Debbie's Helpful Articles
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Ten Decorating Tips for a Healthier, Happier Home
Choosing Colors for Walls and Ceilings
Decorating Tips That Sell Homes
Choosing Shades and Blinds
Help Your Child Get Organized
Designing Dilemmas Advice Column
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Picking the Right Fan
Wall Colors for Small Homes
Protecting New Furniture
Divide and Conquer Your Living/Dining Spaces
Color and pattern are your best weapons in the daily
war against your slobs. - Debbie Wiener
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About the Book
This totally practical home-design book offers realistic, attractive, and comfortable design solutions to families overrun by messy kids, muddy dogs, and sloppy spouses who make beige carpeting an endangered species, and make hardwood floors look like a skating rink. What these families (and even sloppy singles) need are reasonable, no-nonsense design choices for rugs and floors, sofas, tables, carpets and tiling, and curtains and blinds that can withstand the wear and tear of real everyday life and still look great.
No need to wait until the kids are in college to enjoy a smart, stylish home. With this book, readers can have their dream house—and live in it too. Learn how to:
• Decorate for the way you really live - not the way you’d like to live.
• Spend money wisely on pieces that wear and clean well.
• Make color your friend. If you’ve got kids or a black lab, white upholstery is not an option - and beige carpeting is on the endangered list, too.
• Choose color carefully. If you think your family belongs in an institution, try institutional carpet!
Get it on Amazon.
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As Discussed on the Show
Our Favorite Tips from Slob Proof: Real-Life Design Solutions
Floor
• A rug at the entryway dark enough to camouflage daily dirt will go a long way toward preserving your sanity.
• Striped wall-to-wall carpeting will make a room look more spacious when run on the diagonal.
Seats
• Thick, tightly woven heavy-duty synthetic fabric makes chairs totally slob proof!
• What NOT to Wear on Seats
Polished Cotton: Each time you remove a spot, you remove the polish finish.
Light Weight Fabric: It’s just not thick enough for everyday use.
Loose Weave: Will move, stretch, and become loose and shapeless.
Solid Colors: Patterns provide camouflage - not solids.
• Keep your sanity and choose upholstery fabric for the way your family lives.
• Crypton fabric is truly like Superman - superhuman strength and really good looking!
• Tight backs and round arms make the most comfortable and slob-proof sofa.
Window
• Window coverings that go up and down fare much better than those that hang on the sides. They’re less likely to get dirty.
• A valance is often the perfect solution for adding color, softness and a finished look to windows.
Lighting
• Nothing affects how you feel in your home more than the lighting.
• Thinking through how you will use each room, where you’re placing furniture and what visual things you want to focus on will lead you to the correct lighting.
• A typical room needs more than one type of lighting.
Color
• Color is camouflage and your best tool in protecting your home from the people who live in it.
• For a more serene and calming feeling, paint walls to match the dominant color in your seating and flooring. Monotone rooms or rooms with just two or three similar colors are classic.
• To make furniture stand out, paint walls in color(s) that contrast with the upholstery or flooring.
• To make your ceiling seem higher, choose a ceiling color that contrasts with your walls. Pale, cool blue contrasts beautifully with warmer wall colors and gives a “sky” effect to your ceiling.
• To make high ceilings seem lower and rooms cozier, use a ceiling color that is darker and more dramatic.
• When I get stuck, I choose a shade of blue - any shade of blue. Everyone likes some shade. Blue, or water, mixes well with every other color, be it yellow, black, brown, red, orange - whatever.
Get more from Slob Proof: Real-Life Design Solutions.
Decorate for the way your family really lives for today, and you won’t have to worry about how your home looks tomorrow. Let them eat cake ... anywhere they like! - Debbie Wiener
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