(ARA) – With families holding onto their homes for longer periods of time, more and more people are looking for ways to update and bring more style to their interior design. Wallpaper has made a comeback, and there are many new ideas and trends out there that will give your house a beautiful new look.

Creativity is key to successfully decorate with wallpaper, which doesn’t have to be relegated to the living room or kitchen. Consider trimming a door, or enhancing your closet with an artistic print. Wallpaper can also compliment an enclosed porch, but don’t be afraid to let it embellish a terrace or balcony.

In addition to changing where people hang it in the home, wallpaper has also undergone several new looks.

One popular trend modernizes an older style. Damask prints are bold patterns, mimicking the woven fabric designs from centuries ago. But now they are accented with new colors and sheens. These prints work well in living rooms, but also add style and boldness to entryways and bathrooms.

Damask patterns with softer designs can be paired with flowing curtains and elegantly-styled furniture. Stronger prints can be paired with solid-colored modern furniture and sheer drapes for a daring look.

Another new wallpaper trend is decorating with paper that is easy to remove or change. Also called peel-and-stick wall coverings, these products enhance the durability, texture and visual design of your walls with easy installation. This allows you to decorate short term for a party or a season, or try out different wallpaper patterns and colors for a long-term new look. It’s also a great choice for children’s rooms, because as they grow older and their tastes change, you can easily give the room a new look without minimal work.

One very popular style is to customize your room with wallpaper murals. This allows you to bring a beach scene into your living room, a jungle image into your indoor patio area, or even install a “French door” opening out into a garden landscape in your bedroom. And if you have a sports room, you can bring the game up close and personal with a mural of the stadium.

“Wallpaper murals are one of my favorite design options because they make a huge impact in a room at an affordable price,” says Jonathon Fong, a Los Angeles-based interior decorator and author of “Walls that Wow.” “If you were to have a decorative painter replicate some of the great designs available in wallpaper murals, it would cost thousands of dollars.”

“The imagination is the only limitation when it comes to wallpaper murals,” says Todd Imholte, president of MuralsYourWay.com, a leader in the decorative products industry for more than 40 years. “They can recapture a landscape from a favorite vacation, create the illusion of a fairytale setting or decorate a room with artistic patterns and designs better than paint or regular wallpaper.”

With more that 5,000 images taken from photographs and specialty artist as famous as Leonardo da Vinci there’s a good chance you will be able to find that perfect image to turn your wall into an eye-catching focal point. The company can also create custom wallpaper from a personal photograph or artwork.

Canvas murals are also a new, more environmentally friendly wallpaper option, which provides new texture for your walls. It is a great option for walls that receive a lot of sunlight because canvas has a matte finish and doesn’t reflect light, which could distort an image. And they go up just like wallpaper!

Courtesy of ARAcontent

(ARA) – When you look out your window, what do you see: the cool gray steel of high-rise buildings … or vast, open expanses of green land? You don’t have to stick to an interior style that mimics your surroundings; especially if it doesn’t suit your taste.

Whether you live in a penthouse or a farmhouse, you can create rooms that make you feel as if you’re a city-dweller as soon as you step inside.

Open floor plan

The first step to thinking like an urbanite is coming up with creative ways to make small spaces appear larger. An open floor plan is a great way to achieve this. Take a look at your main living areas to determine where improvements can take place.

Is there a room that is being under-utilized? Consider removing a dividing wall to connect it with the adjoining space. Do you have narrow doorways between rooms? Expand these openings and remove doors, creating wider passageways. Is there untouched wall space? Take a cue from new glass-exterior loft spaces, like Werner Aisslinger’s LoftCube, and add more windows on exterior walls, or even create window-like openings between rooms to join spaces and create a sense of community.

“Contemporary urban design is all about connectivity,” says Judy Riley, vice president of design at Moen Incorporated. “In today’s modern home, we want to connect with our family, our surroundings and the outside world. To achieve this, we are knocking down walls and breaking the barriers built by earlier generations.”

If you don’t have the time – or budget – for more construction-intense projects, there are steps you can take to create the illusion of larger rooms. Choose smaller furniture and position it in a way that leaves as much floor space open as possible. Forgo large, heavy curtains and go for more airy fabrics or light-emitting shades to create a sense of illumination and openness. Choose lighter colors in a similar palette for your furniture, walls and floors.

