Redecorating with Rustic Coffee Tables Moving into my new home, I sadly realized that a cottage by the greenbelt was going to look pretty strange with the sleek modern coffee table I had on my wishlist. In trying to stay true to the architecture Iโve got, I started shopping for some rustic coffee tables, especially […]
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Can I Compost Wine Corks?
Some types of wine corks are fine to compost, but other types should never go to your compost. Aside from a nutrient-rich compost, wine enthusiasts can transform natural corks into beautiful art or useful garden mulch.
40 Smart Uses For Dryer Sheets In Your Home And Garden
When you put laundry in a dryer, static builds up on the clothes, sheets, and towels that bounce and tumble in the heat. Throwing in a dryer sheet can reduce static cling and leave your clothes smelling fresh. That said, dryer sheets have gained a bad reputation because they contain quaternary ammonium compounds that can
Top Global Warming Causes – Natural or Human?
If you’ve followed the debate over climate change even a little, you likely know the main causes of global warming: concentrations of greenhouse gases build up in the Earth’s atmosphere, and create a “greenhouse,” or warming effect. You’re likely also aware that evidence of past warming periods has fueled the argument that natural causes are
Tiny House Kitchens
The design of a tiny house kitchen is a personal matter. Your final design will depend on your own individual needs and the needs of those whoโll live with you. If you want to build or buy a tiny house but donโt know a lot about design, there are some things you should look out
Types of Onion
Onion is layered produce, full of surprising flavors and textures in its varieties. From the common brown-skinned onions to the rarer pearl-sized types, let’s take a look at this kitchen staple to help you choose the right variety.
DECT Phone Safety
DECT Phone Safety, Dangers of DECT, low radiation dect phones
Porch Swings
After all the yardwork and chores are done, there are few things more relaxing than sitting in a porch swing with a good book or company. Imagine yourself swinging in these incredible porch swings, porch beds, and hammock chairs. Porch Swings Wine Barrel Stave Porch Swing A perfect porch addition for any wine-lover, this swing
Easy Upcycling: Turn an Old Crib Into a Porch Swing
Have your kids outgrown the crib? Our easy upcycling expert walks you through the process of converting it into a porch swing for the whole family.
12 Ingenious Everyday Borax Uses
Inexpensive and readily available, powdered borax, also known as sodium tetraborate, is a naturally occurring common boron mineral salt. Borax is a component in a diverse array of laundry soaps, bath salts, hand soaps, cleaning products, and cosmetics. It’s a product homesteaders have used for more than 100 years. First discovered in dry lakebeds of
Tiny House Transition: Downsizing
Downsizing is a difficult aspect of tiny house living. It’s often overlooked on social media platforms or in the press. Making the transition to a tiny house isn’t as simple as it seems, but If you downsize well, the transition will be much easier. What Is Downsizing? View this post on Instagram @tinyhousebasics remodel coming
How To Store Onions For Fresh Garden Flavor All Year Long
Onions are an essential ingredient in a great many main dishes, appetizers, salads, slaws, soups, stews, and sauces. In fact, onions are the third most consumed vegetable worldwide. And you can enjoy them long after their harvest when you learn how to store onions properly. With proper handling and storage, it’s easy to store onions
20 Free Pole Barn Plans
If youโre ready to take on a new project, why not consider constructing a pole barn? This type of building can add some much-needed storage space and covered area to a residential property. Unfortunately, due to the scarcity of information regarding pole barns, very few individuals take on such an ambitious project.
Bark Furniture And Accessories
Birch-Bark is waterproof and will not rot, its familiar surface is richly graphic. Birch-Bark has been used for millennia in the making ofย canoes, wigwams, scrolls, Buddhist manuscripts, maps (including the oldest maps of North America), art, torches, fans, musical instruments, shoes, clothing, as a substratum forย sod, birch-bark roofsย and more… Birch Armoire-style-Cabinet-Louis-XV-style byย Marchรฉ Dauphine –ย 140, rue
30 Kitchen Shelves To Declutter Your Space
Your kitchen serves many purposes. It’s the place where you make your morning cup of coffee and pack the kids’ lunches. It’s also where you cook your famous macaroni, and above all, spend time with the ones that you love. There’s a reason that the party always ends up moving to the kitchen. There’s something
Bark Walls
Bark walls
17 DIY Christmas Tree Decoration Ideas
The holidays are a season of giving, so why not give back to the earth (and your wallet) by skipping out on the revolving door of disposable Christmas decor? Instead, try your hand at reusing the things you already have lying around the house, and create a beautiful, DIY Christmas tree decoration. You can adorn
Scientific American’s Solar Grand Plan
Scientific American has a thought-provoking proposal in its January 2008 issue. The magazine proposes a massive, far-reaching plan to get solar power generating 69 percent of America’s electricity 35 percent of our total energy by 2050, thus replacing all of our foreign oil needs and slashing global warming emissions. Below are some of the highlights
7 Tips For Raising Animals In A Tiny House
As a tiny homeowner, caring for your pets shouldnโt be affected by the size of your home. Tiny living encourages you to embrace unique ways of doing things, and looking for creative storage and organization solutions is at the top of that list. This is particularly true when you consider the needs of your pets.
