Chesapeake Real Estate: Clean Modern Update with a Classic Touch

Making the House a 

Home

In real estate, it is never just about the home sale.  Real Estate involves everything from location, location, location...did I say "Location"...to what one does with that right house in the right location(there's that word again).

So whether a Starter home or a custom Executive home, the style of the last owner may not be your style.  Not surprising!!  Hard to imagine any two people having the exact same taste in furniture, flooring or even miscellaneous bric brac.

Thus my love for Home By Design magazine, almost weekly it updates my clients with a great "look" for a living room or bedroom that they may just want to implement.

This week's is a Classic touch on a Clean Modern look.  Click below and see if it what you needed to find!!

Clean Modern Update

Happy Easter!!!!

Chesapeake Living: The Herbal Bath and Body Book || Home By Design

Enjoying Chesapeake Living

Life is too short.   Part of enjoying life in Chesapeake is knowing how to enjoy oneself at home.

Though the Beach is near by and ample athletic venues including numerous road races and challenge runs are readily available as are theatre, college athletics, pro hockey and so much more are minutes from one's home in Chesapeake, staying put just times feels good.

And if you are in the mood to really feel good, you must read this latest article in my Home By Design magazine.  You will find the perfect way to "self soothe" yourself in the comfort of your own home.

New Weekly Article - The Herbal Bath and Body Book || Home By Design

A Spring Menu Recharge

Oh but for Spring!!!   

Though I just posted about the great reason to buy or sell your home now, we can't forget about all the aspects of Spring:

Mulching the Flower Beds

Tuning the Mowe

Painting the Trim

New Pots and Plants

AND THE LIST GOES ON!!

Don't be discourage about the work!  It sure makes our homes gleam and provide us the sense of pride and ownership common to home owners.

Yet there is another aspect to Spring:  A change in menu.

To help you move from "Winter" to 'Spring", here is  link to HomeByDesign's latest article that happens to focus on some scrumptous Spring recipes.

Spring Recipes

To Live on a Vineyard

So what is your dream location to live:

   The beach

                     Manhattan 

                                         Hawaii

                                                           France?

I am not sure I have any exotic places such as those on my dream list.  I guess I love where I live so thinking about a fantasy location to retire or just to move isn't really much on my mind.

Yet, when I saw this article from Home By Design, I admit I did daydream a bit.   Wouldn't living on land with a vineyard seem just magical??    Fresh air, a bit of hard work and wine with dinner every night...best around as it was off your vines!!!

I know that isn't the message of this article but dreaming isn't all bad.

Read and be edified!!!

Landscape Design

A Little Pick Me UP!

Ever just have one of those days?  No energy?  Just no pep?

Though I don't frequently suffer from such a malady, I do know others that find a lack of energy a more common challenge.  Don't know why I typical am high energy like the Everready Bunny but I am.

Yet, I hope that if you do suffer with low energy on a more regular basis that you will ready the attached article from Home By Design.  Though so frequently focused on home design, decadent recipes and various like topics on enjoying your home, this article is very important in that vein of thought.

How can we truly enjoy the beautiful landscape in the Spring or our home all winter if all we want to do is lay on the couch and veg?   With children at home or grand kids to babysit or visit, a lack of energy can really cause us to feel like were losing touch with the most important parts of life.

Don't dispare!  It can be easier than you think!  Maybe just changing a few daily routines!

                                                      Improving YOUR ENERGY LEVEL

Tech Control in 2015: Digital Detox

Controlling Tech Abuse

with a 

Digitial Detox

Happy New Year!!!  

Christmas was wonderful as it always is as there is so much to celebrate at Christmas!!

With 2015, some feel the pressure to make resolutions to improve upon features of their lives that just aren't where they would like them to be.  And the great American Marketers are there to help! Just note all of the Weight Watchers new 24 hour support line, weight equipment on sale at every outlet possible and "free" gym memberships on air and in print.  

Yet, this provocative article from Home By Design Magazine suggests that unplugging from all our technology is a "resolution" to make in 2015.  The article doesn't specifically state this but the timing seems obvious.

