Getting Ideas For Your New Home

If you took a poll of your friends you will find the majority of them would choose to build a brand new home, custom designed to meet all their requirements, over and above buying an existing property. Building your own home means being able to plan a house exactly to meet the needs of you, your family and your lifestyle, however you will always have budget constraints and therefore it's important to spend some time gathering ideas for the layout and design which is where online house plans can prove to be very beneficial.

Finding inspiration and ideas for your new home can come from many sources so it's best to be prepared so that you can capture the idea in the best possible way.

Online
The internet is simply heaving with images and information for your new home. There are some great websites that let you find the keep these pictures and articles easily so that all of your online ideas are in one place. You will find a theme may start to appear with the pictures you are choosing and this will help you pare down your choices towards the end of the design process. Additionally online is a quick and easy way to show others the ideas you have and discuss their merits.

Magazines
Probably one of the more traditional sources of inspiration, magazines are still packed full of great ideas, particularly the home design issues that can offer advice as well trends in design, colour and technology.

Neighbourhood
Driving around your neighbourhood is a great way to gather ideas, you will gain an understanding of the current architecture of the area as well as seeing what others are building, don't forget to take your camera and a notebook to capture the information. Upload your photos to add to your online house plans resource.

Experts
Talk to the relevant industry experts such as an interior designer who may be able to offer advice on the latest trends, a real estate agent who will be able to advise you about resale when you are ready to move, kitchen designers - kitchens and bathrooms are expensive to fix if you get it wrong, so talking to someone who is designing and building these rooms on a daily basis will assist you in maximising the benefits and of course an architect. Architects keep up to date with the latest building materials, trends, as well as building regulations. They will be able to offer you a great deal of advice. Some of them also have online house plans to give you an idea of their work.

dsigna Concepts is a professional architectural design and draughting services company based in New Plymouth, Taranaki on the west coast of New Zealand's North Island. We deliver services from architectural design to council permit drawings. With the use of computer-aided design programs, we not only offer 2D drawings, but also computer generated 3D images. As well as servicing our local market with custom architectural house design services, we also offer a searchable online database of architecturally designed house/home plans, available to anyone in New Zealand.

Choosing To Build Or Buy Your New Home

So you've finally got a deposit saved up and enough of an income to support a mortgage payment on top of your regular expenses. The bank has pre-approved a home loan budget and it's time to start looking around for a good deal on a house or section. There are plenty of different variables to consider from location to future sale potential, but the one decision that's toughest to make is often whether you should buy or build.

You might already own property or this could be your first foray into the New Zealand real estate market, either way a new purchase can be stressful and nerve wracking. The main centres have seen dramatic fluctuations in price over the past ten years, falling from their peak in 2008 and slowly climbing their way up since. Making the wrong move in any property market can set you back years, but with more and more capital needed for major cities Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, you need to be more careful than ever.

Many people share a dream of one day building a home to suit their own specifications, but deciding whether the time is right or not takes careful consideration. Take a look over some of these pros and cons of building versus buying, and get the home that's right for you right now.

Consider the Extra Cost

After you have a home loan pre-approved by your bank and you know what your budget is, discuss your wants and desires with your architect before you buy a section. Ask them what they think of each location and whether it's suitable so that you can be sure you're prepared to take on the cost of a build. Remember to leave some wiggle room for the almost-inevitable additional expenses that are bound to crop up.

If you can't afford to build without stretching over your budget, save and wait until you can or choose to buy a home instead

Future Plans

Sometimes people get so wrapped up in the idea of having their house plans come to life that they forget about the goals they have for the future. You don't want to pour all of your ideas out into the perfect home design only to have to sell a few years later. If you're starting a family or considering a move in a few years time, it might be best to buy instead. When you've got a family and you're looking for a place to settle down and live your life, the time is right to build a house in New Zealand.

Building your own home is rewarding, exciting and a fantastic goal to finally achieve. Don't end up a property owner with another failed building project; plan carefully and make sure it's the right time for you. Make your home your castle and see that your real estate goals are realised when the time is right.

Building a Home - Design Tips for a Front Entranceway

The main entry is very important because it is through the main door that the house states its personality and absorbs energy. The front entrance of your home is your guest's first impression of you and your home. You never get a second chance to make that first impression,starting out right counts; and it beings at your front door. When a house has good energy, design and flow circulating throughout, the people who live in the house experience it and appreciate the thought and effort invested.

