Time to man up: Macho paint colors for your home
Design Crave
Are you ready for some chest thumping design inspiration? With help from the savvy marketing minds over at Reason Partners, CIL Paints has launched Canada's first "paint colors for men" collection, Ultimate Man Caves. Designed to inject testosterone riddled excitement into painting projects, these freshly renamed colors add some macho flair to standard paint chips. Some examples: Beer Foam (Bone white), Rust on My Truck (Classic Liberty Red) and Sucker Punch (Plum Escape). More

Brownie points: Keep room from getting stuck in neutral
Chicago Tribune
In recent years gray has usurped brown as the cooler neutral, in more ways than one. Design experts assure brown loyalists that a room steeped in tobacco, whiskey, chocolate, cognac and nutmeg can look current, with or without blues and without being stuck in neutral colors.More

Chalk paint creates masterpieces with old furniture
The Tribune
Colorado designers Brad and Amber Unfred of Monument, Colo., have been carrying the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, created by world-renowned decorative painter Annie Sloan, for about six months. It is now available in select areas in the United States. Sloan's Chalk Paint comes in 27 different colors and dries in 20 minutes. It is water based as Sloan is environmentally conscious. Once the paint is applied — preferably with a paint brush — a clear wax is applied to seal it. A dark wax may also be applied to create an antiquated look. European, classic or vintage finishes can also be done with the paint. More

Ask JGB Interiors: Where to start with color?
Interior Design Pro
Readers seeking advice and help on color coordination wonder whether neutral is still in, which colors are good, and which might be considered boring.More

EPA improves Web resources related to RRP
ForResidentialPros
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency updated several of its Web resources related to the lead renovation, repair and painting rule. It improved its search tool for EPA-certified RRP firms, allowing the public to search by firm name and location. It also updated its database of frequent questions and issued a fact sheet describing how the provisions of the rule apply.More

Color your workspace for serenity, productivity
The Skills Portal
The power of color in all its shades and hues cannot be denied, which is why it has a surprisingly important role to play in the workplace. Whether its clients you wish to keep calm and serene with a sea shade of blue, or employees you hope to energize with the vibrant red found on a stop sign, the simple act of dipping a paintbrush into a tin of carefully selected paint can change the dynamics of your office space with amazing effect.More

Opinion: Designer says little preparation now can make holiday decorating easier, better
The Associated Press via The Washington Post
Early November: We've arrived at the brief calm before the happy storm of holiday celebrating begins. We may be thinking about the gorgeous decorating we'll do and the great parties we'll throw, but we haven't plunged into the work of it just yet. If you lay some groundwork now, however — before that crush of holiday gift shopping, cooking, baking and partying begins — you can make this year's holiday decorating easier, and hopefully more spectacular, than ever.More

Iron Age building in Birmingham, Ala., to get paint, possible future renovation
The Birmingham News
One of downtown's most unique buildings is getting a fresh coat of paint, and the owner hopes it will be the first of many improvements toward a fully renovated Iron Age Building in Birmingham, Ala. The building was built in 1886 and is one of only two remaining cast-iron building fronts in Birmingham.More

Layers, colors and textures define this designer's lived-in look
Sacramento Magazine
Interior designer Kitt Haman says she loved the days the spent working in the wallpaper department of her father’s Frontier Pain store on Arden Way in Sacramento, Calif. She says her memories of those early experiences are fresh, and the experience helped build a passion toward design and working with color.More

Spray paint's origin purely practical
The New York Times
The spray-paint can has eminently practical origins. Ed Seymour, the proprietor of a Sycamore, Ill., paint company, was in search of an easy way to demonstrate his aluminum coating for painting radiators. His wife suggested a makeshift spray gun, like those used for deodorizers. And so, in 1949, Seymour mixed paint and aerosol in a can with a spray head. As it turned out, compressing paint in a can made for a nice finish.More

Tips offer help to work successfully with decorators
PR Web
Once considered a luxury, decorating services are more of a necessity for today's busy homeowners who simply can't afford to make costly mistakes, or run all around town trying to 'pull it together' from retail stores, or worse — the Internet. The experts at Decorating Den Interiors offer pertinent advice to homeowners seeking professional guidance in their home décor.More

Garden gates create privacy, make colorful statement
The Kansas City Star
Garden designers regard the gate as a critical element in any plan. Gates are physical and psychological thresholds. They lend drama to the experience of a garden, create privacy and frame views. They might allow passers-by and dog-walkers a peek into the peacefulness of your private sanctuary, or they may shut out the world altogether. The style and materials should complement the character of the garden and the architecture of the home.More