Five Painting Tips for Your Next Home Project

Infographic of painting tip #4.

A new coat of paint can freshen up any room. With a few tricks, your painting project can be a breeze too. (Photo Courtesy of Home Depot.)

By Jay Harris

Although most of us won’t re-roof our own home or install our own HVAC system, interior painting is a project almost anyone can handle. Whether you’re updating a new purchase or rental or just overhauling drab colors or repurposing a room, getting out the paint rollers and brushes can be a memorable bonding experience for couples and families.

When it’s all said and done, painting is as simple as picking out your colors, throwing down a drop cloth and putting brush to plaster. Knowing a few tricks of the trade, however, can make for a more pleasant experience that avoids the potential headaches that can arise from any DIY home project. Here are five handy painting tips to make your home improvement project a breeze:

1. Use Rosin Paper Instead of a Drop Cloth

Although a large, old sheet has long been the traditional floor covering for room painting, it’s easy for the thin fabric to get bunched up and kicked out of place. Even worse, spilled paint can quickly leak through and stain carpet or hardwood.

Eliminate that potential problem by using a roll of heavy rosin paper. Tape it to the floor along the edge where it meets the wall, layering with a slight overlap across the room. The paper blocks moisture, prevents stains and stays firmly in place.

2. Ventilate Your Room

Many people forget to protect themselves before cracking open a can of paint in their homes, leaving themselves with a potential headache (quite literally). With our houses sealed ever-tighter to improve energy efficiency, it’s important to open windows and ventilate before painting, especially when not using a low-VOC paint. A fan can also be used to suck fumes out of the window. Finally, if you’re using a chemical to clean your brushes, take that chore outside.

3. Patch Before Painting

Chances are that your walls bear scars punctured by years of hanging pictures. Although it’s tempting just to paint right over these holes, your final result will look much better if you patch them first. Get a tub of spackling paste and use a putty knife to fill the holes, and then scrape away the excess with the knife. Once it dries, sand the wall until the filled hole is level.

4. Wet Your Brush

The cost of quality paintbrushes can add up, but that doesn’t mean you should sacrifice the feeling and result that a great brush produces. Instead, take care of your brushes by getting them wet under the faucet before dipping them in paint. Squeeze the water out and then dip your brush only about a third of the way up the bristles into the paint. Following this process will keep paint from seeping up into the ferrule (the metal part the holds the bristles to the handle), which can quickly ruin a brush.

5. Freeze Your Brushes

If you plan to paint over the course of several days, you’re tasked with cleaning your brush at the end of each session to prevent the paint from hardening within the bristles. Skip this step (and save the paint you’ll wash away) by wrapping your brush in plastic wrap and storing it in the freezer. Within 15 minutes of removing it the next day, your brush will be ready to use, preloaded with paint. The same trick works for paint rollers.

Painting should be fun. It’s a project anybody can handle and the end results are always rewarding. With a few of these tips in your back pocket, you’ll be painting like the pros.

Jay Harris is a Home Depot sales associate in Palatine, Ill., and is a regular contributor to Home Depot’s blog, where he provides advice on products such as standard light bulbs and LED light bulbs.

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Tinker Bell Finds Prime Real Estate in Austin

By Michael Bain

Did you know that each time a flower blossoms a fairy is born? With so many flowers in bloom, all those fairies need to a place to rest their little wings. That’s why the Zilker Botanical Gardens in Austin, Texas, hosted the First Annual Faerie Home and Garden Competition, consisting of an array of meticulously crafted little fairy dwellings made almost entirely from natural materials.

Twig Lounge
Twig Lounge

Through a lush sea of greenery the Twig Lounge stands evoking the magical world that is the Faerie Home and Garden Competition in Zilker Park. Honorable Mention for Most Cutting Edge Design!

The Rustic Side
The Rustic Side

3rd Place Winner for Most Innovative Building Materials! This fairy home by the Iris Society of Austin shows the rustic side of fairy dwellings, featuring some beautiful cedar bark and an iron fairy figurine in the entry way.

Pixie Palace
Pixie Palace

2nd Place Winner for Most Cutting Edge Design! The topsy turvy “Pixie Palace” by The Touch of Green illustrates some of the quirkier fairy architecture in this exhibit.

Punked Faery Hideout
Punked Faery Hideout

The ”Punked Faery Hideout” by Catherine Robertson features a spray tanned Barbie apparently falling out of a window.

The Daisy Chicks
The Daisy Chicks

This dwelling by The Daisy Chicks makes excellent usage of a hollowed out piece of  rounded wood. Honorable Mention for Most Cutting Edge Design!

