That versatility combined with the material’s durability and heat-resistant properties make is a perfect choice for a luxurious kitchen countertop. In addition, with changes in the global economy and world trade policies, granite from all over the world with different patterns, designs and colors, is made available to home designers and builders. That means that, no matter the style or design of your kitchen you are sure to find a granite contertop to match it.

Choosing a granite countertop:

Considering that each single piece of granite is unique, and if damaged can only be replaced by something fairly similar but never exactly equal, there are two main features to consider when picking granite countertops:

Origin:  keep in mind that some types of granite come from overseas, and a change in trade policies may make a specific type of granite hard to find at some point.

Movement:  “Movement” refers to the variations in granite’s color, tone, granularity, pattern, etc.  Movement is really what makes each stone so attractive and one-of-a-kind.  Depending  on the size of your kitchen you can keep it uniform with slabs from the same block, or mix and match movements. You can, for example, have uniform countertops around the kitchen and a distinctive one on a central island.

This article  in the Home Remodeling Association of Connecticut website encourages you to be creative with granite countertops:

It’s more than likely you will have at least a 4-inch granite backsplash where your counter meets your wall.  Play with color here, going light or dark, or both.  Movement in granite allows you to be creative with your countertops, without losing the extravagant feel.  There are metallic swirls in some stones, dignified and tight grain patterns in others.  Some have a pebbled, flecked look.  Others are unvarying.  It all depends on the combination of quartz, crystals and minerals in the piece of stone.  It’s all an igneous formula from underground.  It’s polished, sized and chosen for the specific look you want in your bathroom or kitchen countertop.

The colors are vast, from light to dark.  At the moment, blue granite is creating quite a trend.  If you’re looking to brighten a room, think lighter colors with patterns less dense, and don’t be afraid of metallic flecks and accents.  It will compliment any lighting or other color scheme on your floor, walls, or artwork.  Monotone black, grey, or white is appropriate for a more modern look and geometric feel.  Some contemporary kitchens have finished wood cabinetry with clear panels.  Darker granite offers a cool contrast.

Modern cooks favor granite countertops over all other options due to its ability to withstand the high heat of a pan direct from the oven.  Granite won’t blister or damage. It is also a great surface to form pastries, cool candy and work chocolate. It is hardness is more likely to harm your cutlery than allow the countertop to be damaged by it.

However, because it is quite porous, granite needs to be sealed often to be suitable as a countertop. It should be sealed when installed, and re-sealed at least once a year. Sealing a countertop is a project that you can tackle on your own,  as the materials are sold in most hardware stores.

Even sealed granite is somewhat vulnerable to certain materials and foods.  Unfortunately, it may still absorb cooking oil spills, grease, and acidic foods like pineapple, lemon, and salad dressing.   A dark stain, dullness, etching, or cloudy appearance, are all signs that your granite has been damaged by outside chemicals.  The good news is that there are remedies for specific stains, like fat, oil, acid, coffee, even color stains like ink or wine.  It’s always best when in doubt to contact the installer or manufacturer for cleaning advice.

Fairfield County Granite, a trusted CHDA Member, offers the finest and most luxurious granite countertops to suit any  kitchen remodeling project in Connecticut. Each is piece is custom cut and fabricated in their  own state of the art facility.

The products are delivered and impeccably installed by an experienced crew,  with  100% customer satisfaction guarantee, and in their website you can find a gallery with samples of all the different types of granite they offer, as well as pictures of installed products.

You can contact Fairfield County Granite through the CHDA website and take advantage of an exclusive coupon that gives you $300 off the total of your kitchen countertop purchase.

Image Credit: RoyaltyFree/Corbis

A combination of medical advances, and an overall increase in both our awareness  and willingness to make healthier lifestyle choices, is causing us to live longer . We are now more aware of the changes our body goes through as it ages, and we are able to make all the necessary changes to adapt to them, while still living full, independent and very productive lives.

What if your home could age just as gracefully as you do? What if it remained safe, comfortable and fully accessible throughout all the changes in yours and your family’s lives?

The Aging-In-Place Movement seeks just that: create homes that adapt to people’s changing needs over the years and allow them to live independently, regardless of their size, age, physical condition or mobility.

Aging-In-Place incorporates the concept of  “Universal Design: The design of products and environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without adaptation or specialized design.”

For example, even if you do not need to sit to cook, what if the kitchen counters were only  high enough to allow you and  your visiting grandchild bake a batch of cookies comfortably together? Wouldn’t that be great?

Aging-In-Place maximizes the use of space and fixtures, by making them accessible and safe to all.

Whether you are someone who is still raising a family,  just sent the kids to college or has been  living by yourself for a while, it is always a good idea to start planning and executing small improvements to make sure your home will serve you just as well in the future as it does today – no matter what that future brings. It is never too early to start.

