Redecorating our living spaces has never been more popular. Turn on the television these days and chances are you'll come across one of numerous programs featuring a team of designers who transform a home in just a few days. Astonishing before and after photos demonstrate what can be achieved with some paint, a few furniture upgrades and a good layout. What we don't see, of course, are the hours of planning and preparation that have led up to the televised decorating frenzy.

Spring has officially arrived, and summer is just around the corner! OK, maybe it doesn't seem that way for some of us who continue to deal with snow and freezing temperatures. But the hour of sleep we lost the first Sunday morning in April signifies the time of year when homeowners feel inspired to build decks. But before you arbitrarily flip through the Yellow Pages or pick up your hammer and nails, you're going to want to consider a few factors first.

A deck can be like a room onto the great outdoors. It won't be long before you'll be enjoying a summer of barbecuing, sunbathing and gazing at the stars as the perfume from your garden floats in on a breeze…

Email, faxes and voice mail have forever changed the office concept. Gone are the beige furnishings and the daily rush hour commute for many people who work from home. Depending on the type of business you are in, it may be possible to dodge the corporate office full time or a few days per week. Conducting business from home can save time, offer flexible hours and even tax advantages.

A deck can be the ultimate 'room' with a view. It can function as an extension on your living room and a bridge between your home and your garden. Imagine warm summer afternoons on your deck enjoying barbequed steaks, a wonderful view, and the scent of fragrant blossoms. If you are planning to build a deck, or if you are hoping to transform an underutilized space into an attractive place for entertaining, consider the following deckscaping tips.

Loft living is a unique experience. They offer open floor plans, tall, dramatic windows and walls as well as a flood of light in the daytime and perhaps a spectacular city view by night. In keeping with the modern, industrial feel, many lofts have exposed pipes and ductwork and concrete floors and/or walls. Originally coveted by artists, more and more people in recent years have embraced loft living. However, a common challenge confronting many new owners is how to decorate. Without many dividing walls, one task area or 'room' flows into another and the boxy shape can be visually overwhelming. Lofts require a far different approach to decorating than would be used for the average house or apartment.

Are you tired of tracking mud from your backyard into your house? Would you like to create a more unified and sophisticated garden? One solution is to build a brick or cut stone path. Even if you have never so much as picked up a brick in your life, you can do this project. It only requires an initial investment in the bricks, a means of transporting them home, a shovel, rake, sand or crushed stone, landscape fabric and depending on your lawn you may also need a drainage pipe.

For any of us, a flight of stairs or a high shelf may someday seem like an insurmountable hurdle. Almost all of us, at some point in our lives will face a temporary or permanent loss resulting in reduced muscle strength, impaired vision, or reliance on a wheelchair. In some cases, people are forced to leave a home in which they have invested years of hard work and memories.

Compactness is a good quality to have in a car, but when it comes to a home, it's not always ideal. Although smaller houses, apartments and townhouses are more economical and certainly reduce housework, they can present a decorating challenge. This is especially true when you downsize from a larger space. How do you create an inviting, uncluttered space and still fit in all of your belongings and furniture for eating, sleeping and relaxing? Two popular trends are making it easier for the small home dweller to make the most of every inch of space without feeling hemmed in: functional furniture and multi-purpose rooms.

Bathrooms have certainly changed with the times. Rather than simply being utilitarian, new designs seem to invite users to take long baths and linger over their grooming. Rich wood, marble, shining chrome…no phone - the designers may be onto to something. In fact, whether you're looking for small updates or building from the ground up, you can incorporate many of these new products and ideas into your home. Today's a bathroom is stylish combination of convenience and technology.