Renovation & Design

Renovation & Design

The personal touch

Those glossy furniture catalogues in your mailbox offer a pleasant vision of home decorating. They show how easy it is to order up a stylish, thoughtfully designed living space where everything blends smoothly.

But where do you fit in that equation? Some of us live in homes that look "very Ikea" or "very Pottery Barn," but express nothing at all about the people who live there.

"You take more ownership of the space when you put it together yourself," says interior designer Janine Carendi. But "retail stores... have created an environment that makes it easy for people to buy an ensemble. So oftentimes the home does look (right) out of the showroom."

Design experts say adding a dose of personal expression to your living space is simpler and far cheaper than you might think.

Go shopping at home

Designer Brian Patrick Flynn is a huge fan of mixing old and new items to give rooms texture. Search your attic, basement and garage for hand-me-downs and relics from your childhood.

"Find any sentimental object with character, personality or a great story," he says, "and make it the centrepiece of a space."

An old side table that belonged to your parents might look great next to the new sofa you bought last year. And don't be afraid to make inherited pieces your own: "Maybe a piece of furniture your grandmother gave you is not the prettiest colour," says Carendi. Try spray-painting or staining it a new shade.

Designer Mallory Mathison suggests placing a stack of your favourite books in the living room. What we read speaks volumes about us.

It's also fun, she says, to explore your home in search of collections you don't know you have. Got one pretty clock on a table in your bedroom, another in a hallway and a third in your living room? Group them together, and it's a collection.

Seek inspiration in unexpected places: "Look in your closet," Carendi says. "Do you really like patterns? Or a solid colour? Bring that into your space."

Find new uses for textiles that have history, says Flynn. Cover throw pillows with fabric from the prom dress you can't part with. Or frame a swatch of that Hawaiian shirt you wore in college. Flynn's duvet cover is made partly from a Halloween costume he wore as a child.

Flea market finds

Don't have any hand-me-downs? Comb flea markets and antique shops for pieces that grab your attention or evoke memories.

"Looking for things that strike you is more important than saying, 'I'm looking for a 30-inch-high table that's round,"' says Mathison.

Carendi says flea markets are great for things like frames, mirrors and tables. A bit of glossy spray paint and a $5 item becomes a great focal point for a room. Second-hand sofas and chairs can be riskier, since the stuffing may be past its prime.

When professionals decorate a room, the best parts are often the one-of-a-kind pieces, says Flynn. Be a little daring, he says, and go as kitschy as you please -- even if it means buying a garden gnome for $10.

"If it makes you laugh and it makes you happy, buy it. It adds personality, and you can't get that at the big box stores."

Get artsy

There may be a local artist whose work strikes you and doesn't cost much. Or homeowners can buy a canvas and "explore their own artistic urges," says Mathison.

And while you have the paint out, she says, try stencilling family members' monograms on their bedroom walls or headboard.

Give photos a facelift

Having pictures around is important, says Carendi. But the trend of printing several shots in black and white and displaying them in matching frames is getting old. Mix photos from different times in your family's history, says Mathison, and use several frame styles.

Technology gives us the freedom to add our own artistic take to old photos: "I like to take old photos and have them blown up to enormous scale," Flynn says. "Or take a photo and crop it to maybe just show one side of your grandmother holding her favourite purse."

Where have you been?

Use items that recall places you've been or that were gathered during your travels, says Mathison. Consider framing postcards or maps of cities you've enjoyed visiting or favourite places you've lived. Some maps are free to download and cost just a few cents to print.

Your hometown paper may have vintage photos of your birthplace that they're willing to share or sell for a small fee. Your favourite resort may have a promotional photo of their most spectacular view. Call and ask if they'll e-mail you the image, and then frame it alongside your own candid shots.

The final touch? Carendi suggests regularly lighting candles in your favourite scent to create a signature fragrance for your home.

Simple as these projects are, they can change the look and feel of your home. "As you choose accessories and artwork, they become a story," Carendi says. "And you take more ownership of the space because you put it together."

Melissa Rayworth
November 9

Renovation & Design

Don't sweat the small space

Today's new condominiums and town-homes are designed on a smaller footprint that has changed the way our homes are furnished. At first, the options for decorating were decidedly modern. Small spaces were thought to be best suited to the sleek, clean lines of pale woods and steel-based sofas, transparent or translucent glass and plastic tables, white walls and bleached floors. The minimal approach to design and decoration allowed the space to breathe, but it was often cold, and for traditionalists, this simply wasn't home.

