Katie Marks

Katie Marks

Katie Marks is a California-based author who loves finding cool life hacks, sharing them with friends, and diving headlong into craft projects. If there is a garden somewhere, you can probably find her outside playing in it. She also enjoys cooking, reading, and being a full-time nerd. Don’t be fooled by her profile picture: She is a person, not a vegetable, who has written an incredible amount of insightful articles for Networx.com.

Among her written works, Katie has written about Earthships, which are highly sustainable buildings created entirely from recycled and natural materials, typically integrated together in a seamless whole (see her article “Extreme Earthships in Extreme Places” for more details: https://www.networx.com/article/extreme-earthships-in-extreme-places). She has also written about dressing up a home with wainscoting, in which she recommends adventuring into using unusual materials such lincrusta, hemp, sewn paper, fiber, and mosaics, if you are wanting to achieve a more unique look than that of wood paneling.
(https://www.networx.com/article/dress-up-with-wainscoting).

For those wanting recommendations for the best paint colors for the exterior of their home, I’d suggest checking out Katie’s article entitled “Go Bold With Exterior Color” (https://www.networx.com/article/go-bold-with-exterior-color), where she provides images and slideshows of homes that take advantage of the more saturated parts of the color wheel. This article provides exciting ideas for color schemes for those who have too big of a personality to settle for painting the exterior of their home in a dull grey or beige hue.


Katie also gives simple day-to-day tips for activities such as storing food properly (https://www.networx.com/article/store-food-right) and starting gardens (https://www.networx.com/article/gardeners-start-your-seedlings), where you can really see her passion for gardening shine through her writing.

See more of Katie’s articles below for more life hacks, home improvement tips and gardening how-tos!

Photo: Eric Pruis/morguefile.com

Bulbs, Bulbs, Bulbs!

Posted by Katie Marks | Sep 24, 2013

Fall has officially begun, which means that one of my favorite times of the year is approaching. No, I'm not talking about the golden, warm, crisp days of early fall, although those...

Photo: kconnors/morguefile.com

Recovering from Flooding? Watch Out in the Garden

Posted by Katie Marks | Sep 23, 2013

With terrible floods ongoing in several regions of the world at the moment, including in Colorado and Russia, pictures of partially-drowned homes and cars, soggy gardens, and flood...

Inhabitat.com

Using Color to Set the Mood in Your Home

Posted by Katie Marks | Sep 23, 2013

The use of color in a room can change it dramatically. Many people know that cool colors (like blues, purples, and greens) will make a room darker, more somber, and more calming, while...

Photo: The Inspired Room/Hometalk

Budget Makeovers? Yes Please!

Posted by Katie Marks | Sep 20, 2013

Remodeling always sounds like a major endeavor. You have to hire a contractor, deal with work crews in and out of the house for weeks, rearrange your life, and, oh yeah, write some...

Photo: Slevin/morguefile.com

Super-Cute Houseboats Double as Affordable Housing

Posted by Katie Marks | Sep 19, 2013

Every time I drive to San Francisco and pass the houseboats in Sausalito, I think that it might be fun to live on one of them (although my cats might disagree). There's something amazing...

Photo: Seemann/morguefile.com

Gowanus Residents Protesting Community Garden

Posted by Katie Marks | Sep 19, 2013

Here's a strange story out of New York: residents of Gowanus are fighting the installation of a community garden on an empty lot in their neighborhood. They're claiming the garden (which...

Photo: Bon Adrien/Flickr.com

Flip-Flop House Takes Bauhaus to the Beach

Posted by Katie Marks | Sep 18, 2013

Bauhaus is definitely not for everyone. This classically austere, crisp, sharp design doesn't get everyone's architectural juices going, which is a pity, because when it's good, it's...

Photo: NinoAdonis/morguefile.com

14 Great Uses for Salt

Posted by Katie Marks | Sep 18, 2013

Salt is an extremely abundant mineral. You might think of it primarily as that thing on the dinner table you use to add some flavor to your food, and it's certainly useful for that,...

Photo: Allan Brewer/Flickr.com

Seeing the Future Through Smart Windows

Posted by Katie Marks | Sep 17, 2013

A window is a window is a window, right? Sure, with a few small differences: you've got your single-paned and your double-paned, your windows with special films to keep out glare and...

Photo: Crown Molding/Flickr.com

Freshen Up Your Foyer!

Posted by Katie Marks | Sep 17, 2013

If you're anything like me, periodically you just get totally frustrated with your house and you wander around restlessly for several days rearranging furniture, marking up pages in...