Indiana Gazette's Your Home

your HOME

Buy. Sell. Improve.

PURPOSE TOP TIPS

2015

THE HOTTEST COLORS YOUR HOME VALUE what helps it, what hurts it March 20, 2015 supplement to

2 — Indiana Gazette “Your Home” Supplement, Friday, March 20, 2015

INSIDE • Thirteen issues to look for

before buying a home.

Page 4

• Stage your home with

personality.

Page 5

• Neutrals don’t have to be

boring.

Page 7

• Five ways to boost the value of your home.

Page 9

• Tips for buying your first

home.

Page 11

• Casual dining rooms are more welcoming.

Page 12

Give every room a role to sell house

By KIM COOK

Associated Press

Many of us have one room in the house that doesn’t really have a job.

Maybe we set it up with an air bed once in a while for guests, or shove out-of-season clothing boxes in there, or use it as a holding zone for stuff we’re not sure what to do with.

But when your house is on the market, every room needs a role to play to make the sale.

Next to fixing whatever’s broken, staging — decorating rooms in an inviting way to help people imagine living in them — is important.

“The purpose of home staging is to draw the buyers into the house emotionally so they say, ‘Wow, we want to live here!’” said Melinda Bartling, a real-estate agent and home stager in Overland Park, Kan. “Buyers must be able to see themselves living in the house, not questioning why it looks the way it does.

For example, if you use your finished basement as a catch-all, buyers will wonder what’s wrong with the space.”

New York-based real-estate agent Nathalie Clark’s motto is “minimalism with personality.”

“The owner’s presence must be as discreet as possible, but the rooms have to feel inhabited and should clearly state their function,” she says.

Some ideas from stagers on what to do with an unused space:

MAKE IT A CLOSET Everyone wants good storage.

Turn a potential shortcoming into a valuable feature by transforming a small room into a large closet or dressing room.

Install a shelving system; if money’s an issue, just outfit one long wall to achieve the purpose.

Add a chair or ottoman and a large mirror, perhaps, so buyers can imagine a dressing room.

If your home is short on storage, consider outfitting an under-stair niche or other “dead” space with shelving, and stock the shelves with smart-looking boxes and bins.

But leave some empty space in a closet, too.

“Closets filled with items other than clothes send the message there isn’t enough storage in the house,” said Bartling.

MAKE IT CREATIVE Transform a bedroom with a tiny

closet into creative workspace. Suggest a craft or art studio with a table and some neatly displayed materials.

Line up a series of identical bookshelves and make a small yet inviting library by adding a rug, a comfortable chair and a side table.

MAKE IT AN OFFICE Real-estate agents tend to prefer that bedrooms be staged as bedrooms, because buyers usually want lots of those.

But depending on your market, it may pay off to stage one of those rooms as a home office.

If you’ve got more than four bedrooms, Clark said, turn one into a home office.

In a four-bedroom home, “use the room farthest from a bathroom,” she advises.

Add a desk, chair and lamp, and lay down a fresh new rug in either a chic neutral hue or a style-savvy pattern that ties it into neighboring rooms.

MAKE IT A WORKOUT SPACE Empty nesters often have basements that once were playrooms.

Clark suggests converting a space like that into a cozy TV room or gym.

Associated Press

STAGE AN extra bedroom or unused corner as a home office by adding a desk, shelving and storage.

“For a gym, you don’t need a lot of fancy equipment,” she said. “A bench, some neatly stacked weights, a few ropes or bands hung on pretty hooks, a mirror and a mat can all easily be arranged to create a powerful visual effect.”

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CHECK THAT the drainage and grading of a property are properly done before signing on the dotted line.

13 issues to check before making an offer

By C. DWIGHT BARNETT

good offer before paying someone to tell me I made a bad choice?

ANSWER: The inspector should remain objective and never make choices for the buyer. The inspector will give you information so that you can make an informed decision. I have found situations where some

Tribune News Service

QUESTION: I have been looking at buying a home, and I plan on having it inspected, and I would like to know what to look for before buying. Can you give me some ideas of what I should look for myself so that I can make a

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Indiana Gazette “Your Home” Supplement, Friday, March 20, 2015 — 5

Be sure to retain personality when staging

By TIM McKEOUGH

New York Times News Service

QUESTION: When preparing a home for showings, are there any staging practices we should avoid?

ANSWER: A mantra among real estate agents and home stagers is that sellers need to declutter and depersonalize their homes before putting them on the market. But overly enthusiastic sellers may take this advice too far, said Jarrod Guy Randolph, an associate real estate broker at Town Residential in Manhattan.

“One thing that people shouldn’t do is remove too many personal items,” he said. “Keep a few things to show that this is a home that’s actually lived in, and a home that buyers could make their own.”

For instance, he said, although leaving dozens of family photos on view could

TREVOR TONDRO/New York Times

DON’T REMOVE too many personal touches when staging a home. interfere with potential buyers’ envisioning themselves in the space, “You might

leave one or two family photos,” to help bring the home to life.

Birgit Anich, a home stager in Norwalk, Conn., echoed that advice, noting

that she once had a client in Greenwich, Conn., who had gone too far. “She decluttered and depersonalized, but did it to such perfection that when you walked into her house, it felt ice-cold,” she said.

As a result, the house languished on the market for 1½ years, Anich said, until she added an array of decorative accents to warm it up, such as art, books, rugs and tabletop pieces.

But she warned against assuming that buyers will appreciate your personal tastes and interests. Religious, political or erotic artwork and books should be removed from view. “There might be someone who takes offense,” she said, “but who was otherwise considering the house.”

Flowers can be a nice touch, Anich said, but don’t make the arrangements too fussy. Simpler is usually bet-

ter. “Orchids always work well, because they’re beautiful and modern,” she said.

“Tulips are great in the spring.”

If you can’t commit to replacing fresh flowers every time they begin to wilt, use silk flowers, she said.

Listing photos are very important in attracting buyers, Anich said, so it would also be a mistake to focus only on the showings; the home should be fully staged before it is photographed.

Anich and Randolph cautioned against introducing a scent into the home, even if you think it is pleasing. “I’d refrain from using any artificial air freshener, or plug-in scents,” Anich said.

Some sellers may have heard it’s a good idea to bake cookies before a showing.

“Don’t do it,” Randolph warned, because it may just end up reeking of desperation.

13 issues to check before buying a home Continued from Page 4 buyers would have decided to look for another home, while others are skilled in repairs and are looking to purchase a fixer-upper and save money on their purchase.

There are certain issues that appear more often on almost all homes that the average buyer can look for: • Grading and drainage: When you first look at the property, check to see if storm water will drain toward or away from the home. It’s easy to see if the yard slopes, but you also need to check the concrete next to the home to make sure it drains as well. Driveways, sidewalks and patios often settle, and the runoff from the concrete drains toward the foundation. Downspout drains should extend at least 6 feet away from the foundation. You do not want water collecting in the basement or crawl space.

• Whereas the inspector will most likely walk on the roof for the inspection, it is

preferred before the inspection that the buyer ask the owner when the roof was last replaced and if it is a single layer.

The average and steepsloped roof shingle should last a total of 20 to 30 years; a low-sloped roof or flat roof will have an average life expectancy of 15 to 20 years.

Shingles in direct sunlight will not last as long as those that are shaded.

