As homeowners we all look for ways to maximize our design dollar. While we may have an idea of what we would want (derived from high-end design magazines and television shows) we are under no illusion that we can achieve that look, under most circumstances, without spending thousands of dollars to make it happen. The successful do-it-yourself designer that is able to achieve their design goals without breaking the bank does so with the use of creativity – looking for objects that only look rich but are affordable for the average home designer.

With the use of faux paint finishes we can create a look on our walls that may look as though we spent thousands to have a professional create it; our linens can be high-end but purchased from a discount retailer (it pays off to keep an eye towards those sales); and furniture is crafted in such a way that it may look like it is custom made but was really picked up for a song from a furniture store chain.

Accessories are really where the luxury look for less can really pay off, however. Clocks, for instance, are among those pieces that can look amazing but won’t put a home designer over budget to place in their home. Through online clock suppliers, consumers can find high quality clocks of all kinds – mantel clocks, wall clocks, atomic clocks, even grandfather and grandmother clocks – at great prices. And because the most renowned clock manufacturers are invested in providing their customers with high end designs and quality materials at low prices, homeowners can really punch up their design efforts without having to spend a fortune.

Decorating a home is no small task; a lot of compromises must be made between those who live in the home; and ultimately a well decorated home makes use of an interesting color palette, comfortable yet sophisticated furnishings, and pieces that the homeowner truly loves. These specially chosen pieces will offer guests to the home a window into the personality of the homeowner and will work to give the home that truly loved and lived in feel.

If you can’t think of anything that you truly love and want to display then consider the purchase of a special clock to round out your decorating style. Contemporary clock designers have offered a variety of choices to consumers in terms of clock styles, sizes, and prices. You are just as likely to find a contemporary wall clock as you are to find a traditional grandfather clock through the online clock supplier websites available today.

Once you find the clock that you truly love, give it a home where you will enjoy looking at it every day. Consider:

* Place a wall clock that you love in a sunroom where you have your morning coffee and read the paper. Its gentle tick-tock will wake you up in a pleasant manner and allow you to start your day off the right way.

* Place a traditional grandfather clock – reminiscent perhaps of the grandfather clock your parents used to have in their home – in a study where you do your office work or reading. There is nothing better than looking up now and again to see something you truly love.

* Put a mantel clock that you love on a bedroom shelf or dresser. Just because it’s a mantel clock does not necessarily mean it has to sit on a fireplace mantel. You have sole discretion to determine where to place the clocks you love.

In the last post we discussed the practice of “staging” for those who are currently selling – or preparing to sell – their home. Staging essentially refers to the readying of the home to make it more attractive to potential buyers and speed up the process of selling the property at the desirable price.

In most cases, staging combines the use of color palettes, furniture placement, and other proven design tricks to welcome potential buyers to the home in such a way that they can easily envision their own family living happily in the space. And so sellers have been known to paint walls, change out fabrics, buy or rearrange furniture, clear the space of personal items, and utilize accessories that impart quality and sophistication. To this end, clocks often lend themselves quite well to the comprehensive staging of a home. Some of the ways in which clocks can be used most appropriately include:

• Mantel clocks above a fireplace. If you have a fireplace in your home this is huge selling feature for any potential buyer and so it is important to showcase this area of the home. The fireplace mantel should be given much thought in terms of design as the eye is drawn to this area and it will essentially promote the fireplace. Mantel clocks – which come in a variety of styles; everything from traditional to contemporary – can help make the best use of space and really showcase a fireplace in the best possible light.

• Wall clocks in a family room or living room. Wall clocks are the perfect accessory on any wall and a great alternative to traditional art pieces. This is a wonderful way to accent a room; and the gentle tick-tock of the clock is often familiar and comfortable to those taking a tour of your home.

• Grandfather clocks in a study or library. There is nothing grander than a grandfather clock which makes it the perfect accessory in nearly any room in the home; plus it easily acts as a centerpiece of a room and can make a large statement.

Staging with clocks can help really make your home a warm and inviting place. But best of all, when your home does sell (quickly, we hope!) you can take your clocks along with you to your new home.

The real estate market is certainly not what it used to be; of that we can all be certain. But regardless of the economy, homeowners still find themselves in a position where they have to sell their home. Moving out of a home is stressful enough but you have to sell it first; and that can be the most stressful part of all – especially when you need to move the property quickly.