25 Effortless Room Divider Ideas To Make Use Of Your Small Space
Whether youโre dealing with a huge open space or a make-shift living room in a tiny home, room dividers help to divvy up your home’s space. The easiest, cheapest way to divide your living area is to use a temporary fixture of some sort, but there are also lots of permanent ideas for those looking
Growing Onions
Onions are easy to grow,ย and they’reย the first ingredient in my culinary toolbox. Almost every dish I make starts with caramelized onions, so my garden is never complete until I have grown my seasonโs worth of onions. Since organic onions are so cheap, it can be easy to put off growing onions in favor of other,
Rainwater Harvesting: The Basics And Why You Should Start Today
Lead contamination. Chlorine and fluoride. E.coli. Fracking pollutants. Toxins and pharmaceuticals. There are so many things that might be mixed in the water that flows from the faucet, that turning on the tap may feel more like playing a chemical form of Russian roulette than getting a drink. But what if I told you that
How To Store Radishes
Radishes come in several shapes, sizes, and colors, all with their own unique flavor. The radish is an easy to grow vegetable that is great for beginning gardeners. This cool weather root vegetable is hardy, grows quickly, and can be planted multiple times within a growing season. Radishes can be enjoyed raw or cooked. There
Types of Garlic
Garlic gives a breath of fresh air to many cuisines around the world, making it a kitchen staple. Its punchy flavors can grow from your home garden, but to do so, discover different garlic varieties and their characteristics.
13 Savvy Small Bathroom Ideas
Whether you live in an apartment, a tiny house, or a Harry Potter closet, small bathrooms can be a challenge, especially when you’re living with roommates, a significant other, or little ones. Not only do you have to coordinate shower and bath times, but storing away all your toiletries can get tricky. So before you
Getting Started With Off-Grid Water System For A More Self-Reliant Homestead
In my experience, it seems that discussions about off-grid water systems only take place in niche communities of homesteaders or preppers. If you were to bring it up in โnormalโ workplace conversation, I guarantee youโd get at least one set of raised โwhat a weirdoโ eyebrows. But considering just how crucial water is to life
Outdoor Beds
Outdoor beds are trending, but you may be wondering, โWhy an outdoor bed and not just a hammock, chair, or bench?โ Prepare to list your bench set for sale, dear reader. Aside from the most obvious use for outdoor beds (the ability to lay down outside on something other than grass, dirt, brick, concrete, or
Eco Friendly Toys Ages 3-7
Eco Toys Ages 3-7
Another Green Living Option: Hand Wash Your Clothes
… and easily trade cost and environmental impact, for time! “Do laundry”… what does that mean to most of us?ย It means carting a large pile of clothes in a bin or basket to one’s home washer and dryer, or if you’re one of the many unfortunate bunch like me, you cart it to a
15 DIY Cat Toys
Though we often consider our precious feline companions aloof and independent, itโs crucial they have physical and mental stimuli between napping in the glow of a sunbeam, or knocking things off tables. You donโt have to spend a bunch of cash at the pet store to provide your kitty with endless entertainment. Using materials you
Best Shop Vac
A wet/dry shop vacuum is one of the most useful items a homeowner can possess. Itโs an essential tool for any home improvement project or plumbing emergency, and it’s a must on any construction site. A well-designed shop vacuum is powerful, portable, and able to access most spaces in order to clean out water, dust,
19 DIY Potting Bench Plans
Potting benches are functional, provide storage, and add style. They range from small and simple to a more elaborate centerpiece for your outdoor space. Building a DIY potting bench is a big task but a rewarding one. There are many ways to construct your potting bench and many designs you can use. No matter what
How To Get Rid Of Flies: Natural And Effective Options
Flies are everywhere. In fact, entomologists have named over 100,000 species of flies on earth. Not only are flies annoying, but they also carry germs and diseases. Though flies are a tasty treat for frogs, they are not good for us. The following article will provide you with a variety of tips to repel and
Household Mold Removal
Gross, slimy, smelly, and dangerous to people and pets, mold is the last thing you want to see growing in your home. Mold wonโt necessarily destroy your homestead, but it can make family members and pets sick while it makes your home, barns, outbuildings, chicken coop, root cellar, livestock pens, and pump house look awful
17 Natural Mosquito Repellent Options For The Home And Garden
I detest mosquitoes. I hate that itchy sensation they leave and the fact that they can carry Zika or the West Nile Virus. I also prefer not to use toxic chemical repellents like DEET. Especially when a plant-based, natural mosquito repellent gets the job done. The good news is, planning and planting a natural mosquito
17 Creative DIY Kitchen Cabinet Plans to Revive Your Kitchen
Today, weโre going to help you tackle your kitchen cabinets by showcasing some awesome DIY kitchen cabinet plans. These plans take kitchen renovation to the next level, guiding you through your cabinet project step-by-step. Plus, these DIY kitchen cabinets are free.
