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NORTHJERSEY.COM ❚ THURSDAY, MAY 2, 2019 ❚ 1H
A SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION OF THE RECORD
Homescape
Designed for Living:
Updating an 1899
Manhattan townhouse
for the 21st century.
4H
INTERIOR DESIGN ❚ HOME IMPROVEMENT
Be a smarter,
more efficient
gardener this
growing season
CLEAR AS DAY
Proper planning now will
save time and energy later
By JOSEPH RITACCO
SPECIAL TO HOMESCAPE
G
worry. Any home can benefit from
the increased light and sense of spa-
ciousness over-sized windows bring to
compact spaces.
If you’re thinking of expanding
your view, take into account where,
or whether, these large expanses
of glass suit your home and your
lifestyle.
Wyckoff interior designer Sharon
Sherman said, “Your first consider-
ation is how the space will look in all ardeners have never been shy about getting their
hands a little dirty — it’s a prerequisite for the hob-
by, after all — but a few shortcuts here and there
that save time and effort are still appreciated.
Insights from local experts and even a few useful apps on
smartphones and tablets can make the 2019 gardening
season a rewarding and efficient one.
GETTING STARTED
As the calendar turns to May, gardeners should begin
preparing the soil in earnest for the spring and summer
growing season. Atop the priority list should be fertilizing
and mulching, both of
which are time-savers
later on. “During the
spring, mulching is the
biggest thing any gar-
dener can do,” said Beth
Satterfield, garden cen-
ter manager at Canete
Landscape in Wayne.
“Mulching will suppress
weeds, so you can cut
down on time spent
pulling them, and retain
moisture for the plant,
so you won’t have to do
supplemental watering
PHOTO/CANETE LANDSCAPE
when the weather
The garden center at Canete
gets hot.” Satterfield
Landscape in Wayne has a gar-
added that mulching
den of its own to give visitors a
will improve the overall sense of a proper garden set-up.
look of the garden, too.
“It’s like painting a room,” she said. “It makes everything
look so much nicer.”
TIME-SAVING TIPS
Busy schedules can make constant maintenance dif-
ficult for even the most passionate of gardeners, making a
few low-maintenance plants and flowers wise investments.
Emil Eisele, co-owner of Eisele’s Nursery & Garden Center,
a fourth-generation family business based in Paramus,
recommended planting evergreen shrubs early in the
spring. “Now is an ideal time to plant evergreen shrubs
because it gives them a good rooting start for the spring,”
said Eisele. “They typically make lots of roots, which will
keep them in good shape.” He added that low-spreading
types of plants, like junipers, require little pruning.
Annuals, said Satterfield, will bloom all summer and
provide a pop of color. Annual vinca, she added, is a plant
that is very low-maintenance and can be used en masse in
beds and borders or tucked into mixed containers with
other annual flowers. Drought resistant, annual vinca
comes in pink, purple, red, white and magenta, and will
provide beautiful colors from early summer until fall.
OH, DEER!
The effort that goes into creating a beautiful garden
will all be for naught if a family of deer passes through
and makes a dinner feast of it.
“Over the past few years the deer population has
grown so much,” said Eisele. “We constantly have to ask
customers if they get deer in their yards, and even added a
display of deer-proof plants at our nursery.”
Deer dislike any plants with a heavy odor, due to their
sensitive sense of smell.
Junipers, with their heavy fragrant odor, and bayberry
shrubs, with their aromatic evergreen foliage, are both
aesthetically-pleasing and deer-resistant, said Eisele.
Boxwood plants, known as broadleaf evergreens, contain
alkaloids that are distasteful to deer.
EVERYTHING HAS ITS PLACE
Knowing where to place flowers, plants and trees on
See WINDOW WALLS, Page 3H See SMART GARDENING, Page 2H
PHOTO COURTESY OF ANDERSEN WINDOWS
Dramatic walls of glass pair almost seamlessly with modern homes and open-plan layouts because of their minimalist
appeal. A more traditional style of architecture may call for thicker framing.
