Category: Fireplaces

Most Effective Way to Rid Yard of Squirrels

Squirrels are agile climbers that are difficult to exclude from an area. The best way to keep squirrels out of your yard is really a blend of traps and habitat modification. This plan eliminates food resources and habitats that squirrels find attractive while permanently removing any squirrels that frequent your yard. Many species of tree squirrel require a license before you can legally remove them, and certain species are protected under law.

Squirrel Removal

In California, native species of tree squirrels are subject to regulation under state fishing and hunting laws. Only the Eastern fox squirrel could be killed without a license. It is lawful to get rid of ground squirrels that are damaging your house with no permit. The exceptions to this rule would be the Mohave ground squirrel and the San Joaquin antelope squirrel, which are protected species. Ask your fish and game department to ascertain what restrictions on rodent control methods are enforced in the regional area.

Tree Squirrels

Traps are an effective method for controlling small populations of squirrels. Placing, draining and checking traps is a more labor-intensive process than using poison baits, but it’s not as likely to harm other types of wildlife. Placing your traps in the ideal areas ensures that the squirrels in your yard encounter them. Traps for tree squirrels work best in elevated regions. The branches of trees, the tops of fences and rooftops are common areas to locate traps for tree squirrels.

Ground Squirrels

Placing your traps from the region for several days without placing or baiting them enables squirrels to become used to their presence. Unlike tree squirrels, ground squirrels inhabit burrows in the ground. Placing your traps at the entrances of ground squirrel burrows provides effective control. Search for burrows that are free of debris having newly disturbed dirt around the entry. Placing your traps within a box with a entry 3 inches in diameter helps soften animals other than squirrels and small rodents.

Squirrel Habitat

Ground squirrels prefer regions with debris and brush that offer cover. Removing brush and leaf piles from your yard makes it less desirable to ground squirrels. Use a rototiller or scoop to turn the dirt around any burrows in your yard to a thickness of two feet. Filling in the holes doesn’t prevent other squirrels from opening and inhabiting old burrows. Trimming trees with branches that overhang rooftops, fence rows or electricity lines limits the paths available to tree squirrels and rendering it more challenging for them to get around.

Considerations

Killing endangered rodents or mammals is a crime that could lead to criminal and civil penalties. Determine which species of squirrels are in your yard and avoid using control methods that may harm endangered species before you begin a control program. Speak with the regional fish and game department to find out whether there are some other threatened species living in your area before you set traps. In California, it’s illegal to transport and release eastern fox squirrels that you’ve caught employing a nonlethal trap with no license.

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Can Birdseed Start Weeds in Your Yard?

If you’re inviting flocks of birds to go to your yard by enticing them with birdseed, then you could also be inviting weeds. When seed falls from the feeder into the ground there is potential for germination. This is not a issue with all kinds of bird food. By being a conscientious shopper you can enjoy the birds while avoiding extra weed growth.

Contents of Birdseed Mixes

All weeds are annoying, but some packages of birdseed are identified as having numerous varieties of invasive weed seeds. When these seeds are scattered from a feeder and spread in the yard, they could quickly become a maintenance nightmare. To avoid purchasing bird seed containing noxious weeds, then read the label or contact the seed manufacturer and find out what was done to make sure the contents are not invasive weed seeds. Birdseed which contains a great deal of filler seed like red millet may result in more bud growth since birds do not tend to like this type of seed. Rather than eating the stitch, they push it aside and induce more to drop to the ground as they hunt for the seed they need. Know what kinds of birdseed you’re purchasing in a mixture and if it’s desired to the birds you want to attract.

Kinds of Bird Food

When seeds are baked, then they lose the ability to germinate. Some birdseed manufacturers offer baked birdseed. This type of seed won’t cause weeds to grow in your yard but will still attract birds. Other kinds of bird food, like sunflowers hearts, peanut butter, raisins, mealworm and suet cakes, won’t sprout if scattered around your yard by messy eaters.

Prevention

Keep in mind the birdseed will not grow weeds in your yard if it doesn’t get to the ground. Placing a tray under your bird feeder to catch overflowing seeds can prevent the issue of weed growth. Although birds may be messy eaters, squirrels are occasionally a larger issue. If you discover squirrels scattering seeds from your yard, consider another type of feeder which will prevent the squirrels from obtaining the seeds.

Managing Weeds

Weeds will be an issue in any garden. Regularly monitoring your yard will provide you a good idea about what maintenance has to be done. By doing this you can see where weeds are popping up and remove them before they flower and spread into other areas of the yard. They’re also much easier to remove when they are small.

