Stair Railings Styles

The stair railing at home is more than a simple way to get from a floor to another. You can create an extension of your personal likes in decoration, with ornamental parts of wood, iron and other material easy to install that will increase the value of your home at the same time. If you think that the stair railing is one of the first tings that people see when they come in, you should think as well that, for building a new staircase or just a new remodelling, ask always for the advice and good service of a qualified person who will give you some good ideas for.
When something never goes out of style is unique. Choose wood stairs.
Nowadays there a wide variety of materials to build a stair railing. Long time ago and still today….houses had stairs wood railings, as wood is a nice material to work with. Especially beautiful are which are made of oak wood… with wonderful red colour and knocks that are unmistakable. The star of the house will be an oak wood balustrade, without any doubt. If we try to match the colour of the stairs with the wood flooring it will give beauty elegance to our homes. Although it can be a difficult task due to the many stair parts that we need to have in account to choose…like balusters, handrails, treads, and ornamental trim pieces.

Save time and money with a Planning Set!

When you're looking for the right dress shoes, you try on several pairs. When you're looking for the right car, you test drive different models. And if you're planning to build a new home but haven't found the right design yet, now you can start with a Planning Set for one or several home plans!
For as little as $99, you can buy a Planning Set for a select number of our best-selling designs to get a better idea of how a particular home will fit your family. And when you buy the blueprints for that home, you get your Planning Set investment back!
A Planning Set includes all four exterior elevations for a given home, plus floor plans shown to scale. Use your Planning Set to:

• Help you decide among several home plan options
  Gather bids from
  contractors
  Arrange your furniture (will your antique steamer trunk overcome
  the den?)
  Analyze traffic patterns
  Gauge sight lines on your lot

Which plans have Planning Sets available?To determine if a given home has a Planning Set available, look for the words "Planning Set" in the "Blueprint Pricing & Options" box on any home's "Home Plan Detail" page (that's the page you see after clicking on any home's thumbnail image following a plan search). If you don't see "Planning Set," a planning set for that plan is currently not available. Please call (888) 447-1946 for updated availability.
Now for the money-back part. If you buy a five-blueprint- or reproducible- set for the same home within 60 days of your Planning Set purchase, we'll deduct the purchase price from your invoice! It's as close to risk-free as you're going to get in this life!Planning Sets are for study and review purposes only! They are stamped NOT FOR CONSTRUCTION.

At Home With Anne Le

Restaurateur Anne Le lives with her fiance in a 17th-floor South of Market condo, which offers a close-up view of the Bay Bridge and an open floor plan that's great for dinner parties. Anh-Minh Le interviews the couple at home.

Design Your Own House Plan

Make your house plan even better—design it yourself! Our Design Team can help you create the perfect floor plans for your new home and provide you with the complete construction blueprints to build it!Custom home design services

