Vote for Paul Fikse!

Our Vice President, Paul Fikse, is currently running for Byron Center Public School Board in the upcoming election on May 3, 2011. Paul is involved in the community through his three children currently attending Byron Center schools. You may have seen him at one of many equestrian, swimming, volleyball, baseball and other sporting events that he has been involved with and attended over the years. Fikse has most recently added participation in the Watch Dog Dads program to his contribution to the school district. According to Fikse, "it is undeniable how important the education of our children is. The knowledge and skills they learn in the classroom and in extra curricular activities will serve each student in developing the framework for the rest of their life. This is noteworthy both as a parent and for the community at large." He has always been a big proponent for public education after growing up in a large school district in the suburbs of Chicago. Fikse says, "I've always worked towards excellence, and given the opportunity to join the school board, I will work with that same goal in mind while also being a positive influence on the education system in Byron Center." Vote for Paul Fikse on May 3, 2011!

Architectural Tutorial: Shingle Style

The Shingle style is an architectural style that is uniquely American. Simply defined, it a style in which the entire building is covered in shingles. It developed in the late 1800's out of the Stick and Queen Anne styles because of a revived interest in colonial American architecture from the 17th century. The style is characterized by having a picturesque or rustic look, with irregular roof lines including hipped, gabled, or gambrel, free-flowing floor plans, open porches, and less variety in color and materials.*

Over the years, we have become known for our work in traditional residential architecture, including the numerous shingle style homes we have designed. Take a look at a few of our designs as well as some of our uniquely original variations.

This dramatic design, called the Westchester, takes its inspiration from the past but retains the best of the present.

Our most recognizable design - the Ingleside. The challenge of this modern version of the shingle-style was to recreate the classic look while avoiding the pitfalls of the original materials.

Touches of the ever-popular Shingle Style – from the cedar lap siding to the pitched roof – imbue the Wainsborough with all-American charm without sacrificing modern convenience.

Filled with traditional accents, this Shingle-style design, called Cypress Pointe, features a stylish exterior and a thoroughly livable interior.

The Blaine was inspired by both the relaxed aspect of the Shingle Style and the all-American Four Square found around the country.

Ideally suited for property across the street from a lake, this distinctive, shingle-style home is designed for primary viewing from its expansive wrap-around porch and myriad front-facing vantage points.

*sources: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/540781/Shingle-style,

http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/dictionary/index.asp?action=view&term_id=9251&term_type_id=3&term_type_text=things&letter=S

Room Guide: Laundry Rooms That Work For You

For many people, laundry day is the most dreaded day of the week. Sorting, washing, stain fighting, folding - it can be an exhausting task. But what if your laundry room could take some of that dread away by simplifying this household chore? Visbeen Associates designs laundry rooms for living - functional, cheerful and organized so that wash day becomes just another day of the week. According to Wayne, here are few key elements of a successful laundry room...


1. Systems: Develop a system for the coming and going of your laundry and make sure the storage in your laundry room properly adapts to that system. Baskets, cubbies, hanging space and plenty of counter space for folding are key elements of an effective laundry system, so be sure your laundry room accommodates.

The Wainsborough's laundry room has ample storage space and having a front-loading washer/dryer allows for additional counterspace.

Inverness' laundry room includes closed cubboard space, open shelving for cute touches and even a space for hanging clothes above the washer & dryer. This proves you don't need to have a lot of space to include key elements of a successful laundry room!

2. Multi-use: If you can have your laundry room serve multiple functions, it will be a more effective space. You can literally "multi-task" and get multiple chores done at the same time as doing the laundry when you have a home management system built right in. For some of our clients, we have incorporated sewing space so that their clothes would never again be lost in mending never-never-land. Or we have built in pet accessories into the space so that they aren't taking up floorspace. Constantly tripping over a doggie bed under toe can make any task less enjoyable!

The laundry room for Two Creeks is a great example of multi-use. This room has a built-in doggie bed in the corner to keep the home's kanine out of the working area.

Sunset View's laundry space not only displays great storage solutions, but the wrapping paper station under the open shelving also shows another way of creating a multi-functional space. Why not get your wrapping done while waiting to switch a load?

3. Windows: If your home allows for it, we recommend having a window in your laundry room. No one wants to feel cooped up while they are working, so why not have a nice view of the outdoors while you sort and fold? And if you are able to put a window, that means that your laundry would be on an outside wall of the home, making it much easier for venting to go to the outside. Efficiency, efficiency, efficiency!

