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Pot Plants Add To J?erf* Pls*n For Building Cupola Outdoor Decorating Outdoor gardens can be easily supplemented with container plants for those who want to be weedless gardeners this spring and summer. Even avid green-thumbers appreciate the addition colorful flowering plants or unusual foliage in clay containers make to outdoor landscaping effects. For maximum decorative mileage, try some of the following suggestions. • Keep the raised planting bed or planter near the entrance of the house in flower-show perfection with the varied array of plants available at nearby nurseries, florist shops or garden centers. Start with spring-flowering bulbs, then switch to annuals and tender bedding plants. Later, select hardy chrysanthemums. All are grown in porous clay pots that can be plunged right into planter box soil for a continuous seasonal display. • A hot spot on patio or terrace can be converted into a cactus garden. ^ Cacti grow in all shapes and sizes and make interesting and unusual arrangements. Plunge the clay-potted plants into planter soil, or simply slip them into matching saucers. They love sun and a sandy soil kept on the dry side. • Grow a selection of potted herbs on a kitchen window shelf. Nothing perks up summer meals more than fresh herbs. Parsley, chives, tarragon, basil and mint can all be grown in small three or four-inch clay pots. • Hanging, baskets or plants in pot rings do wonders for bare stretches of garage wall or fencing. If it's a bright sun area, try geraniums, lantanas or marigolds; for shade, fuchsias or tuberous begonias will provide the color. • Postlamps look still more decorative when their bases are encircled by pots of flowers. Red, pink and white geraniums make a nice combination. To give plants a bit of height, set them on inverted clay pots or saucers. • Line a flight of sunny garden steps with pots of sedums, aloes or other succulents. The stepped repetition of the claypotted plants will create a pleasing pattern. • Hanging baskets can be suspended from overhead lathes or rafters, even from tree branches. Glass Gives Sparkle, Brings Outdoors In Does the old family homestead, which may have seemed fine for years, now begin to feel too crowded and confining? After long service as a retreat from the workaday world, are its four walls starting to close in? It's only human nature to want to replace drab, outmoded interior space with a fresh, new environment which seems more roomy and cheerful. One way of remodeling an indoor area to give it added sparkle and a feeling of greater spaciousness is to bring the outdoors indoors -- to open the living room, kitchen or other area to the light and color of nature. Make the peacefulness of the backyard, or the scenic view from the front yard, a part of the home, both inside and outside. Pays Extra Dividends In other words, knock out the exterior walls, or at least part of them, and replace them with floor-to-ceiling expanses of glass. The remodeling-with-glass technique not only can make the interior seem larger and more visually pleasing, but also can pay extra dividends by giving the exterior a more modern and appealing appearance. The key is to make a glass re-~ modeling project fit the pocketbook. Pick out the most attractive view, and bring it into the home with glass. Renovate with glass first in rooms which are used most often and then, when economics permit, branch out into other portions of the home. Sliding glass doors are a particularly popular means of uniting the home's natural and manmade space because they serve both as a door and a window. They provide both visual and physical access to a patio, courtyard or lawn, turning it into another "room" in the home and making it enjoyable year-round. Softens Brightness Using insulating glass in these sliding doors is a practical means of making such a remodeled home work with the weather. Insulating glass is made of two panels of glass, separated by a sealed-in air space for an added margin of protection against inclement weather and for lowering of heating and air-conditioning costs. The glass panel facing the outdoors can be tinted grey or bronze to soften sky brightness and further reduce sun heat transmission. A project for amateur woodworkers-- one that enhances the appearance of the home as well as improves the property--could be the construction of a cupola for garage, breezeway or wing of the house. The cupola is easy to make with such materials as stock moulding and ready-made louvers obtainable at local lumberyards. The unit may be assembled with nails and water-resistant glue. Roof rafters are screwed for added strength. Using a miter box facilitates the even cutting of mitered moulding and base. Aiding the construction are modern power tools, such as a power tool kit that's a complete portable workshop in itself. The cupola project for woodworking hobbyists was developed by power tool consultants for General Electric Housewares Division. Using the schematic accompanying this story as a guide, the following steps are recommended. 1. Cut upright cove moulding same height as louver frames and assemble so edges are flush with front of louvers. 2. Cut and assemble floor and ceiling from three-eighths inch plywood. Dab small amount of glue on posts, then glue together. 3. Cut and assemble base. Angular cut must match pitch of your roof. Use sabre saw to make diagonal cuts. Attach base to plywood floor. 4. Cut and attach rafters. Use F H wood screws and sink heads below the surface. Cut and attach to roof of cupola. 5. Cut and miter all moulding. Assemble with glue and brads. 6. Sink all nail heads and fill holes with wood dough. Next prime and paint desired color. 7. If copper roofing is to be used, cut it to size and place over plywood. Carefully solder joints. Or cover roof with shingles to match your roof. Weathervanes may be obtained 5" - - 19k - 'A PLYWOOD 14 V4* 5*; *»• &x4& PINE STOCK LOUVERS 12" *_25" l&x l i f e . PINE SHELF EDGE MOULDING CUT AS SHOWN Ml* ft R4NEL MOULDING rw *2* CROWN MOULDING COVE MOULDING >U ROOF LINES TOP VIEW SECT A-A • OF ROOF O 90* COVE MOULDING 12* -IV* f UOUVERS | \C SECT C-C ~ '71 SECT B-B &• W~i Ir"*' CREATING A CUPOLA for garage, breezeway or wing of the house can be a rewarding projept for home workshop enthusiasts. Schematic, above, offers guidance, and additional instructions appear in the accompanying article. Cupola project was developed by General Electric Housewares Division consultants. • * • FANCY SCROLLWORK, featured in do-it-yourself cupola, can be cut with a sabre saw. Power tool kit from GE includes one-third horsepower motor, three interchangeable, precision- geared tool heads -- saw, three-eighths inch drill and orbital sander. at any good hardware store. Building materials, excluding weathervane, average around $25. Woodworker hobbyists will find the investment a satisfying one all the way around. THAWING PIPES To thaw frozen water pipes, apply heat gradually. Hot towels wrapping around the pipes help do the job safely. A choice of fin ishes... alkyd / latex Liquid Velvet alkyd is the most superb flat wall finish ever marketed. Formulated with exclusive alki-therm, it does everything better. A premium quality product for incomparable beauty and performance. " LIQUID VELVET WALL PAINT Liquid Velvet latex represents the very best in interior latex wall paint. Its many user advantages include one coat hiding, fast dry, low odor, easy application and quick soap and water clean-up of brushes and rollers. WHITE Liquid-Lite alkyd is the perfect satin enamel for walls, woodwork, trim, cabinets and furniture. Flows on easily -- no brush marks. Won't chip. Extra durable and washable. Ideal for kitchens and bathrooms. WHITE Liquid-Lite Latex Satin makes enameling of walls, trim, cabinets, etc. easier than ever. Flows on smoothly and covers in one coat. Dries in minutes to a durable satin finish. Clean tools in soap and water. WHITE MAIN PAINT 3819 W. Main St. Midwest Bank Cards Welcomed McHenry 385-1115