Skipping Stone Design

Skipping Stone Design

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5 Gorgeous Water Feature Ideas for Your Patio

Listening to the sound of water releases the stress-regulating hormone cortisol, leading to a more relaxed state. This is a bonus effect from the beautiful water feature you will get to enjoy in your backyard.

If you are looking for an attractive addition to your patio then look no further than an easy-to-install fountain.

Read on to discover the 5 newest water feature ideas for a unique outdoor living space.

1. Flowing Pathway

Backyard water features don’t have to be big to make an impact. They can be small narrow paths that lead to your pool or a nearby body of water.

Use your gutter run-off, water barrel or circulating pool water to create a steady flow that extends throughout your yard. Water can line your walkways and guide you and your visitors to a backyard oasis. You can also use it to irrigator water to your garden.

2. Connecting Bridge Pond

This Japanese-style water feature is classic, but the design can be modern. Develop a small pond surrounded with a wooden or stone patio. The pond needs to be large enough to fit a bridge that connects both sides. Use steel or concrete for a contemporary look.

A pond brings nature to your home, from birds quenching their thirst to reptiles looking for a cozy habitat. This adds to the serenity portrayed by your water feature.

3. Wall Fountain

Water features that create the gentle sound of falling water can be in any size home. A wall foundation comes in many dimensions, from a table-size foundation to a full-size wall.

Blend the waterfall into your home by using river stones that flow into your pool. Or make it a stand-out feature using a bright tile that is displayed on its own. Use a small catching pool to filter the water.

4. Spouting Statue

Even small backyard water features can include a statue. That is because they are so versatile.  What makes them interesting is your figurine choice and how the water is sprayed.

Get creative with spouting statues that project water from the figure’s mouth or gushes from the center of a flower. You can also add multiple exit ports and animatronics if you are feeling playful.

5. Water Play

Not all patio water features are for show, they can also be interactive. If you have children then they will love this type of water feature that allows them to get wet at the same time.

Use waterproof, padded materials that create a grip like recycled rubber for the ground. Then hide the foundation under the floor with the help of hardscaping services for a magical surprise. Children have to step on the markers (try shapes or colors) to squirt the water in the air.

Water Feature Ideas That Complement Your Home

Your backyard is an extension of your home, so you want to make it as comfortable and as cohesive as possible. These water feature ideas can transform your yard to be a perfect addition to your interior.

Check out our Tip section for more ways to spruce up your outdoors.

Buying a New House: 5 Things to Know Before Buying a House

Millions of homes sell each year, but if you don’t know about important things about home buying, you might not get what you want. Understanding the things to know before buying a house can keep you from getting a house that is worth less than what you’re paying and much more.

We are here to help you make the buying process easy by letting you in on the things you need to know. Continue reading this article for the best tips for home buyers.

1. Your Credit Score

Before you go house shopping, you need to know your credit score. Knowing your credit score will help you figure out how much house you can get approved for.

If you have a low credit score, you might still be able to get a home loan, but the terms won’t be as good as if you have a high credit score. To keep your credit score as high as possible, keep your credit card usage low, pay your bills on time, and pay down loans you already have as much as possible.

2. Does the House Need Repairs?

If the house needs repairs, you need to figure that into the price. Ask home inspection questions, so you can ensure that you know if there are major or minor repairs you’ll have to take care of when you move in.

Having your home inspected by a reputable home inspector is key. If you don’t have your home inspected, you might end up with thousands of dollars in work you didn’t know you were going to have.

3. Not All Lenders Are Equal

Not all lenders are equal, which means some will give you better terms than others. Make sure you shop around to see what terms are available for your credit profile.

When you find terms that look attractive, get pre-approved for your purchase. Getting pre-approved for your home purchase means you’ll know what you can afford, and you’ll be an attractive buyer to sellers.

4. Work With a Skilled Real Estate Agent

When you’re trying to find the perfect house, working with a real estate agent that has proper training will help you find the best house. Make sure the person you’re considering specializes in the area, so they know all the ins and outs.

5. Understand the Real Property Value

Don’t let emotion get in the way of the actual value of the property in question. You don’t want to overpay for the house, but knowing the property value can also help you see when you’re getting a good deal that you should move on quickly.

