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In Your Home- Colorful Palettes Enchance Warm Weather Trends

ARA) – As you stretch out your arms and embrace the warmer weather, the colors of summer make themselves obvious. Colorful blooms of bright greens, yellows and purples cheer the soul.

So why not bring that same optimism into your home, giving rooms an easy, colorful facelift with a fresh coat of paint? New warm-weather paint palettes can create a decorating scheme that perfectly captures the essence of a fresh, sunny day.

Plus, paint is the great budget stretcher of the decorating world, and allows you to give your home a completely different look without taxing your wallet. Add fresh vibrancy and life to any room -- and surface -- with a palette of soft, floral-inspired colors. From an enlivening green to a warm buttery yellow combined with a sophisticated sky blue or a relaxing purple, the new warm-weather palette is certain to bring a refreshed feeling to any decor with just a few simple painting projects that reach beyond mere walls.

Thinking Sunshine
“People fall into the trap of thinking the only way to add color to a room is to paint the walls. It’s so much more versatile than that,” says Donna Schroeder, color marketing and design manager for Martin-Senour Paints. “Color need not be limited to walls. It can go just about anywhere ... from wood, concrete or tile floors to tired furniture or cabinets in need of a new look.”

Stop for a minute and picture a drab kitchen with dated dark wood cabinets, scuffed white walls and a scratched wood floor. It’s the perfect canvas on which to infuse a burst of bright sunny color.

Don’t be afraid to push the limits. Paint the walls a bright purple. Get daring and echo the look of an iris or crocus by covering the cabinets in a sunny, butter yellow that coordinates boldly with the purple. The aged floor will spring back to life with a coat or two of a clean, fresh white to add contrast.

Mix in airy blues and fresh greens, too. They’re the perfect hues to wake up an old wooden table and chairs and make it an inviting place to gather with the family around a delicious meal, a board game or ice cream sundaes on a warm summer day.

Choose Your Paint Color
If you aren’t quite ready to make such a dramatic change or feel a bit nervous about picking colors, don’t worry. Paint color selector systems can help you devise the right design scheme for your home.

Oversized color cards help you better visualize how color will look on a surface and also can help you determine which colors look good together. Color idea cards show you how to partner paint colors with other design elements to establish an attractive, connected look throughout your home.

And, don’t worry about not liking the color you pick. Many times, you don’t have to commit to a full gallon of a color until you’re sure you like it. Sample programs, such as Martin-Senour Paints’ “Sample Your Style,” allow you to purchase quart-size samples of new colors so you can test them on your wall before you stock up on your favorite hue. These generously-sized samples are available in hundreds of colors and cover up to a 100 square-foot area.

“Sometimes the most challenging aspect of choosing a new paint color is envisioning how it really will look in your house, instead of how it looks on the card,” Schroeder says. “We’ve eliminated the guesswork and let you try before you buy to help you make your home’s renewal as effortless as possible.”

For more information, or to locate a Martin-Senour Paints retailer, log onto www.martinsenour.com, or call (800) 677-5270.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

A home improvement project that pays you back 4 ways Insulated garage doors save on taxes, energy, add value and curb appeal

(ARA) – Do you think that the bailout is only for the big guys? Think again.

There’s a home improvement project this year that not only adds value and curb appeal to your home, but saves energy and offers up to a $1,500 federal tax credit to homeowners. The project? A stylish new insulated garage door.

Huge tax credit
Qualifying insulated garage doors purchased in 2009 and 2010 earn a sizeable tax credit -- more valuable than a tax deduction -- that reduces taxes dollar-for-dollar from the bottom line of your federal tax bill.

Under legislation passed in 2008, the tax credit maxed out at $500 or 10 percent of the product cost. But under the federal stimulus legislation announced in February 2009, the tax credit tripled to 30 percent of the product cost, up to a maximum of $1,500. This means that the door helps pay for itself through the tax credit incentive.

Full details on the tax credit and qualifying garage doors can be found at GarageWowNow.com, a non-commercial Web site sponsored by the garage door industry.

Energy savings
The driving factor behind the tax credit is energy savings -- another money-saver for homeowners and a positive step for the environment. Homeowners find that the room next to the garage is often the coldest room in the winter.

Older, non-insulated garage doors can allow cold air in the winter and warm air in the summer to enter the house, increasing heating and cooling costs. A new, qualifying insulated door can make a difference in the temperature of your home while helping to reduce your energy bills in both winter and summer.

New styles boost curb appeal
In the last five years, a new breed of stylish garage doors has hit the market. And adding style to your home means adding value as well.

A garage door typically makes up more than one-third of a home’s front facade. A "plain vanilla" garage door can make your home look bland and boring -- especially if it looks just like every other garage door on your street.

The latest styles offer:
* The carriage house look, a throwback to yesteryear that fools the eye by echoing the hinged, swing-out door styles of quaint and charming carriage houses -- yet the doors open just like any other modern garage door.
* Sleek, contemporary doors available in vibrant colors, opaque glass and aluminum, and a range of metallic finishes to complement modern homes.
* Steel raised-panel doors with a wood grain print surface that requires minimal maintenance, beautifully imitating the rich colors and patterns of real wood.

Get the job done
Don’t know where to begin in looking for new garage door styles?

A wide variety of new styles are featured at GarageWowNow.com to point you in the right direction. Before and after images on the Web site allow you to see how new garage doors have dramatically changed the appearance of homes. And if you find a door that catches your fancy, the door manufacturer is clearly listed and you can go directly to their Web sites.

And remember, installation is best left to the pros. GarageWowNow.com’s ZIP code search function will help you find a professional in your area who can install your new door in a few hours.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

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