The House Plan Shop Blog

You don’t have to own a money tree or take a month off work to spruce up your home and add some curb appeal. With a little imagination and creativity and a willingness to have fun, these DIY projects will give your home an inviting look and maybe even boost your property value.

1. Give the front door a fresh look. With a fresh coat of paint, your home will make a statement to the passers-by on the street. Bright red or a bold hue of blue will give classic Colonial and Cape Cod homes, as well as other styles, a striking look. Likewise, a good cleaning and a fresh coat of varnish will give natural wooden doors an elegant look.
2. Remodel your porch. Adding a new porch or remodeling the one you have is like giving your home a facelift. A small porch will accentuate the entry while a full-length porch or wrap-around porch will transform the look of your home and add outdoor living space.
3. Enhance your walkways. Be adventurous and try something other than traditional gray concrete walkways. There are all kinds of interesting pavers and stepping stones available at home improvement stores and landscaping centers. Build a walkway with bricks or paving stones and add a touch of enchantment and charm to your home.
4. Add a little life. Dress up your walkways, porch and entry with flowers and plants. Simple touches such as hanging flower baskets or ferns on the front porch, window boxes, potted plants on the steps, or a Japanese maple along the sidewalk can make the most ordinary home stand out in any neighborhood.
5. Add accent lighting. There are a variety of lighting fixtures that will dramatize your home from dusk to dawn, including solar power lighting. Add carriage lamps by the garage, decorative lighting on the covered front porch or landscape lighting along the driveway and walkways. You’ll give your home curb appeal from the dark street and increase safety.

By tackling just one or all of these curb appeal enhances, you’ll make your home stand out in the neighborhood and deliver a welcoming look to all who enter.

Tags: curb appeal, DIY projects, Home Decorating, Home Improvement, Lawn and Garden

Do you want to decorate your new home and give it a little pizzazz? One of the easiest ways to bring a room to life is with color. Decorating with color adds a personal touch while making the rooms in your home attractive and inviting. Before you begin take note: There is no such thing as an ugly color, but there are ugly color combinations. Now review the list of tips below to help you get some ideas for adding color and flair to your new home.

• Don’t mix two pure (undiluted) colors in the same room whether it is paint, fabric, flooring, etc. When used together or in close proximity, the primary colors (yellow, red and blue) can make a room seem over-stimulating and visually noisy. Undiluted colors work better with neutral colors. Trying pairing red with brown or gray, blue with beige and yellow with white or cream.
• Consider using color in unusual places. Paint the inside of a bookcase a unique color. Paint a wooden coffee table, end table or picture frame in an accent color that complements the room. Add throw pillows to the couch or a stylish vase on the mantle in a color that adds a little “pop” to the room.
• Use white wisely. In the absence of other colors, white loses its stunning power quickly and becomes an overwhelming backdrop or a quality of light. In a white room, anything that is not white will steal the show visually no matter how diluted the color. This also includes artwork, the area rug, tile floor and plants. So, if you are planning to paint a room white, be sure you love all the colored accessories in the room.
• Complementary colors (those that site opposite each other on the color wheel) can make a room look visually stimulating because they bring out the best in each other when used together correctly. For the best results, use one color in pure form and the other in a diluted, pastel or softened tone. Bright blue pairs nicely with a creamy peach color and bright yellow teams up well with a pastel lilac color.
• If you decide to combine a few pure colors, be sure to vary the texture and/or sheen to generate visual interest. Some examples of various textures include wood, stone, ceramic, metals, metallic paints, silk and other various fabrics. A varied array of textures will keep the room interesting even when just a few colors are used.

These are just a few tips for using color in your new home. The House Plan Shop recommends checking with your interior decorator for more advice about decorating with color.

Tags: decorating with color, Home Decorating, interior decorating

Modern day log home floor plans have come a long way since their primitive log cabin cousins once dotted the American frontier. Today, many home owners dream of having their very own log home. For some, the rustic styling and architecture is appealing. For others, log homes are more environmentally friendly than those made of manufactured materials. Still others have their own unique reasons for wanting to build a log house. If you are considering building a log home, take some time to review these thoughts covering a broad range of topics from energy efficiency to décor. Then, browse The House Plan Shop’s extensive collection of floor plans ranging from log cabin floor plans to robust dream log homes. 

