For release February 2013
Home from the Heart Survey 2013

	In the best of all worlds, your home provides a nurturing environment for your family. It meets everyone’s needs, provides ample comforts and feels inviting to family and friends.
	If this doesn’t describe your current home, here’s your chance to design one that’s a better fit. The 2013 Home from the Heart survey, makes it fun and easy for you to think through the details and pull all the pieces together.
	First off, you’ll want to mull over major choices such as square footage, exterior styling, number of private rooms, and layout of family living areas. After that, you can start filling in the details. You may even want to sketch out your floor plan on graph paper.
	Some families like having formal dining and living rooms, while many now opt for a great room open to the kitchen as their only gathering area. Increasing numbers include home offices and prefer “green building” techniques and products.
	Our surveys help us keep abreast of these changes. When it comes to describing what today’s families really want in a home, readers like you have greater credibility than any other source. So when you finish filling out your form, you can help out by sending us a copy, along with any other ideas you have, in words or sketches.
	In past years, readers from every U.S. state and Canada have participated. Participants often thank us for the experience, noting that completing the survey was fun, and helped clarify their thoughts.
	You can also complete the survey online at AssociatedDesigns.com. If you’d like to see how preferences have changed over the years, you can scroll through a virtual stack of annual survey results online as well.
	Once we’ve tallied the surveys, we’ll follow up by designing a home based on reader preferences. The compiled results, plus the 2013 Home from the Heart, will be ready for publication in this and other participating newspapers in three months.
	So right now, pick up a pencil and your survey form or laptop, then find a quiet place to sit and think. Let the home that’s in your heart take shape and spill out onto paper. And when you’re done, we’d love to hear about it.