In their overall design scheme, homeowners often treat hallways as an afterthought. They’re seen as a means to a destination, not a destination in and of themselves.

However, hallways can be the perfect canvas to take a chance on color. “Since the hallway is usually a transitional space, and not someplace where you’ll be spending a lot of time, you can go just a little wild and crazy,” says Kati Curtis of Nirmada Interior Design in New York City.

One big draw of designing hallways is that the wall color generally doesn’t have to compete with other design elements such as furniture or windows, says designer Lori Dennis of Los Angeles. “It’s a smaller space so you can focus your efforts, versus doing a huge project like painting a special graphic or a whole wall in a 20-by-20-foot room,” she says. “With a small amount of cost, labor, material and time, you can make a huge impact.”

Even though hallways represent a place to have some design fun, they can also offer their share of design challenges. One is proportion. “In many cases, ceiling height is much taller than the width of the hallway, creating a tunnel effect,” notes Curtis. “To counteract it, I’ll use dark colors on the hallway ceiling and lighter colors on the walls to make the space feel a little more proportional and intimate.”

No matter how creative you get in hallways, be sure your color palette provides the proper transition to surrounding rooms.
Duval B. Acker, a designer based in Mt. Pleasant, S.C., and president of Kitchens by Design, shares a tip for addressing high ceilings. “Use wide horizontal stripes, even of the same color, alternating between semi-gloss and satin finishes,” she says. “It offers an interesting way to use solid colors yet attain texture and interest.”

Developing a focal point also can address issues of proportion. Dennis pays attention to hallway ceilings. “Whether you’re painting a ceiling a flat color or creating a pinstripe or graphic, it brings the eye up and turns a boring, uneventful space into an experience.”

For a hallway project in Boston, Curtis used an intense blue on the walls and created a tree painting at the end of the hallway. “We were trying to draw the eye away from some challenging closets in the space,” she says. Just be sure there’s enough room to enjoy such works, Curtis advises. “People often have these huge pieces of art in the hallway, and you only have room to step back two feet from them.” Consider smaller pieces instead. For instance, one of Curtis’s clients had a group of detailed miniature paintings from India she wanted to showcase, and “this three-and-a-half-foot-wide hallway was the perfect place to display them.”
Lighting plays another important role. “Oftentimes hallways are not lit very well, so even a great paint color won’t show up properly without adequate lighting,” says Acker, who’s used recessed, track and picture lighting as additional illumination sources. “It’s a safety matter as well, because you have to be able to see as you’re progressing down a hallway.”

When it comes to entry halls, Dennis takes cues from iconic architect Frank Lloyd Wright. “He thought that hallways were paramount to the arrival experience,” she says. “Wright always made entrances rather low and dark so that when you entered the next room it would appear higher and lighter.”

No matter how creative you get in hallways, be sure your color palette provides the proper transition to surrounding rooms. “If the living room is a deep turquoise blue, for example, painting the hallway a lighter hue of that same color acts as a preview to the main space,” Curtis says. “It’s subtle and very effective.”

Adds Dennis: “Hallways are the appetizers of the meal, the precursor to the following rooms, so you do need to make sure they jibe with everything else going on.”

Are you looking for a way to freshen up your home? Well look no further than your local paint store! You can give a room an instant face lift with one weekend, paint and a little elbow grease.

The most difficult part of painting can be selecting the color. Try these tips to make it easier.

1. Match Paint to the Surroundings – Let the flooring, wood finishes and fabrics in a room be your guide when selecting a paint color. If you are remodeling, pick the paint color last because it’s the most versatile.

2. Find Inspiration in the Everyday – Start looking around you for color ideas. Inspiration can come from unexpected places like travel photos, garden flowers, a favorite chair, or even the clothes in your closet.

3. Look at the Whole Family – Once you decide on a color look at the other hues in the color family. If you love bright red, take a spin around the color wheel to see other options. It might be that orange red or burgundy is better suited for the environment.

4. Set the Mood – Colors have an effect on our moods so consider how the room is used. Where you might want your family room to be a lively setting, perhaps a bedroom should be more subdued. Bright and contrasting = social, energetic, drama, informal Cool or pastel = intimate, restful, relaxing, restful, formal.

