C2 •The World • Saturday, November 9,2013
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
How to reduce allergies while gardening See Page C3
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Simple steps to a home both cozy, cost-efficient BY MELISSA RAYWORTH The Associated Press
As temperatures drop and daylight is in shorter supply, we fight back: We crank up the heat in our homes and turn on lights earlier and earlier. And yet we also want to keep our heating and electric bills as low as we can. Can you keep your home warm and inviting all winter while still conserving energy? Here, three home design experts offer advice on how to keep things cozy while minimizing energy use this winter. Their suggestions range from the traditional (there’s a reason why your grandmother hung those heavy curtains in winter) to the high-tech, including a thermostat that can talk to your iPad.
Try new tech Maxwell Ryan, founder of the popular home dicor website ApartmentTherapy.com, is a designer. John Colaneri, co-host of HGTV’s “Kitchen Cousins,” is a construction expert who builds and remodels homes. Both offer identical pieces of advice about staying warm while conserving power and saving money: Swap out your old incandescent bulbs (and those swirly compact fluorescent bulbs, too) for the new Cree brand LED bulbs. “They can last longer than 10 years and they use 84 percent less energy than incandescents,” Ryan says. “They also are dimmable” and give a warm-looking light — a big change from the energy-
saving compact fluorescents. “If you do the math on the LED,” he says, the bulbs save you so much on electricity that they pay for themselves within a year and then last about nine more years. Colaneri and Ryan also both advise homeowners to replace old thermostats with new Nest brand models. “They take 30 percent off your bill each month,” Colaneri says. “And they look very high-tech and cool to display.” Nests are programmable “ learning thermostats,” which means they track your habits and adjust accordingly. They also connect via WiFi to check weather reports online, and you can control them remotely from an iPad. There is new outdoor technology, as well. On your deck or patio, designer Brian Patrick Flynn suggests adding a new propane-powered space heater. The newest models are costeffective and stylish, says Flynn, executive producer of HGTV.com’s Holiday House. “They look like modern sculpture,” says Flynn, “and many of them are under $500. To ensure my outdoor spaces stay warm during the winter, I keep modern, 7foot tall space heaters in my covered outdoor living room. They’re on wheels, so it’s easy to move them around to wherever people are seated. And once lit, the glass tubes which contain the flame from the propane tank put on a gorgeous show.” Embrace upholstery Warm, cozy upholstery
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fabrics work on a practical level by holding your warmth when you touch or sit on them. But Ryan points out that they also work visually: A room full of soft, warm fabrics will give you a psychological sense of warmth that adds to your enjoyment. So add thick throw blankets to chairs and sofas, and swap out silk-covered pillows and even lampshades for ones covered in thicker, nubbier fabrics like muslin and burlap. Ryan also recommends using thick curtains in winter. A decade ago, he says, “curtains were considered fusty and old-fashioned and expensive.” But with so many beautiful, inexpensive curtains available today, they’ve become popular again. Besides adding color or a bold pattern to a room, curtains also block cold air that might leak in around windows. And they muffle sound from outside, which Ryan says helps make rooms feel more insulated in winter. “Curtains,” he says, “aren’t just for your grandparents anymore.” The same technique can help warm up outdoor spaces. Flynn recommends Sunbrella’s outdoor velveteen fabric for chairs and sofas. He also likes thick, woven blends. “Velveteen is amazing for the outdoors,” he says, “since it’s warm and fuzzy.”
