We now have a new President and with that the country has new hope and enthusiasm. I believe that if we all work together we will again have the United States of America that was once the envy of the world.

I lived in Europe in the ’90s for 7 years. I was happy to be an American, but realized that we, as a country, and consumers, behaved very differently than the Europeans. They were proud to be French and loved their own culture as well as did the Italians, Swiss and the Germans. The Europeans have sales in all their stores 2 times a year and nothing in between. They may not purchase a lot, but what they buy is good quality and will last a long time. “Less quantity, more quality”. They find value in having less.

I believe we as a country are now headed in that way, too. We now value more what we purchase and are buying less. In making purchases for your home, it is when I returned from living in Europe that I had the philosophy that it is often best to have a smaller home that you could afford and have it nicely furnished with quality pieces, good appliances and carpeting that would last. This was not the popular philosophy at that time. I believe that is where we are headed as a country and I am excited to see the change.

Design Tip

To cut down a paint color instead of having the formula cut down by the paint store, you make take a cream colored paint and cut the mixture in half or three quarter yourself. You then take the mixture you have created to the paint store and have it custom matched to this color. It works great.