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Spring is here and why not give your home a fresh new look for the summer?  The front entry of a home is often one of the most forgotten areas, yet the first to welcome your guests.  Start by sweeping debris and dead leaves away from sidewalks and porch.  You may want  to pressure wash the siding and brick of your home, it is amazing how much dirty accumulates over the winter months.  If you have shutters wipe them down and then polish.  A basic interior car cleaner like Armorall works great (applying goo gone nurishes the vinyle and gives luster but be sure to try a small amount first as each material reacts differently).  If the front of your home is still looking a bit drab add a fresh coat of paint to certain areas where the paint has faded.  Using a contrast color to a  front door can add a whimsy feel and new look to your home.

Adding additional lighting to the front entry not only keeps your home safe, it is a great way to make your home look amazing at night.  Lighting can range from a single pendentant above the door to solar powered lanterns lining your walkway.  If you have a deck or porch consider adding lanterns, strings of lights and hanging glowing globes which will add a playful cheer to your space. Spruce up you patio furniture by washing the cushions and adding solid colored pillows of different sizes to the furniture, this will modernize last seasons look.

Now for the real fun part! Add your personal style by decorating, this doesn’t mean you have to go out and buy everything new.  Use everyday products you may have found when spring cleaning.

Here are ideas with products most everyone has laying around

-Take an old pair of boots fill with dirt and use as a planter

-Take glass bottles and jars and use as vases to give a rustic feel decorate with burlap, rope, and lace

-Create your own monogram planter by taking and old pot and painting it and then adding the first letter of your last name.

Have fun and add your own style, with some creativity you can have a place you will love to come home to and will radiate the fresh charm of spring before anyone even enters it!

• Paint oversized stripes on the walls. This style is fun, yet soothing and easy to change if you pick one color of stripe to paint over in the future.
• Newborns can only see black, white and gray. As their sight develops, the first color they recognize is red; however, avoid red in a nursery because it can create confusion to a newborn when it’s the only color they see. So when you are building a home, the baby’s room should consist of softer tones, like blues, greens and pinks.
• A changing table requires lots of accessible storage within arm’s reach. Try keeping diapers opened and stacked in a basket or drawer so its easy to reach.
• For creative art, frame pictures from old children’s books. Adding different shapes to the wall can make the wall look interesting for the baby. A row of framed pages can be interactive for a child as he learns to read, as well as fill a large blank wall in a contemporary way.
• For a timeless interior design in a nursery, don’t be afraid to add sophistication. Enlarge a monogram of the infant’s initials on the wall for a classic design element that still celebrates your newborn in a personal way.

• Wallpaper or a large graphic is a great way to add a lot of style in a quick and durable way. By choosing a classic stripe pattern in youthful colors, you can achieve a look that won’t have to change, as your child gets older.
• Adding a dimmer switch will help change the mood when reading a bedtime story and can also help save on the electric bill.

Floors can make or break the look of house designs. Here are some flooring trends that can bring style and function to any space.

Concrete: Thanks to a multitude of available colors, textures and finishes available, concrete is trendy, sleek and durable as time itself.  It can be very cost effective, however, since fashion often comes at a cost, it’s a very hard surface that is not comfortable to walk all day.

Large-format tiles: In the world of tiles, there is an explosion of shapes, sizes, materials and patterns. Large tiles have been gaining more popularity lately than the traditional 12” X 12” tiles.

Luxury vinyl: No we are not talking about that peel-and-stick people used. It is a new category of flooring that combines classy look of hardwood or stone floor with the durability of vinyl. It stands up to moisture and is a natural fit for kitchens, bathrooms and laundry rooms.

Good old hardwood floor: If your home building plans consists of a sustainable wood flooring, hardwood floor is perfect for you. These floors are usually produced in the United States instead of having to import. Hardwood floors made with oak, hickory, maple, and heart pine are making a comeback.

Cork: Like we mentioned in our previous post, cork is taking up a remarkable place in flooring trends. It has amazing acoustic-insulating qualities and very comfortable to walk on compared to tiles and hardwood floors.

Reclaimed woods: Thanks to the factory-finished hardwood floor that offers all the charm of reclaimed timber and timeless hand-hewn look without the outrageous price of true salvaged lumber. It has a great capacity to withstand moisture variation.

Bamboo: Bamboo comes in variety of colors and styles that can fit perfect right into your interior design. Bamboo is as hard as most hardwood floor when dried. There are new products called strand-woven bamboo that are produced using the inner fibers, which are twice as hard as traditional bamboo flooring. It can be used to mimic the classic look of hardwood floor as well.

