Posted by Rick Merlini on Thu, May 10, 2012 @ 08:46 AM
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| Doorless Walk-in Shower |
"When we had our home on the market, one of the most frustrating things was cleaning the shower doors before a showing. Now, we squeegee the doors after each use, but you still end up with streaks and water spots."
Even in more modest size homes, today many master bathrooms are being designed with a walk-in shower where there's no shower door at all...which means no doors to have to keep clean!
Know that it can get cold in a doorless shower once you turn off the water (there's nothing to hold the steam in), so you'll want to make sure you specify an extra heater, either in the ceiling or wall, for added comfort.
Live well custom homes uses creative design and years of new home construction to think outside the box and give your home that personal feel and custom look that your looking for.
If you have any other questions about building your new home, designing your new home or just about anything having to do with buying a new home, please visit either my blog or our new home video library. Both are filled with useful information on these topics. Or feel free to contact me by email.
Good luck with your search for that new home. I hope this article will help you.
Posted by Rick Merlini on Tue, May 08, 2012 @ 07:37 AM
Kudo's to Mark Patterson of Patco Residential in Sanford, Maine, for offering their customers a nifty gift wrapping station option.
The holidays, as well as birthdays, weddings, anniversaries and other special occasions, can be stressful enough without having to find the wrapping paper, scissors, bows and tape as well as a place to do the wrapping.
Taking up almost no space in the room when not in use, the Ballard Designs wrapping station offered folds up out of the way, making it ideal for a utility area or multi-purpose flex space in your home.
Live well custom homes uses creative design and years of new home construction to think outside the box and give your home that personal feel and custom look that your looking for.
If you have any other questions about building your new home, designing your new home or just about anything having to do with buying a new home, please visit either my blog or our new home video library. Both are filled with useful information on these topics. Or feel free to contact me by email.
Good luck with your search for that new home. I hope this article will help you.
Posted by Rick Merlini on Tue, May 01, 2012 @ 07:47 AM
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| Dual vanity, compartmented bathIf you have a daughter like mine, one who takes a half-hour in front of the bathroom mirror getting ready in the morning, you know a shared bathroom can become a battlefield. |
If you have a daughter like mine, one who takes a half-hour in front of the bathroom mirror getting ready in the morning, you know a shared bathroom can become a battlefield.
Compartmented bathrooms, which position the toilet and tub/shower in their own private area separated by a door from the vanity and sink(s) eases time pressures when several members of your household are trying to get out the door on time. In fact all three of our boys could take their showers while our daughter used the other part of our compartmented bath putting on her makeup and styling her hair.
For larger households, a compartmented shared bathroom is a non-negotiable, and with most homes, it is a relatively simple change to the plans
Live well custom homes uses creative design and years of new home construction to think outside the box and give your home that personal feel and custom look that your looking for.
If you have any other questions about building your new home, designing your new home or just about anything having to do with buying a new home, please visit either my blog or our new home video library. Both are filled with useful information on these topics. Or feel free to contact me by email.
Good luck with your search for that new home. I hope this article will help you.
Posted by Rick Merlini on Wed, Apr 25, 2012 @ 08:30 AM
Splitting up can be good for your relationship.
Whether we realize it or not, our bathrooms are very personal-which means if there are two of you using that bathroom, there's a potential for misunderstanding and conflict.
Take the vanity and sinks. Years ago designers recognized the preference for his and her sinks in the master bath. That alleviated some of the schedule conflicts over who used the sink and when, but also led to more counter top clutter. His mouthwash...her make-up...sometimes it's so crowded you can hardly tell what the counter tops look like!
Splitting a single large vanity with two sinks into two separate vanities, each with their own sink, is desirable.
Live well custom homes uses creative design and years of new home construction to think outside the box and give your home that personal feel and custom look that your looking for.
If you have any other questions about building your new home, designing your new home or just about anything having to do with buying a new home, please visit either my blog or our new home video library. Both are filled with useful information on these topics. Or feel free to contact me by email.
Good luck with your search for that new home. I hope this article will help you.
Posted by Rick Merlini on Wed, Apr 18, 2012 @ 08:02 AM
The biggest architectural element on the viewable front of your new home is likely the garage door, and far to often it is the most over looked.
New homes are carefully designed to look different, but when it comes to the garage door, it seems as if everyone (most people) choose to default to using the same garage door. Boring!
With all the different profiles, glass options and hardware choices, Our garage door suppliers offers over 300 different garage doors to choose from, catering to people's desire for individuality.
We at Live Well Custom Homes, understand that when you purchase your brand new custom home, how important it is for you to have a home that is unique and customized to your personality, so we offer several options for every aspect your new home has (even the aspects most people never think about), including offering more choice in your garage door.
If you have any other questions about building your new home, designing your new home or just about anything having to do with buying a new home, please visit either my blog or our new home video library. Both are filled with useful information on these topics. Or feel free to contact me by email.
Good luck with your search for that new home. I hope this article will help you.
Posted by Rick Merlini on Wed, Apr 11, 2012 @ 08:00 AM
Transom windows are usually smaller and placed high in a wall allowing daylight and at the same time, privacy. When set atop other windows, they extend views and sightlines. They're also popular in bathrooms (which never seem to have enough natural light!). Live Well custom homes has further uses and ideas on Transom windows in your new home.