When someone drives up, the home's entrance merits special consideration. first, it should be clear where it is. An attractive feature: a bright color, outlining the walk with pavers, a court yard featuring a prized garden ornament, or special lighting could identify it definitely as the front entrance.

Things that defines a home's front entrance may include:

* colors - vibrant and exciting or cool and relaxing
* designs - theme oriented
* shapes - for example circular off-set an angular home
* sounds - door bell or chime, running water from a bird bath
* statements - often from the use of a garden ornament, or unique shrubbery

A professional home designer using Home Design Therapy, teaches homeowners to consider the way a home defines it's self. After some thought, items that misrepresent a home's welcome, and that are not absolutely needed or loved, may deserve replacing. A design consultant may either re-purposing existing items or add new beautiful and functional items that will enrich the home's entrance and message.

Begin thinking your home entrance design choices through; some helpful starter questions homeowners can ask themselves are:

1) What message do I want to give my hone's visitors?
2) What message do I want my home to give me?
3) What overall statement do I want my home to generate?

A courtyard with the personality of a France, a Spanish villa, or an English cottage will introduce the owners personality and the home's style. Courtyards naturally draw the eye to the home's entrance. Arches, pergolas, bench seating, a display of container plants, or any showcased collector's item can make a statement in the interior courtyard. However you design the entrance, scale it appropriately to fit the scale of your home.

Incorporate a water feature. A fountain of some sort, whether modern, traditional, or Gothic, improves the curb appeal of your home and adds that design look. Most people love the sound of bubbling water because it speaks of nature and is instantly relaxing and calming. Water features can be built-in, free-standing, or rest on a small tabletop. Group seating near your water feature makes it easy to enjoy while relaxing or sipping an evening beverage.

The entrance floor choice should be durable, one that can take a beating without a whisper of complaining. A flooring material from quarry tile, ceramic tile, slate, natural stone, or exquisite marble will serve well and can be a beautiful part of the entrance hall. Minnesota homeowners are pleased with results from snow, mud, water, and hard usage on such elements, as they wear beautifully under a home's daily use.

Throw a rug on top to finish it entrance's look. Or as some say, a room begins with the rug. You can pull in endless colors, or emphasize the color theme you are creating. Weather proof rugs are in abundance that work perfect just outside the or in.

The possibilities to create a wonderful first impression allow room for endless creativity and uniqueness. Begin with these design tips and let them inspire you to take your front entrance to a new level. Say, "Welcome", well.

Contact Destiny Homes at 952-934-5706 to enlist a home therapy designer who can help put these design tips for a home's front entrance to work for you.

Steps to Build a Home Based Business With No Advertising Budget

There are roughly 3 steps towards building a home based business with no advertising budget. Of course if you have an advertising budget you will be able to move along faster and build your business more quickly but not everyone starts off at the same financial place so this article will show you how you can build a strong business with no advertising budget over time. Please note these methods will work if you apply them continuously. They are not designed to be used one time but rather numerous times over a long stretch of time.

Step 1: Article Marketing

Article marketing is one of the first steps you can take to market your business and this can be an effective tool if it is done correctly. If you are only thinking about using the articles to promote your business you will find that it is difficult to get your articles approved and the chances of your article being read will also decrease. Write unique content that is relevant to what you are looking to promote and dedicate yourself to your goals. The more articles you write the more exposure you will have. If time is a concern you can start with one article per week and gradually increase. Objective is at least 5 articles per week if not more.

Step 2: Social Media

Social media platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter are a good way to increase exposure to your business but again this is about consistency. If you don't have a group of people already following you, the first step will be to start following others and posting content that offers value. For example, if your business is in the health and wellness industry post interesting facts about health related topics or things that people may want to know about health or how to become healthy. Once you have a built a stronger base you can start to share with them about the business that you are in. Remember social media is going to take some time to build so consistency is the key to success here.

Step 3: Video Marketing

Video marketing while a form of social media is different in that you have the opportunity to share with your prospects using the visuals that you are unable to do with article marketing and social media marketing. The end result of using video is it allows you the opportunity to engage with your viewers in a different way. The more invested your viewers are in the content you are providing the more exposure you will have for your home based business.