Go to our Pinterest account at http://pinterest.com/jordahlhomes/ and browse through our custom home designs that fits your flooring needs!

The right lighting can transform a home into a retreat and a room into a masterpiece. When lights are put together with a great interior design, you’ll get the perfect partnership.

Ambient

Ambient is a hidden source of light that washes a room with a glow. It flattens an interior design and creates very little shadow. A wall sconce is an example of ambient lighting, as are paper lanterns. Use of a dimmer can also provide ambient light.

Task

Task lighting is just that; lighting that’s used to perform daily activities. Effective task lighting enhances visual clarity and keeps the eyes from getting tired, so it needs to be glare-free

Accent

Directional lighting or lighting that adds interest or highlights a certain part of your interior design or unusual architectural feature in a room. A bulb and some kind of shield to direct the light are all that’s needed for this type of lighting. Halogen spotlights and table lamps with opaque shades are good ways to achieve accent lighting.

Aesthetic

Lighting itself can be a work of art for your interior design. A neon sculpture would be purely decorative and an example of aesthetic lighting. A spotlight illuminating a statue on a pedestal or portrait on the wall is also artistic. This type of lighting also needs to be used along with other lighting types.

Natural

The last light that we can’t skip is natural lights like sunlight, candlelight and firelight. This is light that moves and is sometimes referred to as kinetic. The quality of natural light, sunlight in particular, depends on many things — time of day, weather, what season it is. Fall has a different light than summer, for instance. The setting sun gives a different kind of light than midday sun.

Decks have become less of a wooden platform and more of an outdoor room.Transform your deck into a relaxing and restful retreat with these simple deck design ideas.

Add water

We have been witnessing tile backsplash trends gaining popularity in recent years. From traditional and understated to contemporary and whimsical, there are so many options available to choose from.

The perfect interior design for a kitchen will transform a space from just a cooking place to a wonderful area to live and entertain. Kitchen backsplashes can provide the foundation on the décor scheme and help with the way you feel about your space.

Tile

Tile is the most common choice for a kitchen backsplash. Depending upon the type of tile chosen, home builders can add your choice of personal touch in your space. Tiles can be made from glass, metal, stone, or natural ceramic featuring everything from simple geometric patterns to designs like apples or flowers.

Texture

Textured backsplashes can add depth and create a unique look for your house design. While past trends emphasized on using bold colors of tiles for backsplashes, these days the trend is to use raised tiles that play with light and cast interesting shadows. This can come in many forms, including rough stone tiles weave or wave patterned glass tiles, which continue regular dips and curves across the whole surface of your backsplash.

One Big show piece

With backsplash tiles, it is becoming popular to put a large tile focal point on the area above your stove and below your range hood. This area offers a nice blank canvas cutout from between your kitchen cabinets, and can be used in a variety of ways. Custom designs that are painted, and unique raised tiles add a dramatic and personalized flair to the space.

For more pictures and backsplash kitchen tile design ideas, go to http://pinterest.com/jordahlhomes/ and enjoy planning your kitchen design for your custom homes.

Start small

As custom home builders, we know how overwhelming it can be to find the right paint color for new homes. Dilemmas when choosing the right color are very common, so if you are not sure where to begin with colors, experiment in a small hall, accent wall, and bathroom or powder room. The process can be a fun adventure if you pick a favorite color form an artwork, a rug, dishes or furniture piece.

Consider your mood

Consider how you want to feel in every part of home. Do you want to feel restful and soothing in your bedroom? Or dramatic and intimate? Soft, cool colors and neutrals usually create a relaxing feeling while stronger colors can create drama. Warmer, contrasting and brighter colors can add a friendly atmosphere to you dining room, while deeper-blue greens and neutrals can give a more formal setting.

Colors and lighting

A lot of paint stores have light boxes where you can test paint chips because paint colors can vary with the type of light. Natural daylight shows the exact color, however, incandescent lighting brings out warm and yellow undertones and fluorescent lighting casts a sharp blue tone. A bright color right next to a large window can be overpowering but it can look attractive when used as an accent wall with indirect lighting.

Depth with decorative finishes

House designs with flat, dull walls can be turned into an interesting personalized space with subtle or dramatic visual texture. Burnished metal/mineral finishes and layered colors glazes can add depth. Mica, copper, pewter, antiqued silver and gold can help you achieve the depth perception on a regular wall. Monochromatic schemes Build a home with walls that have bold or subtle variations within one color group with contrasting paint finishes. For an accent color, select warmer or cooler color to complement your main color group. For a more subtle ambiance, try not using colors that are bright.