As you read the article, you will have to decide if you need a "Digital Detox".   Perhaps I am naive.  I believe I have a "healthy relationship" with technology.  How could I be in Real Estate without a smart phone, laptop, and tablet?  Or by not checking in with friends and clients on Facebook or posting homes to YouTube?

Perhaps, fortunately, I have clients to prep for and appointments that keep me "off the grid" for enough each day.   Yet, I am sure most of us have to work or go to school so we possibly are off line for serious chunks of time.

Yet, if you are, as some are reported to be, on your smart phone or computer every minute after school or work or at breaks in your day, you seriously may "need to get a life" and do a DIGITAL DETOX.

Though technology is here to stay and will only be a bigger part of our life in the future, we must experience life to enjoy it.  

Thus, putting down the phone or computer, and engage in talking face to face with some one or get involved in a hobby or sharing your talents with a charitable organization will add to anything you can view on YouTube or Facebook.

So are you a candidate for Digital Detox??? 

A Digital Detox

Greece for the Holidays

Traveling at Christmas?

I don't know about you.   I love to travel.  In fact, a recent email from Collette Tours noting itineraries for Australia, Europe, British Isles and other designations caused me to pause.

Though I love these United States and have traveled to many states on vacation or business, I find it always interesting to see parts of the world so foreign to our way of life.   There is nothing like being immersed in another culture for a few days or weeks.

Home By Design wrote on a Greece's Tino Islands.  Never heard of the Tino Island.  Perhaps I am nieve.  Yet, this article notes a lovely home created with the elements of the island and the trueness to the natural landscape.  Though these home owners are escaping the busy Athens life style by building on  the edge of the seventeenth-century village of Berdemiaros, having falling in love with views of natural landscape and the solid blue Agean Sea, doesn't that just make you wonder what you are missing by not visiting Tino Island?  Or perhaps Greece?

Imagine getting away this Christmas to share the beauty described here!

2015 could only be better for it!

                             Home Away from Home 

Brooklyn Extravagance

Better in Brooklyn

This is the assertion of the recent article from Home by Design magazine.  As you no doubt know, every one talks of Manhattan when mentioning NYC.  The Garment District to China Town to 42nd Street and the nearby Theatre District and Central Park gets Manhattan all the acclaim.

Yet, having been to New York on business and for pleasure, there are many other advantages of this great American City outside of Manhattan. The Wythe Hotel and surrounding area in the Williamsburg area of Brooklyn is a great alternative.

But rather than me rambling about some of my favorite sites, I know this article will give you a great sense of the artsy element of this area, the restaurants, waterfront ect.  You will find yourself wanting to plan a trip to the city yet this year!

Here is the link:  Exploring Brooklyn

Have a Dream of being on Shark Tank??????

Making Your Dreams 

Come True

For Less

With 2015 quick approaching, many of you may be seriously considering leaving your present job to pursue your dream business.

New years and new business tend to coincide as the "newness" of possibilities seem endless.

Owning my own business as a Realtor, I know a bit about the dream.  It really can be all that you can imagine.  Yet, as this article discusses, you have to be aware that it costs to start any business.

Though it may seem insurmountable to know what the costs could be, this beginning observation may be the key to your success:

"But with a bit of research, advance planning, and savvy decision making, you can launch your business on a shoestring. Here’s how to start acting like a frugal entrepreneur to trim costs, spend smart, and start your new company on a budget you can actually afford".

A Shoestring Startup may not be a hundred dollar startup.  Yet with research, planning and savvy decision making, one may save hundreds or thousands of dollars and have spent the money spent in the best way possible to get the business of the ground.

I can tell you it is possible as I have been very successful.  Yet with all the planning, research and "savvy" thinking there is, you will find challenges, places you spent money that did nothing to improve the bottom line and fail miserably on a given day perhaps. 

But that is were the joy of owning your own business comes: you can only blame yourself!   And the blaming must be cursory as you focus on the lesson learned and the means to go forward.   