Getting Started

The first step in preparing your home for universal accessibility is to perform a quick assessment of your needs. The kitchen and the bathrooms are the main areas of concern, due to safety issues. That is where you should probably start the assessment, using these handy Bathroom Safety Checklist and Kitchen Safety Checklist found in the Designs for Independent Living Blog.The blog is kept by Andrew Robinson, a Connecticut architect and CHDA Member who is also an

You will see that some significant improvements can be performed at little or no cost. Things like clearing clutter and installing brighter lighting can make a world of difference.

If you need to perform design changes or special architectural adaptations, you will need to hire an architect or a contractor.

Hiring a Professional

Make sure the professional you are hiring is an Aging-In-Place Certified Specialist. These specialists are trained and up-to-date on the latest universal design technologies, standards, and processes, as well as Aging-In-Place Guidelines.

They will be able to work with you in finding the best design based on yours and your family’s specific needs, and your home’s peculiar configuration, and if needed, prioritize and phase the project, to give you some financial flexibility.

If you live in Connecticut, Andrew Robinson Architect is the professional you need. You can contact this Trusted CHDA Member through his page on the Connecticut Home Design Association Website.

Do you have a garage and no room in it to park a car?

Did you ever have to pay a late fee simply because you could not find the bill to pay it in time?

If I ask you right now for your tax return information for the past 5 years,  your pay stubs for the past 5 weeks or your birth certificate,  will it will take more than 10 minutes to locate and retrieve them?

If you answered yes to any of the above, don’t feel guilty. You are not alone. The US Department of Energy reports that 25% of homeowners with a two car garage don’t park any cars in them, and 32% park only one.

Research shows that 23% of adults say they pay late fees because they can’t locate the bills and Americans waste more than 9 million hours a day looking for lost and misplaced items.

Most of us would like to be organized and neat, but truth is, sometimes we just can’t keep up with work and daily chores, through no fault of our own. You should not feel guilty or embarrassed about it, because clutter and lack of organization are a product of very busy lifestyles, and not necessarily of procrastination and laziness.

Home organization is about method, consistency and time administration, and that is not exactly a “no-brainer” for most people, specially when they are living with the clutter and the mess. Like it happens with so many instances in life, sometimes you need to seek help from a pro to do things you feel you should be able to do on your own, and it is perfectly ok to do it.

According to Linda, from LMS Customized Solutions, a trusted CHDA member who provides Home Organization Services in Connecticut these are basic reasons why people usually hires a Home Organizer:

To brainstorm ideas – get a different perspective on the issues

To validate that their ideas will work

The process will go faster with the help of a professional

Not enough time or energy to tackle the project alone

Do not want to tackle the project alone

Procrastinating – Organizers can keep you focused and on track

If you need help organizing your Connecticut home, contact LMS Customized Solutions today.

Image Credits: http://www.flickr.com/photos/boltron/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

In today’s global economy, however, quality oriental rugs can be found at more affordable prices while remaining an excellent investment. The problem with that is that, unless you know the basics about oriental rugs, or work with a reputable, knowledgeable consultant and trader,  you can be easily tricked into purchasing an inferior product, sometimes for the price of a legitimate one.

What are Oriental Rugs?
Many furniture, carpeting, department and home improvement stores, call Oriental Rugs every kind of carpet that has a pattern resembling that of an genuine rug.  Some call oriental rugs, every carpet produced imported from Eastern countries, regardless of whether they are hand or machine woven.  Some call oriental rugs, every type of handwoven carpet produced in the eastern. That kind of confusion can be very misleading.

Genuine oriental rugs are indeed, handwoven and produced in several Middle Eastern and Eastern countries but they have one very specific characteristic that sets them apart from all the other products mistakenly given that name: they are hand knoted, not tufted, and they are made with natural materials and dyes, rather than nylon, polypropilene and synthetic dyes.

Where do Oriental Rugs come From?
Oriental rugs are produced mainly in Afghanistan, China, India, Iran, Nepal, Tibet, Pakistan, The Caucasus, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Turkey. However, not every carpet produced in these countries are classified as legitimate Oriental Rugs.  Legitimate pieces are hand knoted, not hand tufted.

How can you tell the difference between a genuine rug and an inferior product?

There are basically two “tell-tale” signs of a fake rug:

• Fabric lined back: A hand tufted rug has a fabric liner glued to the back of the carpet. Because the yarn is not knoted over warps, the only thing holding that pile in place is the usually inexpensive latex glue, which tends to deteriorate and become brittle over time, causing the carpet to shed yarn. Hand tufted carpets are also usually made with inferior materials and are no more valuable in the market than machine made rugs.
• Glued or sewn on fringe: Hand knoted carpets have a fringe formed by the end of the warp strings running from one end of the rug to the other. Hand tufted rugs have no fringe so a separate one (usually woven as a tape) is often glued or sewn to the piece.