·         Today’s log homes are generally comfortable and spacious, sometimes elegant. Those of the 1800s reflected the hardships of life on the North American frontier.

·         Log homes are built with natural materials including logs and stone that allow the home to blend seamlessly with nature and the surrounding landscape.

·         Log house plans encourage the enjoyment of nature and often incorporate decks, screened porches and large windows for taking in the sights and sounds of nature.

·         They are typically built on wooded lots and properties with natural views.

·         Log homes are often built to enjoy surrounding natural beauty, so skip the window treatments and let nature spill inside. If you absolutely must have window coverings, consider built-in blinds and simple cornices that will not detract from or block stunning views.

·         Consider energy costs before purchasing a floor plan. Choosing a log home plan with fewer intricate or special design features, such as two-story ceilings, will reduce energy costs.

·         Log home designs with a simple roofline and few corners and angles will reduce material and construction costs.

·         Log home floor plans with smaller square footages and efficiently divided rooms are more economical to build.

·         Log homes require regular maintenance to protect the logs and ensure structural integrity.

·         Natural décor and furnishings enhance the rustic living experience of a log home such as wood furnishings and log furniture, antler chandeliers, stone fireplaces, wood flooring and woven rugs.

·         Accent your furniture with various textures such as a leather pillow, a cedar chest or wool throw blanket.

·         Natural decorating themes are common in log homes such as wildlife, pinecones and water.

·         These homes offer all the modern day amenities of traditional houses from walk-in closets and gourmet kitchens to private master baths.

·         Log home plans offer a distinguished look far from the cookie-cutter homes predominant in most neighborhoods.

·         Log house are mighty, sturdy and enduring – timeless when compared to today’s trendy building and decorating fads.

·         If you’re not quite sure if a log home is for you, consider staying in a vacation rental for a couple of nights such as a long weekend to experience what it is like to live in a log house.

Taking time to consider various aspects of log house plans and log home living will help you decide of what size and style log home will be right for you.

Tags: Home Decorating, log home floor plans, log home plans, Log House Plans

If you are in the process of building a new home, chances are, you are thinking about how you plan to decorate the interior. Here is a quick decorating tip for you. If you’d like to unify two adjoining rooms, like the living and dining rooms for example, do it with color. Using the same color in different ways within each room will tie them together. They will be cohesive spaces, yet still very distinct. Consider this example:

Choose a neutral color for the dining room walls such as Sherwin Williams’ Kilim Beige. Carry this color scheme through the room using another shade of beige for the upholstery of the dining room chairs and perhaps an area rug. In the adjoining living room, select a completely different color for the walls such as Sherwin Williams’ Baize Green or Surprise Amber. Then, accent the living room walls with draperies of beige similar to the wall color in the dining room. Add couple other beige accents in the living room like lampshades or throw pillows on the couch. Finally, finish off both rooms with dark wood furniture further uniting both spaces.

From more information about interior decorating, visit The House Plan Shop’s resource page.

Tags: color, Home Decorating, interior decorating, tips

In many cases, the fireplace is positioned to be a focal point in the room. This is a great strategy if you plan to have a fire burning everyday with orange flames casting a friendly or cozy glow across the room. But face it. In the summertime, the dormant fireplace isn’t the most attractive thing to look at in the great room, bedroom, etc. So, dress up your fireplace with these suggestions.

·         Arrange potted plants in front of the fireplace. Use various plants to provide different textures, sizes, heights and shapes. Place them in decorative pots of different sizes and styles that complement your décor.

·         Create an artistic display by arranging pillar candles of various sizes inside the fireplace.

·         Place a unique piece of driftwood inside the fireplace.

·         Camouflage the dormant firebox by placing a pieced of framed artwork in front of the opening. You can prop the frame against the fireplace or put it on a stand in front of the fireplace.

·         Arrange baskets of natural items such as pinecones, smooth river stones or dried flowers on the hearth.

·         Place vases of fresh cut flowers on the mantle and group three or taller vases of flowers right in front of the fireplace.

Tags: fireplace, Home Decorating, interior decorating ideas, spring, summer