Uptick in kitchen remodeling boosts sales at Home Depot

Robust sales of paint, bathroom accessories and kitchen installations have boosted Home Depot's bottom line as homeowners start sprucing up their homes again. The retailer reports that transactions of $900 and over are up 3.4 percent as demand grows for appliances, flooring, kitchen remodeling products, and heating and air conditioning equipment. That's good news and we were ready for it with new tests of all the major products needed for a kitchen or bath remodeling project.

Lowe's and Sears haven't reported their earnings yet but the Los Angeles Times says that improved customer service at Lowe's, Home Depot and other home improvement stores has paid off in sales, profits and shopper satisfaction. That's one benefit of the bad economy. When the housing market was booming, it was hard for the lowly do-it-yourselfers to get attention at the big box stores. "Then we get into the economic downturn and people stop spending. Construction goes from bigger projects to smaller renovations, and customers shift from contractors to those wanting to do it themselves," a market analyst told the Times.

Whether you're a handyman or planning to hire a contractor to start a home remodeling project, check our ratings of the best appliances and where to buy them. We also have ratings of the best flooring, countertops and sink materials. And don't miss our two new guides to updating your kitchen and your bathroom.

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Don't be left in the dark by these four lightbulb letdowns

Replacing a lightbulb isn't as easy as it used to be. The new energy-saving bulbs may not give off the type of light you're used to. In fact, some of the compact fluorescents and light-emitting diodes in Consumer Reports lightbulb tests give off a ghastly light color, or are dim. And there are some CFLs that take three minutes to fully brighten—that's enough time to make toast. But among the duds we also found bulbs that dazzled. Here are four lightbulb letdowns and how to avoid them.

Dim bulbs
The fix. More lumens. Check the Lighting Facts label on the packages of CFLs and LEDs for the number of lumens. The higher the lumens the brighter the bulb. When replacing a 60-watt incandescent look for an energy-saving bulb with at least 800 lumens, and 1,100 lumens or more for a 75-watt replacement. If you're wondering about watts, they tell you how much electricity the bulb uses so choose a bulb with enough lumens and the lowest wattage.

Weird light color
The fix. The right Kelvin (K) number. Light color is expressed by its Kelvin temperature. The higher the Kelvin number the cooler the light. If you prefer the warm light of an incandescent but want to trim your electric bills, pick a CFL or LED marked 2700K or so on the Lighting Facts label. At 3000K the light is whiter, like a halogen bulb, and it's cool and bright white at 3500K to 4100K. For bluer light buy bulbs marked 5000K to 6500K.

Unflattering light
The fix. A higher CRI. When the colors of things look off, find out the color rendering index of your lightbulbs. CRI indicates how accurately a lightbulb displays colors and the higher the better. Incandescent bulbs are at or near 100; most CFLs and LEDs we tested are in the low-to-mid 80s. CRI isn't on the Lighting Facts label but may appear elsewhere on the package and some online retailers note it.

Early burnout
The fix. Return the bulb to the retailer, like Home Depot or Lowe's, or contact the manufacturer. You may need the model number or UPC and a receipt. And when you're buying replacements be sure the bulbs can be used in your fixtures. Putting a CFL or LED in a fixture it's not meant for can shorten its life.

To find better lightbulbs, see our Ratings of dozens of CFLs and LEDs and note the Recommended bulbs. After 3,000 hours of testing these top-performing bulbs did not disappoint.

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12 Amusing Home Accessories Revealing the Fun Side of Decorating

Lateral thinking is often required when coping with a modern lifestyle-stepping out of the circle and acknowledging that relaxation is not that “unproductive” as generally believed. This post is a tribute to those who are able to appreciate the small things, the ideas that make one richer at an emotional level. And what better display of intelligence to freshen up your living space than humor?

Freshome readers, for today we decided to make you smile! Just for that, we gathered up 12 original and amusing home accessories that we believe can make a room a more enjoyable place to live in. If you can think of any other amusing household items, please tip us by leaving a comment below. Enjoy!

This content series is in partnership with smartwater. smartwater, good taste travels well. Click here to learn more.

