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Never nail textiles to a wall; you’ll ruin them forever. Clip rings designed for curtains may seem like an easy solution, but they’ll cause damage too. You must distribute the textile’s weight evenly when hanging to avoid excessive stress on any particular spot. What You Need Metal measuring tape Level Mounting board Paint Screws Hook-and-loop tape Staple gun and staples Twill rug binding or drapery buckram Sewing machine Hand-sewing needle and cotton thread...

Outlets should be a functional part of the kitchen island without drawing attention to themselves. The codes vary from state to state but an outlet or two is typically required on an island depending on the island’s overall size. In your design, consider the color, placement, size, and shape of the outlets. Numerous options allow outlets to be integrated into the island without compromising the beauty of the design. There are ready-made outlets available at big box stores like Home Depot and Lowes in standard colors....

Safety Considerations Surface-mount channels and raceways cannot be used for hiding household current building wire. Plastic-sheathed NM or metal-sheathed BX electrical wiring should be installed within walls for protection. Individual strand THHN wires should be installed in rigid metal conduits. THHN, NM, and BX wiring cannot be installed in exposed locations. Power supply cords that are hardwired to TVs and other electronic devices generally can be installed in surface-mount channels and raceways....

To gather insight on how individuals can easily add organic touches to their homes, we spoke with designers who shared simple steps that you can implement in your space today. Let the Light Shine In Organic spaces are light-filled, and, as designer Anne Kokoskie of Styled by A.R.K. notes, “Natural light is the best light bulb!” Thus, this valuable resource should be prioritized throughout your space. “Open the blinds, draw back the curtains, and even consider upgrading your window package,” Kokoskie suggests....

Whether made of concrete, stone, tile, or some other hardscape material, patios are a wonderful way to tie the indoors with the outdoors. An interesting alternative to lawns is the extended patio—an enlarged patio that takes up space where lawn grass would otherwise be planted. Such a patio minimizes yard maintenance and cuts down on your watering needs. Separating the street from your lawn Lining the sides of a driveway Marking property corners or boundary lines Enclosing vegetable gardens or flower beds Preventing erosion or terracing a slope with retaining walls...

Construction is booming in the United States, both commercial and residential. Almost all of these structures have a common feature that is a bird’s nemesis: glass. Tania Homayoun, a biologist at the Wildlife Diversity Program at Texas Parks and Wildlife, says that birds around the world have trouble with glass. Collisions killing almost 600 million birds a year in the United States alone. About 253 million of those die by flying into residential buildings....

Luckily, three professional organizers—Mary Hoff of Lotus Organizing & Design, Donna Jumper of JumpStart Organizing, and The Time Butler Professional Organizers’ Lisa Mark—share their tips on organizing a garage using a five-step process. Every household stores things in their garage they shouldn’t. Usually, according to Jumper, garages are full of too much of everything and they become the household’s “dumping ground.” So if you’ve accumulated massive amounts of clutter, you are not alone....

How Many Nightstand Lamps Do You Need? As a general rule, you need one nightstand lamp if you’re the only one sleeping in the bed and two if you have a partner. If your bedroom is very large or your mattress is a king, two bedside lamps give better balance, regardless of whether you’re the only one using the room or not. Even if you have two nightstand lamps, don’t count on them for the only source of illumination in the room....

If you’ve never done any decorating at all, you might feel that you don’t know how or where to start. If this is old hat to you, you might not know where to end. But when all is said and done, you want a new look and want to get started. There’s very little question about what element to choose last, but there are lots of things you can select first....