Warm up Your Home for Winter

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5899210_SWhat a cozy scene. The soft shaggy rug, a fringed wool throw, and a linen-covered throw pillow set the picture. Add a cup that used to hold hot tea and a good book and you’re set to enjoy a chilly afternoon – wrapping up with a nap.

It’s easy to create this type of winter mood in your home. Try these additions to your normal décor.

Soft rugs: The bare wood and tile floors that are so cool and inviting in the summer feel chilly when winter comes. Adding some area rugs – preferably thick and inviting to your toes – warms up the look as well as the feel of a space.

Throws: Bring a wool or knitted throw into your living room, family room or bedroom. Displayed casually in a basket or tossed across the arm of a sofa, a throw says cozy comfort. Those with fringe and in plaids or heather tones look especially comfy. If you have a large family you may need more than one to avoid arguments on cold evenings.

24439134_SPillows: Look for knitted covers or natural textures that fit well with your throw or throws. Think of the feel and look of a pile of sweaters lying on your couch. If you sew, consider picking up a sweater or two at the local thrift shop and cutting them down into pillow covers. Knitted cables, leather or wooden buttons just add to the winter personality.

Hot drinks: Soup in a mug, hot tea or coffee, and the always inspiring hot cocoa – with marshmallows – will warm up any room. include a few cookies or cheese and crackers – read a favorite book or put an old movie on your television and make the most of the winter days!

Silver Gives a Touch of Winter

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5602580_SIf you have children – particularly little girls – you’ve probably seen Frozen. The story, the music and the characters are delightful, and the scenery really puts winter front and center.

For those of us who live in Arizona, winter is not the icy adventure presented in the Disney movie, but you can bring a hint of winter’s splendor into your home using silver.

More and more, metallic paints liven up old pieces of furniture such as the bombe chest shown in this photo. Add an old-style upholstered chair and ottoman with silver leaf on the wood and rich modern black and silver upholstery, and you’re headed for your own winter design.

Black is the perfect pairing with the shine of silver, setting it off while providing the perfect addition of drama. Notice the dark burgundy silk throw pillow – a touch of dark red or turquoise will spark the black and silver with a bit of color. The silver-framed mirror, chandelier visible through the glass, and the selection of silver accessories finish up the room into something you would expect to see in Elsa the queen of Arendelle’s bedroom.

19419998_SYou can create your own silver furniture simply. Look in thrift and antique shops for a table, chair or framed mirror with some character such as the occasional table in the photo to the right. Choose something inexpensive, possibly with a damaged finish, so you aren’t covering a beautiful patina with paint.

Wash the piece and sand lightly. Before painting, wipe it down with a tack cloth to remove any dust. Look for a good quality silver spray paint. Take it outside to protect yourself against the fumes and set it on a drop cloth or newspapers to protect your landscaping. Spray the piece, using several light coats to finish it completely.

So maybe you really don’t want to recreate a Disney film set in your home. You can still bring a bit of winter silver to a corner of any room that could benefit from the additional splendor.

Ceiling Fans

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Fulton Ceiling FansQuite possibly the smartest decision you may make when determining options for your Fulton Home is having ceiling fans installed throughout. In the summer they make a home feel comfortable at higher temperatures, allowing you to save energy every month. Even in the winter they can bring warm air down to a lower level and give you a chance to pull in more fresh air on those days when you want your windows open.

Years ago, ceiling fans were more utilitarian than attractive, but that has changed. Today’s ceiling fans come in a nice selection of styles that meld with virtually any décor. They can also be positioned right against the ceiling or hung down to a more functional height with an rod that coordinates with the fan’s look.

If you haven’t experienced a ceiling fan overhead when working in your home office or sleeping, you will be surprised at how unobtrusive the air movement is. At the lowest level a ceiling fan provides a gentle breeze that doesn’t disturb papers or flutter drapes. At full power, it can cool you faster than anything other than a dip in a pool when you get home on a hot summer day.

Ceiling fans also provide a helpful solution for families with different temperature preferences. If a warm body marries someone who is always cold, the thermostat can become a battleground. On the other hand, several judiciously-placed ceiling fans allow a warmer climate for the easily chilled while properly cooling the toaster-folks in the family.

Be sure to check out the selection of ceiling fans when you visit the lighting section of the Fulton Design Center.

Plan a Progressive Neighborhood Party for New Year’s Eve

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MP900309664While it’s fun to go out for New Year’s Eve, too many partiers make the roads dangerous. So consider a fun option instead – a progressive party in your neighborhood to recognize the year’s change.

Living in Arizona we actually have two time choices to celebrate the transition: we can stick with midnight or take advantage of the ball dropping in Times Square at 10 p.m. our time to wrap up the evening early. This is particularly useful if you are including children.

