In the last two homes that I’ve owned, I’ve had the same style of window coverings…and I love them! We have faux wood blinds hanging from every window in our home, and they look great, they keep the sun out, and they’re so easy to maintain. And buying them online gives you a huge selection, as well as the opportunity to save money. When we selected our blinds for our current home at a local retailer, we were limited to a few sizes, and two colors - white, and oak. Good thing we wanted white, and even better that all of our windows are standard sizes! If you want more than just white and oak, as well as different widths (2 inch slats, 2.5 inch slats, etc), shopping online is for you. You’ll find colors like bamboo, mahogany, maple, and other wood tones. And although the blinds look just like wood, they don’t require any major maintenance, because they’re a vinyl product. That also means they won’t fade or warp, and you can wipe them with a dry or damp cloth to clean the blinds. They also hold up great with the hot Florida sun beating down on them all day! We’ve had ours installed for over a year and they still look great.

It’s not a secret that I’ve got a passion for real estate. If the market wasn’t in such a tough spot in my area, I could see working as a real estate agent. I get my fix by watching shows on HGTV, and my favorites are the ones that involve agents buying houses, fixing them up, and selling them. It’s a great way to get a peek into an area that you don’t know much about, and it’s a great way to keep on top of market and real estate trends. It’s helped me a lot when considering how to build my own home, and how to sell my former home.

One of the areas I see a lot on TV is the Dallas / Fort Worth Texas market. It seems that this area hasn’t hit the lull that my home state of Florida is currently experiencing. Like the weather, Fort Worth real estate is hot, hot, hot! The broker at VIPRealty is working to make sales even more profitable to sellers by offering reduced commissions as well. We worked with an agent who did this when we sold our last home, and it really helped us out. When you’re in a hot market, and the agent only needs to list your home in the MLS to sell it, there’s absolutely no reason to pay a 6% commission to the agents involved in the sale. The Dallas Flat Fee MLS Program allows you to pay a flat fee to the agents involved, and save a ton of cash. If you’re looking for Fort Worth homes for sale, you need to look into the program. It works out so well in a real estate market that’s still moving along, and it really benefits the seller, but it’s also fair to the buyer, since he’s not paying an inflated amount for your house to cover commissions.

I live in a relatively rural area, so my choices for shopping are a few smaller department stores, 2 large home improvement stores, and a plethora of mom and pop stores. If you’ve ever tried to buy anything for your home at one of those big box home improvement stores, you know that the selection is usually a bit limited. Take ceramic tile, for example. My local big box store has a very small section for it, and in limited quantities. You won’t find anything like what you see on shows like House Hunters or Flip This House. The tile is very plain jane and even a little bit…blah. If you want something special like glass tile…forget getting it there! That’s even if you can find an employee to help you!

If you really want to find unique flooring and tile accents for your home, you want to go online. Check out the selection at AnchorBayTile.com - they offer ceramic tile, glass tile, and even metal tile - in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. I didn’t even know that you could buy metal tile, but it’s really neat! If you’ve got a contemporary kitchen, pewter tiles would be a great accent for it. If you want to wow the visitors to your home, and impress them with your out of the box design ideas, this is the place to find what you need. Forget shopping at the warehouse home improvement store, and browse online. The prices for ceramic tile are in line with what you’ll pay locally, and the store even offers flat rate shipping in the USA.

I picked up a framing order from Michael’s Arts & Crafts store tonight, and I am SO pleased with it! The kids each created a really neat watercolor at art camp this summer, and I thought it would look nice to get them in matching frames with nice mattes and display them in the house. I took the 3 pictures to Michael’s, and even WITH my 50% a custom framing order coupon, each frame job was going to cost me $100.

Uh-uh!

I took some time out to think about it (all of 5 minutes - I think on my feet!) and noticed that the pictures would fit in a 16 by 20 off the rack frame…which happened to be on sale for 50% off. I had Michael’s create a custom matte for each picture (only $20 for each!) and they mounted them in the frames I purchased off the rack. Total? $100 for three - and they look fantastic.

Keep it in mind the next time you want a custom framed look, but you’re a cheapie like me!

