Home, Office & Garden

Healthy Trees

Bam! The sound is startling. Outside, a large, decayed tree limb crushes the ground. It landed a few feet from a vehicle. A close call, but what if you parked the car in that exact spot? What if the kids or grandkids were outside playing that day? Click here to keep reading.

Organize Your Life

Not long after a death in the family, I realized that inheriting half a household worth of free stuff was a mixed blessing.  I got rid of what I didn't want or couldn't use, but there were still dozens of items that I wasn't sure I wanted to part with yet.  Many items had monetary value and lots were connected to memories.  I was fresh from college at the time, so my small apartment had been fairly sparse. Click here to keep reading.

Seasons of Color

Make this season spectacular with a trip to Gibbs Gardens, located in Cherokee County, where during the spring, over 20 million daffodils are in bloom. Any chance you’re free Thursday morning at 11 a.m.? Claim a seat at Gibbs Gardens where experts share tips to use in your yard during monthly garden talks every fourth Thursday. However, every day is a spectacular opportunity to discover millions of flowers. Click here to read the full article.

Wild About Orchids

Some boast big, bold blossoms balancing on long, wobbly shoots. Others appear dainty and delicate. And then there are those sporting whimsical polka dots and out-of-this-world patterns. Though the exotic beauty of orchids is rivaled by few other flowers, many of us are reluctant to try our hand at growing these exquisite plants. Somewhere along the way, orchids gained the unwarranted reputation of being the divas of the houseplant world-difficult to keep alive and rather temperamental about blooming. But with a little knowledge and effort, almost anyone can grow an orchid. To continue reading this article on orchids, click here.

Perfectly Re-Purposed

If you’d told Carl Clark in 1939 that one day his invention for Lift Truck Platforms would be all the rage for home decorating 75 years later, he would probably have thought you were joking. Lift truck platforms, skids, or as most people know them, pallets, have become a standard for efficient creations both privately and commercially. Salvaged from their original purpose of delivering quantities of goods with ease using a forklift, they can serve as a shortcut to constructing some fantastic and fun projects. To find out the different ways pallets have been incorporated into home decor, click here.

It's Jarring

VISUALLY COMFORTING, VINTAGE AND ORGANIC, old fashioned jars, at first glance, often generate feelings of nostalgia. With warm thoughts of fruit preserves, relishes, soups and other simple vegetables, jars have long been an essential staple in Southern kitchens. Year after year, how else would a family preserve their spring and summer harvests? If you believe a jar is merely purposed for food storage, think again.

Since the first century glassblowers of Syria, glass has long proven its function and purpose in our everyday lives. The first glass jars began appearing as early as the 1600s in Jamestown. However, the jar as we've come to know and love for food preservation and as memories from our grandparents' kitchen cupboards appeared as early as the mid 1800s and became mainstream fixtures after the automated production of glass jars began in the early 1900s. From clamp style jars to today's aluminum screw on lids, the function of the glass jar is, without doubt, here to stay.  To learn more about the evolution of the glass jar, click here.

A Gardener's Preserve ~ Creating a Backyard Masterpiece

In the 1960s and 70s, Dr. John Linley, a landscape architecture professor and gardening enthusiast revamped Pulaski Street, a small neighborhood street shooting off of downtown Athens. He transformed his old mill house into a modern, sixties home and turned his back yard into an astonishing garden that encompasses several neighboring yards. He did not stop at his own garden, but also planted trees lining the entire street in order to bring the street continuity and a shady, neighborhood kind of feel.  Click here to see more backyard transformations and ideas.