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What To Look For In A Custom Home Neighborhood

by Trish



Looking to move to a custom home neighborhood can be exciting, but you need to know what you should be looking for in these locations to ensure you select the proper one.  Every neighborhood is different and has its own unique set of living guidelines.  Without this information, you could easily be like some people and find out there are far greater restrictions on your property and lifestyle than you realized before buying.   Do your homework ahead of time and get to know the neighborhood before buying your house…it’s easy to fall in love with a new house and completely forget about what comes with it.


First:  Know your builder

The first thing you should be looking for in custom home neighborhood is who the builder is. Some of these neighborhoods will require you to use the same builder and it could be owned by the company. You should research and find out who the main builder is in the neighborhood to ensure you are selecting the right neighborhood atmosphere for you and your family’s needs.  You also want to know this information because you may end up thinking you can select your builder and be shocked to find out you cannot.

Second:  Know Neighborhood Restrictions

The second thing you should look for in the custom home neighborhood is what kind of restrictions they have. Quite a few of these neighborhoods will have a homeowners association which you have to agree to abide by. Since they may have this, you will want to make sure you are able to live within their rules. Without this information you may find out after you have bought the house, you cannot have your dog or other animals you want to have.

Third:  Know The Requirements

The third thing you should consider is what kind of requirements they have on your home. These items may include having the landscape done in a specific way or even having your home painted in a way which you do not like. So you need to find out about these guidelines prior to the purchase of your dream home.

Planning and buying a new house can be exciting for many different reasons. However, if you are building a custom home, you should make sure you understand the neighborhood which you are buying in. Then you can know for certain if your house will be suited to your needs and those of your family, instead of finding out after the fact that the neighborhood isn’t the right fit.

Ken Uhrich likes houses.  In fact he lives in one. You can drop him a line at the Custom Home Group website.

Filed Under: House and Home Tagged With: builder, Custom Home Neighborhood, Neighborhood Restrictions

7 Reasons Why You Should Buy A Swimming Pool

by Trish

When you were young and dreamt about your ideal home, the chances are that you always had a swimming pool in those images. It sets off a luxury home nicely and really comes in handy on those hot summer afternoons. In reality, the swimming pool is an incredibly useful commodity to have in your family home. If you were thinking about the pros and cons of having a pool installed, please read this article for some factual information.

Home Value

Adding value to your home is never a bad thing, but it should be considered when you are worried about the initial cost of your chosen pool. There are some home buyers that will only consider looking at houses with attached swimming pools. They tend to have more money available for their next purchase, why not include your address on their ‘must see’ list?

Beauty

If you are not thinking about moving anytime soon, you will still have the added benefit of living in a beautiful and luxurious property. Just relaxing next to the pool is enough to left your spirits on a hard day. Every time you look out of the window for some inspiration…there it is!

Fitness

Swimming is one of the best ways to keep in shape, and this has been proven many times. Instead of driving down to the busy gym, why not strip off and do a few lengths of your very own pool? You are much less likely to get injured in this ‘soft’ environment and will be able to relax without worrying about getting in someone’s way.

Family Bonding

A happy family is a healthy family, and you get the best of both worlds with your own swimming pool. As well as the exercise option, you can have a fun game of water polo and top up on your tans. You will never get bored of the pool as it can be used for so many activities.

Children’s Health And Safety

Your children’s health is one of the most important concerns in any parent’s life. With your own swimming pool, you can help them to stay fit, with the added bonus of ensuring they learn how to swim properly. Exercise can often be tiresome, but swimming is always thought of as an opportunity to have some fun with your loved ones and friends. You never know when your children may need their swimming skills in the future.

Entertainment

If you fancy inviting some friends and family over for a party, why not base it around your pool? Just fire up the barbeque and get some lively sounds blasting out, you could re-enact your last tropical holiday together! Get some decent lights installed and you could be throwing some memorable evening poolside events for the whole neighborhood.

