ENERGIZE Your Home While Saving Energy!

above wall photos were painted with Sherwin Williams' no-VOC Harmony paint and low-VOC Modern Masters metallic paint applied over it. A border was created with a painted frame.

ENERGIZE your home by infusing a warm color palette using oranges, golds, yellows and fuchsia. When I need to feel energized or creative, these hues make me feel alive, motivated and inspired! As our temperatures are dropping and we're approaching winter, it's nice to add these tones to make us feel positive and relaxed, yet at the same time, it sparks fire to our souls. A combination of color and the following tips on energy savings should help with mood altering states of mind. (If these don't work or simply aren't applicable to you, you can purchase the mood altering "full spectrum " light bulbs manufactured by Blues Buster. ( http://www.bluesbuster.com/)

TIPS on receiving your energy tax credits by December, 2010:

If you're interested in qualifying for energy tax credits, you better start planning now as the deadline is the end of this year. There are different products that you can purchase but they must also be installed by year's end as well. Consumers can receive a tax credit for 30% of the cost, up to $ 1,500.00. Read on...

Some products are: Levolor's Accordia cellular shades with Energy Shield. This product has a built-in feature that adds an additional insulation factor to the product. Pella has windows that meet this credit criteria. The links to their sites are:

http://pellareplacement.com/

http://www.levolor.com/

And, go to Energy Star to see a listing of products at http://www.energystar.gov/ Another site for information is www.energy.gov/taxbreaks.htm to learn more about other energy improvement tax credits.

Green tip: (FYGI) For the holidays, cut some branches from outdoors and spray paint them with Modern Masters metallic paint to add to your table decor.