I was at a BBQ tonight, hosted by someone I work with up here in Boston, and he and his wife had a lovely home. I used the guest bathroom and paid close attention to their bathroom fixtures - noticing little things in a house like this is just something I do. They had this really neat sink that was a pedestal sink with a wooden base that allowed for extra storage underneath…I’d never seen anything quite like it! What I really love though, were the old fashioned faucet handles they installed - definitely not builder grade. It’s the kind of thing you need to buy online…perhaps at Faucet.com? (That’s a heck of a domain name they snagged, eh?)

The house we sold in 2005 was one that gave us the chance to do LOTS of home improvement projects. Before we even moved in, we transformed (with help!) a den into a 3rd bedroom. After moving in, we ripped out all of the carpet in the living room, dining room, hall, and family room, as well as the vinyl in the kitchen, and installed laminate flooring. Did you know that you can actually buy instruction do it yourself DVD’s online showing you exactly what you need to do to complete home improvement projects like that? Had I known that installing hardwood floors was something we could have tackled, I wouldn’t have paid the builder of our current home to install them for us! DoItYourself.com not only has instructions on how to do home improvement and DIY projects, but if you need more than just written instructions, they have DVDs available for purchase. This floors and ceilings DVD covers everything from installing hardwood floors to putting down ceramic tile and vinyl floors. Visit DoItYourself.com for more and buy the DVD if you’ve got a few DIY projects of your own, or browse the other information on their site, with topics including:

• Installing Ceramic Tile
• Drywall
• Painting
• Remove and Replace Your Toilet
• Home Wiring
• Kitchen Cabinet Projects
• Getting Ready for the Winter
• Repairing Damage to Plaster Walls
• Building a Deck
• Building a Garage

You can’t go wrong with help and advice presented in live action on your TV!

Here’s a big sale and clearance on summer items like patio decor and decorative house flags and garden items for you to enjoy. It’s time for retailers to make way for fall and Halloween items, so it’s a great time to get some deals. I always love shopping the end of season sales. It gives me a chance to save some cash, restock my gift closet, and even find a few things as Christmas gifts!

So you’re looking for furniture, and not finding the look you want, or the price you need, anywhere? I know all too well how hard it is to find something you love in a price point you can afford. We found the nicest dining room table last year when we were shopping for a set. Beautiful construction, beautiful colors, the perfect size for our dining room. The only trouble was that it would have cost us $5000. I didn’t want to buy a table that I’d be afraid to eat on, so we let that one go.

I recently discovered the secret to saving money on furniture, but still getting the look you want. Buying your modern platform beds and contemporary sectionals from a wholesale furniture broker will save you time AND money. The chain has 39 outlets, which allows you the option of having something shipped to pick up at your local store, or paying for white-glove delivery to your home. Because these items are offered online, GoWFB.com can stock the latest trends at a great price.

Their selection of recliners is amazing, especially the theater seating. It’s so high quality and unique it looks like custom theater seating. With theater and media rooms continuing to be such a big trend in homes, this recliner featuring a built in cupholder, adjustable headrest, and easy pushback operation would be a great addition to any great room!

I’m not aware that there’s any project like this currently in the USA, but I certainly would like to see a move towards more homes and public spaces using green methods of building, heating, and cooling buildings. We put a few upgrades into our home that cost more in the building process, but will save energy in the long run, and it’s worth the small upfront cost! How long will it take the US to get on the green energy bandwagon?

BRITISH GAS LAUNCHES GREENEST ENERGY TARIFF

9 August 2007: British Gas has announced it is launching two new green energy tariffs, Zero Carbon, which will be the greenest tariff available on the domestic market and Future Energy. British Gas has launched the tariffs, in response to the increasing demand for green energy products.

Householders signing up to the Zero Carbon tariff will:
• reduce their household energy carbon emissions to zero through Kyoto compliant offset schemes which will meet the new Defra requirements
• help fund a direct increase in investment in renewable energy generated in the UK
• contribute to the new British Gas green fund which will:
o invest in developing new renewable technologies such as wave power
o oversee a programme to help schools in the UK reduce their CO2 emissions

Gearóid Lane, Managing Director British Gas New Energy said,”Our new tariff responds to consumer demand for truly green energy solutions. It is essential that customers have confidence in green energy tariffs and that their credibility is not damaged by tariffs that claim to be green but in reality do not deliver any incremental environmental benefits. Green tariffs are moving from niche to mainstream products and we’re leading the industry by offering a tariff that will do more for the environment than any other product currently available.”

