Turn A Tract Home Into Your Own Personal Retreat

Turn A Tract Home Into Your Own Personal Retreat
By Aldene Fredenburg, Fri Dec 9th

We're all familiar with tract homes: white or light gray housesfeaturing small rooms with white walls, prefab cabinets, apostage stamp of a front and back yard. Well, you can transformone of these generic-looking houses into a personal retreatreflecting your own unique identity; all you need are a littlecreativity, some paint, and a careful selection of the rightfurnishings.

First, decide what type of decorative style you want to project.Are you into shabby chic? The simple, elegant lines of Japanesedécor? Rustic country designs? Maybe you're into the currentlypopular French or Tuscan décor; or the high tech look of modernindustrial design. Whatever your choice, a good first step is tolook through decorating and architectural design magazines tofind a look you want to emulate.

Notice the colors used by the designers to create theirsignature look, as well as the lighting elements, if possible -the ambiance of a home is a combination of color and light. Thewall colors will serve as the foundation of your home décor, sochoose the colors you want and put them on the walls; ifnecessary, take examples of the colors to your local paint storefor them to match.

If you're unhappy with the prefab cabinets in your kitchen,there are cost-effective things you can do. Consider paintingthem, possibly adding a crackle treatment for a little texturalinterest. You can also give solid cabinets a lift by cutting outthe center panels in each door and replacing them with clear ortranslucent glass or acrylic. You can add relatively inexpensivestainless steel fronts to your refrigerator, stove anddishwasher to provide a high tech industrial look for yourkitchen without the expense of replacing the appliances. Onceyou've created the color palette for each room, you're ready toadd furniture and accessories. If you want to create a cozy,rustic environment, consider putting warm, southwestern colorson your walls and then adding a selection of solid log furniture. Drape somecolorful Indian blankets over the sofas and chairs, add somethematic art to the walls and some pottery and colorful carvedgourds, and you've quickly brought the Southwest into your home.

Attracted to the simplicity of Asian design? The minimalistlines of modern tract housing are actually highly conducive tothis popular look. Add clean, low-built Japanese furniture -futon inspired sofas, end tables, coffee tables, graduated tonsucabinets - with Japanese paper lanterns, shoji screens, eitherfreestanding or sliding, and

plenty of pillows with silk orbatik cloth. Make sure you go back to your magazines forinspiration; colors used in Japanese-inspired décor run thegamit from soft blues and greens to brilliant reds and oranges.

Don't forget to add natural accents to your Asian surroundings -bonsai trees, potted palms, bamboo. Also add a water feature, inthe form of a table fountain or corner indoor miniature pond.

Make sure not to neglect the outdoors; even if you have a tinyfront or back yard, you can create a private, peaceful getawayby planting trees and bushes to separate you from yourneighbors, then adding a wooden deck or a flagstone area withoutdoor furniture, lighting, and a stove or barbecue.

The seemingly impersonal, minimalist nature of tract housing canactually act as a blank canvas for your creativity. So break outthe paint chips, pull out that stack of design magazines, andstart planning!

About the author:Aldene Fredenburg is a freelance writer living in southwesternNew Hampshire and frequently contributes to Tips andTopics. She may be reached at amfredenburg@yahoo.com.