A growing trend is 'aging in place' whereby seniors are opting to stay in their own home rather than move into an assisted living facility. The CDC defines aging in place as, "The ability to live in one's own home and community safely, independently, and comfortably, regardless of age, income, or ability level." More and [...]
Is your home ready for holiday visits from friends and family? Here’s how to prepare for the invasion. I'm lucky and have a guest suite always ready for holiday guests. But even with a dedicated space, preparing my home for the annual onslaught of friends and family takes time and forethought. Some preparations for holiday guests take only a few minutes; some take a lot longer. My advice: Start preparing your home for the holidays now. [...] Continue reading on our blog.
By: Courtney Craig Reprinted from HouseLogic.com with permission of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. Wasting energy on Thanksgiving? Don’t be a turkey. A few days before Thanksgiving Install a dimmer switch for the dining room chandelier. Every time you dim a bulb’s brightness by 10%, you’ll double the bulb’s lifespan. Most CFLs don’t work with dimmers, [...]
House wrap reduces the movement of air into your home and helps keep wind-driven rain out of the walls. Tyvek House wrap is a leader in the industry. It allows any moisture in the walls to pass through to the exterior. Still dry air in the walls is an insulator providing year-round comfort. Tests show [...]
Have you been thinking about finishing your basement into living space for a long time? Fall is a perfect time to get ideas and plan. Even if it’s currently cold concrete crammed with boxes of off-season items, the lowest floor of your home probably has loads of potential. Basement Home Theater It never [...]
By Lisa Kaplan Gordon, who is an avid gardener, a member of the Fairfax County Master Gardeners Association, and a builder of luxury homes in McLean, Va. She’s been a Homes editor for Gannett News Service and has reviewed home improvement products for AOL Just for fun, take an inventory of all the leaf removal tools [...]
By Lisa Kaplan Gordon who is an avid gardener, a member of the Fairfax County Master Gardeners Association, and a builder of luxury homes in McLean, Va. She’s been a Homes editor for Gannett News Service and has reviewed home improvement products for AOL Cold weather on the way means winter lawn care for your backyard. Although spring [...]
By the end of the day, after seven or more hours, perched over my desk, peering into a computer monitor that seems to grow smaller by the minute, oh my poor tired eyes! This started me thinking of ways to help new home buyers to alleviate eye strain in their new homes. When building a [...]
Few exterior cues hearken back to simpler times more than shuttered windows and big, covered front porches. Add divided-lite windows plus masonry accents to horizontal siding and you've got the recipe for an instant classic. Our Greenville home plan is a fine example. So...what about the inside? What interior amenities similarly reflect traditional roots? To begin, [...]
Everyone wants some quiet time to think and relax. Below are six things to consider which will make a quieter more peaceful home. And when done during construction, will cost less than doing them after the home is built. Solid core doors can be used to reduce the transmission of sound from room to room. Insulate the walls [...]
