Here are some general guidelines for fertilizing. 1. Don't use weed n feed products. If you have weeds, then fertilize first with plain fertilizer and come back in two weeks to spot spray individual weeds with something like weed-b-gone. WNF products sound ideal but they don't work like they promise to work. You are much better off using fertilizer when you need fertilizer and separate weed control when you need weed control. 2a. With chemical fertilizers, fertilize once in the spring and twice in the fall. In the spring wait until after you have mowed real grass for the second time. That will ensure you are not fertilizing the early weeds. 2b. With organic fertilizers, you can fertilize any day of the year or every day of the year. Just don't smother the grass with it. Apply most of them at a rate of 10-20 pounds per 1,000 square feet. Ordinary corn meal, alfalfa pellets, soy bean meal, and cottonseed meal are typical organic fertilizers that can be found in 50-pound bags at any feed store. If you want to speed up your lawn's image but feel frustrated that you should not use more chemicals now, then use organic fertilizers from now until Labor Day. Then you can do the first app of chemical fert and again on Thanksgiving. You can apply both chemical and organic on the same day if you want. They do not interact with each other. Now here is the basic 123 of lawn care. Water deeply and infrequently. Deeply means at least an hour in every zone, all at once. Infrequently means monthly during the cool months and no more than weekly during the hottest part of summer. If your grass looks dry before the month/week is up, water longer next time. Deep watering grows deep, drought resistant roots. Infrequent watering allows the top layer of soil to dry completely which kills off many shallow rooted weeds. Mulch mow at the highest setting on your mower. Most grasses are the most dense when mowed tall. Bermuda, centipede, and bent grasses are the most dense when mowed at the lowest setting on your mower. Dense grass shades out weeds and uses less water when tall. Dense grass feeds the deep roots you're developing in 1 above. Fertilize regularly. I fertilize 4 times per year using organic fertilizer. Which fertilizer you use is much less important than numbers 1 and 2 above.

I really don't think there is any way to state what looks good in all cases, categorically. As with most things, It Depends.....on your colors, your furniture, the architecture of the rooms, and not the least the two rugs themselves. I honestly cannot imagine you making a mistake in this area, Bumble, with your eye for color and shape. And in my own opinion, having one beautifully patterned rug and one jute or seagrass rarely works. It takes away from the neutral texture (practically mumbling audibly 'I'm here because I'm unimportant") and gives far too much importance to the patterned one. It also sometimes looks like the second was an afterthought or that the budget ran out.

So much depends on the house this is in, the furnishings of the other rooms, but most importantly, the size and openness of the kitchen. My kitchen is 11 x 15, with three door openings and a huge bay window over the sink - that and the back door cover nearly all of that entire wall. In other words, my kitchen is very "choppy". This it the first time I've replaced cabinets in the 32 years I've lived here, but the 3rd redecoration, and each time I've gone simpler and simpler, and more and more neutral with few contrasts. That's the only thing that works with the choppiness. But if you have a huge kitchen with tons of light and space, the Mondrian-inspired paint on the cabinets would work. It would most definitely NOT work in a kitchen the size of mine!

Extend the lower fence upward to meet the split rail fence. Around the corner, drop down to the lower level at an angle.