Benjamin Moore for iPhone®!

This is so cool and almost makes me want to trade in my Blackberry Storm® (which I hate anyway) immediately for the iPhone®; no matter what the cost!

The ben® Color Capture™ app for iPhone® lets you capture any color that catches your eye - anytime, anywhere. Benjamin Moore has made color matching easier than ever with its new ben Color Capture iPhone application. Take a picture of anything that has the "perfect-color-you've-been-looking-for" with your iPhone, and with your new ben® Color Capture™ app, tap the "match" key. In just seconds, a strip of colors pop up under your photo with the closest paint color match highlighted. Give your phone a simple shake and your ben app will give you four coordinating colors that create a perfectly harmonizing palette based on your original color choice. Your color favorites can be saved and enlarged to the size of the iPhone screen for easier viewing.

The ben app let's you access the full spectrum color wheel, too, which you can expand or contract by fingertip control to zoom in on your whatever color interests you. Another tap and you'll have that translated into a Benjamin Moore color that's saved to your favorite file.
Once you've found that perfect color, you won't have to waste a minute getting started on your project; the app connects to your iPhone's GPS to locate your nearest Benjamin Moore retailer from wherever you're at.

Download your free ben Color Capture app from the AppStore Web site, http://www.apple.com/iphone/appstore; appstore ; search for ben and select to install. Then get busy capturing any color that catches your eye - anytime, anywhere. The AppStore also has the Home Sizer app, where you enter the name and dimensions of each room in your house and let Home Sizer calculate usable square footage. Great tool for shopping.

How cool is that?! I want it!

Art...A Worthy Investment?

Yes, yes, yes! Nothing is more beautiful than a calming oil landscape, an antique black and white engraving, bronze sculpture, or miniature plein-air oil. Yet, in this day and age, original art is a luxury - no two bones about it. Therefore, I have, on several occasions, successfully approached a local dealer and asked about purchasing artwork on a lay-away plan if you will. So, if your patient and not too proud to ask about being able to put a deposit down to secure a piece, the reward is huge. Any artist or dealer would much prefer to move their pieces, rather than having them sit around for an extended period of time. I'm convinced, owning one-of-a-kind, original artwork doesn't only enhance your home, but your life. My favorite artists, that I return to again and again are J. Michael Kennedy and Trish Hurley. I try to add little pieces of art all around my home and have even purchased great pieces from Horchow that are reproduction pieces in fabulous frames. I am also a huge fan of architectural watercolors from Michael Hampton and love the Chinoiserie works of Harrison Howard. Let me know your favorite artists!