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Curt Ramage milled about the Tampa Home and Garden Show on Sunday, gathering ideas on home improvements and more than a few business cards. He hadnt planned to actually buy anything on Sunday or order any services to improve the house hes building in the Lakewood Ranch subdivision in Sarasota County.But, he said, I never walk out of anywhere empty handed.The times are improving for people who want to invest in home improvements, he said, and more disposable income is loosened up by a slowly, but steadily improving economy. 

Its a timing issue and right now is a good time to plan home improvements, Ramage said.Its much better, said Craig Araujo, owner of Outdoor Kitchen and Grills, which held a prime spot at the home show, right in the front as people streamed in the doors of the Tampa Convention Centers second-floor exhibition room. 

We do every home show and you can gauge the economy, he said. This weekend, weve seen countless people saying they are buying or building new homes.Homeowners dumping hard-earned cash into home improvements, such as new floors, granite counter tops, hot tubs and bathrooms with Italian tile is on the upswing, market analysts say. 

The Home Improvement Research Institute said that in 2012, homeowners spent $275.6 billion on home improvements, an increase of 5 percent from the year before.We expect stronger growth of home improvement sales averaging 5.9 percent in 2014-2015 with a deceleration in the following two years as the housing market cycle runs its course, according to the institutes website. Still, analysts predict that by 2017, homeowners will spend $346 billion in home improvements. 

Homeowners who have lived in their houses for three years or less accounted for $19 billion of that chunk, according to Scarborough Digital, which tracks consumer and market trends. 

Research shows that these new homeowners are spending lots of money on a variety of home improvements, from heavy remodeling projects to buying new furniture, Scarborough Digital consumer analysts say.If you have disposable income, why not spend it on something totally out there, like a pinball machine or an old Ms. PacMan video console? 

Thats what Jim and Vickie Feutz of Tampa did. He said timing was key in making the expenditure, but not necessarily the timing of the economy.The grandkids, he said, are finally old enough. 

Theyre at the age where they can have fun with this, he said, standing next to the Florida Amusement Brokers booth, chatting with Randy Lebedz, who sells pinball and video games along with old-style jukeboxes; definitely items that sell only in good economic times.We sell everything people dont need, said Lebedz, who has a storefront in Largo and markets his wares exclusively to homeowners. 

For the home environment, pinball machines are really taking off, he said.Within the things-you-dont-really-need category, is the Grillbot, a smallish gizmo that rides on whirring wire brushes that cleans the top of grills. The idea belongs to Ethan Woods, who designed and is marketing the Grillbot around the country. 

This feeds on the fact that maybe one in 20 people on the planet likes to clean a grill, he said. Its a feel-good item.He cant say if sales this year will top sales from last year, because the Grillbot is not on the market yet, with orders being taken in home shows around the country, Woods said. 

Frank Licek and his wife, Naomi, watched as the hypnotizing Grillbot whisked back and forth across the top of the demo grill.Licek opted not to plunk down the $100 for the gadget.Im just getting some ideas here, he said.He just completed a major home improvement project last year, chopping half his 1948 Palma Ceia house off and rebuilding it. Its a project that a few years ago,Most modern headlight designs include Cheap Marble Slabs. he might not have been able to afford, but prospects are better now. 

Developer Deborah Fairbanks has transformed the former Marlborough Wire Goods factory to house condominiums,What's the difference between Marble tiles and Porcelain Tiles? artists studios and a coffee shop that hosts music and poetry-readings. 

The smell of beans brewing at the Coffee Loft next door drifts through the entrance lobby of the condominium complex where an award from the Marlborough Historical Society honoring Fairbanks for her preservation efforts hangs on the wall of exposed brick. 

A center courtyard exposed to the sky gives an Old World feel. An expansive roof-deck surveys the surrounding housetops. The sense is one of urban sophistication. Earlier this year the Chronicle program on WCVB Channel 5 spotlighted the Renaissance Lofts development as a bellwether of a cultural revival in this city. 

The entire renovation has been done using green materials, noted listing agent Cindy Gordon of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, who said developer Fairbanks really has been able to preserve the original structure and character of the building while making the lofts contemporary,Are you still hesitating about where to buy Cheap Tools Products? with all the modern conveniences, and energy-efficient. 

Unit 310, a three-bedroom, 1,743-square-foot condo selling for $375,000, is one of three units left for sale in the development. Gordon describes it as one of the most unique listings she has had. 

The kitchen area is contemporary in style with a range hood suspended from the ceiling over the granite-topped island with gas cooktop. The appliances are stainless, the cabinets are wood, painted black, and the floor is stained concrete. The kitchen window over the sink looks out to a lobby for a freight elevator, providing easy access when returning with groceries. 

The interior has an industrial feel, with futuristic light fixtures and exposed girders, brick, pipes and beams. Across the wooden ceiling with skylights runs an old air duct. Gordon describes the look as modern design meets old industrial. 

The great room is aptly named, with a 21-foot-high vaulted ceiling, and four 74-by-32 east-facing windows filling the room with light. Prints of New York and London on the wall add to an urban feel. 
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