Take a look at the best of the outdoor decorating ideas we’ve featured here on the Apron Blog.

When you’re looking to create an outdoor living room or backyard oasis, first consider how you’re going to define the space. A gazebo or canopy is an easy easy way to designate a corner of your outdoor area for an outdoor living or dining room.

If your outdoor area is a porch or covered patio, consider sprucing it up with accessories, or adding a privacy screen to create a cozier space.

It’s important to know your budget, and if you’re working within a smaller one, consider refinishing your old patio furniture with some sandpaper and spray paint. It’ll be a time-consuming project, but it’ll breathe new life into an old friend and keep pennies in your pocket. Did you know you can also spray paint your patio umbrella to match your furniture?

And take a look at our Style Challenge series, in which we showed you how guest bloggers styled a Home Depot patio set and walked you through all the style choices they made. Katie Anderson of Modern Eve create a beautiful table setting for her outdoor dining room.

Kelly of Fabulous K took up the Style Challenge by designing a beautiful outdoor living area for her covered patio.

Shop all of our outdoor living items to find inspiration for your green space, including gazebos and canopies, pillows and throws, grills, outdoor furniture, and more.

In our Style Challenge series, we challenge some of our favorite bloggers from around the web to surprise us with their ideas for creating a stylish and functional space using a single Home Depot product as a starting point.

Sara Stoner from The By & By created a smart, yet casual Southwestern outdoor space to suit an Austin backyard. Working with the Morris 4-Piece Patio Seating Set, along with succulents, throw pillows, and quirky accents, Sara shows us how to make the most of a small outdoor space.

When the Home Depot reached out to The By & By to participate in the Style Challenge: Patio Edition, I jumped at the opportunity – momentarily overlooking the fact that I happen to live in an apartment and not a house with a yard. However, I did have a patio in mind that I tend to frequent more than my own street-facing porch… enter my very good friends Courtney and Ray (and their cat Kristo)!

Since they recently made the move from apartment living to renting a duplex with a yard, I figured that assisting with a backyard makeover would be the perfect house-warming gift for my favorite couple. Not to mention, hopefully ensure my invitation to backyard gatherings all summer long. OK, so my motives weren’t entirely selfless. What can I say? I’m a hopeless cook who loves homemade burgers. And great company, obviously.

Finding the perfect patio set was key to the makeover. However, since the backyard is really narrow and has a relatively small patio, choosing a large, traditional patio table wasn’t really an option. Instead, we set our sights on finding a set that came with separate pieces that would utilize the space more effectively.

The Martha Stewart Morris 4-Piece Patio Seating Set from The Home Depot turned out to be more than we could have hoped for. Complete with two cushy armchairs, settee, and a crazy-gorgeous slate coffee table, it has the perfect amount of seating for entertaining a small group (like, say, yours truly) and a casual, conversational feel. It’s kind of fabulous to say the least.

Of course, furniture alone only goes so far in establishing a relaxing, happy hour and grill-ready haven. However, as Courtney and Ray were decorating on a budget, deciding upfront what goals they had for the yard was really important.

Given that they’re renting, they understandably didn’t want to invest too much into landscaping, but still wanted the yard to feel lush. Potted plants, especially hearty succulents and cacti that will survive the Texas heat, were a perfect solution for adding greenery to the space. Inspired by The By & By’s resident green-thumb Sarah H., we even created a DIY tabletop succulent garden to add a pop of color to the table. The bonus of gardening with pots? We essentially created a mobile garden that will be easy to take when Courtney and Ray move in the future. Multitask designing at its finest.

Besides adding some much needed vegetation, color made an enormous impact on the space. Because the yard is so small, the house paint color, patio, and fence play a huge part in the overall color scheme – which, regrettably, is largely beige. By adding pops of a contrasting cool color, in this case blue, we were able to cool down the space and add visual interest. A mix of inexpensive throw pillows and colorful pots made a world of difference.

And while it’s no secret, never underestimate the power of a few well-placed accessories. When attempting a makeover on a budget, utilizing pieces you already own is a great way to save a little cash. Courtney and Ray happened to have several really cool tree stumps hanging out in their garage that we were able to use throughout the space as plant stands, and as a make-shift serving tray for the coffee table. Finally, adding a few eclectic lanterns provided a finishing touch to the space.

