Author Archives: FultonHomes

How to Care for Your Home’s Exterior

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Your home’s aesthetics goes much deeper than just the interior. Functionality, theme, and exterior all play a role in your homes overall feel. While we spend so much time perfecting the interior of our homes, we must not neglect our home’s curb appeal. Putting a little love and care into your curb appeal shows your neighborhood that you take pride in your home. There are three simple ways to help enhance your home through the exterior. To put your best lawn forward, make sure you include all three:

Seasonal Maintenance

Maintenance is key to your interior’s beauty, and it is no exception to the outside of your home. Your lawn needs to be treated with care. With each season, comes new tasks. Make sure you are keeping up on your lawn, flower beds, and fruit tree maintenance because it is the first step to impressing the neighborhood and enhancing your home’s overall curb appeal.

Make an Entrance

Consider the route people take to enter your home. This is your first impression for guests and visitors. Stand at the street and look at your home. What does it represent? Is the entryway well kept and organized? You want to incorporate functionality into the exterior of your home. Your driveway, sidewalk, and porch should all be easily accessible. Invest some time and money to clean up your entrance way with simple home improvements.

Your Sanctuary

Your home is your sanctuary; treat it as such. Your windows, siding, and roofing should all be maintained. Keep your gutters and windows cleaned, and remember that problems that are left unattended can unravel into bigger issues. Your home’s curb appeal is directly correlated with your home’s exterior health. Be sure to take pride in your home’s appearance with a well-maintained yard.

The care you show to the exterior of your home is recognized. Do not neglect areas out of sight as well. Take pride in your backyard and surrounding areas. You will discover more satisfaction with more work put into your home. This is your kingdom; treat it as such!

Fulton Home’s Air Quality

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Fulton Home makes it our responsibility to provide you with the best home and services. There are many features we incorporate into the homes we build. We want our consumers to live a happy and healthy life after purchase. This is one of the reasons we chose to partner with Indoor airPLUS when constructing each home. This system goes beyond the general standards the government regulates on homes. AirPLUS has many quality benefits to help purify your air. For more information, be sure to keep on reading!

Government Regulations

The government created the Clean Air Act in 1970. This federal law was put in place to regulate air emissions from stationary and mobile sources. From automobiles to the construction of homes, a standard has been set that limits air pollutants. When building a house, many air contaminants can make it into HVAC systems and be dangerous to the health of the home buyers; therefore, the government put in the Clean Air Act to help protect the health of individuals and families.

Above and Beyond

Fulton Home does not only believe in meeting these codes but going above and beyond. Our comprehensive health protection includes practices and technology to prove the purest air is in your new home. We use moisture control systems to prevent unwanted molding in the houses, radon-resistant constructs, builders seal to prevent pest from infiltrating your home, and much more.

What to Expect

We have also included premium ENERGY STAR HVAC systems, which will help with the air quality. Reducing the pollutants in your home can prevent you from getting sick. This high-quality HVAC system will also regulate fewer chemicals from making it inside of your home. It is essential to keep proper maintenance on your Indoor airPLUS system in your home.

Have peace of mind with the assurance that your air quality is premium in your new home. While this may not be your first concern, clean air leads to a healthier you and your home. We believe in going above and beyond in everything in our homes to assure you the best. From premium materials to clean air, we got you covered.

Creating a Gender-Neutral Nursery

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Did you just receive the wonderful news and now you are an expecting parent? We know this is an exciting time, but we also know this can be a stressful time. You immediately start thinking of a million things to do. Many expecting parents today are choosing the option of creating a gender-neutral nursery while staying away from the traditional blue and pink palettes. This can be a perfect solution for parents waiting to find out the gender of their child at birth. If you are interested in a gender-neutral nursery, we have some suggestions that will steer you in the right direction for creating the perfect nursery. Let’s take a look!

Color Schemes & Themes

Begin by choosing your corresponding color scheme and theme to pull the room together. You do not necessarily have to pick white or beige colored walls, but selecting a neutral wall color allows you to bring in other colors, patterns, and designs wherever you see fit. Think of the walls as a blank canvas, and what you add is the actual art.

