MARCH 13, 2019 • Volume 14 • Issue 11
RE WEEKLY RESIDENTIAL • ACREAGE • FARM • COMMERCIAL • AREA DEVELOPMENT 515-233-3299 • 317 5th Street, Ames • All REALTOR® ads within are REALTORS® licensed in the State of Iowa
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Page RE2 • REAL ESTATE WEEKLY • Wednesday, March 13, 2019
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Page RE4 • REAL ESTATE WEEKLY • Wednesday, March 13, 2019 Accent lighting serves as a secondary light source that complements ambient lighting and brightens areas where ambient light can’t reach. To spotlight specific features of your home decor (perhaps a lovely mantel or treasured piece of art), try wall sconces, recessed lighting or track lighting.
Let there
be light
Light up each room of the house — beautifully Living room. Living
room lighting which relies only on overhead fixtures tends to feel a little blah. To rev it up a notch, add a few table lamps at different heights. Or try a torchiere floor lamp. Similarly to overhead lighting, torchieres flood the ceiling, while offering your living space a fresh dose of style. Multidirectional floor lamps are an ideal all-in-one solution for both general living room illumination and task lighting.
Tips for finding the right interior fi xtures By Laura Firszt More Content Now
W
ant a fast, affordable way to update your home’s interior style? Install new lighting. Check out these lighting tips for your home to select the most practical, best-looking fixtures. Thanks to Lowe’s team members Casey Bolch, merchandising manager of rough plumbing and electrical; Chris Nulty, merchandising manager of home decor; and Mark Beck, merchandising manager of fashion fixtures, for sharing their lighting expertise.
Understand the 3 layers of light Lighting pros refer to three “layers” of light: Ambient, task, and accent. Carefully choose and combine these three types of illumination to add beauty and functionality to your home. Ambient lighting is necessary in every room of the house. It provides a comfortable overall level of brightness, usually via one or more overhead fixtures such as ceiling fan lights, chandeliers or pendants. Task lighting supplies intense light for detailed work (like cooking, reading or makeup application) especially in the kitchen, office and bathroom. It often takes the form of track lighting, under-cabinet lighting, island pendants or desk lamps.
Kitchen. Shine recessed lighting onto your kitchen countertops for extra light while prepping and cooking. Recessed lighting can be installed by a savvy do-ityourselfer, but if you aren’t comfortable with electrical work, contact a reliable lighting installation professional. Dining room. As homeowners know, today’s dining room isn’t just for mealtimes. Instead, it often multitasks as a center for arts and crafts or family game night … and needs to be lit accordingly. Chandeliers are a classic option, but if you prefer a lessPEXELS traditional overhead light, consider hanging a pendant light with multiple light sources — such as glass jars — as a trendy alternative. Bedroom. In the bedroom, a ceiling fan will combine attractive overhead lighting with energy-efficient cooling. Do you like to read in bed? Provide functional task lighting with bedside table lamps or mounted wall sconces.
Bathroom. The mirror is the focal point of any bathroom, and is a great place to start when selecting a lighting style. Place a vanity light 75 to 80 inches from the floor and wall sconces on each side of the mirror, just 66 inches from the floor. Your mirror will be evenly lit - ideal for shaving, flossing or applying cosmetics.
Get the details right
PEXELS
Complement your decor. Unsure what type of lights to incorporate into
your space? Start by looking around your room. Then pick out a favorite decor element and find lighting to complement it. For example: If your door handles and cabinet hardware are all brushed nickel, choose lighting fixtures with a coordinating finish.
Choose the right color temperature. Color temperature plays an essential role in your rooms’ quality of light. Look for warm white light bulbs for living rooms and bedrooms, bright white for kitchens and workspaces, and daylight color temperature for reading nooks and studies. Install dimmer switches to create the perfect mood. Equip overhead lighting with a dimmer switch
for instant flexibility. Dim lights to a cozy glow for a romantic dinner, for instance, and then turn them up full strength when the kids are concentrating on school projects. Use a smart dimmer switch, and you can adjust the lighting with a simple touch of your smartphone. Laura Firszt writes for networx.com.
LUTRON CASETA
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TIPS OF THE WEEK GARDENING
RENOVATION
DECOR
CALADIUMS ARE GOOD IN SHADE
USE APPS TO FIND EXPERTS
BIG BED IN SMALL ROOM
Are you looking for a plant other than hostas to put in a shady spot? The horticulturists with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach recommend caladium, a tropical plant that prefers filtered sunlight and shade. The beautiful green, white, red and pink foliage of caladiums, also known as elephant ear, heart of Jesus, and angel wings, is perfect for adding color to your home garden. It can be grown in containers or clumped together within beds and borders. The ISU extension office recommends starting them indoors in late winter/early spring about four to six weeks before the average last frost date in your area.
Curbed, a popular real-estate blog, compiled this list of top apps for finding experts to hire for home remodeling projects:
In a Better Homes and Garden interview, interior designer Hillary Rondero says her master bedroom isn’t very large but she still wanted a big bed. To make the room seem larger, she skipped a footboard and instead has a long skinny bench. Another tip is using all white bedding to make the bed “appear visually weightless.”
• HomeAdvisor • Smith • Thumbtack • Havenly
— More Content Now
DEAR MONTY
Retirement home search requires effort
RICHARD MONTGOMERY
R
eader question: My wife and I are getting closer to retirement, and we can go anywhere we want in the USA. We want to find the right lake or mountain home. I am looking for a single agent/source to help us find what we want. I am discovering that real estate agents operate in small territories. I don’t have time to contact every
agent in the USA and tell them to keep an eye out for what we want. I also don’t have time to look in every area on home listing websites daily to find a lake home that’s in our price range. Isn’t there a company that can help people like us? More and more retirees will be like us and can go anywhere. We are just looking for the right place/home somewhere in the nation. Monty’s answer: There is no perfect website that I am aware of that will permit you to select your new home. When I search for “best cities to retire in the USA,” many sites appear. These sites have unique methodologies to arrive at their conclusions, and as a result, their selections are different. There are also websites that appear in search results
that specialize in mountain home websites, or lake homes for sale in the USA.
This is a big country Consider making a list of your requirements over and above your base desire of lake or mountain, such as price range, how much property, near hospitals, or whatever you require, and when you can narrow it down to three or four top locations, take a rental for a week or so in those locations. Talk to people you know and respect that have retired and ask them why that chose the spot that they did. I suspect that finding the time to lay out a plan and selecting from your top choices through the process of elimination may be the best way to avoid ending up somewhere you are not happy.
Research some more Research is your best friend when deciding where to retire, and unfortunately, it takes time. There are many articles you can find by searching for “how to decide where to retire”” that may be a good start. Richard Montgomery is the author of “House Money - An Insider’s Secrets to Saving Thousands When You Buy or Sell a Home.” Find him at DearMonty.com.
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2018 Marketing Plan
2019 Marketing Plan
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