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: mitchlee83/morguefile.com

New Eco-Kid on the Block: Corn Countertops

Posted by Katie Marks | Aug 20, 2013

They just keep coming up with innovative new materials for countertop construction; the days of choosing between cheap linoleum and luxury marble are over, that's for sure. Now there...

Photo: jade/morguefile.com

The "Starter Home" Just Got a Lot Bigger

Posted by Katie Marks | Aug 19, 2013

According to the US Census Bureau, the average size of a home in the United States has grown by 50% in the last 40 years, even as households are actually 15% smaller. In other words,...

Photo: Seemann/morguefile.com

The Future is Now: Say Hello to the Smart House

Posted by Katie Marks | Aug 19, 2013

Meet my new obsession: the smart house. Smart homes are the wave of the future, and they're starting to become more than just idle speculation or characters in pop culture. Using an...

Photo: mconnors/morguefile.com

What Size Water Heater Do I Need?

Posted by Katie Marks | Aug 19, 2013

When buying a water heater, getting one that's the right size is critically important. If it's too small, it won't meet the hot water needs of the household, and someone will be taking...

Photo: mconnors/morguefile.com

What Would Happen if the Globe Used AC Like We Do?

Posted by Katie Marks | Aug 16, 2013

It's summer, and those air conditioners (central and window-mounted alike) are chugging away ferociously to beat the heat in the United States. No wonder, with the weather being hot...

Photo: Wentworth, Inc./Hometalk

How Much for Custom Built-In Bookshelves?

Posted by Katie Marks | Aug 15, 2013

Custom built-in bookshelves can be utterly gorgeous, whether we're talking original shelves included in a historic Craftsman or sleek modern designs installed in a new home. They're...

Photo: allyeargarden/morguefile.com

BYO Nitrogen Fixing Bacteria

Posted by Katie Marks | Aug 15, 2013

Plants need nitrogen to grow: it's a key part of the process they use to derive nutrition from the environment. Unfortunately, most require a source of nitrogen in the soil around them;...

Photo: greenecoservices.

10 Creative Reuses for Old Lighters

Posted by Katie Marks | Aug 14, 2013

Old lighters seem to have a way of piling up in the junk drawer, even if you try to stay conscientious about not keeping things around when they don't work anymore. The next time you...

Photo: Color it Simple/Hometalk.

5 Cool Upcycled Headboards

Posted by Katie Marks | Aug 14, 2013

It's no secret that we love recycled furniture. Old headboards seem to abound, thanks to people upgrading their beds to a larger size, getting tired of their bedroom design, and moving...

Photo: Tammy Strobel/Flickr.

Stay at the Tiny House Hotel!

Posted by Katie Marks | Aug 14, 2013

Interested in staying somewhere a little unique the next time you travel to Portland, Oregon? Caravan, the Tiny House Hotel, might be just what you need. Opened just last month, the...