5. Get a Test Can – Lighting, the size of the walls and time of day will influence paint’s color. Apply a test patch on the wall where the color will live and observe it for a day or two.

6. Get the Flow – When picking paint consider the colors of adjacent rooms. Can you see their walls? How will it be to walk from one room to the other?

The dreaded water stain on your ceiling is a sure sign of a leak that needs to be fixed right away before it does more damage. A little detective work in the attic or a room above should reveal what is causing it.

Roof leaks can be difficult to find because water can run down decking or rafters before it reaches the ceiling. Common culprits include damaged shingles and gaps around flashing on chimneys, dormers, valleys or vent pipes. Damaged shingles should be replaced and suspicious spots sealed with roofing cement.

Plumbing leaks can pose a mystery too because they’re often inside walls or under Kitchen or Bathroom floors. Usual suspects include the wax ring under the toilet the drainpipe, dripping drains and gaps between the tub and tile.

One unusual case involved a dryer vent that became so filled with lint that condensation built up over time, dripped from the ductwork and caused water damage on the ceiling below. That’s the kind of mystery you can only solve by cutting a hole in the ceiling.

It’s never too late for home improvement resolutions
1. Let nature guide you: “Tangerine Tango” is the official color of 2012, but if you’ve no taste for citrus hues. Take your camera, and head outside into nature where the best color combinations exist in abundance and light.”
2. Look up: The ceiling, an oft forgotten space, holds lots of design potential. Cover it with wood, tile, paint, glass, plaster, metal or wallpaper. There are also many other ceiling treatments, such as beaming and vaulting, that add interest.
3. Lighten up: One of the most effective solutions for getting rid of excess is the Year Box. This is for people who never know when they might need all the things they hold on to. Fill a box with those rarely used items, close it and date it. After a year, if you haven’t needed anything inside, you must donate the contents without opening the box.
4. Fix what’s broken: Walk around your house and make a to-do list of everything that needs repair, and set aside a weekend or two to do it. Hire someone to do what you can’t. You will feel better and your house will look better.
5. Get that remodel rolling: Even if you don’t want to undertake the expense in the next 12 months, you can put a minimal amount of money into getting an architect or designer to help you plan. Design pros will have ideas to reduce project costs or to complete a renovation in phases. It might turn out that it is less complicated and less expensive than you think.
6. Repurpose wasted space: Look at the rooms that you never go into and think about what you can do with them. You can’t afford not to use every inch of your house. Think about your passions, those are probably the things you haven’t made room for.
7. Improve lighting: Light is a very important part of your visual environment. Most of us feel better on a sunny day, and Newell notes that improved artificial lighting lifts our mood, too. It also changes the mood of a room. A dining room’s lighting, for instance, will be dimmed for an intimate dinner, a bit brighter for a friendly gathering, and brightest for a large, festive event. Newell’s simple rule of thumb: The more people, the more light. To accomplish that effectively, a variety of light sources ranging from chandeliers to recessed lighting to sconces and table lamps is typically required.
8. Eat out more: Not necessarily at restaurants, but in your own backyard. An outdoor dining area can add to the quality of life whether it’s a wooden table and benches or a designer-appointed “room” with an open-air kitchen. An increasing number of outdoor heaters, fire tables and fireplaces can extend al fresco living into the colder months.
9. Explore digital: Nanny Cams and other house-watching systems have been around for quite a few years, and the technology is becoming more widely available and accessible for use with hand-held devices. A basic home monitoring system through Verizon, for example, starts at around $70 (uninstalled) with a $10 monthly access fee. More advanced home automation systems allow remote control of heating, lights and more.
10. Rearrange the furniture: Take everything out of a room (a good time to fill that Year Box) and then freshening with items from elsewhere in the house. Such intensive rearranging also provides an opportunity to think more about how the room is used before refurnishing it.
11. Corral collections: For 2012, it’s time to pull the collections together and display them so that you get energy and pleasure from looking at them. Use a narrow, wall-mounted shelf for a more modern look, she suggests. You may have to cull your favorites, but there are also simple ways to craft a display in a shelf unit or a fancier piece.
12. Go window shopping: The value of just looking is in educating yourself on various brands, their features and prices when you’re not under pressure to buy(impulse spenders: leave the plastic at home). When it’s time to purchase, you’ll know when you are getting the best quality at a great price.

