Making Your Kitchen Work for You - The kitchen often becomes a family hub, the heart of the home for daily activity and entertaining. For this reason, the design of a kitchen space should address how the room is used on a daily basis. Identifying how you like to cook, eat and entertain are important steps in creating an efficient kitchen space.

Finer than Faux and Flawless! - No wonder faux finishing is a popular look for walls. Anyone who has visited a decorator showhouse or a home in which the walls have been artfully completed by a master painter can hardly help but be impressed with the stunning effect these techniques impart. However, the notion that they are easy to achieve by anyone who picks up a paint brush every six or seven years, is wishful thinking.

A Perfect ‘Pet’ Project for Every Home - Anyone who has a pet -- and even many who don't -- won't find that hard to believe. Americans' love of cats and dogs has also turned these animals' images into one of the nation's top decorating trends, one that appeals to people of all ages.

Holiday Decorating Can Cast A Warm Glow All Year - It's not by accident that red, the color of Christmas, has risen to the top of the home fashion palette. It is the warmest color in the spectrum and it casts a rosy glow on everything -- and everyone -- in its path.

Starting Deck Construction Now - Autumn may signal the end of summer to some, but to others it’s just an early start to the next summer season. The kids are back in school, the chaise lounges have been stored away, and the garden flowers are losing their petals -- it’s time to strap on the tool belt and fire up the table saw.

Curtains Make a Difference! - One of the quickest, simplest and most affordable ways to change the whole look and feel of a room is to change the window treatments. Wallpaper, fresh paint, or new furniture will, of course, nicely do that too. But changing the window treatments is something you can do yourself in no time at all, and the visual rewards are immediate. And when you work with ready-made curtains, it’s a snap to personally create the feeling you want in a room.