Dear Clients and Friends:  Happy Spring! Although I am catching you at tax time I hope everyone is doing well and excited about more sunlight and drier days here in the Bay.

I hope you’ll find our topics of interest, whether you’re remodeling, planning to paint, or have the courage to declutter. Perhaps you even have time to read! Please feel free to share comments, or ask for advice on your projects. As you know, a service oriented mind-set is one of the major building blocks I’d like Residence Redesigns to be known for.


  Residence Redesigns
 

Our Topics are:
• “Green Design” – and What you can do!
• Time to Declutter – Make that a “New Spring Resolution”
• Staging Update – Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Burst
• The Color Marketing Group
• Reading Corner – “The Domain Book of Intuitive Home Design”
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Environmental issues are at the forefront of not only the news but also the design community. In a recent study conducted by the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID), 6 out of 10 U.S. homeowners said they would consider integrating sustainable design into their home improvement projects – however, “provided those enhancements are cost-competitive”.

Generally, design projects that respect the environment and natural resources more than traditional designs and materials still tend to be more costly, making it the main reason why contractors and homeowners haven’t caught on to the concept as much as experts were hoping.

Being savvy with our resources does not have to be costly. Let’s take a look at our water consumption: the average individual uses 125 gallons per day, making a household total of 107,000 gallons per year! Here are some options for reducing the water bill for an average home.

1. Low flow or dual flush toilet installations can save up to 30% of water compared to conventional fixtures. Kohler, Villeroy & Boch, Toto, and most other manufacturers offer these choices, and even though they are more costly, the savings offset the initial investment quickly.

2. More than 80 billion gallons are wasted while people wait for hot water at the faucet or shower. By installing a tankless water heaters, you can cut down on energy by about 20%, according to the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy office. These flow-through heaters are compact and can be installed in small under counter spaces wherever needed . Manufacturers say that a tankless water heater comparable to a 40 gallon tank may save between 25 and 30% of energy per year. Start here if you need more information: http://www.tanklesswater.com/ed_factors-to-consider.asp

3. Front loading washing machines offer a number of advantages over the top loading old style. From energy efficiency (using a third to one half of the water required, and saving up to 68% in energy), increased spin speed, to a larger load capacity, products sold by Whirlpool, Bosch, Miele, and many others make earth-sense. For more facts, visit: http://eartheasy.com/live_frontloadwash.htm#a

Enough already with the numbers – you’ll get my drift. Just a short sampling of how rethinking just a few products can make a big difference, even if you are unable to build a “green” home from the ground up.

For additional ideas to consider before a remodel of either kitchen or bathrooms, go to
http://www.GreenHomeGuide.com.

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These days, the newspapers are full of articles about the cooling housing market in the Bay Area, and expert predictions cover the range: a transition to a buyers’ market, price reductions, total recovery by summer, and other drama. Working closely with a number of real estate agents, we can attest to a significant change in how fast properties move. But if you can detach your emotions from it all, nothing much has changed. Hasn’t “Do your homework” been your favorite line for years? – Price it right, prepare it right – your house can still fly off the market within days!

Staging is one of the most critical tools you can use when preparing your house or condo, and it yields an excellent return on investment. Balanced, elegant, well-styled, and clutter-free spaces appeal to potential buyers. The extent of preparation can be limited to a swift rearrangement and editing of your furnishings, or cover a more involved campaign, including rental furniture, landscape staging etc.

We can’t stress enough how important it is to hire a professional staging service – check references, credentials, memberships to professional associations, and ask questions on the process!

Residence Redesigns is a member of the Foster City Chamber of Commerce, the Interior Redesign Industry Specialists (I.R.I.S.), the Peninsula Student Chapter of ASID, and the Interior Redesign Directory.

Call us at 650/345-7412 for an initial discussion on how we may assist you.
 

Each year, the Color Marketing Group (GMC) gets together to discuss new directions for the current year. It’s a complicated process involving more than half of the 1,300 Color Designer members. According to Zara Stender, a local high profile Interior Designer and a member of the Color Marketing Group, committees bring in color boards from all regions and industries, then spend days in a “grueling marathon” finding common denominators to detect the development of a trend. Her insightful presentation on the procedure during a recent conference I attended was fascinating.

The forecast includes influences on design, merchandising and sales, color combinations, and much more. However, these directions don’t hit the markets overnight. The directional change (i.e., warmer/cooler, lighter/darker, clearer/grayer and/or the relative importance of a hue) for a color family is rolled out in the Consumer/Residential or Contract/Commercial marketplaces for up to 3 years out (average).

Here’s what is predicted for a 2006 trend:
Colors for 2006 will be warmer, clearer and brighter, according to the color designers at Color Marketing Group (www.colormarketing.org). Reddened oranges will replace coppery hues; yellows will gain importance; blues will dramatically recede; and complex neutrals will add sophistication and luxury to the 2006 Consumer Color Palette.

The latest color consultations I have conducted show that indeed consumers are no longer afraid of using bright, bolder colors in their homes. They have lived in white-on-white or tan worlds too long and look for expression by using unexpected combinations, metallics, deeper values, and rich accents.

For more color ideas and forecasts visit:
http://www.colormarketing.org/media/news/2006_consumer_col_dir.htm

Although no longer published, you can easily obtain your copy at Amazon. I purchased the book for a mere $9, and it’s fun and recreational reading! Based on the premise that we can be categorized into four different personalities, the book starts off with an “Intuitive Personality Quiz” that takes a look at how you party, shop, vacation, and live in your home. Description of the archteypes, with plenty of visuals, “Visionary”, “Adventurer”, “Artisan”, and “Idealist” is followed by “Intuitive Rooms” and more, educating the reader on what furniture style and arrangements to use.

Here is an excerpt from the introduction:
“Our choices don’t come out of nowhere. A flamboyant woman who speaks in fiery phrases and sketches pictures in the air would be unlikely to live in a Spartan flat furnished with a cot and a straight-backed chair. Likewise, a plain-talking man who abhors artifice and loves the feeling of honest dirt under his fingers would hardly set himself up in a posh penthouse with velvet drapes and gold-leaf flourishes. Whether it’s plain, fancy, offhand, or deliberate, our sense of style is always a reflection of our history, our temperament, our impulses – in short, it is a reflection of our personality”.