• With the owner’s permission, turn on all the faucets to check the flow of water. Make sure none of the sinks or tubs overflow during the test.

• Open the outside hose faucet and place your thumb over the hose fitting to try and stop the flow of water.

If the flow is easily stopped, then the faucet is cracked inside the home and will need to be replaced.

• Open the cover on the main electric panel to see if the home has breakers or fuses. An older fuse panel

may be rated at 60 amps and will need to be upgraded to a minimum of 100 amps.

• Check each light switch and the number of outlets in each room.

There should be an outlet every 12 feet. Older homes may only have one or two outlets in a room, which is not enough for modern equipment needs.

• With the homeowner’s permission, operate the disposal, dishwasher and other kitchen appliances.

• Look under the kitchen sink to see if the electrical wiring is in a conduit.

Romex house wiring needs to be protected when it is exposed. If the wiring for the disposal and dishwasher is a cord and plug to an outlet, conduit is not required.

• Open all accessible windows to make sure they are easily operated. All bedroom windows must be easy to open in case of an emergency.

• Check the glass over a tub or shower to see if it is

closer than 60 inches to the bottom of the tub or shower.

Glass that is closer than 60 inches must be tempered glass.

Tempered glass will have a “Tempered” mark etched inside the panes or on the glass. Glass blocks do not have to be tempered. Windows that are larger than 9 square feet, are closer than 18 inches to the floor and have a 3-foot walkway on either side of the glass also have to be tempered.

• Check the height above the floor for a gas or electric water heater and furnace in a garage. The area that generates a flame or a spark must be at least 18 inches above the floor. This is to prevent gasoline fumes from igniting.

• A gas-fired furnace and water heater cannot be located in a bedroom or a bathroom or in a closet accessed through a bedroom or bathroom. A high efficiency furnace that has two PVC pipes, one to vent and

one to take in combustible air, can be inside a bedroom or bathroom closet.

• If the home has a crawl space, put on your dirty and disposable clothes and check for decay, mold, standing water, plumbing

leaks, loose ductwork, etc.

There are many, many more things to check and that is the job of the home inspector, but this should help in deciding to make an offer or to look for something different.

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6 — Indiana Gazette “Your Home” Supplement, Friday, March 20, 2015

Home staging: To rent or to buy furniture?

By CATHY HOBBS

Tribune News Service

When it comes to home staging, it isn’t about how much money you spend, but about creating the right atmosphere to entice buyers. The reality is most buyers need an emotional trigger, an internal reaction that prompts them to make an offer on a home. Essentially they need to fall in love with a property and picture themselves and their family in the space.

Home staging is hands down the single best tool a home seller can have in his or her toolbox in order to effectively market the property so it sells for the most amount of money in the shortest amount of time.

What staging does is highlight the positives of a property and downplay the negatives.

In creating a staging solution for your home, you are going to want to first edit out all of the unnecessary

Metro Creative Graphics

IF A SOFA or other large piece is not in good condition, rent a newer one so potential buyers will not be distracted. items, such as excess furniture, clothing, books and other items that are not essential to showcasing the space. In order to successfully showcase your property, you can either use existing furniture and accessories that you already own by shopping your house, or

supplement what you own by renting furniture in order to achieve a certain look.

Again, it is important to keep in mind that home staging is a marketing tool pure and simple to sell real estate; renting furniture is akin to set decorating and scene setting. Essentially

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RENOVATION?

that is what you are doing by creating a certain look and sending a message to a potential buyer. If your home is more modern, but your furniture is overly traditional, rent some more modern pieces to mix in with your existing look. Additionally, if you are marketing your home to younger buyers and your furniture is old and outdated, renting furniture that will create a look that will appeal to your target buyer is key.

While we are selling the space, and not the stuff, the reality is, furniture that is worn, outdated, oversized or the wrong design aesthetic can serve as distractions to a potential buyer and take

away from all the hard work that has gone into trying to sell your home.

Many home staging firms work with home sellers by selecting key rental items such as a sofa or coffee table and then perhaps purchasing smaller accessories that are either rented to the home seller or purchased by the home seller for them to keep.

Some of the biggest names in the rental furniture business are Churchill Furniture Rental, CORT Furniture Rental, Brook Furniture Rental and AFR Furniture Rental. All of these companies either have a regional or national presence.

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companies were considered to be only for corporate relocation clients, college students or short-term renters.

Now nearly all have home staging divisions in which they work directly with professional home stagers and home sellers.

Most furniture rental companies work the same way, often requiring a minimum three-month commitment, and will deliver as well as assemble all of the furniture, making the process super easy. There is an art, however, to choosing the right pieces, as staging isn’t just about renting a bunch of furniture and tossing it into a room. I would suggest that you first begin by creating a floor plan, then selectively identify those pieces that are needed and create a color palette. From there, rent the furniture and accessories that are needed. Use your floor plan as your shopping guide to create a winning look that sells!

Cathy Hobbs, based in New York City, is an Emmy Award-winning television host and a nationally known interior design and home staging expert with offices in New York City, Boston and Washington, D.C. Contact her at info@cathyhobbs.com mailto:info@cathyhobbs. com or visit her website at w w w. c a t h y h o b b s . c o m http://www.cathyhobbs. com.

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Associated Press

BLACK PIECES, like that of a grand piano, can work in any space.

Neutrals don’t have to be boring

By MELISSA RAYWORTH Associated Press

There are plenty of practical reasons to decorate with neutral colors. The shades we think of as neutral — whites, beiges, tans — don’t clash with anything. They are calm, soothing and never go out of style. There’s just one problem. “Beiges and neutrals,� said designer Brian Patrick Flynn, “can be super boring.�

To solve that dilemma, designers like Flynn have a simple trick for making an entirely neutral room feel as edgy and exciting as one filled with bold colors. Bring in the only neutral color that isn’t bland: Black. Mixing in the right amount of black accents, print fabrics or furniture can make the white, beige or tan shades in a room look more interesting, putting them in the spotlight.

How much black is too much, and how do you make sure a room done in this color scheme really pops?

Here, Flynn, the founder of Flynnside Out Productions, and two other design experts — Seattle-based Brian Paquette and Betsy Burnham of Burnham Design in Los Angeles — offer advice on mixing the darkest and lightest of shades for a truly beautiful result.

CREATIVE ADDITIONS You don’t need an entirely black wall

or a solid black sofa. “Sprinkle it around,� said Burnham, by adding things like print fabrics that include black. “There’s something about a fabric when it’s grounded with a little bit of black in it,� she said. “It just becomes chic.�

Flynn agrees: “Anytime I can use a black-and-white print, I do,� he said, “especially classic prints like checks, plaids and gingham. If black and white is too contrast-y, consider a mix of charcoal, brown and taupe. My closet doors are upholstered in a classic ikat featuring those colors, and although it’s traditional in style, it’s fresh and modern in application.�

For extra punch, Paquette suggests covering throw pillows in a print that includes black, then sewing a solid band of black or charcoal fabric about 1.5 inches thick around the edges of the pillow. “It allows the print to really stand out,� he said.

Paquette also loves black metal accents on light fixtures. Consider a black lamp shade on a lamp with an antique brass metal base, he says, finished with a black braided electrical cord. He also likes black metal chair legs, and windows with just the casements painted black. “It’s just something that sort of draws the eye in,� he said.

