At Home 5

The Albany Herald • www.albanyherald.com • Saturday, July 2, 2011

BRITS & GRITS

2 THE ALBANY HERALD • AT HOME • Saturday, July 2, 2011 • www.albanyherald.com

Article by Lara Lyn Carter

I am so excited to tell you that after my last Brits and Grits column my family is going to have a traditional “Jones Family 4th of July” again this year for the first time in YEARS! I would love to say that getting everyone all teary eyed over the article is the reason, but I am sure it is the thought of Aunt Nita’s pimento cheese that is doing it!

I can’t wait to see family and friends that I have not seen in so long. I can’t wait to show off my two beautiful boys to everyone. Most of all, I can’t wait to reminisce over old times and those now gone. I realize that it will be different, but something tells me that those long gone will still be there with us.

I can imagine it now….. My granddaddy would have on his white shirt, big smile, and check his pocket for change to pass out to the kids.

My Uncle Merril would l take his handkerchief out, take his glasses off, and wipe the sweat from his eyes as he watched the BBQ. My Uncle James would be telling stories about the war. Uncle John would be looking for the next person to play a trick on. Uncle Vernon would sit quietly as he watched all going on around him. Aunt Austin would have been helping set out all of the

food making sure everyone had everything they needed. Luckily we still have Aunt Dew. She will be laughing out loud and when she smiles you can still see the beauty she was at 16. Finally, Aunt Nita will be there making sure that we have those unforgettable pimento cheese sandwiches and that everyone is accounted for!

There is a country song called “If heaven wasn’t so far away.”

One line in the song talks about someone looking down from heaven and being proud. I think they’d be proud.

Quick and Easy Peanut Butter Pie 1 1 1 8 8

cup peanut butter cup sugar tblsp. Butter oz. cream cheese oz. cool whip

Mix the above ingredients together and pour in a premade chocolate pie crust. Freeze for 2 hours. Slice and serve! You can add crumbled Reese cups if you think it is not sweet enough!

THE ALBANY HERALD • AT HOME • Saturday, July 2, 2011 • www.albanyherald.com 3

Ideas for easy and quick room updates (ARA) - The relaxed pace of summer allows the perfect opportunity for home improvement updates. You can make your favorite room stand out with some simple ideas that take less than a day to complete from start to finish.

"Home interior experts know small decor tricks that take very little time can have a big effect," says Elizabeth Sasso Smith from Liberty Hardware.

"Homeowners can use these same strategies to make changes easily and quickly inside their own home."

Wall plates Perhaps one of the most overlooked ways to quickly and dramatically update a room is to replace the wall plates. Wall plates are the covers that go over the light switches and outlets. Most people default to boring, white plastic that can make a room look generic and cheap. Decorative wall plates can complement any design scheme, and because they can be removed, are a great option for those who rent or others who might want to change them out from time to time with minimal effort.

Wall plates are the fashion accessory that every wall needs to add visual appeal. Liberty Hardware offers wall plate options to fit every decor style.

From modern, sleek designs that feature finishes like brushed nickel, to classic and elegant options with finishes like satin nickel and espresso, you can upgrade your room within minutes. Visit www.LibertyHardware.com or look for options at your local Lowes Home Improvement store.

Paint If you are looking for a big change with minimal effort, consider a fresh coat of paint. Dark and vivid colors remain popular and provide a focal point for the eye. Shades of green and gray are trending right now, as well as hues of blue in every color of the ocean. Pick up some paint samples from the store and bring home to see how they will look in the natural light of the room.

Interested in trying a bold color, but not sure about how it will look in the entire room? Choosing a single wall to paint is a great way to add color without going all out. For example, if painting a bedroom, choose the wall where you put the head of the bed. If you are painting a living room, choose the wall where the couch or your largest piece of furniture goes.

Hardware Cabinet hard-

ware changes are typically made in the kitchen or bath, but knobs and pulls have multiple uses if you think outside the box.

"Consider coordinating the color and theme of your new wall plates into a clever curtain tie-back using a knob or pull," says Christina Hurley of Liberty Hardware. "A similar finish will add a design flow that creates character and pizzazz throughout the room."