I have designed a series of homes this past year that combine the best of both worlds, and these exciting spaces work brilliantly. High ceilings, crown mouldings and deep baseboards share all the traditions of older homes captured in today's modern vision. The living room in this elegant townhouse combines lofty design with the finest materials to ensure you feel cosseted and comfortable. To achieve the right balance, every square foot is considered, every corner utilized. When you are looking for solutions to the challenge of furnishing your small space, here are some guidelines that I followed with great success.

Begin with built-ins. Take a look at the wall space and any nooks and crannies that are produced by a chimney flue, heating ducts or supporting beams. They may leave an awkward corner or dead space that you can fill nicely with built-in cabinetry. Here, the fireplace is flanked by custom cabinets that fit the existing wall space and provide a stylish area for storage and display. The window seat is a natural extension and is practical use for the recessed space.

Select furniture that fits. This isn't always easy to find, but more and more designers are aware of the need for compact styles. And you can find what you are looking for in modern and traditional designs. Look for sofas and chairs that have no skirts or added frills. Open space below and around furniture always makes a room feel more airy. The upholstery will set the mood, and here you can swing from classic white cottons and brocades to supple claret leather and suede or funky fuzzy fuchsia. Some chairs and ottomans are also designed with built-in storage, which is a great solution for stashing away magazines, toys and extra cushions.

Mirrors are a decorator's best friend. Properly placed, a mirror reflects light and pushes out the walls. In this living room, the mirror above the sofa sits opposite the high window and widens the room. Its wood frame matches the detail on the sofa. Glass accessories and fixtures help to keep the ambiance bright. The wooden tables have glass inserts, which break up the solid tops and lighten their appearance.

Choose colours that suit the mood you want to achieve. If possible, select your most expensive items first, the sofa and chairs, and the floor and carpet, and then your wall colour. Paint is the easiest to change, and the least expensive part of your decorating budget. I love the look of dark hardwood floors; they suit contemporary and traditional styles and there is a rich, timeless quality that appeals to me. The dark floor grounds the room along with the wood furniture trim and tables. Pastel hues of the area carpet, creamy upholstery, white lamp shades and silky blue cushions provide large blocks of light, so I chose a muted grey blue for the walls. The neutral shade picks up colour from the room's furnishings and is kept fresh by the white trim.

Debbie Travis' House to Home column is produced by Debbie Travis and Barbara Dingle. Please email your questions to house2home@debbietravis.com.

Debbie Travis House to Home
November 9

Renovation & Design

Pipe down those rumbling heating ducts

11Thank you for your time.

-- Christine McBride, e-mail

ANSWER -- As the heating season is now upon us, I thought this would be an excellent time to answer your question. Noisy forced-air heating systems are a common complaint and I will offer some advice for relief of this issue, which is usually nothing more than a nuisance.

There are two main causes of your noisy ducts, with one being within the scope of normal repairs and the other more difficult.

The first possibility is poorly secured or installation of the heating ducts and plenum on the heating system. This may have been an original defect when the home was built and did not become a problem until the newer furnace was installed. Since you have upgraded your furnace a few years ago I can safely assume that your home is more than 20 years old and it is unusual, but not unseen, to have poor-quality ducts originally installed. Most HVAC contractors employ good sheet metal technicians or licensed gas fitters who have the right tools and expertise to properly install ducts for a forced-air system. What is more likely, is that the ducts may have become loose or were poorly secured or installed at the time the new furnace was put in.

The way to check for this possibility is to follow the furnace warm-air ducting from the main plenum to the elbows or junctions where the branch ducting attaches. Push on the ducting gently to see if any movement occurs.

If there are loose or damaged supports between the floor joists, open joints in the ducts, or easily moving sections, then that is likely the cause.

This defect can often be rectified by adding additional support brackets, or tightening up the existing ones, to prevent movement of the ducts when the furnace fan engages.