Another option: “Art is a great way to use neutrals in a one-of-kind manner,�

Flynn said. “I’m a huge fan of mixing modern pieces with traditional oil portraits. When you choose dark oil portraits and hang them on light neutral walls, the juxtaposition of the light and the heavy is fantastic.�

One thing Paquette avoids: photos in black frames. He thinks they’re overdone, and white frames do a better job of spotlighting photos.

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MAKING BLACK LESS INTENSE A sleek, shiny, black dining table or black grand piano conveys drama and elegance. But even if your decorating style is more casual — maybe farmhouse chic or beachy — you can still make black work.

Black “doesn’t have to be uptight,� said Burnham. She likes distressed, rubbed finishes, which can make a piece of black wood furniture feel “really farmy or beachy. Really casual. Especially if you use it with oatmeals and pale blues.�

Another way to make black less overpowering is to use it on lighter materials, Burnham said. “Glass and wrought iron, and even driftwood, look great with black finishes,� she said. “It takes some of the ‘weight’ out of it.�

GETTING YOUR BEIGES RIGHT Beige and black can be wonderful together, or awful if you use the wrong Continued on Page 8

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8 — Indiana Gazette “Your Home” Supplement, Friday, March 20, 2015

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Associated Press

THE BEDROOM at left is grounded by strong accents of black. Texture keeps the white dining room at right from feeling boring.

Neutrals don’t have to be boring

Continued from Page 7 shade of beige.

“I think most people have an aversion to beige because of the super yellowy, flesh-toned beige that was popular mixed with mauve and brass in the 1980s,” said Flynn. “But if you’re going to do beige, stick with sand tones that have a lot of white in them. The absence of yellow makes the color much lighter and even beachy.”

Another way to make beige work:

Use a mix of pale gray and beige, known as “greige.” Flynn said “greige” is also a good alternative to white. It’s warmer than a true white or ultrawhite, so it doesn’t “come across as clinical or sterile.”

PAIRING BLACK WITH BROWN Another way to make a neutral room look fabulous, Burnham said, is to add brown as well as black. As with classic, leather riding boots, “a mix of black

and brown is really sophisticated,” she said.

“Throw some cream into that, and some oatmeal,” she says, and you’ll have a casually elegant room that’s remarkable and yet still neutral.

Paquette is also a fan of that pairing, especially in lighting and furniture: Think of a black leather sling chair with walnut legs, he said, or a lamp that combines black and a deep shade of brass.

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(MS) — A dream home means different things to different people. To some, an ideal home sits atop a hill and has enough rooms to accommodate generations upon generations of family members. To others, a home small in stature but with views to die for is all a homeowner needs.

While preferences may vary on the home itself, there are a few things buyers of all shapes and sizes prefer when shopping for the home of their dreams.

AGREEABLE WEATHER: Vacation home shoppers often prefer year-round warm weather so they know their respite from the cold is never too far away. For example, a locale such as Port St. Lucie, Fla., boasts an average temperature of 73.7 degrees, providing the ideal getaway to snowbound men and women stuck in the throes of winter.

AFFORDABILITY: A dream home stays a dream for many people because of the misconception that it is beyond their financial reach. “While a seaside villa in Italy might never be a reality, there are places where it is still affordable to own and maintain a vacation home,” says Andrew Nadalin, President of Pace 2000 Inc. ACCESSIBILITY OF ACTIVITIES: While an escape from the hustle and bustle of everyday life is great, no one wants to escape to a place with nothing to do. When shopping for a place to buy or build your dream getaway, be sure there’s plenty of accessibility to popular activities like boating, fishing, diving, surfing, canoeing or kayaking.

PROXIMITY TO OTHER HOTSPOTS: Even if you’re looking for a place to simply unwind, a dream home’s proximity to hotspots or other exotic locales never hurts. Port St. Lucie, for example, offers all a vacationer needs to relax and unwind, and it’s only 90 miles from the Bahamas by boat and a short drive to Miami, Palm Beach and Orlando.

PROXIMITY TO MAJOR AIRPORTS: Unless you plan on living in your vacation home year-round, you’ll want the home to be somewhere that’s close to major airports.

This makes it easier to get to your home and flights won’t be as expensive.

More information on finding your dream home can be found online at www.pace2000homes.com.

Indiana Gazette “Your Home” Supplement, Friday, March 20, 2015— 9

How to boost value Though the housing market might not be booming, there are still buyers out there looking for a place to call their own. Some potential sellers might prefer a patient approach to selling their homes, choosing to do so when the market rebounds and homes regain some of their lost value.

Other sellers might not have a choice and must make due with selling in a lackluster market.

Regardless of which category you’re in, there are easy ways to boost your home’s value.

Making minor changes to a home can add to your asking price, whether you’re putting your home on the market this week or waiting for the market to rebound. The following tasks might not take much effort, but they pay dividends.

WORK ON THE YARD: An appealing lawn is still a great way to catch a prospective buyer’s eye. When a home boasts a lush lawn and wellmanicured trees, it’s hard to ignore that “For Sale” sign out front. If landscaping has proven an Achilles’ heel in the past, make an effort to take better care of your property in the months ahead. It doesn’t take long for even the most neglected lawn to rebound from disrepair. By the time you feel confident to put that for sale sign out front, you might just be putting it up in a lush lawn no buyer can resist.

UPGRADE APPLIANCES: Prospective buyers won’t be thrilled if they walk into a home and see outdated appliances. Some might even feel older appliances indicate a homeowner who cared little about appearances and might begin to wonder if there are any additional areas that might have been neglected around the house. Stainless steel appliances in the kitchen and even new fixtures in the bathroom are aesthetically appealing and tend to excite Continued on Page 10

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How to boost value Continued from Page 9 buyers. Homeowners who aren’t immediately putting their property up for sale can gradually upgrade their appliances to lessen some of the financial toll such purchases take.

REPLACE THE CARPET: A clean carpet might make a world of difference to a home’s inhabitants, but a new carpet will be more appealing to prospective buyers. Choose a neutral-toned carpet that will boast a more universal appeal.

PAINT THE HOME: A fresh coat of paint or new siding is always attractive to prospective buyers. If your home hasn’t had a new coat of

paint in a while, that might make buyers feel the home is musty or old. Many buyers judge a book by its cover, and sellers want their home’s exterior to be as attractive as possible. Homeowners can also paint rooms inside the home to give it a fresh and welcoming feel.

CLEAN UP: A cluttered house will almost certainly repel buyers. Buyers want a home that’s roomy and well kept, but clutter creates the opposite impression. Organize the closets to make them appear more roomy and clean up any areas that have become cluttered — consider temporarily renting a storage unit.

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LOCATION, LOCATION, location is arguably the best or worst selling point of a home.

What might hurt the value of a home?

Nowadays, homeowners looking to sell their homes know it’s not as easy to do so as it might have been a few years ago. A struggling economy has made it difficult for many homeowners to sell their homes for a price they’re comfortable with.

But the sagging economy is not the only thing that can make it difficult to sell a home. In fact, a host of other things, some obvious but some not so obvious, can hurt a home’s value as well.

LOCATION: A home’s loca-

tion is arguably its best or worst selling point. A home in a great location won’t be as difficult to sell as a home in a bad neighborhood. But location goes beyond a neighborhood’s reputation, especially in recent years.

