Read the latest articles from Bob Vila (Page 373)

No newly cut garden bed is complete without some edging to distinguish it from the rest of your yard. Installing landscape edging is an easy DIY project that makes a major impact on the aesthetics of your outdoor space. There are a great variety of edging materials to choose from: metal, stone, brick, plastic, concrete, or wood. You can purchase something at a big box store, or special order your materials if you want to buy your edging. Or, you can save some money and make your own landscape edging with any number of recycled and found materials— glass bottles, steel pipes, clam shells, and even dinner plates. A creative DIY edging can help infuse your garden with a unique sense of style that reflects your personality. Here are some terrific and inventive garden edging ideas to get you started.

It takes a bit of daring but, under the right conditions, painting a room a wildly unexpected color can pay off in a major way. From deep dark tones to eye-popping brights, a well-chosen bold shade can make small rooms appear bigger, create coziness in a vast space, and add a dash of completely personal stand-out style to any blank wall.

In the quest to stay organized, storage is king. Especially in the laundry room. Though organization and laundry rooms are a somewhat utilitarian and practical matter, there’s no reason your storage solutions can’t also enhance your decor. Simple wall-mounted shelves, cabinet units for baskets and bins, and laundry-specific accessories like fold-away ironing boards can make your washing and drying chores so much easier. Whether you choose to buy a furniture storage system, or build your own DIY solution, you will not regret taking the time to think through your storage needs and outfitting your laundry area. Take a look at some of the best laundry room storage ideas we’ve found on the web.

Windowsill gardens are so last season. Build any of these handmade plant stand designs, and you'll show off both your green thumb and your craftsmanship.

There’s a common misconception that for a garden to flourish it has to be given lots of land and room to breathe. In reality, a small space can provide the foundation for a fantastic garden, one packed with appealing features like bubbling ponds, plenty of seating, and colorful, verdant plants that transform a cramped space into a beckoning backyard oasis.

Is your enamel stove looking a little worse for wear? You can restore the appliance to gleaming, pristine condition by repairing any portions of the surface that have gotten chipped in the course of cooking.

Laundry rooms serve as a drop zone in the home, collecting clothes, shoes, cleaning products, and more—which can lead to a headache-inducing mess. Turn your cluttered chaos into an organized work area with these DIY hacks that cost next to nothing.

Find out why this 500-year-old finish is trending again, and how to recreate it at home like the artisans of old.

A thoughtfully designed gate can make an already welcoming garden even more so, and give a much-needed decorative boost come winter. Whether integrated into a fence's design, overrun by wildflowers, or a standalone element, a gate is an extension of your home's (and garden’s) personality—but that doesn’t mean it can’t make a statement all its own. We found 10 examples of gates that serve as a barrier to the outside world while still saying "come on in." Even if your gardening prowess hasn't yet produced the landscape of your dreams, these fences will still make for a scenic and inviting welcome to your home.

Many of us have a love-hate relationship with our lawns. Although we enjoy the cool carpet of green grass to lie on and play on in summer, no one wants to spend hours every weekend mowing and trimming—not to mention battling weeds, insects, and fungus, and aerating, feeding, watering, and seeding. Turf lawns take a lot of time and money to maintain. They require the use of precious water resources to keep them alive, and the pesticides and herbicides we apply to them can damage the environment. More and more, people are turning to low-maintenance, no-mow lawn alternatives like meadows, rock gardens, and ground covers. These fresh options prove that you can have a beautiful yard without growing a single blade of grass. If that sounds right up your alley, check out these 10 no-mow alternatives to a grass lawn.

America may have 50 states now, but a little less than 250 years ago it consisted of just 13 colonies. Even today, there are some amazing homes built during the colonial period that still stand proudly. Despite war, neglect, and the passage of time, these homes serve as a reminder of the early settlers from countries throughout Europe who influenced the course of United States history.

You may think you keep a clean kitchen, but all of those nooks, crannies, and corners are perfect hiding places for bacteria and other nasty bugs. Even some seemingly innocuous items—dish towels, table linens, and doorknobs—may be harboring dangerous viruses that could make you and your family sick. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 1 in 6 Americans gets sick every year after consuming contaminated food or beverages. With more than 250 varieties, food-borne illnesses are a common and costly public health problem that can cause everything from mild stomach upset to potentially fatal disorders. Keep your family safe by developing good kitchen habits, including these 9 smart food prep, cleaning, and cooking practices, and be grateful that your kitchen isn't in line for a visit from the Board of Health.

Faucets, towel bars, shower heads, hinges—chrome shows up all over the house, especially in the bathroom. Try some of these cleaning methods to keep your chrome gleaming and blemish-free.

With a steady stream of feathered friends visiting your backyard, every breakfast can become a bird-watching bonanza—from the comfort of your own home! Here, an avian conservationist offers 5 smart ideas for encouraging birds to hang out at your place this season.

A little know-how goes a long way when it comes to painting. These simple tips will save you headaches and help you achieve professional results.

Rely on this info to keep your home safe from flames and your defenses up to date.

Extra-small abodes—which can be had for a song—are becoming a big deal all across America. A builder and his wife who have embraced the movement offer advice on downsizing your load and designing your miniature dream house.

Manufactured housing has always been an affordable alternative to site-built homes. Older models especially can be scooped up at a reasonable price, providing prospective buyers a relatively low-stress pathway to homeownership. Some lucky, resourceful owners of modestly priced manufactured homes opt for remodeling their new-to-them residences on their own. They rebuild and restyle their factory-assembled interiors from the chassis up, often chronicling their remodeling recipes—a blend of aesthetics, power tool prowess, ingenuity, and secondhand shopping savvy—on their blogs, while loyal readers eagerly await each new reveal. Crystal Adkins, editor at Mobile Home Living, covers lots of DIY mobile home remodeling projects on her site. She often concludes that had she not told her readers that these are manufactured homes, they never would have known. Is she right? Take a look at a few choice mobile home makeovers and judge for yourself.

Learn about a faster, easier, and more flexible solution for old, poorly performing windows.