Author: Sara May

Outdoor Entertaining, Outdoor Living Spaces

Create Your Own Spring Warm Up with Outdoor Fireplaces

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Outdoor Fireplaces

Waiting for spring to arrive seems especially difficult at this late point in winter.  The longing to spend well-deserved time relaxing and enjoying fresh spring air on the backyard patio or deck makes the wait even more unbearable.  While you can’t make warmer weather come any faster, you can get outside sooner and begin to take advantage of the comforts of your outdoor spaces.  One way to make this happen is with an outdoor fireplace.

Outdoor fireplaces allow homeowners to get outside when the weather is still quite cool.  Many models offer 360 degree heat so that family members and friends can sit on any side of the fireplace and still feel the comfortable warmth.  Outdoor fireplaces burn wood and pressed wood logs, adding that cozy feel of a campfire to patios and decks.  When spring finally does arrive bringing warmer days, the outdoor fireplace comes in handy when cooler night time temperatures still threaten to force you back indoors.

Enjoying the fresh air and your outdoor living spaces is possible even now when the cold seems unlikely to break anytime soon.  Outdoor fireplaces offer one easy solution to the problem of staying adequately warm outdoors, and they can dramatically reduce the cabin fever that intensifies as winter progresses.

Environmentally Friendly Ideas, Garden Tools & Tips

How to Thrill the Thrifty and Excite the Environmentalist at Home

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photographs,puddles,raindrops,rains,weather

Thanks to a furry little friend, I happen to know that spring is coming a little early this year.  The coming of spring means the coming of rain…and lots of it, depending on your locale.  You don’t have to be a gardener or conservationist like me to see the benefits of capturing some of that impending rainfall in a rain barrel and using it for watering garden beds, container plants, and lawns.  You just have to like saving money.

Sure, using collected rain that falls from the sky to sprinkle our plants saves water, which is a resource thatGarden Rain Barrel - 60 Gallon is becoming more and more scarce.   For many people, though — like my thrifty spouse — the only real requirement for owning and using rain barrels is the desire to save money.  Saving money is a big motivator for many homeowners, especially for those of us who work harder than we’d care to in order make sure those monthly bills are paid on time.  Rain barrels are one of the easiest ways to save on those monthly bills.  Set up a rain barrel or two near your home’s downspouts, and let Mother Nature fill them up for free.

Home maintenance practices that combine money savings with conservation are my absolute favorite because they meet the needs of both my spouse and myself in one package.  Have you adopted other practices at home that save money and help the environment at the same time?

Garden Tools & Tips

Easy DIY Storage Shed Has Gardeners Seeing Green

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Storage Building with Cover

So many gardeners have yet to dabble in the exciting world of greenhouse gardening because the initial amount of labor and the cost of setting up a hobby greenhouse can feel daunting.  Without knowing for sure if greenhouse gardening is going to suit them, gardeners often choose not to take the risk.  Very little labor, money, or risk is involved with an Easy Up Storage Shed, though, which can function very well as a temporary greenhouse.

Easy Up Storage Shed products are ideal for novice do-it-yourself enthusiasts.  Each kit comes with special stud andEasy Up Frame Storage Sheds angle brackets that allow homeowners to put together the frame of the storage shed with nothing more than a screwdriver and saw.  Once assembled, the storage shed frame is covered with either a silver, multi-use cover or a clear cover — perfect for greenhouse gardening.

For a small amount of initial labor and a very small initial cost, gardeners wanting to give greenhouse gardening a try can do so with an Easy Up Storage Shed and its clear cover.  If the greenhouse experiment is a success, then gardeners can choose to upgrade to a more permanent structure over the next few years.  If greenhouse gardening is a bust, on the other hand, the Easy Up Storage Shed can still be useful for storing gardening supplies or other outdoor gear.

Environmentally Friendly Ideas, Innovative Solutions, Outdoor Lighting Ideas

Smart Solution: Burn the Midnight Oil with a Solar Shed Light

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Problem: You regularly work on projects in your storage shed, garden shed, or greenhouse, but once the sunlight begins to fade, you are forced to abandon your work until the next day.  Interrupting a productive work cycle can be immensely frustrating.  What if the train of thought you were riding the previous day doesn’t come chugging back into the station?  Many projects ultimately go unfinished for this very reason.

Solution #1: Hire an electrician to run an electrical line from your house to the storage shed.  Unfortunately, this means tearing up part of your yard in order to accommodate the wiring.  Oh, and another thing…electricians don’t come cheap.

Solution #2: Attach an LED solar shed light to your storage shed, garden shed, or greenhouse, and get back to work.Solar Shed Light  Solar lights require no special wiring since they get their power from the sun, and there are no set up costs or operating costs beyond the initial purchase of the light.  Simply mount the accompanying solar panel to the sunniest side of your storage shed, and it will soak up the sun’s rays during the day.  The solar shed light then uses that stored energy to properly illuminate your task inside the storage shed until you are ready to pack it in for the day.

Thanks to smart solutions like the solar shed light, you can be the one who decides when work is finished instead of living at the mercy of the setting sun.

Beach Accessories, Innovative Solutions, Outdoor Entertaining, Outdoor Living Spaces

Take Recycling to the Next Level and Look Good in the Process

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Classic Adirondack Chair

You’ve reduced the amount of stuff you buy, and you recycle what you can, but do you go that next step and make a point to buy products made from recycled materials?  A little online research can lead you to find most anything you need or want made from other people’s recycled trash.   Patio furniture is a good example.

Recycled patio furniture can certainly be made from reclaimed wood or with bits and pieces salvaged from retired patio furniture.  But, recycled plastic is a better choice for outdoor furniture.   Furniture made with recycled plastics, such as that which is produced by Poly-Wood, has exceptional resistance to corrosive substances, oil and fuels, insects, fungi, salt spray, and other environmental stresses.   The furniture does not absorb moisture, so there is never a worry about rotting, splintering, or cracking.  Poly-Wood’s recycled furniture pieces resist all harsh weather conditions, and they never need to be painted, stained, or water proofed.  It doesn’t hurt, either, that this recycled patio furniture is stylish, sturdy, and comfortable.

Recycling your plastic bottles and containers is only one part of the process.  Making the effort to buy products made from recycled materials is another crucial piece of the process that some consumers overlook.  Luckily, it’s getting easier to find recycled products, like patio furniture, and the variety of products available is increasing. According to Earth911’s Plastic Recycling Facts, the plastics recycling business has grown significantly in the past few years.  In fact, “more than 1,600 businesses are involved in recycling post-consumer plastics.”  Using products made from recycled plastics ensures that a hefty chunk of those milk jugs, water bottles, and food containers from which we can’t seem to escape are put to good use.