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Periwinkle as a Ground Cover

Gardening with periwinkle (Vinca spp.) As a ground cover provides your yard a visually gentle, tidy look, due to the glossy foliage and tiny flowers that bloom in many different gentle hues. Become knowledgeable about the periwinkle ground cover that is most appropriate for your landscape and pay attention to any adjustments to prevent disease damage.

Considerations

Choosing periwinkle ground cover might lead to confusion because of distinct species referred to by exactly the same name. Known as creeping myrtle, common periwinkle and dwarf periwinkle (Vinca minor), this smaller of the periwinkles is the proper choice because it isn’t considered invasive. Take steps to prevent planting the bigger, invasive species occasionally called big periwinkle (Vinca major). The ends of bare big periwinkle stems root when they contact the ground, which makes this an aggressive species that might wreak havoc in your garden and on native plants in your town.

Attributes

Common periwinkle is an evergreen perennial ground cover that exhibits glossy, deep green contrary leaf. This plant is prized because of its 1/2-inch diameter, spiral, five-petaled flowers in a light blue-violet hue. Diversify your lawn using periwinkle cultivars, like “Variegata” which has variegated yellow leaf or “Alba,” which has white flowers. Common periwinkle grows to a height of up to 6 inches with a spread of about 3 ft, rapidly growing using a matting habit.

General Care

Common periwinkle ground cover thrives in regions of the garden that provide partial sun to shade. These plants may experience burned leaves when exposed to full sunlight. Common periwinkle tolerates most soil conditions but it thrives in moist, well-drained soil, rich in organic content, with a pH of 6.0 to 8.0. Fertilizing periwinkle using a 10-10-10 complete fertilizer during the spring promotes healthy development. Common periwinkle performs best in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 3 through 8.

Stem Blight

Though common periwinkle is susceptible to many different issues, the ailment to be concerned about is vinca stem blight. This fungal disease is caused by the pathogen Phoma exigua var. Exigua and leads to the death of sole stems. Symptoms first appear as dark regions of dying tissue on stems, followed by wilting and foliage death. The illness may spread quickly, leading to the death of large regions of the ground cover. The standing water produced by overhead watering creates an ideal environment for the development of fungi. Water at the base of the plant to lower the probability of infection. You can impede this illness by removing and destroying dead plant parts. Control methods include copper-based fungicide sprays.

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Safe Ant Killers to Spray from the Yard

Ants are among the most common insects that you’ll see in your own backyard. While they serve a valuable function by cleaning up dead bugs and organic waste on your landscape, some ants may also cause difficulties. For instance, certain ants may attack your plants while some may sting or bite you and your family. Before turning to toxic pesticides, try out some organic or organic sprays that can help control and kill ant populations in your garden.

Soap Spray

Liquid dish detergent is very good for more than just scrubbing oil and food off of your own pots and pans. When combined with water, then it makes a potent spray that kills ants on contact. It’s also successful at killing other common garden pests, such as aphids and whiteflies. For your best results, use a spray that has a concentration of just 3 percent less or soap, to help reduce the risk of harm to your crops. To achieve this concentration, mix 5 to 8 tablespoons of detergent in a gallon of water and spray it everywhere in your yard where you would like to kill ants.

Hot Water Spray

Hot water quickly kills ants when sprayed on their trail, and when pumped straight on an ant hill, it may also eliminate an entire ant colony on your garden. Hot water is so lethal that it can also kill many types of weeds as an all-natural herbicide. This option works best when attempting to remove ants in regions of your landscape that have no desired plants, such as on a trail or on your terrace.

Diatomaceous Earth

Diatomaceous earth is lethal against ants and a lot of other bugs. It relaxes the ants by scratching their entire body, which in turn dries from the insects. It functions best in enclosed pieces of your lawn, such as in the nooks and crannies of a garden shed. But it also works on flat surfaces such as on your lawn. To earn a spray, then simply join a 1/4 cup of diatomaceous earth with a gallon of water and spray it where ants are found. Wear a dust mask when applying diatomaceous earth.

Boric Acid

Boric acid ranks as the best natural treatment for ants. You’ll find this substance, which can be created from a natural mineral, in aerosol type. Some gardeners also use it by blending it with sugar or comparable sweet foods and spraying it where the ants are. Attracted by the apples from the spray, the ants will eat the sugar, and the boric from the mixture will poison and destroy them.