To plan the evening, recruit hosts that live close by. Include your street or cul-de-sac and maybe one or two other adjoining blocks. For the event itself, if you’re wrapping up at 10, you could start at 7 p.m. Plan to stay at each house about 45 minutes. The first two homes with times of 7 to 7:45 p.m. and 7:45 to 8:30 p.m. could each offer a signature appetizer and beverage. 8:30 to 9:45 might be dessert, and the 9:45 home could feature champagne and sparkling cider while everyone counts down the ball dropping.

To make the evening extra festive, add noisemakers and hats at various homes. Your group could also sing a chorus of “Auld Lang Syne” as midnight approaches. Print some copies of the song’s lyrics so everyone can join in together.

After the party is over, you may find that neighbors are friendlier since they’ve had a chance to get to know each other better. It also gives new neighbors a chance to get acquainted. This could become an annual event on your block and lead to other social events in your neighborhood.

 

Selecting Tile Accents

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FultonTileAccentsListelles such as the ones shown above on display at the Fulton Design Center provide one of the best bangs for your buck when designing your new home. Just add a strip of personality along your shower at eye-level or below, or use it as a border at the top of your wall tile.

Spark up your backsplash by creating a rectangle above your stove using the listelle design you like the best. When you visit the Fulton Design Center, take a few minutes to browse your options for these accents. Color, tone and texture combine to make a rich selection of approaches to personalizing a kitchen or bath.

The geometric options work well with modern homes, although some like the diagonal squares in the bottom row of this display also have a classic appeal. Listelles also come in more organic designs. Take a look at the pattern on the top row, the fourth from the left. The vined approach would add a natural feeling to your home.

How strong do you want your accents to be overall? If you are looking for a subtle feel, choose tone combinations with minimal contrast that blend in with your other tile or stone choices. On the other hand, if you want to really showcase your accents, go for high contrast – both within the listelle itself and compared to your overall look.

Be sure to take a hands-on approach to your selection. Bring your main tile or stone selection over to this display and lay your favorites next to it to see the impact. Remember to factor in grout color. Have some fun with this choice. It’s a great way to make your Fulton Home uniquely yours.

Choosing Your Cabinet Style

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Fulton CabinetsWhen you select cabinets for your new Fulton Home, you have more decisions than the wood tone or color. Simple style changes really affect the look of a kitchen. Let’s visit the Fulton Design Center to take a look at some cabinet door choices.

Do you want a curved molding at the top of your cabinets? You can see this look if you check out door visible in the middle cabinet on the second shelf. This traditional approach lends softness to your cabinetry, and some people feel it adds warmth.

Perhaps you like things simple. If so, consider the Shaker style. The door on the top left in the first display cabinet shows the Shaker style in light maple. While this demonstrates some personality – more than flat-surface doors – it creates a relatively undemanding background allowing you to exhibit some splash in other areas.

If you want your cabinets to be front-and-center in your kitchen, how about choosing the door on the bottom of the middle display? The variations in molding create a light-and-shadow look that draws the eye. If you add a glaze the variations will pop even more.

Don’t stop with the cabinet doors. Take a look at your choices of knobs and pulls. You may prefer stainless to coordinate with appliances, or how about the oil-rubbed bronze finish to add some old-world warmth? Be sure to touch as well as look. You will be using your choice for many years on a daily basis!

One last suggestion: take a look at the kitchens in the models and the Fulton Design Center. They can help you decide which style would work best for you in your own Fulton Home.

Making 2014’s Top Color Work in Your Home

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25272599_SPantone, one of the most influential color companies in the world, selected its 2014 color of the year: Radiant Orchid. Soon you will see clothes, accessories, and home elements such as wallpaper, paint and linens in this vibrant shade.

If you’d like to incorporate Radiant Orchid into your life, here are a few suggestions, ranging from all out to a simple touch of this warm mid-tone lavender.

One inviting option involves paintable textured wallpaper and just the right shade of paint. This accent wall captures the feeling of Radiant Orchid, using a slightly darker tone to ground the wall.

11879796_SIntroducing a pop of the color in one strong block gives you the impact you want while making it easy to change in a few years if you fall in love with another color. Surrounding this wall with neutrals and bringing in a rich green – the natural complementary color for purple – allows the wall to draw the eye without overpowering the rest of the room.

If you want to incorporate this Radiant color into your everyday life without a large investment of time, space or dollars, look for small functional home items to spark up your bathroom or kitchen. This espresso maker adds a splash of Orchid, and the tablecloth supports this with stripes that pull purples in as well as other colors to balance the look.