Now You Know the Important Things to Know Before Buying a House

Now that you know the important things to know before buying a house, you can start looking for the perfect house for you. You can house shop with confidence with the information you’ve learned here.

Do you want to learn more about home buying and other important topics? Our site is full of articles that can help you as you’re going through the home buying process and beyond.

Browse our site, find your favorite real estate related articles, drop a bookmark, and come back soon to read more.

Cabinet Replacement Time: 5 Signs You Need to Make the Switch

Home improvement is a never-ending process. After all, it’s fun to invest money and sweat equity into making your house look as amazing as possible.

When it comes to renovations projects, there are plenty of options to choose from. One of the best places to start is the kitchen. After all, this is the room in the house where families spend most of their time together, enjoying meals and making memories.

This article takes a look at kitchen cabinet replacement and when to know when it’s time for an upgrade. Keep reading to discover insight into making your home look great by taking the kitchen’s style to the next level.

1. You’re Wanting a Fresh New Look

There are plenty of reasons for wanting to invest in new cabinets. But the desire for a fresh new look would probably be at the top of the list.

After all, your cabinets are a primary aspect of the overall design aesthetic of your kitchen. Thus the better your cabinets look, the more impressive and inviting your entire kitchen will feel to you and your family.

New cabinets are the ideal way to add a major splash of color and life to the most important room in your home.

2. Your Cabinets are Damaged

It’s no secret that cabinets can easily become damaged over the years. After all, they take a look of abuse through the wear and tear of normal family life.

Cabinets that are damaged can quickly become visually unappealing, thus lowering the aesthetic look of the kitchen. Sure, you can make repairs and even repaint your cabinets, but this is like using a band-aid to temporarily reduce bleeding.

You should also keep in mind that repairs to damaged cabinets might save you money in the short-term, but you’ll still need to replace your cabinets at some point in the future. So all you’re really doing is putting off the inevitable.

3. The Kitchen has a Bad Odor

Does your kitchen smell? Sometimes kitchen odors develop that are hard to get rid of. This could be due to food items that fall behind cabinets, or liquid spills inside cabinets that never get adequately cleaned up, causing the stench of rot. Replacing old cabinets is the ideal way to eliminate these unpleasant odors.

House washing is another way to improve the look of your home.

4. Your Cabinets Are Made of Cheap Materials

Older homes often feature kitchen cabinets made of cheap materials, causing them to sag, warp, or begin falling apart as they age. That’s why you need to upgrade to cabinets made of high-quality wood that will look great for decades to come with proper care.

5. You Want a New Layout

Or perhaps you’re doing a major renovating that includes changing the layout of your kitchen. After all, your old cabinets likely won’t work with the new layout, so this is the perfect time to make a change in order to maximize your new kitchen design.

Signs that It’s Time For Cabinet Replacement in Your Kitchen

Have you been considering a cabinet replacement for your kitchen? If so, it’s the perfect way to make your home look amazing and increase the resale value.

Keep scrolling to discover more great home improvement tips and advice.

Home Improvement: From the Outside Moving In

Are you thinking about making some home improvements? There are several different ways that you can approach this concept. But without some target or goal, you can definitely feel the struggle regarding focus. To alleviate this, consider that you should do your home improvement projects from the outside moving in.

So what is meant by that exactly? Visually, start with the outside. Think about your general curb appeal. Are you happy with how your home looks from the road? If not, that is a great place to start. Then, look at your garage door. It is such a huge part of the visual of your home from the outside, but it often gets overlooked. Without a well-maintained garage door, the rest of the effect of your home can be ruined.

And a final concept regarding home improvement is that you want your windows and doors to be clean all the time. When people see your home from the outside, their attention naturally goes to windows and doors – make sure those areas are always spotless.

General Curb Appeal

Begin from the furthest outside possible. In other words, do a clean sweep of general curb appeal. Take care of trimming your landscaping. Make sure junk is out of the yard. Do some easy trimming around sidewalks, walkways, paved areas, and your driveway. Anything that sticks out as being dirty or broken – those are the things that you should look at first. More detailed home improvement projects can come later after the big things are accomplished.

The Garage Door

It’s truly surprising how many people don’t think that their garage door is important when it comes to home improvement. Not only is your garage door an essential, functional piece of your home, but it is also very visible. When you purchase or upgrade a garage door, make sure that you spend as much as you can afford. Not only will this be convenient and aesthetic, but it will also be a selling point when it comes time to sell your house and move somewhere else. Being willing to update a garage door is a big part of being a responsible homeowner.

