Turquoise Decor Spring Ezine

Spring 2009 E-zine

Turquoise Décor LLC

From Drab to Fab!

425 463 8415

Photography © by Skedonk.com

Proudly serving clients from the following communities: Seattle, the Eastside, King County, Snohomish County, Pierce County, Tacoma, Bellevue, Renton, Seatac, Shoreline, Redmond, Kirkland, Issaquah, Sammamish, Kent, Auburn, West Seattle, Lynnwood, Mountlake Terrace, Woodinville, Kenmore, Fife, Federal Way, Edmonds, Brier, Bothell, Lake Forest Park, Mercer Island, Newcastle, Normandy Park, Greenlake, Carnation, Duvall, Everett, Monroe, Lake Stevens, North Bend, Snoqualmie, Copyright © 2008 Turquoise Décor Newsletter.

Spring is nature's way of saying, 'Let's party!'

Robin Williams

Issue 6, April 2009

Events Spotlight

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Contributors to this edition:

Featured Articles

Spring Curb Appeal by Andy Capelluto

Remember that our referral program enables clients and friends to earn money by referring new clients.

For every new client that you refer to us, we will give you 10% of the project's value (up to a total referral bonus of $1,000).

n The City of Seattle is offering a series of solar energy workshops called Solar Works. Follow the link for more information on forthcoming events.

n Join us at the Work Smarter Forum seminar series. Turquoise’s Nicole Wexler presented here in March and on May 14th you can catch Patrick Williams of You Rock Communications.

n If you’re an artist, take note of the upcoming Alaska Colored Pencil Workshop Cruise taking place on May 23-30, 2009. This will include a 7-night Alaskan Workshop Cruise from Seattle including three workshops from three top notch colored pencil instructors: Ann Kullberg, Pat Averill, and Linda Lucas -Hardy. Subjects include: Portraits, landscape, and still life. Learn, laugh, and be inspired!

n Creative opportunities abound at the Seattle International Children’s Festival taking place in Seattle and Tacoma on May 12-16th and May 17 & 18th respectively. Activities include making caterpillar puppets, custom made buttons or badges, assembling and decorating kites, creating a clay ;and fantasy, as well as practicing the ancient art of origami.

We visited the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival last week-end and it was truly a sight to behold. Fields of red, yellow, pink, purple and white—as well as some late-blooming daffodils. As usual, Roozengaarde did not disappoint with a staggering display of different varieties. Yes, Spring is definitely here and don’t we all love this time of year, with it’s unspoken promises of hope for the future.

As usual we have some free, easy, and fun decorating Tips & Tricks for you - this month we’ve aimed at helping you bring some of those lovely blooms inside. And we’re featuring some fun floral-themed items in our Hot Products this month.

If you’re gearing up to putting your property on the market this spring, read Andy Capelluto’s Spring staging tips on our Featured Articles page. You will have noticed that last month we had a technical glitch with our newsletter—please accept our sincere apologies. It seems that to err is human but you need a computer to really mess things up! That’s why we’re bringing last month’s featured articles to your attention once more—the environmentally green theme of March is just as relevant to April.

Don’t forget to enter our Spring Trivia Challenge for a chance to win a $10 Starbucks card. And if your decorating question is the one we publish in next month’s newsletter, you could win a pair of movie tickets!

Wishing you all a warm, healthy and hopeful Spring!

Here

Giving Back to the Community

End Summer Hunger Campaign

Hopelink has just launched its annual campaign to support the increasing number of hungry families at local food banks throughout the summer when free or reduced-fee breakfast and lunch programs for children at schools are not operating.

The End Summer Hunger fundraising drive runs from April through August. Donations will help Hopelink respond to increasing need at Hopelink's six emergency service centers in north and east King County.

Before You Decorate, Interrogate!

Are you facing a decorating dilemma? Do you own something you’re not certain how to display effectively? Here’s your chance to get some free advice! AND, if we feature your decorating question in our next issue, we'll send you a pair of complimentary movie tickets!

Yes, I have a decoration interrogation!

