Most houses are built for people who are healthy, people with good vision, great hearing and four working limbs. But how many of us in the course of our lives experience some sort of physical problem – a broken leg, bad eyesight or worse? A new trend in home building is addressing these issues, working [...]
Benjamin Moore “Affinity” Color: A Shade of Genius
Hve you ever spent hours trying to coordinate point colors? We have! But now, Benjami Moore has come up with a great idea: the Affinity Color Collectives. It is a sophisticated palette of 144 harmonius hues. Every color in this full rainbow of colors, harmonizes with every other color. So, you can paintthe kitchen “terra bella” and [...]
We Have What Consumers Want
What do consumers want in a new home? According to a recent survey by Better Homes and Gardens, high-efficiency heating and cooling systems top the list of features consumers say they would like in their next home, with 89 percent of those polled making this a priority. Eighty-five percent want high-efficiency appliances; 84 percent, a deck or patio; 79 percent, [...]
To Get the “Look,” Avoid These Mistakes
Want a fresh look for your home, and want to do it yourself? Here are some decorating mistakes to avoid:1. Too many colors. Try to keep the paint colors in your home to a minimum – two or three at most. And, if possible, use one carpet throughout the entire house. A plethora of colors will make your [...]
Mirror, Mirror on the Wall. . .
This is a good article about how mirrors can make a smaller home feel larger. We’ve used many of these ideas in our cottage homes atNewport Cove, our waterfront community on Bluff Lake in unincorporated Antioch, IL. http://freshome.com/2010/11/03/how-to-enlarge-your-space-using-mirrors/
The Colors of Cottage
The colors of sand, sunshine, water and flower gardens – these are cottage colors. At Newport Cove, the award-winning waterfront community on the Chain O’ Lakes in suburban Antioch, builder New American Homes has some favorite paint colors for its coastal-style homes: They include: Behr’s “Clambake,” “Cottage White” and “Laurel Mist.” Benjamin Moore’s “Nantucket Breeze.” Restoration Hardware’s [...]
A Housing Shortage? You Kidding Me??
Is a housing shortage coming? If you watch TV news or read newspapers, you would say, “Absolutely not!” Yet a few economists are beginning to predict a housing shortage in just a few years. Why? Here’s the story: According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, our country forms something north of one million new households [...]
Stairway Savvy
Ever trip going down the stairs to your basement? Here’s a safety tip from New American Homes, award-winning builder of Newport Cove, a planned waterfront community on the Chain O’ Lakes: In dark stairwells, vary the color of the stair treads. Shown here is the stairwell to the lower level in the LIFEhouse, a concept house [...]
The Changing “Shape” of New Homes. . .
Home sizes in the U.S. are declining. Is it because of recession, energy conservation or an aging population that wants to spend less time caring for homes? The average square footage for new homes in the United States dropped signficantly in 2009 for the first time in nearly 30 years, according to figures just released [...]
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Details – Part II
- Bathroom Redo Ideas
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The Chain O’ Lakes Unchained
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Mornings at Newport Cove
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The Great American Lotus