If you are shopping for Oriental Rugs in Connecticut, Simjian Rugs, a trusted CTHDA member can help you. With an inventory comprised only of the finest pieces and the exclusive home consultation service, Simjian Rugs gives Connecticut homeowners an unique shopping experience: the opportunity to visualize a selection of area rugs in the privacy of their own homes.

Contact them today to schedule your in-home consultation.

Think about making a room in your house looking like an Egyptian temple, a Moroccan palace or an Italian Villa. Painted objects that look so real that you feel you can grab them.

Trompe l'oeil : to trick the eye. This is just what is happening here. The golf set isn't real.

These are the kinds of things Marc Potocsky, muralist, artist and designer has been creating  for Connecticut residents for the past 18 years.

“Decoration is an age old art form, based on, craftsmanship, personal taste, mood, relation, environment and sharing beauty. My passion is to paint and my pleasure is to do it for my clients”  – he states.

Marc’s work has been featured in prestigious  magazines and newspapers such as New England Home, The Hartford Courant, The New York Times, Faux Finisher Magazine and others.

His work was awarded best in show by The Boston Globe. and appeared in home  television shows such as  “This Old House” and two episodes of “Extreme Makeover Home Edition”.

Marc’s work has been exhibited at the prestigious “Salon” A gathering of international decorative painters and artisans, by invite only.

Many of his works are also featured in decorative painting books, “Mural Painting, Secrets for success” and Designer Faux Finishing” to name a few.

Want to see more of Marc’s amazing work? Visit his MJP Studio gallery.

Want Marc to create something special for your home? Contact him through his CTHDA page.

Marc is a member of the Connecticut Home Design Association.

Think it is a dream? The Winter Wonder Sale at Basset Furniture mighyt be just what you need to make that dream come true.  Hundreds of dollars off of many of the items in their catalogue, and no interest for 12 months!

Was just browsing their catalogue, dazzled by the choices.

The room planning tool in their website, helps you pick pieces that will fit your room and style.

Want more? Go to the Basset Furnishings page at the CTHDA website and grab yourself a Coupon for extra 25% off on any purchase.

What is not to love?

Beautiful Red Dining Room by DGR Interior Designs

One of the first, and probably most difficult decisions to be made in an interior design project is to chose a color palette for every room. There is the challenge of picking the favorite colors among a myriad of choices and then find just the right hues, the right shades, for each part  of the project.  And then, make sure that the colors will actually give you the expected results under each room’s specific lighting (or absense of it).

A brightly lit room might make that very pale green wall look more dirty than colorful.  A light shade of terracota might end up looking like dark brown in a dimly lit basement.  Colors can make a room look bigger or smaller, formal or cozy, welcoming or uncomfortable, cheerful or depressing.

Even if you are recruiting the help of a good Connecticut Interior Designer, it is a good idea to know what kind of effect you are looking for in your projects. It is better if you have at least an idea of what kind of colors will match your taste and personaloty.

There are a few tips that will make this task much easier.

1- Know your colors

According to this article,  there are basically four types of combination for color palletes:

“Neutral
Calming, stabilizing, and harmonious, neutral colors run from white to black, including all shades of gray.  Some consider brown a neutral.  Neutrals balance brighter colors and handsome woods.  Maybe you’re considering a single red wall to give your living room some pop.  Natural elements like a stone fireplace and lodge-inspired wood beams will do well with stabilizing neutrals.

Complimentary
Complimentary colors schemes lie on opposite sides of the color wheel, yet simply match, and are familiar side-by-side hues.  Complimentary colors exist in harmony but add uniqueness, as they seem to burst and glow quite well together.  A common complimentary scheme is red and green around the holidays.  Think blue and orange, and purple and yellow.  Complimentary color schemes are often seen on sports uniforms.

Analogous
Again, interior design is art.  Analogous color schemes are used to show dimension in painting—and when designing and decorating a home.  It is simply the use of colors that come from a common hue on the color wheel.  Green is a combination of yellow and blue, and earth tones like brown and terra cotta come from green.  Playing on green, one may create tones sharp and vibrant, like lime green, or quiet, calming, and natural, like sage green.  Analogous color schemes play on one hue they share, to create depth and thoughtfulness.

Monochromatic
This is the technique of shading and tinting by adding black or white to a single color.  It is similar to analogous scheming, but with a bit more structure.  If a single blue hue is taken, and white is added for a lighter blue, and black is added for yet another hue, three wavelengths of the same blue exist—monochromatically.