Getting knocked down never is the reason a business closes.                                The failure to get back up is!!!

Starting Your Own Business

New Weekly Article - United Spaces || Home By Design

                             

Uniting the House

Have you ever gone through a house(or note in your house) how nothing seems to flow?   The space is sufficient for the occupants' need or perhaps the buyer inspecting the house but the space is disjointed or has this room too small and that one too big.

It is a problem more frequently than those of you with smooth flowing floor plans may know.  It isn't always due to the age of the house!!!

As you will see in this article from Home By Design, a couple in Atlanta had built their dream home(8000 sq.ft. dream home).   But after a few years, they found that three cozy areas walled off from one another limited the couples ability to entertain during the holidays.

Though perhaps you don't think you would have any problem with 8000 sq. ft. of house, you could very well gain a good understanding of the changes you can make to your 1800 sq.ft. ranch or 2700 sq. ft. colonial or that cape cod you bought from a love of the home's elevation.

Of course, if you only want to see how the "other half " live, great.  It is a gorgeous kitchen when completed.

New Weekly Article - United Spaces || Home By Design

Dinner Help for The Week

Home By Design

Delicious Recipe for YOU

Ready for a new week?  Got the menu planned for the week?

Thought so!!

One of the tough facts of life is that someone in the house must think about what the family, couple, friends are going to eat for the week.  No, this is never an easy task.

Yet, a little help can go a long way!  Here are five recipes to give you a  bit of change!   Dinners, to side dishes to dessert!

                                     Enjoy!!!

Hearty Meal....YUMMMMMMM

Click Here: Print Recipes

Amazing Kitchen - All the Right Ingredients || Home By Design

Ready to Rework 

Your Kitchen

There are times that I wish Home by Design did not show such lovely design ideas.  No, it isn't that I want to share this information with you.  I want you to be inspired.

Yet, with all these lovely kitchen idea, even my wife is being inspired to update our relatively new home.   That can rather troubling!!!

I am not highly concerned as that is the rich value of the Home By Design magazine and weekly articles that I share with you. Whether for a room or a meal or a place to tour(among many other topics), one finds a new idea to try.  With so much "same old same old" in many of our days, an inspiration is always well received!!!!

Thus, I do hope that you will enjoy!!!

New Weekly Article - All the Right Ingredients || Home By Design

Comfy English Cottage

Family Gathering

Time of Year

 With Fall comes so many wonderful times to gather with family and friends.

Football games, Halloween Parties, Class Reunions, Work Events, Holiday Parties, and on and on are among the amply opportunities to host the best and the worst of your family and/or friends! 

Everyone loves to be invited to a good time!

What if you had a lovely new kitchen that was cozy and comfortable?   This weeks Home by Design has a kitchen that could make many of our homes feel very homsey and comfortable.  Yes, not all of us have this much room for a kitchen but elements of the coziness of the English Cottage could be added!

So have fun this Fall entertaining!!! 

An English Cottage Kitchen

Making the House Yours!

Making The House

a 

Home

Frequently, home buyers will love a house's bones but the finishing of a given house will be quite the turnoff.   I have found that even if the location, style and structural elements of the house are satisfactory or even fit the buyer's needs/demands to the "T" that many buyers wish to continue to tour homes.

Though having the "vision" to see what a house could be can at times take quite the imagination, often coat of paint or new flooring type or style will make the house just right.  

Part of making a house a home will entail exactly the changes the buyer might need to make to have the home acceptable.  Any home owner, including myself, knows it is one of the greates feelings in the world when that house with ugly green tile in the bathroom or hideous carpet has been replace with the color palate and styles that were to the home owner's liking.

And the funniest thing of the whole process is what makes a home for one person may never make it a home for the next person purchasing the house.

So, when you are out house shopping, don't give the current "appearance" of the house any consideration!!!  You will change it anyway to something that someone buying the house later won't like!!!!!!!!!

You will see an example of this in the attached Home by Design article.  A family buying a house in Seattle didn't like the kitchen island.  But they had the vision to see beyond this obstacle to the house they loved!