Moss Roof
Moss Roof

This fairy home artfully uses live moss as its roofing material. Honorable Mention for Most Innovative Building Materials!

Yin Yang
Yin Yang

This Asian inspired dwelling turns the inside of a hollow log into prime fairy real estate. Honorable Mention for Most Innovative Building Materials!

Butterfly Food
Butterfly Food

This fairy home by The Austin African Violet Society features a draping house plant and some of Sasquatch’s back hair. Honorable Mention for Most Innovative Building Materials!

Encircling Austin
Encircling Austin

1st Place Winner for Most Innovative Building Materials! This beautiful seashell roofed fairy home by the Violent Crown Garden Club illustrates a more nautical side to the exhibit.

Fairyland Butterfly Tower
Fairyland Butterfly Tower

2nd Place Winner for Most Innovative Building Materials! This wonderfully whimsical fairy home by the Dougherty Arts Center makes excellent use of colored pebbles, moss and tree bark.

Fox Faeries
Fox Faeries

3rd Place Winner for Most Cutting Edge Design! This fairy home reflects some of the most meticulous craftsmanship of the exhibit.

Home Sweet Home
Home Sweet Home

1st Place Winner for Most Cutting Edge Design! This multilevel fairy home illustrates just how difficult a time some Austin architects have finding work.

Keeping It Simple
Keeping It Simple

This fairy starter home reflects its creators philosophy that less is more. Honorable Mention for Most Cutting Edge Design!

I unexpectedly stumbled across the whimsical world last Friday after a quick swim at local swimming hole Barton Springs in the Zilker Park area. Each home is truly a universe in and of itself with tiny twig furniture, spiraling finger-sized steps and other equally imaginative works of craftsmanship and design. From simple stick lounges to extravagant multileveled fairy towers, the degree of detail and creativity put into each fairy home will truly amaze you. The exhibit creates such a magical environment that you actually begin to feel a suspension of disbelief in the fairy world, as you see both children and adults alike looking in bewilderment at these fine creations.

Entrants showcased a healthy love of the fantastical by entering their fairy houses into the competition with a modest $25 entry fee for families and a $45 entry fee for designers and architects — the fee granted entrants with a 4-foot by 4-foot space in the botanical gardens to turn their fairy fantasy dwelling into a reality.

The fairy homes were a great opportunity to showcase a Peter Pan spirit in a fun and engaging way. The houses have been on display since March 11 and will remain in the gardens until May 26. If you are in Austin, you should certainly visit the Zilker Botanical Gardens before they take down this wondrous exhibit.

The garden also hosts a free Sunday workshop where you can learn about all sorts of fairy lore to enhance the fairy home experience.

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Secret Passageways, Arcades and Harry Potter: When Kids Design Their Own Rooms

A room inspired by "The Chronicles of Narnia." Photo by Abby Liga for The Wall Street Journal.

A room inspired by “The Chronicles of Narnia.” Photo: Abby Liga for The Wall Street Journal.

By Andrea Kinnison

Most kids have pretty wild ideas when it comes to decor. In fact, when I was 8 years old, my dad painted an entire woodland scene on my wall at my request. (It didn’t quite complement my Little Mermaid comforter.)

But while parents may allow their children to put up some quirky decor here and there, most of them don’t let kids actually design their own rooms. A small portion of moms and dads, however, give teens free reign on the matter — and the results are probably close to what you would expect!

The Wall Street Journal recently ran an article profiling some of these “teen wings” of houses and the photos are nothing short of jaw-dropping. One kid lives in a Manhattan townhouse with his own “1,000-square-foot … suite with ping-pong and billiards tables, a recording studio, kitchen and a theater for movies and video games.”

These rooms aren’t just for play; one pair of sisters have their own luxury bedrooms joined by an office-lounge hybrid, where they can do homework together.

Some children turned to favorite books as sources of inspiration. Unsurprisingly, the Harry Potter and The Chronicles of Narnia rooms sound fantastic:

When she was designing her family’s Ormond Beach, Fla., home, Melissa Kearney says she and her husband asked the kids what they wanted. As a result, their 3,600-square-foot Cape Cod includes a couple of secret passageways, an idea inspired by the Harry Potter series…The closet in 12-year-old Tia’s bedroom is fronted by a vintage armoire door, inspired by the one in the book The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Apparently parents are building these rooms in an effort to keep their teens home, making it easier to supervise them. I guess if someone has a basketball court in their house, it is simple to decide what they’ll be doing with friends on a Friday night. And when a child goes away to college, this is a surefire way for Mom and Dad to see them on the weekends. After all, if it comes down to dorm room versus Bat Cave, what’s going to win out?