Modern elements

To take your place from dreary and dated to city chic, incorporate contemporary elements into your decor. Start by adding some standout modern pieces in each room, then build your home’s look around those unique items.

The kitchen and the bathroom are arguably the two most-used rooms in the house, seen by family members and guests alike. Let fashion and function go hand-in-hand with well-placed modern decor that serves a purpose in your home.

In the kitchen, the sink is the hub of all activity, used for everything from prepping dinner to filling your morning coffee pot or water bottle. To make a statement at your sink, add a faucet with geometric styling, like the 90-degree pullout kitchen faucet from Moen. With clean, contemporary styling, this single-handle faucet features an ergonomically designed pullout wand with multiple spray options, including stream, rinse and pause. The 90-degree pullout kitchen faucet is available in LifeShine Classic Stainless and Chrome finishes, to coordinate with contemporary kitchen fixtures and appliances. Because of its clean, single-handle design, the faucet pairs well with solid surface countertops and undermount sink styles.

In large living spaces, re-think traditional furniture and give it a modern twist. Instead of the everyday lumpy, space-hogging recliner, try a contemporary lounge chair. Rather than massive entertainment centers and bookshelves, try a hanging storage center that adds color and light to your room without taking up precious floor space. Or, try bookshelves that are built into the wall – housed between studs or simply on wall-mounted shelving units that allow for use of the floor space beneath.

Clean spaces

Your average city-dweller doesn’t have the time or the space to accumulate home-cluttering extras. “The city is full of noise and disorder,” Riley says. “Modern urban home design calls for a separation from the busyness of the outside world.”

To mimic this minimalist approach in your own home, consider the number of extra gadgets that clutter your kitchen. For instance, do you really need a handheld blender, a countertop blender, a margarita maker and smoothie maker? When was the last time you used your fondue pot, quesadilla maker, juicer or waffle iron? Could you make do without some of these items, clearing precious countertop and cabinet space? If so, log on to freecycle.org and give the unused items away to someone who may actually use them.

Once you’ve removed what you don’t need, you can create the attention and openness that your modern decor deserves. Treat your home as an art gallery, where the spotlight is on a small number of contemporary statement pieces, not scattered among an over-abundance of objects.

You don’t have to pack up and move to the city to evoke an urban feeling in your home decor. Think open, modern and sleek, and you can create a metropolitan vibe, no matter how far from the city you choose to live. For more information about the 90-degree kitchen collection from Moen, visit moen.com or call (800) BUY-MOEN (800 289-6636).

Courtesy of ARAcontent

(ARA) – Building or renovating a home is a decision-filled process. Some decisions, such as location, size and layout, tend to be more family needs-based than desire-based. But other decisions are based primarily on preference and offer the opportunity to express a homeowner’s design style. One such decision that can cause particular anxiety for people who are building or renovating is choosing an exterior color. After all, this element creates a home’s “curb appeal” and the first impression visitors and passersby will have of your home and you.

Identifying color trends
According to Pat Verlodt, president of Color Services & Associates – an organization that identifies color trends and educates consumers and manufacturers about those trends – one of the reasons that choosing a color for the exterior of your home is so difficult is because it is one of the longest-term decisions people make.

“The average length of time a homeowner will own a new car before buying another is shorter than the amount of time that the homeowner’s house will remain the same color,” says Verlodt.

Home colors follow various trends and begin years in advance before becoming mainstream.

“Siding color trends are slow to change because the trends themselves are long-term,” says Verlodt. “They often begin in fashion or accessory colors, then neutralize over time and become popular home colors.”

Some color trends are regional, such as sandy colors in the Southwest, or bright, tropical colors in Florida. Currently, a social movement is influencing the hottest home color trend nationwide. People throughout the United States are choosing shades of green siding and paint for their homes because of the color’s association with the environment.

Identifying color trends for homes involves investigating other industries such as fashion, cars and interior home colors. Within the last 10 years, the variety of home color options has grown immensely due to increased technological capabilities. And if you are looking for a low-maintenance solution, vinyl siding manufacturers can now meet this need with virtually unlimited styles, designs and color options.