In this same light, a problem with the ducting may have occurred when your new furnace was installed. To accommodate this upgrade, the old plenum from the original furnace would have to be disconnected and a new connection made between the new furnace and the main duct. The housing for the new furnace is usually much smaller than for the old one, often requiring substantial retrofitting of the metal ducts. To accomplish this with minimal disruption to the old ducts requires substantial skill. Sometimes, the old ducting may have been partially unsecured from the floor joists to ensure a proper fit with the new sections. If this is not properly re-fastened, there could be significant looseness, which may cause the ducts to rattle when the furnace comes on. Also, vibration from the exhaust fan or blower fan of the new unit may cause more movement in the ducting than the previous furnace.

If the ducting in the basement is obviously loose or has significant movement when tested, simple repairs may solve your problem. If the ducts are mostly hidden behind a finished ceiling in the basement or in walls in the home, these repairs may be tougher to diagnose and difficult to rectify. In those situations, little may be done without major demolition or removal of wall and ceiling coverings, which is likely not warranted.

The other possibility for the new noise is simply due to a higher-quality air-movement system in your new furnace. Most new furnaces have much more efficient and powerful blowers than old ones and the noise you hear may be caused simply by an increased volume of air moving through the ducts. Also, the faster air may be heating the cool ducts more rapidly than the old blower, causing the ducting to expand rapidly. This thermal expansion and contraction is often the cause of banging noises and can be quite noticeable.

The problem of noisy air movement from your new furnace is likely emanating from the old ducting, so visual inspection for obvious defects may allow you to fix the problem with minimal effort. If the ducting is hidden, or the problem is not apparent after your personal evaluation, calling a licensed heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) contractor to look for solutions is the way to go. This may be done as part of annual servicing on the heating system or as a separate service call.

Ari Marantz is the owner of Trained Eye Home Inspection Ltd. and the president of the Canadian Association of Home & Property Inspectors -- Manitoba (www.cahpi.mb.ca). Questions can be e-mailed or sent to: Ask The Inspector, P.O. Box 69021, #110-2025 Corydon Ave., Winnipeg, MB. R3P 2G9. Ari can be reached at (204) 291-5358 or check out his website at www.trainedeye.ca.

trainedeye@iname.com

November 9

Renovation & Design

Home Divas share passion for decorating

What do you get when you cross two Susan's, two Sharon's and a Nadine, add in a passion for home decorating and top it off some wine and chocolate? They're called The Home Divas.

In the fall of 2002, the group of five women got together through a mutual friend and formed a group to socialize and discuss all things home-related. The common denominator was a passion for home decorating and design. Today, the group is still going strong and doing more than ever to fuel their love of house projects.

"Some people have book clubs, this is something different," says Kuz. "We share the same interests and learn from one another."

While none of the women have any formal training in decorating or design, they do have a wealth of knowledge from combined experience that they bring together through this group. Susan Kuz and her husband undertook a massive renovation that completely transformed their home with a big focus on making it environmentally-friendly. Sharon Vogel, another "Diva", and her husband have built three new homes for their family.

Six years ago, the group started out as a decor group. The women would get together going to each other's homes to solve decorating dilemmas. When Vogel was immersed in the building process of her latest house, for example, she turned to The Home Divas for advice on everything from paint colours to carpet and counter choices. If someone was planning a move, the group would offer advice on what to fix or upgrade to improve the sale of the home.

Those home meetings, which included a healthy dose of wine, good food and conversation, evolved to include "field trips". The women regularly attend events such as the Home Expressions show en masse and they've made trips to places like a local nursery, where they had what Vogel calls a "plant purchasing party" to help select plants for each other's gardens. Today, they meet about once a month, sometimes more, depending on what's happening in any given month. Over the years, they've covered everything from whole home renovations to landscaping, heating systems and new home building.

Word has started to spread about The Home Divas. People have heard about the group and many have called the Divas to ask for home decorating and renovation advice. Several people who have purchased homes with the intention of renovating and flipping them have invited the group to do a "walk through" of their house to share their ideas and advice before they embark on the project.

"We all notice different things," notes Kuz. "We feed off each other and each of us has a special area of interest."

"It's like having a mini focus group," adds Vogel, who works in marketing and communications. "This is pure fun for us and we are willing to share what comes to mind."

The five women have diverse backgrounds and come from different areas of the city, so they combine to offer a well-rounded perspective on any given project.

But it's not all about consultation and discussion. The Home Divas make sure they have time to socialize and visit.

