Home Building

How To Choose An Interior Paint Finish

Knowing how to select the correct paint gloss, also known as paint finish, for your interior paint project is key to getting the look you really want and the durability required for a particular room.

There are basically six or seven levels of finish for interior paint (depending on what resource you're looking at). Why are there so many different types? Why is it important to know the characteristics of each type? Which gloss should you use for each room in your house?

Enough questions. Now for some answers.

Continue reading: Interior Paint Finish Guide

Try Your Hand At Rag Rolling Painting

A few years ago, we wanted to change the look of the walls of our foyer and living room in our house to have a rag painting effect using an basecoat of yellow latex paint with a slightly darker glaze. More specifically, I used a method called rag rolling paint off. This is a great diy project for homeowners looking for something a little different other than just the run-of-the-mill paint job.

Rag rolling paint off was not that difficult to do, although it required a good game plan, quick hands and a lot of patience. I'll explain what I mean by all of that later on. You'll do fine...so let's get started.

Continue reading: Rag Painting

Homeowner Insurance: Tips For Getting Low-Cost Home Insurance

In the depths of the recession, current homeowners and new home buyers are more focused than ever on keeping the cost of home ownership as low as possible, which means discount diving on insurance coverage.

Beyond the tried and true "raise your deductible," there are a number of factors that have a bearing -- both directly and indirectly -- on getting the lowest cost home insurance:

Continue reading: How To Get Lower Insurance Rates

Creative Ideas For An Oversized Garage

It's time that I posted another installment of Dumb Homebuilding Ideas here on The Fun Times Guide To Home Building. The topic for this "dumb idea" article is an huge, oversized garage with a very high ceiling.

The ceiling in this garage has got to be 18-20 feet in height and probably 22' D x 32' W. The square footage is not the issue. It's the height (or cubic ft.). Why in the world would the builder construct a garage with a ceiling so high? And look at the placement of the windows.

Continue reading: High Ceiling Garage

Classic and Creative Open Staircase Designs

Houses with open floor plans are some of my favorites. I love the sight  lines that it creates and the "elbow room". One feature that many homes do not have, including some homes with open floor plans, is an open staircase design.
 

I enjoy seeing the variations of craftsmanship involved that showcase beautiful newel posts, handrails and balusters. Show me lots of iron and you've got a fan!

Continue reading: Open Staircase Designs

Build An Outdoor Privacy Screen

A man's home is his castle. If the lack of privacy in the backyard of your "castle" makes you feel like you are living in a fishbowl, then it's time you made some plans to provide some aesthetically-pleasing privacy screening for your humble abode. The best way to do that is with an outdoor privacy screen structure of one type or another. I've got some free privacy screen plans and some cool ideas to help you in your decision-making process.

Before you begin making plans for your privacy screen you should find out if there are any local ordinances or neighborhood covenants that would prevent you from building the privacy screening of your choosing. You should also consider the view that your neighbors will have once you have completed your project. There's no sense in ruffling any feathers. You never know when you'll have to borrow a cup of sugar and a few eggs.

Continue reading: Outdoor Privacy Screen

Vern Yip's Dining Room Design at The Willcox

I've written a couple of articles about The Willcox hotel lobby and Roosevelt Suite located in Aiken, SC recently. As I stated in the first post on The Willcox, there is much history surrounding it, old and new. This post will cover something a little more recent, yet still spectacular. A Vern Yip designed Grand Dining Hall.

photo credit via VernYip.com

If you've watched any amount of HGTV  (think back to the highly successful Trading Spaces), then you know who Vern Yip is and how elegantly creative his work is. Besides running an extremely successful Atlanta-based interior design practice and retail product line, he plays host to HGTV's Design Star and also Deserving Design. Vern is a busy man.

Continue reading: Vern Yip's Wall Design

The Lobby of The Willcox Sets The Mood

I was invited by a friend for a private tour of The Willcox hotel while visiting my family in Aiken, SC for the holidays. Upon my arrival, with camera in hand, I entered this historic old hostelry not really knowing what to expect inside. I've driven by the regal, white-columned building hundreds of times (it was my old hometown) sometimes pondering the interior architectural detail, et cetera. One of the very first things I noticed when I stepped into the well-appointed lobby was the unusual looking, while beautiful, wood paneling on the walls.

After taking a few minutes to take a few choice photos, I was greeted by my friend at the desk. One of the first questions out of my mouth was about the wood paneling, specifically, what type of wood since I didn't recognize any type of wood with that amount of burls in such close proximity to one another. The burled grain and the richness of color found on its surface is highly unusual. She informs me that it is original to the building and that it is a type of wood called curly pine. It was so popular at the time it was built that, unfortunately, it is now thought to be extinct.

I've got a few more photos later on in the read, including some photos of the hand-hewn oak timber ceiling and the (twin) opposing fieldstone fireplaces.

Continue reading: Curly Pine Wood Paneling

The Willcox Roosevelt Suite - The Lap of Luxury

My hometown of Aiken, South Carolina is a beautiful place to visit, a great place to live and, apparently, a great place to retire, as well. There is so much history to absorb in Aiken, yet I was totally oblivious to it all when I lived there as a kid. Although, there is one historic building in particular that I've been in awe of even when I was a teen.

It wasn't until I was thirty-something before I realized what a gem-of-a-town Aiken truly is. There are so many activities going on throughout the year, not to mention that residents of Aiken know a thing, or two, about true Southern hospitality. People actually drive the posted speed limits in Aiken, too! That's a welcome contrast to today's hectic lifestyles most of us lead these days.

 The Willcox, also known as the Willcox Inn to many Aiken natives was based upon Second Empire and Colonial Revival styles of architecture. It was first opened to guests in 1900, guided by Cheshire, England native, Frederick Sugden Willcox along with his Swedish wife, Elise. It's a beautiful spectacle to behold. There have been many renovations over the years to get it to this point and it is currently owned and operated by The Garrett Hotel Group.

I have so much I've been wanting to discuss about The Willcox that I've decided that it would be best to break it up into a few different blog posts to best serve each sub-topic. In this post, I will be jotting down my thoughts regarding Room 304, the highly regarded and historic Roosevelt Suite. I also want to share some photos I took on a private tour given by a friend (couldn't believe my luck!)

Continue reading: The Willcox - Roosevelt Suite

The i-House Is Breaking New Ground

Recently, I posted an article about what it takes for a home to be ENERGY STAR-rated. One of the latest green prefab homes in the works and being made available for purchase in the near future is the i-House. It is designed and built by one of the nation's largest makers of manufactured (mobile) homes and prefabricated houses,  Clayton Homes of Marysville, TN. It's an ENERGY STAR rated home, so there's nothing ordinary about it. You may not believe your eyes!

 "Vintage mobile home"

No, the mobile home you see in the photo above is not the Clayton Homes i-House. It's a far cry from it. I wanted to show the sharp contrast of manufactured mobile homes of days-gone-by vs. what is available to consumers today (see the photo of the new and improved version of manufactured housing further along in this post).

Continue reading: The New i-House