Sring Cleaning

It's that time of year, time to clean out the garage, or maybe the basement.  Most people have an accumulation of cleaners, pesticides, and paint that you just don't know what to do with.  Along with spring cleaning comes HazMat drop off days in most communities.  These are days when you can rid your home of all those harmful chemicals without the environmental impact of disposing of them yourself.  I have attached a link for the HazMat day on May 1st for the residents of Farmigton, Farmington Hills, Novi, South Lyon, Southfield, Walled Lake, and Wixom.  Check out your city's website for information on your local drop off day.
Farmington Hills HazMat day  
FYI-most communites accept latex paint with regular trash pick up.  The paint must be dried.  This can be achieved by leaving the lid off the bucket for a few days, adding kitty litter, or adding a special waste paint hardner(sold at most paint & hardware stores).

 

Spring has sprung....almost

We have been so lucky the past few days to have had a wonderful glimpse of spring.  The beautiful weather may have inspired you to start planning those outdoor painting projects.  Just keep in mind that, while we have had a few nice days, the weather is still not ideal for exterior painting.  Not just the weather either, moisture is the #1 cause of exterior paint failure.  After so much snow, most surfaces are still damp.  Better safe than sorry.  Start planning now but wait until atleast May to act on your plans.   

Creative Wallpaper

I was flipping through a magazine the other day and saw gorgeous dresses made from wallpaper.  We thought it was such a cool idea, Laura and I decided to attempt to make one yesterday.  Look at how it came out!  It's amazing what you can do with some scraps of wallpaper and fabric and a little paint.  Look for more styles to come. 

Countertop Transformation

Do you have countertops you don't like?  Maybe they are worn and showing their age, or maybe they are not a color you would have picked.  We can help!  We now carry Giani, a granite paint for your counter top.  The kit can be used directly over laminate or formica, and simply needs a coat of primer before painting over ceramic tile.  The kit covers 35 square feet.  It is easy and fun to apply and comes in a variety of colors.  Stop in to any of our stores to see the color choice that's right for your home.       

Arizona Dreaming

It's HGTV Dream Home time again!  This year's offering is a contemporary inspired, southwest home in New Mexico.  There are many things to love about this year's Dream Home and some that I, personally, am not too excited about.  The best thing about the Dream Home though is the many design ideas you can use in your own home.  There are many inspiring features in the 2010 HGTV Dream Home.  So, if you get a chance, take a look at the Dream Home and hopefully begin some dreams of your own for your home. 

Auto Inspired

Do you go to your local car show? Do you think of it as a place to gain decorating ideas? 

For the first time, Dupont released their color findings for the Global auto market as a whole. The top selling colors across the planet?

Silver – 25 percent

Black – 23 percent

White – 16 percent

Gray – 13 percent

Blue – 9 percent

Red – 8 percent

Brown/Beige – 4 percent

Green – 1 percent

Yellow/Gold – 1 percent

Ubiquitous "Others" category – <1 percent

Automotive design and color can offer many hints of what's to come in fashion and interiors, too. Especially look at the color, the finishes, and the details in hardware. At most car shows you'll find lots and lots of black white, but that just makes the pops of color stand out even more.  So keep your eyes open for the latest in home decorating trends in the unlikeliest of places.   

Chalkboard paint

Create a fun, functional chalkboard in any room of your home with paint that is erasable, washable, and durable enough to stand up to little hands. 

See instructions and ideas for chalkboard paint!

Green Promise

The Green Promise® designation is Benjamin Moore's assurance that its environmentally friendly coatings meet and exceed the strictest industry standards, while also delivering the premium levels of performance you expect from Benjamin Moore.

Click on the link to a video to see our Green Standards.
http://www.benjaminmoore.com/bmpsweb/portals/bmps.portal?_nfpb=true&np=public_site/articles/promotions/promo_greenpromise_experience&_pageLabel=fh_getinspired

The Fifth Wall

Color for the Ceiling!

When it comes to choosing a paint color for your room, start at the top — ceilings need color, too! Learn how color on the ceiling can transform a room.

Warm it Up On the flip side, a large room with high ceilings can feel impersonal or unbalanced sometimes, with furnishings, floor coverings and accessories visually occupying the bottom half of a room, leaving the top bare. Experiment with a deeper color on the ceiling in this case. A rich cocoa, in a soft sheen such as eggshell or pearl immediately cozies up and balances a large open space with style.

Dress it Up Consider experimenting with glazes on your ceiling, including metallic and pearlescent effects. Benjamin Moore offers a complete line of specialty finishes. Watch videos and learn how-to techniques for glazes here. Our specialty plasters can elevate your ceiling to an art form, adding texture, color and dimension. Click here for ideas you can try yourself or explore with your professional specialty finish contractor.

Get inspired!

Get Inspired
Do you want ideas for painting and design projects around your home? Choose from the following areas to see fantastic projects that can help you decide how to remake your spaces or get professional advice on specific design issues.
Envision Color 2010
Picture the possibilities....love the results.

Go to

http://www.benjaminmoore.com/bmpsweb/portals/bmps.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=fh_getinspired&cachebuster=Wed%20Jan%2013%2009:22:43%20EST%202010

Ten Design Solutions to Kick Off Your Resolutions
The Benjamin Moore Personal Color Viewer will show you how paint color combinations will look in a room or on a house before you pick up a paintbrush.
Become a Fan. Get the latest news on color trends, share photos, and get the inside scoop.
Benjamin Moore's Senior Interior Designer, Sonu Mathew, will help you stick to your New Year's resolutions in style beginning January 4. Check out 10 days of experts, resolutions, and prizes!

http://www.tendesigndays.com/

Natura

What a wonderful time of year!...unless you're not quite happy with the walls you're at which you are staring. If your walls need a fresh coat of paint or a fresh color, it's always the perfect time of year to paint. Natura is the perfect paint to use. It has zero VOC's even after tinting, and virtually no odor. Natura is available in any color and it is washable in the eggshell or semi-gloss finish. So give yourself a fresh perspective. You might as well enjoy the walls you'll be staring at for the rest of the winter.