History of gardening

This entry concerns the history of ornamental gardening considered as an amenity of civilized life, as a vehicle for style, for conspicuous show and even an expression of philosophy.See also subsistence gardening, the art and craft of growing plants, considered as a circumscribed form of individual agriculture.Though cultivation of plants for food long predates history, the earliest evidence for ornamental gardens is seen in Egyptian tomb paintings of the 1500s BC; they depict lotus ponds surrounded by rows of acacias and palms. The other ancient gardening tradition is of Persia: Darius the Great was said to have had a "paradise garden" and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were renowned as a Wonder of the World. Persian influences extended to post-Alexander's Greece: around 350 BC there were gardens at the Academy of Athens, and Theophrastus, who wrote on botany, was supposed to have inherited a garden from Aristotle. Epicurus also had a garden where he walked and taught, and bequeathed it to Hermarchus of Mytilene. Alciphron also mentions private gardens.The most influential ancient gardens in the western world were the Ptolemy's gardens at Alexandria and the gardening tradition brought to Rome by Lucullus. Wall paintings in Pompeii attest to elaborate development later, and the wealthiest of Romans built enormous gardens, many of whose ruins are still to be seen, such as at Hadrian's Villa.Byzantium and Moorish Spain kept garden traditions alive after the 4th century. By this time a separate gardening tradition had arisen in China, which was transmitted to Japan, where it developed into aristocratic miniature landscapes centered on ponds and separately into the severe Zen gardens of temples.In Europe, gardening revived in Languedoc and the Ile-de-France in the 13th century, and in the Italian villa gardens of the early Renaissance. French parterres developed at the end of the 16th century and reached high development under Andre le Notre. English landscape gardens opened a new perspective in the 18th century.The 19th century saw a welter of historical revivals and Romantic cottage-inspired gardening, as well as the rise of flower gardens, which became dominant in home gardening in the 20th century.20th century gardening expanded into city planning
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Garden Design as a Vocation
Garden design is the art and process of designing the layout and planting of domestic gardens and landscapes. Garden owners showed an increasing interest in garden design during the late twentieth century and there was also a significant expansion in the use of professional garden designers. Some garden owners have enough skill and experience to design their own gardens, but this is comparatively rare. Sissinghurst, one of the most admired gardens made in the twentieth century, was designed by its owners: Harold Nicolson and Vita Sackville-West.Garden designers usually are trained in both design and in horticulture, and have an expert knowledge and experience of using plants. Garden designers are also concerned with the layout of hard landscape, such as paths, walls, water features, sitting areas and decking.HistoryThe theory of garden design and landscape architecture can be traced to Vitruvius. Though he had little to say specifically about the design of outdoor space, Vitruvius put forward the influential theory that the objectives for all design projects are: Commodity (utilitas), Firmness (firmitas) and Delight (venustas).Before the Renaissance, garden design was usually carried out by garden owners or by the professionals they employed (horticulturalists, architects, surveyors, sculptors etc). In China and Japan, gardens were often designed by scholars, artists, poets, painters and priests. In Europe, it seems likely that professional training for garden designers began in seventeenth century France. After the time of Le Notre it was accepted that both an artistic and a horticultural training were necessary. Various garden design courses were established in Europe during the nineteenth century and in the twentieth century many of them changed over to the teaching of landscape architecture. Towards the end of the twentieth century there was a re-emergence of university level education programmes in garden design.Traditionally, garden designs were set out on the ground. With Renaissance advances in plan drawing it became common for gardens to be designed on paper and transferred to the ground using surveying instruments, including tape measures and theodolites. With the invention of Computer Aided Design (CAD) towards the end of the twentieth century it is becoming increasingly common for garden designers to work on computer screens and then print paper plans which are issued to garden builders. A range of CAD programmes is used including vector drawing software, bitmap editing software, 3D modelling software and animation software. Some of these programmes are able to 'print' 3D models as well paper plans.Garden design coursesEducation in garden design has emerged from the older traditions of training in horticulture and architecture. Horticulturalists receive a technical education with a scientific underpinning. Garden designers require a knowledge of horticulture and building construction but also require the skills in art and design traditionally associated with architectural education. This is often provided with a Bauhaus type art foundation course in drawing, painting and 3D modelling. Since garden designers draw upon the historic legacy of garden design they also require knowledge of the history of gardens. A garden design education can be obtained via a 3 or 4 year university course or by shorter, intensive courses, often run by private colleges, with a duration of around 1 year.The Inchbald School of Design, in association with the University of Wales, offers an MA course in Garden Design. The University of Greenwich offers a Master of Arts in Garden Design and also an MA in Garden History. University College Falmouth also offers both BA(Hons) and MA courses in Garden Design. A number of part-time certificate and diploma courses are available at various private colleges in the UK, including Garden Design School and Merrist Wood College - both in Surrey.Developing a Garden DesignBefore the garden is actually built and planned, drawings would be helpful to formulate, express, and develop the sense of garden’s design. The schematic plan, which is the first drawing of the garden’s design, can be used to show the main proposed features and planting areas. It is a quick visualization that sets out the general and broad proposals for the garden. All subsequent drawings are usually based on this plan, so it should be considered important.

Home Dollars and Sense

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How to Build a Shed

The easiest way to build a shed in the backyard is to make a trip to the local Lowe's or other hardware shop to purchase a shed-building kit.
Never choose one from a picture in a brochure or from the Internet. When viewing in person, you can check for important quality control details such as thickness of timber, overlap structure of panels, type of wood, whether it is pre-treated with a preservative and the quality of flooring. Thick timber is longer lasting. An overlap structure on wall panels is important to prevent water leakage. It is beneficial for the shed to have been pre-treated with preservative, but in your upkeep you will still want to treat it once a year. Flooring should be thick so that it does not give with the weight of tools and equipment you want to store.
Do not skimp on size or quality, because in the long run, you will be happiest with a large, lasting building.
Before starting, make sure you have a level base on which to build the shed. Otherwise, the wall panels will not line up properly. Double check that you have all necessary building tools for the particular shed-building kit; you will not want to stop mid-project to purchase more tools. Find out if you need permission to erect a small building on your property. Detail an access route for getting large panels and other materials to the site for the shed.
To begin, make sure the land is dry. Excavate a place to put in a concrete floor. If you choose to make the shed above ground, then wood boards are acceptable. Follow instructions and proceed to screw all pieces together in the pre-made holes. Run a frame sealing mastic around windows to prevent weather damage. T
o insulate, either use glass fiber loft insulation or expanded polystyrene slabs covered with wallboards. If the shed needs electrical wiring, be sure to bury cables in the ground or run them high overhead. Wires should never drag along the ground, wall or fence. Call a professional electrician for assistance if you are not familiar with these procedures.
It is possible to build a shed without purchasing the kit. Keep in mind that you are essentially building a box. Begin with the same flooring process- either excavate for a concrete floor or use a wooden floor. A simple shed can take the shape of a lean-to with one large slanted wall nailed to three smaller side walls. If you feel confident in your building abilities, then a more complicated shed would be a four-sided rectangular shed with a pitched roof. To attach the roof, nail the slanted slabs of wood to the upright walls. To finish the project, apply a preservative treatment, and any insulation or electric wiring that is desired.
Keith Kingston is a professional web publisher offering advice on garden sheds and outdoor storage sheds

