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I’ve been there. The color swatch at the paint counter looks glorious — warm, subtle, cozy. However, when the color is on the wall, it glows like a piece of radioactive waste. Yikes…it’s not a pretty site.

My first real lesson with paint color was several years ago when my husband and I were building our first home. We picked what we thought was the perfect beige. After the paint job was finished, we excitedly walked into the house and did a disappointed double take. Our perfect beige was actually a perfect peach. That was an expensive lesson (we had the house repainted before we moved in) and the guy at the paint counter gave us some invaluable advice: try before you buy.

Since then, we always buy a quart of the color we like and a few similar colors and paint different parts of the room. It is amazing how different times of day and different types of lighting affect how color looks in a room. I’ve also found that sometimes, even though I love the color at first, after a few days of looking at my sample, it just doesn’t cut it. Following these simple rules, I rarely have a color snafu these days. Here are a few sites that have helped me. The first is House Beautiful Paint Brush — a nifty way to see rooms in different shades. Happy painting and regards!

http://www.housebeautiful.com/decorating/paint-colors

http://interiordec.about.com/od/interiorpainting/a/diy_choosepaint.htm

http://www.herhome.com/magazine/articles/2005/fall/color-me-confused.asp

http://realtytimes.com/rtpages/20021111_interiorpaint.htm

http://www.paint.org/index.htm

Sharing decorating ideas with friends, reading blogs or poring over your decorating magazines are great ways to get home design and decor ideas, but sometimes you need real inspiration. One of my favorite spring and fall events is our local parade of homes. I can’t wait to walk through these showplaces, admiring the lush decorating, fine details and better-than-last-year’s floorplans. What better way to get ideas first hand?

If you’re not familiar with the “Parade” idea, it is generally something like this — builders offer up their model homes to be part of a parade so that potential buyers and looky-loos walk through the homes. The builders only pick their best work for the parade and these homes are decorated to the nines. It is a perfect to way to experience the new trends in decorating and building. Many civic organizations do similar events with home or garden tours for fundraisers throughout the year. Those are also a great way to become inspired.

Here are a list of some parades and tours around the country. I’m sure your area has one, too. Have fun looking and regards!

Central Oklahoma: http://www.paradeofhomesok.com/

Central Pennsylvania: http://www.paparadeofhomes.com/Details.aspx

Dallas: http://www.paradeofhomesdallas.com/

Denver: http://www.paradeofhomesdenver.com/

Kansas City: http://www.kchba.org/shows/shows.shtml

Key West: http://www.oirf.org/events/tours.htm

Minnesota: http://www.paradeofhomes.org/parade-home/parade-home-search.aspx

Northern Virginia: http://www.vaparadeofhomes.com/about_parade.html

Orlando: http://www.paradeofhomesorlando.com/parade.cfm

West Texas: http://www.lubbocknewhomes.com/Parade08/

Recently a friend of mine posed an interesting decorationg question. While she was hanging yet another family picture, her husband made a comment about their family room turning into a photo gallery. Is it possible, she asked, to have too many pictures on display?

I’m not sure it’s possible to have too many pictures, especially when they’re of your family, friends and loved ones, BUT it is possible for your collection of pictures to look messy and cluttered and seem like too much. When it comes to pictures, especially large groupings, the key to making everything look good is to unify your collection.

Unifying a collection can be very easy. You can have all of the pictures in the same, simple frame. If you want a bit more variety, frames in different shapes and sizes will still look unified if they are all the same color. Even frames that are different colors and styles can look unified if they have at least one shared quality, such as using only white matting.

When you are grouping smaller collections of pictures, you still want a common, unifying element, but you can play around a little bit more. One popular way to group small collections of frames is to hang 2-3 small shelves for the photos to sit on. The shelves are the unifying element, so the frames can be any shape, size or color you want. You could also group a small number of frames that come from the same color palette, such as using different shades of blue. The frames will still compliment each other because they have they unifying element of the color palette.

As I told my friend, don’t be afraid to hang those photos, even if you do have a whole wall full already. As long as the collection has a unifying element or theme to pull them together, they’ll look sleek and elegant.

Happy decorating, Amy

There’s no denying that making your backyard/deck/patio an extension of your home is a huge trend in homes right now, especially with more and more people opting to stay home than spend money on vacations.