Organic Pesticides

If home spray remedies do not work, gardeners can turn to several commercially prepared, natural and organic sprays made out of plant and herbal extracts. Examples that are effective at killing ants include sprays made from pyrethrins and rotenone. Use the spray according to the manufacturer’s labeled guidelines, as toxicity varies widely by item.

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What Is a fantastic Plum Tree Fungicide?

Fungicides help control and prevent fungus in plum. Most plum tree fungi begin in the main crown or system of the tree, but some cause ripe fruit to rot prematurely. Frequency, timing and suitable application are essential to a successful fungus control or prevention program. Some of the best varieties of plum trees for your home garden comprise the Japanese plum tree and European plum trees because they bloom later than other kinds and therefore prevent damaging spring frosts.

Phytophthora Root and Crown Rot

Phytophthora root and crown rot spread quickly and can destroy a plum tree in one season. Permitting the main system of a plum tree to soak in standing water for 24 hours or more considerably raises the risk of these fungal diseases. Several fungicides can control phytophthora rot and crown rot. Effective fungicides include fosetyl-althat can be applied to the leaves each 60 days, and mefenoxam, which is applied in the early spring and fall. However, the best thing to do is avoid these respiratory disorders by not overwatering and deciding upon a site with well-drained soil.

Oak Root Fungus

Eradicating oak root fungus (Armillaria mellea), also called armillaria root rot, is rarely achieved. To attempt eradication, fumigate the soil with fungicides and eliminate the apparently healthy trees adjacent to the contaminated ones. Soil fumigant fungicides are are most likely to be effective in loamy soil, 5 feet deep or less. You could also try using sodium tetrathiocarbonate to eliminate oak root fungus, if the contaminated tree was planted for at least one year. If you know that the soil is infected with oak root fungus, then the best thing to do is plant plum trees (Prunus cerasifera) resistant to oak root fungus, like the varieties Myrobalan and Mariana.

Ripe Root Rot

You can prevent ripe root decay, mainly caused by the fungi Monilinia fructicola and Rhizopus stolonifer, with pre-harvest spraying of fungicides on uninjured fruit. For Monilinia, apply fungicides as early as four weeks prior to harvest the plums. For Rhizopus, apply fungicides you to 10 days before harvest. Powerful pre-harvest fungicides for both Monilinia and Rhizopus on plum trees comprise propiconazole, pyrimethanil, cyprodinil, pyraclorstrobin and myclobutanil.

Brown Rot Blossom and Twig Blight

Monilinia laxa and M. fructicola are the fungi that cause brown rot blossom and twig blight. If the plum trees you have are vulnerable to these diseases, you can prevent infection by making a delayed blossom application of fungicide. This means applying the fungicide when 20 to 40 percent of those flowers on the tree are in blossom. Powerful fungicides for brown rot blossom and twig blight comprise propiconazole, iprodione and thiophanate methyl, as well as acyprodinil, myclobutanil and pyrimethanil.

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How to Make Cushions More Comfortable

Cushions are a welcome buffer between yourself and difficult chair seats, but age and wear can take its toll. Few things are worse than stepping right into a chair only to discover that you are perched on cushioning bumps, flat cloth or poky buttons. Don’t toss out the entire chair. Sprucing up a pillow is a straightforward and cheap way to put the comfort back in your chair.

Pick the cushion up and shake it out completely. Cushions stuffed with down, feathers or loose fiberfill can get bunched up or compacted, therefore a great shaking is often all you need to make them more comfy.

Use a seam ripper to remove cosmetic buttons. They may provide visual appeal, but are generally not all that comfortable when you’re sitting on them.

Replace cushion padding to make the cushion thicker. Open the back seam with a seam ripper if the pillow cover does not have a zipper. Cut cotton batting and upholstery foam to fit inside this pillow cover. Spritz the upholstery foam with a light layer of spray adhesive and lay the cotton batting on top of it. This retains the cotton batting from wrinkling and bunching up under you when you sit on it again. Slip the upholstery foam and batting into the pillow cover and stitch the seam shut, where there’s no zipper.

Recover a pillow that is scratchy or manufactured from leather that is becoming scratched or torn. Assess the thickness, width and height of the pillow and also add 1 inch to each dimension to get the amount of fabric you want to recoup it. Remove the old cover or put a 1/2-inch-thick object of upholstery foam in top of this aged pillow and fit the new one about it.