Under the government’s Renewables Obligation (RO), electricity suppliers in the UK are already required to produce an increasing percentage of their electricity through methods such as wind farms which, unlike traditional power plants, produce zero carbon emissions. For 2007/2008 this figure is set at 7.9%.

In a recent report, the National Consumer Council (NCC) raised concerns that some energy suppliers are packaging electricity which is produced under the RO scheme as “green”, yet it delivers no additional environmental benefits. The NCC called on energy suppliers to take steps beyond their legal requirements and offer green energy tariffs that provide genuine additional environmental benefits, in particular CO2 emissions reduction.

British Gas worked with Global Action Plan and The Climate Group’s “We’re in this Together” campaign to develop Zero Carbon which goes further than any other green tariff in meeting these requirements offering consumers the only zero carbon option on the market.

The tariff carries a premium of £84 per year, reflecting the higher cost of producing energy through lower carbon emission schemes.

Virginia Graham, Chair of Global Action Plan, said, “The British Gas Zero Carbon tariff delivers on all three of the essential requirements of a green tariff which are: additionality, transparency and verifiability. As such it is a very welcome new offering in the market. Consumers signing up to the tariff can be confident that they are getting 12 per cent more renewable energy than they would otherwise have got. The carbon emissions from their electricity and gas will also be offset with emissions reductions from projects accredited by the United Nations.”

Zero Carbon is one of the first initiatives launched through the ‘We’re in this Together’ campaign, which was launched in April 07 as an alliance of some of the UK’s biggest brands who are all working to help their customers reduce their impact on the climate.

Dr Steve Howard, CEO of The Climate Group and founder of ‘We’re in this Together’ said, “We’re committed to offering people ways to make a real impact on climate change through Together.com. We’ve worked with British Gas to ensure that Zero Carbon is a genuine step forward in delivering more environmental benefits than any other tariff currently available.”

British Gas’s second green energy tariff, Future Energy, offers an alternative green electricity tariff at a premium of just £20 per year. Customers signing up to this tariff will contribute to a green fund which will provide solar panels and other renewable energy technologies to UK schools. Money from the fund will also be invested in development of future renewable technologies and sources.

To sign up customers can call British Gas on 0845 604 0055 or visit www.britishgas.co.uk

So you’ve created your empire. You’ve got townhomes and condos and homes as far as the eye can see…and you want to maximize your rental profits while maintaining a professional appearance to your renters. You need to minimize the paper shuffling you do and make the most of your time! Forget the complicated software, forget using paper to file work orders and applications, and give online property management software a try. With this web based property management software, you can gain access to your records and tasks from ANY computer. That means all of your employees can log into one site to process work online. You can collect payments, run credit checks, and process rental applicants in one interface. When you can respond to property management issues that much quicker because of a streamlined process, your renters will be appreciative. Happy renters don’t spray paint the walls when they move out

Did you ever spend money like crazy to make yourself feel better, and then regret it later on?

I think that’s what Britney Spears is doing right about now. The crazy marriage to a loser and popping out 2 kids in two years and the meltdown and being barefoot in bathrooms and shaving her head - well, it just wasn’t enough for Britney. She just bought the former home of Ray Liotta (love him!) for $8 million dollars. Apparently, Britney isn’t too worried about being sued for alimony by KFed.

We have great closet space in our house, but our closets stink. Why? Well, the builder installed ONE shelf in each closet. ONE SHELF! I’ve got a huge walk in closet in my bedroom - I think it’s about 6 feet by 9 feet, and it has one shelf all the way around the room. I was just saying to Jim this weekend that I really want to do something about the lack of storage in there. Luckily we have the room to be able to put up more shelves and storage options, should I be able to motivate Jim to do so, but if you don’t have the extra closets, you can buy yourself closet cabinet instead! Store your winter coats or that wedding gown you can’t seem to let go of, or your husband’s suits. Out of sight, out of mind!

Do you own a rental property? One of Jim’s good friends does - in fact, we rented the house from him for 7 months while our new home was being built. That was back in 2005, and the real estate and rental market was a lot hotter in our area. The home he owns is in a nice subdivision, and he rents it out for a great price, but when the market is dead, even great priced rentals move a little slower. He usually has no problem renting the house out with just a simple newspaper ad, but slow times call for unique marketing measures.