If you’re like me, your backyard might look a little lackluster, nothing but some grass, trees and flowers - you know, the regular backyard features. We did add a hammock earlier this summer, which promplty got blown to bits by a big thunderstorm. But I’m determined to have a backyard that I can be proud one, one that is a summer oasis.

As I began looking for ideas, there were a few basic ideas of outdoor design that keep jumping out at me. The first: Keep connected. You want it to feel like the yard/deck/patio is an extra room in your home, so keep any improvements or additions close to the house. You don’t want to buy a pretty canopy tent and table and chair set and then set it up in the furthest corner of your yard.

Another rule (an absolute must for all outdoor decorating): Use low-maintenance materials. This also means materials that can stand up to the elements. You don’t want a lot of fussy stuff, go for sturdy wood and metal or easy-to-clean wicker. Buy weather-proof cushions or fabrics for any chairs.

There are a multitude of other things to consider when planning an outdoor space: What kind of lighting do you want? Will your outdoor space be a mutli-purpose room or have a specific function? And how extravagent do you want to go (a consideration with any home project)?

Here is one interesting link that can help you figure out which way you should go with your backyard space. I’ve already got quite a few ideas myself!

Happy decorating, Amy

http://www.design2share.com/design2share-qa/2007/5/28/outdoor-spaces.html

Welcome back readers, for the third and final installment of Feng Shui 101. Now that you’ve laid out your Ba-gua (feng shui floorplan) and have figured out which area of your life/space you want to work with, it’s time to start incorporating the feng shui elements.

Each area of the Ba-gua has an element to go with it. They are:
Water: career, life path
Earth: knowledge, health and relationships
Metal: creativity and children, helpful friends and guides
Wood: wealth and family

Each element also has coordinating colors. They are:
Water: blue, black
Earth: yellow, orange, apricot, pink, peach
Metal: lemon, gold, silver, white, magenta
Wood: green, turquoise
Fire: red, violet, lilac, lavender

To use the water element, you’ll want to incorporate both the elements and their colors into your space. For example, if you were focusing on the career space you would be using the water element. You could paint the room blue, using black as an accent. You could bring in blue and black throw pillows and blankets. The water element could be brought in by adding a small fountain, or a picture of a water scene. The possibilities are endless. For more ideas, http://video.about.com/fengshui/Color-and-Feng-Shui.htm offers some solid tips on how to use the feng shui colors and elements in your home.

And there you have it, an abbreviated look at feng shui. As I said before, there are many layers and levels to feng shui. If you are interested in learning more, check out the sites below. Happy decorating and regards!

http://fengshui.about.com/od/glossaryofterms/u/fengshui101.htm
http://shuitogo.com/fengshui/

Welcome back readers! Last time we discussed de-cluttering your space so you’ll have a clean slate on which to layout your Ba-gua, the feng shui energy map. It’s basically a simple floorplan that shows which areas in your home correspond to the areas of your life.

Most commonly you’ll see square Ba-guas. Circular Ba-guas are also popular, but look a bit more intimidating. Just think of them as a square with the corners cut off.

The Ba-gua can applied to any area, whether it be your entire home, a single room or even just your desktop. To begin, print or draw out a Ba-gua and align the bottom edge with the front door of your home (or room or desk). The front door will always fall in the 8,1 or 6 spaces. If there is more than entry, or you usually enter through the garage or side door, align the Ba-gua to the main entrance. Then mentally stretch the rest of the Ba-gua to fill your space, so you can see where the other areas fall. These sites: http://www.easy-feng-shui.com/feng_shui_bagua.html and http://www.fastfengshui.com/feng_shui_bagua.htm offer good tips on how to make a Ba-gua work in your home.

Once you’ve laid out your Ba-gua, you’re ready to decide which area of your space/life you want to improve. The sites above also give a detailed explanation of how the Ba-gua areas relate to your life. When you know what area you want to focus on, you can start adding feng shui elements to enhance your space’s energy (this is the fun part). We’ll cover this in part three of our feng shui tutorial. Regards!

As you know, I’m all about decorating, especially if there’s a chance it can help me get ahead in my career, improve my relationships with the hubby and kids or help me sleep better at night. That’s why I’ve always been fascinated with the art of feng shui. Simply put, feng shui is the ancient Chinese art of arranging furniture and objects to balance the energy in your home and maximize opportunities and good fortune.

