STUCK IN NEUTRAL?
New colorful book can help
Tell me if you’ve ever had this conversation with yourself:
Self: “I don’t know what color to paint my walls.”
“I’ll go with a neutral white or beige to play it safe,” you decide.
Self: “Then what color sofa should I get?”
“Better be safe and get o white,” you reason.
Self: “And the area rug?”
“Hmm, I don’t want it to be too limiting, maybe a beige and gray blend,” you answer.
And this is why so many rooms are as colorless as a bowl of oatmeal.
Enter Rachel Mae Smith, color consultant, and author of The Cra ed Life blog and “Colorful Living: Simple Ways To Brighten Your World Through Design, Décor, Fashion and More,” a new book coming out Sept. 24 from Ten Speed Press.
Smith’s love a air with color started because she was the person described above, stuck in a safety palette of cream, beige and brown.
“Ten years ago I was going through a rough transition a er a failed relationship,” she told me when I got her on the phone recently to talk about her new book. “I didn’t have much money and thought if I furnished my apartment in neutrals, I wouldn’t be wasting money on something frivolous that I secretly loved, like a hot-pink velvet sofa.”
As a result, she said, “I didn’t like how my own home made me feel and I certainly didn’t get anything out of being in it.”
That was then. Today her Chelsea, Mich., home, which she shares with her husband and 1-year-old daughter, is full of color, and,
■ See JAMESON, page 4
•
Marni Jameson At Home
Smith’s new book, out Sept. 24 from Ten Speed Press, o ers a bold shot of color courage for those who tend to play it too safe.
Courtesy photo
Searching for a ordable housing in California? Good luck
Since 2019 there have been signi cant legislative e orts attempting to solve California’s chronic a ordable housing shortage. However, when discussing “a ordable” housing there is broad interpretation. State and federal housing assistance agencies, politicians and the welfare industry use “a ordable” to increase their constituency and funding for their agencies.
Federal and state housing agencies de ne a ordable housing as housing where its total cost, including utilities, taxes and insurance, is less than 30% of the gross household income. Using that de nition, a ordable housing for a household with a monthly income of $5,000, would be a monthly housing payment of $1,500. According to a Harvard University study, 50% of U.S. renters are in una ordable housing. Another survey by the National Association of Home Builders concludes that 66.6 million households, 49% out of a total of 134.9 million, are unable to a ord a $250,000 home. When reviewing a ordable housing to purchase, the California Association of Realtors has an index. The Housing A ordability Index measures whether a typical family earns enough income to qualify for a mortgage loan for a typical home based upon the area’s median selling price and median household income.
In El Dorado County, for example, the median household income is about $105,000 and the median selling price for a home is about $660,000. Assuming that a family has $60,000 for a down payment, a good credit score and not too much in revolving or household debts, about 35% of county residents can a ord to buy a medianpriced home.
California’s statewide a ordability index is only 15%. Eighty- ve percent of households can’t a ord to purchase the state’s $900,000 median-priced home. The Terner Center for Housing at University of California, Berkeley,
reports California’s high housing costs has the state’s homeownership rate at 50% lower than the rest of the country. Additionally, una ordable housing contributes to the exodus of people and corporations from California. It’s a source of the state’s high poverty rate and homelessness and it erodes the opportunity for wealth formation.
Despite political di erences, we all likely agree there should be a selection of housing available for all incomes. The political divide is in how we accomplish that goal. Over the past 50 years, Californians have tried to put the brakes on population growth by placing obstacles in the path of new developments. In the 1970s, during historic population growth, the median selling price of a California home was about $40,000, only slightly higher than the national average. That’s because new construction was keeping pace with increased jobs and population growth.
Today, when we are experiencing negative growth, our home prices are double the national average and we have a housing shortage of about two million units. Environmental compliance, regulatory commissions and litigation didn’t succeed in slowing California’s record population increases but it did succeed in making housing una ordable. Anti-growth policies created our chronic housing shortage and taxpayers today are paying the price.
The same class of political geniuses who convinced us in the ’70s and ’80s that we could control growth by regulations and costly mitigation e orts for new housing developments is now set on convincing us that we can solve our a ordable housing shortage with taxpayer dollars and with rent control. However, history has proved that when the government is involved, whatever housing gets built will not be a ordable.
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thus, joy.
“When you pick colors for reasons other than happiness, it can have the counter e ect,” she said. “If you love a certain color, lean into it.” “Colorful Living” illustrates how buying furniture in colors you love, whether you favor pastels, woodland shades or jewel tones, not only results in a psychological boost, but also ultimately saves money.