Question
What is the dark stuff I get on the ceiling of my bathroom? It is in small areas about the size of a small coin, and is brownish in color. It is on parts of the ceiling, particularly over the shower area.

Answer
This is material extracted from a latex paint by the high humidity and moisture common in a bathroom, particularly after the shower has been used. Gradually, some of the thickener and surfactants commonly used in making latex paint are extracted and left in concentrated form on the surface of the paint. This generally does not hurt the durability of the paint, and rather is an issue of appearance. It can usually be removed by careful cleaning with a sponge and detergent with warm water. If you encounter this when you go to repaint the bathroom, be sure to remove as much of it as you can, before applying primer or paint. Be sure to rinse off all residual detergent before proceeding. Kitchen & Bath paints are in general formulated to minimize surfactant leaching. Allow the paint to dry at least overnight before using the shower; preferably allow several days’ drying time.
From PQI.

New exterior paint works in cold and heat
Dulux Diamond Exterior Satin is available in 2,016 colours

By MAG RUFFMAN, Special to QMI Agency

It snuck up on us, didn’t it? The cold wind, the sound of rain lashing windowpanes, the fervent hope that there’s still going to be one warm day left to paint that puck-dented garage door or the peeling patio furniture.

We Canadians have a short growing season and an even shorter exterior painting season. Because if it’s warm enough to paint, it’s not necessarily dry enough, or if it’s dry enough now, it might rain an hour after you finish and wreck all of your work.

There are about 12 good days a year when you can actually get the outdoor painting accomplished. In a bad year you might have only three or four decent days. Or if you procrastinated to the point of early November, you’re down to hoping for one good afternoon.

Exterior paint has been the princess of the paint world for a long time.

To be happy, it demanded a warm dry day with fairly low humidity, and it could still throw a hissy fit and peel horribly within a few months of application.

It didn’t seem to breathe well; it blistered easily. It needed multiple coats, attracted mildew and mould in shady areas, and had a Goldilocks-style fixation with having the perfect not-too-hot and not-too-cold weather conditions. Exterior painting was just 90 different ways to get a headache.

Well, its reign is ending because a few months ago a Canadian company comprised of diligent chemists came up with a new exterior paint that has reversed my former “Just Kill Me Now” position on exterior painting.

For one thing, you can apply this new paint during a vast range of weather conditions. Even if the climate spits out a shower thirty minutes after you finish the job, the paint holds steady and won’t succumb to the mewling heaves like regular exterior paint.

And it can be applied during single-digit cold (e.g. 1 C) or on a tube-top and beer day (30 C).

It dries so quickly that bugs don’t get a chance to die in it. (I used to spend half my painting time rescuing Daddy Long Legs, ants and flies that got their feet stuck in my fresh paint.) The new all-Canadian paint formulation (Dulux Diamond Exterior) is self-priming, it doesn’t leave brush marks (even if you’re a crummy painter like me) and it works on lots of surfaces including bare or previously painted surfaces of wood, vinyl, metal, concrete, brick, stucco or pre-finished siding.

The acrylic formula contains ceramic microspheres to help it endure the wild temperature variations of the Canadian climate. It’s like having your own really tiny set of those ceramic tiles that cover the surface of the space shuttle.

Polymers in the paint allow the coating to breathe so it won’t blister, and it stays flexible rather than getting rigid and cracking. It covers really well, although I went to a second coat just to add protection on our south-facing windowsills.

This paint is also treated with fungicide to prevent mould and mildew. You can get a lot done in a day too, since it can take a second coat after four to six hours.

But the real test is always the DidyaGetAnyOnYah test.

If you’re a bit of a spiller like me, you sport globs of dried paint on your body after any paint job; forehead, elbows and hair are the big three.

So I informally test paint durability by how long it takes to come off of my skin and hair.

The paint from the windowsill job that I did over a week ago is still on my forearms. (And I have a big hot bath every night, at least 30 minutes, a real soaker.) This is the most tenacious non-alkyd paint I’ve ever used.

