It’s been a long winter and we can’t wait for spring! Floral designs have bloomed on the runways for spring/summer 2010. Why not add stylish spring-inspired floral designs to your home décor?

Image via BecomeGorgeous.com

Brighten up rooms with floral scatter cushions, table runners, bed linen, vases and/or floor rugs in an array of exotic citrus colours or soft pastel shades for a spring look that complements existing décor.

Image: AMERICAN shutters’ Silk White Decowood shutters (89mm louvre width)

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Installing AMERICAN shutters’ adjustable louvre wooden or aluminium shutters to secure your property allows complete light and privacy control. Privacy, light and ventilation is managed by opening or closing the adjustable shutter louvres and to a greater degree, opening the shutters themselves; folding or sliding away for uninterrupted views and open flow between indoor and outdoor spaces.

Shutters also add value and timeless style which complements any architectural or interior design theme; custom made and finished to fit unique architectural requirements such as unusually shaped openings i.e. triangular or arched windows or doors, and with more than 50 finishes to choose from, to suit all styles and palettes.

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You were probably brimming over with excitement and home improvement ideas when the estate agent first handed over the keys to your new house. Years later some of your original ideas have been realised, some changed and concessions made as you built a place to call home.

Now you’re about to sell and getting started is proving to be tough. It doesn’t help that the FNB Property Barometer indicator dropped 0, 5% this month. However, despite the slowed residential property market, houses are still selling. According to Absa’s latest House Price Index, small houses (80 to 140sq) have shown resilient growth in June and Jacques du Toit, property economist at Absa, says the price growth in the South African housing market may be nearing an upturn.

While you wait for a seller’s market, get your property show house ready by following these steps.

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When thinking of stylish homes you might think of Top Billing, the popular South African TV show which allows viewers to peek into some of the most glamorous homes. It’s no wonder then that Top Billing’s home DIY expert and presenter, Aidan Bennetts, was the MC of Selection Warehouse’s new products launch on 6 May.

Aidan Bennetts at Selection Warehouse’s new product launch. Image credit: Selection Warehouse.

New décor and design products, including AMERICAN shutters’ Privacy Select and Privacy Premium custom-fit blinds, were showcased to over 420 guests. The event was the perfect opportunity to learn about innovative new products while enjoying a social drink, eats and live music at Selection Warehouse in Wembley Square, Cape Town.

A lucky guest won a mini home makeover to the value of R10 000. We hope Barak Mizrachi of Barak Mizrachi Architects enjoys his new Privacy blinds (to the value of R 3 000) as included in the prize.

AMERICAN shutters’ exhibition stand at Selection Warehouse.

For the best interior décor and design inspiration the web has to offer, follow us on Twitter or join our Facebook fan page. To find stylish AMERICAN shutters or blinds for your home, visit our online showroom.

Buy wooden shutters from AMERICAN shutters and get eco-friendly Privacy Select wooden blinds (equivalent to 10% of your m2 shutter order) for FREE!

For example: Buy 20m2 wooden shutters and get 2m2 Privacy Select wooden blinds FREE!

• Minimum shutter order of 10m2
• Offer only valid between 11 June & 11 July 2010

Please contact AMERICAN shutters on 0860 748 8837 or email info@americanshutters.co.za for more information. Terms and conditions apply.

If green is more than a colour to you, you’ll love our eco-friendly Privacy Select and Privacy Premium custom-fit blinds.

Manufactured from Kiri wood, a lightweight but durable hardwood, Privacy Select and Privacy Premium custom-fit blinds offer exceptional light block-out with the first hole-free louvres and tightest louvre closure. Kiri wood has a beautiful wood grain texture with a satin appearance and is naturally insect resistant, enhancing the blinds’ durability. However environmentalists see the most attractive feature of Kiri wood as the role Kiri plantations play in mitigating climate change.

AMERICAN shutters’ Privacy Select and Privacy Premium custom-fit blinds

Kiri is one of the most efficient tree species to absorb harmful greenhouse gases. One Kiri tree releases 6 kg of clean oxygen each day and absorbs up to 10 times the CO2 as other trees. It’s not magic but the enormous leaves, which grow up to a metre wide, which help to absorb greenhouse gases that much more efficiently. Kiri trees also grow considerably quickly and after just three to five years a Kiri tree can reach up to 20 metres on average.