Pemberley's laundry room has a large window, allowing for ample daylight to illuminate the space at the same time as providing a great view of the home's beautiful surrounding landscape.

In this laundry room, using the sink also means being able to enjoy the outdoors through the window.

4. Workspace Adjacency: The age old question of where to place the laundry - do you put it on the main floor, next to the master bedroom or upstairs by the other bedrooms? Our answer - place it near where you work. If you spend a good portion of your time cooking, place it near the kitchen. If you spend the majority of your time in your upstairs living spaces, then place it near your favorite spots upstairs. Your laundry experience will be more efficient and enjoyable if you do not have to travel so far from where you work to the laundry room.

The Stafford's laundry room keeps in mind all of the key elements of a successful space - ample counterspace, systematic storage, a place for hanging clothes and it is located on the main level of this home, close to the kitchen and with a great view of the backyard pool. This homeowner can complete the laundry chore, enjoy the view and still keep an eye on the kids playing out back - a true multi-tasker!

We cannot talk about laundry room placement without including Two Creek's laundry room. This room is located on the main level of the home with a dutch door to the back hallway directly across from the home management center and a pocket door to the right which leads to the pantry connected to the kitchen. A great way to stay connected to the kitchen workspace without guests being able to view directly into the laundry room.

So with just a few key elements, instead of your laundry putting you to work, you can have a room that works for you!

Home Design Furniture

Home Design Furniture It would be costly to change the existing decor or furniture unless you really plan on overhauling your existing design. If you only plan to customize and add new ones that would complement your existing design then match it with well before adding new ones. Check the existing decor and re evaluate. 

If it really is annoying to your design then that’s the time you remove it. 

Lake Home Designs

Lake Home Designs Gehan Homes has been building quality houses in Texas’ budding neighborhoods for the past 35 years. It is a regional outfit but that gives it an advantage in identifying with the smallest customers and adapting to their needs and preferences. The professional design and construction teams behind Gehan Homes are all customer focused. As a people-centered company itself, Gehan Homes values its customers as it values its employees. 

The result is excellent customer service provided by committed and motivated personnel at Gehan Homes.

Contemporary Homes Designs

Contemporary living room furniture, in fact, is so exciting because it experiments with new materials like molded plywood, tubular metals, cast aluminum, fiberglass-reinforced plastic, bent and welded wire mesh, and vinyl. The accent is on a monochromatic color scheme that is deliberately understated - with dabs of color added in unexpected spots of the room to enhance the downplayed look. 

Contemporary Homes Designs, Popular Contemporary Homes Designs

Mountain Home Designs

Mountain Home Design Modular homes cost twenty- to forty- percent lesser than site-built homes. The cost savings occur in labor and materials. The prices of modular houses are in between mobile homes, that are lowest and site-built homes that are highest. Manufacturers of modular homes deliver good quality at low cost. A purchase department provides for all the raw materials and fittings. 

Modular homes are given the loans at lowest rates and optimum terms. The cost of a modular home changes as per the building lot and the size and style of house

Underground Homes Designs

Underground Homes Designs Underground homes appeal to people for a variety of reasons. One of their biggest advantages is that the layer of earth surrounding them serves as insulation, making them easier to heat. 

The large thermal mass created means that temperatures are also more stable, making underground homes seem more comfortable than conventional homes. 

Eco Friendly Home Designs

Eco Friendly Home Designs For a piece of furniture to be considered green, it has to be recycled, repurposed, or made of any type of material which is considered sustainable. With rising costs, more and more people have mastered the art of repurposing their old furniture pieces and transforming these into new ones with brand new functions. For example, an old stool topped with a sheet of thick glass can be converted into a side table. An old dining room hutch can be given a new coat of paint and transformed into a book shelf.

Home Designs, Style Eco Friendly Home Designs

Brick Home Designs

Brick Home Designs The first and foremost important thing is location of the fireplace. The beginners might get the charm away by placing the fireplaces just at a wrong place in their home. So, in my opinion, the best place to build a fireplace is outside one's house, probably in the front yard. It will raise the aesthetic esteem as well as enhance the beauty of your outdoors. When you plan to build an outdoor fireplace that certainly helps to multiply your landscape value and cooking up some barbecues. 

They are accessible in all seasons and could be provided with gas fuel if you wish to.

Modern Home Design Plans

Modern Home Design Plans living in a two bedroom apartment, you will need modern fireplace design ideas that will match the decor of your home. A minimalistic home decor with chrome and steel fittings and abstract paintings will not match an opulent Victorian style fireplace. So you need a modern fireplace design plans for your home.

