"Twique Your Style!"  

from:  Twiques:  The Art of Home Comfort 
In This Issue
Further Colour Options
Best Options when Renovating
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Issue #3                                                        January/2009


Good morning and welcome to a new year!  Now is the time to consider some fresh ideas for your home. 
 
Trends are on everyone's minds these days at the start of the new year and we have discussed a couple of them, colour and furniture.  Although the colour yellow is at the forefront this year, other colour palettes are still popular.  Nature inspired palettes are probably the best bet for most people, however Benjamin Moore has showcased four new colour palettes that are interesting and provide some food for thought about possible colour choices for the home.
 
 What ever your choice of colour palette, many people are looking at updating their homes this year instead of moving locations and so they will be investigating ways to renew and refresh their spaces. 
 
In this issue, we will look at the Benjamin Moore palettes for 2009 as well as which reno opportunities will improve homes for future sales once the market improves.
 
If you are, or were, thinking of selling, but decided to wait for the market to improve, now is the time to prepare your house so that when the market begins to improve, you will be ready to take advantage of it right away.
 
Happy reading!
 
Judith Lowe,
604-725-2935 
Further Colour Options for 2009
 
Benjamin Moore's Colour Choices for 2009 

raw colour palette BM 2009According to Benjamin Moore's  expert Doty Horn  there are four main color trends  for 2009. 
Raw: Horn says this palette comes from the push toward minimalism, pairing life down to its most authentic. This  palette is derived from unfinished wood, cinder blocks and other "make-do" materials.  It   includes shades of white, sand and gray.     The room above features three of the colors in the "Raw" palette: Tucson Winds on the walls, Mascarpone on the trim and Hush on the ceiling.
 
urban silence palette BM 20092.  This is the same room finished in the second of the colour palettes by Benjamin Moore - Urban Silence.   In this colour palette Horn said this group of colors reflects the changing delineation between life in the city and life outside the city. "This is where the trees become houses and the houses become trees," she explained.  As more urban buildings incorporate rooftop gardens and shipping containers are converted into living spaces, the city becomes a softer, more livable place. This palette reflects these changes by mixing the gray tones of urban living with vibrant, organic colors like green, rust and terra cotta. 
The room above features three of the colors in the "Urban Silence" palette: Shadow Gray on the walls, Wasabi as the trim and Lapland on the ceiling.

 simplexity palette BM 20093.  Simplexity is the third in the series by Benjamin Moore.  To understand this color palette, think about the pixels that make up a computer screen: thousands of tiny dots in different shades that come together to make a whole. These are colors that have more to them than meets the eye.
"The colors here are very complex, they have a lot of depth to them, but they're easy to use, so that's the simplicity part of that," Horn says. For example, she said, think of a color that looks black, but it's really purple. "It's almost black but it has an undercurrent of blue and red running underneath it and it just has a rich texture and a rich landscape, and the way that the light hits it, you start seeing the nuances of how those colors flip underneath it."
The room above features three of the colors in the "Simplexity" palette: Thunder on the walls, Meditation on the trim and Amsterdam on the ceiling.
 
 
private identity palette BM 2009This room features three of the colors in the "Private Identity" palette: Desert Rose on the walls, Tricycle Red on the trim and Lucerne on the ceiling. 
4.  This wild colour palette is called "Private identity".  With the "Private Identity" palette, Horn said she and the other color trends experts were thinking about how we express our individuality in such an overwhelming, populated world. Here, the colors are bright, bold and unexpected. "You're your own person so you're going to put together a personal statement color," Horn said. "You could do a bright red mixed with a powder blue and put a bold gold against it. So you've got this contrast of very bold color and then a very light color and that gives it an unexpected twist."
 
As you can see, Benjamin Moore has a very colourful twist on colour for 2009.  To read more about the Benjamin Moore colour palettes and Doty Horn's interpretation of them, follow the link at:  http://www.furniturestyle.com/Departments/FeatureArticles/tabid/55/Default.aspx?ContentID=12713

 
Best Options when Renovating
 Areas that provide more "Bang for your Buck" when Renovating:
 

reno guideWhen you are making the decision to renovate, especially if you are doing so because you are considering resale, it is important to think about which areas will let you have a good return on your investment. 
 
According to the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation almost any renovation will add to, or at least protect, the equity in your home, but kitchen and bathroom renovations and painting normally provide the greatest payback when you sell. If your property taxes and insurance premiums go up, the increase is usually small.

 
 Over time, the money you save on heat, light and water by making your home more energy efficient may actually pay for the upgrades. Safety also pays. Insurance companies often decrease premiums when you improve wiring or fire prevention and improve or add a security system.
On the other hand, you can overdo a good thing. If you plan to move within a few years, is the renovation worth it? Will it pay to put on an expensive new addition when your house is in an area of more modest homes?
 
CMHC feels that kitchen and bathrooms are the two areas of your home which will provide the greatest return on your investment, however, you do need to consider the area your house is in and the type of homes around it.  Sometimes people over do their homes and can actually price them out of the market.
 
If you are considering a home renovation, CMHC has some good information to help you determine your needs for both kitchen and bath renos as well as other areas of the home.  Check them out at:    http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/co/renoho/refash/

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Happy Renovating!  Next week we'll look at colour choices for the bath. 
Whatever your interest:  renovating, decorating or preparing for selling, we can assist you to achieve your goals.  We are certified Redesign, Staging and Interior Decorating professionals who specialize in helping homeowners create a place of rest and relaxation.  We, at Twiques:  The Art of Home Comfort, would like to help you solve your design and decorating dilemmas; our goal is to help you create a haven to come home to at the end of your busy day. 
head shotCall us for a consultation today!
 
 
Sincerely,
Judith Lowe
Twiques: The Art of Home Comfort