#1. A real motivational design for the ones who can not make it on time for important meetings and a fun item to have around the house, the “Whatever, I’m late anyways” wall clock displays a simple appearance and a strong message. Witty, isn’t it?

#2. Is playing with food really such a bad thing? An open invitation to interactive food fun, these full-sized plates found on Amazon can make eating amusing for both children and adults. Dishwasher and microwave safe, the plates can be used and reused until every vegetable or fruit has its fair chance at becoming part of… a human face?

#3.  Lucy Merchant stepped out of the box and created this great looking Picket Fence Radiator, as a part of her project called “Common Series”.  We don’t know if the “gate” can actually be opened, but the knob sure looks authentic. All in all, a fun way to make every winter day enjoyable.

#4. This Petit Beurre Coushion can instantly upgrade the originality level of a room,  just by standing still on the sofa. The small pillow looks so realistic, that having a taste of it is probably not far from the thoughts of its future owners. For anyone interested, the item is on sale here, for 79 Euros.

#5. Tapistongs comes from Lise El Sayed and is a lovely rug that can fit wonderfully in a modern living room. Its originality comes from the fact that the rug is not whole, but has four footprints where the two matching pairs of slippers should be. The “downside” is that the slippers look very comfy; someone is bound to wear them eventually, messing up the picture perfect arrangement below.

#6. This unusual bedding set designed by Vadim Cherniy is a radical yet really simple way to change the appearance of your bedroom. Simple and fun, the sheets have more than a practical function, they also come with a strong visual appeal. We are not sure if they are more comfortable than the common ones, but they sure drew our attention in terms of creativity and design.

 #7. The inverted bookshelf comes from Instructables user fungus amungus, who managed to apparently defy gravity. The secret to this design is a clever placement of elastic, holding each book tied to the shelf.  We find it a great way to puzzle your guests, not to mention a cool book unit.

#8. Did you know you adjust lighting in your room by doing some elegant wine pouring and drinking gestures? Designer Seungyoub Oh of Studio Dotdotdot envisioned Light Sommelier interactive light, inspired by a wine bottle and glass. How does it work?  As the bottle touches the glass, the glass lights up. As you tip the glass over, the light dims. All done with simple proximity detectors and gyros. Check out the video to see how it works.

 #9.  Discovering some paint brushes he had forgotten to wash, designer Dominic Wilcox  created these original paint brush coat hooks. We find these “home accessories” ingenious, not to mention easy to implement. The brushes have an intriguing appearance, making one inevitably think at an artist’s studio. Check out some of the craziest wall hooks out there in a post featured on Freshome a while back.

#10. There are a lot of eco designs being developed lately, which can only mean good news. This particular wall sticker is sure to add originality to a corner of the room that is usually ignored. The creative light switch addition featuring a hamster wheel energy generator is a fun invitation to indoor energy efficiency. You can purchase this sticker and other similar ones online for prices that vary from £16.90 to £26.90.

#11. Need an uncommon chair set for original coffee breaks?  The witty Out of Balance stools by German designer Thorsten Franck  may not be extremely comfortable, but they make up for that with their fun design. The stools were built like egg shells with a weight at the bottom for balance, making them quite safe and steady.

#12. A perfect project for those spending some time crafting fun objects, the Face Shelving comes from Alexi Mccarthy and is a cheerful storage unit for books and various small objects. Depending on what you put in or on the shelves, you create different faces and expressions. Find it as crazy and original as we do?

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Inspiration: Pretty Shades of Purple

Purple is one of those colors that can either be masculine or feminine, a big reason why I am so drawn to this color. And its so rich, vibrant and is also associated with royalty. However, some of us may think its a bit much, you can easily tone down the purple volume by using neutrals or grays to soften it down a bit.

Heres some fabulous purple interiors and decorative accents pieces that I thought youd enjoy or maybe get some inspiration from.

An amazing high gloss painted built-in using this variant shade of purple. (Image via Pinterest).

Accent wall painted purple in this charming dining room. (Image via Pinterest).

Purple console table. (Image: Pinterest).

Just a few purple accessories in this bedroom works well, not over the top with to much purple. (Image: Emerald Cidade).

