Author Archives: FultonHomes

Moving Into a New Neighborhood – Meet the Neighbors

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11133993_SGetting to know your neighbors helps turn your new home into part of a community. Once you move into your Fulton Home, take the time to get to know your neighbors. It may seem difficult in these days of teaching your children about “stranger danger” and other worries, but a few simple steps can make the process easier and more enjoyable for everyone.

Welcome new neighbors: While most people won’t have time to chat on move-in day, it’s nice to take a few minutes to introduce yourself to neighbors as they move in. Just a simple hello and welcome from a new neighbor makes moving day so much more pleasant.

Stop by: Visit your new neighbors in the afternoon, or walk over when they are already outside. Many people are nervous about opening their doors after dusk, like the woman in the photo. You don’t want to make your neighbors uncomfortable by your visit.

Bring a treat: Home-baked cookies, lemonade on a hot day, or warm muffins or coffee cake say welcome better than words. Returning the container gives you another opportunity to interact with your new neighbors.

Take walks: Bringing your dog on a walk through the neighborhood every day or just walking by yourself in the morning or evening will provide plenty of opportunities to get to know your neighbors. Be sure to smile and acknowledge everyone you see. The people who want to be friendly will find a way to chat with you.

Be friendly: You can’t expect to be best friends with all of your neighbors, but just getting to know them well enough for a short chat can make your community a more comfortable and pleasant place. And you never know, your future best buddy may move in next door!

Moving Into a New Neighborhood – Discovery

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12197961_SWhen you move into your new Fulton home, plan on spending some time unpacking and organizing. You probably won’t feel settled until some rooms such as your kitchen and bedroom are fully set up the way you want them.

But you can start settling into your new neighborhood even before the movers arrive. With the move, you may need to shop at new grocery stores, find a new dry cleaner and gas station, and spend time getting to know your new neighborhood. You can make the transition easier for you and your family if you do a little exploring before the move. Here are a few suggestions.

Drive around: Either with your family or by yourself, take an afternoon or evening to drive around your new neighborhood. Look for convenient shopping areas. Take note of neighborhood restaurants that you might enjoy.

Stop to eat: Bring your family to eat at a local restaurant or café that looks interesting. You may even want to try a couple of places over a week or so. This may start creating the feeling that you are already part of your new community.

Visit local community places: If you are a churchgoer, you may want to consider a church near your new home. If not, look for a park with a playground or a community center. Visiting places such as these can allow you to meet some of your future neighbors and start feeling more at home.

Whatever you value in your current neighborhood, you will be able to find something like it in your new place. Take the time to explore and discover, and you can feel connected even before your home is finished.

Design Center Basics: Have Fun!

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Design 20Center 20023 designerOne of the best parts of buying a Fulton Home is selecting your options at the Fulton Home Design Center. You have the opportunity to work with a skilled designer to choose your kitchen, bathroom and flooring, making your home uniquely yours.

At first, choosing may seem overwhelming, but if you did your homework before your appointment (see the two blog posts for earlier this week) this can be a truly enjoyable experience.

Design 20Center 20059 carpetingVisiting the Design Center can feel like walking into the HGTV studios. Fulton has pre-selected suppliers and products that are reliable and provide a rich selection of styles to individualize your home. For example, look at the carpeting options available. Take your time to enjoy the various textures and tones.

One of the best features of the Fulton Homes Design Center is the well-trained and savvy designers who will work with you to help make just the right selections. Years of experience working with homebuyers to help create lovely homes provide every designer with the skills to give valuable insights and support as you make your home your own.

Whether your taste is contemporary or traditional, you’ll find the right choices of cabinetry, countertops, lighting and more. Take the time to investigate the kitchen vignettes. They may help you determine whether you want light or dark cabinetry, how much contrast you want in your kitchen and any specific color choices.

Everyone at Fulton Homes wants you to enjoy your time at the Design Center, so relax and take full advantage of this opportunity to make your home as special as you and your family are.

Design Center Basics: Browse Power

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Design20Center20078 fulton lobby - receptionistWhen you’re selecting options for your new Fulton Home, one of the best tools you have is the Fulton Home Design Center browse night. Once a week, you can visit the design center at your leisure and look at all of your home choices. Designers and other staff are on hand to answer any questions.

Browse nights are aptly named. You can take your time and sift through the choices for cabinets, flooring and other options without having to make any final decisions. If you really use the browse nights well, you may have most of your options selected before your appointment. This will allow you to take the time you need to review those choices that are harder for you to make.

