Outside the Green Box

Regular visitors to Renovation Resources know that the posts here are about renovating your home. They’re about products, best practices and the process of building, upgrading or expanding your home. They often revolve around Green or Sustainable issues. Some are even meant to guide you through the process of selecting design professionals and craftspeople to work with. But let’s think outside of the box right now. Let’s go outside of the big, Green or soon-to-be Green box that is your home. Is your yard green? I don’t mean Scotts Lawn green. I mean good for your family, your neighborhood and the environment Green. Is it Sustainable?

One of the areas where you can make the most significant impact on the environment as a whole is actually outside of your home. Of course there are as many Green issues involved in this outdoor arena as indoors. You could consider everything from rain harvesting to xeriscaping; grey water recycling to wind breaks; sun angles to lawn chemicals. An excellent resource for information and advice on these topics and others relating to your Green surroundings is Dean Hill, ASLA, CGP. Dean is a Landscape Architect, the namesake of Green Dean and the driving force behind the Green Dean Blog and Tangible Green. Like Renovation Resources, much of Dean’s work revolves around making changes to your environment that make sense for you finances, your health and your environment. When you’re ready to “Think Outside the Green Box,” check Green Dean out.

Home Renovation Scrapbook

Whether your Renovation dreams involve a kitchen remodel, a new master suite, a nursery or a media room, prepare for the planning process by keeping a scrapbook. You probably already sift through numerous home improvement-type magazines. Tear out the photographs of that kitchen that you like so much and look up the resources section for the fixtures in that bath that you admire.

But go one step further; jot down a few notes on exactly what you like or dislike in the photograph. You may find that the reason that you want that particular room for your own is actually that you just love the color used on the walls or the style of cabinetry. This personal exploration will likely tell you a lot about what you really want to accomplish in your future projects and will also put you a step ahead when you sit down with a design professional to start planning in earnest.