Coastal Halloween

Halloween costumes with a coastal theme can be great fun. Don't go to the halloween party dressed as someone else who is emulating a politician or person in the news. At the beach, it is fun to be a pirate, a mermaid or even an animal such as a lobster or dolphin. Your pets can get in on the act too...use your imagination and have a beachy halloween.

Breathe that Salty Sea Air

With uncertain economic times, it is a treasure to take a walk along the seashore and breathe in the salty sea air. Enjoy nature and keep your perspective on what is truly important in life: family, friends, health and happiness.

Make Money at Home

With the downturn in the economy and increasing costs to support your coastal home, it may be time to find some additional revenue streams. You can make money while enjoying your coastal home. Following are some suggestions:

1. eBay. Sell coastal home accessories or other coastal treasures such as sea glass you have collected on the beach.

2. Share your expertise as a writer on a site such as eHow or Associated Content. Becoming an eHow member is free and can ultimately generate a stream of passive income for you as you write more "how-to" articles. For example, you can write about how to do various things that pertain to the coastal home.

3. Become an online tutor and help a student ace an upcoming exam or complete a scholarly essay. There are various sites that hire tutors - some will require that you become "certified" as part of the application process.

Find something that suits your personality and fits into your schedule. This will make the experience rewarding and ultimately make earning some extra income something you will enjoy.

Fall Flower Arrangements

Decorate your coastal home for fall with a fresh sunflower arrangement. These flowers invoke the fall spirit while maintaining a coastal cottage flair. Enjoy the cooler weather and take advantage of the beautiful days before winter!

Bring the Coastal Outdoors In

Use accent pieces such as shells as accesories and as accent pieces. Sea glass can introduce some inviting colors to your home as well. Remember that coastal themes generally utilize colors that are found naturally at the beach. Think of the blues of the water and sky, greens of the sea and seashore plants, browns of the sand and driftwood, and so on. By following this as a guide when you pick pieces and colors for your coastal decor, you basically can't go wrong.

Hurricane Ike

Hurricane Ike is a massive storm that appears to be taking aim at the Texas coast, with evacuations already underway. The Red Cross is moving relief supplies to Texas in anticipation of Ike's landfall and is urging residents and visitors to prepare and listen to directions from public officials. The best way you can assist the Red Cross is to donate some money and an easy way to simply donate $5 via text. Click here for an information form from the Red Cross regarding hurricane victims.

Home Forums

The GardenWeb Home Forums are a great resource for learning about others experiences with home items such as pressure washers, appliances, flooring materials and many other home items. When you have a coastal home it pays to do some research to determine if it is really more cost effective to spend a little extra money for a different material or an upgraded item, such as an air conditioning unit that is made for coastal environments. The coastal environment is harsh on many of the typical household appliances and hardware. Thus, taking the time to do a bit of research may yield a longer life for the item and also result in a better return on the money you spend.

GardenWeb Home Forum

New Insurance Coverage and Tropical Storms

If you own or are purchasing a coastal home, beware that insurance may stop writing new policies during active tropical storm and hurricane threats. For example, in Florida you may here an insurance professional refer to a tropical storm or hurricane "storm box" and once a storm enters this box - that is the company's box drawn on a map around a large geographical area - the insurer will temporarily suspend issuing new coverage. For additional information, visit the Florida Insurance Council.

Collecting Sea Beans

The waves and winds generated by tropical storm systems offer beachcombers an opportunity to search for various collectibles. Seashells are frequently sought, but sea bean collecting can also be lots of fun and challenging. An additional reward: sea beans are thought to bring good luck! Read this article giving some tips on how to beachcomb and collect sea beans.

Installing Hurricane Storm Shutters

Protecting your home from tropical systems is important for coastal properties. This video from Lowe's provides information about installing hurricane storm panels. This is just one of the hurricane shutter varieties that is available. There are, among others, roll-down shutters that are permanently installed in a housing above the opening and also accordion shutters that remain in place and ready to simply close upon a threatening storm. Both of these shutter systems are more expensive than the hurricane panel protection system.

Win a Coastal Home

Only 32 days left to enter - one entry per day - for a chance to win a beach house in WindMark Beach, FL. WindMark Beach is a beachfront resort community on the Gulf of Mexico in Florida's NW panhandle. The community is located close to St. Joseph's Peninsula State Park Beach on Cape San Blas.

Hurricane Evacuation Prep

With hurricanes and tropical storms in the news, it is a good time whether you are in the projected path or not to consider getting your things in order to be ready for an evacuation should the need arise. Click here to review an article with some basic tips on packing for a hurricane evacuation.

Keeping your important documents and sentimental items that you do not have on display in sealable storage containers is a great way to have items already packed and ready to load into the car upon an evacuation notice being issued.

Hurricane Gustav

Hurricane Gustav appears to be on track to enter the Gulf of Mexico in the next several days. Already, cruise ships are being diverted. Tropical systems are another issue for coastal homeowners to contend with - especially in the SE and the Carribbean during the months of August and September. There are a multitude of things that can be done to attempt to protect one's home and a storm in the news brings many of these considerations to the forefront.

If you have storm shutters, now is a good time to check and make sure they are in working order and that you have all the hardware necessary to install them. For example, for some of the panels, wingnuts and proper tracks are required. If you are unsure about how to install the shutters or need assistance, it is a good idea to plan ahead and not be trying to figure this out, or have to try to buy parts, when there is a threatening storm.

Vacation Rentals

Should you market your coastal home as a vacation rental, it is important to make sure your home stands out as a quality property so that you will establish a repeat client base. Came across this article that identifies some steps to take to make your vacation rental more desirable.

Coastal Home Decor

Decorating a coastal home, or one that you want to have a coastal flair, is great fun and you can locate many unique pieces that will accomplish your special seashore style. Searching through some of the larger sites can be somewhat time consuming because keywords are not always the most obvious. Visit Coastal Home Shoppe to find some items that may meet your decorating needs.

Eveyone needs a "fun" bathroom - why not give your guest bath a surfing, tropical fish, sea glass, dolphin or sea turtle theme? Think beyond the typical palm or seashell shower curtains. Be creative & have fun!

Coconut Palms

Living along the coast affords opportunities to enjoy growing tropical plants - either in your garden or in decorative pots for accenting your home. Check out an article on how to grow a coconut palm from seed - using a coconut by clicking on the link above.

I have actually done this and it is great to have a coconut palm to accent the deck.