BULX Blog - High-End Home Improvement, Private Sale Prices

10Jan/1131

Home Decorating Trends for 2011

Posted by BULX.com

Looking to transform one (or all) of the rooms in your home from drab to fab? Here are some of the hottest trends we foresee in 2011...

Overall Color Palettes:

Use these cohesive palettes to create a common theme throughout your home.

Neutrals - such as Tans, Khakis, & Creams.
"Light as Air" - such as Silver, Off-White, and Butter Cream (see image #1, below).
"Grey & Black Are Back" - monochromatic colors that create a versatile base to work from.

Accent Colors:

Once your overall color palette is selected, use up-and-coming accent colors to create a mood and visual interest within each space.

Soothing Cool Colors - such as Grey-Green, Sea Mist, Cucumber, Sunlight.
Warm Accents – such as Brick, Burnt Umber, Dandelion, Magenta
Yellows – From Bright Gold to Soft Milk

Patterns:

Variety is the spice of life, so why not mix things up? Mix and match patterns to create contrast, or create consistency by repeating similar patterns within a room.

Organic prints – such as floral, rock formations, or bodies of water.
Geometric – such as Bauhaus reproductions, stripes, or any graphics using linear or geometric shapes.
"Text As Texture" – single letters or paragraphs used to fill space (see image #2, below).

Natural Materials & Textures:

Different materials can give the same space a very different look an feel. Here are some of our favorites.

Wood - warm up a room by letting the grain of natural wood show through in floors, furniture, shelving, and décor (see image #3, below).
Stone - used on tables, natural tile options, mantles, or accents (such as drink coasters & picture frames).
Plants - bring the outdoors "in" by using potted versions of local (or exotic) to spruce up a space.

What trends do you love? Or what have we missed that you would like to see in 2011?

Filed under: Design Guide, How-To Series 31 Comments

15Dec/100

Bring the Warmth: Fireplace Roundup

Posted by BULX.com

Humans first learned to control and use fire as a heating source some 400,000 years ago. But it wasn't until we moved our hunter/gatherer traditions indoors that the fireplace became a staple of the modern homestead.

For centuries, the fireplace was the heart of the home: a source of warmth, protection, and nourishment (food). Today, fireplaces range from purely decorative to strictly functional and come in a variety of shapes, styles, finished, and heating sources.

Below is a roundup of some of the most unique options available today...

Traditional/Wood Burning: Many homeowners prefer the nostalgic feel of a natural wood burning fireplace in their home.

Gas Fireplaces: A modern take on the wood burning variety, these units utilize a natural gas line and realistic looking replica logs to create a cleaner burning option.

Image Credit: Materials Marketing Stone & Tile

Modern: Brands such as EcoSmart and BioFlame use bioethanol fuel, a natural biofuel derived from corn, sugar can, and similar crops. As a result, it produces no harmful gases, soot, or smoke when burned - just water vapor and natural heat.

Image Credit: FastFireplaces.com

Gel Fuel Fireplaces: Gel fuel brands such as FireGlo help create the perfect ambiance for your decorative fireplace or gel burner. An alcohol based gel fuel, FireGlo provides genuine flames and even a realistic crackling sound. They are soot-free, odor-free, and can be burned safely in any size room. Each can typically burns for 2-3 hours, and can be reused until empty.

A variety of gel fuel fireplaces are available through on BULX through December 22, 2010.

What is your favorite way to warm yourself on a cold winter day?

Tagged as: fireplaces No Comments

2Sep/100

How to Find Inspiration for Your Home

Posted by BULX.com

The primary goal of decorating a room or an entire house is to elicit an emotion. Most homeowners want to be relaxed and comfortable in their home, but other spaces are intentionally designed to be exciting, serene, sophisticated, inspiring, and more.

When it comes to decorating their own space, most homeowners don't know where to start. This post is an introductory guide on where to start to create an original space you love.

As cliché as it sounds, finding inspiration for your home starts from within. Because we all have different associations with the sights, sounds, scents, and tastes we encounter every day, the interpretation of these experiences will never be the same. The key, then, is to identify the things that you like (or don't like) and use them to

Some of our favorite sources of inspiration come from...

Nature, such as trees, wildlife, flowers, foliage and landscapes.

Other architecture, particularly urban planning sketches, modern buildings, or classical references.

Art, such as illustrations, digital art, sculpture or paintings...

and the water.

This is by no means an extensive list, but it should give you an idea of where to start.

Steps to Decorating Your Own "Emotional" Room:

Decide what emotion(s) you want to feel when you enter a room (serenity, excitement, happiness, formal/informal, nostalgia, relaxed,
Write down some places or memories or themes that you have the most positive associations with.
Jot down some descriptive words or items that you most commonly associate with those emotions (" bright colors" or "fast music" for excitement, "English library" for formal, "grandpa's old-fashioned radio" for nostalgia, etc.)
Visit Google Images or Bing Images and type in some of the phrases you have written down.
When you find an image that you like, save it into a folder on your computer. Use the images you save to extract ideas for:
1. Color - for your walls, furniture, fixtures, and accent pieces
2. Texture - smooth vs. textured, plain vs. patterned, one-time vs. repetitive, fine vs. rough
3. Style - which architectural styles do you like the most?
4. Decorative Elements - which images could be used as accent pieces to help fill your space?