With a clever design a transom window can turn a window in your new home into wall art and make any room have a unique feel and flow, while offering that often sought after natural light
Today transoms are appearing in more diverse applications and homes, and Live well custom homes believes transom windows can help you customize your new home in ways most have never thought of giving you a truly unique custom new home.
If you have any other questions about building your new home, designing your new home or just about anything having to do with buying a new home, please visit either my blog or our new home video library. Both are filled with useful information on these topics. Or feel free to contact me by email.
Good luck with your search for that new home. I hope this article will help you.
Posted by Rick Merlini on Wed, Apr 04, 2012 @ 08:26 AM
A few years ago on a nice February day shortly after my wife and I decided to build a home, I stood up on our lot and surveyed the view. No homes had been built, the development was covered in ankle deep snow and the view of the woods and lakes was awesome.
While I knew the view would not last as homes were built and the development filled in, I didn't account for one small aspect of our lot's location. The lot is a pie shaped with the point of the pie curbside along the outside curve of the street.
So what you say. What does it matter? Here's what matters.
My 3-car garage requires a larger, wider driveway at the curb. In and of itself, that's no big deal. What I DID NOT account for in selecting the lot was how the snow plow would throw all that snow on my driveway. Each time the plow comes around the curve, the snow literally flies of the edge of the blade and is piled high and deep on my driveway.
A couple of days before I left to travel to the 2012 International Builders Show in Orlando, Florida, it snowed in Birmingham, Michigan. It wasn't a lot of snow - maybe 6 or seven inches, but it was a heavy, wet snow. So wet in fact my super-charged 24", dual stage snow-blower couldn't deal with it. My kids and I ended up shoveling the mountain of snow at the curb by hand.
I know. I know. It's a sad, sob story. But here's my point - Pick your lot and home plan very carefully! There are things you might not account for. Things you will wish you had known.
Ask questions of your builder, your REALTOR, and your friends. Don't end up cussing your choice every time is snows, rains or whatever
If you have any other questions about building your new home, designing your new home or just about anything having to do with buying a new home, please visit either my blog or our new home video library. Both are filled with useful information on these topics. Or feel free to contact me by email.
Good luck with your search for that new home. I hope this article will help you.
Posted by Rick Merlini on Wed, Mar 28, 2012 @ 08:06 AM
Your new homes bathroom can benefit from knowing a little more about proper lighting techniques. Choosing the proper lighting for your new homes bathroom can change the overall appearance and go further to customizing your new homes bathroom, and ensure your new home has the appearance you truly desire.
Different light bulbs have different "color temperatures" which is why a soft yellow wall paint could look beige. This is particularly true of different types of light bulbs ("lamps") such as incandescent, compact fluorescent and LED. Great care must be taken when mixing and matching different types of lamps in the same space.
In addition, lamps are rated on a scale of 1 to 100 for color vibrancy (the Color Rendering Index or "CRI"). Currently, most CLF and LED lamps do not rate as well as incandescent bulbs on the CRI.
If you have any other questions about building your new home, designing your new home or just about anything having to do with buying a new home, please visit either my blog or our new home video library. Both are filled with useful information on these topics. Or feel free to contact me by email.
Good luck with your search for that new home. I hope this article will help you.
Posted by Rick Merlini on Wed, Mar 21, 2012 @ 08:03 AM
One of the most common complaints and issues people have regarding the bathrooms in their new homes is lack of natural light. Yet, bathroom windows make window coverings necessary, which defeat the purpose of having a window in the first place. this can be doubly annoying if you have to reach across a bathtub to open or close the shades.
Glass block windows and creative window positioning can help alleviate the problem, and give you both the natural light you love, and the privacy you need. At Live well custom homes we create new homes that live and work for you.
Good luck with your search for that new home. I hope this article will help you.If you have any other questions about building your new home, designing your new home or just about anything having to do with buying a new home, please visit either my blog or our new home video library. Both are filled with useful information on these topics. Or feel free to contact me by email.
A glass block window, or perhaps creative positioning of windows in your new home can solve this problem, by offering your new home the natural lighting you crave but also the providing the necessary privacy.
Posted by Rick Merlini on Wed, Mar 14, 2012 @ 08:46 AM
Previously, you may remember one of my rants about having the washer and dryer located in the mudroom as you come in from the garage (makes the laundry room cold in the winter, often dirty and smelly, and you have to be reminded of it (or embarrassed by it) every time you come in from the garage. So, where should the laundry room be?
That question may best be answered by your lifestyle and lifestage. In a traditional 2-story home with all the bedrooms upstairs, positioning the laundry room on the second floor means you don't have to carry baskets of laundry up and down those stairs! Plus, it's convenient for the kids to do their own laundry when that room is close to
Many people prefer a main-floor laundry room, either because the master bedroom is on the first floor or because of the convenience of multi-tasking-attending to laundry chores while preparing dinner or during commercial breaks. If that describes you, the ideal laundry room location may be just a few steps from the kitchen. their bedrooms.
Other women have told us they prefer their washer and dryer located close to the master bedroom (maybe with access from the master), which is where they take the clothes to be folded. The bottom line-laundry room location, often an afterthought, is just too important to overlook!
If you have any other questions about building your new home, designing your new home or just about anything having to do with buying a new home, please visit either my blog or our new home video library. Both are filled with useful information on these topics. Or feel free to contact me by email.
Good luck with your search for that new home. I hope this article will help you.