Washing Your Windows and Doors

Along with curb appeal and the garage door, another point of contention when it comes to home improvement is the state of your windows and doors. They get a lot of use and abuse. Between people utilizing them and whether beating down on them, they tend to be the things that need to get fixed first. It’s very inexpensive to do a quick washing on them.

It’s slightly more costly to do full replacements or updates. However, you have to think about the benefit of having beautiful windows and doors for your own psychological reasons and also for the overall value of the house.

 

Aquarium Maintenance 101: What You Need to Know About Caring for Fish

Believe it or not, fish are one of the most popular pets in the United States! According to Insider, nearly 12% of households own at least one.

One of the great things about them is that they’re generally a lot easier to take care of compared to other pets. For one thing, you won’t have to play with them or take them out for walks.

Did you recently set up a fish tank? Interested in some aquarium maintenance tips? Then make sure to read the rest of the post! We’ll be going over all that you need to know below.

Freshwater Fish vs. Saltwater Fish

There are two types of fish that you can get—freshwater fish and saltwater fish. Unless you’ve been in the hobby for many years, you’ll want to go for the former.

As it is, saltwater fish tend to be a lot more expensive. Not only that, but caring for them is usually much more difficult.

4 Aquarium Maintenance Tips for Those Who Want to Keep Pet Fish

Fish might be easier to maintain than other pets, but they still require care. Keep reading for some helpful tips!

1. Set up Your Tank Properly

Make sure to set up your tank correctly. Aside from lighting, you’ll also need a filter. If anything, it’s one of the most important pieces of equipment that you can get—after all, it’s the thing that’s going to clean the water.

Assuming that you have tropical fish, you’ll also want to invest in a heater. That way, you’ll be able to provide them with stable water temperatures.

2. Maintain the Tank Regularly

Clean the fish tank once a week. Start by replacing 25-30% of the old water. Don’t forget to use a de-chlorinator before pouring the new water in!

From there, clean the substrate with a gravel vacuum; the goal is to remove all of the waste products that have sunk to the bottom.

Too much and you can easily end up with a copepod problem. Click here to learn more about these small crustaceans.

3. Avoid Overfeeding Your Fish

New owners tend to put in more food than necessary into the tank. This can cause a number of problems—for example; some fish can develop fatty liver disease.

Not only that, but overfeeding can have a negative effect on the aquatic environment as well. Put it simply; the extra debris will dirty the water, which can affect their health.

4. Test and Monitor Water Parameters

How can you tell if the water is safe for your fish? By performing a water parameter test. As it is, there are various test kits that you can buy in stores.

Generally speaking, you’ll want to test the ammonia, nitrate, and nitrate levels. Simply follow the instructions on the test kit, and you’re good to go.

Caring for Your Pet Fish

And there we have it—four aquarium maintenance tips! If anything, the most important thing is to keep the water clean.

Did you find the post helpful? For more similar articles, check out the rest of our blog!

3 Tips For Safely Storing Your Jewelry At Home

If you have expensive or sentimental jewelry, whether it’s a vintage engagement ring that once belonged to your grandmother or a diamond necklace you were given as a gift, it’s important that you know how to keep these items safe and secure in your home. The failure to do so could result in the jewelry losing its value or integrity or even becoming misplaced or stolen.

To show you how you can best protect any and all of these expensive items that you own, here are three tips for safely storing your jewelry at home.

Be Careful With The Environment

To make sure your jewelry stays in pristine condition while it’s stored, you must be careful about the environment in which you keep it.

According to Lauren Thomann, a contributor to The Spruce, you’ll want to store your jewelry in a place where it won’t be subjected to extreme temperatures or humidity. If you were to leave your jewelry in a place that’s too warm, too cold, has too much direct sunlight, or is too humid, it can easily become tarnished or discolored. For this reason, you should seek to store your jewelry at room temperature and in an area where it can stay out of direct sunlight.

Keep Most Things Out Of Sight

Because your jewelry is going to be most protected when it’s not in the sunlight, Lindsey Mather, a contributor to Architectural Digest, recommends that you should try to keep it out of sight when you store it. This can easily be done by putting it in a well-organized drawer or keeping it in your closet.

