HGTV's Design Star - Do you watch?

Shh...don't tell but my guilty pleasure is watching HGTV's Design Star. Like its sister show Next Food Network Star, the show casts off people until the one left gets their own TV show.

Here is the link to the show: Design Star

The judges this year are great: Genevieve Gorder Candice Olson and Vern Yip .

Do you watch? What do you think of the contestants or the projects they are asked to do? This year the budgets seem to be more generous but it is the time frames that are so unrealistic.

Your thoughts?

Do you need to be good at math to become an interior decorator?

Sometimes I get the opportunity to speak to high school students about becoming an interior decorator. One question that often comes up is "Do I need to be good at math to become an interior decorator?"

My answer: You will use math everyday!

This surprises most of the students. Now note I said you use it everyday - I didn't say you need to have an natural aptitude towards it.

To give you an example, I was recently helping my son who is in 5th grade with a math worksheet. These math examples came right from the math book:

Rashid can paint 2 square feet of fence in 10 minutes. How long will it take him to paint a fence that is 6 feet high by 25 feet long?

or

Regina wants to cover one wall of her room with wallpaper. The wall is 9 feet high and 15 feet wide. There is a doorway in the wall that is 3 feet wide by 7 feet tall. How many square feet of wallpaper will she need to buy?

See...you do use math in interior decorating.

Julie

Clean out the clutter

Just like many people, January finds me cleaning, sorting and organizing this time of the year. One closet of mine is just overflowing with books I have read. Thinking I could use the closet for other stuff, I found the best thing to do with all these books.

The website is called Paperback swap (but they take hardcovers and audio books too.) You list books you are willing to swap and list books you want. I LOVE it!!!



I save money by not buying new books and I clean out clutter. Yeah! I highly recommend this site. (you can click on the blue box above to take you right there)

Fireplace facelift fast and cheap

One recent house I was working on needed to change out the dated brass fireplace door. The price of a new door was around $350. This was out of the budget. So what to do?

The answer is heat resistance black spray paint! Cost around $8.00.

For a total savings of $342

The Home Stylist will be glad to help you come up with cost effective decor solutions. Call (716) 912-1581. You can have a great room on a tight budget!