It was such a blast helping my friends style their yard, and I couldn’t be more thrilled that they’re excited about the makeover. Gotta say, I’m such a fan of the new patio that invitation or not, I foresee spending a lot of time hanging out there this summer. In fact, when’s dinner guys??

For more thoughts on home, design, and life, follow Sara and the other ladies of The By & By daily on the blog or on Twitter.

Style Challenge is a series of posts from guest bloggers who aim to bring you fresh inspiration and ideas for your home and garden using a single Home Depot product as a starting point. Sara received the patio set from The Home Depot, but The Home Depot provided no other compensation. The opinions and ideas Sara expressed are her own.

Nautical-themed rooms have been popping up in magazines and design blogs for months now. While sailing kitsch might work well for a beach house, there are ways to create a room that feels preppy and sea-worthy without anchor prints, seashells, and sailboats. To create a living room that evokes the feeling of a Cape Cod cottage you can’t go wrong relying on a few traditional prints and a blue-and-white color scheme. This will give your living room a nautical feel without diving too far into one particular theme.

In the inspiration board above, we were inspired by the Colonial Mills Allure Polo Blue Braided Area Rug. If the blue-and-white stripe pattern wasn’t enough to convince us, the name of the rug sure did! It perfectly references a casual Hamptons beach house.

TOP ROW (FROM LEFT TO RIGHT):

The Rockford Sofa in Natural Twill is quite modern in form, but the nickel-finished nailhead trim gives it a touch of traditional formality. This large piece perfectly anchors the space because of its light color and versatile look. It will match any look you’re going for in the future.

While the Napa Valley Candelabra looks like a piece of driftwood, it’s really a gnarly piece of grapevine, outfitted with votive candles. To balance out the sculptural form of the candelabra, we chose a simple black tray, the Mosaic Bath Tray. It’s nothing particularly intricate or fancy, but it complements the more detailed designs of the other pieces in the space.

The Colonial Mills Allure Polo Blue Braided Area Rug was the perfect jumping off point for this room — stripes are the perfect start to any space with a nautical look.

BOTTOM ROW (LEFT TO RIGHT):

The Dalton Floor Lamp juxtaposes a rich wood finish against a polished nickel.

The Siene Lounge Chair perfectly complements our marine living room because of its antique blue finish, which has the same weathered look and color of old barnacles on a pier.

An ottoman is a natural component of a living room because of its versatility and plush construction. Put a tray on it, and it’s a coffee table. Or kick your feet up to relax. The Gordon Tufted Ottoman comes in a dark blue finish and reinforces the blue-and-white color palette. Once you’ve selected a color scheme, it’s not always necessary to buy everything in that one palette, so long as the other players are subtle. Just two blue pieces go a long way in this space, but the variety of textures create a layered, interesting combination.

Stars aren’t an overtly nautical symbol, but they are very much tied to life at sea. Sailors often used the North Star for guidance, and ship lore even looks to stars as an image of hope. The Ari Metal Star adds a little mirror and shine to the space.

Gingham isn’t so much a reference to the sea, but it is a pattern you might find in a New England country club or vacation home, making the gingham pillow in the inspiration board above a little jolt of pattern into our space.

The Lombard pillow perfectly completes this casual and preppy space with its neutral stripe.

Inspired is an editorial curation of products from homedepot.com and our sister site, Home Decorators Collection – along with irresistible finds from around the web.

For many of our associates, working at The Home Depot is more than just a job. It’s being part of a family. Wearing the orange apron is a source of pride.

Do you have what it takes to be a part of the next generation of leaders at The Home Depot? If you’re ready to rise to the challenge, we may have an internship or career opportunity on our team that can help take you to the top.

Watch this video to find out what we mean. (It’s not your normal corporate video. It’s actually pretty fun to watch.) And ff this video speaks to you, visit our Who’s Next web page for more information on starting a career at The Home Depot.

Catch up with YouTube Tuesdays and Thursdays for more Home Depot videos on the Apron Blog. 

Via JS on Wikipedia

The twin arts of gardening and cooking share many secrets in common, not least of all this: that the rewards are enhanced by the ritual of having done the work yourself. A meal that was made for you can bring with it feelings of gratitude, but a meal that was made by you is more alive to your senses, more vital. And how much more so when you’ve not only prepared the food but also raised the ingredients!