"It's really about celebrating our friendship and sharing our passion," says Vogel. "Life is too short to drink bad wine or put off creating a home that inspires, soothes and makes you happy."

When asked what advice they have for home owners, the pair is quick to point out that decorating doesn't have to be expensive. If you do your homework and take the time to shop around, you can get some great deals. Simply painting a room is another way to make a drastic change without spending the big bucks.

Kuz also places a lot of importance on the "bones" of a house. She says a lot of attention is now being placed on creating a more environmentally-friendly home and living "green".

"There are a lot of green products out there and people are using other products in different ways," she notes. "Think about are you going to be comfortable in your home and what are you putting into it?"

Vogel's advice is not to follow what's hot or trendy, but rather what you like. She says you need to find ways of expressing yourself through your home.

"Your home is an expression of you," she says. "It's not about replicating a magazine -- it's about who you are."

The Home Divas are now exploring new ways to share their love of decorating and offer their advice and experience to others. If you're interested in getting in touch with the group, you can email Kuz at susan@yourhomedivas.com.

tracey.thompson@mts.net

Tracey Thompson Around the Market
November 9

Renovation & Design

Unheated spaces can be made comfortable

111Your assistance with this matter would be greatly appreciated.

-- B. Van Norman, e-mail

QUESTION NO. 2 -- We live in 90-yearold home that has a full-width concrete veranda on the front. There is a room under this veranda that is accessible via a door in our basement and the room also has two small basement windows. The previous owner put in a wooden subfloor that consisted of 2x4s sitting on the concrete floor, wrapped in plastic and plywood and stick-down tiles on top. He also insulated the four walls and ceiling of this cold room with white Styrofoam insulation, nailed directly to the concrete. He ran an extension of the home's hot air heating through the basement wall to provide one vent to this "cold room". During our two years in the house we noticed some moisture in the room on the concrete below the subfloor, plus additional condensation dripping from the ceiling in the spring when we had a quick change in outside temperatures. The room was still OK for most storage and there was no evidence of other water issues after rainfall or at other times.

We are now refinishing the entire basement and have gutted this cold room back to the bare brick walls and concrete floor and ceiling. We don't need a traditional cold cellar for storing vegetables, or anything else, but we do intend to use this room for household storage after our renovation. We are very confused regarding what to do with this room under the veranda. Even our contractor is unsure of the best approach. There seem to be two options, both of which include many unknowns.

The first option is to leave the room as unheated space, by removing the hot air vent and adding a couple of vents to the outside to allow air to circulate. Use the room for storage of items that are not vulnerable to cold. Should we put any insulation on the walls or ceiling or leave them completely bare? If so, what type of insulation? Should we leave the concrete floor bare or put any sort of subfloor on top? I would be worried about more condensation in the spring.

The second option is to convert the room to heated space by retaining the hot air vent and re-insulating the walls and ceiling. I suspect we would need some sort of vapour barrier along with the insulation. Again, I am unsure as to what type of insulation to use. Would we still want some sort of vents to the outside?

-- Paul Seaborn, e-mail

ANSWER -- I chose to answer these two questions together, because they have a similar topic of a cold area under a front entry or porch. The solution to both issues is almost the same, with a slight variation due to the inaccessibility of the smaller crawlspace.

The key to preventing problems in both areas is to properly insulate and heat the space below the floors to prevent condensation and heat loss. Cold rooms are a bad idea in our climate and consistently lead to moisture and mould issues due to condensation on the cold foundation walls. In both cases, insulating with extruded polystyrene insulation on the cold foundation walls, and ceiling of the room under the front porch, will be the most moisture resistant and cost effective. Extruded polystyrene typically comes in two foot by eight foot sheets of varying thicknesses. These may be attached directly to the concrete walls with special foam adhesive caulking, if the concrete is smooth enough, or attached with spike fasteners, as the previous homeowner did in the second home in question.

Extruded polystyrene insulation makes an effective air/vapour barrier if it is well sealed at the joints and edges. If this is installed properly, there should be no need for a polyethylene vapour barrier over top. Unfortunately, this type of insulation is combustible and may give off toxic fumes when burning, so it should be covered with sheathing to help reduce this risk during a fire. While drywall may be the most cost-effective material for this purpose, I would not recommend its use due to the possibility of moisture damage. OSB sheathing or plywood may be a better option, even though it does not provide the same level of fire protection. This may be attached directly over the insulation with adhesive or nailed to wood strapping, if that is your choice.

