Home Improvement

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?

Home-decorating TV shows and glossy shelter magazines have many homeowners embracing the bold, unexpected use of color that cutting-edge designers love. But creative color can be tricky. Three experts offer advice on doing it right.

The two launched Rail Yard Studios in 2010. Using century-old railroad steel and hardwood timber, they make one-of-a-kind chairs, desks, tables and beds. Some of the rails date back as far as 1898.

Whether it’s clearing out clutter, catching up on small repairs, bringing fresh style to a favorite room or organizing closets, many of us have home on the brain as the new year begins.

Clutter, distractions, poor workflow — sometimes a kitchen’s layout can hinder the cooking process more than it helps. Decorating can create similar pitfalls. “We get too caught up in color palettes and soft fabrics, and we over-think it,” said Genevieve Gorder, co-host and judge of HGTV’s Design Star.

Whisper-soft, ultra-pale shades of pink — described by designers as “blush tones” — are back. But the ’80s haven’t returned, at least not entirely, said designer Brian Patrick Flynn.

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.

All that granite, dark wood and stainless steel. The heart of the home these days is more like a sleek and severe shrine to haute cuisine.

Decorating with white can be intimidating. But, said designer Brian Patrick Flynn of decordemon.com, “used correctly, white lets other things truly work as the breakout stars.”

Ask William Carter about expanding your home and he’s going to be blunt: It will be expensive. It will be messy. And it will take time.