Fresh produce is one of the simplest, yet most significant rewards of gardening. In addition to the flavors we normally associate with each, an herb, vegetable or fruit that you have grown yourself tastes of achievement, peace-of-mind, and the deserved enjoyments of the fruits of your labor.

For many of us, the spaces we live in seem to put those rewards out of reach, but that doesn’t have to be the case.

If you live in an apartment, or don’t have room in your yard for a traditional garden, then you may have noted with interest the recent trend in vertical gardening. (See, for example, this very popular Spring Garden Project.) All it takes is a balcony or some other sunny corner to adapt the “living wall”-type flower display to growing produce.

Below are five fruits and vegetables ideal for vertical gardening. We’ve included some tips for growing them in narrow spaces, too.

Cherry Tomatoes

These potent varieties of small tomatoes are vine-based creepers, which makes them ideal for growing against a wall. They grow well in containers, and can easily be trailed up a trellis or chicken wire.

As with most tomatoes, you’ll want to give your cherry tomatoes plenty of sunlight and care, planting them in loose, well-fertilized soil and watering the plants regularly. If you’re growing them from seeds rather than seedlings, you’ll want to plant early enough to give them 2 or 3 months of warm to hot weather. Given their heat and light requirements, cherry tomatoes are a solid candidate for a balcony or wall that is directly exposed to sunlight for most of the day.

Strawberries

Little need be said in praise of the flavor of fresh strawberries. They have shallow root systems, allowing them to take hold in vertical spaces, which makes strawberries excellent candidates for your vertical produce garden. You may have even seen them growing along the face of a brick wall.

Their fondness for compact spaces means that they’ll grow well in a “gutter garden” – that is, a garden planted in a suspended length of copper gutter – and some gardeners have even taken to growing them in lengths of PVC pipe, drilled with drainage holes and filled with potting soil.

As with cherry tomatoes, 7-8 hours of direct sunlight are necessary for strawberry growth, so look for a well-lit spot. A word of warning, though: strawberries grown alongside tomatoes are more prone to verticillium wilt, so choose one or the other and change the soil between plantings if you decide to switch.

Lettuce

Lettuce is a cold-season crop and does not hold up well under prolonged heat. The trick, then, is to avoid the high temperatures that will make the leaves bitter and cause seed stalks to form. That makes lettuce suitable for spaces that receive only partial sunlight. Though lettuce seeds can be planted less than an inch deep, they need plenty of above-ground space between each plant, so a gutter garden is probably best. Water lightly, but often.

Bok choy and lettuce, via Tim Sackton on Flickr

Cooking Greens

The “cooking greens” are a class of leafy vegetables hardy enough to endure more cooking than salad greens like lettuce or arugula. Probably the best known in American kitchens is spinach, but the category includes a number of varieties, from the down-home flavor of collard greens and kale, to the more exotic provenance of kohlrabi and bok choy. Their shallow roots make them suitable for gutter gardens or a hanging pot arrangement like this DIY herb garden, and because they can grow in partial (but not full) shade, they can be planted in spaces that would be unsuitable for tomatoes or strawberries.

Radishes

While edible roots are generally good for container gardens, most require too much soil depth to incorporate them safely into a vertical garden. The exception is the venerable old radish (derived from the Latin word radix, meaning “root”), which grows well in relatively cramped quarters. The depth at which the seeds are planted influence the size of the root, but even large radishes can be grown starting at a depth of less than two inches. The important thing here is soil quality. Radishes perform best in light, sandy loam, and in full sunlight.

Via sleepyneko on Flickr

To find vegetables for your vertical garden, check out the Vegetables at the Home Depot Garden Center.

Watch this short video to see how Tammy Newhof of Windborne Studios produces her beautiful fused glass cabinet pulls.

In addition to the fused glass knobs by Tammy Newhof, Liberty’s HomeGrown Hardware series features beautiful handcrafted knobs, pulls and handles by potter Sue Salvaterra Hinz and metal worker Matt Waldrop. The series is sold exclusively by The Home Depot, available online and at select Home Depot stores.  Learn more about the series at Liberty Hardware.

Our First Look series gives Apron Blog readers an inside look by highlighting some of the videos our store associates watch to learn about the new products and services available at The Home Depot. 

Q: Charcoal or gas, which is better?

A: That is the subject of a raging debate that’s not likely to be decided anytime soon. But the two different types of grills certainly have their strong suits.