Homeowners who live in a neighborhood or development with many foreclosures might find those foreclosed properties are hurting their own home’s value. Lots of foreclosures could negatively affect a neighborhood’s reputaContinued on Page 13

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Family

The Indiana Gazette

It’s a small world

LADIES’ NIGHT

ENGAGEMENT

By PHILIP GALANES

New York Times News Service

QUESTION: My wife and I are friendly with another couple. All of us have moved from the town where we met, but we have reason to visit their new locale.

They’ve always had a habit of inviting other couples to join us. They never mention it when we’re making plans; the wife announces it after the fact: “Oh, by the way ...” We find this rude. It’s not as if we’re ever going to see these friends of theirs again. How would you handle this?

— P.H., Chicago ANSWER: As any visitor to a Disney park can tell you, “It’s a small, small world.” And it never hurts to meet new folks. Still, I’d hate this if it were happening to me. As this is habitual behavior, why not bring it up (disguised as a compliment)?

When you are next making plans, say: “We see so little of you, we want you to ourselves.

Can we make it just the four of us?”

After you’ve registered your preference once, they will probably keep it in mind. (Thank me later for the heartwarming earwig: “There is just one moon and one golden sun ...”)

QUESTION: My daughter lost her wallet on her college campus. Someone returned it to the campus police. (With all of its contents!)

But when my daughter picked it up, the officer berated her for having a fake ID. Her driver’s license was in plain sight, so there was no need to rummage through the wallet.

He told her possessing a fake ID was a crime, but he wasn’t going to charge her. (Is he even an actual police officer?)

Instead, he would report her to the dean, who may put her on probation. I think he was way out of line; she wasn’t using the ID. You? — Anonymous, Mamaroneck, N.Y. ANSWER: I am shocked, Mother — and do not shock easily. Of all the complexity surrounding the epidemic of campus sexual assault (for the “epidemic” angle, see the blunt new documentary “The Hunting Ground”; for the complexity, pick up anything by the brilliant scholar Catharine MacKinnon), one factor is really clear: booze. Rather than belittling the campus police, you should thank them. Underage drinking is not your daughter’s friend.

As for the sanctity of her wallet, even a casual viewer of TV crime procedurals (“Battle Creek,” anyone?) knows we have no expectation of privacy when we leave our belongings on park benches or in library carrels.

And campus police typically work in tandem with local police departments.

The officer may have been ham-handed in threatening prosecution.

And your daughter may never have used the ID. (Can you see my raised eyebrows from here?)

Sadly, if she wanted to, she could probably drink like a fish without an ID, at all. But I applaud her school and its police for trying. Speak with her about drinking and its possible tragic consequences. Civil rights against police power are important, too, but we’re not exactly talking about the march on Selma here.

SOCIAL ADVICE

Don’t miss columnist Carl Kologie every Sunday.

TERI ENCISO/Gazette

THE SECOND annual Ladies’ Day Out will be held April 11 at Harmony Grove Lutheran Church, 6584 Five Points Road, Five Points. Registration will be from 10 to 10:30 a.m. Church members getting ready for the event were, from left, Wanda Stear, Darlene Shields, Pastor Dave Wasemann, Susie McKendrick and Belva Marco. Michele Huey, “God, Me and a Cup of Tea” columnist for the Gazette, will be the speaker on “What’s Wrong with Dandelions?” Lunch will be provided and door prizes given. The cost is $15 per person. Reservations are due today. For advance tickets, call Marco at (724) 349-0657 or Myrna Orr at (724) 397-2615.

Man works to help needy kids have happy birthdays

By ERIC SANDBULTE Brookings Register

BROOKINGS, S.D. — For the past month, families across Brookings County have been finding a surprise on their doorsteps: a big blue box with a birthday cake and a gift or two inside, all with a balloon attached.

It’s called the Big Blue Birthday Box, and it’s Nick Wendell’s effort to give young children in need a happy birthday.

The idea first came about when the Brookings man was busy planning out his own daughter’s birthday.

“Just thinking about all of the challenges that come with planning a birthday party, no matter how simple you want it to be,” he said.

That includes paying for the cake, treats, decorations and gifts to make the day special.

But then he thought of how that could all compound the frustrations for a family that’s struggling financially. For parents already under pressure to keep the car’s gas tank or fridge full, taking on a birthday party can become a challenge.

And even though it might seem superficial, this can make a difference for a child.

“For a child to sit in front of a birthday cake with candles and think about the hope you have when you blow out those candles on your cake as a little kid and what’s in that wish, there’s so much joy in that,” Wendell said. “To me, the Birthday Box delivers that kind of (optimism) to a little kid and implants that in their mind that there is hope out there and a ton of people who care about them and are cheering them on. That’s the coolest part of the Big Blue Birthday Box to me.”

Wendell began the program by talking with the Department of Social Services.

“They said there’s a need in our community. There are programs like this in our community, but they aren’t serving or filling the need around birthdays.”

Even though the Department of Social Services isn’t affiliated with or running the program, staffers were excited about the idea and were willing to help. Describing their role as a go-between, Wendell said they’ve been a valuable resource in finding families in need and making them aware of the Birthday Box. Families interested in the program are able to fill out a form that provides information on the child’s age, gender, address and a wish list

with a $20 to $25 price range.

The Big Blue Birthday Box is intended for children ages 2-12. At those ages, Wendell thinks he can make the most impact. Beyond the age range, there are no real restrictions or standards in place, even in terms of financial need.

“I guess it’s not really my job to determine if a family needs it because I think there are all kinds of needs out there,” he said. “If a parent feels like they might struggle to provide a birthday celebration for their child on their birthday, and the Big Blue Birthday Box helps them to do that, then I think our job has been done.”

But other groups have stepped up and helped Wendell make the Birthday Box possible.

Hy-Vee provides a cake for every box. Party Depot gives a helium balloon and party supplies such as birthdaythemed plates, forks and napkins.

First Bank & Trust and the Lehlula Lee Foundation have helped by giving monetary donations, which help Wendell buy gifts.

Also included as gifts are family passes to a Brookings Blizzard hockey game.

The box itself is from Cleanslate Design+Print, which came up with the logo and prints out the boxes.

Even though he only started doing deliveries in January, he’s already delivered 25 Birthday Boxes so far, and he estimates he’ll have delivered 250-300 boxes this year.

It’s an almost daily activity for him, and he’s the only person running the program, although he will soon be looking for volunteers to help in various ways.

“The need is much larger than I anticipated. I didn’t know exactly what to expect.

I’d been involved in a number of service projects and organizations in the community, so I knew there was a need,” he said.

Just how much need there was still took him by surprise.

“So many people have asked how can I help or how can my organization help?

There are so many ways,” he said. Volunteers will soon be needed to help with such tasks as wrapping gifts, drivers to deliver the boxes and perhaps others to help organize fundraising events and toy drives.

It might come as a surprise that Wendell makes a point of not being present with the kids and families when he delivers the Big

Blue Birthday Box. “I try to do it anonymously for a couple of reasons. I try to deliver it at a time of day when the family’s not there so the child can come home and it can really feel like a surprise,” he said. “I feel it’s more exciting to see the box there with the balloon bouncing right outside your door. That seems more unique than a person handing it to them.

“I also want parents and families to be able to present these to children as if it’s from them if they want to. If I deliver it, then the gig is up.

But if a mom wants to give the Big Blue Birthday Box to her child as though she got it herself, I think that’s even cooler.”

Tossing some ideas around, he also suggested making a kind of birthday tradition out of donating to the Birthday Box or requesting donations for it instead of gifts for a birthday party.

In the near future, he said he’d like to have a kind of buy-one, give-one program set up, where parents can buy a box for their children, which would fund another box to be sent to a child in need.

Wendell also hopes his blue box catches on in other communities.

“I hope it can exist in other communities eventually, and that I can help to launch it in towns throughout South Dakota. I’ve already had conversations with folks in Sioux Falls to Rapid City to smaller communities in South Dakota that love the idea,” he said.

On a smaller scale, he’d like to set up a dedicated website for it, so that charitable people could have a safe means of making an online donation.

“I think the Big Blue Birthday Box is a great program for children to be reminded of how special they are,” he said. “Also, as the dad to a 7year-old, I think it is a phenomenal program for families to know that people are thinking about them as parents and wanting to make their jobs a little bit easier.”

For his daughter’s birthday on Valentine’s Day, Wendell was able to provide a celebration with gifts and cupcakes.

He said, “It was wonderful to be able to do that, but as a parent, I can tell you that if I wasn’t able to do that, it would hurt me deeply. I think the Big Blue Birthday Box serves not only children, but it serves their parents when they’re in a rough patch, and we’re happy to do that.”

BREAKFAST BUFFET: An allyou-can-eat breakfast buffet

will be held from 6 to 10 a.m.

Saturday at the Dayton Fire Hall.

An Easter egg hunt will be held for the children at 9:30 a.m.

DANCE: A Dynamic Singles Dance will be held from 9 p.m. to midnight today at the Fraternal Order of Eagles, 420 Philadelphia St., Indiana. DJ Kaos will provide

Steve and Nancy Matko, of Hillsdale, have announced the engagement of their daughter, Michelle Matko, to David Buterbaugh, son of Skip and Bridgett Buterbaugh, of Cherry Tree.

The bride-to-be is a graduate of Indiana University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor’s degree in family and consumer sciences. She enjoys coaching cheerleading, substitute teaching and administrative work.

The prospective groom is a graduate of Purchase Line High School and is a member of Labor Union 1058.

When he is not working construction, his passion is riding snowmobiles and side-by-sides.

MICHELLE MATKO and DAVID BUTERBAUGH Still reeling from their fairy-tale engagement at Disney World, Orlando, Fla., they are planning a winter 2016 wedding.

BIRTH CROSBY GIDEON BICEGO James and Monique Bicego, of Birmingham, Mich., announce the birth of their son, Crosby Gideon Bicego. He was born Feb. 20, 2015, at Beaumont Hospital, Troy, Mich.

He weighed 7 pounds, 7 ounces, and measured 19 inches. He is the brother of Sebastian.

Crosby’s grandparents are James and Bonnie Bicego, of Indiana; Mark and Mary Lou Hart, of Rochester Hills, Mich.; and Verdun and Jackie Chagnon, of Bloomfield Hills, Mich.

His great-grandparents are Jean Cichocki, of Apollo, and the late John Cichocki; and the late Jeano and Linda Bicego.

SCHOLARSHIPS The Evergreen Garden Club is pleased to offer two $1,000 scholarships for 2015.

They are available to graduating high school seniors and students of accredited colleges and universities.

Applicants must be legal residents of Indiana County and carry a grade-point average of 3.25.

Applicants should demonstrate intent to obtain undergraduate or graduate studies in one of the following or closely related fields: agriculture, agronomy, biology, botany, civic planning, earth sciences, environmental studies or environmental health studies, forestry, horticulture, land conservation, land management, landscape architecture, landscape design, plant pathology, turf grass management, water conservation or wildlife science.

Applications are available from high school guidance counselors, major department offices, dean’s offices and/or financial aid departments of Indiana County

high schools and Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

Applications can also be obtained from the Evergreen Garden Club by emailing rellimac62@gmail. com.

The Evergreen Garden Club Jane Dole Memorial Scholarship honors its founding member and commemorates her civic and charitable contributions to the community.

The second scholarship offered in 2015 is the Evergreen Garden Club Memorial Scholarship in honor of members Ethel Badiali, Helen Kunkle and Marjory Lynn, who passed in 2014.

Each of these members made significant contributions to the Evergreen Garden Club over the years.

This scholarship is possible due to the success of Tinsel Time 2014.

It is the club’s way of saying “thank you” to the guests, vendors, merchants and businesses that helped make the fundraiser a success. One application is entry to both scholarships and must be postmarked by May 20.

If you see these people today, be sure to wish them a happy birthday: • Cassandra Isenberg, Marion Center • Raymond Martin, Marion Center • Kayla Mikesell, Dixonville • Jennifer R. Pickup, Latrobe The Gazette would like to wish you a “Happy Birthday!”

To have a name added to the list, call (724) 465-5555, ext.

265.

If you leave a message, be sure to spell out the first and last name of the person celebrating their special day and remember to tell us the day and the town where they live.

Messages left with incomplete information will not be run on the list.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

COMING EVENTS ROLL SALE: SS. Peter and Paul Orthodox Church in Homer City is holding a roll sale for Easter. Nut, apricot and poppyseed rolls will be available for $10 each. Orders will be taken until Saturday by calling (724) 479-9580. You will be called when the rolls are ready for pickup.

Friday, March 20, 2015 — Page 11

music.

For more information, call Bonnie at (724) 397-2672, Bill at (724) 464-7236 or Martha at (724) 840-4983.

LUNCHEON: Former members and friends of the Blairsville Grange will gather at noon Tuesday for lunch at Hoss’s Steak & Sea House, White Township. Guests are welcome.

• Submissions may be mailed to The Indiana Gazette, 899 Water St., Indiana, PA 15701; faxed to (724) 465-8267; or emailed to family@indianagazette.net.

For more information, call (724) 465-5555, ext. 265, or visit http://bit.ly/IGsubmissionguidelines • For coming events, reunion and anniversary announcements, items must be submitted at least one week prior to the requested date of publication. Information is run in the order received.

• All submissions must be typed and must include a daytime phone number. The Gazette will not accept handwritten submissions.

• All submissions are subject to editing for space and content.

12 — Indiana Gazette “Your Home” Supplement, Friday, March 20, 2015

Casual dining rooms are more welcoming

By VICKI PAYNE

The Charlotte Observer

Your dining rooms can become boring, unused spaces if you’re not careful. Too many of us seem to think having a formal dining room means it has to be furnished with traditional, matching furniture.

Well, keep your dining room, but relax the style so it gets some action more than now and then.

Start by making the room more approachable. If you have a traditional dining suite, consider breaking it up. Repurpose some of the pieces. China cabinets are out of vogue, so don’t use them in the usual way. They can be storage and display cabinets.

A dated piece of furniture can be transformed by taking off its doors, painting it a fun color and moving it to a different room.

A china cabinet can become a bookcase for a family room or home office, a storage cabinet for towels and linens in a bathroom or hallway, display and storage for craft supplies in a hobby room or colorful storage for toys and games in a bonus room.

Next, mix up the seating. Replace

Tribune News Service

AN AGED leather chair and hand-distressed wood pieces work together to create a feeling of warmth in this room. some of your matching dining chairs with pieces that add something unexpected. Restoration Hardware has a great leather and metal chair that fits into any décor.