Indigenous Microorganisms (IMO)
It can be difficult to have a symbiotic relationship with microorganisms when you live in a world where Purell hand sanitizer dispensers line the wall of every doctorโs office and the words โbacteriaโ or โfungusโ cause fear. It wasnโt until I took a soil science class at the Evergreen State College, where I was exposed
Fresh Drinking Water Resources & Links
Inspiration Green Fresh Water Resources. Links to water associations and organizations. Info on conservation, data, water and climate change, fresh water research organizations and much more.
15 Useful And Natural Ant Repellent Ideas For Your Home
Last summer, our home was flooded with ants. We had never had a problem before but suddenly, ants everywhere. Insects repulse me, and even though Iโm well aware that ants are mostly harmless, I wanted them out. We purchased borax-based traps and littered them around our home in hopes of rapidly solving the problem. The
7 Ways To Mouse-Proof Your Homestead
For homesteaders, the common house mouse is one of the most troublesome of pests. A small brown or gray rodent with little beady eyes, large ears, and a skinny three to four-inch long tail, house mice flourish under a diverse array of conditions in and around homes, sheds, barns, and outbuildings. The unwelcome intruders consume
10 Amazing School Bus Conversions
Converting a school bus into a permanent residence is a bit like a coming-of-age story. You take a school bus, probably one very similar to the one you rode in elementary school, gut it entirely, and build a tiny home out of it. To me, the whole school bus conversion process feels very charming, sustainable,
Shed Plans
Sheds are an important asset to any garden, backyard, or homestead. They keep our spaces organized and protect our tools from the elements. Whether you’re needing a traditional, simple shed for your home and garden products or a more decorative shed to bring aesthetics to your garden, there is a design out there that is
21 Bathroom Shelves To Organize Your Space
Ah yes, the bathroom: One of the rooms that we tend to shut the door and forget about when it’s not in use. I don’t know about you, but my bathroom tends to be more of a chaotic mess than a place of zen and relaxation. When you think about your bathroom organization, chances are
Fireplace Mantels
There’s nothing quite like warming up next to the fire. Especially when it’s a fireplace in your own living room. But there’s something about a mantel-less fireplace that just seems off! A mantel adds a finishing touch to your fireplace that ties the whole room together. Though many fireplace mantels are just decorative, others offer
How To Store Potatoes Properly For Year-Round Use
Potatoes have been a staple food for centuries all over the globe. They seem to be extremely versatile and a survivor of ages. When you think of potatoes, I bet there are several different ways to cook them that come to mind. Boiled, broiled, baked, roasted, fried, or mashed โ and thatโs just the different ways
Growing Squash
Take a glance at anyoneโs backyard garden. No matter where you go, youโll likely find a squash plant growing. Thereโs something about these easy-to-grow and generous plants that demand a place in your garden bed — wherever you can manage to fit it in. So whether you grow succulent zucchinis and crookneck varieties for summer
Goat Shelter Basics: What You Need to Know to Keep Your Herd Safe
Goats are remarkably hardy animals. They can survive on forage and browse that would make a cow or sheepโs stomach rumble in discontent, and their clever feet can scamper among rocks, cliffs, and scree that are impassable to even the most surefooted human. For all their apparent toughness to inhospitable environments, however, there is one
21 Essential Off-Grid Tools We Love
We recently asked our Insteading Community and YouTube viewers if they had any questions about homesteading that we might answer. You all replied with some great questions, and gave us a lot of ideas on material we can pull together to help you! Watch The Video So for our first installment in what we hope
Top 10 Reasons to Live in an Electricity-Free Home (PPB #27)
When I designed my cob house here at Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage two years ago, I decided that I was going to live without electricity. I had no plans to buy a solar power system or a wind turbine. I was going to make the leap to live electricity-free in my home, in order to live
Best Tool Box
So you need a toolbox. Every home needs the essentials: hammer, screwdrivers, wrenches, pliers, nails, tape, and the like. You might have started with a drawer where you could fit the rusty, loose hammer that your โrents gave you when you started out on your own, but after a while you will need more. Drawers