Gas is generally more convenient. The fuel, either from a propane tank or natural gas line, is less of a hassle than charcoal nuggets for most outdoor cooks. Gas grills also heat up faster, so they may be suitable for spur-of-the-moment throw-downs or entertaining larger groups in a hurry. They’re also easier to fire up and to clean up than charcoal varieties.

The controls on gas offer the griller more precision in manipulating the heat, though learning to “read” the heat on charcoal is certainly a bragging right of its own. At the end of a session, the gas grill can be cranked up for cleaning, which isn’t the case with charcoal.

Charcoal lovers counter that gas just can’t compare. For starters, it doesn’t get as hot. Charcoal converts also swear by the flavor, saying that the unique smokiness is not replicable on gas, period. Charcoal grills also tend to be less expensive, so they’re more accessible for the everyday consumer.

[Editor's Note: Grilling Tips is for all you grill fanatics out there. Whether you swear by propane, charcoal or gas, our BBQ tips have you covered. If you're in need of an upgrade - shop Grills at homedepot.com.]

According to Gary Grabow, an extension specialist at North Carolina State University, “There’s anecdotal evidence that people put 50 to 100 percent too much water on their lawns.” That excess irrigation damages lawns in the process. Over-watered grass may develop shallower roots – or worse, disease.

Know when to say when

That’s good to know, not just for the health of your lawn, but also for the good of the local environment. In recent years, many states and urban areas have faced rapidly decreasing water supplies. A 2005 study using data compiled from NASA and Landsat satellites estimates that Americans devote three times as much land to lawns as to the production of corn. Considering that as much as half of the average household water consumption goes toward outdoor irrigation, all that lawn-space adds up to a veritable deluge during the spring and summer lawn season, with much of it simply going to waste. And runoff from over-watered lawn spills into nearby bodies of water, sometimes spreading disease to local wildlife.

It may, however, by possible to stem that tide. Watering efficiently means not only lower bills and a better yard for you, but also a more ready supply of water for the rest of us.

If you’ve already kicked off your annual routine, start by gauging how much water you’re applying to your yard each time you water it. Before you turn on your sprinklers, strategically place open-mouthed containers with straight sides around the yard to catch a portion of the water. Very few lawn irrigation systems dispense water evenly across a landscape, so it’s important to get samples from different areas in the yard.

When you’re done watering, measure the level in each container. The goal is to give your yard an even inch of water. If some areas are receiving less than that amount, you may want to reposition your sprinklers to provide better coverage. For areas that are receiving more than that amount, pare back your watering. If you notice water pooling in certain areas, you may want to consider leveling those low-lying spots.

If you’re watering for the first time this season, use the same method to determine how long each session should be. Your average 6 oz. tuna can stands about an inch high, so if you time how long it takes for one to fill on your lawn during watering, you’ll have a good estimate of how long you should water in the future.

Most grass needs about two inches of water per week, so two weekly sessions should do it. Even that may be overkill depending on the precipitation in your area. It’s good practice to keep a rain gauge and adjust the amount that you water depending on how much nature has already helped out that week. Water collected in a rain barrel can also be used to water your lawn, thus making more efficient use of precipitation.

The secret to a healthy garden is right in your trash. Composting your organic waste keeps it out of your local landfill, and it creates a nutrient-rich humus that boosts the fertility of your soil naturally. Composting is easy, too. If you’ve never had a compost bin before, you might be surprised at how much gratification you’ll get from seeing vegetable scraps and lawn clippings turn into wonderful, fertile and sweet smelling humus. And wait ’til you see how it helps make your vegetable garden and flowers thrive.

So, let’s get started creating compost.

Here’s what you’ll need:

Compost bin

Pitchfork

Manure or compost maker

Lawn debris and plant clippings

Kitchen scraps

A paint bucket and lid (optional)

Gather Your Materials
For a healthy compost bin, think “green” and “brown.”  You’ll want to layer the “green” materials, such as lawn clippings, kitchen scraps and plant clippings, with “brown” materials, such as manure, alfalfa meal and hay.  The ratio of brown to green should be at least 2-to-1. This combination will encourage bacteria to begin consuming the organic matter, which causes the material in the compost bin to heat up. That means you’re cooking up some mighty fine compost.

