photo Courtesy of Susan V. Philips

It’s always at the last minute that I decide to join in on Halloween festivities. As one of my co-workers pointed out, it is the only day of the year when it’s not only acceptable, but generally encouraged to dress up.  Just in case you were wondering, there’s a Superman, Ugly Betty, Han Solo, and Lady Deathstrike roaming around the office today.

In case you are less inclined to don a disguise this eve, perhaps you would prefer to dress up your home.  Smaller more intimate home Halloween parties are a fun way to showcase your creativity with freaky finger foods or charming crafts.

Maybe you are full of imagination and handy to boot.  For most of us, googling tips on line is the way to go.  Or, if you happen to have access to professional advice, all the better.  I’m happy to share some ideas from Susan Philips, a professional interior decorator who runs her own business, Spotlight on Decor, and also teaches a Real Estate license accredited home-staging course. Ms. Philips put together an impressive Halloween stage together last year for Ottawa’s City Hall.  She offers a couple of uncomplicated crafts for the home hobbyist to make and use to dress up the home.

Perhaps it’s the nostalgic factor that’s really the big draw; memories of decorating your grade school classroom, chomping on candy apples, pumpkin carving with one of those safety knives and scooping out sticky, stringy pumpkin flesh, then eating the baked seeds - Enjoy!

Photo from The Globe and Mail website

A recent study conducted in August of 2008 shows that homeowners in British Columbia are planning to upgrade their homes instead of selling and buying new as reported by the CNW Group newswire. It follows November’s Toronto Life cover story that despite the perilous connotations, reports a similar trend -  Torontonions alone spent 7.1 billion in 2007 (a sizable increase from ‘06) on home renovations.

Despite the world wide economic woes, home improvements are a sound investment as new additions or upgrades are proven to bring value to the home.  It makes sense when most of us don’t have a clue where to put our savings.  In a recent article from MoneySense about an investment group of teachers, the main interviewee spoke on how people tend to do the opposite when it comes to investments at a time like now.  Instead of being more conservative and buying less, it’s a good time to buy more because prices have dropped.  Can traditional market theories hold true with possibly looming black swans?

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If perhaps you’ve decided that the 10K loss in your RSP this year might better be made up through putting this year’s money into some home renos, make sure you find a reputable contractor.  The website www.hiringacontractor.com has useful information.

If however, you might think that you can save even more with a DIY project, there may be some things to consider before you go ahead:

• Have an overall budget in mind and be realistic in assessing your finances

• Try and leave some flexibility as unexpected situations during the project may cause you to incur extra expenses

• Define a reasonable timeframe for completion

• Give yourself some time to do your research in order to find and hire and your Designer / Decorator, contractor, and all other the necessary workers

Although the focus is more on decor, there are some valid points to go over in the rest of this article where the above was taken from.

Some of your favorite makeover shows are holding a casting call for you!  Love “Colin and Justin’s Home Heist”?  Here’s your chance to register for a shot at appearing on their show.  Other shows on the look out for fresh subjects are: “Big City Broker”, “Disaster DIY”, “For Rent” (darn I would have loved to be on this!), “House Poor”, the new “Property Virgins”, and “Pure Design.”

photo from www.HGTV.ca

The downside to choosing not to have TV in my home is that I’ve missed tons of fall premieres, including the slew of new and returning home improvement shows.  Just to have an idea of what I’m missing out on, I thought I’d have a peek at what the line up is for this fall on HGTV.

One of my all time faves, not to mention one of the few English programs that aired during the many years I spent in Taipei was “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy”.  I think that for most people, the favourite and most impressive segment of the show was when Thom would unveil his interior redesign.  Every time he’d knock my socks off!

The stable of HGTV shows also rely mostly on Cinderella-esque transformations.  But there’s no winning formula despite the similarity of these programs, it really comes down to a combo of talent and personality.  There was only one show that I’ll remember to check out the next time I’ve got a remote in hand.  It was the only one that I can say seems genuinely interesting, has an attention-holding premise and uses the host’s natural charm and humour instead of having to rely on cheesy editing or campy overacting.

Sarah’s House 2

The plethora of billboards dotting my neighborhood have done their mesmerizing work - this was the first show I checked out through the wonderful world of internet streaming (maybe it set the bar too high for the others).  Clips of Season 1 can be viewed here. It only took the length of clip 1 (about 6 mins) to see why this show got a second season.

As host Sarah Richardson (who has two other successful shows under her belt) traipses across town, seeking a diamond in the rough to sharpen and shine, viewers get a voyeuristic thrill, touring through otherwise uncrossed thresholds.  It’s sort of like getting introduced to one of those back alley nightclubs - or maybe that’s just from the retro shmaltz they venture into clip 1.  I can only imagine how once she makes her pick, the “after” portion of the series tops the “before”.

I wonder if there’s anything else worth catching on the tube?

Stay tuned …

Photo from www.HGTV.ca

Here’s your October Home Show update … Some of my colleagues are attending the Vancouver Home Interior Design show next weekend happening from October 16th to the 19th.  With my current foray into home decor, I would have loved to check it out - hopefully going beyond just mirrors & throw pillows.  Of course the first thing I checked out on their website was who were the celebrities.  Among those making an appearance are Janette Ewan (who I missed unfortunately last time at the Toronto Show) a great candidate to learn some fashionable decor tips from, and HGTV show hosts Kelly Deck of “Take It Outside” and Wendy Russell of “She’s Crafty”.

Another passion of mine, cooking & entertaining, is highlighted at a whole Food Stage area where some top local chefs demonstrate the gamut from Southern barbecue to Japanese fusion.  It’s not surprising since what goes better in hand with showing off your cool and modern home then via a dinner party where one can wow one’s guests with some foodie expertise. (ps. Torontonion foodists can look forward to November’s Food and Wine Show.)

There is of course, also a Green Stage which is great because we could all stand to learn about how we can make some simple switches here and there in our lifestyles, which, fingers crossed will accumulate to create a difference.

Closer to my neck of the woods is the Markham Fall Homeshow which starts this Friday at the Markham Fairgrounds. Readers of the Style at Home magazine may wish to check out their first annual show, also held this weekend at the Toronto Exhibition Place, Direct Energy Center.

For details on other shows this month, including many occurring Stateside such one in: Salt Lake City, West Palm Beach, and Atlanta visit our Home Show section for summaries and links to their websites.