I’m admittedly a bit jealous of some of these rooms, since a number of them are bigger than my house! And who wouldn’t want to have his or her own secret passageways, home theater and arcade? I may be a grown adult, but the idea of having my own personal playground sounds pretty darn awesome. I wonder if I could get a sleepover invite?

Andrea Kinnison is a writer for NewHomeSource.com. The fanciest thing in her room is an armoire that doesn’t open up to Narnia.

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SLIDESHOW: 2 Months, 4 Awesome New Homes

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By Andrea Kinnison

The construction of a new building can seem almost magical  to those who aren’t involved in the process. (Or maybe “baffling” is a better word.)

One day you drive by an empty lot on the way to work and on the trip home, a sparkling new Wal-Mart has suddenly set up residence. Or there’s a morning when you wake up to the new next door neighbors knocking on your door with smiles and a pie. Only thing is, there was no house next door last night.

Okay, so maybe construction doesn’t happen that quickly. But you have to admit, seeing a building spring up where previously  there was nothing is pretty interesting. And while it may seem like confounding trickery, all you’re looking at is lots of hard work by some skilled builders.

In fact, constructing buildings is a detailed and complicated process, and one that many people don’t actually get to witness in progress. Since homes are kind of our thing here at NewHomeSource, we decided to document builder David Weekley’s construction of four new homes in Austin, Texas. Now you can take a peek into the construction process and see that, as improbable as it sounds, homes don’t actually spring up overnight.

These four homes are located in The Villas at Canyon Creek, a neighborhood nestled in the hills of Northwest Austin. As you can see from the slideshow, this community offers some pretty breathtaking views of the Texas scenery, so it’s hardly surprising that families are eager to build their new homes here. (No one has actually moved in yet, so we don’t look like creepy voyeurs taking photos of the neighbors, we promise.)

We’re tracking the construction of these houses through one resident’s window. (Again, we’re not being creepy; he’s a NewHomeSource employee who actually wrote an article about his new house.)  Even though building has been going on for more than a month, as you can see from the last slide, things are nowhere near finished. Which is why we’re going to continue to upload progress pictures on a near-daily basis. Now you can feel like a creepy neighbor right along with us and watch the progress of these homes as they’re gradually finished. What will these houses look like when they’re built? How long will it take to finish them? Will Lots 50 and 52 ever catch up with the rest of the homes? Stay tuned to find out!

Day 1
Day 1

There’s not much to see here on the first day of construction, just plenty of sand and rocks. (And the necessary portable toilet, of course.) But that’s all about to rapidly change within the upcoming weeks! Moving from front to back, the lots we’re looking at are numbers 50,51,52, and 1.

Day 6
Day 6

By Day 6, some more groundwork has been done and (most important) there’s an additional portable toilet on the scene.

Day 7
Day 7

By Day 7, we’re starting to see some building action and the foundation forms have been erected on Lot 51.

Day 10
Day 10

See those little white pipes coming up from the ground? We have plumbing! (Well, some of it.)

Day 11
Day 11

Lots 1 and 51 get some additional foundation work, while poor Lots 52 and 50 are barren and lonely for the time being.

Day 13
Day 13

And on Sunday, the workers rested. But with the massive construction to come, who can blame ’em?

Day 14
Day 14

No, that’s not a crane; it’s a concrete pumping truck, believe it or not!

Day 15
Day 15

The house on lot 51 now has some solid ground to stand on. (And how tempting is that wet cement? We just want to stick our hands in it.)

Day 18
Day 18

Looks like the walls are going up! And is that a hint of additional construction going on in lonely Lot 50?

Day 20
Day 20

Lots 1 and 51 are starting to resemble real homes! Lots 50 and 52? Well, they’re catching up.

Day 21
Day 21

Up goes the insulation, while Lot 52 gets some sand to heighten its foundation.

Day 23
Day 23

The roof boards go up on Day 23…

Day 24
Day 24

…and they’re already finished by Day 24!

Day 25
Day 25

Throw on some shingles and you have an almost-complete roof.

Day 28
Day 28

Lots 50 and 52! You’re making some progress! They’re the little home sites that could.

Day 31
Day 31

Almost month later, Lots 1 and 51 are nearing exterior completion, while 50 and 52 are rapidly catching up.

Day 32
Day 32

Things are looking kind of sleepy…

Day 34
Day 34

…until just two days later, when we start to see hints of walls and siding!

Day 37
Day 37

It looks like there’s a pause on other construction while Lots 50 and 52 gets some major work done.

Day 38
Day 38

50 and 52 get their own fancy blue insulation.

Day 41
Day 41

Let there be roofs!

