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Brooklin Blinds has been in business for just over a year, and has had the privilege of working in many beautiful homes in Oshawa, Whitby, and Clarington (Durham region). We offer a variety of custom window coverings from both Elite Window Fashions and Eclipse Shutters.

From Elite, we can offer window shades (solar shading), horizontal blinds, honeycomb cellular and pleated shades, vertical blinds, Roman style shades and California shutters. These window coverings offer a classic look engineered with ultra light components. The California shutters resist temperature fluctuations, extreme humidity and intense light.

From Eclipse, we can offer California shutters installed with custom frames and moldings. These California shutters are energy efficient, waterproof, washable, UV protected, lightweight and virtually indestructible. There are multiple design options and application choices to suit any window.

For anyone with a home facing east or west, it’s very important to consider the trajectory of the daily flight of the sun at different times throughout the year.  Why is that?  For the simple reason that the sun has a predictable tendency to make its daily path across the southerly sky during the winter, as opposed to a more overhead arc during the peak of summer.   How that affects the amount of sunlight your yard gets on each side of your home is something that everyone should be aware of before picking out and spending what could be a costly amount of money on trees, plants, and shrubs, only to see them wither from not enough light, or too much.

It’s not enough to only consider the growing zone you reside in for the purposes of picking the right plants.  Neither is it enough of an excuse to stock up at the local nursery because the spring planting season has arrived.  If you’ve lived in your home long enough, you’ve most likely become greatly accustomed to the amount of sunlight each area of your yard receives.  Well, have heart new homeowners; because keeping a few key things in mind will help keep you from making costly plant purchases as well.

First and foremost, you need to always read the information tag that accompanies, or should accompany every plant you see for sale.  If you can’t find one, make a point to ask one of the nursery employees what the plant is and what they know about its water needs, growth habit, soil needs, and of course, its sunlight needs.  If there is any doubt or hesitancy in their response, you probably should move on to a tagged plant, or even a new nursery if you’re finding  a common lack of help or information to rely on, and research more about the plant you like, if it’s important to you.

The next thing to consider, is what locations in your yard would be good candidates for your new plant.  Think of how the new plant will compliment, contrast, or simply fit in with the theme of your garden.    Then, take mental notes on whether or not the new plant’s needs for water, soil, and growth as you’ve read on the tag will be met in those locations.

Finally, consider the amount of sunlight your new plant will receive throughout various times of the year.  Not just the time of the year you happen to be purchasing the plant.  If you have an east facing home, always remember that the north side of your home during the winter will receive very little if any direct sunlight due to the southerly arc of the sun, while its south side soaks up all the rays.  So, if you’ve fallen in love with Rosemary, Geraniums, or any other plants that need full sun year round, you should forget about planting or placing them on the north side of your home.  At the same time, you’ll want to avoid buying shade loving plants for the winter shaded north side of your home,  because they will soon enough discover the hot wrath of the summer sun come June and July.

Keep in mind however, there are a lot of determining factors on whether or not a plant grows well in a designated location in your yard, such as soil quality, excessive wind that can dry out a plant, and insects just to name a few.  To sum it up for the purposes of sunlight though, get to know how much sun your home gets on all sides, north, south, east, and west, to help you in picking out the right plants for your yard.

About the Author: Linda Johnson is a degreed and experienced crafter and interior/exterior decorating specialist, with years of experience helping friends, family, and clients solve their decorating and craft needs. Linda and her contributing writers invite you to submit your own great ideas for free, and also find tons more craft ideas and landscape decorating projects like this with photos to try yourself.

From constantly-adjusting global markets to staggering technological advances, our daily lives are changing quickly. We now have Internet Access in virtually every home, web enabled cell phones, and email replacing traditional mail.

The Real Estate market is also changing, as the ability to promote and market homes is more and more technology driven. A new Real Estate Marketing firm in Durham is anxious to promote these technologies.

“The process of selling your home is nothing like it was in the past,” says Debby Varty of I.M. For Sale By Owner. “Today’s consumer has more tools at his or her disposal: being able to view a wider range of properties, see their special features, and research areas where they would like to live. All this information and much more is available on the web. The file cabinets of the past are now freely available to anyone with an internet browser”.

This also gives you options when selling your home. “It just doesn’t make any sense to spend over $10,000 to sell your home in today’s world”. That would be the cost to sell a home worth $200,000 using a traditional agent. On a $300,000 home, we can save you over 90 percent. Who wouldn’t be interested in a 90 percent saving?”

While there are several “sell it yourself” companies now on the market, Debby believes the I.M. For Sale By Owner system with its innovative features best takes advantage of today’s ‘techno-marketplace’.

“Take the Talking House for example. We can put a small transmitter in your home, and broadcast a never-ending commercial promoting the features of your home 24 hours a day”. A lawn sign invites drivers to tune in to a clearly labeled station on their car radio. They will hear your pre-recorded message from in front of your home. “It’s like having a salesman at the curb stopping every car that goes by.”

