(ARA) – With more and more people staying put in their homes, homeowners have realized the importance of creating a space that is meaningful to them and their families.

Heirlooms and vacation tchotchkes are no longer hidden in closets and cupboards, but rather displayed to tell a story. Paired with the onset of do-it-yourself programs aimed at instilling design confidence in all, this new zeal is leading everyone to stop asking, “How does this look to you?” and start asking “What does this say about me?”

Adding personality to a space shouldn’t be a difficult task. Look in your closet, jew-elry box or to your favorite home accesso-ries to get a sense of which styles and col-ors attract you the most. If you’re getting mixed signals because you love your sleek black suit as much as your vintage watch, don’t worry. There is nothing wrong with mixing and matching styles. Just ensure you tie your design together with one cohe-sive element, such as a common color.

Here are a few ideas for infusing your identity into your home’s decor:

Color your world.Color is a great way to add personality

to a room. Neutral hues can actually make a room appear quite dramatic when car-ried throughout in various textures, such as accent pillows, rugs and upholstery. You can go bold with vibrant, saturated hues as well, in anything from artwork to furni-ture to wall color.

“Switching up a room’s color with a quick coat of paint can really change the look, feel and personality of it,” says Jack-ie Jordan, director of color marketing for Sherwin-Williams. “If you want your room to ooze with energy, you might choose reds and oranges, while those looking for seren-

ity might like cooler blues or creamy neu-trals.”

For color inspiration and paint tips, visit Sherwin-williams.com or your neighbor-hood Sherwin-Williams store.

Customize your spaCe.Companies have taken the demand

for personalization to heart and are in-creasingly offering homeowners unique ways to tailor their spaces. For example, Decorá Cabinets recently introduced a color-matching system that allows you to customize an opaque finish of your cabin-etry. Now your kitchen island can perfectly match the robin’s-egg blue of your grand-mother’s tea set.

“We want the imagination to run wild with our new custom color-matching sys-tem,” says Emily Small, brand manager for Decorá Cabinets. “Maybe you love the hue of a Spanish tile you found in a salvage yard – we can match that color to create a one-of-a-kind look for your home.”

To promote its new color-matching sys-tem, Decorá Cabinets is hosting a sweep-stakes on its Facebook page. Three lucky winners will receive $500 for submitting an image featuring the colors that inspire them. Visit facebook.com/decoracabinets for more details and to enter.

Find your inspiration.For those looking for a little inspira-

tion, try these fun ideas to personalize your space: Frame your grandparents’ old love letters and hang them in a bathroom. Use a shadow box to display a collection of concert tickets. Look to your heritage – if you’re Scottish, investigate your “clan tar-tan” and make a throw pillow out of the plaid pattern. If you like the ideas, but don’t have the history – fake it. Begin your own story and make your home truly one of a kind.

Tell your story through home decor

FIND YoUR DECoR INSPIRATIoN by looking at your wardrobe. Do your favor classic pieces teamed with modern accessories? Dress your rooms the same way.

CUSToMIzE YoUR SPACE to fit your lifestyle with customized cabinets. Cre-ate an inviting workspace or a clutter-free storage area.

We all know we should recycle news-papers, plastic bottles and aluminim cans. But there are many other lesser known things that can be recycled. Be-fore an item is relegated to the trash, do a little research and see if it can be recycled.

1. appliances. Some cities and states have appliance recycling or re-bate programs. Since 1993, the Associa-tion of Home Appliance Manufacturers has overseen the Appliance Recycling Information Center. The mission of this center is to serve as the authoritative source of information on the environ-mentally responsible disposal and re-cycling of appliances and to undertake research into the recycling of major household appliances.

2. Computers. If a computer is in good working order, it may be sold or passed on to another person who can put it to use. Some seniors are not interested in RAM or processor speed and can benefit from a recycled machine. For those who simply must recycle the machine, there are different drop-off zones for computers and pe-ripherals, like printers. Some goodwill organizations will take them and turn them into profits.

3. Batteries. These pint-size sources of power contain heavy metals that can leak out into the ground and water supplies. They should be brought to recycling centers to be disposed of properly. otherwise, consider buying recyclable batteries and a charger.

4. mattresses. Thanks to bed bug epidemics, fewer people are willing to purchase or take on a used mat-tress. For those who are upgrading to a new mattress and have an old one to discard, check with the town to find out which transfer station will recycle the mattress. Some mattress stores will cart away an old mattress if a new one is purchased.

5. scrap metal. Got scrap metal in the garage? Make some cash off these items. Scrap metal is in demand, and there are dealers who handle the sale and trade of these materials.

6. Cds and dVds. The number of these plastic discs in circulation is high. Find out where they can be recycled or turn them into handy items for other uses. For example, use a CD as a reflector on a mailbox or at the end of the driveway.

8. toner and ink cartridges. Don’t discard spent cartridges. Bring them back to office supply stores for credit.

9. oil. If you’re changing your own motor oil, it will need to be taken to the transfer station or recycling center for proper recycling.

Nine things you can recycle that you may

not have known about

CENTURY 21, John Walton REALTORS is pleased to announce Janeth Sears has joined the firm as a sales associate.

Janeth is a highly trained agent that will specialize in residential property sales in the Lubbock area.

“We are thrilled to have Janeth join our team,” said John Walton. “It’s an excit-ing time to be with the CENTURY 21 System as we increase

our market presence in Lubbock.”Mr. Walton added, “We believe training

supports growth and professional excel-lence in the real estate industry. Perfor-mance-based training is necessary to as-sure that the CENTURY 21 associates maintain their competitive edge and offer the best services possible to their clients.”

Mrs. Sears is eager to assist all clients with their selling and buying needs. The real estate market in Lubbock is very much alive and well.

CENTURY 21, John Walton REALTORS, a full service real estate brokerage compa-ny specializing in residential properties, is located at 4718 S. Loop 289 in Lubbock.

Highlighting, or up lighting, is a landscaping technique in which light from below is used to accent certain focal points in a landscape. In many instances, the light is used to illuminate a particularly impressive or unique plant. When highlighting, two or more spot light fixtures are placed at the base of a landscape component and pointed upward. While highlighting

is most commonly used to illuminate plants, it can be used to draw attention to other focal points of a landscape as well, including sculptures or other garden structures. Light fixtures are aimed away from observers as a means to preventing glare, and oftentimes the fixtures themselves are camouflaged to maintain the natural beauty of the landscape.

Century 21, John Walton Realtors welcomes Janeth Sears to firm

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SEARS

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