home exterior: September 2009

Announcement!

I'll have a new feature here every Friday! Kelli at There is no place like home asked me if I would like to take over her "Show and Tell Fridays" she does every week! I was very honored to be asked and enthusiastically agreed! It will still be held every Friday and I will be using the same guidelines as Kelli which you can find at the bottom of this post. The only change will be that I will be

A New Project

I bet you never thought you would see these colors on my blog! ...or in my home!!! You'll be seeing more of this in the near future...Lauren and I are redoing her bedroom! I've always loved Rhoda's (Southern Hospitality) green and black office and laundry room. Luckily Lauren loves these colors too so that's what we're going with. We are also adding a very small touch of pink to the mix! The

Topiaries

I LOVE topiaries! I have quite a few of them in all different shapes and sizes. I started them from small 4" pots of ivy many years ago. Here is a wreath shape one I made. I started this with just a couple cuttings of ivy from one of my other topiaries. I put the cuttings in water until the roots formed and then planted them in a pot with a wire hoop-shaped form. It's not a fast process...ivy

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful!!!

Oh I'm just so excited to share this with you today!!! I'm finally the proud owner of one of Linda's (of Linda's Blue Gate) yard conservatories!!! I have wanted one of these since I first laid eyes on them! I kept telling her I was going to get a truck and drive to Texas to buy one!When Linda told me she was going to make smaller ones which she calls "Apartment Conservatories" that could be

49 and Happy!

Today I am 49 years old and I think I'm happier now than I've ever been in my life. Well, you know...except for those special days like the birth of my children, I was really happy then! I don't remember a time in my life when I was in an "up" mood for so long. I occasionally have a bad day but hardly ever. You know what changed? My attitude! I choose to be happy now!It's sounds so easy but

White Wednesday

Kathleen at Faded Charm is hosting White Wednesday once again so I'm joining in. There is a lot of white in my home...

Trash to Treasure!

Notice anything different? I added shutters to the side of my mirror...the mirror that my dad made me in 1992! I've been wanting to do this for a long time! I've been looking around at flea markets and thrift stores for shutters that would work but I couldn't find anything until just by chance I drove down a street and saw these on the curb with a "Free" sign posted on them.I almost didn't stop

Interior Design Ideas on Choosing and Arranging Office Furniture Tips

Once you've set up your office furniture, you'll want to monitor how well your home office Interior design ideas are working for you in actual practice. You home office design ideas may have seemed great, but when you go to set up your office at home you might find they really don't work well for you. A few adjustments now will save you grief later. Your work area needs to function efficiently so you can be more productive. Here are several tips on choosing and arranging office furniture:

Start bringing furniture into your office space with similar color of wall, floor and another room's decorations, It's best to start with the larger pieces first so you'll still have the maximum amount of floor space to move them around. As you set up your office and bring in furniture, dust and polish it as needed.

Maximize the space with special shape furniture, here is the sample, a simple home office furniture on the corner of the room.

Bring in your home office equipment and place it where it needs to go in the room. As you place each piece, check to see if it needs to be cleaned, oiled, or otherwise serviced, and that all cords are long enough to reach your outlets or power strips.

Bring in smaller furniture to complete the set up of your office at home, such as lamps, organizers and desktop items. If needed, clean or dust them as you place them in the room.

Through the streets of Willow Glen

Last week on my way home from "Move it Elsewhere" I drove through the streets of Willow Glen to look at the homes. Willow Glen is an area in San Jose, California and it's full of older, very quaint homes. To add to the charm, most of the streets are lined with huge trees. I used to live there many years ago and I wish I still did! It's only about 5-10 minutes from where I live now so at least I

Custom Home Design Update

The home design process is continuing for our clients in southern NH.

One of our clients’ priorities is having enough space to entertain about 20 people four times a year. To add more living / entertaining space in the floor plan, the dining table was reduced in size and moved to replace the informal banquette. While the table is still large enough to seat extended family for holiday meals, the enlarged open living area is better suited toward hosting cocktail parties.