Balance And Stress

If you add a daily swim to your daily routine, you will be adding a very healthy factor to your lives. You can de-stress after a hectic day at the office, or massage your partner in the relaxing luxury of your own swimming pool.

 

Rod Tuckers provides swimming pool service in Westport CT. A complete family man, he understands fully well the value that a swimming pool adds to family bonding. You can avail to more useful tips on home improvement and family issues on his blog.

Filed Under: Home Improvement, House and Home, The yard Tagged With: Beauty, cons, entertainment, Family Bonding, fitness, Health, Home Value, Pros, reasons, safety, swimming pool

Let Your Imagination Run Wild With 5 Cool Ways To Change Your Garden This Summer

by Trish

Don’t tell me you’ve not looked out at the garden recently and tried to come up with some amazing ways to make it better. It’s the same every year when you look out of the window and there is snow lying everywhere. You start to get a little depressed because you can’t go outside and your imagination starts to run wild. Have you ever done something about it before, or does next winter come around before you have the chance to do anything?

You should make this year different because you will feel great when the sun is out and you spend time outside. The last thing you want is to be sitting in a garden that you don’t think looks nice. It completely ruins the moment, so you shouldn’t let it. Think about everything you would like to do and run with your favorite idea before it’s too late. We can even look at some ideas together so you can get that imagination of yours running wild again.

Add some decking

Fiberon Tropics composite decking

You could choose a little corner of your garden and add some decking, or you could even have some running off the house. When it’s nice outside you could put out a table and chairs so the family can sit around and eat their meals while relaxing in the sun. You could always put the furniture on the grass, but when you have decking it looks a lot better. If you had a nice seat out there you could also sit and read books when you’re not at work.

Get rid of the crap

You might have some things inside your garden that you don’t want to be there anymore. If it’s something big like a hut you maybe haven’t got rid of it because it’s too much work. This year could be different and you could go outside and start knocking it down this weekend. Get rid of everything else in your garden that is making it look a mess. Even if you don’t replace anything it will still look a lot better when the crap is gone.

A kid’s playhouse

Old playhouse

If you have young children you might want to do something nice for them because they will be using the garden a lot more than you during the summer. You’ll have to think about the kinds of things they might like. You could put a playhouse in the corner and they will love it whether they are a boy or a girl. If you think back to when you were a child I bet it’s something you loved. You could even turn it into a tree house if your child is a little older.

Let there be light

Even though the sun sticks around longer in the evenings during summer it won’t be there all night. Eventually it will be gone and your garden won’t be suitable to spend any time in unless you add some lighting. When your garden is light up it looks beautiful and you can stay outside as late as you want. You have a huge number of options available to you and perhaps it’s best if you looked hard before you decided how you would light the place up.

Grow some vegetables

sun gold tomatoes

If you have enough time to spare you could take up a new hobby. It’s quite enjoyable growing your own vegetables and eating something you have grown yourself always tastes a little better. A nice little vegetable patch in the corner of the garden will look great and it could come in very handy. When you’re cooking dinner you can run outside and pick something straight out of the ground if it’s ready.

Attached Images:
  •  License: Creative Commons image source
  •  License: Creative Commons image source
  •  License: Creative Commons image source

The author of this article, Sharon Anderson works for Country Cubbies. Country Cubbies is Australia’s leading cubby housemanufacturer with a huge range of cubby houses and children’s play forts.

Filed Under: Garden decor, Gardening, The yard Tagged With: chairs, cool, deck, Furniture, garden, imagination, light, lights, patio, plants, playhouse, summer, table, tidy, vegetables

A Quick Guide To The Many Types Of Shower Enclosures

by Trish

When deciding to fit a new bathroom suite, many people are taken aback at the amount of alternatives available when it comes to shower enclosures.

Often, people simply think of a shower enclosure as the square cubicle in the corner of the bathroom, or even don’t think of a shower enclosure at all as they have a shower unit attached to the wall to go along with their bathtub.

Here though, I give a quick rundown on some of the shower enclosures available and each unit’s advantages.

