Finance

Small changes can have a big impact on your home. Ross Neilson, for example, got rid of a free-standing bureau in the bedroom of his London apartment. "It looked cluttered, so I added closet shelves and drawers under my bed instead," he says, adding: "That freed up floor space and made the room feel more spacious and light." January is usually a time for renewal, and your home is the natural place to begin. A redesigned room is a tangible signal of a fresh start—one that will endure long after resolutions waver. It doesn't have to cost much—or anything at all. It just requires a willingness to see lived-in rooms in a new light. For ideas on how to refresh your home in 2017, we turned to the pros: Christina Higham, an interior designer for the Studio at One Kings Lane, and Ashley Redmond, director of design at Decorist. Here are some tips: 1. Get organized Cleanliness carries real psychological benefits. It helps you sleep better, reduces stress, and ...

As the world's largest professional network, with more than 400 million members worldwide, LinkedIn is an increasingly powerful tool for small business owners eager to raise their profile. That's because, as a community of professionals, the social platform's users are already pre-disposed to business-oriented messaging. This makes it a powerful vehicle for companies seeking to establish their expertise with key, targeted audiences. Jennifer Grazel, LinkedIn's global director of vertical marketing, says that 25 million business owners are active on the platform. More than half say their primary purpose in using the platform is to engage current and prospective partners, suppliers and customers. "Sales are driven by relationships, so it is important to humanize expertise as part of a business proposition," explains Grazel. "We're finding that business owners who develop and share their voice through strong, consistent content are seen as influe...

Ask Jimmy Chin how many countries he's visited, and he'll rattle off a long list. After 30-something nations, he slows down. "I'm sure there are more," he says, struggling to remember. That Chin can't quite keep count of his adventures is no surprise. The Minnesota native, 43, is a National Geographic photographer; a 15-year veteran of The North Face athlete team; and a filmmaker—his 2015 documentary, "Meru," about his ascent of one of the most notorious peaks in the Himalayas, won the Audience Award at Sundance Film Festival. Chin is considered among the world's most accomplished mountaineers, spending about nine months a year on the road, frequently on expeditions scaling—and sometimes skiing back down—the world's most daunting peaks. His semi-nomadic existence had its start many years before his professional life required it. At age14, Chin and his older sister, then a college student, bought Eurail passes, and spent the summer tra...

In recent years, many people have embraced hybrid or electric cars, especially when gas prices begin to take a big bite out of their wallet. But a shift seems underway. Despite fuel prices hovering around $2 in some US markets, eco-friendly cars are enjoying record sales. Automobile manufacturers are beginning to broaden their appeal to get consumers to put down the nozzle, and back away from the pump. You can thank the relatively high price of batteries, and the advanced technology associated with them, for the higher sticker price of electric cars. But the gap between gas and electric cars is narrowing, especially with the new battery-powered Chevrolet Bolt, which can travel about 225 miles on a single charge. Once you drive away from the dealership, savings add up. "Gas prices are low, but electric rates are even lower," explains Darrin Gesse, project manager for the Bolt EV (electric vehicle). In fact, the Department of Energy's estimates that charging up you...