“Color This!” at Better Homes and Gardens

Here’s a fun and helpful tool for you to test out color ideas for your walls, furniture and accessories. Try “Color This!” at the Better Homes and Gardens website www.bhg.com.

Test out your ideas for interior decorating BEFORE buying paint products. Choose one of their design photos and then change paint colors for either interior walls or exterior siding, along with fabric, window treatments, flooring, roof color, trim and more. Designs can be saved to look at again later, printed out on paper, or e-mailed to a friend. Similar applications can be found at paint manufacturers’ websites such as Valspar, Behr or Benjamin Moore. The one I played with had limited paint color selections, but it was enough to give you a good feel for your pending projects. It might make you feel better about a daring color choice!

via “Color This!” at Better Homes and Garden | Turner Maine Homes.

Pets and selling your home
When preparing your home to sell, it might be a good idea to examine it from a pet’s perspective. My advice is to remove as many excess pet items as possible, in particular toys and food. Make sure you have cleaned up well after your pet, in particular where they are fed, outside dog runs and the location in which you store the litter box.  Look for stray fur-balls floating around the floors, and use a lint brush if necessary on your upholstered furnishings and draperies.  It might also be wise to repair any damage done by your loveable but perhaps destructive puppies or kittens:  Touch up scratched paint or polyurethane, fill in any holes dug by dogs outside in your yard, remove any torn furnishings or carpets, and remove all pet stains.  Also, disinfect or deodorize if there are pet smells in the home — a sure turn-off for a prospective buyer, especially one that does not like pets. Hire a professional carpet cleaning company to sanitize and thoroughly clean your carpets before your first showing. Once this is done, you may want to limit the areas in which you allow your pets.

What is the PHSI?

Each month I study the Pending Home Sales Index, issued by the National Association of Realtors. The index is based on pending sales of existing homes. A sale is listed as pending when the contract has been signed but the transaction has not closed.The NAR uses a large national sampling to come up with their report. It ties the level of monthly contract activity to the level of sales that will occur in the following two months. An index of 100 is equal to the average level of contract activity during 2001 the first year to be examined as well as the first of five consecutive record years for existing-home sales, and it coincides with a level that is considered historically healthy.The most recent index report for March looked positive: It rose 5.1% to 94.1, up from 89.5% in February. The index is below the 106.2 in March 2010. It’s important to note that March & April 2010 activity was at an elevated level in order to meet contract deadlines for the home buyer tax credit.

via What is the PHSI? | Auburn Maine Homes For Sale.

Upcoming concert:

JON ANDERSON is one of the more recognizable voices in progressive rock as the lead vocalist and creative force behind the band Yes. He was the author and a major creative influence behind many of their songs. One of their largest and most memorable hits was ”Owner of a Lonely Heart,” which he co-authored. Check him out at Bates College on Sunday, May 15, at 7:30 p.m.  The acoustics are amazing in the Olin Arts Center, and this will be the smallest venue on Jon’s acoustic tour! For tickets, go to tickets@bates.edu or call207-786-6135. Advance tickets are $37.50; day of the show, $45.

A free Medicine Disposal Event will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.  Saturday, April 30. Two location collection sites: Farwell Elementary School in Lewiston and Central Fire Station in Auburn. Sponsored by the Lewiston-Auburn Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative, partnered with the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Bring any expired, unwanted or unused medications to either of these sites for safe and secure disposal. Easy enough: Drive up and hand over your medications to the attendant. Police officers from Auburn and Lewiston Police departments will be onsite to supervise the collection of medicines. FMI: Contact SS/HS Substance Abuse Prevention Coordinator, Scott Gagnon, at 795-2120 or gagnonsc@cmhc.org .

Community local events also posted to http://www.auburnmainehomesforsale.com

The everyday guide to saving the planet:

I just received a copy of “The Green Book,” with fabulous tips to make simple changes to clean up the Earth. One simple step: Don’t take ATM receipts. ATM receipts are one of the top sources of litter on the planet. If everyone in the United States left their receipt in the ATM machine, it would save a roll of paper more than 2 billion feet long, or enough to circle the equator 15 times. Interesting! And easy to do!

Here’s something we’ve never done before! The Lewiston Auburn Film Festival will be held Saturday, April 2, in various locations throughout downtown Lewiston and Auburn, all within walking distance of each other.

Instead of sitting in a traditional Cineplex, each location participating in the film festival will double as a theater for one day only. These locations will host either an afternoon of movies or an afternoon of workshops. One ticket will get you in to all of the movies and workshops. A full-day pass is $29. Tickets can be purchased at L/A Arts, or at www.lafilmfestival.org.

Not all house insurance is equal when it comes to historic homes. This is interesting if you live in an “antique” home. You may want (or need) a special homeowner’s policy if you would prefer to restore and replace damaged materials with historically accurate materials. These policies cost more, and so do the craftsmen who install them. Perhaps you would be agreeable to a replacement using modern replicas? If so, you might be able to find less expensive insurance —your damaged 1800s original wide-plank oak floors would probably be replaced with any oak flooring, which is considered “functional replacement.” Please talk to your professional insurance agent if this might pertain to your home.

Another true sign that spring is right around the corner, the Maine Maple Producers Association sponsors the state-wide Maine Maple Sunday on March 27, the fourth Sunday in March every year. There are quite a number of Androscoggin County locations within a short driving distance of Lewiston-Auburn & Turner, so plan ahead to make a visit. Many offer free maple syrup samples, demonstrations on how they make pure Maine maple syrup and some places still offer maple taffy on snow. Some locations also serve up fabulous breakfasts, such as Jillson’s Sugarhouse in Sabattus. Boothby’s Sugarshack in Livermore will be open both Saturday and Sunday. And for a horse-drawn wagon ride, head over to the West Minot Sugarhouse. To see a map of other participating sugarhouses, click on this link: Maple Sunday Map.

Story via Maple Treats: Maine Maple Sunday: March 27, 2011 | Turner Maine Homes.

The temperature here in Maine is steadily on the rise. Every day there is a noticeable snow-melt and in some areas we are already experiencing Maine’s most famous and notorious SEASON, Mud Season. All this being said, Spring is just around the corner which means Daylight Saving Time begins at 2:00 a.m. on March 13, 2011. Don’t forget to change your clocks this Sunday!Daylight Saving Time starts the second Sunday in March and reverts to standard time on the first Sunday in November. In the U.S., each time zone switches at a different time.Want to know more about DST and where it is not observed? I found this site informative, visit http://www.webexhibits.org/daylightsaving/b2.htmlWant to know more about Mud Season? It happens every year when the frost starts to come out of the ground and affects everyone using dirt drives and pathways. Just pay us a visit and you’ll experience it first hand!

Photos via Its Time To Change Your Clocks! | New Gloucester Maine Homes For Sale.