Let the sunshine in with
trendy window walls
Extend a sense of outdoor living year-round
By KATHIE ROBITZ
SPECIAL TO HOMESCAPE
W
hether you’re building a
new home or contemplat-
ing a renovation, you
may want to think about
incorporating one of today’s archi-
tectural trends — window walls — into
your design plans. With nature as a
backdrop, these dramatic walls of
glass admit generous amounts of sun-
light into interior spaces and extend
a sense of outdoor living throughout
the year, even here in the Northeast.
Thanks to innovative glazing
techniques, manufacturers can
now produce the large glass panels
necessary to create floor-to-ceiling
glazing. And although initially
considered a custom option, window
walls are now available in a number of
sizes and shapes from of well-known
manufacturers of standard windows.
Linda Fennessy, of Kitchen Magic,
a remodeling company with sev-
eral showrooms including those in
Rockaway and Paramus, noted the
benefits offered by window walls,
especially in areas of the house where
people spend a lot of time together.
“A light, bright kitchen, for
example, is always more aesthetically
pleasing,” she said. “Window walls
can also make the most of the darker
seasons of fall and winter when there
are less hours of sunlight. So much
so, they may even counter the effects
of seasonal affective disorder (SAD).
More natural light can also lower
PHOTO COURTESY OF THYME & PLACE DESIGN
Efficient cabinet design reduces the amount of necessary cabinet space,
allowing homeowners create an expansive window wall that delivers views and
lots of natural light.
electric bills as it reduces the need for
artificial lighting.”
And when the weather is cold, solar
gain can keep rooms toasty, saving
even more energy dollars.
WINDOW SHOPPING
Thinly framed uninterrupted
walls of glass pair almost seamlessly
with modern homes and open-plan
layouts because of their minimalist
appeal, suggested Fennessy. A more
traditional style of architecture may
call for thicker framing and perhaps
mullions (glass dividers), but not to
Tile Commandments
PHOTO COURTESY OF
STONE & TILE EMPORIUM
Enjoying la vita al fresco
By ANTONELLA ROMANO
SPECIAL TO HOMESCAPE
I
n this day of high fashion trends
and custom home building, being
involved with a project that doesn’t
include stone or tile in one way or
another is unheard of.
Today’s style-savvy homeowners are
searching for unique, exclusive and yet low
maintenance building materials that will set
them apart from the rest. Homeowners will
stop at nothing to find that perfect color,
texture or finish to complete their indi-
vidual projects. When remodeling an urban
apartment or a country home, there will
always be one thing required — both need
to be successfully paired with the owner’s
style, personality and expectations.
Understanding the intricacies of the
different materials that we are searching
for will assure us that the environment we
are looking to create will bring us lasting
and enduring designs with durability and
elegance.
With all the products available to us
today, the basic porcelains and stones will
eternally remain in our tradition for durabil-
ity and function for many years to come.
Walking into my stone and tile show-
room everyday brings back memories of
my childhood in my Papa’s tile store — for
me it’s like walking into a candy store full of
goodies. Today, when you shop for outdoor
porcelains, there are endless possibilities
and so many styles from which to choose.
So many tiles, so little time! Looking back,
it wasn’t too long ago that walking into a
stone showroom offered you a selection of
bland colors and unimaginative small block
Unlike other materials
such as wood, natural
stone and cement,
porcelain outdoor pavers
are not porous and
therefore do not absorb.
They are frostproof and
weatherproof.
pavers for your outdoors with no imagina-
tion to say the least! The cookie cutter
homes of yesteryear that gave us the
familiar 4x8 plain pavers and the simple
utilitarian patio are a thing of the past.
Today outdoor living has taken a whole
new twist. There are pavers that look like
wood, pavers that look like cement, pavers
that looks like quartzite. There are outdoor
pavers in all sizes — 24x24, 24x36, 12x36,
and more.
There are also pavers that can be used
with a floating system, and pavers that can
be installed right on top of your grass and be
removed if you get tired of the way they are
placed. There are lots of choices.
The best way to begin is to just pick a
style, and chances are you will be able to
find yourself reflected in one particular
style pavers. This will help set the theme
for your project. For those who are afraid
to commit themselves to such a permanent
material, or are afraid you will get tired of
the color or texture, its imperative that you
understand that, large or small, whatever
style, both have the ability to change with
See TILE COMMANDMENTS, Page 2H