Bye Bye Native Grasses (and weeds)!

As part of our overall landscaping design, we wanted a significant portion of our property to be native grasses and wild flowers.  Why?  It’s pretty.  But it is also a very sustainable choice compared to lawns.  It requires no fertilization (no chemicals), no...

Our attempt at a Native Landscape

A significant part of our outdoor landscaping was designed to be a native grasses and wildflower area that would require very little irrigation, no mowing, and be beautiful.  As this is our second summer in the house, the area is not yet well established.  Our...

Everyone must have mowed lawns?

We just received a letter from the City of Minneapolis informing us that we are in violation of a city ordinance that requires all grass to be less than 8″ tall.  Now, we have a nice little lawn in the front of the house and we mow it once a week – it...

Painting

All of the walls in our home are white, except for the area above our shades, which is black.  We have been wanting to bring a little color into our house, and paint is a fun and easy way to do it.  The problem is, which paint do we choose? When we were building our...

Choosing Carpet for the Basement

Our basement floor is exposed concrete.  We did this because I have experienced many basements that smell like mold and that make my eyes itch for days.  Water has a tendency to find its way into basements, and if it gets under carpet, it does not dry out and can get...