Joe is here

Decorating with Paint HELPS YOUR BUDGET!!

Double Your Decorating Potential

An expensive redecorating project is not likely a priority this year -- at least as far as your household budget is concerned. While we're all tightening our belts a bit, it's easy to refresh a room without breaking the bank.

Here are a few tips from the color experts at Rust-Oleum:

* Take stock of what you own. Pull all of the furniture out of your room so that you can take an inventory of what you'd like to keep. You may be surprised to find that an old item once tucked into a corner could provide new inspiration.

Look around your house for other furniture items and accessories. Be sure to "shop" for your new items in the attic, basement or garage. Ask neighbors or friends or shop flea markets and garage sales. Don't worry if the items don't match just yet. Paint can bring the room together.

* Choose your new color palette. Choosing color is often the most daunting task when redecorating, but here's a tip for finding the perfect color palette. First, think about what you use this room for. Is it a peaceful place to read? An inspiring area to create? A room dedicated to family fun?

Next, pick a word or two that describes how you want that room to feel -- calm, peaceful, bright, warm, or inspiring. Now close your eyes and visualize that word. You may visualize the ocean when you think of calm or a bright outdoor place when you think of inspiration.

Write down one or two colors from the scene that you've visualized. Maybe it's a Spa Blue of the ocean along with the Khaki color of wet sand. Or, if your inspiration is a bright garden, you may want to use colors like Sun Yellow, Deep Blue or Apple Red.

* Recycle, refresh and renew your existing furniture. Use paint to bring unlike pieces together. You may find six unique dining chairs with different styles. Painted a rich Kona Brown, these very different chairs make up a beautiful and eclectic dining set. This same strategy works well with picture frames, vases, baskets and other accent pieces.

Bringing a mix of different styles together with paint is even easier with Rust-Oleum's new Ultra Cover 2X. Its double cover technology offers twice the coverage of other spray paints and is available in the most popular colors. Twice the coverage means that you'll need fewer coats of paint to complete your project so your room will be ready in half the time. Spray paint has many advantages over brush paint. Most notably, spray paints provide a smooth finish for items with a lot of texture like wicker or wood with detail.

For more inspiration and project ideas, visit www.paintideas.com. There are hundreds of easy, inexpensive projects that can help you transform any living space. And, when you've finished your own room makeover, be sure to share it with your new friends at paintideas.com.

THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE UGLY? TELL IT LIKE IT IS!

As a home improvement contractor, I’m always interested in feedback from clients. Here’s your forum for telling me (and others in the industry) what you as consumers look for when you hire us to renovate or repair your homes. Feel free to tell me what you might not be comfortable telling me or asking me as I stand there estimating your job or explaining the cost. What’s most important to you? A quick return call or estimate, cost of the job, finding a licensed and insured contractor, a contractor’s experience and/or references, how quickly we can schedule your job or how flexible we can be? Or something else? What are your “pet peeves”/concerns and how can we improve our service to you, the customer?

PAINTPRO

To answer your question- "I've got a question already ... perhaps he can help me out when he gets here.... is there an easy way to match the color paint on my wall that's been there a couple of years. I only need a touch up and really dont know what color I used. Do I have to repaint the entire room??"

You can try to take a small chip from an inconspicuous spot in to a paint store or bring paint cards home and try them against your wall. Most paint stores like Sherwin-Williams have electronic paint scanners that can get close to determining what colors make up your particular paint. The difficulty is that paint fades in sunlight and gets dirty very quickly. Even the paint finish (matte, gloss, semi-gloss, flat) changes over time. Most house walls are painted in a flat paint because it hides defects best so if you're not sure what finish your paint is, that's probably your safest bet. This may be a challenge. If you can get a close match, buy a small sample and try it in a couple of small , inconspicuous areas first. And remember that paint dries lighter. Hope this helps and good luck. I'll be interested to hear what happens.

Joe will be here soon to take your questions...

If you have a question about home improvements, renovations or restorations in Southern Maryland you've come to the right place. Joe will have his tool belt on soon and ready to help out. He's had the hard had on for many years and is full of information to get your project started or point you in the right direction to hiring a professional for your project.

I've got a question already ... perhaps he can help me out when he gets here.... is there an easy way to match the color paint on my wall that's been there a couple of years. I only need a touch up and really dont know what color I used. Do I have to repaint the entire room??

I'll be eagerly waiting to hear!