How to achieve a great decorating style for your coastal home—or even if you live inland! By Diane Franklin Life’s a beach—or it can be if you want to decorate that way. Coastal living is both a lifestyle and a decorating style. You can even create a coastal décor if you live inland. Currently, about [...]

Tap into your creativity to create the desired effect. By Diane Franklin One of the most elegant faux finishes that a do-it-yourselfer can create is a color wash. This basic faux technique can add vibrancy, depth and visual interest to an otherwise plain wall. To create the technique, you simply apply a thin layer of [...]

Bathrooms are not what they used to be! They’re now one of the most luxurious rooms in the home. By Tammy Adamson-McMullen What is the most luxurious room in your home? If you named your bathroom, then you’re perfectly on-trend. Bathrooms increasingly are more spa-like—dreamy places of Zen where homeowners can decompress, relax and rejuvenate. [...]

Everyone loves the look of wood—and there is more than one way to achieve it. By Tammy Adamson-McMullen Hardwood floors are one of the hottest trends in home decorating, desirable for its good looks, durability, easy cleanup and so many other benefits. However, the cost of real hardwood doesn’t always fit with a homeowner’s budget. [...]

For many people, summertime is deck time! They can’t wait to get outdoors to entertain friends or host a family get-together. Having a gorgeous deck makes an outdoor soirée even more enjoyable. So, what do you do to make your deck the best place to be this summer? Here are just a few ideas. Coat [...]

It was bound to happen. Men have enjoyed their “man caves” for years, creating individualized spaces for relaxing, rejuvenating and enjoying friends. It’s only natural, then, that women would want their own spaces, too. The result is the “she shed”—the latest home fashion trend that offers a plethora of creative decorating possibilities. If the idea [...]

Venetian plaster adds a touch of sophistication to your walls. It’s a highly polished look that provides the illusion of depth and texture to flat surfaces. Because the texture is illusionary rather than real, it makes it easier for homeowners to change it out when they want to go onto another look. But as beautiful [...]

Each generation develops its own identity based on the events and cultural influences around them. Baby boomers became known as the “Me Generation,” focused on self-fulfillment but also socially influenced by the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War. Generation X were the first “latchkey kids,” with many of them growing up in single-parent households [...]

Psychology Today notes that we’re “built to size each other up quickly” and that these impressions are lasting. “Even if we’re presented with lots of evidence to the contrary, we’re attached to our initial impressions.” (www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/first-impressions.) But we don’t only size up other people. We also size up the world around us and make mental [...]