Home improvement sales Tired of waiting for your home's wall colors and furnishings to cycle back into style? Let interior designer Sue Hunter freshen things up without starting from scratch. Get a four-hour design consultation for $225, regularly $450, that includes a plan for nearly every room in your home or commercial office. Clients can use the time for rearranging existing furniture and accessories, decorating tips, color choices and window treatment ideas. If you want to buy new, Hunter can shop with you or for you at retailers as diverse as HomeGoods and IMS. At $56 an hour, Hunter's special is less than half the rate of most Twin Cities designers. Call 612-701-0101 anytime in April to schedule an appointment within the next six months. For more information go to www.homeforachange.com. Hunter has more than 25 years of experience as an interior designer.

One of the best carpet sales in the Twin Cities isn't until next week (April 12-14), but you can get a sneak peek if you're in the market for carpet, hardwood, laminate, tile or kitchen cabinets during Jack Rubenstein's semiannual sale. Kitchen cabinets are a new addition to the showrooms, with a range of quality from apartment to custom. Save about 8 to 20 percent on cabinets compared with national hardware stores, said ProSource owner Ken Nash. For details and showroom locations, call Rubenstein at 952-922-4781.

Free paper shredding A lot of us have perfectly good paper shredders collecting dust that can shred a few pages at a time, but they're slow and they jam. A better solution might be to take grocery sacks full of "sensitive info" to free shredding events. Cub Foods offers free shredding events throughout the year in cooperation with Shred-It. Bring up to two bags of paper per person to be shredded while you wait. A nonperishable food item for charity is requested but not required. The next event is May 5 at Cub Foods in Blaine, Lakeville, Maplewood, Minnetonka, Roseville and St. Paul.

Also check the Shred-It calendar (www.startribune.com/a1153) for upcoming paper shredding events in Chaska (April 7 with $5 charitable donation), Moose Lake, Burnsville, Fridley, Minneapolis, Bloomington and Lakeville (April 21), Brooklyn Park (April 23) and White Bear Lake (April 28).

If you have a smaller amount, take it to any Office Depot through April 16. The stores will shred up to one grocery sack full free at any Twin Cities location.

Designer shoe sale This week Opitz Outlet (4320 Excelsior Blvd., St. Louis Park, 952-922-2435, www.opitzoutlet.com) is bringing in nearly 1,300 pairs of shoes from an unnamed upscale designer. It's a brand known mostly to men for casual and business-casual loafers and lace-ups. Women's shoes at the sale include flip-flops, slip-ons, sandals, pumps and heels. Everything will be 70 percent off, about $20 to $60 after the discount. More will be put out Wednesday at noon.

John Ewoldt • 612-673-7633 or jewoldt@startribune.com. If you spot a deal, share it at www.startribune.com/dealspotter.