Curb Appeal Part 2: The Landscaping

Beautiful landscaping can add a lot to the curb appeal of your home. With spring finally here, now is a great time to start thinking about the natural decoration of the exterior of your home.
I'm by no means an expert in this area, but here's some basic tips I've learned:


*Note:* Design elements and principles apply as much outside your home as they do inside. Keep these rules in mind when considering your landscaping.


1) When designing a flower bed consider the lines and shapes of your house.
if your house has a lot of straight lines and boxy shapes (as most houses do), try using curved lines when designing your flower beds to incorporate more interest and variety.




3) Use shrubs /small trees to form the skeletal structure of your garden.
Keeping principles of balance and symmetry in mind when creating the structure of your landscaping.




4) Place your larger/taller perennials in between your shrubs.
Perennials are plants that come back every year, and continue to become more big and beautiful with time. Invest in perennials! Use as many of them as you can, but remember to give them adequate space to grow and fill -out over time. Plant your perennials in clusters as opposed to planting them in rows. Cluster-planting will in my opinion, bring a more impressive result.



5) Fill empty spaces with annuals.
Especially while your garden is young and your perennials immature (first 3 years), you will want to fill in your empty spaces with annuals. Annuals are plants and flowers that only last for one growing season, and need to be replaced every year.


*General Planting Tip:*
Keep principles of variety and repetition in mind when choosing where to place all of your plants. Consider height, size, shape, and colour of foliage and blooms, as well as timing of blooms when placing plants next to each other. Try to create as much harmony as possible throughout the growing season.
6) Add levels:
Adding levels to your landscaping brings more interest and variety. Some of this can be done with the plants themselves, otherwise you can raise flower-beds, or tier sections of your property. Incorporate different pots, boxes, and hanging baskets as well to add more levels to your landscaping.


*Low Maintenance Land-Scaping:*
If you don't have much of an interest in gardening, and want a more low-maintenance landscaping scheme, you may want to choose inanimate exterior decorations such as rocks, and ground covers of various varieties. Plan things carefully, draw them out if you need to. Keep design elements and principles in mind with a goal to create as much harmony as possible, and it will be lovely and effective as well.

ROOM MAKE-OVER GIVE AWAY!!!!!

Metz Interiors wants to make-over one of your rooms - for the cost of materials only!!!

Metz Interiors will be giving away a FULL-SERVICE DESIGN PACKAGE (approx $1000 value) for one room for Lethbridge and area residents,

or

a DIY DESIGN PACKAGE ($150 value) for one room for entries from outside of Lethbridge!

CONTEST DETAILS:

Leave a comment on this post, or "follow" do-it-yourselfdesign.blogspot.com to enter. Recieve an additional entry for "liking" Metz Interior's facebook page, and 5 additional entries for posting a link to either do-it-yourselfdesign.blogspot.com or Metz Interior's facebook page on your blog or facebook page. Send an email to metzinteriors@gmail.com to let us know how you have entered the contest!

People who already "follow" do-it-youselfdesign.blogspot.com or "like" Metz Interiors facebook page will automatically be entered. If you do not wish to be entered in this contest, please send an email withdrawing from the contest to metzinteriors@gmail.com

Contest ends May 15th, 2011.

Winner will be randomly drawn.

Winner will be posted on this blog, and Metz Interiors facebook page.

PRIZE DETAILS:


1) FULL-SERVICE DESIGN PACKAGE:

(Lethbridge AB, Canada and area residents only)

Winner recieves a free in-home intial consultation about which space you want to make-over (including a discussion about what budget you have for materials). A 3D model of your transformed space with accompanying design plan (approx $100 value), and all sewing/painting/decorating services required to transform your space (approx $1000 value)!


2) DIY DESIGN PACKAGE:

(For entries recieved from more than 1 hour outside of Lethbridge AB, Canada)

Recieve a free over-the-phone or online consultation about which space you want to make-over (pictures and measurements of the space will have to be supplied by contest winner to Metz Interiors), a 3D model of your transformed space with accompanying design plan including detailed instructions on how to transform your space (approx $150 value), and unlimited over the phone / online troubleshooting support required to complete your space transformation!

Have a question? Contact Abby at metzinteriors@gmail.com

Installing Molding Panels

Applying panels to the walls is a great way to incorporate line and shape into your room, and brings with it a classy and sophisticated feel.

Materials and Equipment:

-MDF chair-rail of narrow width (1-2")

- pin/brad-nailer and air compressor (I prefer 23 gauge pin-nailer)

- 1" brad nails/pins

- mitre saw

- measuring tape

- pencil

- square

- paintable caulking and gun

- carpenter's glue (optional)

Step 1:

Plan out your panels! Know where you want them to fit, and what you want them to look like. Measure your walls to determine the size (height and width of your panels) and the width in between and around your panels. Try to space them out in a way that creates as much even negative space around them as possible. Know how many pieces you need to cut and of what size.

Step 2:

Use a mitre saw set at a 45 degree angle to cut your chair-rail according to your measurements. Make sure you cut your angle in one direction at one end of your piece, and the opposite direction on the other side to ensure that when your pieces are brought together they will form a 90 degree angle.

Step 3:

Use hot-glue to join together the pieces of your panel.

Use as little glue as possible, and hold joint firmly together until glue is set.

This is especially helpful when working with smaller panels. If working with larger panels, you may need two people to move the completed panel, or put them up one piece at a time rather than pre-glueing them.

Step 4:

Use your square and pencil to mark the position of your panels on the wall as closely to your plan as possible.

Step 5:

Hold panel in position according to your pencil marks and tack in place with a 23 gauge pin-nailer (a larger brad-nailer can be used, but will leave a bigger mark in the molding). Try to place your nails in a spot where they will cause the least amount of damage to your molding, and will be the least conspicuous.

Start with the corners, ensuring that they are as close to your marks as possible. Secure the panel by placing nails/pins every 4-5 inches, use more for areas with greater gaps from the wall.

Glue vs. No Glue:

Pros of using glue:

Stronger and more permanent.

Cons of using glue:

More difficult to correct mistakes if necessary. If/when you ever want to remove the panels, it will cause more damage to your walls.

If you wish to use glue, apply a thin line of carpenter's glue to the back of the panel before nailing it to the wall.

Step 6:

Apply caulking to outside and inside edges, smoothing and removing excess with your finger.

Apply caulking to corner joints, gaps, and nail holes. Smooth with finger. Remove excess/ clean-up with a damp rag. Allow time to dry. Expect caulking to shrink during drying. Areas with larger gaps may require 2 or more applications of caulking before they are adequately filled.

Step 7:

Sand lightly with a sponge block for a smooth finish and paint! If you're changing your wall colour, I would reccommend painting your walls prior to applying your panels. Paint your panels while in hot-glued frames, and then touch-up after nailing and caulking.

Step 8:

Enjoy your ordinary space turned extraordinary!