Today’s families are on the go more than ever. Getting the whole gang together for a family meal can be challenging with everyone’s busy schedules.  The majority of American families do not eat every dinner together during the week. Does this sound familiar?

Involving the whole family in making dinner can be a fun activity, and it just might help get your kids to eat their vegetables.

Family cooking school can be something as easy as make your own pizzas from scratch or letting the kids help with taco night. If you have small children, getting them interested in cooking is a great way to get them interested in healthy food from a young age. Older kids and teens can be in charge of designing a menu and even shopping for ingredients. You could even divide up into teams to do the best of cooking competition—with prizes.

Set up your kitchen to make prep and clean up quick and simple. If you are working with little kids, things can get messy so protect your floors and counters. This can mean moving the runner out of the way or putting down a drop cloth if things are really messy.  Messy is fine. Remember this is a fun activity for the family as well as a way to get dinner on the table.

As we meet up with our puzzled homeowner again, he is considering two paint options – the left option on the fan is actually a very dark gold. You can see the color’s origin when you look at the lighter shades and they appear almost yellow.

His second choice is among selections one, two, or three on the other visible color row. He doesn’t want to use the darker choices because they would blend in too much with the fireplace opening and the black trim on the windows.

This is a good first step, but if he heads right to the paint store and orders one of these, he is almost guaranteed to be disappointed for two reasons. Paint chips are printed and the dyes on the paper don’t match the dyes that make up the paint. This means that the color you see on a chip will not exactly match the color of the paint you buy.

The second reason comes from how the light comes into your home. Everything from the direction of your windows to the shape of a room will affect how a paint color will look on a wall, and different walls will make the color look different – sometimes darker or lighter, but sometimes even a different color. To see this, look at a corner where two walls and the ceiling meet. It’s likely that you will see three different tones, even if everything was painted the same color.

So our guy has to go to the paint store and pick up samples of the colors he’s debating about – and maybe a couple of others that are similar, along with an inexpensive foam brush for each color. Then once home, he needs to paint each wall with at least a one foot by one foot square of each color – leaving some space between the colors so they don’t reflect on each other. (If this bothers you, paint some white poster boards and tape them on the walls.)

As a final step, he needs to live with his choices for a few days, looking at them in the morning, afternoon and evening, and with natural light as well as with the home’s evening lighting. Over a short period of time, he will know which one he will be happiest living with. Paint is a very personal choice. It’s worthwhile to take the time to select what will work best for you.

When you have a room with neutral carpeting, simple moldings and no architectural features, your choice of wall color can be based on personal preferences without much if any reference to what is in the room. But in the case of the man in the photo, it’s more complicated.

Paint in this case has to work with the off-white stone and black opening of the fireplace, black trim in the room as well as the varied shades of brown making up the wood floor. Then he may have some furniture that will be going in the room as well as an area rug or two.

From the paint selection fan in his hand, it’s clear that he hasn’t yet narrowed down his choices. Realistically, the first step is deciding what specific color he likes. With this set-up, he could go light or dark, mid-tones and almost any color.

The trick will be getting just the right version of his preferences. Too dark and the floor and fireplace will stand out like a beacon. Paint it too light or neutral, the color of the wall currently, and nothing will come into focus.

Suppose we start with a brown – dark enough to blend with the richer tones of the wood floor while still light enough to keep the room from feeling gloomy. The floor has warm tones and the fireplace tones are cool, so the brown needs to balance cool and warm to work well with both pieces. To begin, this man needs to narrow his focus to several possible browns that meet these criteria. In part two, we’ll talk about how to go from the paint fan to the final color.

Tangerine is the first new color to show up in the 2012 color trends, and from kitchen gadgets to these flip flops, it’s getting some attention. Teal appears almost as often as an accent. Since these two colors are at opposite ends of the color wheel, the really stand out when paired.