Selling a home is a tricky thing, as much because there are so many variables that affect a person’s decision to buy. The look of a home, the first impression it makes, the color schemes that are used throughout the design – these are all elements that affect a potential homebuyer’s sense of a property. While we are taught to look beyond the current décor and imagine our own belongings in the home most of us find that this is easier to do if the home we are looking at is neutral and in keeping with our own taste.

Staging is a term that refers to the readying of a property for potential sale. A series of steps are taken in order to make the home for sale an empty palette onto which potential buyers can imagine infusing their own personality. Clutter is removed, personal objects are put away, walls are painted, and the rooms are staged to look inviting – almost as if they are a model home. Some of the more commonly used items that home sellers use in the staging process include:

* Paint. This is a big one as it is important to make the home as neutral as possible.

* Furniture. Consider that the shabbiness of furniture can have a negative impact on the overall aesthetics of the home; upgrade and freshen where you can.

* Accessories. While clutter is a no-no, well chosen pieces used to stage a home can have vast visual appeal. Clocks for instance – mantel clocks, wall clocks, and even grandfather clocks – can make any room in the home appear welcoming while still giving it a finished, sophisticated look.

In the next post we’ll further discuss the ways in which clocks can transform a home for the better when home sellers chose to stage their property.

Going away to college soon? This is a truly exciting time in any young person’s life; a time when we can strike out on our own and make our way in the world. This first year in college is the most fun as we explore the options and opportunities available to us and begin to make our own decisions. The first decisions, however, are those that involve the choosing of things to take with us to school.

Living in a dormitory the first year of college requires that we outfit our rooms to be most comfortable for us. This time of year you will see soon-to-be college students out shopping for their bed sheets and comforters, their bath accessories, and all the little extras that will make their dormitory “house” more of a home in which they are comfortable.

Clocks, are just one of the pieces that we can use to spruce up our dormitory and make it something that is more familiar to us. A well chosen mantel clock – while usually a staple over a fireplace – can look interesting on a shelf above a desk; fun and different atomic clocks may be the perfect things to sit on our nightstands; and even a wall clock (forget traditional and think fun and unique) can hang on a college dormitory wall. After all, this is the first time for many of us that we have to organize and follow our own schedules; making sure we always know what time it is – in style – can help keep us on track and make our dorm rooms something interesting and fun.

This is the time of year when many young people are heading off to college – leaving home for the first time and likely (in reality) not to return except for short bursts of visitation. What is any self-respecting parent supposed to do in this situation? Besides cry and bemoan the fact that their baby is leaving home? Redecorate their room of course!!

Rooms that have housed teenagers in most recent years will need some sprucing up to be sure. But many parents, faced with an opportunity to gain more space in their home, will set to work making their college bound child’s room something they can utilize – like an office.

Office space has become something that is used quite often in a home. With so many people working from home in order for companies to reduce overhead – or just working from home in their own business – it helps to have a dedicated office space where they can work in quiet and not disrupt anything else that is going on in the home. The door can be closed and work can be accomplished; whereas sitting in the living room trying to work is often far less effective.

Decorating a home office should include the use of office furniture that serves your purposes while still complementing the overall décor of the home. Additional pieces such as clocks can make an office something special – a finished room that has been decorated with thought and attention to detail. To this end, wall clocks can be hung over a desk area, a mantel clock can be placed on a desk, and even a grandfather clock can be placed in the corner. The creative use of clocks helps to make a home office not just a place to work but also an extension of the home.

There are those rooms in our homes that automatically become the rooms in which our family and friends gather most naturally. For some homeowners, this room is the kitchen; an open, sunny kitchen is a place where people generally want to gather; a place in which they can pull up a chair, have a cup of coffee or a glass of wine, and talk to whoever is making that evening’s meal. In fact, many people with large homes and all the space in the world complain that their kitchen is still the gathering place of their house regardless of how many other options there are. For others, their home’s gathering spot is the basement or rec room – a place where people can kick of their shoes, get comfortable, and not worry about spilling anything on a couch. But whatever the gathering room in your home, it is essential that you choose décor and furniture that fosters that communal spirit.