According to Jerry Blais, vice president of marketing for Ply Gem, a building products supplier, manufacturers were unable to produce darker colors years ago to meet the stringent performance requirements in the field. Now, manufacturers such as Ply Gem use a co-extrusion process that combines a sturdy inner substrate with a weather- and fade-resistant capstock on the outside. The capstock layer is produced from acrylic polymers that hold their color and reflect ultraviolet and infrared light to increase the lifespan of the siding.

“Color is infused into the siding during this extrusion process. It is not painted or coated later,” says Blais. “These technological advancements have greatly increased the color palette available to homeowners, including darks, blends and even weathered cedar colors.”

Personalizing your home
Technological advances in siding colors allow homeowners to choose richer hues to suit their taste. No longer does vinyl siding need to come in bland beiges or grays. And because vinyl siding typically holds up to weather and sun better than paint, homeowners don’t need to worry about the need to re-paint every couple of years.

“People want to buy products that will last a long time,” says Verlodt. “But personalization is key.”

Color technology has advanced so much that the range of colors now available for vinyl siding, trim and accents is nearly limitless. Homeowners can actually customize their home to be almost any color they wish.

“We use a color customization process in our Mastic Home Exteriors by Ply Gem brand called DreamColor,” says Blais. “The DreamColor process offers over 700 colors in siding, trim and accents and allows homeowners to send in an item in a color they love, such as a favorite shirt, and we can customize a siding color to match that item.”

Add this capability with cedar shingle and stone veneer accents also available from Mastic Home Exteriors and homeowners can now create the designed and color-coordinated exterior they have always wanted without the maintenance.

The most important aspects of choosing a siding color are picking something that you’re comfortable with and that makes a style statement about you, yet doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb from your neighbors. Take your time when choosing a color and consult a color expert or siding manufacturer to learn about the latest trends. For more information on vinyl siding colors and options, visit www.plygem.com or www.mastic.com.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

We are trying to select an exterior paint color for the two-story home we are building in an older, established neighborhood. We have ordered white vinyl-clad windows with internal grills and Salem bricks for the full height of the facades of the attached garage and entranceway. The remainder of the exterior will be unpainted Hardie plank siding. If we were to choose exterior paint of a contrasting color to the bricks, we are concerned that the white windows would look too busy with it. We were thinking of some shade of green originally. Would we be better off choosing a color that complements the brick, such as a terra-cotta or taupe? We would prefer a brighter color to a muted color. We would like our modern home to fit into the older neighborhood, but don’t want a pastel-shaded home, like most of the other houses in the neighborhood.
—Shelly Lea

Dear Shelly,
Choosing an exterior paint color for your home can be challenging. However, I think that you are going about it the right way. Thinking about your home’s surroundings and the other homes in your neighborhood will help you to narrow down the thousands of color choices available.

Brick is such a nice material — and so expensive — that it should be admired, not camouflaged. Instead of choosing a color to match the Salem brick facade, I would pick a contrasting color to set it off.

You have two choices for your white windows. You can make them stand out by using white as an accent color and painting all the remaining trim and gutters on the house white. Or you can ignore them. If you paint the trim around the windows and any other trim work and gutters another color, the windows and grills will fade into the background — you almost won’t even notice the white. Plus, if you cover them with storm windows, it will diminish the white even more.

I recommend picking up Benjamin Moore’s book, Exterior Style (Little, Brown & Co.; $22.95). I have mentioned this book before, because it is a great resource. Not only will it help you choose the right color and finish, it will also help you to maintain the end result.

Here are some tips from the experts at Benjamin Moore to help you choose the colors for your house:

Body color:
# Paler colors and neutral hues are the safest, most versatile choices for the main color.
# Paler colors make a house appear larger.
# A monochromatic scheme is elegant and works with any architectural style.
# Drawing on existing colors — the stone of the foundation, brick facade, tile of the roof — results in a cleaner, more streamlined look.

Trim color:
# Increase the contrast between the trim and the body colors to dramatize the architecture; reduce the contrast for a more subtle effect.
# Focus the use of trim color on the most attractive architectural features, then paint the rest unobtrusively — in white or the body color. Don’t draw attention to elements such as garage doors by painting them in the trim or punch colors.
# Follow the lead established by the body color and pair a warm trim color with a warm body color or a cool with a cool.
# Use trim color on the eaves to highlight the shape of the house.

