Rehabbing my crappy fire pit patio area took 3 seasons: fall, winter, and spring. A LONG time. The main reason? I wanted the backyard soil frozen solid to support the tree demolition equipment. A dead ~70-foot sweet gum tree, after all, is not something you cut down without a LOT of exceptionally-qualified professional tree removal […]
Improvements
Master Bath Renovation – DIY for Half the Cost
This guest post is by Home Improvement and DIY buff, Jim Steven After getting bids from local contractors to renovate our Master Bathroom that ranged from $35-$45K, my wife and I decided to take it on ourselves. Since I would only have time to work the project on weekends, my initial project plan worked out […]
Refreshing a Pool Landscape: Dead Hinoki Cypress & Solar Tiki Torches
Our pool landscape, now at 11 years old, needed some tuning. We’ve maintained it continuously, but the two Hinoki Cypress right up front (circled in the original landscape photo below) – died together. This particular area of our backyard, under the heaviest of rains, would sometimes pond a bit. And the last 2 years, we […]
Tree Planting 101
2021 Update… Spring is upon us in New Jersey, the ‘Garden state,’ and signs of life are exploding outside. I’ve done quite a lot of tree planting over the years, and while everyone has their own techniques, I find there are a few basic rules & principles that always seem to apply. Best Season for […]
Creating a Natural Stone Landscape Border
This flagstone landscape border is a one-day project that’s simple in concept, but really added a lot of character to an Arborvitae line in the front of my house and also set us up to add softer flower bed plantings as well. What I love about landscaping projects is that they’re hard work, they’re outside […]
Installing a Marble Threshold
2021 [Pi Day] Update, Originally Published August 2020… Marble thresholds (sometimes called marble saddles) are very common in many homes, often found at bathroom entries. They look really nice, they’re cool and smooth to the touch – and they’re not terribly expensive. Having recently installed a marble threshold as part of a more comprehensive home […]
7 Decor Tips to Achieve a Beautiful Home
This guest post is by Interior Decorating enthusiast, Jessica Christian. We all love the idea of having a beautiful home, even me, and I am about the least domesticated goddess that you will ever find! However, I have found that I take great pleasure in making my home look good, to the best of my […]
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