Some other ideas for coordinating knobs include use on a wall or door to hold a coat, towel or bag. You might even decide to hang pictures using coordinating knobs and metals. Instead of simply nailing the frame to the wall, tie with a beautiful ribbon and hang on a knob that matches your wall plates and other hardware in the room.

Hooks and hook rails Other eye-catching additions to a room include hooks and hook rails. While they may have once been deemed for industrial or heavy-duty use, new contemporary and traditional designs along with complementary finishes like satin nickel and hazelnut allow hook rails to take a more prominent, decorative position in a room.

Installation is simple and quick, allowing for a modern appeal and instant coordination with wall plates and other hardware. Find a new place for items that often get tossed on the floor like book bags, belts or purses. A small hook rail placed in a closet or bathroom is perfect for hanging jewelry for easy access or spice up your garage with a decorative hook rail to hold sports equipment or umbrellas.

Remember, it doesn't take a lot of time or money to transform your interior space. With just a few easy updates like wall plates or hook rails you'll be amazed at how different and beautiful your room will look.

4 THE ALBANY HERALD • AT HOME • Saturday, July 2, 2011 • www.albanyherald.com

Landscaping with a Personal Touch ■ Article by JENNIFER KING | jennifer.king@albanyherald.com

L

andscaping is crucial when it comes to a home's curb appeal.

When you want to put your house's best foot forward, it's a good idea to call in the professionals. Richard Spencer of DIG (Destinations in Gardening) in Leesburg, Georgia has been in the landscaping business for the past 30 years and knows a thing or two when it comes to making a yard look great.

See Landscape, page 7

DELTA

The Showplace

2150 Gillionville Rd. Albany, GA. 31707

(229) 888-8088

A curved path leads to this home’s front door, and it is lined with naturally flowing plants and shrubs.

THE ALBANY HERALD • AT HOME • Saturday, July 2, 2011 • www.albanyherald.com 5

A gravel walkway lined with stone meanders through soft, naturallooking shrubs and plants.

Existing and antique items in the yard are incorporated into the design.

Container gardens add an explosion of greenery and color.

6 THE ALBANY HERALD • AT HOME • Saturday, July 2, 2011 • www.albanyherald.com

Help conserve water through your gardening and lawn care practices (ARA) - As temperatures rise this summer, so do the risks of droughts. Water shortages can be a threat to your home and community. That's why it makes sense for Americans to conserve water as a matter of course. The best place to start is right in your own backyard.

What can you do to conserve water?

Here are a few important tips: * Capture rainfall - Make the most of the rainwater that Mother Nature provides. Rain barrels are effective in capturing the rain that falls on your roof; reuse the water for your plants. Other rain capture techniques, such as rain gardens, can help capture rainfall and keep precious water on your property to replenish the ground water. * Water wisely - When rainfall is insufficient and supplemental watering is needed, do so effectively by: - Aiming water at the base of the plant

- Watering in the morning to limit evaporation - Using a moisture meter to ensure that roots have received enough moisture - Allowing established grass to go dormant during periods of drought * Landscape by local climate - Choose drought-tolerant plants that are native to your area. These will require less water under normal circumstances and be able to survive during parched times. * Feed your grass and other plants Well-fed plants will grow deep roots that capture and store water. A 10,000square foot healthy lawn, for example, can absorb 6,000 gallons of water from a single rainfall. That's a month's supply of water for a household of two.

storm water runoff. Mulching has other benefits, including preventing weeds and adding nutrients to the soil as it breaks down.

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company recognizes the important need for nationwide water conservation and, through water management technologies, the company has developed grass seeds, lawn fertilizers, potting mixes, soils and mulches to help consumers use less water when gardening and caring for their lawns.

Making these water conservation practices part of your backyard routine will help your area's water supply, particularly if everyone does their part.

* Mulch is a must - A two- to three-inch layer of mulch around your plants will hold moisture in the soil and control

Make your home unique with granite Granite is unique. Granite is exquisite. Granite makes your kitchen stand apart. Granite makes your home something special.

That’s why Sellers Tile strives to make granite affordable and attainable to all of our customers.