Of course, in a kitchen, the furniture is limited to perhaps a kitchen table if there is in fact a nook for eating. But this doesn’t mean that décor should go unnoticed. A beautiful wall clock or mantel clock makes the perfect pieces to round out the casual sophistication of a room.

In other rooms such as family rooms, basement areas, and recreation rooms there is more furniture to consider such as a couch, tables, and maybe even a pool table or air hockey table if this is dedicated “fun” space. But using decorative pieces that are used throughout the rest of the home to help complement this space makes for a better flowing home. To this end, mantel clocks placed on a side table or bar, a wall clock hung in the space, and even interesting and quirky atomic clocks can bolster the décor of the room significantly.

In this warmest of times of the year around the country many of us who are not able to enjoy the outdoors month to month due to cold weather conditions take advantage of this time of year as best as we can. This may mean taking advantage of an outdoor deck or patio where we can gather with family to enjoy a meal, opening windows to enjoy the warm summer breeze, setting up shop around a backyard pool, and generally shifting our living area to be more in line with the season.

For those who have seasonal rooms attached to their homes, now is the time when we are able to take the most advantage of their use. These rooms allow us to enjoy the weather without being exposed to direct sunlight or bugs. Whatever way in which we can outfit these rooms to make us more comfortable makes the time that we spend in them far more enjoyable. Consider some of the things you can do to make your seasonal room more comfortable and unique:

• Buying furniture that is appropriate for the room. This is a more casual room and can support much more comfortable furniture. Make sure that you have places for guests to sit as well as a table around which people can gather for meals.

• Decorating the room so that it complements the rest of the home. A seasonal room is an extension of a home; décor should be in line with the home but still set the room apart.

• Use items such as clocks to add to the comfort level of the home. Clocks are typically pieces that are used inside – a mantel clock in a dining room, a wall clock in a living room or kitchen, and so forth. But small atomic clocks can also be used in a seasonal room where they will elevate the sophistication of the room so that it has a more finished look.

There are few among us for whom online shopping has not become part of our daily lives. So accustomed have we become to simply logging on to find whatever products and services that we need, that actually driving to a store and browsing traditionally has become almost a second choice in many cases. In fact, many retailers have realized the significant cost benefit aligned with doing business online; they are able to substantially lower their overhead and offer a much more expansive product line when they do not have floor space to consider. And, in turn, this cost savings is passed along to the customer – who along with the great convenience they are getting from shopping from home – winds up getting a great deal.

Even those products that we may not automatically think of when we think of online shopping are still very much available over the Internet. Clocks, for instance, are something that – like everything else – was traditionally only offered in large retail stores or in small boutique shops. While the larger retail chains are certainly able to offer some very tempting prices, they tend to lack in the product line department. In other words, don’t expect to find something too unique or different because you are pretty much resigned to a very definitive line of clocks. On the other hand, small boutique shops have always been able to offer some very unique products but their prices tend to be much higher.

The middle ground when it comes to purchasing clocks can often be found online where clock suppliers are able to offer great selection and terrific prices; some even providing selections by some of the most highly regarded clock makers in the world. So take your time, do your shopping online, and even something as different as clocks can be yours for the taking.

We spend a lot of money decorating our houses – a lot of money. Even while the economy struggles money is still being spent on the fabrics, paint, furniture, artwork, kitchen wares, and accessories that make a house a home. And if modern media is anything to go by, the trend won’t be slowing anytime soon. There are whole television shows dedicated exclusively to the fixing up, renovating, redecorating, and reassembling of homes that we live in, homes that we buy as investment properties to “flip,” and even our second vacation homes (if we are lucky enough to have them).

So dedicated to decorating are we that we think nothing of dropping substantial amounts of cash on everything that we need – or think we need. The fact of the matter is that some of the biggest difference can be made with some of the smallest items. Pieces that we choose for our home do not have to be expensive to be effective.

Take clocks for instance; something that we would rarely give too much thought to in terms of having too much of an impact in the décor of our home. But the reality is that clocks can have quite an impact – even the smallest among them. Everything from mantel clocks to wall clocks can completely transform a room in the home and it doesn’t take a huge financial investment to make it happen. In fact, with the ability to purchase clocks online through some highly reputable clock suppliers, consumers are in a much better position than ever to find the clock of their dreams at the right price.