Interior redesign is all about using what you have to create a new look in your rooms, but that doesn't mean you can't incorporate some elements of current design trends into the mix to keep your decor fresh and up to date.

Adding color is one of the easiest and often the least expensive ways to update a room. Hot colors continue to be the range of oranges, used as wall colors in kitchens, baths, and studies and in accents and fabrics in other rooms. Greens, never out of style, are increasingly popular. Blues, from beach glass hues to those leaning toward the lavenders and purples are predicted to be appearing in more fabrics and accessories.

Traditional styles are at the top of the year's list of trends. The style encompasses the Country House look of Ralph Lauren, the feminine style of Brocade, and the eclectic mix of stores like Restoration Hardware. The looks mix formal and casual with easy to live with fabrics and furnishings.

Smaller scale furniture is being introduced in greater numbers, a relief from the overstuffed chairs and sofas that are space stealers. More often found in the contemporary styles, the newer pieces are showing up in transitional and traditional designs.

No matter what the current style trends may be, keeping true to your tastes and lifestyle is the key to creating attractive and liveable rooms. For help in freshening your rooms, call me. We'll shop your home first to find elements that may be used as they are or recombined to create stylish and updated looks, saving you time and your decorating budget!

A journal filled with your favorite recipes and notes on entertaining can make your parties easier, but have you ever considered that it could also be a keepsake? You can create your own using a binder filled with tab dividers, plastic sheet protectors (to hold recipes and ideas clipped from magazines), plastic pocket sheets (to hold fabric swatches, photos and business cards for suppliers), and other specialty binder sheets found in office supply stores.

If you would like something a little more upscale for yourself or to give as a gift, kits such as the one shown above are available in stationary stores or online. For more on the one shown, click on the link below.

Entertaining and Recipe Journal

Several people took the time to email their ideas for using or saving special holiday cards:

• Use them instead of grouped photos in collage- type frames.
• Decorate frames for holiday photos by decoupaging designs cut from cards.
• Enhance pillar candles with elements strung on ribbon or fine cord. (Be sure to remove if you plan on burning the candle-or use the battery operated kind)
• One reader plans on using iron-on transfers to make guest and dish towels for next year's gifts.
• One reader takes the cards to a senior citizen's center where they are used for various crafts. You might call one close to you to see if they can use yours.

If one of your New Year's Resolutions is to get your personal documents in order, one of the packaged document systems may help you accomplish this task Everyone knows that you save precious time by having all your critical information ready in an emergency, but how many people actually do?

There are many systems and binders available. The one shown is called Life.doc . The advantage of packaged systems is that they have a kind of "fill in the blanks" process to guide you through compiling and organizing your information. Many come with CD's so you can store back up files as well as print and keep hard copies of your documents.

Shop around to compare what each system has to offer. You'll want something that is simple, easy to use and covers the kind of information you need to store.

Click on the link below to see more about Life.doc.

Life Document Organizer

Front Door, a real estate website created by HGTV, recently featured New Year's resolutions for home sellers that will help them through the process.

The 9 points cover prepping your home, selecting a real estate agent and more. If you or someone you know may be selling their home this year, you'll want to visit this site for its articles and helpful calculators.

To get your home in top shape for selling, call me for customized information and help on prepping your home to its best advantage before it enters the real estate market.
~ Pam Faulkner, Faulkner House Interior Redesign

Home Sellers' New Year's Resolutions

OK, it's a garment rack. But what a help this can be when you are entertaining. Your guests won't have to dig through a pile of coats on a bed and if the weather is bad you won't have damp coats on your bedding or furniture. (Nothing like ending a fabulous evening on a downer when you find wet or water stained bedding!)

Few homes have a closet large enough to old a party's worth of coats. A rack may be located in a study, bedroom or even in the laundry room. Allow enough space for easy coat retrieval.

The one pictured is adjustable and costs about $20. It's easy to store and can be used for other organizing and storage needs such as hanging out of season clothing in a basement or attic, hanging tablecloths and runners from skirt hangers, and to help you sort and organize your closets.

Adjustable Garment Rack

Indoor air quality is becoming more and more important as people have become aware of the off- gasing of many common household products. Paints using low volatile organic compounds (VOC's) have been on the market for several years now and formulas continue to be improved. But how can consumers to find similar information about flooring?

The FloorScore program, developed by the Resilient Floor Covering Institute and Scientific Certification Systems, tests and certifies flooring products as contributing to good indoor air quality.

For more information on products and maufacturers certified by the program please click on the link below.

FloorScore

Invite good luck and fortune into your home by having a Chinese New Year Party this month. If you've been cleaning and de-cluttering your home since the holidays you are already observing a Chinese tradition that doing so rids your home of bad luck. If you are lucky enough to have some blooming plants in your home for the New Year, all the better. I happen to have one red amaryllis that is just now blooming, which is perfect since blooming plants symbolize rebirth, auspicious for a new year.

Decorations need not be elaborate to be festive. A small collection of Chinese figurines on a tray, blossoming branches, lanterns or votive candles can be combined to form a centerpiece. A bowl or tray of fortune cookies is a must. You can channel your inner Martha Stewart by making your own cookies and writing fortunes that are personalized for your guests. Recipes are available online.

Fun decorations can be purchased and/or you may like to make some of your own. The link below will take you to The HP web site page full of easy decorations you can make using your computer and printer.

Happy New Year!

Chinese New Year Decorations

Are you planning a special event this year or are you in need of upgrading your table linens and party supplies? Party and event company, Party Cloths in Silver Spring, is having a sale March 1st on their linens, dance floors and chairs. Check out their web for site for more information or call 301-604- 2337 or (800) 439-8729 for times and directions.

Party Cloths

Are you ready to get organized for the new year? Have you read books and tried various systems but nothing works for very long? You need help getting organized- and my Chaos Control Classes will help you cut through the clutter to find a method for getting your disorganization under control for good.

Whether you have run out of room to store seasonal decorations, your closets are a storage joke, your basement could be an archeological digging site or you are drowning in un-filed papers, we can get you back on track. More in depth and hands-on than a Redesign Party, the class shows you how to conquer clutter, purge your closets, store your possessions and create custom filing systems that make sense to you-and that you will really use.

Like Redesign Parties, the class comes to you! Hosting a class for you and your friends couldn't be easier or more convenient. Each class is designed to address your particular needs and comes with a guide full of organizing ideas, tips and sources to make this your most organized year ever.

How can you get "in the know"? Call or email me now for information about Chaos Control Classes at 703-689-9886, FaulknerRedesign@aol.com, or simply click on the link below.

Class availability is limited so please reserve yours early!

Contact us

The Redesigner's Notebook is devoted to tips and articles relating to interior redesign, decorating, entertaining, organizing and related subjects, and will include contributions from members of the Interior Redesign Industry Specialists association, I.R.I.S., listed below.

If you have an interest or question that you would like to see addressed, or a community event that you would like to see included that relates to our subjects of decorating, real estate staging, entertaining and organizing please contact me. Your comments and suggestions are always appreciated!
~ Pam Faulkner, Faulkner House Interior Redesign

email: faulknerredesign@aol.com

phone: 703-689-9886

web: http://www.faulknerhouse.com