While it may be very difficult to access the small crawlspace area under the front closet area in the first question, for insulation, there is another possible option. The exterior of the concrete foundation under this area may be similarly insulated, rather than the inside. Excavation and cleaning around the exterior of the foundation will be required but may not be that difficult, as this style of foundation may not extend very far below grade.

The final item to address is the heat and ventilation part of your questions. The key to successful warming and use of these areas is to open or install forced air ducting and registers to heat the areas below the floors. Any exterior vents, or the old windows, may be screened and opened in the warm months, but should be sealed with insulated covers for the heating season. Adding even a moderate amount of warm air to these spaces should improve the comfort level and with proper insulation should prevent condensation and moisture related issues.

Ari Marantz is the owner of Trained Eye Home Inspection Ltd. and the president of the Canadian Association of Home & Property Inspectors -- Manitoba (www.cahpi.mb.ca). Questions can be e-mailed or sent to: Ask The Inspector, P. O. Box 69021, #110-2025 Corydon Ave., Winnipeg, MB. R3P 2G9. Ari can be reached at (204) 291-5358 or check out his website at www.trainedeye.ca.

trainedeye@iname.com

Ask The Inspector / Ari Marantz
November 2

Renovation & Design

At home, the right soundtrack is important

Imagine walking into an airy Upper East Side apartment with 18th-century antiques, gilt mirrors and chintz upholstery. Now imagine Metallica playing on the sound system.

Music can alter a space as much as lighting, fabrics and artwork, but until recently, most people relied on their own judgment when it came to sound. Now, though, an increasing number are hiring personal music stylists to pick out tunes for their homes just as they might hire an interior decorator to select furnishings.

While Muzak has for decades created what it calls "audio architecture" for commercial environments, it is just in the last five years that a handful of music consultants, mostly in New York and London, have begun to specialize in creating custom domestic soundtracks. From Aspen lodges to bungalows in Belize, they are compiling playlists to match their clients' decor.

"Hearing the wrong music in the wrong space can be very disorienting," said Coleman Feltes, a music stylist in New York City. A DJ known for creating mixes for Versace, Gucci and Dolce & Gabbana fashion shows, Feltes began his music service for individuals in 2006.

Feltes and other music stylists typically visit clients' homes or look at photographs of them to assess their decorating styles and to understand layouts. They may also peruse clients' music collections to learn the genres and artists they've liked in the past.

"Sometimes it's truly awful stuff," said Angus Gibson, another stylist, like "love and moonlight" soundtracks from Meg Ryan movies. His London-based company, Gibson Music, furnishes custom sound systems as well as the music to play on them for clients in Europe, Asia and the United States.

Even if the music a client likes isn't insipid, stylists warn, it might be all wrong for a given space. "You're not going to have Johnny Cash playing in a fantastic retreat in the West Indies," Gibson said. "It just wouldn't work."

Though they consider clients' musical preferences, stylists said they are paid to be the final arbiters of what songs work in a space. "When clients hire me, they are buying into the Coleman brand of taste," Feltes said. Stylists typically charge between $50 and $250 per hour of music, which they usually download onto iPods but which can also be delivered on CDs.

Joe Wagner, 50, a commercial real estate developer and investor, hired Feltes last year to provide music for two homes with very different styles -- a rough-hewn stone, wood beam and stucco lodge in Aspen, Colo., and a white brick colonial in Palm Beach, Fla. "I wanted music for both places that set the mood and reflected the environment," Wagner said.

Feltes compiled about 48 hours of music divided into playlists particular not only to each residence but also the activity and time of day, like, for example, Latin jazz tracks for a lazy afternoon floating in the pool in Palm Beach or opera selections for a morning reverie while gazing at snow-capped mountains in Aspen.

"When someone walks in and hears great music, it's like looking at a wonderful painting on the wall that gives you certain emotions," said Wagner, who gets his playlists updated quarterly. "I love that I don't have to think about what to put on. It's already done for me."

With so many genres and artists, it's hard to stay on top of everything that's available. iTunes, the online music store, has a catalog of over 8 million songs. And there are countless new performers whose work is not so widely distributed.

