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The auto industry's implosion and the national recession have sparked a migration out of Detroit, leaving thousands of buildings and homes vacant. According to a recent survey, 33,000 homes are vacant across the city and another 50,000 are currently in foreclosure. The city's population could dip below 800,000 after the latest Census numbers are tabulated.

Because of this, Mayor Dave Bing has decided to rid the city of abandoned buildings as a way to keep property taxes up and residents in their homes.

"Blight is like a disease and will spread if not addressed," Bing said by e-mail to The Associated Press. "If the city begins to lose our tax base, then there goes the entire city."

Bing plans to tear down 3,000 homes this year and another 3,000 next year. By the end of his four-year term, he hopes to have demolished 10,000 buildings.

The former Romney home was neither vandalized nor an eyesore. It was located in a neighborhood in which annual property taxes typically are more than $10,000 and the median home sales price is $257,000.

Neighbors in the area say they were hoping the right buyers would come along who could afford the needed renovations and invest in the home. The current owners reportedly ran out of the money needed to finish fixing it up.

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If you walk in to someone's home, you can usually tell a great deal about them by the way it is decorated. For instance, on the Style Network's hit show Jerseylicious, Olivia's apartment reveals her wild side and flair for the flamboyant, via the hot pink walls and zebra-print throw pillows. Indeed a fitting style for the wild child.

Although renters can feel like their hands are tied when it comes to home decor, the Connecticut-based home designer Kelley Taylor says it is possible to put a personal stamp on your apartment without breaking the rules of your lease. The author of "Holiday Decorating for Dummies" and publisher of CreatingHomeDecor.com and MakeEverydayAHoliday.com answered questions on not only how renters can make their own mark on their dwellings but also on all things decor!

RentedSpaces: What's your design philosophy?

Taylor: I wish I could say that I had a design philosophy that was profound like many designers do, like some sort of useful equation you can plug and play. But I don't. Instead, I really think I have more of a "home" philosophy. I guess you could say I believe that your lifestyle sets the stage for how to decorate your world, your home and your life.

You have to first consider what lifestage you are in (newly married, divorced, with kids, empty nest, in transition, etc.) and what kind of home you want to create (best kid house on the block, perfectly manicured, built for entertaining, or private retreat) before you can begin selecting pieces that will speak to what your heart desires.

Home is a feeling. Decorating, and the process of decorating, is simply putting together pieces of things that not only look good but feel right to you based on what you need right now in your life. And no one can tell you what you need. I believe you innately know it, but often we don't relax enough to heed those inner tugs urging you to buy the pretty rug, that fresh bouquet of flowers at the grocery store, or the comfy chair you could sit in for hours.

It all begins with what fits your life right now.

Renters often feel stuck in a decorating rut because they have more restrictions on what they can do. How can renters give their apartment a personal touch even though they may have restrictions on making alterations to their unit?

Honestly, I hear you on this, but I just don't get it. The only things you're really limited on is space, color of walls and major replacements of appliances, built-ins and flooring. But hey, who wants to tackle all of that major expensive stuff anyway! I say invest in the heart of your home -- the things you can take with you -- as opposed to any sort of limitation about the other major things. Focus on furnishing your life and what kind of lifestyle you want. Put some focus on comfort so everything is very lush and soft, worn in and touchable.

I say there is no architecture that can contain the soul. There were times I lived in tiny cramped apartments and times I lived in perfectly decorated largess homes. I can't remember one ever feeling less like "home" because of the way it looked.

It's impossible to think you will ever live in only one structure for the rest of your life. So channel Teddy Roosevelt and "Do what you can where you are, with what you have." Creating home decorating isn't just about the color of the walls but the memories you will have while you are there. Relax a little. Break out the board games with some missing pieces, put your feet up on some dented furniture bought with your first paycheck, and relax on sun-bleached fabric worn with love, laughter and tears. Those are the things renters can focus on. You take the love with you.