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How to Cut Landscape Timbers to Form a Circle

Landscape timbers are implemented in retaining walls and as measures, borders and other characteristics throughout lawns for your rustic texture they bring to a site and their comparatively low price and ease of installation. Where you want to produce a curved retaining wall or edging or build a raised bed using a nearly circular shape, you will need to cut the ends of the timbers at non-90 degree angles to create the desired kind. With a miter box and saw will allow you to make very precise cuts, but various power saws also supply feasible cutting options. Furthermore, the cut ends of timbers are left vulnerable to decay and weathering, requiring treatment prior to installation.

Draw out or otherwise intend the design to your landscape timbers. Determine how large you want the circle to be, the size to each timber, how many timbers you will use and the angle the timber finishes must have. If you will use a miter box to guide your cuts, be sure that your intended angles for the timber finishes are angle options offered on the miter box.

Measure the planned timber length on a landscape wood and mark the position and line of the angled cut, employing a woodworking protractor or angle-finder as a guide. Merely prepare and saw one timber at one time, because you will use the cut edge of one as a guide for another timber.

Place the timber end in an appropriately big miter box, then aligning the intended cut line on the timber using the corresponding guide on the miter box. If the box has a clamp of any kind, use the clamp to secure the timber. Landscape timbers tend to be heavy enough that they move small during cutting, however, clamping them in position or having another person hold the timber stable is good practice.

Cut the wood along the intended line, utilizing the saw that accompanies the miter box or a different saw that is suitable for the miter box. Otherwise, you can carefully cut along the line with a handsaw, circular saw or chainsaw while a person holds the timber steady.

Use the trim end of the timber or the eliminated portion of timber as a guide to your cut on the next timber to make sure that they’ll fit together. Duplicate the cutting and rebooting process for the remaining timbers. After cutting each timber, check the cut edges together with the protractor or angle-finder to be sure they have the desired angle. Make adjustments or re-cut the timbers as required.

Brush a wood wax or wax meant for outdoor use on the recently cut ends of every part of landscape wood, applied according to sealer manufacturer directions.

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Guest Picks: Herb Gardens for Gardens and Small Kitchens

I’m not much of a gardener, and granted, I don’t have a lot of space in my little backyard to backyard anyhow. However, I do enjoy having fresh herbs in my beck and call. Thankfully, there are clever ways to easily accommodate a fresh herb garden in or close your small kitchen, even in case you don’t have a great deal of space with which to work. All you will need is a location where your plants will get a lot of sun. Here are a few of my favorites (a few analyzed, others not).

Get ready! Spring is right around the corner. — Liza from (a)Musing Foodie

Garden Beet

Indoor/Outdoor Living Wall Planters – GBP 49.99

This miniature living wall planter is a great method to use wall space in a tight location. The business is based in the UK, but they ship internationally. If that is what you have been on the lookout for, then shoot them an email and they’re able to accommodate.

Nordstrom

‘The Edible Balcony’ Urban Gardening Book – $21.99

Need a how-to publication for developing fresh herbs and create in a small area? Check out The Edible Balcony from Alex Mitchell.

Chef’s Resource

Bacsquare 4 Flexible Portable Container Garden – $159.95

If you’ve got a 2-foot-by-2-foot area, this petite backyard container is perfect for herbs, or possibly a small vegetable garden. Slip it in the corner of the kitchen or outside on your deck or terrace.

Hayneedle

Rectangle Metal Wall-Mounted Cedar Herb Garden Planter – $149.99

This very simple and contemporary wall-mounted herb garden can be used indoors or outside.

Bobby Berk Home

Boskke Sky Planter, Extra Small – $25

Sky Planters from Boskke are perfect for small spaces because they hang from the ceiling, and you’ve got the ability to position them however you want. Line them up, place each in a distinct portion of your kitchen or create a triangle at a corner. I love these!

Chef’s Resource

Bacsac Window Box Hanging Pots – $124.95

Bacsac hanging window box pots are directly from France and are best for hanging on a kitchen wall in a small space. Imagine several rows on a vacant wall — amazing!

Produced in Layout

Herb Stand Flowerpot – GBP 30

This simple and compact design would be perfect perched on a small counter corner, arm’s reach from right where you’re cooking. And, yes, they ship to North America too.

Plow & Hearth

3-Pot Self-Watering Hanging Herb Planter – $24.95

How about an herb garden that waters itself? I love the idea! In addition, I love the fact that it is a hanging garden, so there’s no need to spare floor or counter space.

Plow & Hearth

Pyramid Planter – $79.95

This tiered cedar space-saver probably would not work in your kitchen, but if you have even a small outdoor spot available, you will still have a lot of room to cultivate your own herbs.