"Our clients are the type who send people all over the world to find the perfect spoon, or doorknob or type of marble," said Jeffrey Reed, a club DJ and a founder of Audio Sushi, a custom music service in London with an international clientele. "My job is to find the perfect music."

Another service, Audiostiles in New York, helped Jessica Goldberg, 35, three years ago when she wanted music to match the apartment she and her husband, Billy, a doctor, had recently renovated in the West Village. With two small children, Goldberg said, "I'm not going to clubs anymore to hear what's new."

The Goldbergs filled out a questionnaire about their daily life and their musical tastes. In a phone interview, they described their home, which has wide-plank wood floors, large windows and modern furniture. "It was amazing how they extrapolated from that what we liked and would fit our place," she said.

Most of the tracks on the 10-hour compilation that she continues to play are by acts she had previously never heard of, like the contemporary pop singer Joshua Radin and the folk artist Brett Dennen. The playlist has an overall warm sound, Goldberg said, which harmonizes with her apartment's open floor plan and casual, contemporary feel. "It was like they could read my mind."

Goldberg hired Audiostiles again earlier this year to create a playlist to listen to at home while playing with her children. She said she wanted tunes that were "kid-friendly" and yet "wouldn't make me want to tear my hair out strand by strand." The resulting list included Stevie Wonder, the Barenaked Ladies and Simon and Garfunkel. "It's calming," she said.

Daniel Levitin, a professor of neuroscience at McGill University in Montreal and the author of This Is Your Brain on Music (Dutton, 2006) said background music, or "auditory wallpaper," can not only change the way people see their environment, it can profoundly affect their mood. Pleasurable music leads to the release of "feel-good hormones" like dopamine, he said.

Levitin believes that the ways people use different rooms in the home may call for different music. For example, he likes to play Alison Krauss in his kitchen because her warm voice and melodic songs match the sense of "comfort and groundedness" he feels while preparing a meal. For relaxing in the living room, he prefers the "smooth and uplifting" music of Luther Vandross.

Lori Hoffbauer, a personal music stylist whose company, Groove Gurus, is based in Brooklyn, said many of her clients want room-specific soundtracks.

She recalled a bachelor who wanted particularly "cheesy" amorous music (like songs by Barry White, she said) for the bedroom of his vacation house in the Hamptons. "That was one of those times when you learned more about the client than you wanted to know," Hoffbauer said.

-- New York Times

Kate Murphy
November 2

Renovation & Design

Let it all hang out

New YORK -- As one of the designers on the TLC cable channel's Trading Spaces, Goil Amornvivat must decorate rooms in 48 hours on a US$1,000 budget. This often leads him to improvise on finishing touches such as artwork.

At home in New York, he has turned some of his own design sketches into art for his walls. It's one way to create inexpensive artwork that reflects his interests.

A chef friend, he noted, decorates her walls with pots and pans.

"I think your space is your collection of your stuff and your life, and what better place to put it than on the wall?" he said.

Homeowners without his design skills can also repurpose materials to make wall art that personalizes their home and won't break their budget. Designers suggest wallpaper, fabrics, even old T-shirts and foliage can be framed and placed on the wall.

"If you make your own, you always end up with something you're proud of," said Goil, who goes by his first name.

A little imagination, some creative Dumpster diving, and flea market and garage sale shopping can help turn up materials, according to the pros.

"Yes, Dumpster dive. Don't be ashamed," said Kirsten Kemp Becker, a designer and real estate consultant in Santa Barbara, Calif., and host of TLC's Hope For Your Home. She recommends art school and construction company Dumpsters as good places to find scraps that will make good artwork.

Noting that "art" means different things to different people, Kemp Becker said, "I've seen great art from materials like a piece of Plexiglas."

Frank Fontana, a Chicago-based designer and host of HGTV's Design on a Dime, said Dumpsters near old buildings being torn down are good spots to find vintage architectural details that can look good on a wall.

Or call local architecture firms and ask for 3-D renderings they are planning to throw out, suggested Kemp Becker.

"If you plead your case well enough they are happy to give them away," she said.

Old things in your own home, too, can be recycled. Fontana said framing old souvenir or concert T-shirts with interesting graphics does double duty: It's decorative, and preserves memories long after the shirt itself is unwearable.

"I've done it with an old pair of blue jeans," said Fontana. "For a teenager's room it's fantastic."

