Home and Garden

Nearby gardens meet great expectations.

The best New Year’s resolution you could possibly make for 2009 is to plan a trip, or several, to visit some of the outstanding gardens available within a day’s drive from Hilton Head Island.

These include three of the most renowned public gardens, not only in the Southeast, but in the entire country.

This is not to recommend a one-day round trip, because an overnight stay is necessary to fully enjoy the experience, although you can easily reach your destination in a day.

Users of Beaufort County’s popular Real Property Lookup and Real and Personal Tax Payment Web site pages are in for big changes with new state-of-the-art tax and appraisal software.

Property Max and Collect Max replaced the county’s property research and tax payment services. Both are powered by Manatron, a national company used by many government property tax and assessment ofces.

Put a modern twist to your traditional holiday decor.

By now, you’ve likely pulled dusty boxes of half-broken ornaments, partially used candles, tangled twinkling lights and themed tablecloths from the bowels of your closet. But before you deck your house in holiday splendor, reconsider the décor of old. The impending New Year marks a fresh take to tradition, according to Carmen Natschke of Decorating Diva, an online home design resource.

“As with all things décor, the basics will always have a strong influence,” she said. “I don’t see a significant down trend in traditional holiday color usage. What I do see is a fusion of traditional color basics and trendy color newcomers, such as pink, robin’s egg blue, sage, chocolate and other 2008 color favorites.”

'Tis the time of year for reflection while we can still remember what was a success or failure, what was a wonderful surprise or what was a disappointment.

Then in January we can face forward confidently with a little background information to help us make every month and year in the garden more satisfying than the last. Isn’t that the goal after all, as Katharine White famously wrote in “Onward and Upward in the Garden”? A short list of standouts from the year just past would have to include “Knockout” roses, the new shrub rose and glamour girl of the rose community.

The colors are indeed “knockout,” breathtaking in their floriferous beauty Almost everything about them as promised in catalogues is true - that is, resistance to powdery mildew, blackspot, rust, Japanese beetles, leafhoppers, rose midge, drought, humidity and everything else the Lowcountry can throw at them, (except deer).

Well-traveled homeowners bring worldly perspective to Berkeley Hall.

The home of Suzanne and Frank Grohowski is nestled in a cul-de-sac in stately Berkeley Hall. This fascinating couple had a home in Sea Pines for many years and, when it came time to make a change, Berkeley Hall captured Frank and Suzanne’s attention due to its beauty, elegance and magnificent home sites.

“We wanted to build a home that reflected our lifestyle and personalities”, said Suzanne. “We have been fortunate to have traveled extensively and collected both art work and other treasures along the way. We really wanted to build our home in a manner that would allow us to share our life and travels with friends and family.”

A Mediterranean, yet distinctly American home is the net result. Rich warm tones of winter wheat and cinnamon combine beautifully to set off textured fabrics, comfortable furniture and impeccable taste creating a relaxed, refined and quiet luxury throughout this home, the perfect venue for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner.

Successful container plantings require a focal point.

What makes a single plant the center of attraction?Is it color, form, height, uniqueness, or a bit of attitude?

Well, all of the above, but not necessarily at one and the same time.

A container wants a variety of plant material, either blending, contrasting or both, but the center plant is the one that will focus the attention for either good or bad.

The first consideration should probably be height as that will determine the relationship or proportion of the plantings to the container. It is important that the ratio be pleasing — that the height and mass of the plants be neither too small nor too large for the container.

New strategies, materials make it easier to be green.

Millions of people are making the switch to a greener lifestyle. From replacing plastic grocery bags with canvas totes to designing homes with environmentally friendly materials, consumers are completely aware of the benefits of going green inside and outside the home.

A GREEN INTERIOR — FROM ROOM TO ROOM

Making the switch to a greener home lifestyle can be as easy as throwing out old toxic cleaners or replacing regular light bulbs with energy-efficient bulbs.

But if you’re looking to remodel major aspects of the home, think about using recycled materials throughout every room starting with the kitchen.

Hot hues and cool tools to enhance your home.

Many of us have at least one sad looking room in our home that is in need of updating and some fresh new colors. If you would like to make this change over a weekend, preparation will include getting organized and making a few preliminary decisions. The first decision to tackle is what items will stay, and what items could be transformed to a new look. Certainly the most cost-effective changes will be painting the walls to create a new color scheme and adding new accessories for the finishing touches.

The National Kitchen & Bath Association (NKBA) is proud to announce that the 2009 NKBA Design Competition. Art of the Industry will be the largest ever for this internationally acclaimed competition, which showcases the finest kitchen and bath projects of the past year. Recognizing the importance of the competition in our industry, the NKBA has decided to more than double the cash prizes in 2009 to over $100,000. Of that amount, $25,000 will be presented to the winner of the Pinnacle of Design Award, which honors the year’s top design, representing the peak of form and function. Tw o new categories have also been added to the NKBA Design Competition for 2009: Best Sustainable Kitchen, sponsored by GE Monogram®, and Best Sustainable Bath, sponsored by Rheem®.

In addition, the NKBA welcomes This Old House® as sponsor of the Best Before & After category and American Woodmark as sponsor for all of the competitions 3D modeling. The NKBA is also pleased to have Sub-Zero®/Wolf®, Miele™, and Dal-Tile® continue as sponsors for the Pinnacle of Design, Best Overall Kitchen, and Best Overall Bathroom awards, respectively.