If potential buyers have a web-enabled cell phone, they can access a direct link to your home, and view correctly adjusted photos of the inside of your home and of your backyard on their cell phone. Again, right from your curb. A potential buyer can simply drive by your home and get not only a professional audio presentation of all its features, but images as well. “To have that kind of information at their fingertips in our busy lives is a huge time-saver for homebuyers”. They can then go home and log in to the website and see high colour images with audio voice-over, 360 degree panoramas, maps to the property and more. “We can offer everything an agent can offer. We promote your home on multiple websites and provide printable feature sheets, comparables in your area, and open house assistance. All this at a fraction of the cost, and it’s 100% guaranteed”.

That’s why we like to say, “Selling your home? Let your home sell itself. You have absolutely nothing to lose, and possibly tens of thousands of dollars to gain”.

About the article author: Debby Varty is with I.M. For Sale By Owner, a company based in Durham Region that helps people sell their homes effectively. For more information visit: www.thetalkinghouse.ca

It’s no secret. We love dogs. In fact, according to the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association, more than 40 million American households share their lives with more than 68 million dogs.

A messy house, however, is something we don’t love. And it seems like dogs go out of their way to get dirt, hair, stains, and odors, and all manner of nasty things everywhere.

Fortunately there are a few things you can do to “dog proof” your home. You’ll learn about them below, along with some easy ways to clean up those unavoidable doggy messes.

Preventing dog hair

If your dog sheds, as most do, you’re probably familiar with how irritating dog hair can be. It gets all over the carpet, furniture, rugs, and pretty much everywhere else the dog goes.

You can drastically cut down on the amount of hair that is shed by grooming your dog often. Once a week, take your dog outside and give its fur a good combing with the type of brush recommended for its coat. Give him lots of praise and maybe a few treats so he’ll come to love his grooming time.

Be sure to groom him away from the house so that the hair isn’t blown back into the house.

Regular grooming will not only make your dog more attractive and happier from the extra attention, it will spare your sofa and carpet from all that extra fur.

Removing dog hair

Even if you regularly groom your dog, chances are some stray hairs will still end up where they aren’t wanted.

A damp cloth works wonders for removing hair from furniture and other surfaces. A lint roller is another fantastic tool for getting rid of hair. It will allow you to quickly roll up stray hairs. A lint roller is perfect for a quick furniture check before company arrives!

A powerful vacuum should have no problem pulling dog hair out of rugs and carpets.

Rugs and mats are your friends

Rubber-backed mats collect dirt and moisture and clean up easily. Use them outside and inside doors, under food dishes, and in sleeping areas. Even car mats will do.

Wipe off those paws

Train your dog to wait on the rug or mat until you wipe off his paws with a damp rag or towel. This will keep him from making mud tracks all over the house.

It might take a little extra time to get him trained, but you’ll spend much more time cleaning up after him if you don’t train him to wait.

Doggie dishes

Stainless steel feeding dishes are the best choice for your dog. They are heavy and hard to topple by your over-enthusiastic pet. Be sure to wash it regularly.

Dog Allergies

If you or a family member is allergic to dogs there are a few things you can do to make life easier.

Restrict your dog to certain rooms of your home to create allergy-free areas. Bedrooms, especially, should be a no dog zone.

Use an air purification device to reduce allergens. These are also great at reducing odors. Keep your home well ventilated as well.

About The Author
Christopher Fisher is a writer and reviewer for http://www.naturesmiraclereviews.com a site that reviews the popular cleaning product. 

Spring Is Around The Corner – How is your Garden?

Spring is in my opinion the most wonderful time of year for the gardener. You can shake of that winter weariness and get ready for a new gardening season.

The most difficult part of spring gardening is trying to manage your impatience. Don’t start digging around too early. The soil must be dry enough to have it fall apart when you pick it up. When it still sticks together like glue that’s definitely not the case.

Early spring is the best time of year to change (parts of) your garden design. You can transplant existing shrubs and perennial plants before they begin to leaf out. This also is the time to prune your trees and shrubs. Cut back the remaining dead foliage from last season and remove dead, damaged or diseased branches of trees and shrubs.

And then flowers! That’s really what spring is about isn’t it! There are many that are suitable for cool spring weather. Think of sweet alyssum, some snapdragons, stock and sweat peas. You can also start some perennials like hostas and daylilies.

Start some Violets, Marigolds, Carnations, Geraniums and Impatiens inside to transplant to your flower beds in early spring. Or if you have some space left in your garden you can set up a “Cold Frame”. Ready-made cold frames are available in different sizes. A cold frame “captures” the spring sunlight and warms the soil it surrounds. That way it is ideal to “harden off” houseplants and transplants for your summer garden. You can use the cold frame for direct seeding as well.

If you have unplanted areas in your garden a great spring project is to lay out landscape cloth on that unplanted area. Landscape cloth is an excellent weed barrier. It comes in different weights, heights and fabric choices. This cloth can then also serve as a great map to precisely plant your transplants.

Weeds start to grow very early but still have shallow roots in spring so get them out when you spot them. Getting on top of the weeds now means a lot less work in summer, and I’m sure that digging out weeds in the burning sun in not your favorite pastime.