Dulux Diamond Exterior Satin is available in 2,016 colours and can be matched to any existing shade. It retails for $52.99 per gallon at 230 Dulux Paint stores across the country. For a location near you, visit www.dulux.ca or call 1-800-268-0534.

How to choose a color scheme

Using a color wheel, obtained from any art store, you can achieve the perfect combination for your home.

Here are terms you will need to understand to apply the concepts in this article when choosing a color scheme:

Monochromatic: A single color.

A monochromatic color scheme uses variations in lightness and saturation of a single color. This scheme offers a soothing effect, is easy on the eye, is elegant and provides a balanced look to a room.

When creating a monochromatic scheme, it is generally best to use three to five shades and tones of the selected color to keep the scheme from being stagnant. Adding a variety of textures in the monochromatic scheme adds interest and vibrancy.

Analogous: Colors with a ‘family’ resemblance

Following colors that are adjacent to each other on the color wheel is using an analogous scheme. This is similar to the monochromatic scheme, but offers more hues, such as red, red-orange, and orange. To pull together an analogous scheme, use one color as the dominant, with the two colors next to it on the wheel as secondary and accent colors. This scheme will bring a sense of harmony to a home and is often used in informal areas of the home.

Complementary: Two opposite colors that have nothing in common

A complementary color scheme is made of two colors that are opposite to each other on the color wheel, such as orange and blue. This offers high contrast and, consequently, draws maximum attention.

It is best to choose one of the colors to be the dominating and use its complementary color for accents to create a pleasing balance of color. When you want to create excitement, the complementary scheme will achieve the goal.

A variation of this scheme is the split complementary, which uses one color and then the two colors that are adjacent to the complement. Using the orange as the main color, the two splitting the complement are blue-green and blue-violet. This is one of the most popular schemes because of the versatility and the pleasant atmosphere it creates.

Triadic: The most famous of the four on the wheel are red, yellow and blue.

The triadic color scheme uses three colors equally spaced around the wheel, such as orange, green, and violet. Because this scheme uses a wide array of colors, it is the richest of the color schemes.

The disadvantage is that it can be difficult to balance and harmonize the room. To resolve this quandary, use the 60-30-10 rule to distribute the colors — 60 percent of the scheme as the main color, 30 percent of a secondary color and 10 percent of the last as an accent color.

Sound complicated? Give Kapski Painting a call for a paint consultation we’d be happy to help.

From Caring.com

The words dream house may conjure up fantasy amenities and custom trims. But smart homeowners also imagine a home they can live in forever — with a young family, through busy midlife, and with many of the common physical limitations that getting older can bring, from arthritis to needing a wheelchair.

Universal design (UD) is the design of products and environments that are usable by most people, regardless of their level of ability or disability, and at little or no extra cost. From entryways to kitchens and bathrooms to bedrooms, they often increase the value of a home. UD brings together the principles of accessible design (meeting standards for handicapped access, using “adaptable” design, meaning “normal”-looking design that can be revised later for disabled use), ergonomic design (allowing people and things to interact most effectively and safely), and green design (environmentally friendly spaces). UD is sometimes also called “lifespan design.”

These seven principles, set out by the Center for Universal Design at North Carolina State University, a national resource and technical assistance center, help inform useful design for all ages and stages of life:

1. Design that’s equally appealing to all users
What it means

Wherever possible, universal design creates spaces that can be used by everyone equally and that are appealing to all. UD doesn’t stigmatize any one group of users — like those obvious wheelchair ramps tacked onto the fronts of older homes, for example.

What it looks like

At least one three-foot-wide, gently sloping, no-step entry — meaning no porch step or tall threshold — allows someone with a stroller, wheelchair, or walker to easily enter, without screaming “handicap entrance” to the mobile.

A lever-handled front door (as opposed to a round knob) can be a relief for sore or weak hands or anyone carrying packages, a baby, or a cane.

Mirrors placed where they can be seen from sitting and standing positions, such as a full-length or tilting mirror, mean you don’t have to crane to see yourself.

Having no changes in floor levels throughout the main level of the house increases safety and accessibility and helps eliminate tripping. That means a just-walking toddler or an older adult who shuffles or has balance trouble can maneuver around as smoothly as someone using an assistive device, like crutches or a walker. And healthy people are less likely to trip and spill what they’re carrying.