We want you to love your home

and if one day, you decide to sell, we definitely want you to get the MOST for your home.

In Albany, we stock granite slabs in price points across the board and even offer a granite “graveyard” of partial slabs and large pieces that customers can search through for an even more affordable option and quotes are FREE. You can hand-pick your kitchen countertop from our granite yard and you can even dig around and find that perfect “graveyard” piece for the bathroom that you didn’t think was in your budget.

We have hundreds of slabs on hand and the best thing is: NO

TWO ARE EXACTLY ALIKE. You're not exactly like anyone else so why should your countertops be!

Sellers Tile has been fabricating and installing granite for over 15 years. You can’t find a bigger inventory of granite in southwest Georgia or northwest Florida, and well, we think we’re the best.

We love to make our customers happy, and seeing your kitchen gleaming with new granite or marble countertops is sure to do it! Visit our showroom and granite yard at 129 Flint Avenue in Albany or visit us online at www.sellerstile.com for granite inspiration.

THE ALBANY HERALD • AT HOME • Saturday, July 2, 2011 • www.albanyherald.com 7

Landscaping isn't always all about plants.

There are many other features that can add to Continued from page 4 a yard's beauty. Spencer says that many people do not realize that his company does water features like ponds, waterfalls, and other things of that nature. You can take existing items that you treasure and turn them into a feature in the yard. For example, you can turn an antique wheelbarrow into a container garden for herbs. You can also take any existing pot and turn it into a water feature.

Spencer says, "We do all aspects of landscaping from pouring your patio The drive is covered with a dark A pond is just one example of a and deciding what materials to use on that patio to gravel walk ways with stone gravel and lined with stone. water feature. edging. We can pretty much fit anything and everything you want to do on the outside: lighting, irrigation, stacked stone walls. It makes a big difference to have somebody to help you coordinate all of that. Just to have a gardener's view of irrigation and lighting makes a huge difference."

At DIG they really concentrate on landscape design that fits the homeowner at their level.

Spencer says, "I'm very particular about listening to what people want rather than just doing what I want, and we end up with a nice combination of what they (the customer) want and what I want. It ends up being different at each person's house. We don't end up just cookie cutting the landscape. We really queue in on plant material to fit the area."

According to Spencer, people generally say they want low maintenance, so at DIG they concentrate on keeping people out of gardening if that is not their cup of tea. They try to work with plant material that is not going to stress the homeowner and that is easy to maintain. The trend today is more towards landscapes that are user friendly and have a more natural appearance rather than a clipped appearance. An example of this natural look are shrubs that are more mounding and dense in form but not necessarily trimmed. Some of the pictures shown display the more natural appearance that a landscape can have.

An easy way to add a pop of interest and color here and there throughout your landscape is to use container gardening. This is a bit easier and lower maintenance for homeowners. A container garden can be created out of anything from large pots to existing items like wagons or wheelbarrows.

Spencer states, "We do a lot of container gardening. We can set a big pot in the middle of low shrubs and it just works. It's easily transplantable, you don't have the weeds, and you can easily swap out plants. It's a real favorite of mine to fill in with."

When it comes to landscaping, personal preference is everything if you want a unique and beautiful look for your yard that also displays a bit of your personality. As a homeowner you are only limited by your imagination as you design your outdoor spaces. A landscaping company like DIG can truly bring your ideas to life and help you layout the best plan possible. If you are considering giving your yard an overhaul or if you don’t have a green thumb, bringing in a professional is your best bet. This way you can have things done properly the first time and save yourself a lot of frustration and stress. If you are someone with a green thumb, you may still want the help of a pro to get you started. Also, remember that landscaping is not just plants! It covers every aspect from irrigation to lighting and beyond. An outdoor face lift may be just what your house needs to add a touch of personality and pizazz!

Landscape

Another lovely example of how a container garden adds a blast of color.

An existing item is utilized as a container garden adding character to the space.

Richard Spencer stands beside a stacked stone wall designed by DIG.

8 THE ALBANY HERALD • AT HOME • Saturday, July 2, 2011 • www.albanyherald.com