 

Andrea Kinnison is a writer for NewHomeSource.com.

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Fall 2013 Furniture Trends at High Point Market

Interior designer Gretchen Aubuchon of Fashion + Decor, brings us the best from High Point Market, where you'll find the latest in home decor trends.

Interior designer Gretchen Aubuchon of Fashion + Decor, and business partner Shane Inman strike a pose at the Stanley Furniture party at High Point Market, where you’ll find the latest in home decor trends.

Gretchen Aubuchon, an interior designer, attended High Point Market last week. Here the trendsetter previews the hottest home design looks you’ll be seeing this fall and shares the highlights — celebrities and parties, oh my!

My business partner, Shane Inman of Fashion + Decor, and I had a blast last week at High Point Market, the world’s premier home furnishings event, in High Point, N.C.

The hottest trends out of High Point Market were exactly that — hot! Check out my article next week on the NewHomeSource Resource Center that will go into greater detail on what furniture design trends you’ll be seeing this fall. But, for now think Mid-Century Modern and Industrial. Another mix up is vintage-inspired Glam and High Gloss! There was also lots of color and prints, including plenty of animal prints — forget tiger and zebra stripes and think pictures of birds and fish. All are hot trends that I am very excited about!

Another exciting part of our High Point experience included interviews and hang time with a bunch of talented people (Shane and I led a film crew on behalf of High Point Market Authority and The Design Network). We got the opportunity to interview interior designer, author and TV personality Thom Filicia; noted designer Jamie Drake; restauranteur and television host Paula Deen and Jamie and Ron Woodson of Woodson & Rummerfield’s House of Design!

Shane and I also attended some of the hottest parties at the Caracole, Stanley Furniture and Four Hands showrooms. The showrooms were over-the-top gorgeous and the people attending were too!

High Point Market is quickly becoming the place to be for everyone in the home decor industry. Hope you enjoy our behind-the-scenes coverage of the celebrities and parties at High Point Market this past week.

Gretchen Aubuchon is the founder and editor-in-chief of Fashion + Decor, which takes fashions from the latest runways and pairs them with a match in home decor. Fashion + Decor inspires readers to style their home and themselves. The site helps readers bring their personal style out of the closet and into every single room of the home.

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Tour a Striking 2013 Southern Living Showcase Home

A two-story limestone fireplace and dark brown trusses set the stage for this Southern Living Showcase Home near Austin, Texas.

A two-story limestone fireplace and dark brown trusses set the stage for this Southern Living Showcase Home near Austin, Texas.

By Patricia Garcia

Who knew you could create a coastal feel right in the middle of Texas? The team who brought us the 2013 Southern Living Magazine Showcase Home in Lago Vista, Texas, that’s who.

Perched atop the hills surrounding Lake Travis near Austin, Texas, this showcase home combines country and coastal living — shiplap walls invoke a rustic feel, while lakeside views conjure images of the coast.

It all meshes beautifully. And that’s just what the builder, Silverton Custom Homes, and its founders Mike Grimm and interior designer Linda Grimm intended.

Mike and Linda bring strong credentials to the home. There are 100 builders nationally in the Southern Living Custom Builder Program and Silverton Custom Homes is the 2013 Southern Living Custom Builder of the Year. They also designed and built the Best Custom Home of 2012 and 2013 in Austin.

Linda says the team aimed for a casual, yet sophisticated, feel. “We wanted to create a home that you could live in and entertain in.” It was a true family affair; the husband-and-wife building team was joined by their daughter as part of the design team and their son-in-law as the construction superintendent.

The 4,360-sq.-ft.-home has a contemporary country-coastal home feel. An open floor plan means no walls block the kitchen from the dining room or great room. The views are striking, too: As you walk through the front door, your eye is immediately drawn outside, just past the negative-edge pool and right to the lake.

But that’s not all. The home features five bedrooms, five full baths, a two-story limestone fireplace, marble accents in the kitchen and master bath, a dog washing station and an attic door that opens with the push of a button. One of our favorite highlights is the mess or prep kitchen. Tucked away next to the garage, the mess kitchen allows cooks to prepare food for parties and other special occasions without worrying about tidying up before guests arrive since food can be served in the entertaining kitchen.

NewHomeSource.com recently caught up with Mike and Linda to film the home and to learn more about the home’s concept. Regardless of your budget, the videos will inspire design ideas for your new home. Starting next week, you’ll find a series of compelling articles that accompany these fun and informative short videos in the Resource Center of NewHomeSource.

