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A Perfect �Pet� Project for Every Home

by: ARA

Decorating with Wallpaper

By Jaima Brown

A majority of all American households -- 58.3 percent -- has at least one pet, according to the most recent edition of "U.S. Pet Ownership and Demographics." Contrary to popular wisdom, cats are the most common "best friend." There are 70 million pet cats in this country, compared with 60 million pet dogs.

Cat or dog, these beloved creatures are increasingly viewed as a true member of the family, say researchers at Packaged Facts Inc. As confirmation, the consulting firm projects the pet care and pet supplies market will climb to a whopping $8 billion by 2007. This burgeoning boom is attributed to "humanization" of pets by their owners.

Anyone who has a pet -- and even many who don't -- won't find that hard to believe. Americans' love of cats and dogs has also turned these animals' images into one of the nation's top decorating trends, one that appeals to people of all ages.

The Piper Designs division of S.A. Maxwell Company is paying loving tribute to puppies and kittens in its Zero to 60 collection. Two separate wallpaper borders impart puppy love and kittenish delights that are certain to bring smiles to anyone who enters a room.

What's more, installing a border is among the easiest and most satisfying of do-it-yourself projects. The whole family can participate, and it can be accomplished in just a couple of hours.

In the puppy border, baby Labs, Terriers, Beagles and other favorite breeds -- all with "aah-inspiring" faces -- innocently stumble on wobbly little legs through a clutter of basketballs, footballs and other sports paraphernalia. On the other border, furry fluffs of kittens in equally innocent poses play hide and seek among blossoms in a flower garden.

Because people are so enamored with these images that they want to reach out and touch them, we used the borders at chair rail height, about 27 inches up from the floor. This also makes installation even easier for grandparents, Mom, Dad and especially children.

Strips of molding frame the puppy border. The kitty border has molding beneath it and a handy, shallow ledge above. Both the moldings and ledge are available at any local lumberyard or home improvement store and give these borders -- and the whole room -- a true decorator finishing touch. The borders stand out best when set against perfectly color-coordinated wallpaper such as stripes, a plaid, a marbleized texture or mini-floral. All of these patterns and more are contained in the Zero to 60 collection.

It is actually baby boomers and older Americans, however, rather than young families, that are the driving forces behind the burgeoning pet trend, according to the Packaged Facts' survey. Pets bring calm to busy boomers' lives, and, "as empty nests become refilled with dog beds and litter boxes, older adults have new ways in which to impart their lifestyles and attitudes," says the report.

For these pet lovers, a sophisticated wallpaper border in the Antiquities collection from Maxwell's Piper Designs division strikes a perfect fit. It features purebred sporting dogs bedding down for the night in just the kind of royal setting these people want their pets to enjoy. Mated with a tartan plaid wallpaper on one wall and a wide stripe on another, the border ties both patterns together in a coordinated whole-room design.

To locate a retailer in your area that carries the Antiquities and Zero to 60 collections from the Piper Designs division of S.A. Maxwell Co., call (847) 932-3700 or visit www.samaxwell.com on the Internet.

Courtesy of ARA Content

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Home Improvements � The Fun Stuff
by: Raynor James

Planning home improvements necessarily involves addressing numerous practical matters. That doesn�t mean you should ignore the fun stuff!

The Fun Stuff

The first thing to plan for in home improvements is the practical stuff. The second thing you need to talk to family members about is the fun stuff.

Most people have colors they like and colors they don�t like. They have things that interest them and things that don�t. Get your family to talk to you about those things. Each person�s bedroom, or bedroom area, should reflect his or her taste and interests.

A boy who likes green, football, and backpacking can easily have a sage green (it �reads� as more neutral than many shades of green if re-sale of your home is a concern) room with cream woodwork, cream interior shutters, and cream ceiling. Framed football posters and wilderness scenes might be pleasant. Bedding with a rustic motif (rows of stylized pine trees?) from L.L. Bean or Plow and Hearth would work right in. Add a touch or two of a bright color like red or yellow.

Does he need a desk in his room? A chest of drawers? A bookcase? Would he enjoy having a bulletin board? Even if they�re small, most rooms need at least three lamps so that illumination is general and even. The shades are usually best in warm, neutral colors. (Light coming through green shades tends to make people look sick.) Lamp shades should be level and the seams should be toward the wall so they�re not visible. When the bottom edge of most lamp shades in a room are the same height from the floor, the room tends to look serene and cohesive.

Hanging pictures usually look best if the bottom edges of the frames are the same height from the floor and level with each other, too. There are exceptions to this and every generalization of course. A grouping of pictures can have the bottom tier follow the �rule� while all of the other pictures are higher. A picture over a fireplace often looks good higher than the other pictures in the room.

Pictures usually look best when they have a relationship to furniture or an architectural feature. Pictures centered over a chest, bed, bookcase, or fireplace are good examples. Pictures don�t tend to look good if they�re scattered willy-nilly around a room, or if they�re up near the ceiling (unless they�re part of a grouping), or if the height at which they�re hung varies wildly with no rhyme nor reason.

A girl who loves pink, the ballet, and swimming can have woodwork the same cream as her brother�s while her walls are a soft pink (a pink with a hint of yellow in it tends to go well with cream), and her art work reflects her interests. If she loves to read, make sure she has a good reading lamp near her bed, or near a comfortable chair, or both.

A cream colored dust ruffle with widely spaced pink stripes and a quilted plaid coverlet in pink, green, yellow, and blue on a cream background might look nice. Add cream fabric window shades with large pink polka dots and I�ll bet she�ll smile.

The bigger point is to simply have fun with some of your home improvements. There is no need to look exclusively at practical matters.

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