Wallpaper can be recycled, especially hand-painted or vintage wallpaper that may cost hundreds of dollars per roll. A single roll, or even a piece salvaged from another project, can be turned into art.

Goil likes to use wallpaper border in the middle of a large blank wall to divide it and create visual interest. He also suggests framing smaller pieces of wallpaper and hanging them.

Upholstering pieces of plywood with batting and an attractive fabric can dress up a large wall and also help absorb sound, Goil said.

Even the backyard can be a source of materials. Fontana suggested buying two pieces of Plexiglas from the hardware store and pressing an organic element, such as a beautiful leaf or palm frond, between them.

"That gives you that modern organic vibe that is very popular now," he said.

He visits nurseries to look for tree trunks and branches that are being thrown out but can be recycled as artwork. "Use it as organic artwork. It really brings a feel to a room," he said.

He also suggested asking the nursery for a slice of tree trunk, then decoupage some family photos onto it, leaving areas where the rings on the wood will show. Then coat it all with shellac and hang it.

If you're not handy with a glue gun or staple gun, you can find paintings and posters at flea markets, garage sales, craft fairs and swap meets; even hotel sales can be a source of original artwork.

Local art and photography schools are another source; many hold sales of students' work. And it's a good way to support your community, Fontana said.

"We have a photography school nearby and they have sales," said Kemp Becker. "You can go to a flea market and buy frames and frame them and they look incredible."

Goil has bought art at student sales sponsored by his alma mater, Yale University. It's a good source of one-of-a-kind art -- and maybe a future masterpiece, he said. "These are the new waves, or the next big thing."

Finding or making unconventional artwork, the experts say, just takes some imagination and the nerve to follow your own taste.

--Associated Press

Mercedes Cardona
November 2

Renovation & Design

Your brain on rugs: Get ready to be blown away

Exciting things are afoot in the world of rugs: Wools and silks are sheared, sculpted, shagged and shaped into virtual works of art, crafted in luxurious textures and rich hues.

By nature, a carpet shares a kinship with an artist's canvas. It's up to homeowners whether to put these pieces on the wall or the floor.

Amy Helfand, a Chicago artist now based in New York City, says she made her first rug for an art show at the public garden Wave Hill, in the Bronx. The rug's design was based on the garden's site plan, and the finished product was displayed in front of a fireplace in the old mansion on the property.

"I like the way a rug creates and fills a space that people can inhabit. I love the tactile aspect of rugs, especially the combination of wool and silk ... there's a depth," Helfand says.

How does she feel about people walking on her artwork?

"My rugs are pretty demanding -- they don't fade into the background of a room," she says. "The people who buy them appreciate them that way, so how they get used doesn't bother me."

Courtney Bush, who runs the online home decor shop Bunny Maxwell, thinks people are becoming more comfortable expressing themselves through their homes. She's particularly taken with using strong colours and patterns to accent a neutral palette.

Her new collections of cotton dhurries and tufted wools and silks reflect her obvious affinity for nature themes and flamboyantly elegant graphics.

"Personal style shouldn't be confined to your wardrobe," says Bush.

Interior designer Graunk Enzenberger, who is also a principal of Chicago's OrangeSkin, a modern-decor retailer and design consultancy, sees rugs trending toward a "more 3-D look, with the more complicated patterns working best in the same or similar colours, especially bold colours." OrangeSkin's 1960s linked daisy rug, by Jose A. Gandia, fits the esthetic in a playful fashion.

Crate and Barrel also reaches back in time to offer a spicy-toned shag carpet, a foil for the new tailored furniture.

In Europe, Belgium's "Floor to Heaven," the floor covering line created by German-born designer Michaela Schleypen, is generating buzz with some unusual rugs like the textural "Moon" and "In the Woods," featuring a faux bois pattern in soft caramel tones. Denmark's Bo Concept, which has retail stores and studios in the United States and abroad, and also sells online, offers "Flow" -- waves of colour that eddy across the floor -- and the circular "Boas," with a striking black and white zinnia graphic.

Some of these rugs come at a price, yet may be good investments because of their quality and artistic value. If lower cost is key, or frequent redecorating is a hobby, then consider off-price retailers or high-volume home furnishings stores. Both can be good sources for inexpensive yet attractive carpets.

