For months, industry experts have kept a close barometer on the fashion world, trade shows and other key indicators to help forecast home decor trends for the coming year.  And the weather report is in.  Within a prevailing climate of personalization, the outlook is both spirited and sassy, serene and stylish.

When you're at home after work or on the weekends, where would you rather spend the majority of your time?  Inside doing household chores or outside enjoying the backyard?  If you'd rather be inside, that's probably because your backyard isn't as attractive as it could be.

We've been hearing this advice since we were kids.  Before you go outside on a warm, sunny day put on sunscreen to protect your skin, a hat and sunglasses to protect your eyes. And while you're outside, drink plenty of fluids and seek out the shade.  If you don't, before you know it, you could be dealing with heat exhaustion and a pretty bad sunburn.

Thanks in part to a lower price point than aluminum frames, vinyl windows now have well over 70% of the residential window market. However, vinyl replacement windows aren't just affordable. They also have great energy and aesthetic qualities to enhance your home.

Unless you built your home in the desert, chances are you need to think about your rain gutters. Ignore them for long, and you'll get a reminder of why water is considered the most powerful element on Earth.

Adding a solarium (a.k.a. sunroom) to a home is one of the easiest and most practical ways of improving a house's property value.  But there are many other advantages besides generating a larger return on one's investment.  In the years prior to selling the house, solarium owners have ample opportunity to reap the rewards of their indoor garden getaway.  

'Tis the season . . . for family visits and festive gatherings.  It's also the time of year for Mother Nature's worst.  Rain, sleet and ice coupled with less sunlight may have you worried about company - or yourself - slipping on sidewalks or driveways.  But did you know there's another area of your home that poses a greater risk for falls and accidents than anywhere else?  And it's the one place you and your visitors can't avoid - the bathroom.

Jewel-toned glass pendants, suspended by a slender, graceful cable from a sinuous silver track - clearly, this is "not your father's" track lighting. The new generation of track lighting brings design-friendly beauty to what has always been one of the most versatile lighting styles available.

Wide plank floors are prized for their weathered patina and the sense of history and character that they add to a room. Among the many attributes of wide plank floors is the fact that they can be used with radiant heat.

According to news reports, this winter will bring some of the costliest heating bills ever.  These extra high prices won't be because of an unusually cold winter season.  Rather, energy analysts all over the country cite rising fuel and gas prices.  With unending conflict in the Middle East, storms that devastated the Gulf Coast, and a shaky economy, those who heat their homes with natural gas can expect to pay more than 38% of what they paid last year, according to the US Department of Energy.  And homes heated primarily by propane can see increases as high as 18%.