If you need a few great tips to organize that oft-misused space...the garage...here are some quick links to get you started.

Updated 02/16/2008 with some great new garage organization ideas, solutions and storage systems.

Did you ever think you'd like to drill your own water well? Jerry Bonner of Bonner Custom Homes did. He put a plan into action at his new English cottage-style home at The Retreat. It never occurred to me that he would have a water well drilled on the property because he is within Marietta city limits.

Fact:
Did you know that there are over 15 million homes in the U.S. with water wells and over 6,000 are drilled per week.

When I was driving by his neighborhood on the way home from work the other day and saw a drill rig mast piercing upward through the trees, I had to stop in and see what was up. Jerry happened to be at the job site when I drove up so I took the opportunity to ask him about the water well. Here's what he had to say when I asked him about the water well...

The Tate House, a.k.a. The Pink Palace, in Tate, Georgia has so much history and character that I had to give it a second look. I recently made a trek from Dallas (GA) to Dawsonville (GA) and it took me right past the Tate House. You will definitely do a double-take if you happen to be driving down Georgia state route 53 through Tate. There's no way that you can miss it. I'm talking about a huge, old mansion constructed of very rare pink Etowah marble and solid granite blocks!

I was told that the gardens on the left side of the home were created in an Italian theme and the gardens on the right side were created in an English theme. The Italian side, to me, looks more Greek than Italian but I'm no expert on either subject.

If you have the time (and a high speed connection), I invite you to take a look at my photos of the exterior of the Tate House. It is a truly unique home simply because the vein of Etowah marble from the quarry (on the property behind the home) is exhausted and there is no more to be mined anywhere on the planet.

Paulding County, Georgia has an ample amount of beautiful acreage. Case in point: Celestial Breeze Subdivision offered by Virtual Properties Realty in north-central Paulding. We were on one of our home touring excursions recently and were literally just going where the little realty signs on the side of the road were taking us...through the high country of Paulding County. This is about as good as it gets here in our little part of the world...home touring-wise.

Welcome to a His & Her Custom Walk-In Closet with Dressing Area courtesy of the Senoia floor plan built by Donny Brook Homes in The Park at Anderson Farm in Marietta, Georgia. The floor plan and photo in the link provided above (in red lettering) is reverse of the home I toured.

There are two things to say about this large, his and her walk-in closet: Nice design and great storage capability.

If you've got an RV or motorhome these days, you've spent a pretty penny on all of the things needed that go along with hitting the road in your RV. Petro is expensive (Update: gas was around $2/gal when I wrote this...now in June '08 gas is over $4/gal and rising!!!), campsite reservations aren't cheap, not to mention the time and energy you've put into organizing a trip. When you've made your way back to your "stick home" you'll need somewhere to park your motorhome or RV.

Maybe you park your RV in a storage facility due to neighborhood by-laws, city ordinances or space constraints. Maybe you are able to keep your RV on your driveway or property. Consider yourself lucky. Some folks even go so far as to build a house that has a custom built garage for an RV or motorhome of their dreams.

Here's a great example of a custom built home with an RV garage located near Aiken, South Carolina.

Here are some of my thoughts that came to mind when I saw it.
 

I had the opportunity to see travertine tile inlay being used in a custom-crafted fireplace recently that had been installed in a fantastic new Charleston Row House-style home under construction in the heart of downtown Aiken, South Carolina. Various shades of tan to brown with specks of slate blue were interlaced within some of the tiles giving interior designer, Tara, the inspiration to give a coat of a complimentary blue paint in the master suite. This particular travertine tile was mined in Turkey and lends a touch of class to an already beautiful Charleston Row House-style home design plan.

Aiken homebuilder (and old schoolmate) H.L. "Buddy" Stevens, along with Tara, have undertaken quite a homebuilding project in this historic section of Aiken on Park Avenue. He has taken a rather obscure piece of real estate and made it a focal point for what's in store for that section of downtown Aiken. I lived in Aiken for several years and continue to visit family in Aiken on a regular basis and I can't (for the life of me) remember what used to sit on the property that Buddy has built this beautiful new home on. Quite a transformation!