How to Clone Orchids

In need as cut flowers and as plants for hobbyists and enthusiasts, wild orchid populations were frequently threatened by harvesting for all these markets before efficient means of cloning developed. Cloning is vegetative reproduction from existing plant parts, instead of sexual reproduction from growing seeds. Through cloning, it is possible to find an exact replica …


What Color Walls Go With a Sienna Bedspread?

The sienna pigment was a favorite of this cave painters who tracked statistics in iron oxide and manganese oxide on walls deep underground. Raw sienna is just a yellowish-brown color that if heated, turns reddish-brown, and also is called burnt sienna. Both shades are powerful, earthy tones which may punctuate or dominate decor, based on …


Warm Up Your Bathroom With Heated Floors

Heated bathroom flooring isn’t only a fantastic investment, but it’s a really nice feature to wake up to each morning. When temperatures outside drop, many people begin wishing we had such a feature. I spoke with Daniel Ortega, a heated-flooring expert at Siles Remodeling, about what homeowners need to know when discussing this option with …


Greek Revival Style

Believe Greek (structure, that is), and columns must come to mind. Over 2,000 years ago, that the Greeks created three orders of columns: Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. Each column had a base, shaft and capital, and every order was decorated and proportioned in a different way. A resurrection of Greek structure propagate throughout the United …


Roots of Style

They charm us with an intimate scale and intricate wooden details lightly layered over stuccotiles, stone and bricks. Their porches return time while offering a gentle transition between the outside world and cozy spaces inside. These are Craftsman houses — uniquely American creations that began to appear around 1905 in Southern California and are considered …


Patio of the Week: Playtime for the Family

Before its remodel the principal quality of the Oakland, California, garden was a grey concrete wall using a weedy hillside over it, and a small yard area where no grass would grow. The lackluster perspective was all that could be viewed in the living room windows. The clients hadn’t any interest in gardening, says landscape …


3 Award-Winning Baths From 2013 KBIS to Judge for Yourself

The bathroom has evolved from a failed functional space to a stylish retreat that merits an entire business of design professionals. Each year that the National Kitchen and Bath Association challenges designers to come up with eye-catching inventive interpretations of today’s bathroom. I had the privilege of fulfilling with the award-winning designers at the ceremony …


Establish Your Garden Softly With Planted Borders

In the medieval knot garden to Victorian displays of carpet bedding, delineation between landscape attributes has always been important in garden design; defining lawn edges, pathways or paving from neatly planted beds continues to be valuable in our houses today. Hardscaping materials like concrete, brick and terra-cotta have traditionally been used, however there are benefits …