Hayneedle

Round Ceramic Coralbell Strawberry Jar With 6 Pockets – $54.99

This herb garden could easily find its way into a kitchen corner sit outside. It’s intended for strawberries, but it would work perfectly for herbs also.

Etsy

Hanging Planter, Vintage Faucet Handles by Reclaimed Grace – $25

Here’s a small artsy flair to your kitchen walls, complete with space for a couple of small plant crops.

Chef’s Resource

Bacsac Side-by-Side Flexible Pot Portable Herb Garden Container – $49.95

This very simple herb container container is portable, which means you can easily leave it outside most of the time and then take it to the counter when you’re ready to cook. Love it.

Amazon

Creative Motion Wall Hanging Planter – $8.73

Talk about simplicity! It will not get any easier than this. Hang it on a wall, on a door, outside, inside — the sky’s the limit.

Etsy

Ceramic Vertical Gardening Bowl by Blue Room Pottery – $42

How about dotting the exterior of your home with a beautiful vertical terra-cotta herb garden? Gorgeous.

Hayneedle

Terra-Cotta Round Fishbowl Tascandi Strawberry Jar Planter – $134.75

This large strawberry pot would most likely need an outdoor area, but it still would not take up too much space on a deck or terrace. I love the appearance of natural terra-cotta.

Sears

The Urban Garden Vertical Planter – $74.98

This simple backyard can be hung anywhere.

Etsy

The Vertical Garden Rod by Airy Obsessions – $31

Mix and match flowers with herbs, and alter the corner of your kitchen (or a deck nook) into a beautiful edible garden. You’re able to bring pots to the sink to prevent making a mess.

Casa.com

Master Craft Hanging Basket Bucket Planters – $16.26

Here is another simple way to get your herb garden off the counter and hanging up and out of the way. I’m enjoying that fresh green colour.

GrabCart

Wagon Wheel Rustic 4-Bucket Design Garden Planter – $63.64

For a rustic, classic appearance, have a look at this wagon wheel/bucket combo. When herbs are planted and growing, the green will look great against the dark timber.

Next: 4 Herb Container Gardens for Fabulous Global Cuisine

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How Many Dishes Can I Want in My Kitchen?

Whether you have just graduated, plan to live alone or your roommates moved out and took the dishes, then a solo space includes a great deal of needs. Newlyweds who have not had their home before confront exactly the very same challenges. However a kitchen installation doesn’t have to be complicated. If you don’t plan to eat out for every meal, your kitchen demands a few fundamentals. Those fundamentals should be sufficient to cover everyday food dining and prep needs.

Eating and Drinking

Even if you order, you will need plates, glasses, flatware and cups. How many of each depends upon you and your lifestyle. If space is tight and it’s only you, two of every item might be sufficient, however dishes, dishes and flatware in sets of four are a fantastic place to start. If you plan to have additional guests, then you will need enough for every guest you plan to entertain. You need bowls and plates, drinking glasses, cups, forks, knives and spoons. If you enjoy wine, then add a set of wine glasses. Match the amounts of flatware and glasses to the place settings you get.

Pots and Pans

All you really need is just three pots, a skillet, a saucepan and a larger pot for things like cooking pasta. Splurge on these things if you can; good folks will last a lifetime. You should also have a minumum of one oven-safe dish such as a 9-by-13-inch glass or metal baking pan. A lidded casserole or Dutch oven also represents a fantastic kitchen investment. Insert a cookie sheet or jelly roll pan which may double as a cookie sheet to round things out.

Applications and Gadgets

Along with dishes, glasses and flatware, any kitchen requires at least two sharp knives, a larger chef-style knife and also smaller paring kind knife together with a small knife rack or holder. Other necessary tools incorporate a can opener, vegetable peeler, box grater, colander, various wooden spoons, spatula, ladle, cutting board and a mixing bowl. Insert a corkscrew if you enjoy wine. Incorporate four to six kitchen towels and two potholders, and you are nearly set with all you need for a working kitchen.

Odds and Ends

If your plan is on using a microwave, make certain that at least a few of these dishes are dishwasher safe. For rims, use either glass or reusable plastic bottles, or choose up disposable plastic bottles so you are not using your dishes to store food from the fridge. Finish the kitchen installation with a serving platter and at least two serving cups, if not three, liquid and dry component measuring cups and spoons, a kitchen timer and a meat thermometer.