One such way of marketing your rental, be it a single family home or a vacation cabin in the mountains, is to list it on Rentals.com. They get over 3 million visitors a month to their site, all looking for their next rental property. Fees for listings start at just $39 (with a money back guarantee) and include a free custom yard sign to market the property to your drive by visitors. Folks needing a new place to call home can find a house, apartment, or townhome, and those of you wishing to vacation in a home away from home will find vacation rentals. Search listings by state and metro area, and select from rent to own and lease option offers, too!

I took, oh, somewhere in the neighborhood of 300 pictures on our vacation this week. Some, like the pictures of Niagara Falls, are stunningly beautiful. Oh - I took a picture of some sort of berry outside a winery yesterday, and while it’s simple, it’s one of my favorites from vacation. It’s the kind of picture I’d love to turn into photo art. At Photofiddle.com, you can turn your photos into artwork. Turn a simple picture into a work of art, which will be printed on real canvas! (We’ve got a picture like that from our last cruise hanging in our dining room, and it’s really neat!) You can view your art before you order, as well as tweak things further, if needed.

Just upload a picture, and turn it into a sketch, or pop art, or an oil painting. I think the pop art colors would look really neat in Gracie’s bedroom, with her bright lime green walls and pink bedding.

Photographers, from pros to point & shoot alike, can now artistically enhance their digital pics and traditional photos into stylized photo art masterpieces on professionally stretched canvas using dozens of easy-to-create artistic designs, finishes and collage templates, online at www.PhotoFiddle.com.

From table size to wall size, PhotoFiddle.com can transform a simple digital photo in seconds into a dazzling array of art styles, from watercolor and pop art to a black and white line drawing or oil painting. PhotoFiddle.com is a fun way to become an instant artiste and add a creative flair to individual photos or collages. And, it’s a compelling alternative to custom designers and professional framers who are far more costly and take weeks to deliver.

PhotoFiddle.com is easy to use, takes only a few minutes for a design, and doesn’t require any creative expertise, software purchase or program knowledge. Unlike some of the well known photo and art programs, ‘PhotoFiddlers’ simply register and follow four easy steps 1, Uploading a picture to the site from a digital camera or scanned image, 2. Cropping and reviewing the art, 3. Choosing a design for PhotoFiddle to apply the photo, which can be previewed before 4. Ordering. Final artwork is available on professionally stretched canvas, framed or rolled canvas or museum quality, archival photo paper.

Among the most popular of the more than 50 PhotoFiddle designs and templates are:
- Pop Art
- Stained Glass
- Pencil Sketches
- Tinted
- Painting
- Collage designs
- Comic Book
- Filmstrip

PhotoFiddle allows users to experiment with different template designs without paying any setup fees in the convenience in their own home. Users can even email copies of the custom artwork for preview by family, friends, and associates before ordering.

Gallery art canvas and archival photo paper sizes are available from a simple 8” x 10” to as large as 6 ft. x 24 ft. The company offers live customer support during normal business hours, and an online tutorial for standard questions or creative input on projects.

Whether it’s a memento from a recent vacation, an old picture that’s been stuck in a draw for decades, or a bunch of 4×6 album photos that can be brought to life in a striking photo collage, PhotoFiddle canvas artwork is an ideal gift for anniversaries, weddings, or as an elegant accoutrement to home décor. Gift certificates are also available.

About PhotoFiddle
PhotoFiddle, headquartered in Melville, New York, offers 3-4 day turnaround on customized photo art that users design online, at far less cost than custom framers or home design professionals. For more information visit: www.PhotoFiddle.com.

Examples of Photofiddle.com work:
http://www.emediawire.com/prfiles/2005/05/18/242325/paintingstyles2.pdf

When my husband and I got married, his best man, who happened to be his best friend since middle school, gave us a lava lamp. He said it was either that, or a phone shaped like a pig. (When I heard that, I was immediately grateful for the lamp!) Obviously, he’s a guy who has a sense of humor, especially when it comes to giving gifts. And if you’re the same way, or going to a gag gift party anytime soon, consider taking along the abduction lamp:

This fine lamp features a scene that typically only rural farmers witness - the alien abduction. I love the extras - you can add aliens, a bovine (mooooooo!), a human (pickup truck not included) or an antenna that not only looks good, but functions as an on / off switch. Think how pleased your boss / great aunt / cousins getting married will be when they open this special gift!

