Home Improvement

When we decorate our homes, we express ourselves through the furniture we buy and the colors we select. But perhaps no element of decorating says more about us than the personal photographs we display.

We’re told a well-designed master bedroom should be an oasis of romantic calm. It may also be where you watch television, pay bills and even set up a home office.

The popularity of custom, built-in pieces may be partly a backlash against the cookie-cutter conformity of furniture at many major retailers. Small spare rooms or awkward spaces can take on new life when a built-in is added.

From airy beach houses filled with light to rustic retreats tucked into the mountains, vacation homes can lead to inspired decorating.

There’s art in cartography: Street grids, the curve of a shoreline and topographic details lend themselves to wall art, rugs and textiles.

The number of so-called multi-generational households — where adults are living with their elderly parents or grown children — has jumped since the Great Recession forced Americans to rethink living on their own.

When decorating our homes, we tend to consider things like beauty and comfort, the durability of pieces we might buy or the image they project. But how many of us stop to consider our energy bills?

Pastel greens, blues, creams and peaches reigned until the early 1930s, when casual, built-in eating areas were painted Kelly green, red and even black.

It’s a reality of our fragile economy: Many homeowners who dream of the perfect kitchen or master bath are putting full-scale renovation on hold in favor of more limited changes.

Painting the front door a color that packs a punch is one of the quickest and easiest ways to change a house’s look and help it stand out from the rest.