Thinking of relocating over the summer or sometime soon?

You're not alone.

Here are the Top 10 Best Places to Live in the U.S A. for 2007.

Illustration: Dave Shelton

Want a fun way to liven up your bathroom? How about an aquarium toilet tank to keep your fishy friends in.

Yes...I said an AQUARIUM TOILET TANK.

This is The Fun Times Guide to Homebuilding you know.

Care to take a look at an underwater adventure you won't soon forget?

I know you're probably sitting there thinking..."I wonder what the latest design trends in toilets are these days?" or "How well do those low-flow; aka water-conserving; or better yet, those new high-efficiency toilets (HET's) really work?"

Maybe you're thinking..."I need a new toilet to replace the leaky, old, water-wasting, don't wanna flush right, runs all night, cold & skinny seat, gotta push the handle down myself... toilet I've got now.

Lucky for you I just happen to have a few of the latest design trends and HET's to show you that appeared at the 2007 Kitchen and Bath Industry Show in Las Vegas recently.

I think you'll be pleased with some of the latest toilet designs that are likely to cause a stir in the near future.

I made a return visit to the English cottage that I've featured in recent months and was greeted by homeowner and custom homebuilder Jerry Bonner, of Bonner Custom Homes. With Jerry's permission, I was allowed to tour his home and snap a few photos of the finished product. It was truly an honor!

One feature inside his house that caught my eye (among many) were the stained cork flooring tiles he had installed in the basement. It's no ordinary basement but I'll save that for upcoming posts.

Natural cork flooring tiles are fast becoming the hottest trend in today's homebuilding market for good reason.

Here's why...

We recently completed removing old wallpaper and painting our master bathroom. Preparing the walls of our bathroom to paint and caulk was the hard part although the most important. Painting and caulking, to me, is the fun and easy part of this DIY home project in comparison to what it took to get to this point.

The best part of the whole ordeal is knowing that the final product looks as good, or better, than as if a professional had done the job and we saved ourselves a decent some of money in the process.

Here's how we did it.

Spackling and sanding drywall is fun! Ask anyone that's done it and they'll look at you and smile real wide.

OK...so the big smile may not mean they had fun spackling and sanding! What their smiling eyes are really trying to tell you is..."you really don't know what you're getting yourself into...do you?...but go ahead and knock yourself out."

Well...I've got news for the diy-type out there that hasn't tackled this particular project yet but is willing to give it a shot with good advice and is not afraid to get dirty.

YOU CAN DO IT!!!