(ARA) – ‘Tis the season to be chic on a budget, and with more people planning on spending quality time at home this holiday season, a financially friendly and festive facelift might be just what your house needs.

“With stressors like the tough economy and the holiday hustle-and-bustle, finding the time and money for holiday decorating can by trying,” says Lisa LaPorta, lead designer and co-host of HGTV’s Designed to Sell. “There are countless quick and inexpensive do-it-yourself projects that can brighten a home in time for the holidays and beyond.”

Most homeowners will be staying put in 2009, according to the 2008 KILZ brand Roller Report. Those homeowners should consider renovations that will outlive the upcoming holiday fuss. LaPorta offers holiday design tips to brighten homes on a budget this year:

Dining rooms for holiday feasts … and leftovers.
Applying a fresh coat of primer and paint is the easiest way to transform a space with minimal time and money. Save the season’s rich reds and golds for festive accent pieces like trim, picture frames and pillows. Try painting interior walls with shades of deep taupe, warm grey or soft brown. All are trend-right and make an impact without overwhelming interior design. Regardless of paint color, start with a high quality water-based primer like KILZ Premium. This will block and hide water stains and save time by reducing the number of top coats.

Commanding centerpieces for year-round flair.
Starting with a neutral wall color allows infinite options for a festive centerpiece. Fill a glass vase with an arrangement of rich red and orange flowers, simple twigs and glass beads or your favorite fruit for a powerful statement that costs close to nothing.

Lisa LaPorta, lead designer and co-host of HGTV’s Designed to Sell

Kitchens that will enchant guests without breaking the bank.
The kitchen is the most-used, equipment-heavy and expensive-to-renovate room in the home, but it makes a huge impact on visitors — which is especially important with the hustle and bustle of dinner parties and family get-togethers this winter. New appliances have the greatest impact on kitchen appeal, but can be costly. If you’re not able to make a large investment during the holidays, achieve a similar effect by updating cabinetry with fresh coats of primer and paint. This, along with new cabinet hardware, will make a kitchen appear brand new in time for the holidays at a fraction of the cost of a full renovation.

Merry accents to make a space pop.
* Use the colors of the season. Store cookies, candies, fruits, ornaments, toys and other treats in large glass jars around your home. Their bright colors and playful nature are perfect for the holiday season.

* Consider scale. Christmas trees are such large statement pieces that smaller decorations can get lost in their shadow. This year many stores are offering oversized ornaments, decorations and flowers that will be sure to pop against your home’s holiday backdrop. This is especially important when decorating outside. Instead of hanging decorations on doors and windows, consider wrapping your entire front door with metallic red paper and a giant bow to make a statement visible from the street.

* Make your ornaments. Visit your local craft store for clear glass Christmas ornaments you can fill with personal items, like family photos, twigs and berries, crystal beads or ribbon.

Visit www.kilz.com for more information.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

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This is the last time President Bush and the First Lady will be celebrating the holiday season in the White House, and HGTV will be there to show how they are celebrating the holiday season before exiting the premises so the new tenants can move in.

“White House Christmas 2008,” HGTV’s new TV special, premiers on December 17 at 9 pm ET/PT, giving viewers one final “backstage pass” to the festivities of how the First Family celebrates the holiday season.

Hosted by Sabrina Soto (HGTV’s “Get It Sold” ), this HGTV special spotlights the creation of this year’s decorations, including the yards and yards of garland, hundreds of wreaths and nearly two dozen trees that will be decorated and put on display for the thousands of visitors expected to pass through the White House this holiday season.

Show highlights include:

· First Lady Laura Bush will explain the selection of this year’s patriotic holiday theme: “A Red, White &Blue Christmas”;
· Executive Pastry Chef will talk about his towering gingerbread house creation — a mouthwatering replica of the White House’s North Portico–made with more than 350 pounds of white chocolate and 125 pounds of gingerbread (officials estimate the house to weigh about 500 pounds total!);
· The Blue Room Christmas Tree will be on display, adorned with 369 hand-decorated ornaments from artists around the country; and
· Interviews with Chief Florist, along with various electricians, plumbers, and volunteers along the way who make it all happen.

For more information, click here.

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HGTV’s “Home For The Holidays” is a new one-hour holiday special premiering on Sunday, November 30, at 8 p.m. ET/PT on HGTV.

Here’s what the show has in store for viewers:

· Monica Pedersen (from HGTV’s “Designed to Sell” series) has been building and decorating gingerbread houses with her mom since she was a little girl in Chicago and this year, she creates a one-of-a-kind edible architectural masterpiece that looks like the charming English Tudor inn that her husband’s family runs nearby and where she and her family spend almost every Christmas Eve. This themed gingerbread house has Kit-Kats as logs, red and green Gummy wreaths and English toffee as siding on the house.

· Lisa LaPorta (“Designed to Sell”) surprises her mom with a winter wonderland–in Los Angeles–complete with 15 tons of snow and 10,000 lights strung on the lawn and house – they’re both from Chicago, so both haven’t seen snow in years. Lisa dupes her mom into leaving the house and then completely transforms the exterior in a heart-pumping race against the clock. The results are dazzling.

· Steve Watson (“Don’t Sweat It”) and his girlfriend go on a high-octane motorcycle hunt through the woods in Pasadena, where they hunt for the perfect pine (which they chop down and then plant two new trees in its place). He then hosts a tree-trimming party where his guests bring in ornaments to help deck his house.

· Vern Yip (“Deserving Design”), pictured above, really goes all-out every year, decking the halls of his elegant Atlanta home with two huge Christmas trees in a red, silver, clear and white color scheme and entertaining for eight close friends by creating an incredibly lovely dining room tablescape, complete with centerpiece created from simple square glass vases filled with luscious red cranberries, winter roses and winterberries — and unique personalized placemat tags. The unique and tasteful furniture and accessories and cohesive design plan will make Vern’s house the envy of viewers, but also show them how to achieve these looks themselves.

· Angelo Surmelis (“Rate My Space”) hosts his annual Cookie Exchange party, where he has 100 guests bringing in 12 cookies each and taking 12 cookies home.

· Eric Stromer (“Over Your Head”) gets a little help from his adorable young kids in building a Swedish tradition, a unique three-tiered miniature carousel powered by candles — a tradition passed on from generation to generation. Lots of laughs ensue when the family also jams to some rockin’ Christmas carols, with Eric on guitar and vocals, accompanied by his son banging on the drum kit.

· Kim Myles (“Myles of Style”) keeps a lifelong tradition of checking out fabulous holiday displays with her husband by strapping a homemade holiday wreath to the grill of the car and hopping into a convertible to drive around LA’s famed Candy Cane Lane, an eight-block stretch of Woodland Hills, where dozens of families go all-out on Christmas with hundreds of thousands of lights and decorations.

The fun continues here where people can upload and rate holiday decorations, as well as articles, photo galleries and video from the special.

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