And welcome to your new (or your first!) issue of Dream Home Decorating News. This month's issue is about simple, easy ways to warm up your home and get ready for a cozy, comfortable fall season.

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Thanks for joining me today, and enjoy this issue!
Renate Hering-Shepherd

PS) If the newsletter is difficult to read as an e-mail,
read this issue online.

1. Featured Article: Cozy Fall Warm-Up Ideas
2. Fun Web Tip: A Blog To Waste Time On
3. Completely Trivial Tidbit: Look Who's Doing Her Digs!
4. Book Update: Color Schemes That Always Work
5. Legal Stuff

Cozy Fall Warm-Up Ideas

Few of us have the time and money to change our home's 'outfit' with the seasons, but there are ways to make a room look warmer and cozier as winter approaches and our needs for creature comforts increase. Here are three general things you can choose to do to warm up the look & feel of your home:

1. Color

Color's an obvious choice, really. Orange is the warmest color on the color wheel, but it may not work with the color scheme of your home. Modified versions of orange can fit in better, like warm chestnut browns or rust tones. To create warmth, you have the whole gamut of earth tones from manila brown via 'Indian Summer' hues all the way to a dark espresso.

Closest to orange in warmth are the colors red (on the 'yellow side' of red) and yellow. Next come warm, (yellowish) greens.  If, instead, you want to preserve a feel of summer, soft 'winter whites' can help you do that without looking cold in the winter light.

Here are some items whose color can be changed without much fuss and at relatively low cost:

• blanket,
• scatter cushion,
• bedlinen,
• tablecloth,
• wall (just one wall, don't go painting complete rooms unless you really want a complete change :-),
• doormat,
• tea towel,
• slippers,
• bathrobe,
• bath mat,
• towels,
• area rug,
• wall art.

2. Texture

Tactile surfaces don't just feel cosy and inviting, they also look 'warm'. So consider adding an item or two with the appearance of ...

• bouclé or mohair yarns,
• knits and nobbly weaves, or
• long-pile rugs.

Or, how about giving an old blanket a new edging, or turning an old sweater/coat into a 'new' scatter cushion?

3. Warm Up Your Heart:

Focus your thoughts on the good stuff. Wall art is a great way to trick your mind into doing just that, without any effort on your part!

• Replace an old picture with a fresh one (or one you have't had up for a while)

• Take a snapshot of a beautiful sky & blow it up to a large format - there are new opportunities daily to get a great shot!

• Hang a picture gallery of your most recent or best-ever vacation, or

• Add some elegant large-scale plant pics, because Nature really does calm the mind and soothe the spirit. (Take a camera to a nursery or a botanical garden – if you're not so sure about your photographic skills, send your Best Photographer Friend. They'll be chuffed that you want to hang their art in your home.)

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A Blog To Waste Time On!

Trend snob that I am, I find it very difficult to get excited about the latest decorating 'must-haves'. Even a suppressed yawn seems a bit much to ask. However, I do get very excited whenever I see fun and pure unadulterated human ingenuity unleashed on someone's average, unsuspecting home. We all have wonderful creative ability, but most of us need some prodding before we allow it out.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you www.ikeahackers.net!

Have a look at the fabulous washbasin islands, the whacky bedroom dressboys, the minimalist iMac computer desk, or the ginormous craft table.

And that's just the start. Salad bowl speakers, anyone? I mean, honestly.

Of course you don't need Ikea to produce your own imaginative 'hacks' - any big-box DIY store will do nicely, or a garage sale for that matter. Get ready to think outside the box, catalog, or fashionable furniture store.
Flippin' brilliant!

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Why am I even mentioning this? Well, have a look at his online portfolio. I think he rocks the pale-neutrals-with-a-fine-black-edge look to enviable perfection. Superbly useful for small(ish) homes in need of an easy-to-handle color concept!

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Book Update:
Color Schemes That Always Work

So what's going on with that book of mine? Well may you ask. (Sigh)

For reasons too long-winded to explain, I've decided to interrupt my labor of love and transfer the entire site to the new look & structure as a matter of urgency. This will, of course, make DreamHomeDecorating.com  easier for you to navigate, and provide much better access to all the ideas and nuggets that are currently hidden away in the nooks, crannies and secret alleyways of the site.

For starters, check out the new contents overview and/or the sitemap!

In a month or so, all will be complete, the whole site will work well and look cool enough for my liking (I keep changing my mind about what constitutes 'cool', though!) Anyway, once that's done I'll resume bookwriting, photoshopping & putting lurvely color schemes together for you.  The book is now due out next year. I'm actually sure the delay (=additional simmering & maturation time) will only make it better.

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And with that, I wish you a lovely fall (or a sun-drenched spring, Down Under!).  Enjoy the season, your loved ones, and whatever it is you’re currently up to :-)

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