5 Quick Tips for Your Spring Décor

1. Spring out of winter hibernation with a lighter touch. Slipcover any chairs or sofa with dark heavy fabrics with fresh colorful and light weight fabrics. It will energize your home and your spirits.


2. Cover or replace your throw pillows for accent colors to give your room a nice accent. A great way to spice up your life!

3. Roll up those dark heavy rugs for the summer and replace them with cotton or jute rugs for the spring and summer.

4. Take down your heavy drapes and let the view in. If the sun is too much hang solar shade or blinds. That let the light in without it overheating your space.

5. Lastly pick fresh flowers to bring in the aromas of spring.

I love Maine because we have 4 distinct seasons, which give up 4 chances throughout the year to make low cost modifications to our home which breeds new life into our spaces as we prepare for each season. Change is part of life which we need to learn to embrace; it helps us deal with stress which creates a healthier living environment.

Designing Maine: Earth Day movement for better health!

Designing Maine: Earth Day movement for better health!: "Earth day is about improving the health of our environment and our shelves. Those of us who are a bit older remember the disaster of “Love C..."

Earth Day movement for better health!

Earth day is about improving the health of our environment and our shelves. Those of us who are a bit older remember the disaster of “Love Canal”. Where and how we dump chemicals into the environment can have major adverse health effects on our lives as we saw in New York State, when chemicals from a nearby factory leached into the water system.

It took years before the abnormally high concentrations of people who were diagnosed with cancer was linked to neighboring factory who had no regard to what they had done to the environment. It took years to stop, people who didn’t lose their lives lost their homes because no one in their right mind wanted to live in the neighborhood. So let us be reminded of “Love Canal” and each of us takes a small step by buying greener products for our homes and businesses. If we change what we use to built with or even just to clean with, and slowly start purchasing items that are produced in a greener manner, we as individuals can make a big statement. The large corporations will learn that we value our health and our environment. If we, our families and friends stop purchasing these harmful materials, they will be forced to change and make products that meet our needs. But until we are willing to make the change, they will continue to supply hazardous materials our demands. For Earth Day take the time to look at what you buy for products and see if there might be a healthier alternative that is better for your family’s health as well as the environment. The power of the people can be a commanding movement once it is on a roll, let's move it in the right direction.

To learn more about "Love Canal"

Check out my newest Blogg at
http://ping.fm/Ugsuw

Spring is for rejuvenating you and your home!

Well spring is in the air and the warm weather is slowly creeping back into our lives up here in Maine. This time of year always make me feel rejuvenated after a long winter. This year more than ever with all the winter storms, none were especially large but it seemed like they were one right after and other and the roads stayed a rutted mess all season long. But that is all behind us now, flowers are beginning to pop through the remnants of snow and nature once again is rejuvenating itself, which puts us in the prefect mood to do a little rejuvenating of our owe around the home. With the economy being on the upraise we all feel a bit more confident to dig into new home projects, but let’s not forget were we been and be smarter about our renovation project. So let talk a about how we can be wiser with our investment into our dwelling.

A wise old man, my Dad, once told me a job well planned is a job half done. Carefully planning your renovation or addition can easily save you any money you may accrue, if you need to hire a professional to help you with the planning. Planning out what your project is, whether it is a large addition, or as simple as a facelift will organize; what your space will look like, what your material needs are, what your cost will be, and how long it should take you to do the project. Now you have this information you can take a hard look at your project to see if your investment is worth the cost of what you are doing. Take a good look to see if you are investing more into the house than the value of the house. This is a good red flag that you may want to reconsider your plans. Check with a local real agent to get a better feel for what the project will do to the value of your home. Other factors to consider our, is this project a long over do maintenance project? Or are you making your home assessable for an aging family member? Maintenance projects and accessibility project are a necessity in life and required for our homes livability.

So before you jump into your next project to rejuvenate your home, do your homework. Determine what your needs are, what the house needs are and what your budget is. If your budget is small, look at option on how to maximize your use of space for minimal cost. Also remember if your project is larger than your budget you can than look at how to break down the project into affordable stages without having to rework what you’ve already completed and your sure it will add to the value of the home without over spending. Once again the value of a well planned project.

