Home Improvement Information

Your Home is Your Symphony


"Dr. Carl Sagan once wrote, "Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known." Although Dr. Sagan was commenting on the wonders to be found in the vastness of outer space, there are also incredible design possibilities just waiting to be discovered right in your own home. In fact, your home's overall design represents a symphony, and the individual design details are the musical notes you use to compose the melody and harmony for the symphony of your living space.

Your home should always bolster feelings of happiness, serenity, and comfort, and once you're aware of a few simple rules, composing a home symphony that supports positive emotions and encourages joyful living is easy.

Begin composing your symphony by choosing the color of your walls. All of your home's colors should harmonize, both inside and out. Once you've chosen your exterior colors, bring subtle shades of those same colors inside, using them as accents throughout your home. Harmonize your colors with ones you see in the natural world surrounding your house. Use colors that blend with the lighting from the natural environment and support a feeling of serenity and cheerfulness.

Next, add carefully-crafted lighting, which is an important factor in all residential design. Well-designed lighting is both a science and an art, and when used in conjunction with color, sets the emotional atmosphere for the home. Too little light in a room can cause people to feel depressed, while rooms that are too bright can cause uneasy feelings.

Like the color of your walls, your lighting choices should also harmonize with the natural light that surrounds your home. The amount of light should vary, just as it does in nature, to give rooms a more natural feel and to evoke a note of harmony and peace.

The next movement in your symphony involves the textures you choose to employ throughout your home. Studies have shown that emotionally pleasing patterns based on nature encourage feelings of happiness and contentment. Undulating patterns, combined with gentle swags, lend an upbeat, natural feeling to a room, while rooms with no patterns feel boring because people are accustomed to the multitude of patterns displayed by Mother Nature.

Many other design details in your home also come into play when creating your home symphony, such as sounds, furnishings, and furniture arrangement. But regardless of which movement of your symphony you're working on, always keep in mind that balance is the key. And just like the combined elements of a symphony, your home must have some sections that promote quiet and rest--remember, it's the vacant spaces between the notes that make the music.

If you look at decorating your home as if you were creating a symphony, in all of its complexity and harmony, you'll be able to make design decisions that are always in concert with your overall concept. If you continue to bear the complete work in mind, you'll choose design elements that resonate in harmony with each other, and your home will make joyful music for all who enter.

(c) Copyright 2004, Jeanette J. Fisher. All rights reserved.

For more information about Jeanette's "Joy to the Home" eNewsletter, see http://www.joytothehome.com/

For information on Design Psychology, visit http://www.designpsych.com/


MORE RESOURCES:

Sector roundup: Home improvement stores, handsets
Forbes, NY - Sep 5, 2008
AP 09.05.08, 2:16 PM ET CHICAGO (AP) - An analyst on Friday said economic forces weighing on home improvement chains The Home Depot Inc. (nyse: HD - news ...


Home improvement in US remains in slump
Seattle Times, United States - 13 hours ago
A new Harvard study suggests that home-improvement activity will continue to decline nationally in early 2009. By Alan J. Heavens There were predictions as ...


Home improvement winners
Louisville Courier-Journal, KY - 12 hours ago
Earlier this year, after seeing an ad, Erin McIntyre debated whether to enter the Better Homes and Gardens Home Improvement Challenge. ...


7 am 28 Today Home improvement mistakes. (N)
Wilkes Barre Times-Leader, PA - 16 hours ago
9 am 22 The Early Show A recap of “Stand Up to Cancer”; stars from “Paranormal States”; overcoming painful break-ups; gadgets that help people take better ...


Man arrested during home improvement fraud investigation
The Daily Advocate, OH - 20 hours ago
UNION CITY, Ind. - Union City, Ind., Police officers arrested 28-year-old John Henry Stanley of Gaston, Ind., for several felony warrants on Aug. 28. ...


New license required for home improvement work
Nashoba Publishing, MA - Sep 5, 2008
By Anne O'Connor STATEWIDE -- Planning a home improvement project soon? Starting in October, Massachusetts will require many contractors to obtain a new ...


American Chronicle

Wood Stoves & Home Improvement
American Chronicle, CA - Sep 5, 2008
If you're interested in home improvement, alternative heating methods, or fuel efficiency, you've probably heard about the new performance standards and ...


The Business Desk

Simplicity in construction - the building of a home improvement empire
The Business Desk, UK - Sep 5, 2008
By Anastasia Weiner - Business Correspondent WHEN Craig Miller joined the Household Cavalry little did he know that his destiny was more home improvements ...


Boston Globe

Lowe’s opening new home improvement store at Alamo Ranch
Bizjournals.com, NC - Aug 21, 2008
Inc. is set to open the home improvement retailer’s newest store in San Antonio. Mooresville, NC-based Lowe’s (NYSE: LOW) will open its new store at Alamo ...
Rebuilding at Home Improvement Stores? Motley Fool
Home improvement won't improve quickly MarketWatch
Home improvement retailers fall with Home Depot Forbes
Xinhua - CNNMoney.com
all 707 news articles


Check Out Line: Hope for home improvement
Reuters UK, UK - Sep 2, 2008
“Stabilization” might be a stretch. But Goldman noted that home sales fell 15.5 percent in July, following a 17.9 percent decline in June. ...
Lowe's Rises Most in 5 Months After Goldman Recommends Buying Bloomberg
all 2 news articles

Home-Improvement - Google News

home | site map
© 2006