2. Flexible use
What it means

Good UD accommodates a wide range of preferences and abilities. This means it considers both lefties and righties, and those who move at different paces. It often allows for a variety of usages, as well.

What it looks like

Ideally, there should be least one bedroom and a full bathroom on the main floor, located away from living areas. It can serve as a study, craft room, or playroom early on, and as a bedroom when getting up stairs becomes difficult because of, for example, illness. There should also be a main-floor laundry room.

Paddle-handled handles at the kitchen sink have already become the new standard because everyone finds them easier and more convenient. Handedness doesn’t matter (nor does whether you have a free hand, if, say, you’ve been kneading dough and yours is flour-covered).

A small rolling cart based in the kitchen offers additional workspace wherever needed to save walking around.

Pull-out work boards near the stove, refrigerator, or counters add space to chop vegetables (and can be slid back after); ideally, there should be boards inset at different heights for users of different heights, or to use when seated or standing.

Pocket doors wherever possible provide flexibility and privacy, and give a sense of extra space because there’s no door blocking anything.

What it looks like

D-shaped drawer pulls are easy to grasp and pull open.

Smart shower handles move in one obvious way from hot to cold and don’t require three different maneuvers to get the water to flow at the desired temperature.

Adjustable shelving is easy to customize, so that you can store the tall milk and ketchup where you prefer. Installing lazy Susans makes constructive use of wasted corner cupboard space (because who can reach far back into a corner cupboard?).

4. Presents essential information clearly
What it means

Any information that needs to be conveyed to the user is done using a variety of methods (sensory, pictorial, tactile) so even someone with limitations can manage it.

What it looks like

Keyless locks use a remote control or keypad that’s user-friendly.

Universally designed appliance controls feature obvious symbols and colors in addition to words to clarify instructions (such as red for hot and blue for cold).

A circuit-breaker panel that’s on the main floor (as opposed to out in the garage) can be easier to access; all the circuits should be clearly labeled for the area they serve, perhaps with a coded floor plan as well as written area names.

Smoke detectors and carbon-monoxide alarms should ideally provide both audible and visual signals.

5. Allows for user errors
What it means

UD tries to imagine the potential problems and then eliminates them or isolates or shields the user from them. The design itself anticipates the dangers and discourages unconscious unsafe use.

What it looks like

Handrails on both sides of the staircase give support to a frail older adult, a sick younger one, or anyone carrying loads of laundry.

A curbless shower stall prevents accidental trips and also allows wheelchair access. A slightly sloping floor aids drainage and cleanup.

Grab bars securely anchored to the structure of the walls in shower/bath/toilet areas ensure stability when moving in and out. They can double as towel bars.

Floor surfaces in bathrooms and showers are made of no-slip materials, such as tiles with some texture. Carpeting should be low-pile and tightly woven, such as Berber-style carpets.

A spring-loaded switch for the garbage disposal that must be held in the “on” position while it’s running minimizes fingers or forks accidentally getting caught.

Contrasting edging on the front of counters telegraphs the edge to someone with lower vision, to avoid spills and bumps. Corners should be rounded, not sharp.

6. Requires low physical effort
What it means

Things should be easy to use: efficient, comfortable, and requiring minimal effort. You shouldn’t have to contort yourself or use a lot of physical force.

What it looks like

•Rocker-panel light switches can be easily flipped with a fist or an elbow (unlike standard toggle switches) if you’re carrying something and don’t have fingers free.

•Switches and controls are placed at easy-to-use heights, more convenient to more people than the standard placements. UD favors light switches that are 42 to 48 inches from the floor, thermostat controls that are about 48 inches off the floor, and electrical outlets and phone jacks that are 18 to 24 inches off the floor.

•Mounting kitchen outlet and garbage disposal controls on the counter makes them handier than in their customary, hard-to-reach position at the sink backsplash.

•Raised, front-loading washers, dryers, and dishwashers don’t require stooping or reaching.

7. Appropriate size and space for use, regardless of body size or mobility
What it means

No matter what your body size, posture, or level of functioning, you should be able to approach, reach, and manipulate objects easily. There should also be sufficient space for someone who needs to use adaptive devices, such as wheelchairs or walkers.