If you do not have a back ground in planning consider hiring a professional for the planning process. For major large projects with complicated structural detail consider an architect. For most renovation project a good house designer or certified interior designer will be a more cost effective choice. Remember to check out property they have designed. Make sure their type of designer who digs a bit into your personal life, this often overlooked. It is important when designing a home to consider the family, what activities and hobbies they are into. This information is the bases for the house design. Little things like if you like to cook or not will determine the kitchen layout. If the kids are into sports it’s information on storage needs for the equipment. I think you get my point with this. Check the designer’s knowledge of green technology and energy efficiencies to insure you get the most for your design investment. Not to mention the money you can recoup form your investments of your renovation project. So as you can see a good plan will not only revitalize your home it will rejuvenate your confidence that you can achieve your project goals. This planning process will reduce the stress of your project, reduce costly error and when completed you will find life to be a bit more comfortable and enjoyable in a home that meets your family’s need.

Love your home, keep it warm!

As the cold temps are upon us here in Maine it’s a good day to check your home for air infiltration. Cold air leaking into your home or business is one your biggest sources of heat loss. Make a list of these areas and fix them. If you place your hand need the walls your will feel where the coldest spots are that need fixing. Common area’s to find leaks are as you know are around windows and doors. Area’s we don’t often think about leaking are along floor and ceiling lines on outside walls. Electrical switches and outlets on exterior walls are another great spot to check for heat loss. So take a few minutes to walk around the interior perimeter to find these money sucking areas of your place. Remember just because the building is relatively new doesn’t mean it’s not leaky!

So what to do about these areas? If you’re a do it you’re self-er than take a trip to your local hardware store get a cocking gun, some cocking, door sweeps, and switch and outlet insulators. You may need to remove the trim carefully to get at these areas around the windows and door to do the job right. Your efforts will be rewarded with lower fuel bills in the future. If you have an older home with older window treatments such as cellular blinds will help with the heat loss. This is a good option even if your windows are newer; the “R” value which determines the insulting quality of your window is much less than that of your wall. Your fuel bill will be less if you cover your windows up for the winter or at least for the evenings when it is typically the coldest. If the windows are really bad consider replacing them. So show your home you love it by keeping it warm this winter and keep the cold air out.

Not handy, consider hiring a handyman to do it for you. If your house is really leaky it won’t take long for you to get the pay back on your investment. Also helping to keep others employed is good for the economy. Not to mention the improvements in the comfort of these spaces when they stay a bit warmer.

So take advantage of these single digit days to easily find the leaks and plug them up from the inside so you can pocket that fuels savings for more important things in life! Remember good interior design is about more than just looking good it’s about functionality and comfort, looking good is just a sweet bonus!

If you have questions or comment please let me know, I'd love to hear form you! Or if you know someone who can use these tips feel free to forward them a link to this site!

Home renovation that give you’re the best return on your investment

If you’ve made a new year’s resolution to be wiser with your money for your home here’s a few things to consider for the best return on your dollar.


• Universal Design - One of the best investments you can make to your home today is Universal Design. So what is universal design? It is a design principle that makes a home or business functional for all people including, all handicaps and the elderly. With baby boomers grower older homes designed to accommodate the handicap and aging population are in a higher and higher in demand. When the front steps need to be replace change them out to a nicely designed ramp. Make open spaces for easier wheelchair access. These renovations are easy to do little by little over time. If you don’t plan on moving when you retire your house will be useable if you should be come unable to handle stairs which allows you to stay in your home longer depending on your health.

• Kitchens-Kitchen updates are an important to maintain top dollar for your home. How we cook and prepare food has changed drastically, along with the tools we use to prepare them. New technology in the kitchen often can save us in both time and energy cost. Not to mention making our everyday life more convenient. Remember when remodeling a kitchen it is good to make universal changes for your future use. Sinks can be plumbed for accessibility with removable cabinet front for a more stand look till you may need it. This is a very minimal cost that will allow you to be independent at home for a much longer period of time.

• Bathrooms- Bathrooms are much like kitchens have changed drastically upgrade are both good to save on energy cost and conservation efforts. Similar accessibility items can be added for your bathroom for universal design. Planning for future grab bars when renovating will make save lots of money in the future for a modest amount of money.

• Changing non bearing walls- This is a great way to make a home feel more spacious without a large investment. If a house is small, but you can’t remove walls add window openings so you can see through parts of the wall to make the space feel larger.

• Exterior Space- Creating rooms to enjoy outside is a great way to expand your living space and can be created for almost no money.

Talk to your designer and contractor for your specific on the cost to insure you don’t over invest in your home. Make your home into your dream home not a nightmare. Know your home’s value before you start so you don’t over invest.