The dormer bays in the living and dining areas were changed to soften the interior lines. The kitchen was reconfigured slightly to take advantage of the added space and to streamline traffic flow.

How I spent my Friday night

Last night I was playing around with iMovie on my MacBook and I made a little movie with some old photos from my blog along with some beach shots I've taken. Listen...you can hear the ocean! (double click on the movie to get a larger view)

Giveaway winner!

The photo at the top has nothing to do with this post but I just felt the need to put something pretty up there. Drum roll please......The winner of the $20 Amazon gift card is Joy from Northwest Indiana! I used a random number generator to pick a number and Joy was #15! Congratulations Joy! I will be emailing your gift card to you today!Have a great weekend everyone! I'm hoping to get time to

Home Office Design Ideas with Fresh and Unique Design for Workspaces

Create a statement in your office by adding unique interior design elements to the mix. Designing workspaces doesn’t have to be boring or all about practicality. Have fun and bring in fresh design ideas to create a home office ideas that welcomes people into your workspace.

If you've been wondering how to set up your office at home, keep in mind that to help make your home office set up go more smoothly, you'll want to be efficient. You may have all the home office design ideas in the world, but until you actually pull it all together you won't get much work done.

If at all practical, remove any existing furniture and plants from the room or space that you will set up as your home office. If you're converting a closet, remove all clothing and other items from the closet. This will help you start with a blank canvas that you'll fill in with your home office design ideas one step at a time.

If you need some remodeling done to accommodate your home office set up, the next step will be demolition to remove existing partitions, shelving, etc. that are not part of your new home office design ideas.
Install any electical, phone or cable outlets, cabinetry, shelving, and/or wall partitions on your plan - ideally while the space is already empty.

Thoroughly clean and paint, wallpaper, add floor coverings, hang light fixtures, etc. before bringing anything into the new space. Without furniture and equipment to get in your way, this step can be completed much more quickly and easily. However, while you don't want the furniture in the way at this stage of setting up your home office, you'll want to make sure you know exactly where your furniture and equipment will be placed in the room.

Sunapee View Lot Open House BBQ

On Saturday September 19th from 10am to 2pm Colby Real Estate is hosting a BBQ Open House at a view lot subdivision they have on the market. The lots are conveniently located just 10 minutes from New London and 15minutes from Mount Sunapee. All of the lots have views of Lake Sunapee, Mt. Sunapee and some even get views of Ledge Pond. For those who are able to attend you will have the opportunity to:

Walk the Various Lots For Sale
Learn About New Construction Financing
Discuss and Review Various House Plans
Lot Sizes Ranging From 5Acres to 15+Acres

To assist with any questions you may have with new construction financing, design, building costs Colby Real Estate has arranged to have the following professionals on site:

Kim & Jeremy Bonin of Bonin Architects
Jay Tucker of Old Hampshire Designs
Elizabeth Dabrowski of Sugar River Bank
Dan O’Halloran of Colby Real Estate

We would love to know if you are planning on attending. Please either email Colby Real Estate at dano@colbyinc.com or RSVP via this link http://twtvite.com/lon3sf

This link will take you to 3 of the lots that they have on the active market. Additional lots will be made available for sale during the event and the developer is significantly discounting the lots for attendees: Granite Ridge Lots

PS- Dan O’Halloran is manning the grill so the food will be great! :-)

Directions
From I89 Exit 12 head towards Georges Mills-Sunapee on Rte 11. Take 1st right after gas station and take immediate left onto Prospect Hill. Granite Ridge is on the right with immense stone entrance. If you see Prospect Hill Antiques, you’ve gone too far!

source: http://sunapeeregionblog.com/2009/09/11/sunapee-view-lot-bbq-open-house/

Energy Saving Light Bulbs

We’re greening up our new office by replacing the incandescent light bulbs with Earthmate energy saving bulbs. By using Earthmate bulbs, we will use an average of 75% less electricity, help reduce our dependence on fossil fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas) and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

For instance, we replaced our 45 watt overhead bulbs with Earthmate 8-watt Dimmable Reflector Bulbs, which will save us about $61 and last up to 7 times longer than our standard light bulbs. And bonus: they come with a 9-year warranty!