Light the fire Crackling flames in an indoor fireplace can change
The Associated Press
To ensure the outdoor living space of his mountain house stays warm and welcoming during the colder months, designer Brian Patrick Flynn chose woven blend upholstery for his seating, a wool and acrylic blend indoor-outdoor area rug, and throw pillows and blankets to keep guests feeling cozy. The wood burning fireplace is energy efficient and will still keep the area warm should electricity be lost during ice storms or snow storms. the feel of a room instantly. And outdoors, they bring a welcome infusion of heat and light on a winter evening. “Outdoor fireplaces are increasingly more and more popular, coast to coast,” Flynn says. “They’re not all that much of an expense like an outdoor kitchen would be.” If you’re building a new outdoor fireplace, leave ample room for seating. “Many times homeowners have outdoor fireplaces built, but there’s only enough room for a small table or two chairs. What’s the point, people? The whole idea is to gather and stay
Everyone I’ve ever met has a war story about buying his or her first house. One delights in relating how, just the day before she was to close, she got a call from her lender to ask why she had not disclosed all her credit cards on her application, a serious no-no. She explained that she had only two credit cards, and both had been listed. “What about this Diner’s Club card?” the lender asked. It had turned up in her credit check. Ummm, Diner’s Club isn’t a credit card, she explained. It’s paid off at the end of every month. And shouldn’t a mortgage lender know that?
“Well, it still should have been on the list — so we’d know what sort of balance HOUSE you’re carrying.” Um m m , there is no balance. It’s paid off at the end of the month. E v e r y month. “Well, we STEVE still need to BATIE list it.” So, she drove over to the lender and signed a little “amendment” to her application,and the closing went through on time.
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Lay down rugs Gleaming hardwood or tile floors are lovely in spring and summer. But in cold weather, add a thick rug or swap out a thin one for something heavier. This will not only warm your feet, but also change the look and sound of your space. “When acoustics are dampened,” Ryan says, “the room feels warmer.” An outdoor rug can have
the same impact. “Thick outdoor area rugs are made of acrylic/wool blends,” Flynn says. “The wool feels great on your feet and definitely locks in warmth.”
Improve your circulation This last tip, shared by Maxwell Ryan, comes from a conversation he had years ago with home dicor guru Martha Stewart. She advised him to run his ceiling fans backward in winter to push warm air back down along the walls of the room. If you don’t have ceiling fans, Ryan suggests adding one or two for energy savings and added comfort yearround.
Tales of that first house
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cozy outdoors,” Flynn says. He suggests planning “at least 12-by-14 feet of space around the front of the fireplace to ensure a sofa and loveseat as well as a coffee table and end tables will fit.”
Nov. 21st
But she got a good story out of it. Another buddy arrived at his newly purchased first houseto discover the seller had unscrewed every single light bulb, because they weren’t “attached” to the premises and hadn’t been specified in the sales contract. Things permanently attached to a house — decks, light fixtures, window frames, doors and the like — are assumed to be part of the building that’s being sold. Leaving behind such “unattached” items as drapes and blinds, furniture, appliances, etc., is at the discretion of the seller unless they’re listed specifically in the contract. Light bulbs, which were not mentioned in the contract, apparently were deemed up for grabs. As was the roller on the toilet paper dispenser in his new bathroom. The dispenser itself, which was screwed to a cabinet, still was “attached,” of course. My own first-house war story: I did my walk-through just an hour before the closing — even as the sellers and their family were loading the final items into a rental truck for a moving trip to Texas. After signing about a gazillion pieces of paper (all with a pay-off date so far in the future I’d never thought of living
then), I took my real estate agent to lunch. (I’ve never done that since; it was the only time an agent ever came to one of my closings.) A couple of hours later, I went over to my new address, the old-old house of HouseWorks fame, to bask in my new-found symbol of adulthood. That’s when I discovered the large modern refrigerator that had graced the kitchen — including during that very morning’s walkthrough — had been replaced by a tiny unit some years older than I was. On reflection — between frantic calls to various brokers, lenders and the sellers themselves — I remembered having seen the little unit (possibly post-war, but I’m taking no wagers) in the basement.To get it to the kitchen meant hauling it out the back door, down the driveway and around the house, then up the front steps and through the living and dining rooms to get it into the kitchen. Obviously, the switch had been no accident. It also was obvious why the sellers were still packing up when I did the walk-through. It took a couple of weeks to get it all ironed out — and a whole lot more increasingly angryphone calls — but I finally settled for $400 and used that to buy a new refrigerator. Everybody has a war story.