Many paints on the market right now contain no VOCs, which is a good thing, since they’re harmful to the environment, as well as your health. Of all of these, only Freshaire Choice is colored with VOC-free tints. Using any other VOC-free paint means either having white walls or no longer having a VOC-free paint by the time you get it home!

VOCs, or Volatile Organic Compounds, can cause eye, nose and throat irritation, headaches, loss of coordination, as well as organ and nerve damage. These are not things you want in your home! Fortunately, Freshaire Choice Paint is available at your local Home Depot, which means no going out of your way to buy it.

Get started repainting today with 3 free samples of the 65 premium colors! For more information, click any of the links on this page or watch this informative video!

Frank Lloyd Wright’s drawings for Samara: Realization of a Usonian Dream will be presented at The Westcott House located in Springfield, Ohio until April 20th. The collection is a unique exhibition featuring the work from Wright, America’s most celebrated architect. The exhibition comes from The John E. Christian Family Memorial Trust.

Here is some history on Samara House:

• The original owners were John and Kay Christian whoe decided to build near the campus of Purdue University in 1950.
• The project took six years
• The exhibition features a collection of furnishings, textiles and other items Wright designed specifically for Samara, one of the late Usonian style homes he designed.

Planned lectures at the exhibit:

• Frank Lloyd Wright and the Art of Building will be given by Richard Cleary, Ph.D. on Thursday, March 13, at 7 p.m. Cleary will discuss Wright’s vision of organic architecture and his innovative approaches to structural systems and construction techniques.
• On Thursday, April 10, at 7 p.m. Margo Stipe, Curator and Registrar of Collections, at The Frank Lloyd Wright Archives, Taliesin West, will discuss Wright’s revolutionary reworking of architectural space, how he dissolved interior walls and opened interior spaces allowing communion with the natural world he believed was a great spirit.

The Westcott House is located at 1340 East High Street in Springfield, Ohio. Admission fee is $5; free for members of The Westcott House Foundation. For more information call 937-327-9291 or visit www.westcotthouse.org. 

(Article from www.Ohio.com, the Akron Beacon Journal’s online website)

So do we.

Benjamin Moore carries a line of Pottery Barn paint colors for the home that coordinate with PB’s textiles and accessories. You can receive a complimentary color deck at any Pottery Barn store or you can request one to be shipped to you for just $2 by calling 1-800-922-5507 or by going to potterybarn.com and typing the word “colors” in the search box.

Staging friendly colors we love:
   Cedar Key
   Brookside Moss
   Oak Ridge
   Suntan Yellow

If you are looking for some fun interior design inspiration for your circa 1960’s ranch-style home, you might want to check out the slide show at Apartment Therapy’s blog of Gregory’s Granada Hills 60’s Desert Home. Pay attention to the details… even the door handles and mass-market kitsch accessories are great! This is definitely a look that anyone can pull off by shopping vintage specialty stores mixed with IKEA. (Yes, my trained eyes spotted some IKEA goods in the pictures.)

I found a hilarious post on home staging at St. Paul Real Estate’s blog. Curiousity drew me in to find out how banks staged the homes that they have listed. Teresa Boardman is a Realtor and author of this article. She has posted some excellent pictures with commentary that are sure to make you laugh. Check them out….

If you want to see what is hot in interior design and you are in the Toronto area, check out the Toronto Interior Design Show (IDS 08) open to the general public Saturday February 23, 2008, 10 AM to 7 PM and Sunday the 24th from 10 AM to 6 PM. Admission is $16 in advance or $18 at the door.

Saturday’s schedule features:

• International Design stars on the KRUPS Stage
• Seminars on all things design
• The IDS Workshops are new this year:
  • Saturday’s workshop will be DESIGN & DECORATING TRENDWATCHING by Cobi Ladner, Editor at Canadian House & Home magazine and Mark Challen, Vice-President Communications also from the magazine. Unfortunately, the 100 places are sold out.
  • There are some places left for the LIVING WITH A COMMITMENT TO GREEN workshop on Sunday.
• What’s Your Design Dilemma?  This is your chance for a free 15 min. consultation with one of ARIDO’s registered interior designers.  Appointments are on a first-come first-served basis and arranged upon visiting the ARIDO booth (1617).

Visit the AfriCharisma booth to see and touch the remarkable rock and scatter cushions and pebble carpets by South African Designer, Ronel Jordaan. The felt cushions made to look alike rocks are divine. The unique cushions and carpets are handmade with no sewing (therefore no seams). 

Interior Design Show 2008 in Toronto

The 23rd Annual Kitchen and Bath Business Market Forecaster revealed its expectations for the industry in this rough economy based on consumer expectations from the last quarter of 2007. Both kitchen and bath remodeling project spending are expected to drop 14% which amounts to over a $118 billion drop. Parallel to this decrease in spending is the decrease in jobs in the bath sector of the industry, which is predicted to decrease around 14%. The kitchen industry expects only a 1% gain in jobs. With the threat of recession, lowered housing starts, and the weak real estate market, it is no surprise that consumers are spending less on interior design and home remodeling. In home staging we often see how reluctant homeowners are to remodel bathrooms, but notice that they are more likely to remodel kitchens. Bathrooms are private spaces and get little attention when it comes to home improvement. Kitchens on the other hand have become showy social places and the key selling feature of homes.

Figures from K+BB January 2008 issue

Looking for a piece of art for your home but want something unique, not out of a chain store? Consider buying from an artists’ guild online catalog like The Artful Home. The gift of art is an original Valentine’s Day present for the art lover, new home owner, or person who has everything. Art vendors carry everything from handcrafted jewelry to one-of-a-kind furnishings that are sure to be conversation pieces. Try a sculptural wood bench like Mark Levin’s Nymph Stool in your foyer for instant art impact. The Artful Home makes searching easy by breaking each category into a refined search using art terms (not just typical filters) such as color, discipline, medium, new items, price, technique, and theme.

Kitchen cabinet refacing is a great way to get the look of new cabinets for less. Refacing uses existing cabinet boxes and avoids using or throwing out high-polluting and off-gassing particle board or plywood. That new cabinet box smell is formaldehyde…yuck. Today’s cabinet faces are typically made from 1/4 inch thick wood stock versus the old environmentally unfriendly plastic laminate refacing option.

Joel Testa of Testa Companies in Ohio is the president of the Home Builder’s Association Serving Portage and Summit Counties and is a featured writer in the Akron Beacon Journal’s Home Hunter magazine. In the February 2nd issue he gives great advice on selling your home, “By expending a bit of effort before it goes on the market, you can ensure that your home presents well, stands out from the crowd and doesn’t turn off potential buyers so that you can sell quickly and at the best price.”

Here is a summary of his tips:

“Tone down personality” In this section he addresses clutter, bookshelves, collectibles, family pictures, and neutralizing colors.

“Don’t burden the buyer with repairs” Here he suggests all repairs be made before showing the home. In this competitive market, the home in the best move-in ready condition wins the sale.

“Maximize exposure” This last section refers to using a true professional: a Realtor who uses Multiple Listing Service, the newspaper, and online resources.

100% of his article is on key, possibly his best peice of advice is to “consider using a Realtor who can prove results and a staging expert who can give you many more tips and suggestions.”