Thinking about Walls: Dark

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How daring do you want to be with your walls? Would you risk painting your walls this dark?

As you can see, it’s a dramatic look that works very well here. Let’s take a look at the choices that make a midnight black wall work in this room.

To start, plan to paint multiple coats to get this rich a tone. When you choose a dark shade, at least three coats are generally needed to build depth of color. You may be able to get away with two if you use a tinted primer, but don’t hold back – an extra coat or two will really make a difference.

Next, take advantage of contrast. The bright white sofa and chair upholstery help the walls pop and make the room feel light. Take a look at the mirror frame and the curtains. Once again, the pure white works well with a dark, dark wall. Adding the brown pillows provides a contrast on top of contrast. This contributes to the drama of the space.

Make sure the lighting lets the space feel open and inviting. During the day this space stays well lit thanks to the two large windows. At night, look for lighting options that pull light into corners and highlight the shine on this luscious floor.

Notice that we’re working with white, black and brown here. There are a few plants, but they play as neutrals rather than color because they are living elements rather than accessories. A splash of color – yellow, red or orange – would make a fun element.  Are you ready to take a chance?

Thinking about Walls: Yellow

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Yellow can brighten up a bathroom or kitchen, or make a bedroom seem extra sunny. But it is the most difficult paint color to get right. The wrong choice can make a room gold instead of yellow, or turn a space into egg yolks rather than lemon. If you want to bring yellow into your home, take these steps first.

Go lighter: Yellow dominates a room much more than you would expect. Whatever tone you want, choose one at least two shades lighter. The color strips available at paint stores make this easy. Don’t worry that it will be too light. Yellow reflects off every wall and the color naturally intensifies.

Test test test: Buy a sample of two or three possible yellows. Paint poster boards, one in each color, and try them close to each other. If one of the yellows has an orange or green cast, you’ll be able to tell thanks to the contrast. Choose the purest yellow you can find. Also, put the painted posters on every wall of the room and then see which works best. Yellow changes its mood depending upon the type of light, so check in daylight and artificial light.

Combine with white: Don’t be tempted to use too much yellow. Paint the ceiling white and don’t add yellow cabinets or furniture. Too much yellow quickly takes over a room. White areas help the yellow look brighter without becoming overwhelming.

Yellow can be gorgeous or a real problem. Doing your homework at the start will give you a space that uses yellow at its best.

Start Planning for the Holidays

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We’re headed for the holiday season, and it’s easy to get caught up in everything you want to do until you’re overwhelmed. One helpful approach to make sure you are ready to make your holidays merry and bright is planning. Take the time now to create the framework for making holidays fun this year.

Budget your dollars: Many people end up in January with more bills than they expected. To head off this situation, spend time with your spouse or family agreeing on a budget. Be sure to include food, entertainment, cards, and any decorations as well as gifts. Add a cushion to cover unexpected expenses.

Budget your time: You may want to bake holiday cookies, decorate with abandon and write long notes to friends. Add that full-family Thanksgiving, volunteering and attending everyone’s holiday parties and you may end up too tired to enjoy everything. Combine some favorite events and projects with some time to recover and just have fun and the season will be pleasant instead of hectic.

Work ahead: Do you love homemade Christmas cookies? How about mixing up the dough and freezing it for later? Grab your cookbooks and recipe box and develop your menus for Thanksgiving and beyond. Plan for each event with grocery lists and all the recipes organized in files.  If you are going to ask Aunt Margaret to bring her sweet potato casserole, now is the time to call. Pull out your holiday card list before it starts to get hectic and address envelopes and write that newsletter. You don’t have to send them yet but wouldn’t it be nice to be ready when the time comes?

Take a few hours to plan your holidays this weekend, and you will help ensure a holly jolly time for everyone.

Highlight your Fireplace

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Now that the weather is cooling, those fireplaces that are only so much decoration all summer may see some use. With the attention your fireplace may start getting, it might be time to update its look. Here are a few suggestions for updating your fireplace.

Think proportion: A large piece of art is a nice touch over your fireplace. Make sure it’s sized smaller than the mantel and set low enough to connect to the fireplace below. If you’re concerned about getting the right shape and size, consider using proportions similar to the fireplace itself.

