As you may know, we are hosting a very neat little contest that’s just wrapping up and is currently in the judging stages. We have results in from one judge already, and the suspense is very thick around here…. there’s $5000 dollars on the line - HELLO! Winners of that contest won’t be announced till this Friday, December 7th, 2007.

So, in order to temporarily satisfy the ‘WHO WON?’ itch, we held an open contest over the weekend for anyone to write a creative post about our recently added ‘Christmas tree decorating ideas’ page. See our free decorated Christmas tree pictures for some of the lovely trees in our collection. We had a handful of great posts that shared about everything from family Christmas tree picking day to needing to decorate the tree to accommodate ‘new hands’ in the house, but, as we’re sure you’ll agree, (my Mom was the judge of this contest, and I just hung up the phone with her….) the winner of this little contest we held for a $100 grand prize, has to go to….

The Winner Is:

Well I just went through the fun and sometimes intimidating process of picking interior paint colors for my new home. I love color and I have been a graphic designer for years so I enjoying working with color.

When I started with the task of picking colors for my new house, I knew I wanted color. So first I started with a theme . I live in Southern California near the ocean and have chosen Beach-y - Tropical with a modern twist as my theme.

Second, I used things I collect for inspiration. I collect the vintage jadeite dishes that Martha Stewart has made so popular. So naturally when I discovered that Martha Stewart had a paint color called Jadeite I knew that would be one of my colors.

As you start your new projects or dream of completing current ones, think green! Making conscious decisions to use environmentally friendly products is easier than you might think and actually saves you money, and more important, our planet.

Here at Project Kraemer Lane we’re thinking green as part of our whole house renovation. Something as simple as a changing light bulb can make a huge impact. We’ve recently begun using Energy Star compact fluorescent light bulbs which last up to 10 times longer and use about 75 percent less energy than standard incandescent bulbs. Imagine this: According to the U.S. Department of Energy, if every American home replaced just one light bulb with an Energy Star qualified bulb, we would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes for a year, save more than $600 million in annual energy costs, and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of more than 800,000 cars.

Free Home Remodeling Design Software Comparison Review

When is ‘FREE’ really free? When it’s in reference to free home remodeling software! Heads up home renovators and remodeling enthusiasts – there really is something free in this world. Here are three home remodeling software packages with free versions that you can use with no strings attached:

• FloorPlanner
• Plan3D
• Google SketchUp

Looking for free kitchen design software?

Our 2D and 3D Free Home Remodeling Software Comparison Reviews