While the options mentioned above will work for jewelry that isn’t too expensive or sentimental, anything that you’re worried about being stolen should probably be stored in a more secure way, like in a safe.

Get A Safe

If you do choose to get a safe in which to keep your jewelry, there are actually multiple reasons why this could be a good idea for you.

According to Steven John, a contributor to Business Insider, keeping your jewelry in a safe will help ensure that your expensive or sentimental jewelry won’t be easily stolen if someone were to gain access to your bedroom. As long as the safe you choose is secure enough not to get broken into and is large enough that it can’t be easily carried off, your jewelry should be secure in a safe.

In addition to this type of protection, a safe can also help to keep your jewelry safe from fire or water damage. So if you’re concerned about these things, a safe can give you some added protection as well.

If you have jewelry that you’re wanting to keep safe while you store it in your home, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you accomplish this.

 

What You Need to Know About Home Liability Insurance

Purchasing your first home is one of the most exciting events of a person’s life. But it can also come with some new responsibilities. One of the most important is choosing and purchasing a home insurance policy.

If you are about to become a first-time homeowner, you may not understand what an insurance policy covers. Read on to learn about home liability insurance, and how it differs from regular property insurance.

What Insurance Does

Just like when you get automobile insurance and health insurance, home insurance protects you — and your finances — in the event of a problem. For example, let’s say a tornado rips the roof off your house. Or there’s a fire that destroys your kitchen. In both these cases, homeowner’s property insurance will cover the cost of repairing the damage.

Most standard insurance policies will also pay for you to stay elsewhere while your home is being repaired if it is unliveable following the disaster.

But because your home is a place where friends and family can visit, you need additional coverage. That’s called home liability insurance.

Home Liability Insurance

This type of insurance is a little different. Its purpose is to help you in the event that someone gets injured while on your property. It may also cover damage to another person’s property that is caused by you, your family, your pets, or an object on your property. Let’s take a look at each type.

Personal Injury

A guest attending your annual Backyard BBQ Bash and Potato Salad Cookoff trips over a grill and breaks her leg. Or your sister-in-law slips on a loose throw rug and falls down the stairs, causing a concussion. Lastly, what about if a door-to-door salesman is bitten by your vicious teacup poodle?

In each of these instances, your insurance will cover the costs related to the victim’s medical treatment. Or, if they decide to bring a lawsuit against you, your coverage will extend to your defense costs to protect you from these liabilities. The insurance company will even assign you an attorney.

Damage to Another’s Property

A good example of this type of incident is your son’s errant baseball crashing through your neighbor’s window. Or maybe a big windstorm has caused that old maple tree of yours to fall — and crush the fence next door. The insurance payouts to the people whose property has been damaged can help you avoid a costly and emotionally difficult lawsuit.

Host Liquor Liability Insurance

Here is another common type of home liability insurance: liquor liability insurance. It is usually included in traditional homeowner’s insurance, but check with your agent to make certain. This covers you if a claim is made that you served alcohol to an intoxicated guest, who later caused an accident and injured someone else.

Why Take Chances?

Home liability insurance isn’t the most exciting purchase you will make. But it is one of the most important. Ensure that you have a “happy ever after” in your new home by taking care of this responsibility.

Looking to save some money after buying a house? Check out the Budget section of this blog for creative ideas!

20 Essential Kitchen Tools That Will Make Your Life Easier

Cooking is a hobby loved by many people. With the right tools, you can find fun in the kitchen. However, there are tons of kitchen tools out there, and all promising to simplify matters, finding a tool that gets the work done can be overwhelming.

Keep in mind that not all flashy tools, machines, and accessories are legitimately useful and worth investing in.

To help you out, we compiled a list of 20 essential kitchen tools that will hasten meal preparation, and make your life easier.

1. Y-Peeler

Y-peelers are often sharp-enough to effortlessly glide right over apples, potatoes, and cucumbers. Most importantly, a y-peeler protects your hand, and it’s comfortable to hold.

It definitely comes in handy during food prep stages.

2. Salad Spinner

The best salad spinners dry your salad veggies and ensure they remain green. These are good for rinsing fresh foods and getting the excess water out without losing any. Besides, operating some of the best models is a breeze.