Why do you think it's important for people to spruce up their home decor, especially in tight monetary times like now?

I am in the process of writing a book called "Decorating for the Soul" which is less of a how-to than a WHY-to and addresses this very question.

Often, it can seem pretty trivial to even think about "decorating" per se when you have the pressures of the world on your shoulder. But I believe home comforts us. It shelters and protects us. Our homes are our refuge so it makes sense to surround ourselves with things that make us say "Ahhhh, that's better."

With the economy being the way it is, many people are spending more time at home. So I believe it has become more of a focus because we are now seeing all the things we've overlooked before. We're also remembering what matters most.

This should be a time of great renewal and discovery! We now have the time to plan, dream, create, and arrange our homes during this downtime and exercise our creativity in how we do it; that in and of itself is restorative in my opinion. I see this as a great time to redesign, repurpose, recycle and redecorate!


People tend to see home decorating as a major project that will take weeks, if not months, to get done. What are some ways people can do decorating projects in a day or weekend?

• I believe in taking baby steps. Break down projects into phases. Say, shop one day; decorate the next! Clear the room quickly in under an hour; bring back only the items you want!
• Be realistic yet optimistic. My best advice is to find one room to scrub, style and shine. What I mean by that is just to pick one room or area that you really want to tackle. I'd suggest something that greets you when you walk in or someplace that comforts you or your family.
• This is my big one: it's not really about what you put in, sometimes it's what you take out of a room that makes the difference. Our homes are where our lives come to rest - along with all our stuff. Sometimes "decorating" can simply be clearing out what you don't need, want or fails to fit your life anymore. And there are plenty of others that can re-purpose your unwanted things. Get the tax write-off. Donate it. Then, breathe in all that fresh space!

What's a "stylist stash" and why do you recommend that people have one of their own?

Do you have any other tips or comments that you'd like our readers to know when it comes to decorating on a budget or decorating outdoor space and rental units?

I just get so passionate when I feel people get sad about lacking budgets or temporary spaces. I also dislike it when people get pressured into the whole "your homes are a reflection of who you are" phrase that designers spew out without thinking.

Sure, maybe it reflects where you are now, but there is no way it could reflect all a person is or where they are going in life. I'd rather focus on how a home is really a feeling. And I try to help people figure out what that meaning is for themselves.

My additional advice:

To decorate on a budget: shop and compare online. Check eBay often, use coupons, look for sales.

Invest in the timeless pieces you'll want to keep forever (candlesticks, classic furniture, silverware, heirloom pieces, holiday collectables or items used for special occasions on a regular basis).

If it's trendy, look at pricey items, but shop around until you find it for less. There are many similar accessory items that you can find at discount stores or mass merchandisers that are amazing in quality and price.

For decorating rentals: choose lightweight furniture and items that can serve multi-purposes. For example, a storage ottoman can be used for storage, a footrest or an occasional table by just adding a tray. Decorative stackable baskets or boxes can be used for out-of-season storage, filing systems or projects. Just look for items that can be easily transported in small boxes. Use slipcovers when possible, and often, to change up looks in a room (that goes for pillow slipcovers as well).

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Prompted by requests from area residents and housing officials, the CCHRC designed two types of homes tailor-made for the weather found in different rural Alaskan communities. Many of the current homes in the area were built in Idaho in the 1970s and shipped to the area. The ranch-style homes were not made to stand up to Alaska's Arctic conditions.

The Quinhagak prototype is an octagon-shaped home modeled after the circular-shaped sod houses that were built by the Yup'ik natives of the region. The circular shape of the home rids it of hallways that make it harder to keep heat in the living areas. The prototype will also have an Arctic Entry, or laturaq, on the side of the home that faces the most wind. The laturaq will keep moisture from blowing into the home's walls and prevent heat from seeping out of the abode. The 950-square-foot, three-bedroom prototype home is expected to cost potential homebuyers $200,000, which is far less than the price tag of dwellings that were recently built in the area.