You now know 3 different steps and methods that you can use to build your home based business with no advertising budget. These methods do work and some of the most successful home business owners use these methods virtually exclusively in order to grow their business with the lowest out of pocket expense possible.

To Learn more about how to build a business and to find out about a ground breaking business opportunity visit my blog at: http://ebookwritingservices.org/elimation-project.html

Zucchini Bites...

Just made another new recipe from Pinterest.  BOY you can discover some yummy things on there!!!

This one is Zucchini Tots or Zucchini Bites.  SUPER!!  I loved them and the girls said they were, "okay".  Then they proceeded to eat them all.  Ahem, 'nough said.

Zucchini Bites

yields: 20 mini muffins

1 cups zucchini, grated
1 egg
1/4 yellow onion, diced
1/4 cup cheese Parmesan (I used the canned stuff)
1/4 cup bread crumbs (I used Italian style)
Tiny pinch of salt
Fresh black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400F. Spray a mini-muffin tin with non-stick spray, set aside.
2. Grate the zucchini and then place in a dish towel to squeeze out the excess water- like when using frozen spinach.
3. In a bowl combine, the egg, onion, cheese, bread crumbs, zucchini, salt and pepper.
4. Using a spoon or a cookie scoop, fill the muffin cups half full. Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until the top is browned and set.

Slow-Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup...

I made Slow-Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup recently and YUM was it good and YAY was it easy!!!  I did use more cilantro than the recipe called for, but that's what cooking is all about, isn't it?  Making it something YOUR family enjoys!!

I really enjoy using Allrecipes to find great recipes! And reading the comments is always helpful,  too!!

Do you use a dish drainer???

Just curious how many of you use a dish drainer?  If you do not use one, do you just dry as you wash?  And what do you do when you have a ton of dishes??

If you DO you use, how long do you let your dishes sit there?  And do you ever put the dish drainer away?? 

Happy 100th Day of School!!

Today is our 100th day of school here for Elizabeth, who is in kindergarten this year.  We're celebrating by counting to 100 a lot today!!  Groups of tens, groups of fives, (even by twos!!!) a hundred pennies, a hundred things to glue to our above sign.  LOTS of things related to 100!!

How do y'all celebrate the 100th day of school in your homeschool?

"Grilled" Cheese Sandwich....

How many times do your children want a grilled cheese sandwich and you stand at the stove making one sandwich at a time?  Tons of times, right?  Me, too.  Well, recently I was talking with lady at church who works in a school cafeteria.  She mentioned they served grilled cheese sandwiches that day.  "How in the WORLD do you make THAT many grilled cheese sandwiches?" I asked.  That's when she shared this recipe with me- you bake them in the oven!!!!!!

I heated the oven to 425 degrees then spread each slice of bread on one side only with butter.  I laid the buttered side down for 1/2 the bread slices and then place my cheese on top.  I put the rest of the bread on top with the buttered side facing up.  I baked them in the oven for about 7  minutes, then flipped them over and baked another 6 minutes (but watch your oven- temps vary!!!!)  They each came out DELICIOUS!!!  By far the EASIEST "grilled" cheese sandwiches I've ever made!!!

Elizabeth (now 5 1/2, can you believe it??) really enjoys watching cooking shows.  Her favorite?  Pioneer Woman!!!  This past Saturday, Ree made Strawberry Oatmeal Bars.  Elizabeth said we just HAD to make them, so last night we did! 

These are super simple and delicious!  All of us love them and this recipe WILL be repeated many times, I can tell!  This time we used strawberry preserves, but I also plan on making this with raspberry and apricot preserves, too!

Strawberry Oatmeal Bars

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 sticks salted butter, cut into pieces, plus more for greasing pan
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cup oats
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• One 10 to 12-ounce jar strawberry preserves

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-by-13-inch rectangular pan.

Mix together the butter, flour, oats, brown sugar, baking powder and salt. Press half the oat mixture into the prepared pan. Spread with the strawberry preserves. Sprinkle the other half of the oat mixture over the top and pat lightly. Bake until light brown, 30 to 40 minutes. Let cool completely, and then cut into squares.

The Gentleness Challenge...

OOOOOOOOH how this convicted me as I read this morning!!!  Go here and read the challenge that Courtney has given. 

Anyone up for a challenge??