Click and Read

Making the House Your Own

Paradise in Puntacana: Vacation is Calling YOU!

Vacation Calling????

No it isn't cold yet!  Nor has it been that long since I took a day off.

YET!   Reading this article about Oscar de la Renta's designs on this resort retreat sure gave me the itch to travel!

Normally, I forward these awesome articles from Home By Design to inspire the decorator in you!  We all need inspiration even if we may never enjoy the exotic or high end environments that many of the articles feature all over the world.   

Inspiration is priceless!!   

So for today, click, read and close your eyes for a few minutes as you transport yourself to Puntacana Resort and Spa in Tortuga Bay.

New Weekly Article - Paradise in Puntacana || Home By Design

New Weekly Article - Made in the Shades || Home By Design

Ever Wonder how to make your room "POP"?



It is evidently simpler than we thought...or at least I thought.   Jennifer Blake Hoyos shares how a simple splash of color can make the room sizzle.



You must read all of "Made in the Shades"





New Weekly Article - Made in the Shades || Home By Design

New Weekly Article - Pigments and Plants || Home By Design

Time to Garden

   Believe it or not, Summer is gone for the pots, planters and flower beds around your house.

Though the petunias, zinnias, snapdragons seem to be fine at the moment, they don't have more than 30-45 days in most parts of the country and even here in Hampton Roads.

Thus, you need to be thinking about your Fall color for the exterior of your home.  Will it be the same palate as the Summer flowers or are you lightening or darkening the look this Fall?

The article from Home by Design provides great insight to get the juices going as you plan this Fall's landscape!

New Weekly Article - Pigments and Plants || Home By Design

Color Shy????

Go Bold

or

Go Home

"Fearless Color" is the title of this week's special Home By Design article that I share with you.  Fearless??  So often we live in fear of the unknown or of doing something that just may stand out from the crowd.

Designer, Hilary Unger, found a couple with 5500 sq.ft. that was a blank canvas and a real desire for color in the space.   As you read, you will note color wasn't used from color's sake but to align areas and to flow the palate through this Manhattan condo.

A segment of the article provides a sample of this design:

"The living room and dining room flow together with ease, and neutral walls allow colorful upholstery, artwork, and case goods to shine. A special artifact for the owners—singer Madonna’s first keyboard—holds a place of honor and is flanked by a simple chair and two ornate candlesticks. A faux embossed leather coffee table centers the main seating arrangement, and the persimmon colored chairs from the foyer appear here, too.

No doubt the help of a designer is very valuable to take a concept into a reality that has a cohesive sense throughout the space.  A great lesson shown in this article is the essential element of establishing a design for the entire area.

Whether completing the entire design today or tomorrow, the concept has been established and can be carried through out a house, condo or an apartment.

By simply noting the details of Hilary's design, one can learn that adding a given piece to a room will tie that room to another.  Thus, you or I can carry a design with a simple change or a total

remodel of a room.

   To read the entire article, the 
    link is below:



Color Shy??

Junk to Treasure

Turning the Dated

into the Sublime

So you have a dated only turn of the century house or just maybe one built in the 70s or 80s that just looks every bit its age.  You probably have wondered what you could do to give it some new life.

Did tearing it down and starting over come to mind??  I hope not!!!

As you will see via the link below, you only need a creative home designer and a vision for the house to take the drab, dreary oh I am so out of date home to become a perfect master piece.  A master piece so nice that it would be featured in a magazine like Home by Design!

And then posted on this blog(and shared again and again).  

Get your inspiration!  Click below!

A Perfect Blend

Moroccan Mansion: A Dream I once had

Gotcha!!!

You decided to click and read as you thought I dreamed this one up!

I have toured Cape Cod Mansions and Biltmore Mansion in Ashville, NC.  Those were amazing residences but mainly are set to remind us of a time gone past when robber barons dominated the Oil, Railroad and Textile industries.

Yet this Moroccan Mansion is a real life, today mansion that we can dream about and someone got to renovate/decorate.

So dream with me for a minute and check this out:

A Mansion for Your Dreams