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Life in Italy Inspires a California Renovation

Beatriz Macias and her husband left their home in Southern California to live in Italy for a little while. When they returned, they found their home with fresh, European-influenced eyes and decided their kitchen had a makeover pronto. Their Cape Cod–style home was constructed in the 1980s, and it had been showing its age.

“I have always loved secondhand shops, saving the money and finding things which are different,” says Macias. “I found a lot of good deals on things for the kitchen renovation which I realized I had a knack for this.” She found a pleasure, like-minded community, and all of them help one another spot treasures employing the hashtag “thriftbreak” on Twitter. About a year ago, she decided to take her knack to Etsy and opened a shop, Mid Mod Mom.

at a Glance
Who lives here: Beatriz Macias, her husband and Fernando Gonzalez and their 15-year-old kid
Location: Mission Viejo, California
Size: 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 bathrooms

Mid Mod Mother

“Italy inspired our renovation,” says Macias. “There’s so much great eating and cooking, and we found so many wonderful kitchens there.”

Tables topped with Cararra marble inspired the countertops. “This marble isn’t suitable for everybody; it chips and it stains, but I fell in love with the gorgeous patina it acquires,” she says. “Though I will admit that first blot hurt”

Pendants: West Elm (with Edison bulbs); cupboards: Ikea; range: Bertazzoni; fridge: Whirlpool; dishwasher: Maytag

Mid Mod Mother

“My husband and I had a lot of fun doing the work,” Macias says. “I did the tiling and set the cabinets together, along with my husband looked after the pipes and the appliances. We called in a friend to do the electric work.”

The tile is out of iconic California firm Heath Ceramics and goes with a nature-inspired color palette which Macias has always loved.

A number of her thrifted uncovers include a Neva Time Square clock, an Alessi Fruit Mama along with also an Alessi tea kettle.

Mid Mod Mother

Renovations in the kitchen spilled over to the living room, where the fireplace surround received a coordinating makeover with Heath Ceramics tile along with Carrara marble. “I used the very same stuff to wed the two spaces. I also carried the color palette through the family area along with the powder room,” says Macias. They also expanded the hardwood floors into the kitchen, which formerly had tile.

Mid Mod Mother

A couple favorite estate market discovers will not make it into Macias’ Etsy store, including this selection of midcentury glass. From left to right, there is an amber vase by Arthur Percy for Gullaskruf of Sweden, a green Empoli vase from Italy, a teal Blenko decanter by Winslow Anderson plus a Blenko sheared bowl by Wayne Husted. The mirror behind the collection visually doubles it.

Lamp: Artemide’s Nesso lamp, initially designed by Giancarlo Mattioli in 1967

Mid Mod Mother

This bench is adjacent to the entry. “We take off our shoes once we enter the house, so this bench is a fantastic spot to sit down and take off our shoes,” says Macias. There are baskets underneath for lace footwear.

The color palette was inspired by one leaf. “I adore all the fall colours,” says Macias. “I took a leaf I loved with greens, apples and pears inside into Home Depot and matched paint colours. I figured nature put them together to work collectively.”

Mid Mod Mother

Here is a view from the staircase to the living area. “I found the cowhide in Colombia, folded it up and brought it back into my suitcase,” says Macias. The Domino Mobler armchairs were an estate sale find, the sleeper sofa is from Crate & Barrel and the coffee table is Drexel Heritage. Prints by neighborhood artists and Macias herself make up the art wall.

“We Colombians often travel in hordes, thus we need the additional sleeping area supplied by the sleeper sofa,” says Macias, laughing.

Pendant mild: David Trubridge Coral Pendant

Mid Mod Mother

When folks are sleeping over, Macias and her husband turn off their dueling cuckoo clocks, but they’re totally utilized to hearing them cluck each hour. One of these is that a family heirloom, and the other is a more recent Craigslist find.

Mid Mod Mother

Lucite dining seats keep more visual space open and make the room appear bigger. The cloth on the table is a suzani in the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. A granite bowl retains sea glass and pebbles the family has collected on beaches throughout their global travels.

Mid Mod Mother

The dresser was “my best find,” says Macias. While she initially had a credenza in head, when she came across this dresser she knew it was ideal and well priced, but she had a big voucher. Such is the thrill of thrifting.

Mid Mod Mother

The nature-inspired palette continues into the downstairs bathroom’s Marimekko ginkgo wallpaper.

I asked Macias if she has ever wished she had kept among those treasures she’s sold throughout the Etsy shop. “No regrets yet,” she explained. “I’m pleased to send them off to some fantastic new home.”

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