
My family has always been affectionate both physically and verbally, so it wasn’t until high school that I realized not every family was like mine. Other families — although equally as loving — didn’t necessarily go around
saying “I love you” every time someone left the house. Neither is better, but I do think the level of affection in the household you grew up in will have an effect on the adult home you make for yourself.

Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. has announced that it will pull the plug on its struggling shelter magazine, Home, due to "sharp declines in the 'mid-market home sector',"
according to the Wall Street Journal. Home will join the ranks of fellow folded shelter titles, Conde Nast's
House & Garden and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia's
Blueprint.

Though it can sometimes take a few tries, the majority of us end up getting out of our parents' house between our late-teens and mid-twenties. And of course, moving out is very much a rite of passage on the path to adulthood; you learn how to pay the bills and create a place that’s all your own.
I love my family dearly, but I know I’d never give up my independence to live with them again.

Unless you're
a celebrity with money to burn, or just one very successful lay-dee, most of us have to cut back somewhere when it comes to furnishing and renovating our homes. I myself have been known to drop big bucks at high-end design shops and haggle over flea market finds in the same day. And although I'll concede that spending money on my house itself is in most cases a better investment than purchasing furnishings to fill it with, sometimes I just can't restrain myself from bringing home a beautiful lamp or having a chair reupholstered.

In anticipation of the new TLC series Hope For Your Home, which
premieres this Saturday, I thought I'd share with you host Kirsten Kemp Becker's five tips for increasing the value of your property. A veteran Realtor, author and real estate company, and owner of a successful design company, Becker knows a thing or two about acclimating your home to the current economic climate. Here's a few ways she says you can do so yourself:
- Plants on the outside.

You've
heard of Feng Shui, right. It's the idea that the Chi (or energy) that flows through your home should be balanced. If you are a believer in the practice, author Paula Brown says the same principal can be applied to your pets.

A pied-à-terre is a place of lodging for occasional or secondary use. In French, the term literally means "a foot on the ground." It was named such because basic crash pads used by traveling execs during the week were traditionally on the ground level of apartment buildings. Nowadays, pieds-à-terre are often luxury city homes for couples whose kids are grown and want to escape the 'burbs, and interior designed second homes in international cities for the jet-setting type.
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Even if you’re more
clean than messy, it’s still easy to end up with more than a few disorganized piles of stuff lying around the house, office, car, or even in the depths of your purse. Most of us function better in an organized environment, so if you have some clutter getting you down, see my tips and .
- Determine where your serious problem areas are. The closet is a big one for most people, as are desk drawers and any other nooks or crannies where it might be easy to stuff things out of sight.

I love my home. It may not be my
dream house, but it's the right home for me right now. It has many flaws but I always enjoy contemplating my next decorating moves, even if it means "making lemonade." But, there may be many of you who live in dorms or rental apartments you're not quite happy with.

Since we spend most of our time at work, our cube or office space essentially becomes our home away from home. I've never gone so far as to put frames on my desk, but I definitely have my fair share of unique touches that makes my desk feel homey and familiar. On the flip side, some people don't even feel comfortable
sharing their personal life with their co-workers so I'd assume personalizing their cube would be out of the question.