Make an outdoor living area comfy long after the sun sets or the leaves turn.

Low-Voltage Lighting

Low-voltage fixtures clip onto a safe, 12-volt cable connected to a transformer, which plugs into a GFCI-protected 120-volt electrical outlet. A timer or light-sensitive control automatically turns lights on and off. 

For a pool area, a kit with eight LED step lights and 12 hardscape lights, plus wiring, a transformer, and installation, would cost about $3,000.

Solar Outdoor Lighting

Solar outdoor lighting fixtures don’t need cables and transformers. They simply turn themselves on automatically after dark. Each standalone fixture stakes into the ground or secures to a deck or exterior surface. Because a sunlight-charged battery powers the bulb, you’ll save energy. Solar light fixtures cost $188 to $231 for six lights, with installation ranging from $167 to $271.

Solar technology has improved over time. The lights generally include LED bulbs, which emit a large amount of light for their size and the amount of energy used. With about an eight-hour charge from the sun, solar lights can illuminate all evening. That said, the amount of sunlight around your house will greatly affect how the lights perform. Outside solar lights can last three or four years, and the LEDs,10 to 15 years.

Your home’s interior lights want to help you have fun, feel better, and save energy. Will you let them?

Lighting Our Homes With a Purpose

Today’s progressive lighting schemes aren’t about turning lights on and off; they’re about being partners in your lifestyle. The concept is simple: Imagine all your home’s light fixtures as a single system that can be programmed into a variety of zones. Each zone is dedicated to particular task or mood, and can be controlled by wall switches, a master wall panel, or a smartphone app.

Easing the Fear of Lighting Technology

Do your eyes glaze over at the thought of yet another layer of high tech added to your everyday life? Fear not: In the hands of a pro, zone lighting systems are relatively easy to install. Home automation companies and lighting contractors can retrofit your house with a single-zone system in half a day or, with more time, install a whole-house system.

DIYers Can Zone Out, Too

Relatively low-cost mini-systems are coming to market that’ll let you install your own zones, even if your geekability quotient is near zero.

Vinyl Kitchen Flooring Is Ideal When:

• You cook a lot.
• You want the easiest-to-maintain floor.
• You’re on a tight budget.

Porcelain Kitchen Tile Flooring Is Ideal When:

• You want the toughest flooring.
• You like the look of stone.
• You want low maintenance.

That hollow triangle of space beneath your staircase can house more than lint. Claim the square footage for organizing your stuff.

Closet

One of the simplest and most common under-stairs storage solutions, a closet can be lined with shelves and equipped with wire organizers to provide an abundance of organizational space. Include a light fixture in your plans.

Open Shelves

Rather than keep your belongings undercover, line the space beneath your staircase with built-in shelves that provide access from the side of the stairs. Use wicker baskets or canvas bins to corral smaller items.

Drawers

Drawer storage allows full view and access to your belongings in one smooth motion. Accessed from one side of a staircase, drawers can be designed in a variety of depths and widths. Or, build drawers into the risers of one or more steps.

Cabinets

Built-in cabinets can feature solid doors or doors with glass inserts. Use clear glass when you want to keep books and treasures on display, or choose decorative opaque or translucent glass to obscure the contents.

Choose the right bathroom flooring based on your priorities — cost, kids, safety, and eco-friendliness.

Low Cost But Tough

Vinyl flooring comes in an array of colors and patterns at a relatively modest cost. Although the price can be as low as just under $1 per square foot, you’ll find fewer style choices among the least expensive varieties.

The Designer’s Choice

Ceramic tile bathroom flooring is the preferred choice of 64% of respondents, according to a survey by Floor Covering Weekly. With good reason: Ceramics come in a huge array of sizes and shapes, and can be mixed to create endless custom patterns. It’s the ultimate designer’s medium.

Best for Kids

Water, water everywhere! That pretty much sums up bath time at households with young children. In addition, kids have a knack for dropping the shampoo bottle and conducting bathroom experiments. If protection from water and stains is a high priority, sheet vinyl is the choice for you.

Best for Durability

Quarry tiles are stronger and more wear-resistant than glazed tile and are made with a slightly rough surface texture that makes them slip-resistant.

Bathroom Vanity Fixture: Halogen Incandescents

• Better for showing color and texture than CFLs or LEDs.

Lighting over the bathroom vanity is a highly personal lighting choice, especially when there are women in the house. If the light isn’t flattering to your skin tone or makes it hard to apply makeup, you’ll be dissatisfied.

Outdoor Floodlight: Halogen Incandescent

• For security and efficiency, use fixtures with daylight/occupancy sensors.
• Since outdoor lights aren’t used often, not worth investing in LEDs.
• CFLs don’t come on easily in cold weather.
• CFLs don’t last as long as advertised when turned on and off frequently.