Consider a mirror: Mirrors often flatter a fireplace. However, do check to see what the mirror will reflect before hanging one. That reflection will be visible every time someone looks at your fireplace so you want it to be attractive.

Have your accessories connect the mantel and its art: The candlesticks on this mantel – a classic choice – frame the mirror and take advantage of the larger mantel. Both the clock and the plant reach into the frame and the mirror. These elements make the entire space feel like a cohesive whole.

Integrate the fireplace with the rest of the room: Notice how the candlesticks and candles coordinate with the wall sconces? This connection helps make the fireplace integrate with its location. The area rug also mimics the soft tones of the fireplace surround and the richer tones of the wall.

If you’ve left your mantel alone lately it’s time to take a second look. Shop your own home to find some new pieces to spark up your fireplace before the colder weather encourages your family to pay it more attention.

Fulton Homes and Phoenix Suns Partner for Charity

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When a Phoenix Suns player hits a three-pointer, excitement is high and the crowd goes wild. But it means much more to the Phoenix Suns charities thanks to Fulton Homes. With the Fulton “Proud to own the Three-Point Zone” program, Fulton Homes will donate $100 for every three-point shot the Phoenix Suns make during any of their games this season.

Phoenix Suns charities provide grants focusing on children and young people. The areas of attention for the organization include education, health and human services, the arts and sports as well as recreation and rehabilitation.

There are 80 televised games this season and the Suns average 6.7 three-point shots per game, which means that Fulton Homes’ commitment is substantial.

“Fulton Homes is really excited to partner again with the Phoenix Suns to benefit Phoenix Suns Charities,” Doug Fulton, CEO of Fulton Homes, said. “If the Suns keep their three-point game up, we could be giving quite a bit to worthy causes.”

The “Proud to own the Three-Point Zone” program is just one of many charitable efforts by Fulton Homes. With the company based here in the Valley, Fulton is committed to being a strong community partner with organizations that make a difference.

So when you watch a Suns game this season, you’ve got more than one reason to cheer when a player makes a three-point shot, because the money donated as a result will give children in our community a better shot too.

A Fulton Neighborhood

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Finding the right home can be exciting and fun. And it’s just as important to find the right neighborhood for you and your family.

Fulton Homes recognizes that, and focuses its efforts to creating each community to suit the needs of its homebuyers.

Here are a few things to consider when choosing a neighborhood as well as a home.

Location: Are you close to good schools for your children and shopping to meet your family’s needs? You may also want to drive your commute to work, so that you know how long it will take and can plan accordingly.

Amenities: Does your community offer parks, pools or other features that your family will use and enjoy? With a community pool such as the one shown above from Fulton’s Ironwood Crossing that includes a splash pad for the younger ones separated from the main pool area with a fence, children of all ages can enjoy this center. Parents can appreciate the benefits of this neighborhood pool without the cost and effort of owning one.

Neighbors: With a new home community, everyone moves in at about the same time and many people will look forward to getting to know others on their block. Consider starting a block party with pot-luck food and games for the kids to help them get comfortable with each other. This is also a great chance to find babysitters and learn more about restaurants and shops close by.

Take the time to explore your options when it comes to neighborhoods as well as houses. Look for a place that will work well for you and your family and you will feel as at home outside your front door as you do inside.

November is Good Nutrition Month

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Wouldn’t you know it, the day after Halloween is the start of Good Nutrition Month! Here are a few suggestions to use your Fulton Homes kitchen to promote good eating for you and your family.

Ration Halloween candy: Of course chances are your little ones ate too much candy yesterday – and maybe you helped yourself to a bit more than you should have, too! Now that you’ve all had that indulgent experience, let your children know that this happens only once a year. Negotiate a specific number of pieces of candy every day. Here’s a hint – you start the negotiations at one piece and they will feel good if they can get you up to three, which is about where you want them to be anyway.

Use your kitchen space to drive your family to good snacks: Set up a shelf in the refrigerator with washed carrots and dip, sliced apples and cheese, peanut butter and other healthy choices. Let your kids know that those snacks are legal without getting permission. Place some whole-grain crackers on the counter or kitchen table along with bananas and other snacks that don’t need refrigeration. Make healthful snacks easy to access and junk food hard to find or simply nonexistent in your kitchen. Soon your family will automatically reach for the good stuff that’s in sight.