If you are looking for a great, long-lasting, energy efficient light bulb, learn more about Earthmate's products and company philosophy. We like their packaging, too, made from 100% post-consumer waste.

Summer House Design, Antique Prefab Wooden House

Summer House Design, Natique Prefab Wooden House

Uncomprimising, original and respect for the landscape, these are the concept of this unique summer house, an antique prefab house with wooden material. Created and financed by Todd Saunders & Tommie Wilhelmsen, this prefab house bring the natural environment to the house.

DesignSpotter Creative Work on Lighting System

Lighting is an important system that can easily make the room beautiful, modern home decoration use vest way to make the room looks elegant, one of them by using a lighting system. Here are several collection of creative work from DesignSpotter on lighting system.

A spiral staircase with unusual balustrade. Glass Balusters with an inclined top allow for finger clearance and an ideal fixing point for the stainless steel handrail. The glass treads are supported by rolled interlocking stainless steel bracket welded to the pole.

Designer: Geoffrey Packer (United Kingdom)
Manufacturer: (United Kingdom)

orchid light is a feature pendant / table / floor standing light.
inspired by sensuous orchid flowers, each flower is hand dyed sometimes up to three different times, layering the colours in surprising and unexpected ways. Each light is made to order in 20% any colours you desire!

Designer: marc pascal (Australia)
Manufacturer: marc pascal - m2 products (Australia)
Inspired By: orchid flowers
Material: polycarbonate, stainless steel, Forton
Colours: made to order
Dimension: pendant aprox 110 x 850 x 850mm
Price: AUD 1400

Pile Light is a lamp shade made from polypropylene which utilizes a curved grid structure with identical pieces of polypropylene attached to each 'window'. Peering through the center of the light is quite extraordinary!

Designer: Christopher Tomoya James (Australia)

Feng Shui Mantra Bed with Canopy

A wonderful bed designed by Mauro Bertame' along Feng Shui principles. The base of the bed is very low (Feng Shui recommendation); and the canopy has soft round contours providing a warm embrace. It is covered in a special textile which mitigates the damaging effects of electromagnetic fields. Available in wenge and teak to fit a 160 x 200cm mattress, or in wenge to fit a 200 x 200cm mattress. Mattress not included. --stylehive--

Italian Curve-Style Modern Kitchen

Imagine your home custom fitted with fine Italian cabinetry, finished with the best accessories and beautifully designed to present and store your kitchen system with ease. Think how comfortable, relaxing and eloquent a new Pedini Kitchen environment, fitted with the best fixtures and appliances will feel at the end of your day. This is the Italian curve-style modern design for kitchen remodeling idea from stylehive:

Hybrid Home Starts Construction

One of our hybrid homes is starting construction in New Hampshire. Our clients are acting as their own general building contractor for their new home – no easy task!

The hybrid home design combines timber framing, SIP panels, and conventional construction, and is 2745 square feet. The center section is 1316 square feet of timber frame construction, 836 square feet for the first floor great room, kitchen and dining, and 480 square feet in the second floor loft. The entry will utilize a timber frame roof system with insulated panel walls and roof system. SIP panel walls and a conventional roof system will be used in the Master Bedroom connector. Timber frame rafters, SIP panel walls, roof, and panel dormers will be used in the Master Bedroom, and the 576 square foot garage consists of conventional 2x framing and batt insulation.

Construction continues!

The bulthaup b3 Minimalism Kitchen remodeling with Multi-functional Wall

The bulthaup b3 Minimalism Kitchen with Multi-functional Wall

This is bulthaup b3 kitchen remodeling, designed with minimalism and multi-functional wall, b3 is the diversity of its solutions and the superlative minimalism of its design. The spectrum includes solid and filigree shapes, floating elements and floor-standing blocks. The range of timeless surfaces stretches from aluminum and paint to the finest wood. The result is a wealth of combination options in which one element always perfectly matches another - a true sign of carefully thought-out design and engineering-inspired construction.

