Spruce Ideas, Tips & Guides

When the temperatures start dropping and you need an extra blanket for your bed, it's a sign that fall is coming! But with cooler days ahead comes the start of school and more transitions.

Laundry is one of those tasks that’s way too easy to put off–even for professional athletes like Venus Williams.

While mums are particularly popular during the fall season for their lasting power and bright multi-colored blooms, they aren't the only stars of the show for this upcoming season.

If you've just embraced the beauty and magic of starting a homegrown garden, then you know there's lots to learn… and mistakes to make. From overwatering to underwatering, not planting the right companion plants, failing to remove weeds or pesky pests, anything and everything is bound to happen when you start your own garden.

As a first-time homeowner, you might be excitedly making plans for major renovations, minor cosmetic alterations, or just decorating with new furniture and home accessories. But before embarking on any such plans or shopping sprees, you should consider prioritizing certain items—both basic and big-ticket—that every home needs at one point or another.

It's no secret that one of the less exciting responsibilities of being a homeowner of any kind is keeping your place neat and tidy. If you live solo or just moved out on your own, then you know that the responsibility of cleaning falls entirely on your shoulders, which can be a lot to handle.

Perhaps you have gone without washing your dishes or left them in the sink while traveling and returned home to find them covered with mold.

Stuck with dingy, seen-better-days laminate countertops? We feel you. If a kitchen remodel has to live in your dreams for now, either due to budgetary reasons or because you rent, there are still ways you can affordably update your countertops.  For help, we turned to home lifestyle expert Julian Thomas. Perhaps you know him as Marfa Stewart on TikTok, or have seen his DIY projects pop up on your Instagram feed.

While plenty of plant lovers will tell you about the easiest houseplants to grow, few will tell you which plants to completely avoid.

If you’re a homeowner looking to update your bathroom and you’re reconsidering which bath updates are must-haves and which you can skip, read on to learn what some professional designers would skip when it comes to their own bathrooms and why.

While it is no surprise that you would love the elegant cascading look of the String of Pearls, finding the right way to display it can be a real task. But worry not, for we have provided some of the best String of Pearls planting styles and ideas.

With fall just around the corner, it's easy to forget about your garden you've been tending to all summer long. And while you may be thinking it's not even worth it to keep your garden thriving for the fall, it's actually easier than you may think!

If you're craving a pop of color in your home, Behr is here to help with their 2025 Color of the Year, Rumors.

In a recent post on our Facebook page, we asked our readers which they prefer when it comes to drying their clothes: an actual dryer, or air-drying on a clothesline. As you might expect, the answers were varied.

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Not only is high humidity uncomfortable for you, it can actually cause serious damage to your home. Especially in the dog days of summer and long bouts of rainfall, humidity levels have been rising at an alarming level.

If you have a large load of laundry you've been procrastinating on, I get it and let's be honest: we've all been there. But before you jump in, you may not realize some items that you should actually wash with cold water instead of hot water.

My laundry game is always changing, but I must admit: I still can’t quite seem to pin down the best combination.

There is nothing worse than finding an adorable home decor DIY, buying a ton of materials, and starting a project—only to find it's a hundred times more complicated than it appeared in the slick, edited video you saved on socials.

Many of the insects attracted to our plants are beneficial pollinators such as bees and butterflies, which help fruits and flowers to thrive—but not all bugs in a garden are beneficial.

When it comes to the South, gardens are a staple of nearly every home's landscape design. If you have a backyard garden that you're trying to spruce up in terms of aesthetics or make easier on your back to tend to, look no further than raised garden beds!

Picking out the right pest repellent among the dizzying array of bottles, sprays, and pellets at the store isn't easy—but there's something you may already have in your kitchen worth testing.

There’s a lot to think about when you prepare to move into your dorm. Whether it’s your very first time living in a dorm or you’re a seasoned pro, making the most of a small, possibly shared space is a feat. 

There are many ways to upgrade your home, whether refurnishing your basement or simply changing the lighting in your kitchen. But if you're lost on which ones to invest in, look no further.

We all know that it's pretty hard to maintain a flourishing garden and yard in the hot summer months. But of course, some outliers do bloom amongst the sunshine and continue to grow throughout the fall and winter months.

If your refrigerator has a built-in ice maker, you probably use it frequently. Whether your freshly made ice keeps your water frosty during the day or serves as an after-dinner drink spruce up, the machine can stay busy and needs to be cleaned accordingly. Although modern fridges typically warn you when the water filter needs to be changed, they don’t tell you when the ice maker needs a good scrubbing—so cleaning out the ice maker is often a neglected household chore.

There is no plant in the landscape as stunning as hydrangeas. There, I said it, and I stand by it. They're a truly show-stopping (yet surprisingly low-maintenance) option for so many different environments, from coastal to mountainous.

If you're into thrift shopping, you may have noticed that, unfortunately, many items come with a musty «thrift store smell» that can be seemingly difficult to erase. However, it turns out that deodorizing your finds is easier than you may have thought.

I absolutely love outdoor lanterns—the ambiance they create at night is unmatched in the summer. But, one thing I don’t love about candles is the wax itself. If it leaks out and leaves ugly wax stains on any linens or fabrics, that's annoying enough.

While you can decorate and enjoy a private backyard just the way you like—or at least within the confines of an HOA’s rules—the elements of a shared courtyard or patch of grass should consider the group rather than the individual homeowners. «While some may not find this ideal, fostering a sense of community in these shared outdoor spaces can provide a sense of enjoyment,» says Joe Raboine, VP of Design at Oldcastle APG, parent company of Belgard Here are some tips on how to make the most of communal space. 

Thrifting and antiquing are great ways to decorate on a budget while expressing your own, unique style sustainably.

So you’ve hit the jackpot at the thrift store and found the vintage sofa of your dreams at a deep discount. But then you spot something that could turn this scene into a nightmare—an ugly stain on the fabric that looks at least half as old as the furniture itself. With a bit of patience and the right cleaning technique, there’s an excellent chance you can remove the stain, revive the fabric, and enjoy your “new” furniture for years to come. Below, we're sharing six foolproof ways to remove stains from thrifted store finds.

Heading off to college soon? While university life can be daunting to think about, packing doesn't have to be. It's no secret that dorms are notorious for their small living quarters, which means packing is a strategy.

Thrift store shopping often requires more imagination than money—a challenge easily accepted by many DIYers. But don’t let a lack of tools or advanced know-how keep you from giving secondhand furniture a glorious new life in your home.

While college is a major change for students, it’s also a big transition for parents. Parenting from afar can be overwhelming and confusing, but one of the best ways to tackle this is to get prepared and plan ahead.

Anyone who appreciates a cute front door knows what a great first impression a beautiful color makes. That's why selecting the perfect color to don your door can be a big task—but thankfully, we have some expert help.