Top trends to make your windows look hot this summer
Posted on Jun 12, 2013
Windows do a lot more than just let the light in and keep the weather out. They’re both key elements in your home’s overall design and in the unique look of each individual room. If you’re redecorating for warm weather, updating your window treatments is a great, cost-effective way to completely change the look of a space.“People often switch their window treatments when the seasons change, but may only think of replacing heavy winter drapes with some frothy sheers,” says Lauren Foster, a home design consultant with Blinds.com. “Today’s versatile window shades offer ample opportunities to create a truly unique, seasonally appropriate look quickly and easily.”
When warm weather arrives, it’s time to open windows and let the sun shine in. Leaving windows curtain-free, and decorating with window shades instead, allows you to welcome the season into the room and show off the window’s intrinsic beauty. Foster points to the window shade treatment trends that will be hot this spring and summer:
* Prints and patterns – Long gone are the days when window shades were drab solid white or cream. Today, you can find a plethora of colors, patterns and even textures. Websites like Blinds.com stock a huge inventory of options, from Roman shades in passionate purple and energy-efficient cellular shades in celery green, to roller shades in sprightly floral patterns. Brands like Laura Ashley, Bali and Graber literally offer dozens of color, pattern and style combinations, making it possible to find a window shade to complement virtually any design theme.
* Bringing the outdoors in – Wood blinds have been a design staple for decades, and with good reason: they’re durable, beautiful and practical. This year, wood blinds play to the trend of bringing the outdoors in. Woven roller shades that feature bamboo, sisal, grass, jute and straw are versatile enough to create both rustic and sophisticated effects in any room.* Exterior shades – Sometimes, the inside of windows isn’t the only spot where you could use some shade. Exterior shades will be “in” this season, as homeowners seek to maximize the appeal and design impact of their outdoor living spaces. Exterior shades not only provide much-needed protection from the sun for patios and porches, they can help underscore an outdoor space’s status as an important element of your home’s overall design.
* Cordless – Cordless shades have been available for a while, but their popularity is growing among homeowners and interior designers for a number of reasons. Cord-free blinds and shades create a clean, uncluttered look, allowing the beauty of the shade to shine without visual distraction. The cord-free adjustment mechanism holds blinds and shades securely in position, eliminating the need to constantly adjust them, and making it easier to raise them evenly. Finally, eliminating cords improves safety for children and pets, making cordless shades and blinds a must for children’s bedrooms and play areas.
“The arrival of warm weather is a great time to redecorate, and few updates make it easier to freshen a room than changing shades and blinds,” Foster says.
Courtesy of BPT
The RE/MAX Collection !
Posted on Jun 6, 2013
Great News! George and I are so excited to share with you, theremaxcollection.com, a new, stand-alone website for U.S. luxury listings that is now live. The portal offers consumers a powerful new search tool, and it sets your property “Above the Crowd”!
All participating properties within The RE/MAX Collection are displayed beautifully on this easy-to-use site. All you do is put in the zip code of your property or the property you are searching and the home will be displayed. The elegant, clean design of the site exudes affluence and sophistication.
This is a huge competitive advantage for your home, and it’s another point of distinction for RE/MAX. We share links to your listing on theremaxcollection.com with everyone in our database, and include them on our marketing materials, newsletters, and via social media.
Enjoy the new site!
For Sale – 8912 Desert Fox Way NE
Posted on Jun 6, 2013
Hot New Listing Located in High Demand, Desert Ridge Place, Far North East Heights Location!!
Price: $344,900
The importance of marketing your soft skills in the job search
Posted on Jun 5, 2013
As many Americans continue to search for employment, everyone is looking for ways to make the most of every interview opportunity. Of course, a good resume will reflect your technical training and experience. However, there is more to your overall qualifications than that. Your soft skills are an important part of the whole package.Two professionals at Brown Mackie College – Boise offer advice to help you make a more comprehensive case as an optimal candidate for the position you seek – a case that includes your soft skills.
Barbara J. Schafer, director of Career Services, and Carilyn Penrod, Human Resources coordinator, work daily helping students and graduates to be ready to enter today’s workforce or preparing them to enhance their current professions.
“The workplace remains highly competitive in terms of finding a job,” says Schafer. This is evidenced by unemployment rates. A U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics press release reports a slight drop in the national unemployment rate. While the number of new jobs created was fewer than the job gains in recent months, the sectors showing growth include hospitality, health care and financial services.
No matter what field interests you, it is beneficial to include your soft skills in your pitch. “Before you can market your soft skills, you must know what they are. Soft skills are personality traits; the things that make you who you are,” says Schafer. “You seldom learn soft skills in trade school or college. They are life skills that you develop through your experiences.”
“Confidence and a positive attitude are important soft skills that many employers value as much as technical ability,” says Penrod. Examples of other soft skills include a strong work ethic, flexibility, time management skills, good communication skills and working well in a team environment. You may already have some of these characteristics listed on your resume without realizing that you are marketing your soft skills.
“The main items I look for in an interviewee, apart from hard skills, are self confidence, eye contact and a firm handshake,” says Penrod. These soft skills, combined with integrity, appropriate dress and good grammar, can be collectively defined as professionalism. “Listening skills matter, too. Is the candidate paying attention to what I’m saying? Is the candidate providing thoughtful responses?” All of these attributes combine to create an element of trust between employer and applicant.
Listing your soft skills on a resume is a good way to introduce them to a prospective employer. However, you will need to prove you actually have them by providing examples of how each manifests in your work. “If you say you have good communication skills, you must be able to explain this well in an interview,” Schafer says. “Failure to do so will convince the employer that you really don’t have good communication skills. This holds true with any skill, hard or soft. Know yourself and address it confidently with the employer.”
“The initial interest a prospective employer will have in you will be for your hard skills, your ability to perform the technical part of the job. In the end, however, the things that will help you seal the deal on that interview will be your ability to market your soft skills and match them to the position,” says Schafer.
#1 in Southwest Region (RE/MAX)
Posted on Jun 3, 2013
So excited, just received this today! Thank you friends for your support and business!
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