The bulthaup b3 multi-functional wall, for example, liberates it from the planning method dominated by the floor plan and becomes itself the determining factor in the room's architecture. The wall comes alive, both in terms of function and design, and can serve as an esthetic link, merging the kitchen and living area into a single entity.

only authentic materials of the finest quality are used. Their practical use and minimalist design accentuate their superiority. bulthaup b3 makes no secret of its careful manufacturing, evident in terms of both look and feel, for example, in the details of the edges, fronts and interior fittings.

source: www.bulthaup.com

Italian Kitchen Design Pictures with Wooden Cabinet Doors and Drawers

Italian kitchen has a special style, most of them use a modern doors and drawers on the cabinet, the most famous material is still wooden cabinet, here are several kitchen design pictures with wooden doors and drawers. Here are the best picture for your kitchen remodeling ideas:

Daisy Kitchen model, with cabinet doors and drawers in solid Alder wood and cherry wood veneer, melamine cherry wood structure and opaque finishing. Handles are available in two versions: stainless steel oval-shape finishing or stainless steel cylindrical finishing.

Italian Kitchen Gallery with Wooden Cabinet Doors and Drawers

Gliss kitchen model, lacquered bright red cabinet doors, extractable baskets, acid glass hanging cabinets and equipped panel between bases and hanging cabinets, white laminated board with steel borders.

Rosalba kitchen model, doors and drawers in solid walnut-coloured cottonwood, waterproof melamine caravaggio-walnut structure with opaque finishing. Handles are available in three versions: antique silver metal finishing, antique silver metal finishing with decorated insert and antique brass metal finishing.

Acquacotta kitchen, Sauterne model, has walnut wood doors and drawers, struttura legno listellare, solid wood border on hanging cabinets, knob and handles in iron, brass or bronze.
source: lombardelliarredamenti

More Italian Home design:

Wirelessly LED Glass for Modern Home Design

Wirelessly LED Glass Product for Modern Home Design

LEDs are wirelessly encapsulated inside laminated glass - Can be used in skylights, glass stair systems, facades, and ceilings - A conductive layer applied to the base glass transmits power across the pane to the LEDs - Sizes up to 51 inches by 98 inches 0.4-inch or 0.6-inch thicknesses - Foil or insulating glass laminate - Control options include flashing, running, and animations

LightPoints™ LED glass is the unique way to add an upscale, dramatic look to locations such as airports, hotels and office buildings. The limitless list of applications includes skylights, glass handrails, lit building facades, elevator ceilings and advertising signs. Produced and Patented by SCHOTT, The LightPoints™ LED glass system features light-emitting diodes (LEDs) wirelessly encapsulated inside laminated glass. Electricity flows throw a pre-structured clear conductive coating, eliminating the need for visible wiring. LED glass requires virtually no maintenance; in fact, LightPoints™ LED Glass can last decades without being replaced.

Energy Star House Plan

One of our current projects is designed to be built to earn ENERGY STAR certification. The barn style home design fits in nicely with the architectural style of the surrounding area of Old Lyme, Connecticut.

The home will include ENERGY STAR approved insulation (SIP panels), duct system, mechanical ventilation system, windows, heating and cooling units, lighting, and appliances.

At 2864 square feet, this energy efficient home has four bedrooms, three full baths and one half bath. In addition to renderings, Bonin Architects provides traditional elevations. Once the client selects exterior colors, we will prepare a rendering for approval.

When requested, we also provide power/lighting plans for clients and electricians.

ENERGY STAR® is a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy that provides information, training, and certification of products and practices to help homeowners save money and protect the environment.

If you are building a new home, consider having it designed to meet ENERGY STAR standards, which will save you 20% - 30% in energy costs, create a healthy indoor environment for your family, reduce air pollutants, dust, and drafts, and, as an added bonus, increase the value of your home.