House Plants

Indoor plants and Winter

It may sound odd, but indoor plants need less water during the winter. While it’s true that winter air is drier, plants experience a slower rate of growth during the cold weather. Some even go completely dormant. Less water is needed to keep them hydrated and overdoing it can lead to root rot.

The soil dries out quickly on the top of the soil because of the drier air in the house. Dig your finger into the soil to see how wet it truly is. Most plants require less water in the winter because their growth slows down or they go dormant, do not wait until the leaves droop to water. Cactus and succulents are the exceptions, requiring very little water, if none at all, until the daylight gets longer and warmer.

Low humidity is probably the biggest hurdle to overcome during winter. The humidity level in heated homes can drop to 10 to 20 percent in winter and plants prefer a level closer to 50 percent. If you have a humidifier in your home, move your plants to a spot where they will enjoy its benefits. If you do not have a humidifier, you can raise the humidity by misting the plants.

Another good option is the old trick of placing your plants on a tray of water. Raise the bottom of the pots above the water level by placing stones in the water (higher than the water level) and sitting the pots on the stones and not in water.

Most plants, like people, are comfortable in daytime temperatures between 65 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit. and nighttime temps above 50 degrees Fahrenheit. To provide that for your plants, keep them away from both cold drafts and sources of heat, like radiators, ovens, fireplaces, and electronic devices.

Not only is there less sunlight during winter, but it also comes in at a lower angle. A good spot would be south or west-facing window that remains sunny all day. Plants that grow in the shade like begonias in the summer can handle a south window in the winter. Just don’t move them so close to a frosty window that they are getting a draft.

Since your plants are barely growing, they don’t need any fertilizer. Fertilizing now could actually harm them this time of the year. When you start to see signs of new growth, or the green of the existing leaves appears to perk up, resume fertilizing, to give them a boost for the growing season.

Give your houseplants the essentials to sustain them through winter, but don’t fuss over them or kill them with kindness. Keep an eye out for early signs of problems, which can still include insect pests, even in winter. But wait until the growing season resumes, before you re-pot them or start taking cuttings. Consider winter an offseason for you and your houseplants.

Real Estate, Real Estate (Commercial), Real Estate (Farm & Ranch Land), Real Estate (Residential)

Credit Scores (How to Fix)

There are five characteristics of your credit history that make up your three-digit score: your payment history, account balances, the length of your credit history, the types of credit used and how often you’ve applied for new credit. Credit scores will improve much more quickly by paying attention to the two categories that have the greatest impact on a score: payment history and account balances. 

Payment history accounts for 35 percent of the total score. When someone makes a payment more than 30 days past the due date, scores will fall. An occasional “late pay” won’t do much damage to your score but continued payments made more than 30 days past due definitely will. Preventing late payments is key to recovering your score. 

Account balances compare outstanding loan balances with credit lines and makeup 30 percent of your score. If a credit card has a $10,000 credit line and there is a $3,300 balance, scores will actually improve, as the ideal balance-to-limit is about one-third of the credit line. As the balance grows and approaches or exceeds the limit, scores will begin to fall. 

The remaining three have relatively little impact. How long someone has used credit accounts for 15 percent of the score, but there’s really nothing anyone can do to improve this area other than to wait. Types of credit and credit inquiries both makeup 10 percent of the score. By concentrating on payment history and account balances, scores will improve significantly over the next few months.
Home Improvement

Bookshelves for Book Lovers

As book lovers, we don’t lust after cheap bookshelves. When thinking about our private libraries and how to best display our treasured books, we all dream of something like the library from Beauty and the Beast, right? Or, barring that, some impossibly swirly or hidden-away book nook to settle into.

And then… well, we look at the price of those fancier bookshelves, take a deep breath, and redirect our attention towards some cheaper bookshelves that actually still look pretty nice and do the job.

It’s sometimes difficult to say goodbye to a beloved piece of furniture—no matter how weathered—so skip the fond farewell by refurbishing an old but cherished bookcase. Whether it needs stripping and sanding, a layer of lacquer, or a fresh coat of paint, a worn bookcase can be made as good as new with a little effort.

Assembled from a small stack of 1×8 boards and black plumbing pipes, this bookshelf is industrial in both strength and style—and putting the unit together proves that the electric drill is the tool that rules them all!

Rope is an excellent all-purpose craft material—it can be used in making stair railings, lampshades, and even privacy screens. A sturdy length of knotted rope is also great for suspending a shelf that lends a nautical charm to any room.

Using your imagination, you can create any type of bookcase like the birch wood. Possibly better suited to a music room or study, to be a conversation starter wherever it’s put.

Give old bricks a second life as a DIY bookcase by mounting it sideways on a wall. Glue the bricks together making the sturdy.

Use shipping pallets or old wooden boxes as the primary construction material in your DIY bookcase. Once you’ve assessed the quality and integrity of your individual pallets, begin the straightforward task of attaching horizontal shelves to the pallets’ slats. Be sure to mount the pallets using drywall anchors for maximum steadfastness against the wall.

Cinder blocks and wood planks form a more perfect union in this affordable shelving project, easy enough for even a novice DIYer to complete. Enhance the structure’s style by painting the boards before inserting them into the cinder blocks.