3. Skillet

From toasting sandwiches to frying eggs to ground beef, a skillet is undoubtedly one of the essential kitchen tools. Care about simmering and steaming? Find a skillet that comes with a lid.

Learning how to maneuver with this type of pan can help you create plenty of delicious meals. If you’re interested in making certain meals and need to find the right skillet pan for you, you’d probably benefit from this cookware information.

4. Good Knives & Block

You need a good set of knives for slicing and dicing. While you don’t have to buy a full set, a chef’s knife, a paring knife, and a serrated bread knife can do quite well.

After you’re done chopping, you can protect your knives by placing them in a knife block. Your ideal knife block should hold any knife, regardless of the shape and size. Plus, it should allow you to grab a blade and go!

5. Rubber Spatulas

Spatulas are among the essential kitchen tools as they can be used to work all sorts of semi-solid foods. They scoop things, mix things, and are easy to wash. Use your rubber spatulas to spread condiments on a toasted sandwich or scoop the last of that nice mayonnaise.

6. Crockpot

Crockpots are essential kitchen tools that quickly cook ‘from-scratch’ meals. All you need is, toss in your ingredients and wait.

7. Cutting Board

Whether plastic or wood, you need a board to place ingredients (fruits, vegetables, meats, and baked foods) for chopping. It’s important you choose one that’s dishwasher-safe and is made from odor-resistant material.

8. Steamer

If you’re a little health-conscious about food, then a steamer should make it to your list of essential kitchen tools. Steamers also release low heat, ensuring your kitchen remains cool while cooking. Most importantly, they help keep food oil-free.

9. Instant Read Thermometer

Eliminate guesswork when cooking meat, baking bread, or even frying liquid. A reliable instant thermometer is a must, especially if you’re cooking whole roasted chicken or turkey. Most instant-read thermometers are easy to read and can provide an accurate read within 7 seconds.

10. Juicer

Juicers are great tools for squeezing orange, lemon, and lime to release juice. Some can juice vegetables as well.

They come in handy for when you want to start a healthy lifestyle of detox juicing. They’re also important to make sure certain fruits and veggies that are harder to digest, such as carrots, are finely liquified.

11. Cappuccino Maker

It’s always nice to serve your guests’ cappuccino instead of regular coffee. Whether it’s a steam machine, pump machine or pod machine, a cappuccino maker is an easy to operate gizmo.

12. Kitchen Shears

Kitchen shears are a super-useful everyday tool. Whether you want to snip away herb stems, open up the packaging, or trim fats from meat, a pair of shears comes handy. You might also use them to trim the crust off a pie or cut up a whole chicken. Go for a quick-to-dismantle pair for easy cleaning.

13. Kitchen Scale

Reduce guesswork by measuring your ingredients, such as sugar and flour. A simple digital scale, for example, measures ingredients pretty accurately, which is important when a particular weight of components is required for a decent final product.

There are many digital scales sold on the market today that make food measurements much easier.

14. Can Opener

A can opener is used to open tricky metal lids. Go for an opener that also pops off glass bottle tops, and twists open stubborn plastic bottles. For quicker and more convenient opening, opt for an electrical can opener.

15. Pestle and Mortar

This pair is great for pounding wet ingredients into paste or dry pieces into a spice blend. These essential kitchen tools top at stirring enticing flavor from small ingredients.

16. Strainer

Avoid hot pasta steam burning your cornea as you struggle to drain spaghetti noodles. We recommend the fine-mesh versions as the tiny openings give them a wide range of uses.

17. Food Processor

An electric food processor is a versatile kitchen tool. Use it to quickly chop many things at once, or blend several ingredients to make your sauce.

18. Pressure Canner

If you want to safely can farm produce, then a pressure canner is a must-have. Can low-acid foods such as green beans, corn, and even meat! You can also use it to pressure-cook beans and other foods.

19. Measuring Cups

Measuring cups are used to measure the volume of a liquid or solid ingredients accurately. Choose cups that come with additional features like nesting capabilities, and a pouring lip.

20. Blender

If you want to make your own blended cocktails and smoothies to sorbet from juice and frozen fruits, then a blender is a must-have. Use your electric blender to quickly prepare various fresh fruit juices, soups, purees, nut spreads, and butter.

