Once in your home, it is time to show off all of your hard work to family and friends alike. No matter whether you are entertaining for a weekend or the week, you’ll want to make sure your guests are as comfortable as possible. One way to achieve this is to create a welcoming guest room which meets all of your company’s needs. It’s not enough to just have a room where they can lay their heads at night you need to think as if your home were a five star hotel. Here a few ideas for making your guests feel like royalty:

• Make the bed inviting and so comfortable guests will melt into it and experience an incredible night’s rest. A feather bed and a set of fresh luxury sheets of 600 thread count or higher will do the trick. Top it off with a down filled comforter topped with a plush duvet in a soft fabric such as velvet or chenille.
• Place a nosegay or other fresh floral arrangement next to the bed and also in the bathroom if you have enough vanity space.
• Fill a crystal carafe with chilled water and set alongside several matching glasses. Place a bowl of fresh apples and oranges for a midnight snack.
• Illuminate the room with bedside lamps for reading or other activities. In case they need to jot down notes, be sure to leave a pen and pad by the bed. Don’t forget an alarm clock or clock radio.
• Outfit the bathroom with fresh, plump body and hand towels and washcloths, a new bar of soap, shampoo and conditioner. For an extra special touch offer a scented candle, matches and bath oil for a relaxing soak in the tub. Hang a white terry robe in XL at the ready in case they forgot their own.

While these are just a few ideas for making your guest’s stay an experience they will remember, keep in mind anything extra you do will not go unnoticed. Your hospitality coupled with your Fulton built home will have guests looking forward to each visit in your welcoming home.

Floral prints are often thought of and used during the Spring and Summer seasons. There are many ways to use these type prints for your home decorating. Florals can almost always go in any space, no matter the style. Florals can be traditional, modern, transitional, contemporary and even masculine.

When decorating with floral prints, remember to keep scale and proportions in mind. Large prints can fill up a large space or make a smaller space feel comfortable and exciting. Large prints on accent pillows can make quite a statement! Small repetitive prints should be used in small amounts. Many times people make the mistake of over-using small prints. A small print on a long 90-inch sofa can be repetitive and awkward.

Botanicals can be used as gender neutral fabric choice. Flowering botanicals can be added to almost any space because these prints simply add a natural feel. Botanical prints can also be seen in the form of tropicals. Tropical fabrics, can also be gender neutral. Various floral type prints are available for all seasons and different climate types.

Have fun incorporating floral prints throughout your space. Florals are great for outdoor prints and anywhere where you wish to breathe some life within a space!

Last week we talked about the different communities that Fulton Homes has to offer.  This week, we thought we’d focus in on one of them particular, Fulton Ranch.  The Fulton Ranch page shows the location of the community, houses that are offered there, the different neighborhoods, etc.  One of our favorite things on the site is towards the bottom and is titled “About the Community”.  Here, we list our favorite facts about the particular community.  Below are some facts regarding Fulton Ranch.

• A premium upscale community in east Chandler with a great location.
• Upscale shopping, fine-foods grocery, restaurants and more all in Fulton Ranch.
• An integrated neighboorhood where you can truly live, work, shop and play.
• Chandler Fashion Center with Macy’s Dillards, Sears, and Nordstrom is just 10 minutes away.
• Fulton Ranch features multi-million dollar custom homes, single family homes, townhomes, and 3 retail centers all within the 520 acre Fulton Ranch master plan.
• Beautiful 28 acre lake system with flowing streams and waterfalls.
• Numerous parks, lushly landscaped walking paths and covered ramadas make Fulton Ranch the place where you wished you grew up.
• The last great east valley community.

For many homeowners, a game room might seem like more of a luxury than a necessity. For others, who have children, it is a must.  Given the extensive range of game room designs and options available, finding the perfect combination to meet your family’s needs can be overwhelming to say the least. To alleviate some of the stress, a good place to start is by asking yourself a few important questions.

What activities do you and your children enjoy?
Game rooms can accommodate many of your favorites such as pool, pinball, ping pong, foosball as well as table games including checkers and chess. Choose your top ten activities and list them according to favorites. They may differ from individual to individual, so get everyone in on the fun by voting.

How much room will you need?
Once you have your list completed, it is time to decide just how much space you will need to perform the listed activities. If you know your space will be limited consider one of the multi-game tables which include several game features like pool, ping pong and foosball all in one. Maybe, you would like room for several pinball machines as well as a full-size pool table and a bar or table area. No matter how much space you require, you’ll need to get a general idea of standard measurements for all equipment and seating.

What is the best location for a game room?
Really, no matter what favorite games or family entertainment you have chosen, the majority are going to be noisy (with the exception of maybe puzzling or chess.) Locating the game room away from sleeping quarters and other quite places is mandatory. You don’t want to have to keep telling your teens to keep it down while you are trying to read or sleep.

With the cost of entertainment these days, investing in a game room where you and your family can relax and have fun will not only save you money in the long run but peace of mind knowing everyone is safe at home. Consult with a Fulton Homes design professional to help you get the most out of your proposed game room and ensure your family years of enjoyment.

Falls happen. Both the young and the old are prone to them, however the elderly have a tougher time recovering. If you have an older parent or relative who lives with you or visits often, then you’ll want to take special care making sure the floors in your home are slip resistant and safe.

In our homes, the bathroom can be the most accident-prone area. This is because almost every surface in the bathroom is smooth and glossy; and once wet it becomes a dangerous place. Slipping while getting out of the bath or shower can result in a broken hip or limbs.