Growing Plants with Artificial Light

Growing plants with artificial lights offers a great range of opportunity when it comes to growing plants indoors. Plants in different stages of growth have special lighting requirements in order to flourish indoors, and it pays to understand their lighting needs in order to meet them and get the best from your plants.
Vegetable gardening provides a good example of how grow lights and grow lamps work. Vegetable gardeners who live in cold regions of the country know that in order to get a head start on the growing season they will want to start seeds indoors approximately six to eight weeks before their last average frost date. You can find out your last average frost date from your local county extension agent's office. Some seeds require light for germination, while others need it to be dark. This information will be given sometimes on the back of the seed packets, or you can research it in gardening reference books. Once the seeds germinate, the indoor lighting that is used will make or break your starts. Grow lamps need to be kept no more than two to four inches above the growing plant starts, so you will need a way to raise the lights as needed as the plant starts grow taller. Attaching the grow lights to chains, with a hook above, works easily and well for this purpose.
You will need to use different light spectrums depending on where you plants are in the growth stage. If it is early on in your new plant's life, then it will need light in the blue spectrum. When the plant is at the flowering stage, it will need light in the red and orange spectrums.
You can find a grow lamp for a specific color spectrum, or you can find lights that come in a full color spectrum, which is suitable for plants at any stage of development. In addition to the lamp, you will likely also want to use a reflector, which helps intensify and control the light that the lamp puts out, as well as electronic ballasts. The ballasts control the electrical current that flows to the lamp. A lamp ballast is used with high-intensity discharge lights, also known as HID lights, because they put out a very strong intense light similar to sunlight, and this makes them a very good choice for growing plants indoors. Fluorescent lights are also used in indoor gardening. They emit light in the blue and green, as well as the red spectrums, making them another great choice for growing plants indoors. Other popular lights include led grow lights, hortilux grow lights, solarmax grow lights and chrome dome grow lights.
The larger the plant is, the more light it will need to produce food and grow, so lighting is all important to the health and vitality of your indoor plants.
Alison Agnock is an expert in gardening topics such as hydroponic gardening, fluorescent grow lights and hydroponic grow lights.

Discover "Bonsai" - Easier To Grow, Than You Thought!

Many people are under the impression that "BONSAI" was invented by the Japanese.
Not true.
Facts. The Japanese developed bonsai into what we see today. However, the path leads back to China, where the first bonsai was grown. This Chinese art form was known as ‘pon sai’.
This article will explore the exciting aspects of what bonsai is all about and contain further links below, for you to explore and enjoy.
The term, "Bonsai" is derived from two words, "Bon", and "Sai". "Bon" means "tray". "Sai" means, "growing" or "planting". Putting the two words together gives you "tray growing", or "tray planting". Many people think it refers only to a type of miniature tree, whereas it is a method of using quite a number of different trees and plants.
Ancient Chinese agrarians and others, experimented with the growing of trees in pottery. Because the small pot size could hold little soil and the necessary nutrients, for normal growth, these trees adapted and reduced their dimensions to the pot size. This resulted in a markedly stunted growth, with gnarled branches and trunks. These pon sai were much prized by collectors.
There is still pon sai in China, to this day, but it lacks the artistry, beauty and expertise of the Japanese developed bonsai . This art form demands infinite patience, imagination and care. Rare attributes in the frenetic pace and impatience of today, but well worth developing into one’s character.
Many people think that bonsai refers only to miniature trees, but it actually applies to many other plants.
This method of art, bringing together beauty, truth and essence, in the form of the plant, container and earth, is described as, ‘heaven and earth in one container’, by the Japanese.
Zen Buddhism, as practiced by some Japanese, was used as a basis to reform the rather ugly and somewhat tortuous pon sai, of the Chinese, into the forms of harmony and beauty of the Japanese bonsai, which we enjoy today. These miniature creations were first only to be found in their Buddhist monasteries, but later found favour with the Japanese ruling classes. Still later, ordinary lovers of this art form ensured its popularity to the present day.
Japanese bonsai should bring out the ‘qi‘, or ‘ki’, of the plant. They should look natural, though miniaturised as though they just grew that way, without human help.
Many tree and plants are suitable for ‘bonsizing’
I have not the room to list all of them here, but shall give you links at the end, through which you may find some more fascinating information.
A short list:
MapleLarchCherryWisteriaBougainvilleaAzaleaJuniperApricotElmPineBonsai Privet
Depending upon climatic conditions, the bonsai are often initially, grown outside and later brought indoors.
The foregoing is a very brief introduction to the fascinating and calming art of growing bonsai. I do hope you enjoyed it.
Cheers,
Ray Cunningham
The author, Ray Cunningham, is very enthusiastic about bonsai cultivation and is building a new web site at http://raygc.com/bonsai, which offers a growing range of interesting, free articles. Also, suggested ebooks and occasional free wildlife prints, for my newsletter recipients. Email me raygc@pipeline.com, for newsletter starting details.