I’ve been on quite a few cruises in my lifetime. It’s one of the perks of living in Florida, we’ve got 3 or 4 different ports to choose from, and we never need airfare to get to any of them! If you’ve ever been on a cruise, you’ve probably enjoyed the lavish meals, the stage shows, the gambling, the midnight buffet, the pool, the spa, the art auction….

Wait a minute! An art auction? It may seem odd, but every long-ish cruise I’ve ever been on ALWAYS had an art auction. Park West Gallery has an affiliate company that actually runs all of those art auctions at sea - but don’t worry, you don’t need to set sail to buy art! You can view the auction catalog online and learn about the artists, and then find the perfect piece for your home or office. I’d rather set sail on a cruise to buy my art, but this is probably a cheaper option, eh?

When we bought our homeowners insurance last week, the agent told us that if we got a car insurance quote and switched to one of the companies they represent, we could get a discount on our homeowners insurance. Love the idea, but this isn’t the right time for us, with a recent claim on our vehicle. I’m worried that if we switch now, we won’t get a good rate, even though the claim wasn’t our fault. I think we’re staying put with our car insurance for now, and letting some time go by before we try to save a buck.

I love candles. I won’t buy the cheap ones in stores like Target anymore because they don’t seem to burn well. I end up with not much scent, a lot of soot and smoke, and a lot of wax leftover in the candle holder. I tried to just buy “high end” candles for a while, but that gets a little spendy. I don’t know about you, but I can’t throw down $10 for a few small candles. I tried doing the home party candles, and they’re great, but super over priced. Next I came across soy candles. I didn’t even realize you could use soy beans to make candles - shows what I know! But it turns out that soy candles are the next big thing. Soy is bio-degradable and a reusable energy source, and the candles created from soy beans feature fragrances based in all natural vegetable oil, instead of the traditional liquid petroleum based fragrance. Because of how soy candles are made, they can last 3 times longer than traditional candles, as well as provide a long lasting scent without black soot or smoke.

You can purchase soy candles online at Caterpillars Candles - they’re featuring a product called the Roly Poly, which is a soy candle in the scent AND color of your choice in a roly poly glass jar. That’s right - no longer do you have to buy red candles just because they’re strawberry scented. You’re not stuck with a yellow candle that matches your kitchen and smells like a lemon…mix and match and create the color and scent scheme you want! You can use coupon code FREE5 and save 5% off your order.

This is a sponsored review.

I’ve lived in 5 houses in my lifetime, each one in a different type of neighborhood, each one with different layouts and features, and each one with a different mailbox! In my very first house, the mailbox was always next to our front door. Then the postal service offered all of the city residents a free mailbox, on a post, if we would agree to put one out on the street. The reasoning behind that was that it would save time for the mailperson. Next house - a mail drop in the door! That was a blast from the past. We ended up replacing the door and putting a mailbox on the wall outside the front door. Next house - mailbox at the street. A little worse for the wear, and I wanted to replace it with a nice column mailbox, but Jim wasn’t too keen on the idea. Something about putting lipstick on a pig

Where was I…oh yes, 4th house - the rental. Mailbox across the street, grouped with the neighbor’s mailboxes. And finally, this house - nice, brand new mailboxes for the whole place. Everyone has the exact same mailbox. Not sure if that’s an HOA thing or just pure laziness on the part of our builder. I’d love to get something a little fancier looking, like a nice metal mailbox on a post. For now, I’m fine with what we have now, but I’m all about getting one of these fancy metal address plaques. Should I start hinting for Mother’s Day?

Before we moved into our house, we looked into doing an epoxy coating on the garage floor, but we simply ran out of time to do it before we had to move in. I regret it now, especially since I park in there all of the time, and Jim has his motorcycle in there, as well as the lawn mower. I don’t want any oil or gas to drip on that nice clean cement floor! I didn’t realize this, but garage flooring can be so much more than just a plain epoxy coating. You could even put down tiles in your garage! I’d love to take everything out of the garage, and epoxy coat the whole thing. Not only does it make it look sharp, but the epoxy makes it easy to maintain the floor, and the surface is non-slip as well.