. The best designs in fireplaces that are suitable for a modern apartment are against the wall fireplaces that comes with a rectangular design and has a zinc finish.

Florida Home Designs

Florida Home Designs One of the space saving ideas and tips is to have each piece of furniture with some storage space. Like opting for trundle beds or double beds with storage. A trendy wall paneling pattern for an entire wall of the bedroom with storage space inside is a wonderful idea. This will help you give a lot of storage and at the same time appear as a stylish wall design spicing up the bedroom decor. 

Home Designs, Modern Florida Home Designs

Another decorating tips for small bedrooms is to have a large mirror on the wall opposite the window to create the illusion of space. Having multipurpose furniture is one of the useful interior design ideas for small spaces. Read more about home decorating.

Container Homes Design

Container Homes Design Creating a unique and interesting container garden design requires the use of certain tips and tricks. If you want to create an attractive garden, the thumb rule is to break through traditional barriers and norms of design and get as creative as you can. Also remember, the success and the beauty of your container garden largely depends on the kind of lighting that they require and that they are exposed to.

 Keep in mind all these details before you set about designing a beautiful container garden yourself. Take a look at some of these tips in creating an attractive container garden.

Prefab Home Designs

Prefab Home Designs Find a prefab design company. This is really when the fun begins. There are many choices out there, so do your homework. You will quickly realize that there are modern prefab designers and architects out there for just about every need and pocketbook. Check out companies such as Clever Homes, Michelle Kaufmann Designs, Marmol Radziner Prefab, and the Dwell Homes by Empyrean. 

Prefab Home Designs, Stylish and Classic Prefab Home Designs

Even IKEA is assembling homes for the European market. It wouldn’t surprise me to see them eventually make their way over to our shores.

Home Interior Designs

Home Interior Designs While doing the interior work of your log home, give special attention to shape of the logs and their color. The diameter of the logs to be used play a vital role in giving the log home a royal look. The use of logs with small diameter will possibly not help you achieve your objective. This means that larger the diameter of the logs, better will be the results.

 However, if you use logs with large diameter, the carpet area of your log homes should also be large. The individual rooms also need to be large enough to suit the logs.

3d Room Designer

3d Room Designer Sweet Home 3D is developed to design interiors quickly and easily: change the color or the texture of rooms, drag and drop furniture onto the plan from a catalog. With a fairly simple premise and impressive results, this slightly flawed program is certainly something to get the imagination going. You can navigate in it either from an aerial view point, or from a virtual visitor view point. While the results of Sweet Home 3D are impressive, demanding user can be slightly disappointed with its control. Placing items in the room will take some patience, as it feels rather clunky.

Designer, Paint 3d Room Designer, Best 3d Room Designer

Small Living Room Design

Small Living Room Design Modern living room designs look great with a fireplace. The fireplace is a focal point in the living room and makes the room look refreshing. The design of the fireplace should complement the room. Living room designs with fireplace will look more elegant and stylish if the size and placement of the fireplace is appropriate.

 The fireplace is usually at the center and for small living room designs, the fireplace with a walnut mantel can have subtle contours or clean lines to match the decor of the room.

Dressing Room Designs

Dressing Room Designs  Internet stores have catalogs with an extensive exhibition of pine furniture for children and youth to see and choose new and used models. It is very common but you can also search the pine furniture away from marriage because there may be convertible wooden bunk although I am not in favor of folding or folding bunk but it's just a personal opinion and rocking chairs that are comfortable for feed the baby shop. You can pay online furniture sales with credit card

Stylish and Classic Dressing Room Designs, Ideas Dressing Room Designs

Baby Rooms Design

Baby Rooms Design Boys are and will always be all about cars, football, airplanes and video games! So, why not style baby room designs for boys that are based on these boyish interests Let us take a look at few great baby room designs for boys. 

Airplanes are objects of adrenaline rush in young boys. By choosing airplanes as a theme for baby room designs, you are actually inspiring your son to be an Air-force pilot in the future! Design the entire room in shades of white and blue

Study Room Design Ideas

Study Room Design Ideas The first thing one has to keep in mind, while discussing room decorating ideas for guys, is the tastes and preferences of the guy whose room is being decorated. Another thing that you need to keep in mind, is the age of the boy. The decoration which you will decide on will last 3-4 years, so it is essential that the decoration doesn't get 'too childish' or 'outdated', according to the child. 

So now, I am going to break up this article on room decorating for guys into different parts, so that it becomes easy to understand.