Preparing a home for the coldest months of the year - whether you expect to host company for the holidays or to simply spend more time indoors - can seem daunting. But professional designer and television personality Danielle Hirsch says there is no need to fret. Hirsch, featured on Dutch Boy’s new Restore My Decor.com decorating website, says there are many ways to minimize the time and expense you might associate with refreshing your home’s interior. Here are just a few of her easy and affordable tips that can help bring new life to your decor.

It might sound like a cliche, but a fresh coat of interior paint can truly do wonders to renew a space. Dutch Boy’s Restore My Decor.com website features advice from Hirsch to help you decide what color and design scheme is right for your room. She also offers tips to help your project run smoothly. Gathering valuable inspirational ideas from the site will ensure your interior turns out right the first time, saving you valuable time and money.

Don’t stop with wall color, though. As the weather turns bleak, heat up your home design by bringing a bit of color inside. Are you conservative when it comes to design? Try accenting a neutral room with a few pieces of the same color family. If you’re more daring, play with a variety of warm, bright colors. “Take cues from Mother Nature and pull colors you see from the foliage around you,” Hirsch says. “Rich oranges, chocolate browns, vibrant reds and ambers - these colors bring energy as the days get darker earlier.”

To create the perfect atmosphere for your cozy escape, appealing to all senses is a must. Give your entire home a warm, inviting aroma with seasonal scented candles. Liven up a dining room with a visually stimulating centerpiece or wall hanging. Or make a casual den more comfortable with overstuffed throw pillows or a faux fur rug. Adding small accents and finishing touches can completely change the ambiance of a room and turn it into an area where you’ll actually enjoy spending time.

You can also take pleasure in the changing of the seasons by incorporating natural outdoor elements into your decor. “Nothing says fall like a pumpkin, and if you hollow it out, it makes a great vase,” Hirsch says. She also suggests accenting a room with seasonal fruits, vegetables and flowers, colorful leaves and pinecones for quick and easy ways to bring the natural beauty of autumn indoors.

“To round out your fall decorating remember that with the days getting shorter, warm lighting is essential,” Hirsch says. Do a quick audit of the lighting to ensure you’re making the most of your room’s natural and artificial light. Introducing a new light source, whether it’s a standing or table lamp, can transform the overall feel of a room and fight off the dreary gray outside your window.

Hirsch goes onto say, “This fall, don’t be lulled into hibernation. Take the time you have indoors and put it to good use. Tackling interior projects now will leave your home looking beautiful and ready for family and friends for years to come.”

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Termites, which are found in every state except Alaska, live in colonies that eat continuously. These wood-destroying pests eat homes from the inside out, making their presence difficult to detect. Termites annually cause more than $5 billion in damage, and the destruction termites cause is not normally covered by homeowners insurance, leaving owners to pay an average of $3,000 in out-of-pocket costs for repairs, according to Terminix.

“In most cases, it’s easy to tell when a house is in need of repair. Either the paint is chipping or the roof is leaking. But that’s not usually the case with termite activity,” says Paul Curtis, a Terminix entomologist. “Because termites are often active in the least visible areas of a home, it can be difficult for the homeowner to tell whether they have a termite problem or not.”

Usually, homeowners will only be able to tell they have a termite infestation during swarm season. That’s when winged, reproductive termites leave their colonies and establish new ones.

A swarm can be identified by the large number of flying termites and by the discarded wings they often leave near doors and windows.

“Termites do not discriminate. They eat wooden framing, support beams and the wood flooring inside your home the same way they would a tree in the forest,” Curtis says.

While swarming only takes place during certain times of the year, termite colonies never stop eating, even to rest or sleep. Unless evidence of a swarm is discovered, or damage is severe enough to be noticed, a trained professional will most likely be required to identify the presence of termites within a home.

Although eliminating termites requires the help of a trained professional, homeowners can take the following proactive steps to make their homes less inviting to these wood-destroying pests:

1. Fix the roof or plumbing leaks. The moisture from these allows termites to survive above ground.

2. Clean and repair gutters. Gutters that do not drain properly can allow water to accumulate near the foundation.

3. Eliminate wood-to-soil contact. Any wood that simultaneously touches the soil and the home can provide termites with direct access to the structure.

4. Keep mulch or soil from being piled against the home’s siding. Soil or mulch allowed to pile up against the home can hide termite activity.

5. Avoid storing items in the crawlspace. Pieces of scrap lumber, boxes or even books can serve as a food source for termites.

