Home front

Brief notes from around the home and garden.

By Times staff

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 24, 2000

Design Center home show

From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. today and Sunday, the Architectural Design Center will hold a free home show at its 43,000-square-foot showroom. Hundreds of displays of building and remodeling components and decorative items will be on view: windows and doors, flooring, roofing, home entertainment centers, closet systems, pools and decking, shutters and awnings, mantels, kitchen and bath fixtures, lighting and cabinetry. Manufacturers' representatives will be on hand this weekend to discuss building and remodeling projects. The Architectural Design Center is at 8751 Ulmerton Road in Largo, between Belcher and Starkey roads. Information: (727) 535-0541.

Picture this soothing idea

Five ways to de-stress: (1) Go for a walk. (2) Take up a hobby. (3) Try prayer, meditation or t'ai chi. (4) Hug your partner, kids, friend, pet. (5) Bring the outdoors inside with plants, flowers, natural objects. Invoke that sense of calm where none exists with a wall mural that transports you into an Asian garden. This one, the "Oriental Garden" WallMural by Environmental Graphics, is applied in panels like wallpaper. WallMurals come in 22 designs: nature, sports scenes, maps, outer space, city skylines. Suggested retail: from $60 to $114.95. They are available at Home Depot, Lowe's, Sherwin-Williams stores and other home centers and paint and wall covering retailers. Call (888) 205-0914 for dealer information, or visit the Web site at http://www.egproducts.com.

To do before you move

Moving is one of our topics today, and here's more advice from Allied Van Lines. Shortly before you leave town, have your hair cut, have the car serviced and have prescriptions refilled. That way you won't feel pressured to find new service providers in the first few weeks after you move to a new town. Give old linens, toys or clothing to charities; think of them as a legacy you leave behind in your old home town or neighborhood. If you can't take the kids along on house-hunting trips, photograph or videotape the houses you're considering so they feel they're part of the selection process.

Bowls by nature

These organic Finnish-designed bowls are produced from shredded straw that is kneaded in a paste of water and potato flour, fired in a mold, then sealed with beeswax. They have a lifespan of about five years. They come in light, natural and dark, colored by natural pigments. A nesting pair, in four-inch and nine-inch sizes, is $47. For a retailer, call (212) 431-1310, or visit the Web site at http://www.alessi.com.

-- Compiled by Homes Editor JUDY STARK

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