3 Tips for Decorating Red in Your Home

Jessica Ackerman - During these chilly months, the winter weather is often quite bleak and cold outdoors. However, this doesn't mean that the inside of your home has to look bleak as well. This year, why not spice up your home's look with some exciting touches of red? Not only is red the perfect choice for Valentine's Day decor, but it's also just a great color to add an overall warm and inviting look to your home long after Love Day has passed. Here are 3 tips you can use to help spice up your home with red.

1. Decorate with Hearts

Heart shapes can offer a lot of decorating versatility, not only for Valentine's Day decor but also throughout the rest of the year. Whether you prefer small, frilly and romantic looking hearts or the bold look of large heart shapes, the overall look will be warm and inviting. If you like the look of wooden art, look for pieces that feature a heart motif. For a subtler look, kitchen towels decorated with small red hearts or a wallpaper border featuring red hearts could be just what you need.

2. Go Bold

If you want to give your home a warmer look for winter, try going bold with your color scheme. Darker and bolder colors often work quite well for winter decorating schemes, providing a much-needed touch of contrast against the white snow and bare tree branches outdoors. Red can be a perfect choice to use, especially since there are so many different red shades from which to choose. For example, you might choose a deep burgundy shade to blend nicely with a traditional decorating scheme, or a bright light red shade to add a more contemporary touch.

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DIY Alert - 3 Products to Help Repair Cracked Walls

Irwin Weiner ASID - I confess to the guilty pleasure of enjoying a do-it-yourself read now and then, and one of my DIY go-to guides is The Family Handyman. FH is loaded with great projects and what-works-for-me tips from their readers. I was recently impressed with their article on simplifying wall repair. Here are a few of their products and tips.

Good-Bye Cracks - imagine a spray can that works miracles on cracked walls, particularly those walls that keep getting hairline cracks! Try spraying it on both wide and hairline cracks, although it's primarily recommended for the little guys. Clean the loose material out of all cracks, filling them with joint compound. Then spray on two or three coats of G-BC (make sure you're spraying on a nice, even coat as this isn't a surface you can sand). When completely dry, prime and paint it.

Step Saver Stress Crack Tape - the directions say that you just stick this tape over the crack and you can paint over it, but experts advise that you skim over it with some joint compound so that you don't see the edges of the tape repair area.

Wall Liner - when your walls are so badly cracked that you don't know where to start and how to finish ... and you don't want to install new drywall ... many homeowners use heavy-duty wall liner; this extra-thick paintable wallpaper functions like a huge patch over the cracks. Look for the best solution for your wall texture as you can find rolls at home supply centers that are textured, patterned, and smooth. (You can also use wall liner to cover cinderblock and other wall surfaces so you have a completely different look when you're done.)

Now back to The Family Handyman; you might want to follow their advice on How to Repair a Drywall Crack - click on the link for an easy step-by-step guide.

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Interior Design Favorites from KGB Limited

Irwin Weiner ASID - It's hard to find great new furniture and home goods resources, but it felt like hitting the mother lode when I recently got an introductory email from KGB Limited (Khouri Guzman Bunce - the three principals). Head to their Chelsea showroom to see old world workmanship combined with sleek, modern style sensibilities - like the beautiful carving of statuary marble on a dramatic black base in the Demarco Dining Table (above). The end result is spectacular and here are 8 of my favorites (oh, I could have gone with more, but you'll get the idea). Click on each photo for more information on each piece from the KGB website.

The Mancini Chair cushions float on a bronze baseSurprise! The green lacquered aluminum shell of the Johansson Dresser.

Deep tray in heavy stainless steel on precise African Ebony legs

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10 Home Lighting Tips from a Tony Winner

Irwin Weiner ASID - Go to an interior designer for all-things decorating, including lighting. But sometimes even the pros need to get a little inspiration from specialists in the field. One such font of wisdom is Kevin Adams, a Tony Award winner who specializes in lighting.

Here are some of Kevin's home lighting tips:

• At a dinner party, try not to have overhead lighting glaring down on your family and guests. "Light coming straight down on people is not flattering to the face or any object in the room."
• "Layers of light" will create the desired lighting for any party or special evening. Kevin uses table lamps of varying heights to create warm and friendly pools of light. The interplay of light and shadows is highly desirable.
• Install dimmers on all your lights to adjust the level of light at any time of day in your home. "Even the music sounds better when the lights are down."
• Put low-wattage light bulbs in your table lamps for parties - after all, no one's going to be reading a book!
• "People look very handsome in amber light." Kevin uses 13-watt amber-hued compact fluorescent light bulbs or CFLs - colored CFLs will produce a more saturated color than traditional incandescent bulbs.

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