6. Maintain adequate ventilation in crawlspaces. Termites prefer moist conditions. Eliminating moisture can help make the environment less suitable to them.

7. Use a mesh screen on all windows, doors and ventilation openings. Screening will help prevent winged termites from entering the home.

8. Schedule an annual inspection with a trained professional. Prompt treatment and regular inspections can save thousands of dollars in damage repair.

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To many homeowners, early fall yard work may seem overwhelming, but a few 15 minute projects are all it takes to revive the grass you enjoyed this summer. With these simple tips, you can ensure an inviting gathering space for next year.

1. Lush green grass doesn’t just feel good between the toes, it also helps crowd out undesirables. Bare and thin spots provide an opportunity for weeds to get a foot-hold on your lawn, but repairing these troubled areas is quick and easy. To fill in bare patches in a smaller area, apply Scotts EZ Seed, an all-in-one seeding mix, fertilizer and mulch, that takes the guess work out of seeding, and visibly shows when to water by lightening in color. For those larger thinning areas, try “over-seeding” by spreading a high quality grass seed over the entire area. This thickens grass ravaged by heat, drought and play. With a little watering or some help from Mother Nature, your new grass will green quickly this fall.

2. Be sure to feed your grass. Use compost, an organic or conventional lawn food - avoid all-purpose fertilizers labeled for gardening on your grass. So-called “all-purpose” 10-10-10 fertilizer is specifically designed for the nutritional needs of flowers and vegetables and will deliver 10 times more phosphorus than your lawn needs. Always use fertilizers labeled for grass; and when doubt, ask the experts at your local garden center or visit www.Scotts.com.

3. Well-fed grass isn’t just good-looking, but also vigorous. Compared to undernourished grass, a fed lawn needs less water each year and reduces noise, run-off and erosion. In early fall, feeding is a simple step, which can be repeated about a month to six weeks later. Feeding grass with a lawn food like Organic Choice Lawn Food will yield great results for minimum effort. Be sure to use a starter lawn food if you are growing new grass from seed or sod, have over-seeded or patched bare spots until new grass is well established.

4. Leaves are your lawn’s best friend. This fall, use your lawnmower to mulch leaves into dime-sized pieces, then top with winter lawn food made especially to help leaves recycle back into the soil providing food for earthworms and soil microbes.

5. Keep your mower on the highest setting to encourage root growth deep into the soil to lock out weeds. Keep mowing your lawn to its summer height (about 3 or more inches) until it stops growing.

These steps can help give you the lawn you want to relax on with family and friends. Come spring, your grass will be in tip-top shape all thanks to a little know-how this fall.

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“While many people dread removing wallpaper, it’s one of the simplest ways to give a room a fresh, updated look,” says Rust-Oleum brand director Andrea Topper. “And, with a little know-how and the right tools, it’s easier than most people think.”

Topper offers this advice for “painless” wallpaper removal in three easy steps:

Step 1 - Score the wallpaper: Most wallpaper has a waterproof surface, so it’s necessary to score it so the wallpaper stripper can penetrate and loosen the glue underneath. Use a wallpaper scoring tool like Zinsser PaperTiger, a palm-held tool that perforates the wallpaper without damaging the wall. Move PaperTiger in a circular motion to make as many holes as possible, using light pressure. The more holes you make, the faster and easier it will be to remove the wallpaper.

Step 2 - Apply a wallpaper stripping solution: Next, apply a wallpaper stripper like Zinsser DIF Quick Wallpaper Stripper, an environmentally friendly wallpaper stripper that removes wallpaper in just two minutes. DIF Quick loosens the glue underneath the wallpaper to make wallpaper removal quick and easy. Simply spray the ready-to-use solution on the scored paper starting at the top and working your way down, making sure the wallpaper is thoroughly wet.

Step 3 - Remove wallpaper: Use a tool like the Paper Scraper to remove the loose wallpaper without surface damage or hard work. If any glue remains after the paper has been removed, spray the area with more stripping solution, wait a few minutes and remove the glue with the scraping tool or a sponge and rinse with clean water. Before you know it, you will have removed all the wallpaper, and your room will be ready for redecorating.

For more project ideas and product information, visit www.zinsser.com.

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As long as their basic growing conditions are met, vegetable plants don’t care what season it is. If you live in a warmer climate, you may be able to grow your fall garden all winter long. If, however, you live in a colder area, your growing season will be shorter.

