Sensible Burglary Prevention Measures Start with the Basics

(ARA) - It is always a busy season for burglars. According to FBI statistics, the greatest numbers of home burglaries occur in July, with August a close second. In 2004, for instance, burglars entered a house, apartment or condominium every 14.7 seconds, making off with valuables worth an average of $1,607 each time.

Art Noparstak, marketing manager for Intermatic, Inc. and spokesperson for the national Burglary Prevention Council, an organization dedicated to the prevention of residential burglaries, states, "Sixty-two percent of all burglaries occur in daylight hours, and almost a third are made without forced entry. Don't make the burglar's job too easy."

To prevent burglaries, Noparstak offers the following advice:

* Keep all doors, windows and garage doors closed and securely fastened. Doors should have deadbolt locks with at least a 1" throw and reinforced strike plate with 3" screws. All windows should have window locks.

* Cut up cartons for TVs, computers, stereos, etc. Tie the pieces together so a burglar going through the garbage does not see any of your highly valuable household items.

* Do not leave ladders or tools lying around outside.

* Install a wide-angle door viewer (peephole) in your front door so you can see who is at the door.

* Don't put your name and residential address on your key ring. If you happen to lose it, a dishonest person could gain entry to your home.

* Use timers on lights, radios and TVs. Set light timers to turn on and off and random times of the day and night, making your residence appear occupied.

* Keep shrubbery trimmed away from entrances and walkways.

* When service or delivery people come to your door, ask for ID. If you're still not sure, call the police first and report the stranger. Next, call the company to confirm.

* Make a home inventory list, complete with photos or video. Engrave items with your ID to help the police identify your belongings. Store this list in a safety deposit box.

* Post signs in conspicuous locations that clearly indicate that the premises are protected by a burglar alarm.

"Consumers should also consider installing a burglar alarm around their home," says Noparstak. "It is a myth that burglar alarms need to be high-tech and cost thousands of dollars. There are many affordable options available, including window, door and table top alarms."

For apartments in New Jersey go to Raritan Crossing.  They are pet friendly apartments and New Brunswick NJ apartments.  Rentals near Metropark and apartments in Middlesex county.  For apartments in central NJ this is the place for you.

From Dorm Room to Apartment
Save money in the long run by equipping your dorm room with investment pieces that will transition into your first apartment.

By Kaelin Tripp
 
Splurge for the Future
Are you a "plan ahead" kind of person? Then think through your decorating choices for a dorm room.

Instead of choosing the kooky "Sponge Bob" comforter and a cheap canvas chair, select a couple of investment pieces for your room.

Dark woods and neutral chairs pair well with a photo-montage wall in brown, white, and green. At the desk, a simple leather chair is sturdy enough to transition easily into your first real place after graduation.
 
 Side Table with Style
For your dorm room, pass on the funky milk crate nightstand. Go with something more stylish! Ours is a small round table in a dark wood stain. The style is simple enough to be a great addition to your first apartment.

For your apartment: This handy piece can find a home in nearly any room. Try it next to a reading chair, sofa, or guest bed.

  Classy Seating
Schools rarely provide classy furnishings, so spruce up the standard college desk with a sleek leather dining chair. This chair will provide comfy seating for studying and guests who lounge around your room.

For your apartment: Your leather chair will look great in a living room, entry, or dining room area.
   
 Hide-Away Storage
For this dorm room, our "coffee table" is a pair of handy storage cubes that hide bedding, extra books, or CDs.

For your apartment: These units could transition into handy nightstands or side tables.
For apartments in New Jersey go to Raritan Crossing.  They are pet friendly apartments and New Brunswick NJ apartments.  Rentals near Metropark and apartments in Middlesex county.  For apartments in central NJ this is the place for you.

Five Designer Secrets for Creating Fabulous Windows
(ARA) - It's easy to see your windows in a whole new light with insights from a professional designer. With just a little bit of thought about the look you are trying to achieve, combined with the design savvy of window treatment experts, windows like those seen in the top design magazines are just days away.

To get you started, Smith+Noble, America's leading catalog and online retailer of custom window treatments, rugs and fabric décor, suggests following these five tips from top interior designer Michael Payne. Payne is a member of the American Society of Interior Designers whose weekly show, "Designing for the Sexes," can be seen on HGTV.

* Don't be afraid of color. Many people play it safe and select neutral window treatments. Yet, mixing two colorful window treatments is a simple way to inject energy and excitement into a room. Select tones from opposite sides of the color wheel -- for example, pair a golden honeycomb shade with deep aubergine velvet panels -- to brighten and add punch to your windows.