Hollywood loves Detroit!

Over the past 5 months Teknicolors has taken part in the making of "Red Dawn". We supplied everything from paint, to fullers earth and powdered graphite. It was a sincere pleasure to work with the art and construction teams from both the local and Hollywood teams. We were able to develop a friendship as well as a mutual trust with the entire crew. We look forward to many more movies being made in Michigan. Thanks "Red Dawn"!

'Mich., Detroit have so much to offer'
I would like to extend a sincere thank you to the wonderful people of Detroit for opening your city to us while filming "Red Dawn" for the past several months.

I was less than thrilled when I heard we would be shooting "Red Dawn" in Detroit as result of Michigan's film incentive program, and I couldn't have been more wrong. Instead of all the bad press that I have read and heard about, I found a fantastic, if somewhat challenged, city that is full of generous and kind people who have a great work ethic and an ingenuity to make more out of less.

You have allowed us to divert your traffic, close your streets, occupy your homes and buildings and let us make a bit of noise with some movie magic explosives. And for this we are eternally grateful.

Michigan and Detroit have so much to offer and I look forward to telling everyone who will listen what a wonderful experience we have had in your city and hope that this is just the first of many movies we are able to film here. Detroit, you truly do rock.

Jennifer Eddy , director's assistant,
Los Angeles

Article courtesy of The Detroit News

Sonu Blog: color

Ever wonder abou tyour color choices? Do you worry that the style you fell in love with is going to change? Check out Sonu's blog for a great atricle.

Sonu Blog: color: "The Best Color & Design Don't Go Out of Style"

Fabric at Farmington

We have new fabric at Farmington! We recently received a new selection of fabrics from Kasmir. Here are a couple of the offerings. In addition to this beautiful fabric, we have a wonderful woman who can create window treatments to full fill your dreams. Stop in today to browse the whole selection.

Benjam Moore on Facebook

Goodness! It's been a while! Funny how life can get away from you and 3 months can pass in the blink of an eye.
I was on Facebook today and found the Benjamin Moore page. It's full of painting advice and ideas. We already know you're a fan of Benjamin Moore, make it official on Facebook. One of the Facebook discussions is about your first car. What color was it? Would you paint your house the same color? I would guess that many of us did not have a choice of colors for our first car. I guess I was lucky because my first car(actually a truck) was dark red, pretty close to our Classic Burgundy color. I can't say that I'd be opposed to painting my house that color. I'm pretty sure I've had my front door painted that color at some point over the years. If you get a chance, hop on over to Facebook and join the discussion!

Doors!

I am going to paint my front door. Why? Because spring is in the air, because it doesn't match my flowers, because it's Wednesday, because I can. Painting a front door is a simple project that can change the look of your home and change your outlook. Try a shade lighter or darker. Try a high gloss finish. Try a low lustre finish. Try a dramatic look. Keep it simple. It's your choice.

When painting a front door, the same rules for exterior painting apply. Depending on whether or not you have a covered porch, you might not have to worry about moisture so much. If you don't have a covered porch, look out for the sun. The sun is a welcome sight these days but it can cause trouble for your paint job. Painting in direct sunlight will make the project much more difficult by making the paint dry too fast. It can also cause your color to fade.

If you're not sure about cutting in a straight line around windows and hardware, use tape. This is the first impression people have of your home. You want it to look as nice as possible. Speaking of impressions, keep in mind your surroundings when choosing a color. A fluorescent green might not look good on a Colonial, but a subdued lime green might not look bad. Take many samples home to see how they look in natural light.

Keep the door open, or at least cracked, as long as you can to let the paint dry. One trick professional painters use is to apply petroleum jelly to the weather stripping before closing the door. This will keep the fresh paint from sticking. Once the door has dried overnight, you shouldn't have any problems.

So pick a color and give it a try!

Spring painting

Spring is in the air....some days atleast. We have been lucky to enjoy a few days of nice weather lately. That might get some of you thinking about outdoor projects so I thought I cover a few basics of outdoor painting.
The first thing you need to think about is the temperature. Most exterior paints can be used if the temperature is above 40 degrees. However, you also need to take into account the actual surface temperature of what you are painting. For example, if you are painting a concrete patio, the temperature of the ground (the concrete) might be lower than the air temperature. One other factor that should be taken into account is the dry time of the paint. The temperature must stay above the minimum temperature until the paint is dry. Keep in mind that most dry times are listed at 70 degrees. A cooler temperature will slow the dry time.
Another major factor of spring painting is moisture. Moisture is a leading cause of exterior paint failure in any season. Any bare, porous surface(like wood or concrete) needs to dry for a minimum of two days after being exposed to moisture. The more moisture, the longer the surface should dry.
All this may prompt you to wonder if you can ever paint outside. The answer is yes, you just have to be ready. If you plan to tackle that exterior painting project, just plan an alternate date in case Mother Nature decides to rain on your parade.

Pottery Barn Spring 2009

The Pottery Barn Spring 2009 colors are here!

Stop in and take a closer look at the spring Pottery Barn colors for your home. We also have the Pottery Barn kids color selection. All of these colors are chosen from the Benjamin Moore colors and may be available in sample jars or larger color sample sheets.

Change your environment

Introducing Natura Paint

Zero VOC's and virtually no odor. If you're concerned about your environment, in your home or on the earth, this is the paint for you. Available in any Benjamin Moore color.