So how can we make the bathroom a safer place for the elderly? Small things can be done first, like making sure you don’t fill the room with floor décor like plants and magazine stands.  Place hampers and trash cans out of the way, so they do not have to be navigated around. Take out rugs that do not have rubber backing and can be slipped on.

We hope these tips help!

We offer three different communities at Fulton Homes where you can purchase your home.  These communities are 1) Chandler, which includes Fulton Ranch and Geneva Estates; 2) Gilbert, which includes Freeman Farms; and 3) Queen Creek, which includes Ironwood Crossings.  On our homepage, their is a link at the top of the page titled “Our Communities“; click on this link and it will direct you to a page where you can view a map and an outline of all of our communities.  From here, you can choose the community you prefer and the site will direct you to a page with more information.  Stay tuned next week for an outline of Fulton Ranch!

When building a home or decorating one, there is a seemingly endless array of things to do and consider. Even with the expert guidance of your home builder and interior designer, the decisions are ultimately yours to make and can be overwhelming to say the least. However, this can be a very exciting and even enjoyable process if you break it down and consider only two basics for every decision—function and beauty.

How is this going to make my life easier and is it aesthetically pleasing? For example, go down your list of rooms and the decisions waiting to be made for each. Consider what activities you and any others living with you will perform in the room and what layout, materials, products and furnishings will make those tasks the easiest to accomplish. Next consider the aesthetics of each, is this layout, material, product or furnishing visually and emotionally appealing?

In the modern world of construction and design, the options available to you, even on a budget, make it possible for function and beauty to coexist in your home without sacrificing either. Take the room pictured here for example, initially you may just see the superficial, sure it’s a visually pleasing room. Yet, if you take a closer look you will see along with the beauty this is a highly functional space. Besides being an intimate place for visiting with friends and family, or a comfy place to sit and study or read, did it appear to be a media room at first?

Did you notice the television in the alcove above the fireplace? So often in living areas the television is the focal point of a room, and in times past was not a very pretty sight, but today with flat screen technology unsightly cords and bulky exteriors are not an issue any longer.

While this scenario is just a small example of how function and beauty can coexist, just considering these two elements up front for each space in your home can yield wonderful results and make your home building and interior decorating experience a resounding success.

Bathrooms today are one of the most remodeled rooms of the home and with good reason. In years past, the bathroom was not a room many homeowners gave much thought too. Finally, the bathroom is having its time in the limelight.

Homeowners are now taking decorating the bathroom more seriously than before. In fact, bathrooms are now seen as a place not only where you groom and detoxify yourself, but also as a relaxation sanctuary. Bathroom products and materials are now available in such a wide variety, there is something to suit everyone’s taste and bathroom tiles are no different.
There are so many shapes, sizes, finishes, colors and materials available, it can be an overwhelming task to narrow down your tile choices to just one. The market is filled with ceramic, stone, granite, marble, brick and even onyx tiles. Consider a few of these decorating ideas to narrow down the choices when talking to your flooring associate about bathroom tiles:

• Add a mosaic tile design to create a focal point in a large bathroom.
• Coordinate tile with the color of your walls.
• Choose a theme such as coastal or floral to make your color selection easier.
• Give pastels a try; they have long been a pretty option for soothing bathing experience.
• Go for fresh and happy (if that’s your style!) with colors like mint green or perhaps a lovely shade of pink.
• Use light colored tiles to make small spaces appear larger.
• Go bold by selecting differently colored tiles for your floors and walls.
• Create patterns by laying it at different angles.
• Think murals, they are a fast-rising trend.
• High contrasting tiles can be used for a more dramatic effect provided you work with a white-tiled background.
• Choosing different textures can also do the trick.
• Go with textures from matte, glossy, glass effect or uneven surfaced tiles. They can do wonders in designing your bathroom.

Of course, you can always ask us for help and guidance!

We are continuously trying to find ways to be as helpful to you as possible.  At the top of our website, we have a “Search” toolbar for you to use.  Plug in anything that you are curious about regarding Fulton Homes into the toolbar and multiple results related to your subject will appear.  Some examples are maintenance information, contact information, available houses, maps of communities, etc.  We hope you are able to find the answers to all of your questions with this tool.

With many professionals working from home full or part time, it is important to have a space which provides solitude and comfort. A home office, or room dedicated to strictly work is a must. Although unintentional, activities of others in the home can be distracting and negatively impact work performance.

When talking with your design professional, keep in mind a few key points of creating a home office space which is both comfortable, highly functional and promotes concentration.

• Location is everything. If you are in the stages of building a home you can make sure your home office is built away from high traffic areas such as the kitchen and family room. The opposite side of the house from these areas would be ideal.
• Light control is a must. If your office has large windows or gets lots of sunlight, consider installing shades or shutters with which you can control the amount of light coming in.
• Color is important. Use wall colors which are pleasing to you and make you feel comfortable without promoting lethargy. For example, blue is a terrific color to use in the bedroom when you’re ready to rest and relax, but in the office it may have you wanting to take a nap. Red and oranges make you feel excited but may make it hard to concentrate, so choosing a color somewhere between these two extremes would be ideal.
• Built-in shelving is a plus. Having tons of shelf space to place books, picture frames and decorative items gives a library feel to the home office. Stain shelves in the same wood color as your office furniture or match to the room’s trim.

Having a home office that suits your needs goes beyond just your work life, it will spill over into your home life as well. Once you’ve spent your work hours focused and productive, you’ll be able to walk out the door and immediately start enjoying the rest of your home and family.