These two measures will definitely intimidate your perennial weeds to the extent that they will prefer your neighbor’s garden over yours.

And most of all enjoy your spring garden, watch it grow and blossom into summer!

About The Author:
Anita Johnston is an enthusiast gardener and one of the authors of http://www.gardening-guides.com  

The idea of using pop cans to heat a home may sound a little strange at first, but a company in Canada has proved the idea makes great sense. Cansolair Inc. has used aluminum cans in it’s solar panels for over 10 years now, and they’ve even won awards for their design.

Why Pop Cans?

The company’s heaters, made with recycled aluminum cans, are not only cheaper than other types, but have proven to be very efficient as well. The company reports exponential growth over the past few years.

The Cansolair solar panel is about 4 ft. wide by 8 ft. tall. It can produce up to 10,000 BTUs per hour and raise the temperature of the air passing through it by 50F or more. It includes a fan to push the air through the cans which increases it’s efficiency.

How They Work

The heaters are normally installed on the outside walls of a building, and of course, in a location that gets a lot of sun. While they won’t help you much on a cloudy day, they can make a big difference in your heating bill on cold sunny days.

The idea is to draw air from near the floor of any room in a building, and pass it through the solar panel, which contains several columns of cans. The air is then returned to the same room near the ceiling and at up to 50F higher temperature. The cans are stacked and have large holes cut in both ends to allow the air to pass inside them while the outside of the cans is getting hot from the sun.

Thin-walled aluminum, which is what the cans are made of, has good thermal conductivity, making it an excellent material for transferring solar heat to the air as it flows past the cans. Flat black paint on the outside of the cans aids in the process by absorbing the sun’s heat more quickly.

Excellent Project For Do-It-Yourselfers

Cansolair has the facilities and materials to produce sophisticated units on a large scale, but the basic concept is simple enough that virtually anyone can build their own with readily available materials.

Frank Gombik of Ontario, Canada made one to heat his workshop in the winter, and Daniel Strohl of Vermont constructed one to heat his garage.

Daniel noted that the south wall of his garage was receiving a lot of sunshine, but the temperature inside was still cold. He constructed a simple free-standing heater, containing 45 aluminum cans. He used a vacuum cleaner hose to pipe to and from the garage.

Frank had two goals in mind – he wanted to heat his workshop and also replace the old double-door entry leading into it from the outside. His heater included a total of 176 cans and some special temperature sensing equipment to measure the system’s efficiency.

Constructing this type of solar heater is well within the skills of the average handyman. The pop cans are free and the other materials inexpensive. This project has the double advantage of free solar energy and conserving our natural resources, not to mention the free heat in the winter!

About the author: John Horning has a website devoted to solar-power for the home. Learn more about building a solar-powered heater out of recycled cans on his website, www.DIY-Solar-Power.net

You do not have to live on an island to have a gorgeous botanical garden; with considerate planning and some maintenance, almost anyone can have their own tropical paradise. Gardening is a rewarding experience, most people find it a satisfying, yet frustrating adventure that many people are intimidated by. Climate considerations should be taken into consideration, as not having ideal weather conditions can make growing your garden more difficult. Botanical gardening is not as hard as many think, a few simple rules do need to be observed.

The most important thing you can do, is plan everything carefully. This is the key to the success of any adventure into the world gardening.

You need take location into consideration, you need an area that is sunny and highly visible. You will want to make your tropical garden the focal part of your landscape, because you will be using various types of plants.

You will then need to condition the soil, tilling it and removing and debris or rocks. The next step is to add sand and compost, this enriches the soil and provides needed nutrients. Once you are done with planting, put down a layer of mulch to hold moisture in the soil.

Now that you have your tropical garden planted, you need to decide on the best method of irrigation. You can install a soaker hose under the soil, or you can water the plants by hand. There are styles that go with any backyard designs. It is very important to have proper drainage and not to over water your plants.

You should plan your landscape with proper layering. You need to plant higher plants in the back and taper down in size from medium, then small.

With the changing seasons, you need to bring your potted plants indoors. This will add color and pizazz to your garden and protect your plants from the elements.

Once you have set up your tropical garden, it is time to explore and purchase your plants. Some plants are more exotic looking than others, some have broad leaves, thicker stalks and fragrant flowers. You may want to consider adding the following plants to your garden:

Orchids Lilies Sisal Grass Ferns Bamboo Geraniums Rhododendrons Palms (there are many varieties to choose from) Birds of Paradise Hydrangea

If you live in an area that experiences a winter season with cold temperatures, then it is best to bring your exotic plants indoors. This is done to protect them from being damaged by the elements. It will also, create a wonderful environment in your home during the cold dreary winter months. You need to protect your bulbs as well, and avoid exposing them to freezing temperatures. Every spring remember to aerate your soil and add fresh compost, this will keep your tropical garden in tip-top condition.

About the Author:
It’s time to clear things up on the subject of tropical backyard designs. Drop by today at http://www.plant-care.com/1546-tropical-landscaping.html.