Murals & Wall Decals

You do not have to be a talented artist to create a mural that corresponds with your theme. Painter’s tape is a wonderful tool to mark off various shapes, or tape off horizontal, chevron or vertical stripes. Simply paint the taped-off design with coordinating paint colors. If you do not have the time or patience to create and paint a design, research the hundreds of peel and stick decals that are on the market. Choose themed decals like jungle scenes, nature scenes, alphabets, or numbers to liven up the room. Believe us; you will have no problem finding decals to match your theme.

Furniture

If your walls are a neutral color, and your style is traditional, white or off-white is a safe choice for furniture. You can introduce a contrasting color with your mural and decals. If you are more adventurous, choose a darker color for the walls like navy or gray that will contrast with white trim and white furniture.

Accessories

Depending on your theme and color palette, choosing accessories is always the fun part of the project. Accessories including area rugs, lamps/light fixtures, window coverings, bedding, floor pillows, and stuffed animals can be functional yet stylish pieces that add to the overall design. Introducing contrasting colors to the nursery is easily achieved with the accessories you choose.

We hope you all the best and have fun creating the perfect sanctuary for your little one! Please let us know the outcome of this very special project.

How Many Pillows Should I Have on My Bed?

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How many pillows are currently on your bed? When it comes to decking the bed out in pillows, there are usually two types of individuals. Some enjoy filling the headboard with an abundance of pillows, and others who use one decorative pillow or none at all. The truth is that not all pillows are just for comfort. In fact, many choose to implement decorative pillows on their bed. After all, we spend as much 3,000 hours annually in our bedrooms. Therefore, you will want to love the space that you are spending so much time. But how many pillows do you actually need on your bed?

Sleeping Pillow

No matter what your style is, one pillow that every bed should have are the sleeping pillows. They are essential for a great night’s sleep. Most of us have at least two sleeping pillows, and if you are a couple, you may have four. Typically sleeping pillows are manufactured in three standard sizes: standard, queen and king. Additionally, you can use pillow protectors to increase the lifespan of your pillows. Sleeping pillows tend to get stained with natural body oils, dust mites, drool, and makeup, so it is important to keep them protected.

Decorative Pillows

Beds in decor magazines tend to look nice because they use decorative pillows. Euro pillows which are generally much longer than sleeping pillows are popular decorative pillows. Euro pillows are both functional and decorative. They support your back when sitting up in bed, and they also protect the headboard. Euro pillows are also ideal if you do not have a headboard. These large sized pillows add a sense of height, depth and draw the eye around the room. One Euro pillow is recommended for a twin size bed, and two for a double or queen bed and three for a king-sized bed.

Accent Pillow

The accent pillows are all about injecting some personality into your bedroom. You can use them as an accessory. If you have bed dressing features a neutral palette, you can use accent pillows to add color and flair to your bedding.

To answer the question previously asked, the amount of pillows you use is based on your style and personality. There is no right or wrong answer for homeowners. It is all about finding what adds to your design while making you comfortable.

The Perfect Father’s Day Gift

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Father’s Day is right around the corner on Sunday, June 16, 2019. If you are helping your kids make a gift this year, we have the perfect gift that fathers will adore. The best part is that it is inexpensive and hand-made, two of dad’s favorite adjectives. So this spring, gather the kids and the supplies and let us get started!

Supply List:

  • Wooden Picture Frame
  • Small Sticks (collected from outside)
  • Hot Glue Gun with Glue Sticks
  • White Photo Mat
  • A Family Photo
  • A Fine-Tip Permanent Marker

Step One: Gather the Twigs

Take your kids on a walk through your favorite park or the neighborhood to collect small twigs. You want to make sure that they will be easy enough to break off into smaller pieces. If they are damp, let them sit on top of a paper towel inside of the house for a couple of hours before beginning the project.

Step Two: Snap the Twigs

Gather your kids and all the supplies and head to a cleared off workspace.

  • Pro-Tip: Now is a great time to plug in your hot glue gun so that it is hot and ready for the next step.

Begin designing by either doing a horizontal or vertical placement. You want to begin by placing each twig on the top of the picture frame. Snap each twig off where it covers the frame and does not cover too much of the picture itself.