There are many levels and layers to feng shui. You can even go so far as to get professional training to receive a feng shui certificate. So for all of you feng shui newbies out there, I’m cutting through the confusion and offering a few tutorials on the basics of feng shui, with easy tips to help get you started. Welcome to Feng Shui 101!

The first step when starting feng shui sounds simple, but it cannot be overlooked: Clean out your clutter. Feng shui experts say that clutter stagnates the energy in your home, while at the same time blocking any abundance or new opportunities.

So grab those boxes and trashbags and get rid off all that clutter. Decide what gets trashed, what gets recycled and what goes to Goodwill. (Just don’t let those boxes sit the garage for weeks and weeks. I’m pretty sure that’s qualifies as moving all the clutter into a different spot, therefore still throwing your energy off-balance.)

And don’t focus just on the clutter you can see on the surface. Organize your kitchen cabinets, your desk drawers, the bathroom closet… de-clutter everything from the refrigerator to your sock drawer. The more space you clear out, the more space you make for new opportunities. For some unique no-clutter tips see http://jdorganizer.blogspot.com/.

While you’re de-cluttering, why not take a few minutes to clean and fix a few other things? Clean your windows (which represent opportunities) so you can see opportunities coming. Tighten any door knobs, drawer handles and locks so you can get a better handle on things. Replace light bulbs so you’re not left in the dark in certain areas of your life.

Once you’ve done all that, you’ll have a clean slate. Now you’re ready to layout your Ba-gua, basically a feng shui floor plan of which areas in your home represent the areas of your life. We’ll cover that in part two of our feng shui tutorial, so stay tuned.

Gone are the days when kitchens are supposed to be all one color. Designers are playing with different palettes and styles and consumers are loving it. As kitchens grow in size, so does the amount of creativity that goes into designing them. Today’s kitchens often tout a certain style or wood on the bottom cabinets and a contrasting or complementing (but definitely different) style or wood on upper cabinets. Another popular option is using different styles or wood colors to separate the different workstations. It is not uncommon to see an island or planning desk looking decidedly different than the cabinets that surround it. Countertops are often mixed and matched, too. While this trend works well in larger kitchens, professionals recommend using one color and style in smaller kitchens to produce a cohesive look that will help the small space appear larger. To find out more about this mix and match trend, see these articles: http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20080608/news_1hs08kittren.html and http://www.chicagotribune.com/classified/realestate/newhomes/chi-choices_nh_125jan25,0,7012719.story. Regards!

If you’ve read any of my other entries, you know how I feel about organization. That’s why I’m intrigued by the mudroom. Reminiscent of the back porch, the mudroom, although inside, offers all the same porch-like benefits (without drawbacks — like wet, dirty floors) and dozens more updated, pumped-up features: lockers, coat and key racks, mail and equipment organizers, communication center (black board, tack board, outlet to charge cell phones), shoe bins, pet supplies and whatever else tickles your fancy. These articles herald the modern mud room and share some great function and layout ideas: http://www.moeninsight.com/issue6/article1.html, http://www.rona.ca/content/enter-mudroom_specialized-rooms_room-decoration_decoration, and http://realtytimes.com/rtpages/20060209_mudroom.htm. Any other ideas? Regards mud-room fans!

Obviously, the perfect office will vary depending on your work, lifestyle and needs but one thing is for sure: if you aren’t comfortable in your office space, the days can be as long your to-do list. Here are some basic reminders while planning your office design or redesign:

• If you have clients visiting your space, remember to adjust your style to fit their expectations and project a professional image.
• Give your color palette real consideration. Find that perfect balance between relaxation and stimulation. A muted, cool color palette with warm accents can be a good mix for this sort of space.
• Do your research on furniture. The best pieces are the “workhorses”  that will support, streamline and simplify your efforts. Fancy or trendy pieces may look good but fall short when it comes to being comfortable or functional. If you have an old piece you love, try a new coat of paint or finish.
• Organize, organize, organize. Tray organizers, file folders, pen holders, paper trays — use whatever you need to keep your work areas looking less cluttered (which will also keep your brain less cluttered).

For more office ideas, try this series of video clips from expertvillage.com. Best of luck with your design efforts. Regards!