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  • Real Estate Agents, Contractors Talk About Best ROI Home Repairs

    Kendra Bobowick • Home and Garden •
    Friday, April 12, 2013

    Clean kitchens, fresh paint, and tidy rooms and lawns are part of what can improve home sales and provide significant return on investment (ROI) opportunities, according to a group of local realtors and contractors surveyed on the subject by Home & Garden. Lou and Pat Perez of the Perez Team work for Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage. “Pat and I agree that the primary thing to do would be the kitchen — upgrade for the style of the home and community it’s in.”

  • Newtown Landscape Architect Pioneering Award-Winning Spaces For Kids On The Spectrum

    John Voket • Home and Garden •
    Friday, April 12, 2013

    When it comes to integrating concepts of sequential outdoor learning (SOL) into residential and public environments that are particularly welcoming to children on the autism spectrum, Newtowner and landscape architect Tara Vincenta pretty much wrote the book on it. Ms Vincenta has supplemented more than 25 years of work in the field with a substantial amount of hands-on research and personal observations. After graduation from one of the nation’s top landscape architecture schools in Syracuse, N.Y., she bounced between Denver and the East Coast honing her multifaceted skills.

  • Staging Can Make A Memorable Impression When Selling A Home

    Eliza Hallabeck • Home and Garden •
    Friday, April 12, 2013

    While Patti Stern, a decorator and accredited home stager with PJ & Company Home Styling, LLC, says correctly pricing a home for sale is key, she adds that paying attention to aesthetics is also highly important. “You wouldn’t sell your car without detailing it… That’s one of the benefits of staging,” said Ms Stern. “Staging is really an investment in getting your home sold.” Two properties under contract with PJ & Company Home Styling — one in New Fairfield and one in South Salem, N.Y. — ended up selling for more than the asking price, according to Ms Stern, thanks to minimum investments to stage the homes first before putting them on the market.

  • What To Do When Your House Is Making You Homesick

    Nancy K. Crevier • Home and Garden •
    Wednesday, April 10, 2013

    Being “homesick” takes on a whole new meaning when seeking answers to health issues. Sick building or sick house syndrome is a term coined more than three decades ago to describe situations in which more than one person experiences illness connected with a particular building or home, due to gas-emitting building materials and poor ventilation. It is a term that is commonly recognized today by people well outside the building industry, said Drs Carolyn Graham and Alice Bell of the Naturopathic Health Center, LLC, in Southbury.

  • Look To ‘Grayed-Down’ Tones Among Popular Color Trends For 2013

    Nancy K. Crevier • Home and Garden •
    Wednesday, April 10, 2013

    Neutrals and rich colors seem to be the trend for 2013. Aloe. Lemon Sorbet. Prairie Sand. Grayed Jade. Monaco Blue. The names alone are enough to cause a soul to sigh with satisfaction, and these are just a few of the colors selected by top paint companies as the 2013 Colors of the Year.

  • Marble And Granite Are Rock Solid Choices For Home Or Office

    Nancy K. Crevier • Home and Garden •
    Wednesday, April 10, 2013

    There are stones on the market such a travertine, soapstone, and quartzite that work perfectly well for home and office applications, as do the manufactured products. But far and away the two stones with which customers are most familiar and which are utilized most frequently are granite and marble, said Sinan Sepkin, president of Academy Marble & Granite in Bethel. In the six years that Mr Sepkin has operated the stone fabrication and installation company at 101 Wooster Street, he has only seen a rise in the number of clients seeking to add the beauty of stone to their residential or commercial space. In the stone business since 1996, Mr Sepkin said he is familiar with the many stones available, “from quarry to finished product.” Kitchens and baths are the two rooms most likely to be outfitted in one of the durable materials, he said, and fireplaces in new construction are often made of granite or marble instead of wood or flagstone.