Leather looks casual in a dining

room, and it’s a great option when you have children. Spills wipe up easily. Wooden or leather benches are affordable options as well. If you’re working on a budget, paint your armchairs and reupholster

For first floor remodels

the seats with a coordinating fabric.

Dining tables set a tone for the room. Glass tables are formal and cold. High-gloss wood tabletops are traditional and reserved. Farm

tables can be more casual and inviting. You can transform that glossy-top table by painting it or sanding it. Refinish it with a lowgloss or matte surface coat.

Painting furniture is easier when you work with the new caulk paints.

These don’t require so much prep work and come in a variety of colors. I used Anne Sloan’s ivory caulk paint on my dark wood dining table and Paris Gray on the chairs. The warm colors changed my dining room from dressy to casual.

If you have dark, heavy draperies, take them down. Cornice boards and swags are dated window treatments. They also impart a traditional, formal atmosphere. Use a lighter linen drape with wood or bamboo shades or roman cloth shades to freshen the room and let in more light.

Chandeliers are really hot in any room. So keep your crystal beauty, but its shades should go. Replace frosted bulbs with the new industrial type. If your chandelier is brass, take it down and spray-paint it, perhaps in black, bronze or brown.

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Indiana Gazette “Your Home” Supplement, Friday, March 20, 2015 — 13

What might hurt the value of a home?

Metro Creative Graphics

AVOID SECTIONAL sofas and heavy pieces when renting.

Décor pieces renters should avoid

By JULIA MILLAY WALSH Domaine

We love design, and sometimes there’s nothing — not even a totalitarian landlord — that will stand in the way of us swapping out all the contractor-grade light fixtures in our home.

That said, when it comes to decorating a rental, there are some things we can be sensible about. Here are five home decor items renters should avoid, and a few stylish alternatives, since there’s always another way ...

HEAVY ITEMS If you move often (i.e. every year or two), it’s wise not to purchase furniture that’s extraordinarily heavy. No one wants to deal with moving a mid-century Steelcase desk; whether it’s threestory walk-up or a ranch house, those bad boys are monstrous. Especially in small city apartments, rental moves can often be tackled with a friend or two, but that overweight piece may be the one that requires you to hire a mover.

A SECTIONAL SOFA If you’re planning to live in your rental for a long time, then by all means, get a sectional if that’s what’s

right for your space. Otherwise, it’s best to avoid it. Should you ever move (very likely!), the configuration and/or size of the sofa may not work in your future abode. The alternative? Get a standard sofa and an upholstered ottoman, which you can easily move around.

TALL PIECES While you may have scored on moving into a contemporary loft apartment with beautiful tall ceilings, when your landlord raises your rent in 12 months and you’re forced to move into a vertically challenged ’70s unit, that tall arc lamp of yours may very well not fit. Stick with pieces that will accommodate the standard apartment height of 8 feet.

WALLPAPER As dramatic a transformation wallpaper can make, it is costly and time-intensive to install and to remove, so we strongly advise against wallpapering in your home.

A great alternative is temporary wallpaper, which more or less has a peeland-stick application. If you’re having trouble finding a pattern you love, consider Graham & Brown’s Paste the Wall designs, or similar papers from other brands, which peel off by hand in easi-

er-to-manage sheets and don’t require steaming as traditional wallpapers do.

WALL-MOUNTED ITEMS Hanging art in your home with a single nail or a screw is an acceptable practice in rentals, but if you make multiple drills in your walls, your landlord won’t be pleased when you move out.

So avoid furniture and decor that requires extensive installation, such as industrial bookcases or shelving; instead, select freestanding furniture. I once not-so-smartly (and lazily) used adhesive foam backing to attach a large laser-cut sheet to my wall; when I removed it on moving day, about four layers of paint came with it — not a pretty sight.

CUSTOM-SIZED DECOR A custom box valance may be just what you need to complete your dream window look, but who knows what dimensions the windows in your next rental will have.

It’s probably not wise to invest in custom-sized decor, unless you’re skilled with upholstery and can DIY! Instead, just use curtain panels or drapes, which are quite easy to shorten or even lengthen when you move.

Continued from Page 10 tion, which might make a home within that neighborhood less attractive to prospective buyers.

APPEARANCE: A home’s appearance is another obvious variable that might affect its resale value.

Homeowners might want their home to reflect their own individuality, but that’s not going to help when the time comes to sell the home. If the exterior paint is out of the ordinary, then it might be wise to choose a more traditional or conservative color before erecting the “For Sale” sign out front.

The same goes for a home’s interior.

SIZE AND STYLE: Another thing to consider when selling a home is its size and style. A home that stands out on the block might be an attentiongrabber, but that’s not always attractive to prospective buyers. For instance, a colonial sitting in the middle of a street filled with contemporary homes will stand out, but likely for all the wrong reasons.

It will likely appear dated and out of place, which is something buyers might not want. In addition, if the home is considerably larger or smaller than the surrounding homes, then this could hurt its value.

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NON-CONFORMITY: In many ways, conformity is not considered an admirable trait. But when selling a home, conformity could make the difference between a home selling quickly or remaining on the market for months if not years. When shopping for a home, buyers often shop in certain neighborhoods and towns and might see many different homes within a given ZIP code. Homeowners with homes that don’t conform to others in the area might find it difficult to sell their homes. For instance, homeowners trying to sell a two bedroom home in a neighborhood filled with three bedroom homes might notice their home’s value is not as high as that of surrounding homes, regardless of the neighborhood or how similar the home’s exterior is to surrounding homes.

AGE: Older homes might have character and a sense of nostalgia, but appraisers take age into consideration when determining a home’s value.

And buyers tend to lean toward newer homes for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the feeling that newer homes have far more modern amenities than older homes.

Co ns tru cti on , In c.

COMM M

REESIDENT R E TIAL BUILDING CUST CU STTOM HOMES

K.F. Construction, Inc.

724-349-1669

14 — Indiana Gazette “Your Home” Supplement, Friday, March 20, 2015

How to improve a kitchen in big (or small) ways

By MELISSA RAYWORTH Associated Press

Another holiday season has passed, and with it the marathon cooking and baking sessions. The hours spent using every kitchen appliance and inch of counter space had a potential benefit more lasting than a good meal: When we really use our kitchens, we discover what does and doesn’t work in this very important room.

Remodeling a kitchen can be expensive and challenging, but you can make substantial cosmetic changes with just the help of a painter and electrician, says interior designer Betsy Burnham of Burnham Design in Los Angeles.

And if you’re ready for even bigger changes, it’s still possible to stay on budget and create a gorgeous kitchen with a minimum of stress.

Step one is deciding what really needs to be done. Can you work with the appliances and cabinets you’ve got, or is it time for a fullscale remodel?

Step two is the budget, coming up with a realistic estimate for each expense, says designer Brian Patrick Flynn of Flynnside Out Productions. Then, the fun can begin. Three areas where a little improvement can go a long way:

STORAGE A smoothly functioning kitchen has space for everything to be stored away, within reasonable reach. Can you achieve that with your current cabinets? If so, Flynn suggests keeping them and just replacing or refinishing the doors.

“Cabinetry installation adds a lot

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FRESHEN UP stained cabinet doors by given them a coat of paint. to a budget,” he said, “so saving by simply reusing what you’ve got can be a massive help.”

If your cabinet doors are stained wood, consider painting them.