Grab These Essential Kitchen Tools for Your Cooking Needs

Having the right kitchen tools can mean the difference between buying expensive food at a restaurant or preparing the same food at home. Whether you are an expert or a beginner, these essential kitchen tools will help simplify your life and make cooking a breeze.

For more tips and info on home and living, check out our blog today.

3 Tips For Preparing Your Home For Your Kids’ Summer Break

 

Kids sitting by pool

Although summer break isn’t for a few more months, it’s never too early to start planning and preparing for this time that your kids will be spending at home. Whether you’re able to stay home with your kids or you’ll have to be at work during their summer break, there are things you can do to make their time at home easier and more enjoyable for everyone in your family.

To show you how this can be done, here are three tips for preparing your home for your kids’ summer break.

Maintain Your Yard

To encourage your kids to get outside and spend less time sitting on your couch in the air conditioning, you should spend the weeks or months leading up to summer weather preparing your yard for your kids to play there.

If you’re lucky enough to have a safe outdoor space that your kids can enjoy while at home, you should do everything you can to make this space inviting for them. Not only will this help your kids get some sun and fresh air that they likely aren’t as exposed to during the school year, but Beth Arky, a contributor to ChildMind.org, shares that having your kids burn off their energy outside is also good for their mental and emotional health as well.

Set Up Some Fun At-Home Activities

For many families, finding ways for your kids to spend time with other children or in day camps takes up the majority of the summer schedule. However, for the times that your kids will be at home, it’s wise to have some fun activities on-hand that will keep your kids busy.

According to Catherine Holecko, a contributor to Very Well Family, you might want to consider getting supplies for various art projects, sidewalk chalk for doodling outdoors, child-friendly exercise equipment, and odds and ends for crafting. Additionally, if your kids have expressed interest in learning anything new recently, you could get what they need to learn these things as well.

Make Summer Routines Easy

Even though your summer routine is likely going to be different than your family’s routine during the school year, it’s important that you don’t let your determination to stick to a routine falter simply because your kids don’t have school each weekday.

GreatSchools.org shares that having a daily schedule for your kids, even if it’s relatively flexible, will help your kids feel the structure and security that they need in their young lives.

If you’re wanting to make this an enjoyable summer vacation for every member of your family, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you prepare your home and family for the upcoming summer months.

 

3 Tips For a Low Maintenance Yard

As summertime creeps up just around the corner, chance are you’re starting to look at your yard more. During winter, you can get away with a less than stellar outdoor space since you’re not spending much time out there anyway.

However, when the sun is shining, you probably want to enjoy the sun and kick back al fresco. A nice yard doesn’t come for free, however. In order to be able to enjoy your yard and make it beautiful, you have to be willing to put in the work.

If endless hours of landscaping doesn’t sound like your kind of thing, then you’re not alone. The good news is that even though you’ll need to put in some effort, there are ways to minimize your workload.

Here are some of the best tips for a low-maintenance yard that looks fab.

Get a New Fence

One of the simplest ways to give your yard a breath of new life is to replace your old fence. If you’ve never assembled a fence before and haven’t the least clue about all of the components of a fence, don’t worry!

There are specialists who can get the job done for you, which means even less work for you to do!

Ditch Your Grass

Before you start wondering how you can have beautiful grass without having to actually take care of it, just know that it’s not an option. Unless you want to pay someone else to come and take care of it for you, then you’ll have to ditch it altogether.

Grass is a plant just like any other and requires trimming, food, sunlight, and water. Rocks, on the other hand, are much easier to take care of!

Consider getting rid of grass and putting in stones or gravel instead! You can get creative by blending different textures together and creating a backdoor space that is beautiful yet doesn’t require any mowing!

Go For Low-Maintenance Plants

One of the hardest parts of having a yard is taking care of your plants. Rather than opting for plants that are hard to take care of, go for ones that are easy breezy. Choose plants that look good at any time of year so you can cut back on your maintenance. Plants that look great even when they’re not blooming are a must!

When choosing flowers, go for perennials instead of annuals, so you don’t have to replant every year. Above all, choosing plants that are native to where you live will require the least amount of fuss to maintain. If they’re in their natural habitat, then you won’t have to worry about them getting the right amount of light or temperature levels. They’ll be happy as they are!