energy companies. Visit us to read more articles on solar power and renewable energy.

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