Although you may not want to convert your home to a tangerine and teal wonderland, you might want to consider adding some splashes of these colors to your home to provide a quick color update. Here are a few suggestions.

If your kitchen or a bathroom could use a brightener, you could add an area rug and some towels in these vivid colors. Look for rugs with a rubber backing that go in the washing machine. These colors need to be sparkling clean to work. This is a low-cost way to make a change.

Look for tangerine and/or teal throw pillows. Brighten up a chair or sofa with these colors and you’ve added an unexpected vivid element to your décor. Teal also stands out in glassware. Look for glass vases or bowls to perk up a bookshelf. If possible, set the glass against a white or light background to help the color shine. Notice how well the teal color works in this photo.

Tangerine works well in large color segments. Teal is better as a color accent. If you’re using both, have tangerine take the lead and let teal serve more in the background. Notice in the photo the tangerine sofa blends well in the room and the teal accents toward the back still have a presence.

Are you ready to take a color chance? How about tackling two of the stars of 2012, tangerine and teal?

Balance is something that we seek in many aspects of our lives: work, home, finances and family. Achieving a balanced room may be easier than finding balance between work and family or balancing the checkbook.

Creating a balanced design for your room can be done by simply rearranging furniture, lighting and accessories.

This living room is a nice example of a balanced room design. Centered off of the fireplace, the living room arrangement is balanced and symmetrical. When creating a balanced room design, think of Noah and the pairs of animals. Pairs are key in achieving balance in a room. The sofa in this living room faces the fireplace and anchors the seating area. Flanking it is a pair of tray-top side tables. These side tables would be the perfect place for a pair of table lamps. A pair of chairs sits across a coffee table from a pair of ottoman stools that serve as extra seating.

Low stools or ottomans make great seating in front of focal points like windows, televisions or fireplaces because they do not block the view. Centering the seating area is an area rug. This area rug is a little small and could extend under the seating to help tie all the elements together. Plants can make great accessories for a room. Other lighting and accessories would be nice additions to this living room. Dressing up the mantel and area above it would finish the room design.

Wood floors in the bathroom were once avoided because of the worry about the wood staining and warping with moisture.  However, with today’s hardwoods, engineered wood, and laminate floors, wood floors can work in the bathroom. In fact, they can make beautiful bathroom floors.

If you do choose to put wood floors, hardwood or engineered, in your bathroom, definitely talk with us first.  You’ll want to make sure that the wood you choose can withstand the humidity and moisture in a bathroom.  For this reason, laminate flooring might be a good choice to consider as well.  Laminate flooring has come a long way in the past few years. There is a wide selection of colors and wood grains that can imitate most woods.

Whatever flooring you do choose, a few accessories can warm up the floors and the bathroom.  One or two bathmats, or a larger cotton rug that can be washed, can be placed over the floor to absorb water from the tub or shower. A rug by the sink is another good idea.  Getting in the habit of wiping up splashes of water is a good idea for wood floors.

If you want to add heat under your wood floors, be sure to discuss this when choosing your flooring. The heating elements will need to be installed first.  This might also affect what flooring will work in the bathroom.

Wood flooring adds warmth to a bathroom that stone or tile doesn’t.  With some thought and added care, wood floors can work in the bathroom just as well as these traditional choices.

Salmon pink on the living room wall may not be for everyone, but this living room does a beautiful job of balancing the bold color on the wall with neutral furnishings. Bright color on the wall, like sunny yellow, grass green, or salmon pink, can bring life and energy to a room’s design.  Don’t be afraid of color on the walls. Just pick a color that you love and will be happy to live with everyday.

Of course, if you really love color you can have color on the walls, furniture or floor that contrasts and complements each other. Monochrome or multi-colored, colorful rooms can be calming or energizing depending on what color or colors are used. Pink can be a calming color, especially when paired with neutrals. The warm neutrals of the furniture and flooring in this living room create a warm, inviting living space.  The polka dots on the ottomans tie into the wall color with a subtle pop of pink.

