B4 • Friday, March 31, 2023
thegardenisland.com
THE GARDEN ISLAND
Spring refreshes: making the old feel like new kept handy for donations or returns. “Items that need to leave your home.”
Kim Cook ASSOCIATED PRESS Maybe you had hoped to be in a new home this year but were deterred by high housing prices. Maybe it’s just the arrival of spring that’s got you looking around your rooms and wanting something fresh. To make the old place feel like a new place, or just an updated place, designers and home editors say there’s lots you can do without spending a lot of money. Those include switching out a few furnishings or decorative items, rearranging others, and perhaps changing the purpose of a room.
Define with drapery Jessica Shaw, interior design director at the architecture and interiors firm The Turett Collaborative, in Brooklyn, New York, uses curtains to create “soft walls” for storage areas and to delineate spaces. “A design trick I often use to make a storage space a bit more appealing is using a wall of drapery to conceal it. Hang a roll-ceiling track or tension wire — IKEA has affordable options. This floorto-ceiling drapery creates a textural addition and acts as an effective room divider.”
cover or comforter, changing it to a bold color or a funky fabric like velvet, can make a huge difference in the look and feel of this space,” she says. Dimmer switches or smart lightbulbs are another big-impact/low-effort way to make a room feel luxurious and hotel-like. Got dated sliding doors? Covering them with a stylish removable paper is an instant update. “Or, if you have janky wooden ones like I did,” Fenimore says, take them out and replace them with a tension rod and curtains. Switch stuff
Spring is a good time to lighten the look of rooms, Little details A different view and besides bedding, there A cozy vibe in a Soho loft project is created by enrobing the room with curtains. Surprisingly small are many items that can easNew perspectives are ofcleaning: sort, donate, orga- changes in texture or color shot, like flowers, sky or a ten just as refreshing as ference when you add it in ily be switched out. Try a can make your home feel landscape,” and have it new stuff. an unexpected place,” she less bulky flatweave rug. nize. new, says Utz. printed — big. She took a Caroline Utz of the home said. “I took a small 8-by-8Bring more light in with win“Rethinking your junk “Peel-and-stick tile is the and lifestyle website The inch piece of art, framed it, photo from a recent beach drawer or cleaning out your dow coverings made of little sister to the more pop- cream-colored opaque fabvacation and had online re- closet is a must if you want Spruce says that for renters and hung it on my kitchen in particular, there’s a simbacksplash right above my tailer Parabo Press print it to feel calm at home,” she ular wallpaper version, but it ric, or airy wovens like ratsays. “If you don’t have a can do wonders on a budget tan. ple trick that costs nothing coffee station. It makes my on 24-by-36-inch paper for little galley kitchen feel system, you can feel overabout $30, she said. by creating an instant but time. “Your sofa is likely the You can buy big frames, kitchen backsplash or add“I love leaning art on top more elegant.” largest thing in the room,” whelmed fast.” She stuck the art up with or follow Panos’ lead and of dressers, desks, mantels says Panos. “and it could To begin, she says, take ing a fun pattern to your super-sticky gel tape — use wooden rails top and or bookshelves. When I’m probably stand to lighten up every single thing out of the bathroom floor,” she says. bottom to hang the art. looking for a change, I move Duck Brand makes a vercloset or drawer before you She also suggests switch- for spring. A large textile will Another option: Get your start sorting. the art to different rooms do the trick. Check the bedsion — and can easily ing out cabinet hardware: until I find a fresh combina- remove it when she wants. photo made into an un“It looks messy at first, “Anthropologie is my secret ding aisle for a nubby bedThe right large-scale art- framed canvas print at sites but it’s so helpful to actually source for the most unique tion,” she said. “The best spread. Tablecloths look at everything at once. knobs and drawer pulls, but sometimes work, too.” part is that no nails, drylike Snapbox, Vistaprint work can function almost any hardware store or thrift and Canvaspop, or local re- You realize you can probaPanos advises looking for like a window. But big art wall repair kits or hanging something with a visible can be pricey. equipment are needed.” tailers. bly get rid of more than you shop can do the trick.” Refreshing soft furnishweave, which will stay in “Here’s an affordable opReal Simple’s home directhink,” she says. place better than a silkier, After the sorting is done, tor, Erica Finamore, also tion,” said Better Homes & Stack and sort ings in the bedroom can be finer material when wrapped Jessica Dodell-Feder of set up a system going forlikes to rethink where she Gardens editor Amy Panos. transformative, Finamore and tucked around cushHGTV Magazine adheres to ward. Dodell-Feder has an places art in her home. “Dig through your photo says. three classic steps of spring “outbox” — a box or bin “It can really make a difroll to find an outdoorsy “Replacing the duvet ions.
Long-term mortgage rate at lowest level in six weeks ASSOCIATED PRESS The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate inched down this week to its lowest level in six weeks, just as the spring buying season gets underway. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the average on the benchmark 30-year rate fell for the third straight week, to 6.32 percent, from 6.42 percent last week. The average rate a year ago was 4.67 percent. The recent decline in mortgage rates is good news for prospective homebuyers, as many were pushed to the sidelines during the past year as the Federal Reserve cranked up its main borrowing rate nine straight times in a bid to bring down stubborn, four-decade high inflation. Also helping buyers, home prices appear to be leveling off. The national median home price slipped 0.2 percent from February last year to $363,000, marking the first annual decline in 13 years, according to the National Association of Realtors. One thing that hasn’t gotten much better is the supply of homes. “Over the last several weeks, declining rates have brought borrowers back to the market but, as the spring homebuying season gets underway, low inventory remains a key challenge for prospective buyers,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. The average long-term mortgage rate hit 7.08 percent in the fall — a two-decade high.
COSTAS PICADAS / THE TURETT COLLABORATIVE VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS