National Child Safety Month and Your Home

In recognition of National Child Safety Month we would like to share some safety tips as well as some free offers to take advantage of in October to make your home a safer place for your children and pets.

According to the US Comsumer Product Safety Commission, since 1990, more than 200 infants and young children have died from accidental strangulation by window cords.

FREE OFFERS
1. If you plan on keeping your older window treatments, a FREE retrofit kit can be obtained to bring these blinds or shades up to today’s safety standards. Contact the Window Covering Safety Council (WCSC) toll-free at 1-800-506-4636 or visit the website at www.windowcoverings.org.
2. Several window covering companies are offering FREE CORDLESS on selected blinds and shades. Contact Stephanie at Crimson to find out if one may work for you.

SAFETY TIPS
1. Replace window treatments manufactured before 2001 with todays safer products.
2. Move all cribs, beds, furniture and toys away from windows and window cords, preferably to another wall.
3. Keep all window pull cords and inner lift cords out of the reach of children and pets.
4. Make sure tasseled pull cords are short and continous-loop cords are permanently anchored to the floor or wall.
5. Make sure cord stops are properly installed and adjusted to limit the movement of innner lift cords.
6. Lock cords into position whenever blinds or shades are lowered, including when they come to rest on a window sill.
7. Install cordless window treatments wherever young children play or sleep to eliminate the hazards of dangling cords and maximize safety.

You can also visit www.graberblinds.com to see what they are doing to promote safety.

Crimson offers window treatments as a finishing touch on all of our projects.

Landscaping Increases Curb Appeal and Value

Is your home’s curb-appeal starting to look a bit drab or dated? The first impression of your home is a critical component to its appeal and value. When considering a landscape project, improving the front yard has the biggest impact in the perception of a home.

In any economy, but especially in the current economy, landscape improvements have a big impact on a home’s value. A study done by theUniversity of Clemson and theUniversity of Michigan found that consumers value a nicely landscaped home up to 11.3 percent higher than a home with basic landscaping.

When creating a new look for a home it is important to consider removing overgrown plantings, adding new plantings, reworking walkways, and adding lighting. All elements have a great impact individually. Together they completely transform the look and character of a home.

Plantings provide scale to the front of a home. Plantings also are important for vertical elements to frame views to a home or providing screening. Front plantings used in larger masses create more impact from a distance. Usually people view a front landscape from the street, or along the public walkway, so having fewer varieties and larger groupings looks much nicer. Seasonal interest is another important element in the front yard. A balance of plantings with interest in all seasons will make the front of the home much more appealing.

It is also important to think about what the front landscape will look like from inside the home.

Often the landscape is pressed up against the foundation of the home and doesn’t take advantage of views from front rooms looking out into the front landscape. Capitalizing on such opportunities can make the front yard equally enjoyable from inside the home.

A new walkway can dramatically improve the appearance of any home.Extending the walkway out into the yard away from the home can make for a nice design element and create a more interesting entry.New paver and stone materials used in walkways or even driveways add a lot of interest to a home and can compliment the architecture.

Along with new plantings and stone work, landscape lighting is another element to consider adding to your landscape. The finishing touch of lighting makes a dramatic difference in the curb appeal of a home and extends the interest of the landscape into the evening.

According to The Wall Street Journal’s Smart Money Magazine a well designed, installed, and maintained landscape can add up to 15% to your home’s value. Feel free to contact Western DuPage Landscaping, Inc at 630-416-0072 for a free consultation to see how they can increase the value of your home by improving your landscape. In the meanwhile you can view photos of their projects at www.westerndupagelandscaping.com. Crimson and WDL can also work together on any remodeling/landscape project to make your life easier.

Enjoy,

Matt Haber, Western DuPage Landscaping

Don’t Forget Window Treatments When Planning Your Project

Often times window treatments are overlooked, yet updating your window treatments will protect your remodeling investment. They will both complete and enhance your room by adding the perfect finishing touch. You can add softness to a room with fabric window treatments or add a warm ambiance with wood blinds or shutters.

Window treatments add beauty, decoration and mood to a room, but they are also practical and eco-friendly as well. Window treatments provide privacy and protect your interior finishes by blocking damaging UV rays that will cause fading and deterioration. Conserving energy is another great benefit to window treatments. For instance, you might want to block the sun out of the bedroom, while taking advantage of the sunlight in the family room. Also, there are thermal insulating treatments available that allow your home to increase energy efficiency according to the outside temperature.

One of today’s hottest trends in window fashions is vertical panels (pictured). The vertical panels offer clean lines and a sleek contemporary look. This new product offers the perfect solution to dress your floor-to-ceiling windows, and can also be used as a stylish room divider system. There are also several cordless options that are stylish and safe for a child-friendly home.

Crimson Design & Construction is happy to announce that we now offer window treatments as part of our service. In keeping with Crimson’s business model, our window treatments are 100% custom made to suit your needs, style and personality. Our in-house designers will work with you to select the perfect style and colors to fit your new space. We stand behind our products and offer a complete warranty.

Naperville Basement Finish With A New Twist

We just finished a basement in Naperville where we did something new for us. We left the ceiling alone and painted it flat black. All the joists, ductwork, and pipes are still visible but the flat black paint makes it all disappear. It really is quite amazing!

By leaving the ceiling exposed the client gained valuable ceiling height in a house built before a 9′ basement was more common. Not only did they get an extra 4″ of ceiling height but it feels like even more because you can see up into the spaces between the joists.

The painted ceiling costs less than a traditional drop ceiling and quite a bit less than a drywall ceiling. On the other side, you have to be comfortable with the urban/industrial look of the black. No other color would work as well. The flat black hides all the pipework exceptionally well.

It’s Never The Wrong Time of Year to Remodel

The other day as I was driving between projects the thermometer in my truck was reading -12 degrees. It occurred to me that people may think that we can’t work in this weather. Not true. Even though the temperature outside is struggling to reach zero, it is never the wrong time of year to remodel. Crimson Design & Construction works twelve months a year in all types of weather to bring your dreams to reality.

While the weather might make some parts of a project more challenging it also can help in other ways. The biggest benefit to winter – no rain! This is great when we need to remove a roof over an existing structure. We can shovel snow; we can’t shovel rain!

Even if you don’t want to start a project in winter it is a great time to plan for spring and summer. Most projects take time to plan. So if you want to do work in the spring don’t wait until spring to call. The sooner we can start planning your project the more flexibility we have to plan a starting date.

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