Get help with meal-planning and cooking. Make it fun for everyone and cook with the kids! Use your kitchen counter or island to plan and track meals for the week or even the month. Assign coupon searches to one child and grocery ads to another, with the promise that they will receive the savings as an addition to their allowances. Or you could have a contest with the one who saves the family the most money getting to choose a favorite meal for the next week. Print a copy of the food pyramid and have your whole family use it to plan meals that are well-balanced.

The holidays have started and it’s easy to get into bad food habits with entertaining and attending parties. You can create the opportunity to keep yourself and your family on a good nutrition path for the rest of the year and into the next!

Unique but Simple Halloween Decorating

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If you want to decorate the outside of your home for Halloween but would like to create something much more unusual than the choices available in stores, here are a couple of ideas to spark up the front of your home that rely on imagination and creativity rather than a lot of effort or dollars.

This first choice requires you to expand beyond the standard rounded pumpkin. Look for pumpkins, gourds and squash with unusual shapes and colors such as the three elongated ones shown here. You could also add one of the newer white “ghost pumpkins.” You only need to carve a few of them, but create unique faces. Set in front of a group of uncut pumpkins and gourds, you create a gathering of Halloween creatures.

Another option that is a bit more complex but very entertaining is placing two pumpkins together to show a conversation between them.

The pumpkin on the right has a more complex carving approach. There are directions and patterns on the Internet to help you create one of these, but you could stick with the standard carving style and still get an interesting vignette.

The stick hand on the right pumpkin also pushes this Halloween display out of the ordinary. Adding hands and feet to your carvings adds personality and charm.

You could add fall leaves to these arrangements, use props such as hats or other accessories, and even tell a simple story with your pumpkins. Halloween provides a terrific opportunity to stretch your imagination by thinking outside the squash.

Design Inspiration – Chandelier

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This chandelier provides a great inspiration point for a formal dining room. This last blog on using different inspirations when decorating focuses on creating a mood.

First, notice that the chandelier below is not an exact match with the one in the dining room. The photo shows an antique chandelier that was quite beyond the budget of the couple whose room is shown below.

Instead of trying to reproduce the specific chandelier, the goal was to reproduce the feeling the piece invokes. This photo combines drama, sparkle and old-style elegance, and the dining room below captures the same feelings.

Let’s look at the style of this dining room. The classic chairs and table immediately recreate that old-world look. Notice how shiny the table top is, allowing the crystals to reflect on its surface.

The colors chosen for the room are in the champagne family, echoing the rich shades established by the bowl of crystals at the bottom of the light in the photo.

Extra touches such as the curtains pillowing on the floor and the faded but lovely Oriental rug echo the old-fashioned luxury represented by the original chandelier photo.

Although the chandelier in the room is different from the photo, it has the same circle of candles, additional crystals at the bottom, and the same basic shape. The large gilded mirror and the small ornamental shelves also fit the mood and message this dining room demonstrates.

Perhaps you prefer a dining room that is more simple or contemporary. But no matter what style you want, a light fixture provides a perfect starting point for your design plan.

Design Inspiration – Colors

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Color provides a terrific design inspiration for a room’s décor, and there is no room that can take advantage of color better than a child’s room.

In our second installment on using various inspirations to start your design plans, we’re taking a look at a seven-year-old’s bedroom. She and her mother visited a contemporary accessory store and she chose the colors you see here for her room. Her mother snapped a photo of their choices and shared it with the designer.

If you look at the final room below, you’ll notice that the colors aren’t a perfect match. In order to create a space that would grow with her, the designer added warm brown furniture and the softening influence of light blue. She also turned to a yellower green for accents.

However, in terms of mood and message, the colors in the photo are present in this space. Once again, don’t think of an inspiration as an exact reproduction in a design. Instead, it’s a starting point.

The final room also picks up the floral elements from the original photo without going overboard. The diagonal blue-washed wood flooring is an interesting variation on the whitewashed wood floor in the photo.

With a sophisticated color palette such as this one, a change of paint and bedding can help this bedroom grow as the child does, making it work well into her teenage years.

Are you drawn to certain colors and color combinations? How about visiting a favorite furniture, fabric or accessory store to experiment with new color combinations for your home? If you like the way they look in a small format, there’s a good chance you’ll enjoy them when moved up to room size!