Image of Kiri tree via Flickr

Privacy Select and Privacy Premium custom-fit blinds are available in a vast range of colours, three slat sizes ranging from 50mm to 63mm wide, and can be matched to any shade of our shutters. Now you can green your home, in  various colours, and support a beautifully green world!

For the best interior décor and design tips an inspiration the web has to offer, follow Window To Design on Twitter or join our Facebook fan page. To find stylish AMERICAN shutters or blinds for your home, visit our online showroom. For more interesting facts about Kiri wood, visit eco2forests.com.

We’re passionate about design and look at sites from around the world to bring you the latest décor and design trends via our Facebook fan page and Twitter profile.

Some trends stand out for their beauty, innovation and ability to capture our imagination. This month the green graffiti trend made us look twice.

Image credits: Pillar Box Post and Twig and Thistle

Would you consider adding a moss-covered green graffiti or typography design to your home?

For the best interior décor and design tips an inspiration the web has to offer, follow Window To Design on Twitter or join our Facebook fan page. To find stylish AMERICAN shutters or blinds for your home, visit our online showroom.

Congratulations to Caroleve Seaman who won our Style Secret competition.

“This is really awesome. I have never won anything before!� exclaimed Caroleve when she received the news.

Caroleve Seaman

Caroleve has won AMERICAN shutters’ Privacy Premium wooden louvre blinds valued at R8, 200. This new innovative range offers exceptional light block-out with the first hole-free louvres and the tightest louvre closure.

The competition winner was drawn at random because with so many excellent style secrets, we couldn’t possible choose just one! We posted a few superb style secrets here. Caroleve’s style secret is a fresh French country look.

If you love style secrets, you’ll love following us on Twitter and/or our Facebook fan page where we share the best interior design and décor inspirations the web has to offer.

Thank you to everyone who shared their style secrets with us at Decorex Cape Town. We’re going through the entries for the Style Secret competition and uncovering superb décor tips. Here are a few we love…

Sarah Dienirig isn’t afraid of mixing the old with the new. Maria Visser echoes the sentiment and says that when it comes to interior decorating, “there are no rules�.

“Neutral colours are best,� according to Greg McDavid, one of our Decorex Cape Town ticket winners.

Greg McDavid at our stand, Decorex Cape Town

Decorator Beryl King’s style secret is “simplicity� and Teresa du Toit believes in purchasing the best quality possible.
“Mirrors are the best space enhancers,� says fashion stylist and Hectic 9 TV presenter Danine Naidoo.

Danine Naidoo fills in her style secret

Tanja Gerber, exhibitions co-ordinator, uses colour and texture to add stylish touches to her home.

Interior design student Toni Harris loves sleek elegant spaces that maintain a “homely� feel and model Catherine Lewis prefers to keep interiors simple and minimal in all white.
What are your style secrets?

Watch this space if you want to know who the winner of AMERICAN shutters’ Privacy Premium wooden louvre blinds will be. For the best interior décor and design tips an inspiration the web has to offer, follow Window To Design on Twitter or join our Facebook fan page. To find stylish AMERICAN shutters or blinds for your home, visit our online showroom.

If you visit Decorex Cape Town this weekend, be sure to visit AMERICAN shutters’ exhibition stand (L 21) and enter our STYLE SECRET competition to stand the chance to win Privacy Premium wooden louvre blinds.

To enter ask any AMERICAN shutters staff members for the STYLE SECRET postcard, fill in your STYLE SECRET and contact details, and post it in our competition box at our stand.

Whether you’re an architect, interior designer or homeowner with a keen eye for design, you probably have décor and design STYLE SECRETS (or tips) you use to make your space unique and we’d love to hear them.

Share your STYLE SECRET and Privacy Premium wooden louvre blinds, valued at R8, 200 (including VAT) could be yours! The new innovative range offers exceptional light block-out with the first hole-free louvres. Louvres range in width from a 50mm to 63mm and have the tightest louvre closure.

We’ll be sharing the best STYLE SECRETS from Decorex Cape Town with our Facebook fans and Twitter followers throughout the weekend and beyond. Join our Facebook fan page and/or follow us on Twitter for the best STYLE SECRETS and regular updates on the best interior design inspiration the web has to offer.