What it looks like

•An open, spacious floor plan with five-and-a-half foot hallways (instead of the usual four-foot) looks modern and inviting while it accommodates strollers, walkers, and wheelchairs when and if they’re needed.

•A variety of work surface heights, such as countertops that are low in some places along the perimeter and higher in a center island, works for a user who’s sitting on a tall stool or low chair, or standing. This is friendlier for family members of differing heights, too.

•Fold-back doors under the cooking island permit knee space for those who need to use a stool or a wheelchair.

•A wall-mounted sink with open space beneath loses some common storage but gains access for a wheelchair, especially when the drain is positioned at the back, not in the middle.

•Raised or adjustable toilet seats comfortably accommodate those with back, hip, or knee problems or those who have problems with balance.

•A molded seat in the shower stall can look attractive and modern; it’s as handy for a woman shaving her legs or shampooing a small child as for a senior being assisted in the bath.

A letter from NAHB:

Effective Communication Goes Hand-in-Hand With Customer Service and Better Business. All other things being equal, better communication skills will help make one home builder more successful than another, according to longtime NAHB Education instructor and consultant Beverly Koehn, CAPS, CGA, CGB, CMP, CSP, GMB, MIRM, of Beverly Koehn & Associates Inc. in San Antonio, Texas.

“It’s all about communication,” Koehn said. “Your customer shouldn’t have to jump through hoops to do business with you.”

Koehn spearheaded the creation of the online “Customer Service” class, which covers topics that range from understanding customer expectations and setting appropriate standards to fulfilling warranty service obligations.

Underlying all the issues covered in the class is the ability to effectively communicate with the home buyer or home owner, Koehn said.

“The course really talks about relationships and sharpening your communication skills in relation to your customers,” she said.

Building relationships is especially important if customers primarily rely on email, texting and other electronic means to communicate. But electronic communications — such as email or texting — can be too one-dimensional a vehicle to use for customer service, even if that’s what the customer prefers, Koehn said.

Too often, “we have become so dependent on technology that we have forgotten about the human element,” Koehn said. “An email does not take the place of a handshake or a face-to-face meeting. Technology cannot replace the importance of being personable.”

Remodeler Vince Butler of Butler Brothers Construction based in suburban Washington, D.C., also teaches the “Customer Service” course and, like Koehn, tailors the content to the class he is teaching.

Home builders taking on more remodeling jobs, for example, need to pay attention to communication skills — especially when they talk to clients who don’t quite understand how a renovation project is going to disrupt their lives.

“Communication, communication, communication — that’s where most people go wrong,” Butler said. “I always say, ‘Communicate until the person cries uncle — the deadlines, the schedule, what to expect during the construction process.’ It’s the single biggest thing.”

Setting expectations also is paramount, Butler said. “You‘re in control of the whole equation, and if you set the expectations too high or deliver too low, someone’s going to be upset.”

It’s easy for inexperienced remodelers to fall into the trap of trying to please the client by sugarcoating the facts, Butler said. “They’ll say, ‘The project’s going to take two months’ — but that’s only if everything goes absolutely perfectly. Or when people ask about dust, they say, ‘It won’t be bad.’ ”

Instead, remodelers should hold a preconstruction meeting and set the bar low, Butler said. Advise the client that the dust will be heavy and the process will take longer than expected.

“Some people are more sensitive to disruption or dust or security and we try to figure out what their hot buttons are” and help manage the strong emotions that most remodeling projects inevitably bring out in clients.

But no matter how well the remodeler manages the project, “Sometimes it’s a race to the end, to get the project finished before the client hits the bottom,” Butler said.

The popular “Customer Service” course teaches students how to manage every phase of customer interaction, from the initial contact through construction, the warranty period and beyond.

As seen this month in BHG…From Buttery Yellow to Rustic Brown, these pastoral hues walk the line between color and neutral:

Doeskin C21-4 Olympic.com

Homestead Resort Tea Room Yellow 3004-4B valspar.com

Artesian White C19-1 acehardware.com

Cracked Wheat 320E-2 behr.com

Trumpet Gold 14C4 truevalue.com

Don’t forget that you can access these colors online.