A purple door. (Image: Martha Stewart).

Apartment 48- Hobnail Pitcher $125.00.

Grapecicles artwork featuring various shades of purple. (Now at ZGallerie

Target- purple leather tray $22.00

Out There Interiors- Purple Louis Armchair With Silver Frame Penelope.

A good flea market find for these cute little lavender phlox and glass jars. (Image: 52 Flea) http://52flea.blogspot.com/2012/07/lavender-phlox-and-glass.html?m=1

From a old issue of January Better Homes and Garden, there is just so many different beautiful shades of purple.

Im a big fan of purple but it really does come off stunningly and quite unique when used correctly in interior spaces.
- Xoxo Jessica

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Bursting with Originality: Sunflower Chair with Smart Integrated Bookcase

Just when we thought we’ve seen it all in chair design, this creative idea left us speechless. Framed by an integrated bookcase, the innovative Sunflower Chair created by designers He Mu and Zhang Qian from the Shanghai University of Engineering Science may occupy more space than your common living room chair, but its functionality more than makes up for that inconvenience. According to Chair Blog, the model recently won the Redtory Design Award at the Design for Sitting Gran Prix competition in Guangzhou, China. And that comes as no surprise; the Sunflower Chair bursts with originality and is one of those items that has “must have” written all over it. A fluffy cushion provides a high level of comfort and the possibility to relax in more than one body position. A clever shelving system for books and magazines surrounds the user, who can simply reach out and grab his or her favorite publication. The supporting legs are barely noticeable, a design approach that emphasizes on the “sunflower” itself. How would you comment on the overall design of this chair? Would you consider it as an addition to your home?

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Terrifyingly Original: Polanski Inspired Bloody Moon Wall Murals by PIXERS

We received an interesting project with an even more intriguing story behind. The Bloody Moon wall murals were envisioned by the creative team at PIXERS and can add a terrifyingly original twist to a room. Here is some information from the press release we were sent: “This is the story about murder and sweet dresses, about knives and bubbles, about red blood and black nights. The story about mysterious interiors with walls stained with blood. If you have ever seen the Roman Polanski’s movie Bitter Moon from 1992, you will realize the reason and the source of inspiration for this title. Ecstatic love, then abandonment and revenge sweet as honey – are crucial for the story. Although, there is no bloodshed in this movie, there is an incredible energy makes experiencing this kind of extreme emotions appealing ...” So…could you live in a room spiced up with “bloody” wall murals?

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Bespoke Kitchen Design Meeting the Owners Flamboyant Nature

We received photos and information about an intriguing kitchen project from Designer Kitchen, a company from Northern Ireland, UK. According to the official press relief, “the brief was to design a timeless kitchen that would provide a dramatic first impression and deliver exceptional value for money.  This replacement kitchen design needed to fit into the existing architectural framework as no structural changes were to be made. The client wanted an extraordinary kitchen to express their flamboyant nature. By recycling elements from the original kitchen including the sink and handles; re-fabricating small sections of worktop, consciously separating the design process from manufacturing and tendering the finished design with selected manufacturers, I was able to deliver this kitchen for under £25,000.

The foundation of the design was developed by considering how the uncompromising architecture and fixed cooking position related to five clear approaches to the kitchen. Multiple visual hooks were presented on each sight line. This information was layered onto the functional and social patterns identified as being particular to the family unit which in turn ensured the optimum level of efficiency and visual impact. To optimise the available floor space and avoid architectural “nip points” the island was given a unique radius and angled tail.  Unique feature elements where then embedded into the island to enhance functionality and aesthetics.

The design specified in-framed tulip wood, walnut and burr walnut doors with solid walnut dovetailed drawers all manufactured to a bespoke specification.  Unique elements included a curved glass display unit with 3D pattern, a feature cone, two elevated drum units and stone clad knee spaces. The varying height of feature elements enhances the impact achieved from the complex mix of materials, geometry and architecture.  Lighting provides a holistic element to the design, offering flexibility in an open plan setting and encouraging the feeling of calm”. [Photography:  Rory Corrigan RF Creative]

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