--Associated Press

Kim Cook
November 2

Renovation & Design

Good medicine

Here's a do-it-yourself job for the bathroom that may appear harder than it actually is: Replacing or adding a medicine cabinet.

The mirrored bathroom cabinet is a bathroom multi-tasker, functioning as a storage space, hiding place and beauty and grooming station. It's a handy accessory, but you don't have to be a handyman (or woman) to install one.

You can buy one at a home improvement store for about $100, or go to a specialty store and get a high-end cabinet for more than $1,000.

"It's one of those projects that you say is going to take you all day, and you do it in an hour," said Karen Collins, marketing communications manager for Broan-NuTone LLC.

Medicine cabinets can be affixed to the wall or be recessed a few centimetres inside the wall. Recessed cabinets allow for better ease of movement around the vanity because they don't stick out as much as those hung on the wall.

Medicine cabinets are generally about 8.5 to nine centimetres deep.

"When you bend over to brush your teeth or wash your face, you could whack your head on it" if it protrudes too far, said bath design expert Abbey Schaefer.

Replacing an existing medicine cabinet involves less work than installing a new one, to be sure. For replacement jobs, homeowners should make sure that their new cabinet matches the length and width of the rough opening of the old one. The old cabinet usually can be easily removed by simply taking out screws that held it in place and pulling it out.

Find a friend or relative to help you, because someone will have to hold the new cabinet steady while the other person screws it into the wall.

Mirrored doors can open either to the left or to the right. When you buy a new medicine cabinet, make sure you know which way it swings open to avoid walls and ensure full range of movement.

When installing a new recessed cabinet, the most important step is to make sure there is no plumbing or electrical wires in the wall before you make the hole. If there is plumbing, you will not be able to work in that space unless you move it, which is costly.

"If you don't know what's behind the wall, make a little hole and check in there to see if you are hitting anything," Collins said.

Recessed cabinets are mounted on wall studs, and many of them have mounting screws installed through the inside of the cabinet.

Wall-hung cabinets can easily be screwed into the two-by-fours inside the wall, allowing for stability. Drywall alone will not hold a wall-hung medicine cabinet.

When choosing a cabinet, find one with a frame that goes well with the colours of the bathroom. Also decide if you want glass shelves or metal ones. Broan-NuTone even offers a locking medicine cabinet, at a cost of around US$218.

Another cabinet manufacturer, Robern, has a cabinet with cold storage for beauty creams, beverages and wellness products, like aloe for sunburn.

Schaefer advises that, if a do-it-yourself project such as installing a medicine cabinet makes you shake in your shower shoes, don't be scared to ask an expert.

"Good retailers are always more than willing to help people think through what they're doing before they attempt to do it themselves," she said.

-- The Associated Press

Adrian Sainz
November 2

Renovation & Design

Changing shower head is easy task for homeowners

Tired of that leaky, single-stream shower head left over from the 1970s?

If so, there's no need to call Joe the Plumber. Just pick up a wrench and change the shower head yourself, because replacing it is one of the easiest things for a homeowner to do. It's as elementary as just twisting off the aging shower head and screwing the new one to the existing shower arm.

On both ends of the price spectrum, from around $20 to more than $150, consumers can find a wide variety of shower heads, from water massagers to hand-held versions.

With a wrench and some thread tape, most shower heads on the market can be changed in a few simple steps.

"The most common thing among consumers is that people don't know that this is easy," said Mark Knurek, senior product manager for Moen Inc. "They think there is something they have to do behind the wall, that they have to install a new arm in."

Shower heads can experience lime buildup that affects water flow, and older shower heads may not be up to current low-flow guidelines, said Amy Matthews, host of two shows on the DIY Network.

Matthews says you should turn off the water supply to the house, or just to the shower, before working on the shower head.

"You also would want to turn on the shower handles and let whatever is sitting in the pipes drain out so you don't have any extra leakage while you're working," Matthews said.

Another good piece of advice: Be careful when working with copper pipe, which is relatively soft and flexible. It could get damaged if you use too much muscle.

"You have to work slowly and gingerly with your wrenches," Matthews said.

Make sure you follow the product instructions carefully. Keep your shower head spic-and-span with an over-the-counter cleaner to avoid lime accumulation.

--Associated Press

Adrian Sainz
November 2