Home & Garden

Wouldn’t a beautiful set of candle holders holding bright red candles for Valentines Day be a lovely addition to your dining room table? A beautiful red-and-white table cloth and napkins with hearts would certainly cheer up the room for the upcoming holiday. If you can’t find one, you can certainly purchase the material to make one with matching napkins. Wouldn’t that be a lovely craft project? It’s easy. You really don’t even need a pattern.

If you have just bought or are considering buying a new home, then you will also need to plan the process of moving.  While there are many things that you have to remember, planning them in advance will make the whole move easier and less traumatic.  So it is a good idea that, as soon as you know the completion date for your move, that you start planning. 

Every year thousands of homeowners do major renovations on their house in order to improve the value as well as enjoy their improvements.  Some home improvements are very costly and many do not have a good return for the money spent.  If you want to improve your home and up the value at the same time there are three areas you can focus on that make the most difference. These projects can add value to your home, make it more enjoyable and don’t cost a lot of money either!

Did you recently get caught off guard without any running water?  It’s amazing how much we take it for granted until we’re without it.  Recently, the colder temperatures left many Santa Clarita Valley households dry…no water to shower with, no way to effectively flush the toilets and no water to make our morning coffee.  If you didn’t know what to do, you will now.

Do you have frost heave in your garden?  Frost heave occurs after soil has been exposed to freezing temperatures and lots of moisture.  The pressure that is created from alternating freezing and thawing conditions lifts the soil and any plants up and out of the ground.  Frost heave often occurs in early spring or late fall, when cooler temperatures and soil moisture are common.  Heaves can happen in any type of soil; however, soils such as silt, loam, and clay are more prone to heaving due to their ability to retain more moisture.

Solar panel systems have always been criticized as bulky and unattractive.  New solar technology is beginning to make such criticisms a thing of the past. While everyone agrees solar energy is a clean, cost-effective energy source, there has always been one problem.  The solar panel systems tended to be large and rather bulky.  Frankly, they don’t add to the beauty of a home.  While solar panel designs have improved over the years, a new development involving shingles is getting a lot of attention.

Many of us dream about owning the vacation home in the mountains, or on the lake or ocean.  A vacation home is a place where one can retreat periodically from the hustle-bustle of everyday life.  However, for those who do achieve the financial resources to make such a purchase, there are several factors that should be considered first prior to taking the plunge. Owning a vacation home can be a wonderful experience, but it is a huge commitment and responsibility.

If you have interest in using landscaping stone in your yard, garden, koi pond or walkway, don’t limit yourself to the traditional.  Consider finding or shopping for unique stones to add flair or accent to your plans.  Landscaping stone can be versatile, used for simple decoration or as a foundation for much more.

Water damage can come in many varieties, from spilling a single bucket to a complete flooding.  How you approach your carpet clean up will also depend on the quality of the water if it is clean water, like rain water, or is it from a sewer backup.  Each situation should be evaluated on an individual basis, but here are some general guidelines.

Today’s kitchens are more than just places to prepare meals. In addition to its primary food function, this room ranks as the heart of the home and center of family activity.  Kids study there; parents pay the bills and write checks there; everyone reads the morning paper in the kitchen; families eat their meals there.  Such multi-tasking kitchens demand equally versatile lighting. Gone are the days when a single 100-watt fixture centered in the kitchen’s ceiling was sufficient.

Laminate flooring imitates the aspect of traditional wood. Their biggest advantage is that they are very easy to install and very durable. Laminate floorings are suitable for many of your rooms: hallways, family spaces, bathrooms, kitchens. Also, they are perfect for an active home.  At first look, laminate flooring seems to be a natural wood floor, but in fact is a layer of paper under a tough protective film that is glued and pressed to a high-density backing board.

When buying gifts for the home, it’s important to choose something that you know the recipient will like, as they’ll probably feel as though they have to display it, at least when you come to visit. So be careful! Buy a floral arrangement or plant at a grocery store, floral shop or nursery.  And even if your recipient doesn’t have a green thumb, a healthy plant will last several months and bring a fresh look to any room. Choose a pot, or pass along one that you have, that is decorative in the style of the home.

As Valentines Day approaches, I have been thinking about something nice I can do for the special people in my life.  I was in my backyard and thought to myself, what if I could combine two things I love, gardening and making crafts?  I was surfing the net and I came across a craft site that featured the “Heart of Grass”.  Immediately I was excited!  The “Heart of Grass” is a great way for me to show my loved ones how much they mean to me. The “Heart of Grass” is a small patch of grass that grows in the shape of a heart.  It is similar to a Chia pet.

It is time we all think of floor covering as a fashion statement. Color is one of the most important aspects of a floor covering decision. Today there are more colors to select from. Gone are the days of just green or gold or just earth tones. How about peach, salmon, cherry, wine, spruce, jade, mushroom, vanilla, sapphire, emerald, pewter, ruby or clay to name a few. You can even have your carpet custom dyed to match that special piece of furniture.

A.Allbright Painting has selected their annual $5000 painting giveaway winner.  They’ve awarded it to a well-deserved family in need who will soon reap the benefits of a shiny new paint job on the exterior of their home.  The A.Allbright team poured over written submission entrees and chose one based on the home needing the most repairs and the family needing a boost of encouragement, due to a tough situation. James Little, a dishwasher at Diamond Jim’s Casino, had utilized his GI loan to buy a home for himself and his mom during her retirement years.

The City of Santa Clarita is currently exploring the option of changing the street name of Magic Mountain Parkway, east of Interstate 5 and Creekside Road to reflect more auto-related names. The request came from the Santa Clarita Auto Dealers Association in hopes of increasing auto sales as well as visibility of the Auto Mall from Interstate 5 by increasing exposure to potential regional customers who might drive to Santa Clarita to purchase vehicles.

Love waking up to a hot shower?  Who doesn’t?  Bet you’d love saving up to 50 percent on your water heating cost, as well, wouldn’t you!  That really isn’t much of a stretch if you invest in a Noritz tankless gas water heater.  Noritz has been developing and manufacturing the finest gas-operated water heating products in the world for more than 50 years.  They are literally the number one tankless technology manufacturer in the world.

Dear Designer,
My name is Mary and I just recently moved to a new home in Westridge.  My new home needs everything from window treatments and furniture to paint on the walls.  I am so afraid of making a huge mistake in my decorating choices and I don’t want to be limited to one particular style.  I find that I like change every few years.  What should I do?