Contemporary Mediterranean Homes Tags

Home floor plans have come a long way in layout and feel. Long hallways have been replaced with half walls, and dark rooms now get natural light from the perimeter adjacent rooms. The open floor plan concept is not for every family. Use these tips to see if it will...

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...

Imagine if you could walk the best model homes throughout the country, hunting for the latest design ideas for your new home? The next best thing -- for those of us who don’t have a six-figure travel budget -- may be to take a virtual tour through winning projects in...

But now merchant builders are using shiplap siding in family rooms, stucco to frame showers in Mediterranean designs, and concrete block to form the interior walls of contemporary homes. Plan 888-3 uses board and batten siding on the walls of the second living room to reinforce an indoor-outdoor feeling. In...

Determine how much art work you have to hang: Art work, especially large pieces require space to hang. Since open floor plans are removing many of the dividing walls between rooms, the area to hang and display artwork will be minimal compared to a closed floor plan....

Have you done your research on the functionality of the appliances and space arrangements? How about the aesthetics and maintenance of the materials you chose? Does the improvement help to accommodate the growing needs of your family? Will it continue to be of service after 5 years? 10 years? These...

Ask a real estate or design professional for guidance. While you may know what you want in your future home, a design professional or realtor could help you consider factors that aren’t tangible to the eye and touch. Factors such as energy savings/costs, possible affordability of mortgage payments, location to...

The first Houseplans.com tiny home has already been completed. It's Plan 48-641 (shown below as built in Detroit, and in another version at the top of this post) a 300-square-foot Tudor-style home that features a fireplace, a large front window and a spacious back deck for outdoor living space, and...

Advice, "If I were to make any major changes, I would get rid of the fireplace. It just ended up being a huge hassle with everything that goes into building a gas fireplace -- the gas lines, etc." Dean's key recommendation: "Never hire anyone on time and materials. Always do...