Then, change the hardware. Drawer pulls and cabinet door handles “can make or break the look of the space,” said Lee Kleinhelter of the Atlanta-based design firm Pieces.

Take time choosing new ones.

Flynn agreed: “I always use highend hardware regardless of how high or low my budget is,” he said.

“Adding an interesting metal and finish to your doors just really adds character and uniqueness. You can never go wrong with dull black

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pulls and knobs, and I’m also a huge fan of antique brass. When it comes to silver tones, I try to stay classic and go with polished nickel.”

If you do need to add or replace cabinets, Burnham suggests having them custom-made. It can be expensive (Flynn estimates that ready-made cabinets cost about one-third as much as lower-end custom designs). But they are worth the investment, Burnham says. “You’ll get well-made pieces, built to your needs, that will last through time, kids and tons of use.”

Rather than adding cabinets

with doors, she suggests installing drawers. “Deep drawers provide excellent storage for pots and pans, and even oversize plates,” Burnham said, “and banks of drawers just look cool.”

FRESH COLORS AND MATERIALS Painting kitchen walls can be “a quick, inexpensive solution to a kitchen remodel on a low budget,” Kleinhelter says, and “any color can work.” But she advises clients that kitchen decor “should work with the rest of the house.” Bring in colors that appear in nearby

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rooms, or stick to a neutral palette.

If you’re trying to update your kitchen’s look, Burnham said “there’s been a shift from the onceubiquitous all-white kitchen toward gray-painted cabinets, and we’ve found ourselves experimenting with color.” Her office is currently designing one kitchen “that’s predominantly a sophisticated cream color, and another that will have dark, olive-green cabinets and a textured, blackstone countertop.”

Homeowners are also getting more creative and saving money with materials like concrete. Concrete tile is “an inexpensive material that comes in an incredible array of colors and patterns,” Burnham said, and “it works for backsplashes or kitchen flooring, and really makes a statement.”

Try mixing affordable elements with higher-end ones: “Basic butcher block is my favorite countertop because of its classic appeal, and it’s insanely affordable.

By juxtaposing it with a unique backsplash, like a mosaic marble or rustic stone, it looks more highend,” Flynn said. “My biggest splurge on kitchens is usually my lighting and backsplashes.”

And choose colors and materials you’ll be happy with long-term, rather than something trendy.

“Classic and simple is where it’s at,” said Burnham.

SEATING A new table and chairs can update a kitchen’s look and make it more comfortable. But it’s tempting to sacrifice function for style.

Don’t.

Continued on Page 15

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Indiana Gazette “Your Home� Supplement, Friday, March 20, 2015— 15

5 costly mistakes home buyers commonly make

By NEDRA RHONE

Building? Buying? Remodeling?

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So much of the attention is on sellers, but if you are in the market for a home, there are some things you can do to make the journey easier. In the March issue of Consumer Reports magazine, a survey of real estate agents revealed the mistakes some home buyers are making. One of the big ones is not taking the time to find the right real estate agent. The wrong person, it seems, can cost you money. Here are a few other costly mistakes home buyers are making and how to avoid them: MOVING TOO FAST: When you don’t do your homework, you may end up paying too much for a home. Don’t overestimate your understanding of the local real estate market. Take the time to look around in one particular area for a while so you can understand what homes are really worth. Don’t make an offer on the first home you see. Be sure you see lots of homes and if you do make an offer and your negotiations stall, don’t be afraid to walk away.

HAVING EYES THAT ARE BIGGER THAN YOUR WALLET: This seems obvious, but of the surveyed agents in the Consumer Reports survey, 33 percent said consumers underestimate the costs of home ownership. Buying a home doesn’t just mean covering a mortgage. It also means being able to cover the closing costs and other fees, paying for utilities, taxes and more. And if you are moving into anything less than your dream house and are planning repairs, be sure to factor that into the price of the home as well.

GETTING YOUR CREDIT UP: You need a strong credit profile to get the most favorable loan terms. If your credit score is low, or if you don’t know your credit rating, get your credit reports now. If you see any errors, initiate a dispute.

NOT SHOPPING ’TIL RATES DROP: Don’t just go with your regular bank when you are looking for a mortgage. Consider several lenders (banks, credit unions) and look for national rates on-

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BE SURE to have an inspection done before buying a home. line. Consumer Reports cautions that some mortgage brokers may be more focused on selling you a mortgage than getting you the best deal.

Be sure to get pre-approved for a loan before you shop so sellers will take you seriously.

SKIPPING THE INSPECTION: I can’t imagine anyone skipping this step, but according to agents in the Consumer Reports survey, not getting a home inspection is one of the biggest causes of

most clients like seats with backs and arms.�

Also, choose seating that’s easy to clean and durable. “I love to use vinyls or faux leathers,� said Kleinhelter, “because it is so easy to clean, but still looks polished.�

Burnham’s favorite for seating: the natural texture and style of rattan.

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buyer’s remorse. You should plan to be at the inspection so you can learn about any costly repairs that might be needed.

You will also get basic information on the home, such as where the electrical panel is and how to shut off the water.

A good home inspector can also give you a heads up on repairs that will need to be done in the next few years.

Make sure whoever you hire is licensed.

How to improve a kitchen in big (or small) ways Continued from Page 14 “We all live in our kitchens,� said Kleinhelter, “so it is important to have comfortable and durable seating.�

Stools are popular, and Burnham says designers in her office love the simple, clean look of a row of stools arranged along a bar or kitchen island.

But, she said, comfort is key: “We find

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Whether you’re simply buying a new table and chairs or beginning to plan a full kitchen remodel, Flynn offers one last piece of advice: Take time to choose the things you really want, and be patient if the project takes longer than you’d hoped. What matters is the final result, not how many weeks or months it took to get there.

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16 — Indiana Gazette “Your Home” Supplement, Friday, March 20, 2015

Adding a closet to a small room can help add value

By TIM McKEOUGH

New York Times News Service

QUESTION: One of our bedrooms is small and has no closet. Should we build a closet before selling?

ANSWER: While many buyers may be accustomed to small bedrooms, especially in a space-restricted city like New York, Highlyann Krasnow, a partner at MNS real estate in New York, said most of them still want bedroom closets.

Not having a closet in the room is an issue, she said. “Especially for women, that’s going to be the first thing they bring up.”

For a standard reach-in closet, “you need about 2 feet, 2 inches in depth,” Krasnow said.

“That isn’t going to eat up that much floor space.”

But the bigger concern, she said, may be the door swing. By the time you move a bed and other furniture into the room, there may not be space to open a closet door. “I’d recommend using either bifold or sliding doors,” she said, “so it doesn’t affect the furniture layout.”

Lisa Frantz, an owner of the Manhattan interior design firm Marks & Frantz, agreed that storage space in a bedroom is essential, but noted that a traditional closet isn’t always the best solution in a smaller room.

“Sometimes, it can make the space more awkward and create useless corners,” she said. “But there are lots of other ways to get closetlike storage in there.”

One of the best options, Frantz said,

By KEVIN KIRKLAND

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

TREVOR TONDRO/New York Times

SHELVING AT the end of a bed is an easy way to add storage to a room. is to use custom millwork and install cabinetry up to the ceiling. For instance, “a lot of people will design storage on either side and above the bed, and put the bed in the middle,” she said. “You create a little alcove.”

That built-in cabinetry can be just as deep as the interior of a closet (Frantz recommended making the interior space at least 22 inches deep for hanging clothes), and have doors to conceal the items inside.