In most regions of the country, gardeners plant fall vegetables in August or September for harvest in October and November. You’ll need to carefully calculate your growing season so you can ensure plants have time to produce before freezing weather arrives. Generally, you should plant fall vegetables when daytime temperatures range between 60 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit (the cooler the better); night temperatures should be above 40 degrees, and you’ll need enough sunshine to ensure plants will get at least six hours of sun per day. You’ll also need to give plants at least an inch of water per week.

To get started, remove all the debris left over from your summer garden so fall crops have plenty of room to grow. Add compost to your garden beds and landscapes. Soil should be light, well-aerated and well-draining - since fall gardens are more likely to get soggy from rain. Mulch will keep the soil cool and moist during the last days of summer.

You can also mix in an all natural fertilizer like Bonnie Plants, Herb and Vegetable Plant Food, made from soybean oilseed extract, known to contain 150,000 nutritional and organic compounds that include vitamins, minerals, amino acids and proteins, enzymes, plant hormones and carbohydrates. All are vital to plant growth. Next, find out your local frost and freeze dates. For most areas, frost doesn’t have to end the fall growing season. Monitor your local weather forecast during late September and early October so you know when frost is coming.

Once you know your local frost and freeze dates, you can begin planning - and planting - your fall garden. Remember, when growing vegetables in the fall, plants need to be in the ground in time to mature before the first frost, and to yield most of their harvest before the first heavy freeze. Some cool-season crops mature in as little as 30 to 40 days, while others may take several months to produce.

Since time is of the essence when planting a fall garden, start out with transplants that are already growing. Choose fast-maturing varieties, like Bonnie Plants, to get the most for your harvest. The gardening experts at Bonnie suggest these fall crops:

* Winterbor kale - This vigorous producer weathers winter easily, even in very cold climates. Cut outer leaves so that the center can continue growing. Space transplants about 12 inches apart

* Georgia collards - Another leafy green similar to kale, Georgia collards are prized for their sweet, cabbage-like flavor. Space transplants 36 inches apart.

* Romaine lettuce — Romaine packs more vitamins, minerals, fiber, and phytonutrients than other popular types of lettuce. Space transplants 18 inches apart.

* Early dividend broccoli - Popular, productive and easy to grow, this broccoli is high in fiber and calcium. Set transplants 18 inches apart.

* Mustard greens - Offering spicy hot leaves, this is a very fast-growing, nutritious vegetable. Mustard greens always taste sweeter when nipped by frost. Space plants 12 inches apart.

* Bonnie hybrid cabbage - Bonnie’s best cabbage is high in beta-carotene, vitamins C and K, and fiber. Space transplants 24 inches apart.

* Arugula - These fast-growing leafy greens are super-food for your bones. The leaves are “nutrient dense” and low in calories. Leaves grow best in cool weather.

As winter grows closer, you can extend your garden harvest by using floating row covers on frosty nights, or by planting in containers that can be brought indoors overnight. Be ready with some kind of protection to cover your plants. You can opt for something commercially manufactured, such as cloches, polyethylene blankets and corrugated fiberglass covers, or try simple household items like old towels, bed sheets, or even used plastic milk jugs with the bottoms removed.

You can continue to enjoy fresh, homegrown vegetables through fall and even into winter when you start with some expert knowledge and the right plants. To learn more about growing a fall garden visit www.bonnieplants.com.

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“Strategically defaulting - deciding to stop paying your mortgage regardless of your ability to actually carry the debt - will have a far-reaching, long-lasting impact on your ability to secure future credit,” says Maxine Sweet, vice president of public education for global information services company Experian, one of the three large credit reporting companies that receive and update consumer credit histories which are scored to help predict risk. “It’s by no means a move to be undertaken lightly.”

About 355,000 borrowers strategically defaulted in the first half of 2009, according to research conducted as part of the Experian-Oliver Wyman Market Intelligence Reports. Interestingly, Experian and Oliver Wyman found that the homeowners most likely to strategically default were also those with the highest credit scores.

While it may seem like a good move to simply stop paying and walk away from a bad investment, keep several factors in mind when you consider strategic default:

* It’s very final. Strategic default will lead to foreclosure by the lender. Foreclosure will negatively impact your credit report and scores. In fact, only bankruptcy will affect your scores more adversely than foreclosure.

For more information on just how severe the impact can be, VantageScore LLC recently completed a study that evaluates the effect that foreclosures, bankruptcies, short sales, and various mortgage programs have on consumers’ VantageScore credit scores.

