Paw and Splash Proofing Potted Plants REVISITED

A status update and modification to the large plant repotting projects that I posted a week ago. 

The Lord Fairfax, Urban Tiger a.k.a. Mason, getting pea gravel stuck to his paws and a few pieces here and there, as he walked away from his session of ritualistic plant abuse.

This is the pea gravel that I had placed on top of the soil to keep it from getting on his paws and help prevent soil from splashing out of the pot when I watered the plants.

Another trip to Home Depot a.k.a. Home Deposit for a bag of larger chunks of white marble stone.  Cost $4.

I would not recommend bringing the bag of stone into the house.  I placed it outdoors and used a plastic bag to cover my hand and filled a small heavy duty container with stones and made trips back and forth until each of the large indoor plants had the layer of pea gravel covered.

Lesson learned and I hope that my sharing helps you with your next potting and pet proofing project.

Repotting Selection of Containers

"All The Saints", by artist Hayes Porter



"All The Saints", by Hayes Porter is a wonderful and expressive piece of artwork, serenity and a deep and suitable planter for my snake plants that I had been reviving in a vase of water and fertilizer for an extended period of time after they suffered from too much sun exposure last spring.

Landscape shops often sell small resin and cement statuary for homes and gardens.  If you do not feel like shopping around they are a definite source of unique planters for accent. 

This particular planter came from Tuesday Morning, of all places, on sale for 40% off of the regular Tuesday Morning price (or) $14.99.

In the past, I have also found some other garden items that are very unique at Tuesday Morning.  Click on the link I provided and check out a store near you.

Kitchen & Creating Storage: Pot Racks

Welcome October and Happy Halloween!

Above is a photo of my project solution for better utilizing space in my kitchen via a couple of IKEA Grundatal rails that can be found in their kitchen organizing section of their stores and catalogs. 

For this particular project, I purchased two of the 47.25" rails for $10.99 each, as well as an assortment of their small and large hooks.  IKEA no longer supplies hardware such as screws with all of their merchandise, as they instruct to use the proper screws or hardware suitable for the surface you are hanging the item to.  Therefore, an additional quantity of four 2" screws for each rail were also purchased from the hardware store.

This project ran a total of approximately $38.  Cost will vary depending upon the size and quantity of packages of hooks required.

Time wise, it was an hour total to pull out the extension cord, drill, drill bits, measuring tape, pencil and screw drivers to properly measure, mark for and install the rails.  Then quicker than a jack rabbit to put up the hooks and hang the pots and pans. 

Not perfection or a gourmet kitchen in the least.  Yet, I am pleased to be able to have the pots and pans within a quick reach.  No more moving and pulling out multiple items to find what I need in the overcrowded and limited lower cupboards.

I would also recommend the magnetic knife rack that they now sell for $8.99 and is shown on the same web page.  I set-up one years ago on the wall behind the counter and would highly recommend the rail to anyone, as it takes up much less space than conventional knife racks, as well as keeping knives within an unencumbered hands reach.

After this installation, I went back to IKEA and purchased a couple of smaller rails and packages of hooks for the garage a.k.a. man cave organization.  Another future project.