An added advantage, she said, is that “you eliminate the need for

nightstands” and can install wallmounted lamps, saving more space.

But millwork can be expensive. If you don’t want to invest so much money, a simpler solution would be to put an armoire in the room, which can be taken with you after the sale.

“And it makes a room present nicely if it’s a pretty piece of furniture,” Frantz said.

As a rule, freestanding furniture and built-in millwork “usually make a room look larger,” she said. “Closets make it look smaller.”

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Couple double teams loghome kitchen reno PITTSBURGH — Andy Banas, a retired ironworker, says he’s pretty handy with tools. But he’s often catching up with his wife, Laurel, when it comes to home renovation.

“She designs everything and does all the measurements. I hold the dumb end of the tape,” he has said in connection to their home projects in suburban Moon.

“I just had an aptitude for it,” Laurel said recently. “He’s the brawn and the muscle,” responsible for rough framing, plumbing and electrical.

“I’m more the finisher.”

By “finishing” she means installing drywall, cabinetry and marble and glass tile on the walls and floors. His hard work and her attention to detail led to this distinctive contemporary kitchen in a 1968 log home.

The kitchen shows a dramatic contrast between redwood walls and exposed ductwork, rustic trim and gleaming quartz and butcher-block counters, dark furniture and a bright white island lit by halogen and LED lights.

It’s so well designed and executed that it’s hard to imagine the boxed-in kitchen that was once there.

This multifunctional open space just works, and it comes with a bonus — beautiful views inside and outside.

“The view was the reason we bought the house,” Laurel said. “The fact that it came with a log home was a plus.”

The water view is a surprise, especially given its Moon mailing address. Living high on a hillside 250 feet above the Ohio River, the Banases can see the Pittsburgh downtown’s U.S. Steel Tower to the south on a clear day and as far as

Dashields lock and dam at a bend in the other direction.

The terrain is so rugged that they had to run new gas and electric lines when they moved there in 1997.

The couple rented the house for a month before buying it just to clean it out.

Then they focused on the exterior, replacing the roof and adding skylights, and other interior work. Laurel started designing the kitchen in 2011, first on graph paper and then on a computer drafting program on IKEA’s website. She’s a huge fan of the Swedish company’s sleek, modular cabinetry and furniture. “I’m half-Swedish as well,” she added, laughing.

A Minnesota native whose old snowshoes hang on the living room wall, she taught herself how to hang wallpaper and do other hard jobs well. When her husband balked at starting the kitchen, she took matters into her own capable hands.

“I wanted to get going and he didn’t, so I started demolition myself,” she said.

Andy Banas doesn’t deny that, but once he got going, it was very much a team effort. He excels at figuring out how to create the design elements she wants, such as the halogen track lighting and pendants over the island and LEDs that go on automatically when a drawer is opened.

There’s also a nifty magnetic knife holder mounted on the backsplash.

He can’t believe his luck in finding such a handy partner. He remembers well the day they met.

“She has her own tools?

This girl’s a keeper!” he thought.

Meanwhile, the Banases have started on their master bedroom and bathroom, adding vertical cedar paneling, building closets along two walls and installing Continued on Page 17

Indiana Gazette “Your Home� Supplement, Friday, March 20, 2015— 17

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18 — Indiana Gazette “Your Home” Supplement, Friday, March 20, 2015

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The hot colors of 2015

By KIM COOK

Associated Press

For 2015, the hot colors in home decor range from yummy ice cream pastels to a few deep, saturated hues.

The pastels include blush, sky blue, vanilla, lilac and pale peach, hues traditionally associated with tropical or desert climes. But they work in northern light, too — just ground them with darker shades like charcoal, chocolate or navy.

Mint and shell pink might seem lightweight or juvenile at first glance, but the way they’re being used gives them some gravitas. A task lamp; a midcentury-style chair; a bookcase — rendered in one of these hues, a room instantly looks Right Now. Mints to consider include Behr’s Mountain Mint and Pratt and Lambert’s Glacial Green; check out Pratt and Lambert’s Coral Pink and Behr’s Secret Blush for a gentle yet sophisticated soft pink.

You

Each year, paint companies and color trend gurus assess which hues will be hot in fashion and décor.

Many choose a “color of the year.”

Coral Reef, a vibrant pinkorange, is SherwinWilliams’ pick. Debra Kling, a New York-based color consultant, thinks it’s a regionspecific hue.

“It feels more suitable for South Beach, the Southwest or the South Pacific,” she says.

Jackie Jordan, color marketing director for SherwinWilliams, says the color embodies a cheerful approach to design that’s a hallmark of 2015. “From our research, we know people do seek colors and décor that bring back memories of a destination vacation,” she says.

“Coral Reef evokes that for people; others just love the color.”

She suggests pairing it with white, black, or floral hues like lush green or deep violet to make it really sing.

Your Future g& alth nning anning

To calm things down, consider complementary shades of soft gray, driftwood or butter yellow. Patinated brass and medium wood tones would also be pretty accompaniments.

Benjamin Moore has gone with Guilford Green, a soft hue that some decorators and designers see as too pale while others tout its versatility as a “standard, goto green.”

Framed with crisp white, Guilford Green gives off a pretty, garden-room vibe; add deeper floral tones like peony, daffodil and iris to enhance the botanical feel.

Undertones of gray and brown make it a perfect color against just about any wood, creating a restful backdrop for a kitchen, nursery or sunroom, and it’s a good exterior hue, too.

Check out Farrow & Ball’s Breakfast Room Green, a similar shade.

Blues will also be strong this spring in decorative eleContinued on Page 19

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Hot colors of 2015 Continued from Page 18 ments and room color, evoking locations as diverse as the South Pacific and the Pacific Northwest. There’s global influence with indigos, while the navies have a preppy complexion. Behr’s Solitude and Vintage Velvet, and Benjamin Moore’s Blue Danube and Harbor Fog are all attractive. Glidden’s top color for 2015 is a beachy, intense Caribbean Blue.

Another blue getting buzz is Pittsburgh Paint’s color of the year, Blue Paisley. Some designers think it’s pretty but not especially “new,” since it’s been punctuating the popular gray palette for a couple of years now.

Nonetheless, it’s a color with legs. You’ll see it and a deeper teal in accessories and textiles, and as accents on smaller furniture pieces. It can lend a midcentury aesthetic to trim upholstery and woods like pecan and walnut that speak to retro style but also reference classic taste.

Color giant Pantone has deemed Marsala its color of the year. New York designer Elaine Griffin is delighted: “I think it’s a winner. Red is a color that we haven’t seen in a while. In this interpretation as a deep-ish wine hue, it’s both fresh-looking and sophisticated, and pairs stylishly with the new neutrals of gray, smoky teal and black.”

Kling said some colors have a mysterious quality “one can’t quite identify — and Marsala is one of them.

It draws us in. Not quite brown and not quite burgundy, Marsala lends sophistication and warmth.”

She says it’s well-suited to textures, and as a saturated hue it’s something special; she just did a velvet chaise for a client in Marsala velvet.

While it’s already emerging in some furnishings, appliances and cabinetry, Marsala will likely turn up in much more from retailers come fall; it projects coziness, warmth and luxury.

Watch in the fall, too, for olive green, deep teal, burnt orange and mustard, all punctuating midcentury modern style.

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