* The default will remain on your credit report for seven years. Since credit scores are based on information in your credit report, the foreclosure will greatly impact your credit scores during those seven years. Securing other credit at reasonable terms and rates will be very difficult, if not impossible, during that time.

* Potential lenders aren’t the only ones looking at credit reports these days. Insurers, employers and even cell phone companies are considering the creditworthiness of those who want to do business with them. By impacting your credit report, a strategic default may affect your ability to get a job, secure insurance and enter into important service contracts.

* Fannie Mae, the government-controlled mortgage giant, announced on June 23 policy changes that will make you ineligible for a new Fannie-Mae-backed mortgage if you walk away from a current mortgage that you actually could afford to pay. The ineligibility will last for seven years from the date of foreclosure.

* Finally, in some cases, the debt that foreclosure “erases” may be recorded as income, which means you will have to pay taxes on it.

“Strategic default may seem like ‘walking away’ from a bad debt, but it’s really anything but,” Sweet says. “While you will no longer have to pay the actual debt, you’ll almost certainly ‘pay’ in other ways, in the form of lowered credit scores and a drastically curtailed ability to secure future credit for the next seven years. Higher interest rates and unfavorable terms could end up costing you more in the long run than continuing to pay on an upside-down mortgage.”

To learn more about credit management, credit reports, credit scores and the factors that affect them, visit www.Experian.com.

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Few of these products come close to the long-term benefits of installing a radiant barrier in your attic. There’s even a federal tax credit (available on your 2010 federal tax return) to help you recoup a portion of your purchase price, saving you up to $1,500.

A radiant barrier works in your home similar to the way a reflective foil car shade works in your car. Just as a car shade keeps the interior of an auto cooler when it’s parked in the sun, radiant barriers keep your home’s interior cooler when installed in your attic where the sun’s radiant energy is absorbed.

The Florida Solar Energy Center has conducted numerous studies on radiant barrier installation and found that, under peak daytime heat conditions, the total heat transfer allowed down through attics can be reduced by as much as 40 percent, which can significantly reduce a home air conditioning system’s cooling loads.

Of course the design of your home makes a difference: Whether it is a one-story or two-story home, the home’s age, the type of roof, whether your roof has shade, your HVAC system’s efficiency, the type of insulation installed and local energy rates all contribute to your potential for individual cost savings.

The warmer months provide a good time for consumers to take advantage of the potential benefits of radiant barrier installation, according to Rick Jordan of EcoRite Products, a major radiant barrier manufacturer.

“I don’t know of any product that is this easy to install that does as much for reducing the stress on your heating or cooling systems as a radiant barrier,” Jordan says. “On average, attics that have radiant barriers installed are 30 degrees cooler than they were before the product was installed. That equates to a significant amount of heat that is not baking down through the ceiling of a home, causing the air conditioner to work harder.”

Experts say the use of radiant barriers dates back at least 50 years, with some of the earlier concepts developed by NASA. Home builders and scientists have known for decades the benefits of foil-based radiant barriers. In recent years, green builders in particular have latched onto the concept, routinely specifying and installing radiant barrier products in the attics of the homes they build to help reduce the overall carbon footprint of the structures.

Universal Forest Products, one of the nation’s largest building products companies, has created an entire division dedicated to products for do-it-yourself consumers. The company recently introduced an ENERGY STAR rated product, called Enerflex Radiant Barrier, that is easy enough for almost anyone to install, with no special tools required.

“Enerflex looks a lot like quilted aluminum foil. It is made of a durable, highly reflective, double-sided material that you install to the underside of a roof between the rafters. From an installation standpoint, it couldn’t be easier,” Jordan says. “There is no need to secure the product with adhesive, so installation moves quickly.”

Jordan notes that the federal government offers a tax credit that’s worth investigating. Qualified taxpayers can save 30 percent of the cost of installing a radiant barrier - up to $1,500 -through the American Recovery Tax Credit.

“Installing a radiant barrier should be viewed not so much an expense as an investment. Homeowners are paid back over time through lower utility bills, particularly in the summer, but wintertime savings can also be realized,” Jordan says.

In the winter, a radiant barrier basically performs in reverse, helping to keep rising heat from the home’s interior from escaping through the roof. Radiant barriers typically are twice as effective in the summer months as in winter months.

Enerflex Radiant Barrier is mold- and mildew-resistant, will not harbor insects, and is Class A fire rated. It’s available at The Home Depot and from building material dealers nationwide. You can also find places to purchase Enerflex by visiting www.enerflexfoil.com.