A er taking readers through a painless review of color theory, Smith’s book shares tips on nding your favorite color, which perhaps you’ve suppressed. (Hello, yellow!) It then
Equal Opportunity Law
All real estate advertising in this newspaper is subject to the federal Fair Housing Act which makes it illegal to advertise “any preference, limitation or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, physical handicap, familial status or national origin, or an intention to make any such preferences, limitation or discrimination.” California also extends protection based on age and marital status. The Mountain Democrat makes every effort to comply with these federal and state regulations. We ask your assistance in maintaining an acceptable standard of advertising. While they may seem inconvenient at times, these laws are written to protect you, our readers and advertisers, as well as ourselves. This newspaper will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate which is in violation of the law. Our readers are hereby informed that all dwellings advertised in this paper are available on an equal opportunity basis. For further information, you can call the Dept. of Fair Employment & Housing at (916) 445-9918 or the State Dept. of Consumer Affairs at (800) 344-9940.Note: Rental ads that contain the phrase “Single Occupancy” refer only to the physical characteristics of the dwelling and are not intended to state a preference of either marital or familial status.
Continued from 2
walks you through choosing a palette for your home and incorporating colors you love into your home and wardrobe. Here are some excerpts from our conversation:
Marni: What do you wish more people knew about color?
Rachel Mae: Choosing color doesn’t have to be that serious. More people should choose joyful over safe. When you mindfully choose items based on colors that make you happy, versus those that social media says you should buy, you’re more likely to love what you have longer. While choosing a hot-pink sofa or a funky patterned chair is certainly not for everyone, in the grand scheme of life, it’s a lowrisk endeavor. Research shows, we are more likely to hold onto bold designs longer because we crave visual stimulation. So, while a bright piece of furniture may seem shocking, it might remain
in your home for longer than you think. Where should those nervous about adding color start?
Begin by adding color to your life with small items you use o en. If all you do is decide to drink your morning co ee from a mug that’s your favorite color, that’s a start. Then try getting a lime-green soap dispenser or an indigo doormat and see how dashes of color in hightra c items add joy. To introduce color to a bland room, start with a rug in colors you love. Even if the room has neutral walls and furniture. Then bring color from the rug upward into the room with art, throw pillows and accent pieces, such as vases, sculptures and planters. Outdoor furniture is another place to push yourself with color. Try brightly colored outdoor rugs, pillows, tables, chairs and umbrellas.
In your book, you talk about the economics of
color. Most people think that investing in neutrals is smart and choosing color is expensive, but you ip that. Can you explain?
First, if you’re painting your walls neutral with resale in mind, you are painting your home for the next owner not for you. You miss the point. Second, It’s not more expensive to have a colorful home. Everyone can a ord color. Products are usually the same price regardless of their color.
Third, putting the time into creating a cohesive color palette helps you reduce impulse buying and frivolous spending, because you shop more selectively.
While much of your book is about granting permission to break the rules, you also mention a few color rules we should follow. What are they?
Acknowledge what in your space you cannot change, such as the oor, cabinets and trim, and incorporate those colors
into your palette from the start. Don’t ignore existing colors because you don’t like them. In fact, once you include these un-favorite colors in your palette, you can choose favorite colors that complement them and make the space feel more in sync.If your kitchen has gray linoleum oors, nd colors you love that complement them. Is there a place for neutrals?
Neutrals are colors that don’t show up on a color wheel, like beige, gray, taupe, black, white, cream and brown, and they have an important place in design. In fact, they can set o featured colors. In my entryway, for example, I painted the ceiling (Sherwin Williams) Loveable Pink, the color of bubblegum, but the walls are white, and the oors are a mid-tone brown wood.
If I could have my whole house in pink it just might be. My hair is pink. It’s been pink for nine years. It works for me.
Marni Jameson is the author of seven books, including “Rightsize Today to Create Your Best Life Tomorrow,” “What to Do With Everything You Own to Leave the Legacy You Want” and “Downsizing the Family Home.” You may reach her at marnijameson.com.
An example is the new $165 million Weingart Permanent Support Housing project in Los Angeles. This a ordable housing project costs about $594,000 for each small studio apartment or $1,000 a square foot. According to an audit by City Controller Ron Galperin, the average cost for the city to build one housing unit was $700,000. Closer to home, the city of Sacramento is spending $50 million to remodel 100 existing downtown hotel rooms at a cost of $500,000 per room. Mayor Darrell Steinberg calls that a ordable. The Sacramento Bee recently completed an analysis of all the a ordable housing that has been built or remodeled in the region. Its analysis was that the median costs were $500,000 per unit averaging $800 per square foot. Taxpayers’ costs for most statewide new a ordable housing projects is unknown. According to the state’s Legislative Analysis O ce, over the last three years the state cannot account for $24 billion spent on a ordable housing.