Punch color:
# The front door is the natural focal point of most homes. Here’s your chance to use that playful, vivid or outrageous color you’ve always loved.

Good luck with your painting project.
Jennifer

from Country Living, a Hearst Communications magazine.

(ARA) – Remember how you felt when you first bought your home? It was a dream come true. Since then, your dreams and needs have changed and maybe you’re feeling it’s time to move. Unfortunately, the real estate market is not cooperating and you face either selling at a loss, or not being able to sell at any price.
There is an alternative to letting the housing market get you down. Make the space you’re in reflect your dreams by doing some targeted renovations to add luxury and utility. A great place to spice things up is in the kitchen.

“The kitchen is typically the most important and busiest room in the house,” says Connie Edwards, certified kitchen and bathroom designer, and director of design for American Woodmark Corporation. “A warm, beautiful and functional kitchen can have a major influence on how you and your family feel about your home and your lifestyle. And you don’t have to break the bank to create a kitchen where you’ll love spending time.”

Before you take the first step toward these changes, Edwards offers a few vital tips to help bring your dream kitchen to life and save precious time and money.

Planning – A kitchen remodel is a big investment, so know how much you are willing to (and can) spend by planning ahead on layout and design features. Keep in mind hardware, paint and wall coverings can easily be updated later to reflect the latest trends. The big purchases like cabinetry, countertops and appliances are what you will want to live with for years. For instance, white is timeless. Shenandoah Cabinetry has a new painted Maple Linen finish that – with stainless steel appliances – creates a look that will stay fresh for years.

Think about how you live – Your new kitchen design should reflect the way your family lives. How many people will be in the kitchen at one time? In addition to cooking, will you use your kitchen for dining, entertaining or homework? Does anyone in your family have special needs? Would lots of storage help your hectic life? Prepare an inspiration folder of ideas you’ve seen in magazines or digital pictures you’ve taken of elements you like. And, get the rest of the family involved in the choices.

Personal style – When selecting your kitchen cabinets, are you traditional, contemporary or somewhere in between? Manufacturers like Shenandoah Cabinetry offer hundreds of door style options and accessories. Before you head to your local home center, it’s very helpful to know your style. Then your designer can help create a unique, customized look just for you and your family. Think about what appeals to you – styles, finishes, colors, etc. From a practical standpoint, also review your priorities – your “must haves” – against your target budget.

Attention to detail – It’s those beautiful details that allow your personality to shine in your new kitchen. For a custom look, consider adding decorative accents like molding build-ups, ornaments and corbels to cabinetry. Including decorative accessories such as hardware, glass door inserts and under-cabinet lighting can also make the room sparkle. Visit your local home center to discover even more ways you can add the perfect touch.

Take measurements – Be prepared with accurate measurements of your current space. Double, or even triple, check your work. You can download tools like grid paper from the Internet. Make sure your installer validates the dimensions or obtains professional measurements. This helps avoid measurement errors that can lead to costly delays or incorrect product orders.

Use space efficiently – Regardless of your kitchen’s size, it’s important to maximize space and keep things organized to meet your personal needs. Accessories like the Base Pot & Pan Organizer, Roll Out Tray Divider and Spice Door Cabinet from Shenandoah’s OrganizationOptions help create a kitchen that is easy to work in.

For most families, the kitchen is really the heart and the pulse of their home. It’s a great place to put the “dream” back in your dream house. For more remodeling tips and ideas visit www.ShenandoahCabinetry.com or speak with a kitchen design specialist at your local Lowe’s.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

(ARA) – Nothing beats Mother Nature’s gentle touch for providing comforting natural light and healthful passive ventilation in your home. Modern skylights work with the environment to admit healthful daylight and fresh air, while silently venting stale air.

“Natural ventilation created by venting skylights is much more effective than opening a window,” says John Carmody, director of the Center for Sustainable Building Research at the College of Design at the University of Minnesota. “Green building guidelines encourage homeowners to provide more natural ventilation, primarily because it reduces energy consumption,” says Carmody, the author of several books on building design.

