You don’t need a garden to enjoy wildlife just outside your home. Many birds happily use feeders positioned on balconies. Generally, once one bird discovers a feeder, lots more will follow. However, if your apartment is high up, it may take a while before any birds happen upon your feeders. Most species don’t forage that high and may not expect to find food on balconies. However, birds respond to visual and audio signals indicating the presence of food.

If you cannot find a thick tree branch to hang a heavy bag from, you can build your own heavy bag stand for outdoor use out of heavy-duty lumber and lag bolts. Even if you have limited carpentry experience, you can put a simple rig together that will last a lifetime if you use all the right materials. You can build an outdoor heavy bag stand that will last a lifetime.

A shoji screen is a translucent screen typically used to divide walls in Japanese houses. Traditionally constructed by attaching rice paper to a wooden or bamboo framework, the screen enables light to filter through while maintaining privacy. Design and build a freestanding shoji screen to divide a large room. Things You Will Need + Measuring tape Wood boards, 1 to 2 inches wide Miter saw Paintbrushes Primer or paint Hammer and nails (optional) Wood glue Rice paper 6 hinges Screws Screwdriver 2 aluminum U-railings Today, shoji screens are commonly used as sliding doors or freestanding screens in Western homes to partition or divide large rooms and enhance the interior design.

Stock cabinetry refers to any prefabricated, factory-built cabinetry. These cabinets come in standardized sizes for quick installation. Stock cabinets are a good choice for many homeowners because they are designed to be low-cost yet durable. Unfortunately, customization options are often limited for stock cabinets. You can paint over stock cabinetry with just a few hours of work. Things You Will Need + Liquid deglosser Rag Screwdriver Plastic sheet Painter's tape Synthetic-bristle paintbrush 2 medium-nap rollers Natural-bristle paintbrush One way to customize boring stock cabinets is with a fresh coat of paint.

A cedar chest's potent aroma is one of the biggest draws to adding the furniture piece to your home collection. A cedar chest not only gives its owner a pleasant, woody odor, but it also offers a natural protection against moth larvae and other destructive pests. When chests age, however, this odor will fade as humidity and airborne debris clog the wood's pores. Fortunately, opening these pores and refreshing the smell takes just a few hours' work with minimal supplies and woodworking skills.

The best way to find out if a fuse has blown is to use a volt-ohm meter. They are relatively inexpensive and come in two types, analog and digital. Analog volt-ohm meters have a needle that moves from left to right. Digital volt-ohm meters use an LCD readout display. Volt-ohm meters are easy to use. Before using your volt-ohm meter you should be familiar with its functions, as per manufacturer instructions.

Table of Contents Why Air Movement Matters Use Paper to Fill Gaps Plastic Offers Several Options Fabric Can Reduce Heat Transfer You can improve the insulation of a home and reduce your utility costs with many materials you either have around the house already or can buy inexpensively. Thermal imaging reveals where a house loses heat. Most insulating materials work by controlling air movement.

The butterfly leaf table was an American innovation on the original drop leaf table design popular in Europe since the 1600s. Where the drop leaf table had a stationary center and outer edges that dropped down, the butterfly leaf allowed the user to rotate a center section out of sight beneath the table to create a smaller piece of furniture. The size of the removable piece is normally 18 inches, which might not seem like much of a space saver until you see it in action.

Stainless steel cookware resists corrosion and rust, but it is not completely stain resistant. Cooking on high heat or burning food in stainless steel cookware can leave black residue on the normally shiny finish. The acid in white vinegar can loosen residue and make it easier to remove. Clean stainless steel cookware as soon as possible after use. Things You Will Need + White vinegar Dish soap Nonabrasive scrub pad Dish towel For best results, clean stainless steel cookware while it is still warm.

Steelcase file cabinets are heavy-duty file cabinets, meant to support a lot of weight and to provide stability for your files. However, like any file cabinet, the drawers may sometimes get stuck or jammed. When this happens you need to take a closer look at the mechanics of the file cabinet to find out what it is that's hampering the drawer's movement. It will take a little mechanical aptitude, but with such a simple mechanism any problem will be self evident when looked at closely.