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When Family Housing Advisory Services Inc. held its first “Surviving Today’s Economy” conference in 2009, organizers considered it a success, but when planning this year’s event they wanted to add something more.
For the conference July 15, the agency has added “personal growth” workshops, in addition to presentations focusing on housing issues and financial education.
“If you’re not stable as an individual, it affects everything else in your life,” said Michael Robinson, director of development for Family Housing Advisory Services.
Real estate professional Van Deeb will give the keynote presentation, and guests will include Omaha Mayor Jim Suttle, Council Bluffs Mayor Tom Hanafan and Nebraska Lt. Gov. Rick Sheehy.
The day’s events and breakout sessions are designed to raise awareness of finances, foreclosures, dealing with debt, fair housing, small-business operation, personal growth and savings strategies.
The breakout sessions include presentations on bankruptcy and debt collection, the psychology of spending, changes in credit mortgage criteria, foreclosures and loss mitigation, entrepreneurship and other topics.
The conference will be combined with the Community Difference Maker awards luncheon. Wally and Barbara Weitz of the Weitz Family Foundation will be recognized as the organization’s Community Difference Maker Award recipients.
The free conference will run from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the downtown Hilton Omaha, 1001 Cass St. The luncheon, which costs $35, is from noon to 1:30 p.m. For more information or to register, contact Mike Robinson at michaelr(at)fhasinc.org or 402-934-6727 by Friday.

“If you are looking for an easy project that will make an immediate difference in your summertime quality of life, add outdoor lights to your deck or patio. Lighting turns your outdoor space into an entertaining place and a favorite new spot for hanging out at night,” says Chelsea Gardner, an outdoor living expert from Dallas.

When looking for outdoor lighting products, don’t limit yourself to the local home improvement stores. Many manufacturers sell direct to the consumer, and online retailers may offer wider selections. Best of all, buying online means home delivery, saving you a trip to the store and time on your project from the very start.

Jay Savignac of Aurora Deck Lighting in Whitewater, Wis., says outdoor deck lighting offers immediate pay-back in terms of style, comfort and safety. His company is a leading manufacturer of top quality deck, fence and landscape light products that are designed as much for ease of installation as they are for energy efficiency and style.

“Our primary customer has traditionally been the remodeling contractor, deck or fence builder, and the easier a product is to install, the more builders like it. Over the last several years as the home improvement craze has grown, we’ve seen a large increase in the number of do-it-yourself homeowners who buy direct from us. This has focused us even more on designing products that homeowners can get creative with and easily install,” Savignac says.

For the 2010 summer season, Aurora introduced two new outdoor lighting kits: the Phoenix Recessed Lighting Kit and the Odyssey LED Strip Lights Kit. Both kits come complete with enough lights to create a custom outdoor lighting installation on a standard size deck or porch. The tiny Phoenix Recessed LED Lights come fully wired, 10 to a kit. The kit also contains the transformer/power source, easy to use connectors,100 feet of twisted wire and a convenient remote control.

“Homeowners buy the recessed lights primarily to add safety to the stairs on their deck or porch. They also look great along the edge of a deck, and they are small enough to tuck under a rail. They are easy to install and offer unlimited options for creativity,” Savignac says.

The Odyssey LED Strip Lights come in narrow strips of tiny yet bright LED lights in four sizes. Each kit comes with four strips in the designated size, transformer, connectors, wire and remote control. Odyssey lights focus a curtain of LED light downward for dramatic lighting that adds both safety and sophisticated style.

Both kits can be viewed online at www.auroradecklighting.com. Kits can be ordered from an online retailer like www.deckdepot.com.

Nantucket Post Cap Company has also released a new lighting product for the summer season that offers the perfect lighting solution for homeowners who have a cedar or redwood deck or fence, with installation that couldn’t be any easier.

The Nantucket Bar Harbor Solar Light is the first all-wood solar LED post cap light.

As for ease of installation: the only thing needed to install a solar post cap is wood glue or sealant and a screwdriver. The post cap lights are available in a range of sizes, with a light available to fit any size fence or deck post. The Bar Harbor Solar Lights are built with the same craftsmanship as the company’s beautiful redwood arbors, gates and trellises. You can order the products direct from the company online at www.nantucketpostcap.com.

Gardner says another benefit to adding landscape lighting, apart from the ease of installation and the ability to enjoy outdoor spaces at night, is the value and style it adds to decks, fences, porches and landscapes.

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