Nonetheless, there have been concerns that the homes might be too costly for the residents in the low-income community. The CCHRC's prototype homes are designed to be highly energy efficient, requiring approximately 150 gallons of oil per year. Current homes in the area use five times that amount, according to the CCHRC, which means the cost of the homes could be offset somewhat by immense savings in energy bills.

The second prototype home will be built in Point Lay, an Arctic coastal community off the Chukchi Sea. That design includes an 18-inch buffer on the home's foundation. The soy-foam insulation will not allow the home to melt the permafrost beneath it, thereby preventing moisture from leaching into the base of the residence. Two of the walls in the Point Lay prototype home will slope inward to stop snowdrifts from forming against the dwellings. Snowdrifts can cause moisture to seep into a home's walls and cause rotting and mold.

The prototype homes should only take four weeks to build and are expected to be done by July. The CCHRC plans on monitoring the homes during the winter to evaluate energy efficiency, moisture infiltration levels and air quality.

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Of the three floors Madoff formerly occupied, the U.S. government is reportedly paying for one floor, while Surge Trading, which bought Madoff's legit trading company, is renting another. Madoff's former trading floor, which measures out 16,000 square feet, is currently available for rent at a price of $49 per square foot. Due to low rent revenues, due in part to vacant space left by Madoff, RBC is now seeking a buyer for its $210 million mortgage. RBC reportedly has tapped New York commercial property broker Eastdil Secured to work on selling the debt.

Meanwhile, the reach of Madoff's scams continues to widen as Westport National Bank and PSCC Inc. of Westport were named in a suit filed by Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and the state's Department of Banking. The suit alleges that the bank and PSCC owner Robert Silverman overcharged customers, did not properly vet Madoff or his investments and turned a blind eye to signs of fraud. Blumenthal hopes to recoup more that $16 million for Madoff's victims by way of the lawsuit.

As for those indirectly contributing to the coffers of Madoff's victims, yet another savvy buyer has made off with one of his former luxury homes--and at a bargain-basement price. This time, toy mogul Al Kahn, who helped kick off the Cabbage Patch Kids craze in the 1980s, was the buyer who scored one of Madoff's three properties confiscated by the government last year during the midst of the scandal. The money gained from selling Madoff's properties will go to the victims of his crimes.

Kahn and his wife Patsy purchased the palatial Upper East Side penthouse for a cool $8 million, $1.9 million less than the original listing price. Initially, Kahn was leery of purchasing the property because he was concerned about karma issues, according to Patsy. But she was sold as soon as she saw the terrace and panoramic rooftop view, telling the New York Post that the pickings were slim when it came to locating a penthouse on the market that had ample outdoor space.

The couple purchased the property in February, but the co-op's board had to sign off on the sale, which it recently did. The Kahns are now planning their future in the sprawling penthouse and are working with an architect to design a renovation for their new home. They also plan to fill the 4,000 square-foot, 3-bedroom duplex with antiques and their modern and folk art collections.

The New York City penthouse is not the only piece of Madoff property that will be sold to help pay back his victims. The largest of Madoff's former homes is yet to be sold. His 6,500-square-foot Palm Beach, Fla., mansion boasts of a backyard 80-foot dock that sits on the Intercoastal Waterway. In February, the price of the property was reduced for a second time. The Corcoran Group is now asking for $7.25 million for the 5-bedroom, 7-bathroom mansion, which is 15 percent less than the original price.

In September 2009, the first of Madoff's properties to sell went for $9.41 million, much more than the original $8.75 million asking price. The 3,000-square-foot beach home sits on 182 square feet of waterside land. The 4-bedroom, 3-bathroom Montauk beach home was built by Madoff in the 1980s after he purchased the property.

No matter what you think of Madoff, the guy certainly had an eye for prime real estate.

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