If you don’t want to get new fixtures with sensors, you can buy a sensor attachment that screws into each socket.

Every home suffers a few negatives, but not every solution requires pricey structural changes. Paint is a frugal remodeler’s go-to solution to perk up a problem room.

Here’s how to pick paint colors to give any room a facelift:

Choosing Paint for a Room That’s Too Small

Painting walls white, cream, pastels, or cool colors (tinged with blue or green) creates the illusion of more space by reflecting light.

White or light colors on walls lifts the ceiling, bringing your eyes up, which makes you feel like you’re ina larger room.

For a Room That’s Too Large

When a space feels cavernous, draw walls inward and make it cozy with warm colors (red-tinged) because darker hues absorb light.

Similarly, a dark or warm color overhead (in a flat finish) helps make rooms with high or vaulted ceilings seem less voluminous.

For a Room That Needs a Soothing Vibe

The right paint choice can lend tranquility to a bathroom, master suite, or other quiet, personal space. A palette of soft, understated color or muted tones help you instill a calming atmosphere.

For a Room With Special Features That No One Notices

Call out notable features in a room with paint. Dress crown moldings and other trims in white to make them pop against walls with color.

Make a fireplace or other feature a focal point by painting it a color that contrasts with walls.

For a Room With Something Ugly to Hide

Not everything should stand out in a space. Using a low-contrast palette is a good way to hide unappealing elements or flaws.

Conduit, radiators, and other components painted the same color as the wall will seem to disappear.

A creative kitchen can feature your interests and taste — and blend with other rooms.

Kitchens are showing more personality these days. As they’ve become a hub, they’re not just for cooking and eating. We’ve been using them for all kinds of activities. We want our kitchens to reveal our interests and taste but still blend with the rest of our home. Here are four ways — little and big — to do that by designing a creative kitchen.

#1 Aim for a Creative Kitchen

You love looking at posts on Pinterest or Instagram for inspiration and saving them for mood boards or focused aesthetic. But because of your urge for individuality, you want to incorporate choices in ways nobody else does. As long as you don’t make drastic changes that would take big bucks to reverse if you sold in the next few years, you can get creative. Feel free to fix up your kitchen just the way you love.

“Do what feels good for you and nobody else,” urges designer Sharon McCormick of Sharon McCormick Design in Hartford, Conn. This may involve a quick, affordable fix. So, you could move a rug from another room to add a spark of color or pattern. Or hang favorite artwork, or display collectibles on floating shelves or in glass-fronted cabinets.

If you need to focus on investment-grade changes with lasting value, you still have options. Think about hand-scraped floors, wire-brushed and high-gloss lacquered cabinets, or hardware in new elegant shapes and finishes, says Chicago kitchen expert Mick de Giulio of de Giulio Kitchen Design.

#2 Express Yourself With Kitchen Color

Kitchen color is the great game changer for a creative kitchen. It’s a quick and easy way to update your kitchen’s look and feel. White, gray, and beige are still popular palettes for kitchens, but livelier hues are showing up, according to a 2021 Houzz survey. If you’re timid about the new shades — lots of blues and greens — consider small doses in a few perimeter cabinets. Or for an island, you could add some backsplash tiles on one wall; one color appliance, like a turquoise range (yep, it’s available!); or a smaller standing mixer or countertop oven. They’re now available in almost any color of the rainbow.

Paint manufacturer Sherwin-Williams says green kitchens are gaining ground. People want to bring the feeling of plants and trees inside, whether in dark, jewel tones or more muted, soothing hues. Green also pairs well with wood in floors, furniture, or butcher block countertops.

If you’re not ready to commit to color, consider sophisticated black accents. They’ve become popular for architectural features like window frames, doors, cabinets, faucets, and appliance fronts. “Black is the Sharpie that outlines the kitchen,” says JT Norman, design specialist at Kitchen Magic in Nazareth, Pa.

#3 Blend Your Spaces for Seamlessness

The kitchen has become more of a room to live in. Even if you already have an open floor plan with adjoining spaces, you may want your furnishings, color palette, and accessories to blend more seamlessly. That way, there’s no jarring change from one room to another. McCormick says this is a shift from years past, when each room was a different color and sometimes a slightly different style. “With this new way, you can bring chairs from one room to another if you need more seating,” she says. “They look right, and it’s also easier on the eye.”

If your kitchen has separate dining and comfy hangout areas, you can still get a cohesive look by coordinating colors and styles. One way to blend spaces is to use the same style of cabinetry. Simple shaker cabinets are still a classic choice. Some homeowners also want panel fronts similar to their cabinets to camouflage kitchen appliances. And even if the color scheme isn’t exactly the same throughout, you might introduce one common denominator of a few similarly colored accessories in each room.

