New Home Features

When building there are so many new home features to choose from – though it’s exciting, some can find the amount of choices a bit daunting. It’s inevitable that you will be met with options that you hadn’t even considered. We’re here to share our knowledge so you can get a jump on the building process – it will make you feel more confident going into the design phase.

Must Read Articles About New Home Features :

Exterior of a home with a tan colored entry doro

5 Essential Front Door Color Ideas to Choose From

The color you choose for your front door ultimately defines your house in terms of class, style, and taste. There are several front door color ideas that you can choose from — however, they should fit in with the overall palette of your home. Choosing your front door color will depend on the color of your house, your preferences, and how you’ve decorated. Here are five bold front door colors and tips on how to pick them.

exterior of a two story home with a garage and deck

10 Popular Custom Home Customizations

Customizations take a new home from typical to tailor-made. So, if personalization is what you crave, why settle for ordinary when it comes to your dream home? Here are 10 popular customizations you might love in your new home.

Everything You Need to Know About Ranch Homes

Learn why the one-story, open layout has made a comeback. The common saying, “as American as baseball and apple pie” could easily add “ranch homes.” A study released by the National Association of Home Builders shows two-thirds of home buyers (64%) would like a single-story home. To better understand the demand, here are some reasons the single story structure is popular again.

Closeup of Quartz Countertops in a kitchen

Quartz Versus Granite Countertops

Designing a house opens the doors to tons of options. Picking out the countertops in a new home for your food preparation and eating areas might be one of the most enjoyable aspects of your building project. Quartz and granite offer their pros and cons, so it’s important to have a baseline understanding of each before you make your final selection.

Recent New Home Features Articles:

An organized life

Square footage costs money in a home. Nowadays, it's averaging upwards of $100 per square foot. That means closet space is expensive. Let's say you've got a 6' x 10' walk-in closet. That's 60 square feet, or approximately $6,000. Depending on the layout, you might have 2 sides with 10-feet of hanging on each side and about 3-feet more hanging on the end. This is referred to as 23 lineal feet of hanging. Enlarging the closet to 8' x 10' adds 20 square feet (about $2,000) but provides on... [Read More]

The New Value Equation

We've never seen a home with too much storage in the bathroom. This reality has given rise to larger vanities providing added cabinet storage. It has also ushered in the countertop center upper cabinet which not only adds handy storage right where you want it, but effectively creates two distinct vanity spaces. In turn, this provides natural wall spaces for framed mirrors that add an artwork touch. Another beautiful illustration of practical + aesthetic = value! [Read More]

House warming

Whether bedrooms, flex space, or an upstairs play room, finishing off living space over your garage is inexpensive square footage that makes your home live larger. But it takes careful attention to make sure this space is comfortable year-round. Insulation - Properly insulating this space requires extra air-sealing measures to keep these rooms comfortable. That means lots and lots of caulking joints during construction to prevent air leakage plus as much insulation as you can get. Expa... [Read More]

Can you swing it?

Canadian residential designer Nita Hull of Homes That Flow instructs her clients to factor in all door swings. The full door swings (not just 45-degrees as shown on some home plans). And not just the primary doors accessing rooms, but all doors, including cabinet doors and appliance doors, too. This can be extremely revealing. Do you have to jog out of the way if you are standing at the kitchen sink and want to open the dishwasher door? If you open the refrigerator door, can someone still ... [Read More]

Building a Case

A staircase is often seen as a means to an end. Unless you can budget for an elevator, you need stairs to reach the second floor. But a staircase can be so much more than a predictable design element, it can be a signature element of design. The 4 home designs shown demonstrate variations to staircase location. The Richmond includes a traditional center entry foyer with a straight run of stairs. The Cumberland has an “L” design and opens to the second floor. The Jamestown features a “U” st... [Read More]

Lookin’ Good!

A hallmark of "high design" are the views through your home. Not just the views from the front entry, but everywhere. Literally, we mean everywhere! In creating a new home plan, we actually imagine the views from virtually every spot in the home. What do you see as you look down that hallway...stand in front of the kitchen sink...or open your bathroom door? The time to think through views is at the design phase-not during construction. If the hall bathroom door is open, do you see the t... [Read More]

What Room is Small and Often Overlooked?

The laundry room may not be at the top of the priority list but it sure serves an important function. Walking into your home from the garage and viewing the washer and dryer with clothing piled up that needs washed can be depressing and has fallen out of favor with most buyers today. They much prefer entering a rear foyer with closet, drop zone and bench with lockers. The laundry room is often located near the rear foyer but is screened with a door. A shelf will address storage and ... [Read More]

A little more time on the weekends

With so many decisions to keep track of, it's easy to overlook something like kickboards alongside the stairs. But if you have drywall walls on one or both sides of your staircase, kickboards are something you'll truly appreciate, in terms of maintenance (i.e., cleaning scuff marks) and minimizing drywall damage! [Read More]

Wider is Better

While wider stairs might be seen as a mere luxury or even a waste of space, never will they be more appreciated than when you are moving furniture in your home. Wider stairs leading to the second floor in our home were welcome when it came to moving in the beds and dressers. But standard, 40"-wide stairs coupled with two 90-degree turns leading to the basement meant knocking a huge hole in the drywall in order to get a sofa in the basement! The wider-stair solution typically just involves a l... [Read More]

#TrendAlert: What’s Trending in Home Lighting

Lighting is one of the most important elements of a home. The right lighting creates an inviting environment and sets the scene for entertaining guests, while largely impacting the perceived value of your home. We are proud to partner with Progress Lighting to bring you high quality fixtures that display up-to-date design trends. Progress Lighting understands the marketplace and offers lighting solutions that complement the latest home furnishings. Read on to learn 5 Top Lighting Trends... [Read More]