Contemporary Farmhouse Kitchen Tags

Emphasis on the Outdoors, This sleek, small home (plan 484-6) opens along most of its side to flow seamlessly onto the impressive deck. Here's a look from inside: Wow! Can't you imagine this at a lakefront or mountain location? The bedroom even has room for a queen or king bed....

The layout for Green Living Plan 497-46 shows a wet bar between the kitchen and the dining room, which is a very practical solution. The perfect spot for a bar may be in a corner of the great room that would be tough to furnish. On the occasions when you...

Once tenants move in, they pay minimal rent and utilities (e.g. $300 a month rent for a 300-square-foot home and an estimated electric bill of less than $35 per month). After three years, tenants are offered a contract to rent to own their homes within four years. This lengthy process...

Board-and-Batten Siding. The board-and-batten look, originally associated with farmhouses, is showing up on the exterior of homes of all stripes -- as you can see in some of Houseplans.com most popular new designs, like Plan 430-156, above. It’s also being used for decoration inside homes. Batten strips add texture to...

When choosing a floor plan, assess how much your family will use these outdoor leisure amenities. Similar to a large yard, it looks beautiful when you keep up with it, but can look terrible if you don’t. Ensure you want the added responsibility of keeping up with the outdoor plan...

Keep your views unobstructed. Keep the Space Open. Allowing open views from each area to the next is key in open floor plans. Be stylish but strategic with placement; don’t clutter the sight lines with tall bookcases or inappropriately large furniture or accessories. For example, an arch lamp over the...

The ranch house floor plan is a shining example of the American Dream in its purest form. It was then, and remains today, the most widely built housing style ever seen in America. This house plan style had its heyday from 1949 to 1965 for several reasons....

Sports parties are a whole other ballgame (so to speak!). When I edited Builder magazine, we often hosted super bowl parties in show homes. Even though the game was running on multiple screens, guests tended to congregate around one screen in particular so that they could, in effect, watch the...