Warm and Cool
Simply, some colors have a cool vibe, and some colors have a warm vibe.  Warm colors are yellow, red, orange, and perhaps some browns.  Cool colors include blue, purples, and greens.  Some prefer to keep rooms either “warm” or “cool.” ”

2. Know your color personality

Color has the ability to influence your mood,  and the atmosphere in your home. Pick the wrong scheme and you might feel overwhelmed, or soon get tired of it. Pratt and Lambert Paints offer this cool “Color Personality” Assessment tool that might help narrow down your choices and find a pallete that suits your personality and lifestyle

3. When in doubt,  go with the trends.

The biggest names in color design for the interior design industry release, every year, their forecast on color trends for the period. Looking at their suggestions is always a great idea.  Choosing a trendy color palette will make your project look stylish and fashionable.

For 201o. for example, the Paint Quality Studio, came up with palettes to suit just about any style. Behr Paints, the famous manufacturer of one of the best brands of interior and exterios paints, also have interesting suggestions for 2010, right out of their own collection.

Want to look at some professional palletes or try your hand at creating your own palette? Pantone has the MyPantone site where you can see suggested professional palletes or  play around with colors and design your own palettes.

4. Inspiration bits.

I have a friend who designedher bedroom with a collor palette based on the cover of her favorite album. Do you have a favorite painting? A carpet? A beautiful print or a dazzling patterned fabric? Why not use these as inspiration to build palettes?

Once you made up your mind, show your interior designer your choice ot palettes. That will save the professional a lot of guessing and you will be one significant step closer to your dream decor.

If you live in Connecticut, give Diane Geltman-Rivera, from DGR Interior Designs a call. She will be happy to assist you in every phase of your decoration project.

The Star Trek inspired "Bridge Theater": Where no Home Theater has gone before.

With the current economy, complicated housing market, and the end of the fuel crisis nowhere in sight, homeowners begin to look at their own homes as a source of entertainment. One of the biggest trends of the past decade, and which experts say will remain strong way into the middle of this century, were re-purposed and multi-function rooms.

Rather than try to build additions, or move into bigger homes, homeowners are trying to make the best of what they already have. Walls between kitchens, dining rooms, and living rooms are being forfeited in favor a single, big room that combines all the three functions. Formal living rooms are being transformed in a mix of Home Theater and Family Room; dining rooms, are now home offices and libraries. Basements are no long storage rooms, but media rooms, home offices and “man-caves”.

Current technologies allow homeowners to build custom home theaters to fit any size or type of room, many of which offering a sound and video experience  that is usually equivalent or superior to most commercial theaters.

Add to that the fact that you can share that experience with as many friends as you can fit in the room, and there will be no gas spent, no parking or ticket fees and other draw backs like paying more for a bag of popcorn and a soda than you would for a complete dinner in a pretty decent restaurant, and you have a win.

Basic Home Theater
There are three basic types of Home Theater configurations. The Basic Home Theater is probably the most versatile configuration. A basic home theater system can be designed to fit any room of the house. It is perfect  as an addition to an existing living or family room, virtually a must in every “man-cave”,  and a desirable feature in  a bedroom. The video and sound offer quality comparable to many commercial theaters.

Dedicated Home Theater
A Dedicated Home Theater, built in a room of its own, significantly enhance the viewers experience. The high resolution video equipment is matched with a state-of-the-art surround sound system; hat is designed to work with specific room features to maximize results. Combined with comfortable, luxurious seating and advanced, computerized remote controls that let you pick not only audio and video settings, but control things like room lighting and temperature, give the viewers an enhanced experience, fairly superior to commercial home theaters

Extreme Home Theaters
For homeowners who have the room, time, taste, creativity, and budget an Extreme Home Theater takes the concept of home entertainment to another level. Extreme Home Theaters have sophisticated audio and video configurations combined with technologies such as motion seats, which will move, turn, vibrate following the action on screen, giving the viewer a Theme Park experience. Some homeowners go as far as combining these technologies with a room décor and design that is built around a theme, like the Star Trek inspired Home Theater illustrating this article or the  highly publicized Star Wars Home Theater. Click here for a virtual tour of that project.

Feel inspired?  Want to build a Home Theater in your Connecticut Home?

Whether it is a Basic, Dedicated or Extreme one, the guys at Smarthome and Theater Systems, can make all your Home Theater Dreams come True!

Smart Home and Theater Systems is a trusted CDHA member, with a great service reputation and references from many satisfied customers. Call them today for an estimate!

Browsing the web for more Extreme Home Theaters I found some interesting projects. Check them out:

Steve Jenkins re-created the atmosphere of old Movie Theaters in his home, with an impresive ammount of hand crafted details.

Holy Home Theater Batman! A very interesting project by a company in Porthsmouth, NH