Space Saving Option: Bi Fold Enclosure

If you are pushed for space when fitting a new bathroom, the best option for you could well be a bi fold shower enclosure, the reason being that the door folds inwards and across the shower unit, rather than the usual out swinging door which requires the room to be able to open it before you can take a shower.

Skip the Formalities: Walk In Enclosure

Very similar in essence to a wet room, which I discuss further below, a walk in enclosure is a good way of giving your bathroom a modern edge to it without the usual compact environment of shower enclosures.

Skip the bother of a door, and get straight down to business in your great new shower unit, pick a frameless offering to give your bathroom a real edge to it.

Slide To The Left Slide To The Right: Sliding Door Enclosure

Another space saving option; the sliding door enclosure once again cuts out the need of a door which opens outwards, taking up valuable space, which as you know is often not available in your bathroom.

Old Faithful: Quadrant Enclosure

Typically designed to fit into the corner of a bathroom, a quadrant enclosure is often the go to pick when it comes to shower enclosures as not only does it save space, but the unit itself can be quite spacious too. Therefore you can take a shower in spacious peace, while knowing that the space in your bathroom can be used more effectively too.

A Showering Of Alternatives

Of course alternatives to shower enclosures include opting for a bath instead, combining the two into a shower bath or you could ditch them completely and go for a wet room which in essence can turn your whole bathroom into a shower enclosure, unless you opt for a frameless unit to divide the shower from the rest of the bathroom

Louisa Jenkins is an interior design expert. She offers advice for people looking at shower enclosures as well as suggesting alternatives such as wet rooms, shower baths or even just bathtubs.

Filed Under: Bath and Shower, Home Improvement Tagged With: bathroom suite, Bi Fold, Enclosure, Guide, Quadrant, Shower Enclosures, Sliding Door, walk in

Garden Projects For You To Take On This Year

by Trish

It is a new year, so that means it is time for a new garden. Many homeowners will forget about their garden when it comes to redecorating, even though the garden is one of the key areas of any home. Do not waste another year putting off using your garden, instead plan ahead and turn your garden into a beautiful area that is perfect for you to relax in during the summer months.

To help you make a start with your garden transformation, I have listed some garden projects that you may want to take on in 2013.

Vegetable Plot

2013 is the year of turning green, and what is more perfect than creating your own vegetable plot? Not only can you save a fortune by growing your own vegetables, but you also know exactly where they have come from.

Homeowners that decide to grow their own vegetables usually decide to do this just as part of a fun summer project, they soon realise that there are many benefits from growing your own vegetables.

You will need to invest a lot of time into your vegetable patch making sure that your vegetables grow well.

Invite Wildlife

During the summer months you can expect to see plenty of wildlife make their way through your garden, as long as your garden is wildlife friendly. There are many ways you can encourage wildlife to come into your garden, one of the most popular ways is by providing food.

If you love to watch birds fly by, why not get a bird table and some tasty bird treats. If you want birds to come into your garden even faster, purchase some coconuts and leave half a coconut out as this is something they love.

Water Feature

If you want a bigger project in your garden, why not think about creating a garden pond? Not only will it look fabulous, but it will also attract wildlife to the garden. It is important that you make your pond safely; this will ensure that you do not put any one at risk through unstable surfaces or flooding.

It may be worth calling out an expert to come and create the garden pond for you as it will look a lot more professional and stylish.

Garden Furniture

There is not much point in having a stylish garden area, if there is nowhere for you to sit and admire the work you have done. You may want to consider creating your own garden furniture as part of one your projects, however you should be prepared as this can take a long time and will also cost quite a bit of money.

Kerry loves gardening and decided to create a garden pond ready for summer 2013. She also brought some trendy rattan garden furniture from http://www.oakita.co.uk/

Filed Under: Garden decor, Gardening, The yard Tagged With: birds, garden, Garden Furniture, Garden Projects, pond, summer project, Vegetable Plot, water, Water Feature, Wildlife

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