Creating outdoor rooms is a relatively easy and inexpensive way to increase your home’s footprint, its value and the day-to-day quality of life you enjoy there. Just consider the cost of installing a custom deck against that of an actual home addition, and the potential of the great outdoors starts to look even greater.

Once thought to be an out-of-reach backyard daydream, the outdoor room has definitely gone mainstream with fireplaces, water features and entertainment stations, and according to a recent Better Homes and Gardens Magazine survey, these enhancements form the second most popular category of home improvement Ideas.

With so many homeowners looking to get as comfy outdoors as they do in their indoor family and living rooms, manufacturers and retailers are responding with an array of solutions to furnish outdoor rooms. Here are the top trends to consider for your own outdoor remodel.

Bringing the indoors outdoors. Gardens, terraces, patios, and other outdoor areas continue to be popular means of extending the boundaries of homeowners’ living spaces, and American consumers are looking to furnish them with such amenities as all-season furniture upholstered in weather-resistant fabrics, top-of-the-line grills, fireplaces, decorative pillows and rugs, and accessories such as artwork and statuary. A growing preference for casual outdoor entertaining is also inspiring a range of affordable and versatile tabletop items to suit every occasion.

Colorful container gardening. These space-saving displays have always been favorite outdoor elements, and now the trend is going a step further with planters in a range of eye-catching shapes and colors. Such classy containers become artful accessories in themselves, adding interest when planted and arranged in clusters, placed in flower beds, or built up as vertical gardens.

Front-yard landscaping. Where backyards are smaller, water features, fences, courtyards and patios are moving out front, adding impact and individuality.

New-and-improved decks and patios. Weatherproof and wood alternatives are in demand, and a wider selection of natural products such as tumbled stone and brick are paving the way.

Exterior lightscapes. Hard-wired lighting illuminates the garden, trees and house, both to illuminate outdoor rooms and enhance security.

Water features. Fountains and other water elements enhance sight and sound, while landscaped ponds, streams and lighted waterfalls offer peace and relaxation in outdoor rooms.

Outdoor fireplaces. No longer limited to the living room, den or master bedroom, the fireplace is now becoming the centerpiece of the outdoor living center. Whether a simple portable fire pit or a custom-built structure, a fireplace lends ambiance and creates a focal point for gatherings.

Garden pavilions and gazebos. Outdoor refuges create a destination within a yard and emphasize the comforting, traditional notion of a garden.

Truly green accessories. Shrubs, trees and flowers are being used as accents, room dividers, carpets and curtains in outdoor rooms.

Smart irrigation systems. Customized to outdoor spaces and supporting the green theme of water conservation, irrigation systems can now think for you thanks to lawn sensors that measure soil moisture and automatically operate sprinklers for a lush landscape and beautiful view from your outdoor room.

So your company has decided to take advantage of personalized calendar printing. Now comes the time to decide what exactly is going to be on that calendar. The topic of a calendar is going to be the deciding factor on whether or not a person actually decides to keep it and put it up, so you need to pick something your demographic is interested in.

A straight up advertisement isnt likely to get a person excited about your calendars. Every calendar has a theme. Its up to you to decide what theme you want to use for yours.

One option is to find one that relates to your industry. Heres one possibilities: you run a home improvement store, and so each month you have the page listing different tips for repairing something, or other home improvement suggestions. Given the prominence and popularity of various shows that deal specifically with home improvement, people are interested in ways to get things done themselves.

Now you can help them out and grab their interest by giving them tips. And since you sell the supplies, youre able to encourage them to come in and buy from you each time they try out one of your home improvement suggestions.

You can also go for a similar concept except not specifically related to your company. I once got a free calendar from a bookstore that talked about various ways to help the planet and be more environmentally friendly. With this method they generate interest in their company as one who is dedicated towards helping the planet, which improves their image, and still gives people a calendar with effective tips.

Or you can try going a more visual path. Try to create a calendar with stunning visuals. Once again, you can try to relate them to your industry or not. If you give people some beautiful pictures or works of art in your calendar theyll want to hang it up so they can keep looking at it every day.

In the area of visuals there are all sorts of different options you have open to you. Try to hold a survey group to find out what pictures people like to look at the most, or just pick as many that you love as you can.

If you try to make calendar printing a more active form of marketing all youre going to do is doom yourself to failure. The great thing about a calendar is it can remind people that your company exists without demanding their full attention. Simply have the calendar there is enough to effectively market you.

Just remember that there are a lot of competition when it comes to calendars. If youre focusing too much on marketing and not enough on what people are going to like, youll find that no one really cares about taking your calendar. Making the best calendar you can should be your first priority, while using it as a marketing device should be your second.

If you are like me, house cleaning is a job that gets constantly put off. I just don’t feel like there is enough time for me to mop, sweep, dust, scrub, scrape, and polish. Thankfully, there are people out there who have been doing this kind of thing for years. These professionals know the ins and outs of the job, and they will tell us the secrets to prevent it from taking over our lives.

Okay, let’s start in the kitchen. When attempting to scrub and sanitize this massive filth and germ attractor, be sure to start on the right side of the stove and work clockwise around the room. This will leave the stove, typically the dirtiest part of the kitchen, for the last task. By doing this, you are reducing the amount of dirt and grime you spread to other parts of the kitchen during your cleaning process.

While in the kitchen, make sure that you disinfect the sink when scrubbing it. Disinfecting and sanitizing this area regularly is very important because it has been proven that the kitchen sink actually contains more germs than the toilet bowl. Now moving on to the dishwasher, I find myself rationalizing that I can skip this machine because it’s getting cleaned every time I use it. Well, I could not be further from the truth. The dishwasher is home to caked on grime and many nasty germs like e-coli. Because of this, it needs to be wiped out regularly with a combination of baking soda and bleach. This combination will kill those germs while removing old, crusty food.

To avoid the manual labor of scrubbing the bottom of your oven, a great tool to use is an oven liner. This great invention can be wiped with a towel and placed in the dishwasher to be cleaned and used over and over. It will prevent the black soot that is so prevalent in ovens from coating the bottom of yours.

A great time saver when dealing with house cleaning is to clean as you go. A great example of this can be illustrated in the kitchen. As you prepare a meal, fill the sink with hot, soapy water. Place the preparation dishes in the water to soak as you enjoy the meal, and then do the same with the dinner dishes. By the time dessert is over, all of the dishes can be transported from the sink to the dishwasher with little or no scrubbing. Along these same lines, be sure to wipe up any spills as they happen. They will be much easier to eliminate this way, than if you wait until they harden.

Another time saver when it comes to house cleaning is to simply wash your shower curtain liner with a few towels in the laundry. This method will be much faster than trying to scrub the mildew and grime off by hand, and it is not nearly as disgusting either. Also, to easily tame the toilet, simply pour some tang in the bowl and let it stand for a few minutes. The citric acid works as a scrubber to eliminate all of those nasty stains.