Patio furniture, in the simplest terms, is just furniture designed for outdoor use. Typically, outdoor furniture is made from weather-resistant materials and sold as a set of some combination of tables and chairs designed to provide a comfortable seating and dining area.

Patios have evolved from their humble beginnings as the place to store the extra yard junk or kids’ tricycles into fashionable outdoor entertaining rooms—an extension of the home, complete with sofas and hearths.

To furnish your patio, there are hundreds of styles, brands, and materials to choose from. Whether low priced or high, traditional or fancy, outdoor furniture should meet these criteria: be solid enough to hold up against disagreeable weather and be comfortable.

The best advice is to shop around for patio furniture. Such details as the quality of construction and the evenness of the finish materials can only be determined up close. In fact, inexpensive patio furniture can be almost as durable, well made, nicely finished, and well proportioned as comparable high-end pieces, so it pays to see it personally.

Growing your own food: Once considered an outdated pastime, it’s now coming back into style for both new and experienced gardeners. Ingredients for a salad don’t get much fresher than when they are pulled directly from the yard. You can guarantee your produce is organic, and, it just tastes better. Most fruits and vegetables are never sweeter than when they first come out of the garden.Today’s edible garden isn’t your grandmother’s labor-intensive vegetable plot located off by itself in a corner of the backyard. Instead, you’re more apt to find vegetables mixed in with ornamentals in a garden border, or grouped together in a raised bed that is not only a decorative garden element but also easier to take care of than a soil-level plot.

Techniques like overplanting and French intensive gardening allow you to grow a maximum number of vegetables in a small space, including container gardens. Many fruit trees are also available in dwarf and semi-dwarf varieties, which are faster to set fruit, easier to prune and harvest from, and ideal for smaller gardens.

Edibles also offer gardening variety. Many of these plants are decorative in their own right, whether it’s the distinctive leaves of artichokes, onions, and rhubarb or the range of colors, like the purple of cabbage, the bright yellow of squash, and the deep red of tomatoes. Some, such as apples, melons, and citrus, also contribute fragrance to the garden. While most edibles are spring and summer growers, cold-weather lovers like cabbage, kale, and spinach keep the garden alive in late fall and early winter.

One of the hardest-working fixtures in your home is the kitchen sink, which is frequently used—at least an hour per day in most homes—and can be subject to quite a pounding.

The standard kitchen sink is 22 by 30 inches, with two equal-size bowls that are 8 inches deep. But specialty sinks can cater to your preferences. There are sinks with 9- or 10-inch-deep bowls if you frequently use large pots, high-set shallow bowls that go between the two basins for peeling and washing vegetables, oversize single basins, unequally sized basins, and basins that fit into tight corners.

Exterior lighting can add both beauty and practicality to a home. If you’ve ever seen a beautifully-lit house at night, you know how lighting can accentuate a house’s beauty while hiding its blemishes and heighten its curb appeal after dark.

On the practical side, well-planned outdoor lighting can also aid in safe passage along paths or stairways, enhance security, and extend the usefulness of your outdoor living areas after the sun has gone down.

Bathroom cabinets are a key ingredient in setting the style of a bathroom and, more importantly, offer essential storage for bathroom supplies. More often than not, cabinets serve as the base for bathroom sinks.

This section of HomeTips offers step-by-step help with installation of cabinets and bathroom accessories.

Designing a garden that’s perfect for you and your family is one of the most enjoyable aspects of landscaping. Whether you’re faced with a bare plot of land or a tired space that needs revamping, this is where you can combine your wants and needs to create a space that’s truly your own.

Admitting natural light, permitting views to the yard and beyond, allowing natural ventilation: windows perform a number of critical roles in a home. And because of the wide range of jobs

they must do–sometimes simultaneously–windows must be chosen thoughtfully and maintained with care.

Their work is often complex. For example, windows are expected to allow light and views but keep out wind, rain, glare, cold, and intruders. To accomplish this range of tasks, windows must be designed with a range of features that work together seamlessly.

Of course, windows come in many shapes and sizes and made of several different materials, from wood to aluminum to vinyl. Basically, all windows have frames and glass, and most have weatherstripping. Windows used for ventilation have a means of opening and closing, and may have screens to keep insects and debris outside.

When you’re in the market for new windows, knowing what features to seek can be a challenge. The buying guide information listed below will help. In this section, you’ll also find step-by-step DIY information to help with installing, caring for, and repairing windows.

Lawns, gardens, decks, patios, fences, paths, water features—these are just a few of the many elements that combine to create a home’s landscape. All contribute toward giving a home its sense of place and making the outdoor areas inviting and useful. And, of course, a carefully maintained and well-chosen landscape increases a home’s value.

In this section, we focus on those elements of a landscape plan that are often referred to as the “hardscape.” A yard’s hardscape includes man-made structures that add to the functionality of outdoor areas, such as masonry patios, decks, paths, lighting, and so forth. Of course, lawns, gardens, and other living elements are integral to a home’s landscape plan, too, so they are discussed here briefly as well. For more in-depth information about gardens and other living elements, see the category

Though vacuuming floors, carpets, and furniture isn’t exactly fun for most people, one home appliance can help you complete this chore with a minimum of dust, noise, and hassle–a built-in central vacuum system. With a built-in central vacuum, you do not have to lug a heavy vacuum cleaner from room to room or up and down stairs.

Instead, you just tote around a cleaning attachment on the end of a long, lightweight hose. To vacuum, you plug the hose into any of a several wall-or floor-mounted receptacles. Dust and debris travels through the hose into the receptacles and is then delivered to a remote cannister by a system of hidden plastic pipes. The vacuum cannister is typically located in the basement or garage.

In addition to being handy, central vacuums reduce allergy symptoms and do an excellent job of vacuuming. Because the vacuum cannister can be larger than a conventional household vacuum, it can do a more powerful job of collecting dust, pollen, dander, and other airborne pollutants without recirculating those allergens into your living spaces the way conventional a portable vacuum cleaner does. And even though they are larger and more powerful than conventional vacuums, they are quiet because the motor noise is out of earshot.

Beyond their functional duties of allowing a door to swing or slide and latch closed, doorknobs, hinges, and similar hardware components may add significantly to a door’s beauty.

Many styles and finishes of door hardware are available, from ornate brass locksets and hinges to stylish brushed-chrome knobs.

If you’re in the market for new door hardware, making choices can be a bit overwhelming.