10643751_SMaking this type of decorating choice allows you to play with trending colors while still maintaining the longer-term look and style you enjoy. Combining trendy with classic elements such as the white cup and saucer shown provides a design balance that’s fun with staying power.

One final option: how about going simple by adding an actual orchid in Pantone’s radiant color such as this one to the left? After all, long before Pantone selected this color for 2014, nature had it featured in a number of its finest products!

Brighten Your Home with the Right Lighting

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Design Center 038Lighting provides a powerful design statement in a home. Do you like traditional styles, or would you rather have contemporary lighting? Do you want lighting to be front-and-center or subtle?

After you choose your cabinets and countertops, your flooring and doors, make sure you take the time to select lighting that blends well with the design image you’re creating for your home.

Start with the dining room chandelier. This gives the strongest message of any light in your house. Hanging over your dining table, it becomes the focal point for the space and will serve as a beacon for all of your family meals. That selection will help you throughout the house.

Design Center 054Next, consider accent lighting. Notice the selection of pendant lights to the right in the photo below. The Fulton Design Center has a generous selection of pendants, ranging from graceful interpretations of the chandeliers to whimsical colorful modern pendants in a range of colors and shapes.

Remember to take a look at your options in additional lighting such as sconces and recessed lighting. A generous number of spots in your kitchen can make meal preparation easier and more pleasant.

With your lighting selections throughout your home, remember to consider task lighting and ambient lighting as well as standard fixtures. Parties, work and other events are easier to create and decorate for when you build flexibility into the light choices in your home.

Finally, take a minute to look at your exterior lighting. Will you want an extra outdoor spotlight where you plan to put your grill? Would you like a motion-activated light on the path to your front door?

Take the time to make the right decisions now so that you can eliminate the frustrations of not having lights where you need and want them later. And you will find yourself appreciating your efforts every time you flip a switch!

Make a family plan to find the right home

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Oasis at Freeman Farms 098Choosing a home starts even before visiting your first community. Taking the time to define your new home goals, dreams, and even concerns, enables you to shop smarter and focus on the things that you and your family really want.

To begin, have everyone in the family describe what they like – and don’t like – about your current home. Are the bedrooms too small? Are you short a bathroom? On the other hand, maybe you love your backyard and really enjoy all the natural light in your kitchen. Use these ideas to start defining your new home wants.

Next, create a realistic budget. Factor in school expenses, commuting costs, and budget for fun as well as emergencies. Determine how much you could put down, and whether you need to sell your current home before looking for a new one.  Remember to factor in building time for a new home. You may be able to select your new home and have several months to sell your current home while waiting for the new one to be completed.

Think about where you want to live. Look at work commuting time, school systems, and how close you want to be to family and friends. Look also at amenities in or near each community. Is a playground important? Can you run to the grocery store easily? Remember when you’re balancing your wants against your budget; some areas are less expensive than others. You may have to trade space for location, or vice versa.

Finally, explore your options. Visit various communities and take a look at models and open houses. Then go back and determine how many of your wants can be satisfied with your budget. Take the time to prioritize those features you really need compared to those that would be nice to have. If you take the time to make your plan before you start seriously looking, you create a better chance of finding a home you love.

A Fresh Start on Organizing Your Home: The Linen Closet

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13367184_SFor some reason linen closet organization tends to break down over time. Before you know it, the pillowcases that match those queen-size sheets have vanished, and you aren’t even sure what size that one sheet actually is. Towels of all sizes scatter through the shelves, and all of the washcloths have gathered at the back all bunched up.

If your linen closet gets this way even though you straighten it up regularly – or whenever you have time – here are a few suggestions to help you take and keep control of your linens.

Pre-mark all sheet sets. Using a sharpie, write a small K, Q, D, or T at the bottom right corner of each fitted sheet. This serves two purposes: to let you know at a glance which size sheet set you have, and to help you easily put the sheets on in the right direction when you make the beds.

Package your linens. Fold the fitted sheet, top sheet and any extra pillowcases and place them all inside one pillowcase. Having trouble folding sheets in a compact way? Search for sheet folding instructions on Pinterest for ideas. Fold the hand towels and washcloths inside your bath towels, making a tidy package.

Contain the small stuff. Use baskets or bins to hold and control all of your smaller items so they don’t go wandering around the shelves. The only exception? If you keep soap, candles or other scented items in your linen closet, you may want to tuck a few things in with the sheets and towels to add a nice scent.

Police your linen closet. It’s easy to straighten up a space when it just starts to go south, but much harder if you put it off too long. Every time you put away clean linens, do a quick check to make sure everything is in the right place. That way you can always find anything you need when you need it.