* Vary textures when mixing neutrals. If bright colors aren't what you are after, mixing subtle colors in wonderful textures can instantly bring elegance and ease to your rooms. For example, combining rich silk in an earthy bronze with delicate, sheer georgette in a creamy color results in a beautiful effect that goes with any décor. Woven reeds, grasses and bamboos used in Smith+Noble's Natural Roman shades perfectly complement tailored herringbone edge bindings.

* Use a corner to your advantage. In homes with wall space between two corner windows, use panels or draperies with one side stacking to the left, the other to the right. Panels meet in the corner for the dramatic look of one continuous window. In contemporary homes where windows meet without wall space in between, honeycomb shades are a wonderful solution. When closed, the windows appear as bold bands of color; when open, shades virtually disappear for an unobstructed view.

* Give small windows big impact. Don't be stumped by small or unattractive windows. One terrific way to make small windows appear larger and more dramatic is by using light-colored panels that start well above the window and puddle onto the floor. To enhance the width of a narrow window, specify panels significantly wider than the window and hold them open with tiebacks-the effect draws the eye outward. Then, build on the visual impact with details like ring tops, prominent wood poles, finials and brackets.

* Design in stages. If your dream windows are a little out of reach right now budget-wise, don't fret. Designing windows is an evolving process that doesn't have to be finished all at once. When you move into a home, privacy and light control are most important, so focus on installing functional blinds and shades that will be the foundation for your window treatment masterpieces later. Then, when time and budget allow, layer luxurious panels and draperies or add architectural details like cornices and sconces.

"Designing beautiful windows can seem intimidating, but it's really not," says Karin Miller, vice president of merchandising for Smith+Noble and member of the Color Marketing Group. "Smith+Noble has taken the hottest design trends and edited them into easy-to-work-with color palettes and fabric groupings. Whether you want the function of wood blinds or the luxury of silk draperies, Smith+Noble has the right design solution for you."

Smith+Noble, America's leading resource for custom home decorating solutions, offers innovative, high-quality window treatments, custom area rugs and fabric décor items that are well-priced and backed by superior customer service and support. The company is based in Corona, Calif.

For apartments in New Jersey go to Raritan Crossing.  They are pet friendly apartments and New Brunswick NJ apartments.  Rentals near Metropark and apartments in Middlesex county.  For apartments in central NJ this is the place for you.

Children's Room Decorating
The Elementary Age Child

 
It goes without saying that most people want to give their children the best of everything. And at times like this when the economy is flush, with more working people having more expendable income than we've seen in a few decades, many parents are taking every opportunity to bestow upon the their little ones all the attributes of the good life. From private schools to new clothes to flat-screen digital TVs, spending on children has exploded in huge ways in the last few years. Pair that with interior design and decorating being industries whose fates are intimately linked to the ups and downs of the economy, and it only adds up that decorating for kids is currently all the rage.

Whereas once upon a time it was considered going all out to have a matching football-themed bedspread and curtains in a child's room, now entire sets of sheets, duvets, curtains, rugs and even wall hangings all featuring the same Powerpuff Girls or N'Sync motif can be acquired for a song at places like Kmart and Bradlees. And any respectable wallpaper outlet will have not just a few, but a vast selection of kid-themed patterns, as well as the all-important matching borders. (FYI, wallpaper borders are now a very big deal in the kids' decorating world.)

But with so many options now available, it can be hard to know just how far to go with it all. Or even where to begin, for that matter. It's always an option to go out and get all-matching everything and cover every surface of the room with all one theme, be it flowers, gorillas, The Little Mermaid, or Mack trucks. But all but the most die-hard matching maniacs out there, including the child who's obsessed with whatever it is, will most likely find such an environment more than a little overwhelming.

The best strategy to use when you're about to begin decorating a child's room, just like when you're designing any other space, is to keep in mind what the room will be used for first and foremost–then get into what it will look like. Ask questions like these: How many kids will be sleeping there? If it's just one, do you expect that he or she will have to share sometime in the next few years? Will the bedroom be his or her main space for play as well as sleep, or will there be a separate play area? Is he really into arts and crafts, which would mean the floor and work surfaces should be easy to clean up? Is she likely to get very tall and need a double bed? All these questions are much more important than whether to paint the walls powder, shell or rose pink. Not that color isn't important, for it most definitely is. But function should be your first consideration.