The chimney effect created by an open skylight exhausts volatile organic compounds (VOCs) along with humid, moist, stale air while admitting healthful, natural light, explains Joe Patrick, senior product manager with VELUX America. “Homes that can’t ‘breathe’ can be unhealthy, as VOCs can build up in tightly sealed spaces and cause health problems.”

Patrick also points out that while modern skylights allow a home to breathe, they don’t leak. “This was sometimes a problem with early skylights, but quality units, properly installed with matched flashing kits, make that an unnecessary concern,” he says. “They are as dependable and functional as any vertical window or other installation that requires an opening in the sides or roof of the home.”

Kitchens and bathrooms are areas of the home where venting skylights are particularly effective for removing heated, moist air.

Kirsten Ritchie, a civil engineer and regional director for sustainable design for Gensler, a global architectural, design, planning, and consulting firm, says in an article at greenhomeguide.com, that among her favorite innovations or design ideas for a green kitchen are, “lots of operable windows for natural daylight and free ventilation.”

Patrick points out that operable skylights serve the same function and offer as many, if not more, accessories to adjust and control light and ventilation as do vertical windows. Plus, skylights offer sensors to close them in case of precipitation.

“Venetian blinds are available to adjust light, cellular shades to diffuse light, light block shades to block light from the inside, and exterior heat block awnings block heat before it enters the home,” Patrick says. “And ENERGY STAR-qualified skylights with energy efficient, insulated, low-E glazings offer protection against solar heat gain, resist condensation twice as long as clear glass, and protect interiors by reflecting the vast majority of the sun’s fade-causing rays.”

For information on the benefits of natural light and skylight selection, or for free house plans incorporating skylights, call (800) 283-2831 or visit veluxusa.com. For government information on window and skylight energy efficiency, visit energystar.gov, and for independent agency information visit nfrc.org or efficientwindows.org.

Between 2000 and 2006, the most recent data available, 180 Americans died beneath fallen furniture, and 80 percent of the deaths involved children younger than 10, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Thousands more adults and children are injured by fallen furniture each year. The problem is so serious, that the CPSC ranks danger from tipping furniture and TVs among its top five hidden home hazards.

Each year, injuries suffered beneath fallen furniture and TVs send an average of 15,000 children younger than 18 to the emergency room, according to a recent study by Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. The injury rate has increased more than 40 percent in the 10-year study period. “This trend demonstrates the inadequacy of current prevention strategies and underscores the need for increased prevention efforts,” study senior author Dr. Gary Smith, director of the hospital’s Center for Injury Research and Policy, has said.

So how do you ensure your flat-screen TV stays put — and your children stay safe? The experts at Sanus Systems, makers of furniture and mounts for TVs and other electronic accessories, offer some basic advice:

* Don’t Underestimate — The sleek, thin build of a flat-screen TV may lull you into a false sense of security about its overall size and heft. Keep in mind that these televisions can pack 100 pounds or more into their compact design. They need to be well secured with mounts specifically designed to hold them safely.

* Wall Mount Well — Wall mounting a flat screen has numerous advantages, including aesthetic appeal and keeping your expensive investment out of reach of little hands. When done properly with a high-quality device, mounting a flat screen on the wall is much safer than placing it atop furniture.

Look for a product, like Sanus’ VisionMount series, which incorporates a wall plate that secures into the studs behind the wall, and attaches to the TV with mounting brackets. All mounts within the Sanus offering lock securely to the wall and all are rated by Underwriters Laboratories, an independent organization that subjects products to rigorous safety testing.

* Stand Can Deliver — While wall mounting is the safest way to display your flat-screen TV, some situations might make it impossible to do so – if you’re renting with strict rules about what you can put on the walls, or simply don’t have enough open, secure wall space. If you must place a TV on furniture, keep in mind both the TV and the furniture piece tend to be top heavy. You should secure the top edge of the TV to the back of the furniture, and the furniture itself should be secured to the wall, following the manufacturer’s guidelines.

Still, the safest, most practical mode of displaying a flat-screen TV and all its components (DVR, video game, cable or satellite receiver, etc.) is to mount the TV on the wall and place the components beneath it on a piece of furniture specifically designed for that purpose. Sanus offers a full line of home theater furniture designed to hold all your home electronics.

To learn more about options for safely mounting your TV, visit www.Sanus.com.

Courtesy of ARAcontent