30 Tips To Keep Cats Out Of Your Garden

Are you bothered by cats coming into your garden and doing their business, scaring your birds away, or getting up to other mischief? Here is a list of 30 deterrents you could try:
1. If a Tom starts to mark his new territory you could mark over it yourself although it may surprise the neighbours!
2. You can buy repellent pellets from garden centres that smell like citrus fruits, which apparently cats don't like.
3. Or you could use the real thing lemon or citrus peels work for a bit but you have to keep replacing them every three or four days. Not good for a big space unless you really really like lemonade.
4. You could try planting Coleus Canina which emits a foul odour when a cat rubs itself against it, but I'd imagine you'd have to cover quite a large area (depending on the size of your garden) for it to be effective.
5. Lion dung is said to keep them out but it may smell even worse than cats poo, but it's good for the roses.
6. Small sticks pushed into the ground so that approximately six to 12 inches are sticking out of the ground like spikes. They must be close enough together to prevent cats snuggling their bottoms down between them to poo.
7. Get a dog.
8. Some say Jeyes disinfectant fluid around the edges of the garden works but the fluid is actually quite poisonous to cats and will kill them in fairly small amounts.
9. Spray water at them, not from a hose, from one of those spray bottles from a garden centre or use or a super-soaking water gun for cats further away.
10. I have heard that they don't like garlic.
11. A friend suggested moth balls worked for her.
12. Sprinkle black pepper & chilli around the garden, harmless to animals but an effective deterrent apparently.
13. Getting a cat yourself often works. Its very unusual for a cat to poop in its own garden, and other cats won't really come near another cats area, unless it likes them, and then it wont poop 'cos it respects the area!
14. Catch the cat and rub its nose in it (not so it smudges all over the cat, just near it) then put the cat in next doors garden, or wherever you wish it to poop from now on.
15. You can buy some pet repellent spray from the DIY stores. It is harmless to animals and children.
16. Solid toilet blocks (used in public loos usually) crumbled around.
17. Scatter citrus peel (oranges & lemons) around the garden.
18. Place pine cones around near garden borders.
19. Plant geraniums, marigolds and petunias, cats apparently dislike those plants.
20. Grow spiky plants near areas you want to keep cats away from.
21. Ask local cat owners to provide an inside litter tray for their cats to discourage outside toileting.
22. Or if the cat owner doesn't want/can't have inside trays...Ask them to dig a pit in their garden, several feet deep and 2 foot square and fill with peat. Then all that is needed is for this outside toilet to be dug over frequently.
23. If you have bare soil cover it with gravel or slate chippings etc, it will discourage digging.
24. Keep your lawn short. If you let your lawn get to 3" ish high, they will poo in it and not bury it.
25. Place a small length of hosepipe in amongst your plants, cats and birds don't like snakes!
26. Invest in a bag of coffee (grounds), and spread around the garden.
27. Plant some lavender. It works for some and smells divine and for some reason the cats hate it.
28. Olbas oil (the one you put on pillows for blocked noses) works pretty well.
29. Water 'Scarecrow' that squirts water at things it detects moving, including you!
30. If all the foregoing makes you despair then go the high-tech route and buy yourself an ultrasonic cat repeller.
They have a motion detector built-in, can be mains powered and emit a high decibel tone that only cats can here. Problem solved. I use one at my house and found it excellent. Didn't hear any noises from it and it didn't bother the dogs next door either. I'd recommend the mains powered one rather than using batteries, they never seem to last for very long, but battery power does give more flexibility.
It has a PIR which means that it is only emitting 'noise' while the cat is in range so the cat cannot 'learn' to tolerate it. This also saves batteries (if you use them). There is an alternative of purchasing a mains connector if the battery option doesn't work out well.
They only activate when a large enough object passes by, humans included , and only go for a short time so small mammals are OK. There has been no reduction in bat activity where we live and no signs of them being mis-directed either. The cat repeller is fantastic. Not a single cat in the garden at the moment, and when they appear they skulk along the wall and don't stay. I really recommend this investment.
Are you bothered by cats coming into your garden and doing their business, or scaring your birds away? First read these 30 tips, the last one really works, then http://petthings.googlepages.com