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: Elliott Brown/Flickr

Which Beehive Is Best?

Posted by Katie Marks | Oct 28, 2013

We love bees! These spunky little insects serve a great dual purpose in the garden. For one thing, they're pollinators, ensuring that your fruits, veggies, flowers, and more get the...

Photo: Old World Garden Farms/Hometalk

What's Your Centerpiece This Fall?

Posted by Katie Marks | Oct 25, 2013

This fall, lots of households are planning on entertaining family, friends, and colleagues. Now that you've finished your bathroom renovation and freshened up the paint to make the...

Photo: STARPATH by PRO-TEQ

STARPATH Provides Efficient Ambient Lighting at Night

Posted by Katie Marks | Oct 25, 2013

On especially clear, moonless nights I can look up and see the Milky Way scattered across the sky, looking like diamonds someone has carelessly spilled across the heavens -- or like...

Photo: Karen Booth/Flickr

8 Unexpected Uses for Mustard

Posted by Katie Marks | Oct 23, 2013

Mustard. This small, humble seed is used in cuisines the world over, from the sharp spicy dip served with dim sum to the rich, seedy variety applied to sandwiches. It's got pep and...

Photo: BlackRockSolar/Flickr

Windows That Generate Electricity?

Posted by Katie Marks | Oct 22, 2013

I can't be the only one who has not-so-secretly wondered, and dreamed, about the day when solar panels finally reach the pinnacle of design: a point when they are so efficient and...

Photo: .angels./Flickr

Eco-Friendly Mold Removal Tips

Posted by Katie Marks | Oct 21, 2013

Few things are quite as unpleasant as uncovering a patch of mold. You might have found it while innocently moving furniture, or while trying to track down the origins of an unpleasant...

Photo: lamoix/Flickr

Keeping the Home Lights Burning With Renewable Energy

Posted by Katie Marks | Oct 21, 2013

Skeptics of alternative energy raise some valid concerns when they look across an array of wind turbines or a glittering spread of solar panels: what happens when the wind stops blowing...

Photo: Miss Charming/Hometalk

6 Charming Uses for Old Windows

Posted by Katie Marks | Oct 18, 2013

Old windows are kind of captivating, in their own way. They can't be used in a house because their frames are too battered, the glass is single-paned, they're often the wrong size,...

Photo: harshlight/Flickr.com

Get Spooked at Historical Haunted Buildings

Posted by Katie Marks | Oct 18, 2013

There's nothing quite like a good haunted house, especially when you have a real storyteller giving you the scoop on the otherworldly residents of the place. Every Halloween, some of...

Photo: laffy4k/Flickr.com

10 Uses for Paper Towels

Posted by Katie Marks | Oct 17, 2013

Paper towels are most commonly marketed to clean up spills, which is really not the best use of their talents. It's much better to use a washable kitchen towel -- or a rag -- rather...