Browse nights are particularly useful if you and your spouse have differing tastes. The two of you can work out compromises that you both can live happily with, and check out those options you liked online in person. This is also a good chance to see how your cabinets fit with your choice of countertops, backsplash and flooring. You may be surprised to discover that a countertop you hadn’t even considered is just the right choice.

Consider browse nights as a chance to explore all of the amazing options the Fulton Design Center offers with no need to make any permanent decisions. It’s a casual and comfortable place filled with people who want to help you make your home perfect for you. Be sure to take advantage of this opportunity.

Design Center Basics: Planning Ahead

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Design20Center 20077 built insAll of the options and choices available at the Fulton Homes Design Center can be exciting and a bit overwhelming. You can make the process more fun and productive if you do a little planning ahead of time. Here are a few suggestions.

Visit the models: The Design Center has a number of vignettes to provide ideas, but there is a wealth of options visible in the models, and positioned within a home. From cabinets and countertops to faucets and built-ins, models are a wonderful resource. Spend some time and take notes of what you like in each model. You may even want to take pictures of those choices you particularly like. Bring this with you to your Design Center appointment to help your designer understand your taste and preferences.

Take advantage of browse nights: These provide time for you to look at everything available and make some preliminary choices. Designers are there to answer questions and educate you on various choices.

Visit the Design Center section on the Fulton website: You can pre-design your kitchen and review many of your options. This gives you a chance to experiment with various combinations of cabinets, countertops and flooring at your leisure.

Keep an open mind: While it’s good to get a feeling for your preferences, you may discover something at the Design Center that captures you unexpectedly. There are some amazing choices, and the designers are experts at helping you make combinations that you will love to live with for years.

The more you plan ahead, the more time you will have to make any tougher decisions – and totally enjoy the rich variety of choices that await you when you visit Fulton Home’s Design Center.

Help your Child Redecorate – Room for Growth

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8829658_SAs you and your child plan and redecorate his or her room, it’s up to you as a parent to think about the future. Those dinosaurs or princesses that seem so appealing now will feel too juvenile in just a few years. Color favorites may also change or head to more subtle hues. Here are a few things to include in your plans to help the room redo hold up as your child gets older.

Paint is easy: Colors can be changed by simply repainting one or more walls. Try to keep the ceiling – which is harder to paint – a neutral tone. Look for temporary additions such as wall stickers or wallpaper borders rather than painted murals or wallpaper.

Linen options: Combine solid bed linens with a few theme items to make a room seem focused on the interests of your child without investing a great deal of money on a particular story or character. It’s easier to give away or recover a few throw pillows or shams than replace a full set of sheets and bedspread once your child has lost interest in the merchandise from a current children’s film or TV series.

Function: Your child may be too young for much or any homework at the moment, but it’s wise to plan for bookshelves and a desk or table in the future. Modular furniture makes it easier to transition over time.

Show and tell: Include a bulletin board, shelves or other space for your child to display items of current interest or any awards and recognition. It’s easy to change the contents of these items as your child matures.

Requirements: You may want to set up expectations when you initiate the redecorating process, such as keeping the room tidy. That way the redecorated room makes life easier for you as well as more fun for your child!

Help your Child Redecorate -Color and Pattern

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12105159_S This stage is the most exciting part of redecorating a child’s room – or any room for that matter. There are a few simple ways to help your child define the colors and look of a bedroom without taking over the process. Here are some ideas.

Picking colors: One easy way to determine a good main color for your child’s bedroom is to focus on a favorite color or colors. Another option is to consider the colors of your child’s favorite clothes. Don’t discourage bright tones – a child’s room can handle more vivid colors than you may want in the rest of the house. This is a great time to encourage experimentation and creativity. Colors can also be mixed – take a look at the broad variety of choices in the room above!

Choosing patterns: Fabric, rugs, stencils and wallpaper can all add pattern to a child’s space. In the room above, a simple mural provides the largest element of pattern. You might want to visit a fabric store or look at bed sheets and coverlets to see what appeals to your child. Be sure to consider stripes, checks, ginghams, polka dots, and other standard pattern styles.

6249365_SApplying color and pattern: Paint is the easiest way to establish color in a room, and the easiest to change later as your child’s taste changes. This can include walls and furniture. Wallpaper can also be applied to one wall or a piece of furniture to add pattern. Just be sure to prime the surface first so you will be able to strip the paper off later. Curtains, bed linens and rugs also provide methods for introducing color and pattern.

