Craze 

Exterior colors and styles come and go following interior design trends. Black exteriors are just a trend like black window trim. If you love it and want to implement it on your home, take into account resale value. The exterior coverings of your home whether it is siding, brick, stone or a painted surface is a large investment. Consider how long you will live there. If your answer is 20 years, move forward, but if the answer is five to 10 years, I would be careful making such a large investment on a trend. CJ Knapp, Yours by Design. 

Remember the iconic phrase “if you build it, they will come” from the movie Field of Dreams? It could be said that the owners of this St. Charles home reworked the idiom into “if you remodel it, they will come.” 

Gina Lodike is a natural. An interior designer at heart, her innate sense of scale, proportion, texture and color has revealed an artistic passion that beckoned to be expressed. After designing her family’s own 6,200-square-foot home—along with a list of other interior projects she’s completed along the way—friends continue to push her to go into business for herself. This year, Gina says she may just take that leap. “My husband and I already have a family moving business,” she says.