California doesn’t have the trillions of dollars required to build needed housing and the housing bureaucracy
has little incentive to control costs. To continue with more spending and rent control ballot measures is a road to nowhere. What the government can do is declare an emergency, adopt reforms and tell builders “Build Baby Build.”
One-third of the cost of new construction in California is not related to labor and materials. It is the cost of regulatory compliance and mitigation fees. That’s why it’s impossible to build homes under the $600,000 price range. Other states and their local jurisdictions are approving, developing and building quality neighborhoods at half the price. Everyone involved in the housing industry knows why new housing is una ordable. There have been countless focus studies, academic research, and published ndings explaining why. We have been long on research and short on action. Whenever the Legislature gets serious about bringing down the cost of housing, what’s le of the California building industry is ready to solve that problem.
Ken Calhoon is a real estate broker in El Dorado County. He can be reached for questions of comments at ken@kencalhoon.com.
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Top reasons to consider a steel roof for your home
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Swaste generated by roo ng projects and conserves natural resources.
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teel is increasingly becoming the go-to material used for residential roo ng. According to industry experts, this is because steel o ers both a range of design advantages, as well as features that align with sustainable living. Here are some of steel roo ng’s biggest bene ts and why you should consider it for your home:
Durability: Steel roo ng is highly durable and can last for 50 years or more with proper maintenance. This longevity means that fewer roo ng materials end up in land lls over time compared to shorter-lived roo ng materials like asphalt shingles, which typically need replacement every 20-30 years.
Safety: Overall, steel roo ng o ers enhanced safety bene ts due to its reresistance, wind-resistance, structural integrity, durability, resistance to pests and mold, and low-maintenance requirements.
Recyclability: Steel has been recycled for over 100 years and is one of the most recyclable materials in the world. As a forerunner of the circular economy, it can be recycled in nitely into new steel products without losing its quality or durability. This reduces the amount of
Energy e ciency: Alongside such technological innovations as solar panels and energy-e cient HVAC systems, steel roo ng is becoming integral to residential design, particularly for those looking to reduce their carbon footprint. This is because steel roo ng re ects solar radiant heat, reducing cooling costs during hot weather. Many steel roo ng products are also coated with re ective nishes that further enhance energy e ciency by reducing heat absorption.
Versatility: Steel roo ng comes in a variety of styles, colors and pro les, allowing you to achieve the desired aesthetic for your home. Whether you prefer a traditional look or a modern design, steel roo ng can accommodate a wide range of architectural preferences, enhancing the curb appeal and value of the property.
Long-term cost savings: Although the initial investment in steel roo ng may be higher than some other roo ng materials, its long lifespan and low maintenance requirements make it a cost-e ective choice in the long run.
Adaptive and resilient design:
exterior and interior, remodeled bathrooms, new roof, and new driveway. Close to schools, public transportation, shopping centers, dining, and medical facilities. Spacious backyard for entertaining, gardening, relaxing and your pets will have plenty of room to run and play. Don’t miss this one, start
Braden Rd, Camino
bedroom, 2.5 bath home o ers the perfect blend of natural beauty on 10 beautiful acres. Entertainers delight featuring a chef’s kitchen with space, center island, quartzite counters, tile backsplash, 8 burner gas range, appliances, breakfast nook & much more! Step outside to the covered patio and with sink, refrigerator and built in grill, surrounded by fruit trees. Newly generator and 2 Navien instant water heaters. Brand New Tesla Solar Panels maximum energy e ciency! Over $300,000 in Upgrades! Must see this lovely home to appreciate! Call for a appointment today.
Amidst the challenges posed by climate change and other environmental factors, responsible home design emphasizes resilience and adaptability. This entails using durable materials such as steel, which can withstand extreme weather events. By embracing innovative approaches from the outset, your home can be forti ed to withstand future uncertainties while helping ensure your safety and comfort.
Social responsibility: As a durable and versatile material, steel plays a vital role in home construction that withstands the test of time while remaining a ordable
and accessible. Integrating steel into the design process can contribute to the well-being and prosperity of both individuals and communities, ensuring that the future of housing is socially inclusive and responsible.
To learn more about how steel can bene t your home visit ussteel.com/ hgtv-smart-home.
Whether you’re building a home from scratch or you’re renovating your existing property, using durable, sustainable materials like steel from U.S. Steel can protect your wallet and the planet.
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