Working with existing choices: You can introduce colors that don’t seem to work with the current room options and still be successful. Take a look at the girl’s room to the right. The pastel pink and blue scheme wouldn’t be expected to connect with the light camel carpeting, but it does. As long as options such as flooring don’t actively clash, they will retreat to the background once the overall look of the room is established. An area rug or two also keeps the focus on the décor rather than the carpet.

So encourage your child to be daring – a child’s room should be fun, colorful, happy and expressive, and as a parent you have the chance to encourage those abilities in your children with their bedrooms and their lives.

Help your Child Redecorate – Function and Storage

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7857385_SAs you and your child plan a room redo, be sure to factor in storage needs and functional demands.

Does your child do homework in his or her bedroom? Plan on a desk along with space for books and homework projects. How about overnight guests? Consider twin beds or a trundle. Closet organizers can also make space more efficient.

The box-style approach shown in the photo to the left provides a great storage solution for a less organized child. Labels can define each space, and these boxes work well for books and other items.

426141_SIf space is limited and functional and storage needs extensive, consider using vertical space. Take a look at the photo to the right. The raised bed provides extra play space and a storage shelf underneath, and the three-foot raised floor in part of the room holds storage containers including one box-style shelving unit, with lots of room underneath for extra storage or a special kid hideaway.

A simple desk and chair match the style and colors in the room while working well as a homework center. There is plenty of room under the bed’s platform for extra shelves or hooks for clothes. Colors and pattern integrate all the storage and functional pieces to make the room feel creative and exciting.

These options may or may not work for your child. But no matter what, it’s important to determine what storage and functional capabilities are needed when planning the renovation. Look for extra space under the bed or on the walls. And think outside the box to make the space inviting as well as productive.

 

Help your Child Redecorate – Sort and Purge

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7899250_SBefore you get to the fun part of redecorating, the first step is getting rid of those things that no longer belong in your child’s room. Old clothes, toys, papers, and other items that your child has outgrown need to leave in order to clear the way for the new space you and your child are designing. There are many ways to approach this – here are a few suggestions.

Empty the closet: Chances are that there are scary things toward the back of your child’s closet. The best way to start over is to empty the closet and determine what will go back in piece by piece.

Sort into categories: Label one box give away and one throw away. If there are younger siblings, add a box for toys, books and clothes that can be passed down. One more box is a good idea – things that are no longer used but that your child is not ready to give up. Put the box away for six months or a year, and then revisit it.

Organize what’s left: Is your child growing out of shoes or clothes? Make a list of things to shop for as you discover them. Sort the clothes into like piles and plan to organize the closet around these categories. Take the time to determine any containers or organizing tools that will help that closet stay in shape.

Continue with shelves and drawers: Use this same strategy to clear out the rest of the bedroom. You and your child may even decide to eliminate or replace a piece of furniture.

This can be a tough process, but it’s a good life lesson for your child and a helpful approach for you. If you repeat this once a year, it will get easier and easier over time. And by the way, how is your closet looking?

Help your Child Redecorate

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6607525_SAs your children grow, it’s up to you as a parent to give them opportunities to make decisions. One great way to expand the thinking of a child is to involve them in redecorating their bedroom. You can include budgeting, planning, prioritizing, space planning and combining function with style. Here are a few steps to get you started.

Set a budget: How much money is available for the remodel? Before you and your child make a plan, it’s important to determine the amount that can be spent.

Make a plan: Will you be buying furniture? What about new window treatments? Balancing the budget against the desired changes can help your child determine what goals are most important.

There may also be problem-solving opportunities. For example, if your child would like to replace flooring but the budget won’t cover it, how about an area rug instead? Furniture could be repainted rather than replaced. Using graph paper, draw the furniture layout for the room. Using a tape measure and laying out a room is a great way to show your child how math can have real-world value.

Negotiate: This process also provides an opportunity to negotiate with your child. Would you be willing to up the budget if the child gave up presents for an upcoming birthday? Can he or she grab the desk from the basement to make a homework station in his or her room?

Set a schedule: When you’re redecorating, what needs to be done first? With your child, set up a reasonable schedule for selecting and installing the new look. If you have more than one child, you may want to stagger the remodels so that you are not overwhelmed.

Make it fun: Yes, this is a learning experience, but it’s also a real treat. Look for ways to make the process enjoyable rather than stressful. Mistakes will probably happen, but that’s part of making changes in your personal space.