The final reveal of the Bedding Experts' Ultimate Bedroom Makeover will air this weekend on HomesPlus (and is available now online) and boy did we get a big reaction! You'll have to check it out to see!

But if you like what you see, you don't have to look very far to get it for yourself. First and foremost, in addition to the $10,000 for the cost of the makeover, The Bedding Experts provided the mattress, boxspring, bedframe and pillows that Dorothy is now able to rest comfortably on! So, a big thank you goes out to them. Designer Michelle Williams also shared some of the local spots where she found the goods for Dorothy's new room and here they are:

Carpet - Carpet Central (Highland Park)
Headboard - Covers Unlimited (Chicago)
Drapes - Mimi Cole Designs (Deerfield)
Custom Framing - The Custom Framer (Highland Park)
Construction - Pro Greg
Furniture & Accessories - IKEA (Schaumberg), The Painted Lady (Bucktown)

But of course, if what you need is the creative eye of a designer, you'll just have to call Michelle Williams!

This morning on the Today Show, Jean Chatzky tested out a power monitoring device which actually talked to her power meter to measure in real time how much power she was using - and exactly how much money it was costing per hour. The top culprits? The washer and dryer cost more to run per hour than the other appliances she had running, but what she found was that when she went through the house and turned off the lights and unplugged the appliances she wasn't using (even the chargers that were plugged in but not actually charging something), she cut her hourly charges from $1.33 down to $ .32...that's major savings over the course of the month and year.

By picking up one of these handy little devices you can get a really good estimate of how much money you waste at home by leaving lights on, or leaving appliances that you don't always use plugged in. As we kick off this holiday season, what a great gadget to add to your list so that by this time next year, you've got hundreds of extra dollars to spend on your holiday shopping for 2010!

Check out the video, below.

Here it is! Part one of the Bedding Experts' Ultimate Bedroom Makeover, worth $10,000! This was such a fun project to be a part of. There's nothing like seeing these different vendors come together to create something special for such a deserving woman. Michelle Williams put her heart into designing this room and her team of pros worked hard to get it done quickly.

Thanks to everyone who participated!

Now, grab a tissue and meet Dorothy...
 

I just came from the "reveal" of the Bedding Experts' Ultimate Bedroom Makeover for Dorothy Collins, the winner of the ugliest bedroom contest and the $10,000 bedroom makeover - and today was a great day! Her formerly Elvis-style bedroom now boasts a modern sophistication. I won't tell you how Dorothy feels about Michelle Williams' designs - that, you'll have to tune into CLTV next weekend to see - but let's just say that the room is a far cry from that photo entry that Dorothy submitted for the ugliest bedroom contest! Having seen it firsthand, I can tell you that it will be very worth your while to set the dvr for this one!

Thanks so much to the Bedding Experts for their generous donation which allowed this makover to happen, to Dorothy and her family for letting our team of experts and cameras invade her home, to Greg Wadowski from Pro Greg Construction for doing all the heavy lifting and most especially to Michelle Williams for pulling off an unbelievable transformation for a very deserving woman.

Meet Dorothy this weekend on HomesPlus (Saturday @ 9am and 1pm, Sunday @ 9am) and see the finished room revealed to her on the show next weekend.

To see a gallery of Dorothy's winning bedroom before the transformation, as well as some of the other entries, click here.

When you get an unseasonably gorgeous weekend like the one we just had, the last thing you want to be doing is housework. Understood. Since this week looks like it will also be pretty mild, you have another opportunity to spend some of those waning daylight hours preparing your home before the white stuff arrives. Here are some to-dos:

1- Turn off the water for your exterior spigots and drain what's left in the pipes. Standing water in your pipes can freeze and cause a pipe to burst this winter. Not pretty.
2- Clear your gutters. If your gutters are clogged with leaves and debris, water will back up and sit there just waiting to freeze when it's cold enough. Frozen water in gutters can cause cracks and damage to your house.
3- Clear the leaves away from your house. Same principle as the gutters - leaves collect water which will freeze when it's cold enough, causing cracks in your foundation if they're close to your house.
4- Check your seals. Make sure your windows and doors are sealed tight - keeping critters looking for warmth out and keeping your warm air inside where it's supposed to be.
5- Clean your windows. A clear window lets in more sunshine, which will warm up your house on chilly days, at no charge.

Good News! The Senate has passed a bill that will extend the first-time homebuyer tax credit that was set to expire at the end of November. And, current homeowners have an incentive to buy as well.

The House still needs to pass the bill.

Continue reading "Senate Extends/Expands Homebuyer Tax Credit" »