That having been said, let's take a look at the usual basic elements of a child's room:

a bed with a good mattress
bedside table with a lamp
desk with a chair and lamp for homework
surface for art and play (can be the floor)
a mirror
places to store hanging and folded clothes
storage for books, toys and games
Bedrooms
 A bed with a mattress that provides good support is extremely important. Kids' bones are still growing and solidifying at a fast rate, and spending long sleeping hours in bad positions can lead to or exacerbate serious posture problems. Different cultures have different ideas what constitutes support and what constitutes torture–sleeping on a Japanese futon (the kind you find in Japan, not our cushy American version) feels like sleeping on pavement to your average westerner, but many Japanese find our much softer beds overly indulgent and worry about their backs. It's all a matter of preference, but most doctors around the world agree that too soft is a big no-no. Use your best judgement, and keep in mind that in the world of mattresses, you usually get what you pay for. Skimping on a cheap mattress for your child now just might cost you more in medical bills later.

A bedside lamp is also important, if only because it's really nice to be able to turn on a light without getting out of bed–especially if you're afraid of the dark, which most children are at one point or another. It's also nice to have a close light for reading bedtime stories, and a table underneath it is handy for a glass of water, a nightlight, or any favorite books.

And just like it's good for you to have a home office area if you ever work at home, it's a good for a child to have her own place to do her homework–a place that's just for study, with ample light for reading and writing and a comfortable chair that provides good back support. Sure, homework can be done at the kitchen table, and often is. But providing a place that is just for study, separate from the rest of the house and in the child's own space, is a good way to convey the message to him that homework is something that should be taken seriously and consciously made a priority.

If the room is also the child's primary play area, you'll want to keep this in mind when considering the flooring. Granted, children have played on bare wood floors for centuries with no problem. But something softer like cork, or soft rubber tiles that come in bright colors just for kids (available at many carpet and tile stores) will hurt a bit less when they fall and will go easier on their knees when they're kneeling. While it's far from necessary, it's something to consider. And if the child loves to make a mess, rubber flooring is an even better idea, since it easily wipes clean.

And speaking of wiping clean, a popular trend right now is to cover the lower half of one wall with blackboard paint (available at most paint and hardware stores) so the children  can draw with abandon–and it also saves paper. If something so permanent doesn't appeal to you, a real blackboard hung on the wall or propped on an easel will serve the same purpose.

For apartments in New Jersey go to Raritan Crossing.  They are pet friendly apartments and New Brunswick NJ apartments.  Rentals near Metropark and apartments in Middlesex county.  For apartments in central NJ this is the place for you.

New Renter? Decorate Your New Home on a Budget!
By Kathy Wilson

Perhaps you are just starting out in your first apartment rental home, or are starting over again and you don't know how to begin decorating your new place? Here are some easy, inexpensive, landlord friendly ideas for making a space your own!

Choose a feeling you want in your apartment or rental home.
Since apartments and rentals tend to be smaller spaces, choosing a set of feelings as a theme to cover the whole space can both visually enlarge the space, and make the job much less complicated. Want a relaxed, calming atmosphere to unwind in? Choose neutrals or cool colors such as blues and greens. Want to express your colorful personality? Try using bright, energetic color combinations.

If you are in need of furniture, check out yard sales, classified ads, and even thrift shops to save yourself big bucks.
Keep your choices to simple pieces that will blend with any décor, in the case of a move or a change of taste. You can make a simple platform bed with concrete cinder clocks and ¾ inch plywood or mdf board. Futon mattresses are less expensive then regular mattresses, and can offer good firm support.

Add Some Personality.
Now that you have a few pieces of furniture and have chosen your color scheme to represent the feeling of the room, its time to add some personality! Throw pillows and throw blankets add color and charm, warm up the room, and disguise imperfect furniture.

Most renters can't paint the walls, so add color in creative ways.
Pick up a collection of dollar store frames, spray paint them black for sophistication, then frame unusual things such as pretty pieces of fabric, cd covers, soup can labels, or even sheet music! Pick something you love, then display them as a grouping on the wall.

Don't be afraid to paint that old furniture your Aunt Rose gave you.
(Unless its an heirloom, of course!) Anything can be painted these days, even cheap laminate bookcases. Clean the piece well, sand lightly, then prime with a specialty primer such as KILZ Original. Now simply paint the piece with regular semi gloss house paint! You can add stenciling or stamps to give it a custom feel. Paint all the furniture one color to tie it together and make the room seem larger, or feel free to experiment and paint all the dining chairs a different color. (Remember "Friends"?)

Just because it's a rental doesn't mean it can't be home.
Add your own stamp to each and every room giving it personality. Bring out those family photos, use that rug you made in the third grade as a seat cushion, or hang your Grandmothers costume jewelry from your chandelier. Use creativity, and learn to use your home to express yourself.
For apartments in New Jersey go to Raritan Crossing.  They are pet friendly apartments and New Brunswick NJ apartments.  Rentals near Metropark and apartments in Middlesex county.  For apartments in central NJ this is the place for you