Step Three: Hot Glue the Twigs onto Your Frame

You will want to place the glue directly on the frame in small lines below each stick. Pick up a stick then run a line of hot glue and place the stick back into its spot. Push the stick down and let the glue harden before you move onto the next twig.

  • Pro-Tip: The step uses an extremely hot tool that can cause burns; therefore, we recommend letting you, the adult, handle this part to avoid any injury.

Step Four: Finishing Touches

Take your white photo mat and measure its size accordingly to your picture frame. Hot glue the corners of your family picture on top of the white photo mat and wait for it to cool. The kids can use a fine-tip permanent marker to write a message to dad on the white photo mat portion. Wait for it to dry and place the photo mat inside of the frame. You will most likely need to secure it in with tape in case it shifts. Place the frame backing on and voila, your gift is ready for dad.

We hope dad loves his gift and wish him a Happy Father’s Day from our family to yours!

Discovering the Perfect Bed Sheets

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There are twenty-four hours in the day, and we are recommended to have eight hours of sleep a night. This means we spend almost 1/3 of our lives in our beds. Sleep is vital to ensure good health, proactive days, and positive energy. While mattresses are significant in creating the comfort of your room, they do little to enhance the design. The area where your bed truly balances between comfort and aesthetics is your bedroom sheet set and comforters. Investing in a fancy, colorful comforter may not be the best for your sleep but looks beautiful. Consider adding some of these options to your bed to create a better texture to the bedroom while also enhances your comfort.

Silk

Switching your sheets to silk can be more beneficial than that sleek finish and chill feeling when you slip into bed. Silk sheets have a hypoallergenic property which can help resist dust, mold, and fungus. Silk is safe on the skin and can also help reduce wrinkling. Switching to silk sheets and pillowcases does not necessarily mean cool all night long. Silk sheets are very tightly woven and can trap heat very well throughout the nighttime.

Wool

Another excellent alternative textile to consider is wool. This natural solution is also hypoallergenic and extremely durable. Wool comes from sheep which is used to regulate their body temperature. Wool does a superior job at keeping in the heat at night while you sleep. Unlike down bedding, wool will not shift. This will mean you will have no open spots or less soft points in your comforter.

Bamboo Sheets

Another highly comfortable option is bamboo bedding. This bedding is more breathable, allowing air to pass through it with ease. This can be great for warmer areas or homes that are kept hot. If you overheat at night, consider investing in such bamboo sheets. This hypoallergenic and antibacterial solution is very durable. These make perfect summertime sheets for any home.

Your bedding matters. Decide which bedding is best tailored to your needs. Perhaps, you mix and match pillowcases, sheets, and comforter for a decorative design, or you can change them seasonally or invest in ones you think are best annually. You spend to much time sleeping to not invest in the comfort and looks of your bed.

Landscaping in Arizona

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If you are new to the desert or just looking to improve your landscaping, you came to the right place. Arizona landscaping and curb appeal can be very different from other typical climates in the United States. While grass lawns can still work in some parts of Arizona, they can be very high maintenance. While the desert creates some dilemmas, it also opens a new world of possibilities and beautiful features to consider adding to your home. Your landscape encapsulates all the visible features and outdoor aesthetics your home has to offer. Creating your landscape is an art and making this masterpiece will call for a couple of key elements:

Lawn

Where green may be the primary color theme through of other landscapes of the United States, it comes a little less frequently here. Grass may not be the best choice for this climate, but that does not mean you need a blank, dirt yard. Colored gravel with warm burnt tones can really give your yard a pop of color. You can even create beautiful rock beds and patterns/designs with different colored rocks. You may also want to include sand, pebbles, and concrete for their durability and lack of dependence on water.

Plants

This arid region makes most plant life hard to maintain, but also has many dynamic landscaping opportunities to explore. Adding a splash of color can really spruce up your dry yard. Cacti are very common plant life that many Arizonians add to increase curb appeal. Try including other drought-tolerant plants like red yuccas, roses, or honey mesquite trees. These plants are tolerable to some of the dust, soil, and heat of the desert. You can also add some great fruit trees like lemons, grapefruits, oranges, and more in this climate. Palm trees can add height to your lawn or adding large cacti as well. Just be sure to create a diverse landscape with a mix plant life of all sizes, shapes, and colors while allowing them to complement one another, not work against each other.