You’ll go behind the scenes to see the latest trends in new home design and construction, gaining ideas that you can use in any home across many price ranges. In the meantime, this slideshow is a preview of what’s in store. So, come on in and make yourself comfortable — and learn what’s possible for the home of your dreams.

SLIDESHOW: Tour This Southern Living Showcase Home in Lago Vista, Texas from Silverton Custom Homes

Great Living: Two Story Limestone Fireplace

Cut-Outs Above The Foyer Allow Natural Light to Flow

Shades of Gray: A Relaxing Study

Subtly Different Shades of White Define This Space

Antique Glass Cabinet Fronts Add an Art Deco Feel

A Closet You Could Live In, With Space for Two Wardrobes

Family Time: Relax in the Upstairs Media Room

A Modern, Bold Chandelier is the Star of this Upstairs Bedroom with Aqua Accents That Echo the Lake Below

Lakeside Living: Relax Poolside by the Fire Pit

Home Automation: Push-Button Attic Staircase

And What Showcase Home Would Be Complete Without…A Dog Washing Station?

 

Patricia Garcia is content manager for NewHomeSource.

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Spring Cleaning Tips You Can Love

Spring cleaning will help you to get your home to this point — clean and organized. Pro spring cleaning tips include cleaning from the top down.

A clean and organized home is the goal. Before you get started on your spring cleaning , declutter your space and gather all of your cleaning products.

By Patricia Garcia

Ahhhh, spring. A time of renewal, great temperatures and — just as exciting — spring cleaning. Let’s face it, each spring, we’re reminded of all the dusting, scrubbing and just plain tidying up that we neglected to do in the past few months. To help you keep your new home spring fresh, cleaning pros from around the country shared some of their spring cleaning tips:

Get Yourself in Order

How do you dust a table full of stuff? Not very well. By organizing and getting rid of clutter first, the task of cleaning will be less overwhelming. For more on decluttering, check out our post, Conquer the Clutter — And How to Stay Sane Doing It.

Next, make a list of things in your home that don’t get a regular scrubbing, such as your oven or freezer, says Leslie Reichert, a Boston, Mass., green cleaning expert and author of The Joy of Green Cleaning.

Once you have cleared the way for cleaning and have created an action plan, gather your arsenal of cleaning “tools,” such as microfiber cloths, sponges and other cleaning products, so you don’t have to interrupt the process to get items you need, Reichert suggests.

Ceilings to Floors

“Always clean from the top down,” says Kate Buehler, owner of Golden Maid Service near Dallas, Texas. She says you don’t want to clean your end tables, for instance, and then dirty them right back up when you dust your ceiling fan. So, clean from the ceiling to the floor to get the most of your cleaning efforts.

When you get to your cabinets, wipe them down to get rid of debris, suggests Meg Roberts, president of Molly Maid. Then, she says to disinfect them with a good cleaner or a combination of vinegar and water.

HVAC Systems

Most people will dust, vacuum and mop and call it a day. But there’s still one thing left to clean: your HVAC system. Spring is an ideal time to clean your HVAC systems since it will be primed for the upcoming cooling season, says Matt Mongiello, president of the National Air Duct Cleaners Association and the HVAC Inspection Maintenance and Restoration Association. “In many cases, a good cleaning of the cooling coil and the system components will increase air flow and make for a more efficient HVAC system. As a result, you’ll likely see increased savings on your energy bill.”

Even if you’re new to your home, it’s good to know when’s the best time to have your system inspected or cleaned. If you hire a professional to clean your HVAC system during the spring, Mongiello says you’ll probably get a discount since most homeowners get their HVAC systems cleaned during the summer, when they are battling the heat.

Windows

On average, you should clean your windows about two times a year, says George Varga, owner of GlassTech, a Florida-based glass and polishing restoration service. If you live by the ocean or have excessive dust or pollen or emissions from nearby manufacturing facilities, clean windows quarterly.

If you have small windows, Varga says you can use a microfiber cloth (don’t waste your time on paper towels, he says) and window cleaner to clean them. A squeegee or silicone water blade will do for larger windows, but be sure to use horizontal strokes and to wipe the squeegee blade to remove excess water and soap. To remove stubborn spots and buildup, use distilled white vinegar, he says.

Carpets

Nothing in life is guaranteed — unless you have carpets. If you find a stain on your new carpet, don’t panic. Mix warm water with white vinegar or dish detergent and blot the stain with the mixture, says Dan Tarantin, CEO of Chem-Dry, a national carpet and upholstery cleaning service. Remember: Do not rub it in — blot, blot, blot!

To help protect your carpet from stains and wear, place area rugs in high-traffic area, such as the entrance to your home, he says.

Patricia Garcia is content manager for NewHomeSource.

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