vp04.04.13

Tips from local experts to spruce up for spring
By Alison Jalbert
Editorial Assistant
e coming of spring and the
regrowth of plant life often inspires
people to shed their tired winter
looks and make some changes that
match the newly colorful world
outside.
While spring cleaning
is a common task taken
on at the changing of the
seasons, the warmer
weather can also be the
perfect time to get organized
and freshen up
home décor and fashion.
Cool colors create a warm,
inviting room
Sue Cesana, design consultant
for Maher’s Paint in Avon, said that
many people are choosing to put
bright accent colors in their rooms,
but not necessarily on their walls.
“Gray is a hugely popular [wall
color], but a lot more people who are
gravitating toward gray want to put
bright pops of color with it,” she said.
“People will do a gray room with a
coral or turquoise ceiling.”
Gray may have gained its popularity
by being touted as a trendy
color, but Cesana said people have
discovered its versatility. “I’ve had
people discover over the years that
in order to have a warm, inviting
room, you don’t have to pick a color
from that warm side of the color
wheel. You can use what are very
cool colors and have a very cozy
room using patterns, accent art and
fabrics.”
Cesana said pairing gray and
yellow is a popular option, which coincides
with Benjamin Moore’s 2013
color of the year, lemon sorbet.
While companies like Benjamin
Moore, Behr and Pantone
offer trendy colors for the season,
Cesana urges people to pick colors
that make them comfortable.
If changing wall or ceiling color
seems too drastic a step to take, another
way to punch up the color inside
is to consider slipcovering
existing furniture, said Joseph
Gallinoto, owner of Imperial Decorating
& Upholstering in West Hartford.
Gallinoto said another easy
way to freshen up a room’s look is to
add new throw pillows. Experimenting
with patterns, solids and
unique trims on pillows can help
change the feel of a room, especially
for homeowners on a budget.
Many of Gallinoto’s customers
at this time of the year are coming
in to freshen up the looks of their
sunroom or screened-in porch, picking
fabrics that have dual indoor/outdoor
use. “ey like a
splash of spring colors that are more
of the Florida colors – fuschias,
viridian pool colors, bright bluebell
colors,” Gallinoto explained. Jungle
prints, geometric patterns and ikat
fabrics are also popular.
Bring spring flowers’ colors
to your wardrobe
Much like the weather, people
tend to wear a lot of
Looking
for help sprucing
up your style for
spring? Send in a recent
photo to The Valley Press
at aalbair@thevalleypress.net
and you will be entered to win a
free image consultation with
expert Leslie Polgar - using
your own wardrobe -
to help freshen
your look.
gray, black and
beige during
w i n t e r .
Leslie Polgar,
owner
of image
consultationservice
You
Enhanced,
said the best
way to transition
from winter
wear into spring
fashion is to pull out all the colored
items of clothing you own.
“Even if you don’t want to go
out and buy anything, [pulling out
the colorful items] will help you
brighten up,” she said.
Another budget-friendly tip to
help freshen up a spring wardrobe is
accessorizing with color, whether it
be shoes, a scarf or jewelry. “It’s a
way to splash come color into your
wardrobe without spending a fortune,”
Polgar said.
Sorting through your wardrobe
might be part of some people’s
spring cleaning. e mantra, “If you
haven’t worn it in a year, get rid of it,”
is common, but Polgar said to be
hesitant to get rid of everything. “If
it fits you well, hold on to it. It doesn’t
matter whether you’ve worn it in
the last year. … Go through and keep
the classics – stuff that’s not too
trendy and can follow you through
the seasons from trend to trend.”
Staples for a spring wardrobe
are a good pair of sandals, floral fabrics
and free-flowing fabrics, Polgar
said. Sandals are good transitional
shoes for the often unpredictable
spring temperatures and can be
paired with jeans and a cardigan as
well as a dress.
Color isn’t limited to just
clothes; Polgar said it’s “always fun”
to use colors with makeup, but she
advised to be careful of your own
coloring. “You don’t want anything
that washes you out or stands out
too much.”
With all of the choices available
in makeup, people often get overwhelmed,
so Polgar suggested going
to a makeup counter at a department
store and have them do a color
match.
“You can splash a little more of
a vibrant color in the spring. Put on
a little bit of blush and lipstick, but
make sure they complement each
other,” she said.
Take time to organize your
memories
Photo organization may not fall
on the traditional list of spring
cleaning activities, but spring pro-
vides the perfect time in between
the holiday season and the summer
months to get organized, whether
it’s on the computer or in a photo
album.
Cathi Nelson, founder of the
Association of Personal Photo Organizers,
said she uses the ABCS of
photo organizing to help her clients,
both digitally and in print. When
sorting through photos, the “A’s” are
the ones to be put in an album,
framed or used as a photo gift. e
“B” photos are the ones to be put in
a box or backed up. Nelson said to
back up photos in three ways: by
printing them, storing them on an
external hard drive and by putting
them on the cloud.
Photos designated as a “C” are
to be thrown away or deleted. “Yes,
you can throw photos away,” Nelson
said. In a digital age, where people
are not limited by rolls of film, they
often get into the habit of taking
multiple pictures of one thing, like a
sunset. “You don’t need a thousand
photos of a sunset. Get in the habit
of picking one photo and deleting or
throwing away the others.”
e final letter in the acronym,
“S,” stands for “story.” Nelson said
that if a picture tells a story, even if
it’s not a perfectly composed photo,
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it should go in the A pile.
Ideally, people should get in the
habit of organizing their photos on a
quarterly basis, Nelson said.
Once photographs have been
sorted, it’s time to organize them.
Although people take photos
chronologically, Nelson said that
they don’t have to organize them
that way. She encourages people to
organize photos by theme. “It doesn’t
matter in 10-15 years if the photos
are organized chronologically.
It’s much more interesting if they’re
done thematically.”
For more information on photo
organization, visit www.appo.org.
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April 4, 2013 The Valley Press 3