The Refreshed Home introduces The Seven: A fast, quarterly read on timely, new, or food for thought things I see that you may be curious about too. ENJOY! 

SNOW: What is it good for? Helping you pick your house’s new paint colors, that’s what! Drive around, look at houses in the snow. Without the distraction of landscaping/etc, you are training your eyes to see nuances and undertones. What makes blues (or greens, yellows or grays) different from each other. What works, what doesn’t.

Your house has at least 3 different materials to consider: its roof, its body, and the trim(including door and shutters). Some have more: stone or brick with shingles or stucco.  Snow makes it so easy to zero in on coordinating it all.

Favorite Super Bowl Commercial: Sweet, clever and low-tech; nice change up, what’s not to like?

Is ‘minimalist’ feeling too austere, even pejorative? Read up on Bauhaus Design.  It’s simple and functional, but pleasing style. It’s more intentional, a positive and grounded choice with heart.

Buy These Things Now:

• In January: fitness gear, linens/soft goods, TVs, laptops, and pre-order Valentine’s Day flowers.
• Appliances and mattresses, cameras, and other electronics in February.
• Deals on bedding-oriented items continue into March. Luggage, grills/patio furniture, gardening tools, and supplies are big now. Allergies? Good time to buy air purifiers, vacuums, and book cruises.

Why didn’t they think of this before? Adjustable color light bulbs. No, not disco-light type adjustable. Bulbs that have a notch on their neck that allows you to choose the color temperature: from cool blues through truer white, to the warmer soft-white tones.

Smart for retailers: less to inventory; smart for us, as we can match whatever we have. Not exactly new, but we don’t buy bulbs that often, and retailers have let old inventory run down. Becoming more mainstream has lowered the cost somewhat too.

Quickest mid-winter pick up:  Seed displays at the home improvement store.  You don’t have to be a gardener to be taken in by their powerful vibe. It’s joy, hope, and promise in a paper envelope.

Best Time To: Plan/start chicken coops along with your vegetable garden! Gardeners know to get cool-weather crops like peas and lettuces started now, but chicken coops are a relative newcomer to homeowners’ wish lists.

Interest in keeping chickens was growing, then spiked during the pandemic.  IMO its here-to-stay moment was when chicken coops were among the amenities in the listing of Adam Levine’s $51M LA home.  Check with local ordinances, and if you’re selling, it could be a nice mention in the listing description.