Answer: Displaying a group of similar items of the same color together is a great way to tastefully accessorize a room. Our advice to you is to collect a few empty wine bottles of varying shapes and sizes. Set them down on several layers of newspaper in a well-ventilated area and simply spray paint them with the color of your choice. Allow about 6 hours to dry and voila you’ll have something like this (below):

This month’s question: I am a financially-challenged student. I saw this picture of a display of glass bottles but they tend to be rather expensive. Do you have any ideas about how I could re-create this look more cost-effectively?

Other options:

Cluster the same object in different colors:

Group vases of the same color in varying shapes and sizes.

Available from OK Store

Spring Trivia Challenge

Regarded in some cultures as mid-spring and in others as the "first day of spring", astronomically the Vernal Equinox should be the middle of spring. In the Northern Hemisphere this day usually falls on March 21st. On which day does it usually fall in the Southern Hemisphere? Is it:

a) June 21st ;

b) September 21st; or

c) December 21st.

The first correct answer emailed to Nicole@TurquoiseDecor.com will be this month's winner of a $10 Starbucks Card!

The answer to last month’s question was (a) the sun.

Decorating Tips and Tricks

It's Spring, and flowers always cheer up a space. The good news is that you don't need an expensive floral arrangement - take a look at these simple and inexpensive ways to arrange and display even the simplest flowers.

Bunch up some flowers in an old tea or coffee pot. You could match colors in the porcelain or go for a completely un-put-together look.

We all have unused silver containers in our homes - from wine goblets and julep cups to bowls and even stainless steel pots. Why not get some use out of grandma's silver or an old cooking pot by displaying fresh blooms in them?

Hot Products

Spring is in the air - we love this time of year at Turquoise Decor. We love the blossoms, the daffodils, the tulips. Take a look at our floral-inspired hot products this month.

Flowers bloom willy nilly over these pillows:

1 & 2 - Orimono and Garden Party Pillows from Anthropologie

3 & 4 - Pink Ruffle and Embroidered Floral Pillows from Pier 1.

Brighten up your living space with dynastic porcelain and bronze, inspired by colorful cloisonné:

5 & 6 - Yuan Lamps from Anthropologie

Glorious, larger-than-life zinnias burst forth in vibrant hues.

7 - Zinnia Shower Curtain from Garnet Hill

Impeccable styling looms large in this hand-tufted rug featuring a bold botanical design in striking color combinations. Crafted of dense New Zealand wool and finished with a cotton canvas backing. By Thomas Paul. Imported.

8 - Floribunda Wool Rug from Garnet Hill

Or grab some empty water bottles, line them up in a row, and place one fresh bloom in each. The effect will be simple, yet eye-catching.

For more

information go to

www.hope-link.org/endsummerhunger.

April 2009 Featured Articles

Spring Curb Appeal

By Andy Capelluto

It doesn’t matter what the “experts” say about the market – it’s Spring and time to embrace the concept of exterior home staging like it’s your best friend … because it is!

1. While standing at the front entrance of the property you’re staging, take a good, hard look at what you’re dealing with. This is your time to be super observant.

2. Begin at the mailbox and work from the outside in. Start by de-cluttering your front yard. (Yes, it’s possible to de-clutter and de-personalize the exterior as well as the interior.) Check to see where you can eliminate dead wood, and by that I mean trim, cut back and remove anything that is overgrown and superfluous.

3. Remove whatever is unnecessary – repair whatever is broken – upgrade wherever possible.

4. Pressure wash, clean and eliminate all remnants of winter. Be sure to give special attention to the front door - it must look spectacular.

6. Remember paint is the cheapest, fastest and most effective method to upgrade both in the exterior and the interior. You could also ‘spot paint’ any walls, areas and features that could do with a little ‘facelift’.

7. Introduce seasonal color in the form of bold masses of inexpensive annuals in planters, flower beds and hanging baskets. Planters flanking the front door using one color of one specimen will give that front door area the impact it deserves. By planting seasonal color you’re indicating new beginnings and adding color and life to your home.

8. Make sure that the front door mat, hardware and lighting fixtures look the best they possibly could. If they don’t, consider replacing them. They are inexpensive upgrades that will improve the look of a very important area of the home.

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Andy Capelluto is an interior designer and home stager. She is the founder of The Power of Staging - a home staging school based in Seattle. Read more about her at www.ThePowerOfStaging.com.