#4 Go for Convenience With Smart Appliances

Your tech-savvy side wants to find ways to use the latest developments in kitchen equipment to save time and effort. Why not get a jump on preheating the oven for the chicken you plan to roast after a hard day at work — or reheating the one you bought at the supermarket? Most major manufacturers offer models with Wi-Fi capability. You download an app onto your phone or tablet and program the unit. Voila! The range is warm when you arrive home, so you get to eat sooner.

Faucets like Delta’s Touch2O Technology let you touch anywhere on the spout or faucet handle with your wrist or forearm to activate water flow if your hands are covered. So, no worries if you’re kneading pizzas for your gang.

You may or may not be ready for a fridge that knows if you’re low on butter or eggs and need to order. “Some buy this technology if they can afford it, even though they may not use it often,” says Chicago designer Susan Brunstrum of Studio Brunstrum.

But here’s something you can easily add and will want — more outlets and USB ports. You’ll be ready to charge everyone’s phone and other tech devices at one convenient charging station.

A creative kitchen can be a more livable space that displays your family’s interests and blends with your other rooms. And best of all, changes don’t have to be big, pricey, or time consuming. They can still make a major difference in ramping up your happiness quotient.

Make Your Own Bubbly Bar

If you really want to dazzle your friends and neighbors, transform your bar cart into a mobile bubbly bar. Fill it with all kinds of beverages: wine, champagne, and ready-to-mix juices and soda. Use drinkware in different sizes to add a touch of whimsy. Here’s a fun extra: Include a fortune cookie inside each glass. Before guests sip their beverage of choice, they’re treated to a prediction about the year ahead.

Go Glam

If there was ever a time to get glitzy and glamorous, it’s New Year’s Eve. But don’t just think about your wardrobe and jewelry; look to your party decor. What’s an easy way to jazz up your party and make it festive for a midnight toast? Add some sparkle to your wine, martini and champagne glasses (and even your bottles of bubbly). Check out this tutorial on how to make your own sparkling drinkware. You can even go glam with gilded balloons. It’s an interesting idea that adds a sophisticated touch to your New Year’s celebration.

Get Inventive with Photos

If you want to go all out, spring for a photo booth at your party for a fun way to document the festivities. Don’t want to go that route? Designate an area in your home as a photo zone. Bring in some creative props (colorful boas, cowboy hats, and 2023 glasses are all musts). Ask your guests to put their goals in writing on a chalkboard square, and then snap a photo of their resolutions. It’s a great memento and a fun reminder of what they hope to accomplish.

This New Year’s Eve, make a connection with your new neighbors by hosting an unforgettable bash. By implementing a few of the ideas above, it’s easy to ring in the New Year in style!

When you think of neighbors, do you think of friendly people you can turn to in a pinch, or do you think of nosy meddlers you’d rather avoid? Living with neighbors can sometimes be complicated, but as winter sets in, there is a lot you can do to keep the relationships with the people who live around you as warm as possible. Here are five simple ways to be a great neighbor this winter.

1. Take care of snowy sidewalks.
There’s nothing fun about shoveling snow—which means it’s a great opportunity to help out your neighbors. Clearing their sidewalks is a simple way to show your consideration in a helpful way. Many cities and HOAs have ordinances mandating snow removal within a certain timeframe, so if you have a neighbor who struggles to clear the walks themselves you could be especially helpful.

2. Offer to help with yard winterization.
As you are preparing your own yard for the winter months, see if there is anything you can do to help your neighbors. It could be as simple as spending an hour or two helping bag leaves or offering the use of tools or other equipment. If it’s a larger project, consider enlisting the help of other people nearby. Many hands make light work!

3. Give advance notice of holiday gatherings.
Winter comes with its share of holiday gatherings. If you are anticipating hosting a large holiday dinner or out-of-town guests on an extended visit, give your neighbors a heads up so they don’t have to scramble to find parking at their own home. No one wants Thanksgiving ruined over something like a parking dispute.

4. Be mindful of your holiday decor.
In general, it’s good to be aware of the kind of impact your lifestyle has on those around you, and winter holiday decorating is no exception. Extravagant displays with flashing lights and accompanying music are certainly fun and festive, but they can be a headache for the people next door. If you want to go full Griswold with your light and sound display this year, more power to you! Just make sure your neighbors are on board, too.

5. Leave little holiday gifts
If your family celebrates any special winter holidays, share that celebration with your neighbors. Drop off little gifts that show you value and appreciate them. Keep it simple so people don’t feel like they have to reciprocate or add you to their holiday shopping lists—a little homemade banana bread or a thoughtful card is plenty. Here it’s truly the thought that counts.