Home Improvement

Let us Start with the Tub with your Bathroom Remodel

Are you updating or adding a bathroom? Let us start with the tub.

A freestanding tub is a bathroom renovation that takes you back to the past if you are used to walk-in showers. Because it is not positioned in a corner or attached to a wall, this kind of bathtub style instantly becomes a focal point and complements to your home while making a stylish design statement. 

Soaking after a long day is the perfect way to close your evening, and a freestanding soaking tub will get you there. Soaker tubs are designed to be deeper and keep water from overflowing during your bath. These tubs should be considered for contemporary and modern bathroom remodeling ideas, and they usually don’t require significant changes to your home plumbing system. Designed with comfort and space in mind, soakers tubs also tend to have therapeutic features like water jets. Consider adding a set of steps and grab bar to walk into your new soaker tub more easily.

Make a statement in your bathroom with a distinctive bathtub material. The most commonly used bathtub materials are acrylic, fiberglass, and plastic. Step up your remodel with a few alternatives for a fresh and unique finish. There are several options available for when you want to step out of your comfort zone, including copper, alcove and wooden bathtub finishes.

A walk-in bathtub usually includes the tub, shower, seating, and steps to the unit. This type of bathtub setup is perfect for your small bathroom or if you need more functional assistance during your bath. This combination can make your life easier every day. Make your walk-in a smart tub with gadgets that control the water temperature and jets. Other bathtub technology options can play music and monitor water use and consumption. 

Shade Trees and Shrubs

Color Palette for your Home

How to create a color palette for your home. Having a defined interior color scheme for your home isn’t as intimidating as it may seem.

The best place to start is with color. More specifically creating a color scheme for your home will ensure that one room ties into the next nicely, even if the style of each room is a little bit different. And, creating an interior color scheme, or color palette for your home will make your decorating choices so much easier because it will narrow the number of choices you have.

But choosing colors for your home can be really overwhelming so you will have to come up with a process that would ensure a unified color palette and would be able to use that decor in more than one room.

Starting with your favorite color means that you won’t be getting sick of it any time soon. Now if your favorite color is cobalt blue then to go paint all of your walls that color, but you can most definitely use it as a starting point.

The point is the color evokes emotion. So, think about places or views that make you feel awesome and start to notice if there are certain colors off that color palette, you can bring into your home that contrast that will give you those same feelings.

99.9% of us aren’t on an unlimited budget which means that we’re always trying to figure out ways to work with what we already have. So, think of things like already existing furniture, cabinetry, countertops, and flooring. Figuring out contrast when looking at these things when choosing paint colors. You want to look at the color and decide if the base color has red, green, blue, brown, or yellow and go with a pasture off that main color. For instance, I have green tile in the kitchen and blue in the bathroom, painting the rest of the upper walls will have to be in contrast with the existing tile.

Shade Trees and Shrubs

Boxelder Trees, A Native Revisited

Boxelder trees are an easy-to-grow, very adaptable maple. The wood of boxelder maple trees is soft and has no commercial value. Boxelder maple tree facts tell us that this maple usually grows on riverbanks or near water in the wild. Some boxelder maple trees are male, and some are female. The females bear blossoms that turn bright green when they are pollinated. These trees have brittle, weak wood. That means that the trees break easily in wind and ice storms. In addition, boxelder maple tree information confirms that the tree seeds, found in winged samaras, germinate very easily in wet soils. Finally, female trees attract boxelder bugs. These are insects some ½ inch long that don’t cause many problems in the garden. However, boxelder bugs are problematic as winter comes on. They like to overwinter indoors, and you’ll likely find them inside your house.

Boxelder tree in landscaped
Boxelder tree

So why grow boxelders? If you are having trouble getting a tree growing, you will not with a boxelder. Now, there are several attractive cultivars of boxelder including “Aureo-Variegata”, “Flamingo” and “Auratum”. The cultivar “Aureo-Variegata” is noted for its leaves bordered in gold. “Flamingo’ has variegated leaves with pink margins and is somewhat available at local nurseries. “Auratum” has abundant gold leaves but is a little harder to find. Also, there are male varieties like the male “cottonless” cottonwoods that do not attract boxelder bugs.

"Flamingo" Boxelder variety of Boxelder treee
“Flamingo Boxelder