Last summer, I planted citronella plants in flower pots on my deck to keep the mosquitos away. It worked beautifully, so for this month’s contest, let me know what all-natural pest control solutions you’ve found work well. Send me your ideas and you’ll be entered to win a $50 Gift Card from Lowe’s!

It’s definitely unnerving to see a line of ants marching across the kitchen floor. But you don’t need to hire an expensive professional exterminator or spray toxic chemicals to banish nuisance ants from your home.

Mix a teaspoon of liquid soap and water in a quart-size spray bottle and spray areas where the ants are active. This will drown the ants and destroy the chemical trails left by worker ants so it will prevent more ants from invading your home. Vinegar and water should also do the trick.

The Natural Resource Defense Council recommends making your own ant traps from a mixture of borax, sugar, and water. Be careful with these if you have young children or pets because it’s not safe to ingest. Ants can’t digest cornmeal properly so that’s another way to get rid of them – sprinkle it around holes or ant trails.

If all else fails and you decide to go for pesticides, use baits in closed cases instead of sprays.

(From Yahoo! Green. Click here for more from this article.)

Pretty much everything in your house can be cleaned with a few simple natural ingredients picked up at your next trip to the grocery store.

A big $2 jug of white vinegar will go a long way when all you have to do is mix it 50/50 with water in a spray bottle and make an all-purpose cleaner that also helps disinfect.  A few drops of orange natural essence, (available at natural food stores such as Whole Foods) will help temper the vinegar smell.

Scrubbing with a little lemon juice and baking soda will remove stains from countertops and inside kitchen sinks. And try olive oil or flaxseed oil to polish wood furniture.

(From Yahoo.com)

Doug Bassett introduces Vaughan-Bassett’s new Appalachian Hardwood bedroom collection, designed to meet consumer demand for high-quality, solid wood furnishings. All pieces in the line are crafted in the USA from sustainably harvested white oak and American cherry woods.

 No-nonsense ways to keep cut flowers longer

• Use plain, lukewarm water for most cut flowers, but use cold water for bulb flowers, such as daffodils, hyacinths, and tulips.
• Change the water every 2 days – don’t just top it off. This is the single most effective thing you can do to keep your flowers looking fresh.
• Keep flowers out of direct sunlight, and move them to a cool place at night.
• Give daffodils their own vase – daffodil stems give off a compound that is toxic to other flowers.
• Keep cut flowers away from fruit, which releases a gas that causes flowers to age faster.

Thom Filicia encourages consumers to be eco-friendly and reminds us that going green it isn’t just about the paints you use, the food you eat, or the amount you recycle. It’s also about the finishes used on your furniture and the way your environment grows organically as a lifestyle and a point of view. Filicia’s collection at Vanguard Furniture embraces his environmental point of view by offering eclectic pieces that can work as well-styled additions to any decor.