A grand front entry portico or a vintage wrap around deck will never go out of style. Even unique entry doors can make a home stand out 365 days a year. However, the playing field can be leveled when it comes to the holiday season! While various decorations are popular in December, Halloween brings out the best in scary ghouls and carved pumpkins. What better way to greet trick or treaters (aside from the candy they know they’re about to get!
Blue Stone Patios
Adding a blue stone patio to your home means increasing the value of your home. This offers you a place where you can relax and spend ample time with your family and friends. Obviously, before undertaking a remodeling project, one must first look at the cost or expenses that the work will incur. Thus, one needs prior adequate planning after deciding that he or she wants to install a blue stone patios to their homes. They also come in two different types that is the thermal and irregular designs. The irregular blue stone pavers can have an average cost of about $4 to $8 per square foot while the thermal blue stone pavers usually can have an average cost of about $5 to $8 per square foot so it is up to the user or buyer to decide which one best suits his or her needs. The blue stone is always preferred by many home users due to its strength and durable capabilities. This also makes it a good choice for patios and other outdoor areas that usually receives high amount of traffic.
Blue painted ceilings can be found on porches across America, often for different reasons. Historians say the blue porch ceiling was born in South Carolina, where a group of African descendants believed that ghosts, or “haints,” couldn’t cross water. In painting their porches blue, they trusted the spirits would be confused by the water-colored hues and tricked into thinking they couldn’t enter their home. The school of thought became so popular in the South, that no matter the color blue, blue exterior home accents were dubbed Haint Blue.
Even as the ghost legend faded, porch ceilings continued to be painted blue in the South and across the United States. Many homeowners paint their porch ceilings blue as a bug repellent. It’s said that insects won’t nest on blue ceilings because they are fooled into thinking that the blue painted surface is actually the sky. Continue reading
Planning a porch design is more than just structure, columns, and roof lines. Collectively, considerations must be given to lifestyle. How and when will the porch be used. Will the gatherings be intimate or entertaining. Perhaps flexibility of use is key.
Enjoy these porch photos from houzz.com and see how they have been decorated and furnished. Which is your favorite? Which would be serve the needs of your family? Continue reading
The Craftsman style home was a revolution in American architectural design, and they were built all over the nation between 1905 and 1930. In the late part of the twentieth century, the Craftsman home became popular again, with architects restoring older Craftsman houses and building new replicas. Like many design elements of the Arts and Crafts period, the Craftsman home is a work of art as well as a functioning dwelling. The Craftsman home has a distinctive style which is instantly recognizable to architecture students, contractors, and aficionados of the Arts and Crafts movement.
The Craftsman home was popularized by several designers, including Gustav Stickley, Charles Sumner Greene, and Henry Mather Greene. All of these men were iconic figures in the Arts and Crafts movement, and the Craftsman home became a natural extension of the furniture and art they created. The Craftsman has its roots in the bungalow, a low slung, comfortable home which originates in India. Continue reading
Any type, size, or style of porch with a great view is a GREAT PORCH!
Check out these porches and some fantastic views and settings. Most likely it will be difficult to just choose one favorite. Continue reading