Best House Decoration Idea I’ve Heard or Read in 2011  This was something I read last Spring.  The idea stuck with me so I’m revisiting it here for you.  Wish I could remember where I read it!  It starts with us having old furniture, things we’ve collected that could be something else, and most importantly, the wish to update our home’s look without spending a fortune.

In spirit of a healthy environment, spending wisely and re-purposing: Host a party with a few friends. Each one brings a piece of furniture or collectible  from their home to strip, stain, paint, transform  into something else.  Have an old table top radio? I bet one of your friends can help you add a lamp kit to it for a cool change.  And you might be better at taking broken mosaic tile and re-doing another person’s coffee table top.  You get the drift! Everyone can make a day of it.  Seems like it would turn a chore into a fun day. 

Now to the sites with home decor ideas they found trending in 2011. 

I love the Lamps Plus gallery.  You have to check out the bike turned into a bathroom sink.  No,  I wouldn’t have thought I’d like it either, but I like it a lot!  I love the idea of accenting with the retro geometric patterns.  However, not sure I’m feeling the busily patterned wallpaper.  What do you think? 

Organic materials are definitely still trending strong and probably upward.  I don’t see this changing anytime soon.  Bamboo roman shades may not surprise you (they are nice, however). How about bamboo curtain and drapery hardware?   Very cool.  My latest thing (not that I’m a professional – just sharing!) is to put up rods that don’t match.  I also like the trend (I saw this several times in my NE Ohio home showings for 2011) of using cool things like skateboard tops for shelving.  HGTV has a photo gallery of window decor and hardware they feel represents the trend to new and enviro friendly materials.  

My last suggestion is a site called Houzz.  They see trending: grays in many shades, fiery wall colors as well (I love red/orange). There gallery of photos also features what they say is a return to using silhouettes as decoration.  I haven’t seen it, but like the photo they use as an example.

I saw (in real life home touring and in articles) a trend towards use of metallic, both in textured art as well as room colors and accent peices. 

Hope you enjoy this end of the year tour of 2011 home decor trends, and I wish for all of you a Happy New Year.  3C

In order to participate, there are Federal standards, and one standard (a major one) is that you have to be able to know exactly where the food comes from, tracing all the way back to the farmer.

I read about this program a few months ago.  This is what the Where Food Comes From®label looks like.

Here is a quote from the article, as well as a link directly to Heinen’s info on the program:

Heinen’s Fine Foods, a regional retailer with 17 locations in northeast Ohio, are pleased to announce the launch of the WhereFoodComesFrom® labeling program in the grocery chain’s meat department. The program is designed to give customers more information about the source and origin of Heinen’s Own Beef and Pork. IMI Global has created a new website detailing the program at www.wherefoodcomesfrom.com/heinens.

Now you might be reading this and saying to yourself, self, I live in NE Ohio where it’s cloudy 9 months out of a year (ok, I may exaggerate a bit!).  I can testify to the fact that we have homes in NE Ohio (right here in Cleveland, in fact) that run mostly on solar power and average electric and heat bills of $40/month.  12 months a year.  Yes you are reading that correctly.

The problem has been the initial outlay of cash.  There is still a 30% Federal Tax credit, and according to this article, written by Amy Hoak at MarketWatch, solar power is now affordable and worth investigating.  Sales volume seems to be doubling per year; the tax credits are good until 2016.  30% drop in price from last year to install (according to Hoak) and prices expected to keep falling.  

NE Ohio utility companies give you credits on usage; and there are other incentives that may apply, through grants, etc.  A good site to check regarding available rebates on solar and other types of ‘green’ installations is Energy Savvy .com . Check it out! The skies are more blue than normal and the sun is warm.  But we know what is coming…..

 Peace Out – 3C

Guess what!  One of my co-workes, an agent named Michael Rastatter, is working with a builder who is developing container homes here in NE Ohio.  On ISBU Homes website, they explain why they are a hot commodity.

To learn more about them, I of course went to the Internet.  This company, American Container Homes, said they knew they had to get busy and in contact with the Japanese after their earthquake and tsunami, because he said container homes would be perfect for  them.  At American Homes,  they explain that not only are the four walls already built, but in many cases, kitchen cabinets are in, as well as other things.  So you can check that out.

If it intrigues you (as it does me), give me a call or email.  We can sit down over a cup of coffee with Michael and he can explain all the details.  Peace Out – 3C

Apparently an energy-saving double wall build out (exterior) will not only save money on energy but if you look at the renderings on Kamin’s post, a unique design.   Very cool twist to what could otherwise just be a high rise building design. 

Chicago architects like the famous Burnham have been giving us good building design for over a century and apparently the tradition continues! 

A shout out to ClevelandDesignCity,  on whose site I found the link to this article.   Peace out – 3C

If this works, should we demo our homes and start over?  To paraphrase, it ain’t a cheap endeavor.  But geeze it sounds good.   Peace Out – 3C

Instead of the incense, you could have your home Smudged and kill two birds with one stone.  You can follow the smoke from the smudging just as well.  Email my friend Connie (connie.laux@roadrunner.com) who is a Smudger for more info on that!. 

Peace Out – 3C

The real estate agent in me wants to remind anyone with a new mortgage that they now have a new deduction.  There is talk about adding a pesky tax for buying a home, and our law makers are also discussing changes to the mortgage deduction. For now, keep deducting! Hats off to Ms. Coombes.  The article is fairly comprehensive, covering a lot of topics that could help us all save some dough for 2010 and 2011.  You can read the entire MarketWatch article here. 

Another real estate reminder, this time about the Energy Tax Credit.  It’s still in effect in total for 2010 (of course it’s too late to do any energy improvements now, but if you already did them, you can get 30% off the cost as a deduction, up to $1500.  There are a lot of articles about this, but why not just go right to the source, EnergyStar.gov, and file your taxes accordingly.  If you want to plan for 2011 starting now, you can read a post on SomethingFinance.com  about the changes to the Energy Tax Deduction for 2011. The 30% deduction is now a 10% deduction for many items – but for larger purchases, like solar panels or geothermal heat, it’s still 30% for 2011 and in fact is supposed to be good through 2016.  And even though you might only be able to save $500, not $1500, it’s still a savings! 

All this talk about planning for tax filings helped me too: I organized all my receipts   Peace Out -3C

Want to be your own boss? There are 11 franchise jobs listed today. Check them out and then talk to NE Ohio’s own Franchise King to get some experienced opinions about them.

Maybe you’d like to own your own food truck or restaurant some day.  Maybe you fantasize about going to culinary school.  NE Ohio is the new food mecca and there are 127 food jobs listed.

You can browse all the job listings on Career Builders here.  Let’s get that unemployment rate down!   Peace Out – 3C