Almost any organic material can be added, including food scraps, eggshells, tea leaves and coffee grounds. Never add chemically treated wood, diseased plants, human or pet waste, meat, bones or fatty foods. And, though you’ll invariably pick up a few weeds in your grass clippings, avoid putting too many weeds in your compost bin. Otherwise you’ll be sprouting new weeds when eventually spread the compost in your flower beds or vegetable garden.

Cut the Materials into Smaller Pieces
The smaller the chunks you toss in, the faster they will break down, so it’s helpful to cut up the larger pieces with pruning sheers or scissors.

Layer
Layer the “brown” and the “green” materials using at least a 2-to-1 ratio. You can adjust the ratios of brown and green later as needed. (If the pile doesn’t heat up, add more green material. If it gets an ammonia-like smell, throw in some more brown items.)

Give the Compost a Boost
You’ll want to add manure or a compost starter in with the layers. Compost starters often include manure as well as other organic materials, such as blood meal, that speed the composting process. Sprinkle it on with the green layer or according to the package directions.

Water
Add water regularly during the compost-building process and let it trickle into the pile to help get rid of air pockets. The compost pile shouldn’t be soaking. Aim for keeping the contents of the compost bin about the wetness of a sponge.

Keep Gathering Scraps
One of the stumbling points of keeping a bin going is simply remembering to keep all of those banana peels and vegetable ends. One inexpensive solution is to buy a gallon paint bucket with a lid. Leave it on your kitchen counter top as a visual reminder. Of course, there is any number of other attractive lidded containers you can use. The main point is to keep using it to feed your growing pile of composting material that’s cooking in your compost bin.

Turn It
Speed the process by turning the pile with a pitchfork once a week and adding fresh manure or compost starter. Mixing it allows oxygen into the center of the pile, encouraging the growth of bacteria and fungi, which break down organic material. A rotary composter will aid in this process and generally create compost faster.

Regularly turned organic matter will become finished compost in about four months—sooner if you used a starter. Compost is ready when it is dark and crumbly with an earthy smell. Sift to separate material that hasn’t finished composting. Those pieces will continue to decompose in your garden.

Spread It
Once it’s ready, work the compost into soil to give it an organic boost before planting. Spread it on the soil’s surface, on flowerbeds or around the base of landscape plants. Compost may also be used as a top dressing for lawns or as an ingredient in potting mixes.

By now you will completely hooked on composting, and your garden will show it.

Check out other garden projects here on The Apron Blog. And be sure to sign up for The Home Depot’s Garden Club, where you can get special offers, discounts and expert advice. Also, join the conversation about herb container gardening on our forums. 

Photo by pennuja

Being on a swing is always one of the most cherished memories of childhood play. Who can forget that feeling of freedom with the sun in your face and wind in your hair as you swing your legs to try and go higher and higher? Home Depot Community member Elsamurai94 wants to relive those memories and he turned to The Home Depot Forums for assistance. Forum associate Newf had some good advice on how to build a tree swing:

Elsamurai94:  My friend and I want to build a tire swing this summer after we are finished using the tires for agility training.  What should I used to make the swing? Nails? Rope? Chain?

Newf:  Tire swings are fun times for young and old alike. I usually see them hung from ropes since chain is much more costly but would otherwise work just fine. You can suspend the tire either vertically or horizontally … In any event you will need to drill a couple of holes where tire faces down so that rainwater can drain out. This will help keep the mosquito population down.

If you are going to use rope, some type of bowstring or bowline knot know-how will come in handy.  Here’s a couple of links on how to easily make knots that won’t come undone:

How To Tie Popular Knots

Real Knots

Make sure that whatever rope you buy has double the rated strength or more than the heaviest adult load. Don’t skimp here. I would get rope that handles 500-600 lbs. Polyester/nylon rope in ½” size is rated 525 lbs. and should do just fine.

The tire swing Forum discussion continues as other Forum associates offer Elsamurai94 more advice on whether to use chains, rope or wire rope, as well as suggestions on hanging the tire vertically or horizontally.

Photo by MΛЯK

Tire swings aren’t the only type of swings out there! Take a look at Forum associate Aboveaveragejoe’s instructions on building a simple wooden seat swing.

Be sure to visit homedepot.com for all the building materials, tools and hardware you need to complete your tree swing, or any other DIY home improvement project you have in mind.

Want more advice from our experts? Join the conversation. Visit the Forum for DIY tips and tricks from our Store Associates. From the Forum Friday is our weekly column highlighting expert advice.