Warm wood tones and creams on the furniture and floor could work with a number of wall colors. It is easy to replace a wall color with new paint or wallpaper which is much cheaper than investing in furniture and carpet.

Be bold with paint colors. You can always repaint if you get tired of the color. And if you have neutral furnishings, you can pick up the new color in accents and objects around the room. If you love salmon pink, incorporate it into your décor.

If you are frequent traveler, you’ve probably stayed in your fair share of hotel rooms.  The rise of boutique and designer hotels has pushed the design envelope on hotel rooms. Hotel design has evolved over the last few decades to become a great source of design inspiration for our own bedrooms. Luxury materials, sleek modern designs and thoughtful touches inspired by the best hotel rooms can infuse your own bedroom with chic design ideas.

The cookie cutter feeling of big chain hotels is not where we are finding our design inspiration, although those hotel rooms have benefited from the rising tide of hotel design. Boutique hotels, with their personal sensibilities are the leaders in hotel design.  Using modern furniture, classic designs, and even antiques in the rooms gives them the feeling of a guest room in someone’s home. Luxury linens with high thread counts, down comforters and a choice of pillows make these beds inspiring.

Added touches like chic bedside lighting, chandeliers and even floor lamps easily translate to a home bedroom. Thick carpet underfoot is great first thing in the morning. If you don’t have carpet in the bedroom, buy a large area rug for underneath the bed. Make sure it is large enough to extend far enough out from under the bed so that you can walk on it.

Next time you stay in a beautiful hotel, look around the room for inspiration for your own bedroom at home. You might be surprised what you find.

Decorating really begins at the front door. Whether you have a formal entry, steps, a porch or a portico, you’ll want to create a welcoming feeling before your guests ever step through the front door.

A beautiful front door is the first step in decorating your entry.  Paint can do wonders if replacing the door is not an option.  Second to the front door is lighting.  An overhead porch light can be as stylish and charming as an indoor fixture. A single sconce or a pair of sconces flanking the door is another option. Outdoor lighting has come a long way and you can find lighting that suits any style of architecture.

Pretty flowers or a pot of branches in the winter can decorate the area around the door. A seasonal wreath is a classic choice for any time of year. Keep the look clean and simple to highlight the door. Like elsewhere in the home too much of a good thing can make the space look cluttered.

Add a door mat for wet and muddy feet. Just inside the door add another area rug or mat to protect hardwood and tile floors.  If you have a tiled or wood entry and carpet throughout the home, you’ll definitely want a door mat.

Setting the tone for your style at the front door is a great way to make your house truly feel like your home.

The Romans used mosaic as flooring for their homes and bathrooms so we have them to thank for the beautiful tile mosaics still being used in flooring and bathrooms today.  Mosaic is a natural choice to be used as flooring and walls in the bathroom.  It also makes wonderful accents with other materials.

A narrow strip of colorful mosaic tiles add interest to the wall in this bathroom.  The natural stone color of the larger tiles is given a punch with the deeper red tones of the mosaic.  This is also a great example of a more expensive material used sparingly for big impact at low cost.  Adding a strip of mosaic tiles made of tumbled marble or glass adds a touch of luxury to even the simplest bathroom tiles.

Mosaic tiles on the floors and walls can mean a lot of grout to keep clean.  Adding a mosaic tile border around the middle of the floor or stripes of mosaic tiles would liven up a plain floor.  In the shower, mosaic tiles can be used with natural stone tile, ceramic tile or porcelain tiles.  Tumbled stone mosaic tiles would have less impact than a glass or colorful ceramic mosaic.  A single row of mosaic tile used as a border high in the shower or at waist height, or both would work well.

Mosaics can also be used to decorate a mirror and bath accessories. Find a flat plain frame to fit your bathroom mirror and cover it with mosaic tile that you use elsewhere to help bring together the design of the bathroom.