Focal Point

Add an element to your curb appeal to help make your home “pop.” Water is scarce out here, but some fountains are beautiful and can be real eye-catchers. If you want something more subtle, try making a tree or a cactus your homes focal point. You can add a rock path to a bench or side patio or even add a half wall in front of your home for other focal points. Just try finding elements that complement your home and work with the land.

Arizona is very different than other landscaping in the United States. Discovering and exploring different avenues to decorate your yard can be fun. Try to add some color and a variation of different plant height. Not all of Arizona has the same climate. What may work for a town an hour away may not work where you live. Explore the neighborhood and gather ideas. They say that copying is the greatest form of flattery. Just remember to add some of your own original touches to tailor it to you and your style.

Memorial Day BBQ Side Dish Ideas

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You may consider Memorial Day the official marker of summertime. It is a time that we honor and remember those who served our country, and you may have decided to host a barbecue and invite a few veterans over to your home. If you are nervous about finding the perfect side dishes to match your BBQ, fear not because here are seven BBQ side dish ideas that you can use for your Memorial Day party:

Roasted Sweet Potato

Looking for something sweet to complement your protein choice? Roasting sweet potatoes is an extremely easy and tasty idea for homeowners. Plus, it is really simple! Just chop them up and drizzle them with olive oil before placing them in the oven!

CrockPot Mac N’ Cheese

Mac n’ cheese is a classic when it comes to barbecues. The best part is you can easily make it in the crockpot for a portable, fast recipe.

Fresh Fruit Salad

Nothing says fresh on a warm day like fruit salad. Plus, fruit salad is an easy, last minute idea that you can throw together. Try adding in your favorite summer fruits for customization.

Brown Sugar Grilled Pineapple

Looking for a dessert that will not show on the scale the next day? Brown sugar pineapples are easy and delicious options for your Labor Day barbecue. Bonus: there are only three ingredients (pineapples, brown sugar, and canola oil)!

Jalapeño Cornbread

If you love spice, you will love this savory side dish! You can add jalapeños into a box mix of cornbread or make them from scratch. Either way, the plate will be cleared off with this delicious side dish.

Baked Garlic Parmesan Fries

Everyone loves a flavorful french fry and adding a garlic parmesan seasoning turns your fries into the talk of the party. All you need is garlic, parsley, salt, olive oil, parmesan, and fresh potatoes to make this snack come true.

Watermelon, Feta, and Mint Salad

Running short on time? You can quickly throw together this 5-ingredient salad in no time! All you need is fresh, seedless watermelon, mint, olive oil, feta cheese, and salt for a new BBQ favorite.

We hope you enjoy your Memorial Day party and that your side dishes are a hit!

Tips and Tricks for Being the Hostess with the “Mostess”

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Hosting guest is always a fun way to unwind from the busy week. There is something satisfying about giving your friends and family an extra special visit at the place you call home, and as any party planner knows, you need to be prepared to be a successful host. If this is your first-time having guests over, it is important to know your limits. Do not invite more than you or your house can handle at first. Your goal is to make your guest feel at home and never have to ask for anything. With great hosting skills and etiquette, your company will feel welcomed and invited into your atmosphere; however, you still should have plans for entertainment. Here are the top ways to entertain your guests and become the hostess with the “mostess”:

Food and Drink

Everybody loves food; therefore, having a dinner party can be a great idea for first-time hostesses. You have time to socialize before and after eating. You can also prepare drinks to keep the entertainment going throughout the night. Just make sure that all your guests are accounted for and served throughout the evening. You may also want to have different options available. Food allergies and intolerances are becoming more common, so check with your guests beforehand to make sure your food options will suffice.

Movie

Movies are great as well for entertaining guests. They can help keep everyone entertained for a couple of hours. Try to find a genre of movie everyone agrees will work. This comes down to knowing your guest beforehand. You may not want to do a movie if you have a very diverse crowd with different movie preferences. That being said, comedies are always crowd-pleasers. It can be beneficial to watch the movie beforehand to make sure it will be a hit.

Board Games

Board games are very interactive; they allow people to socialize while adding some fun competition. Have several board games available so you can find one that everyone will enjoy. Team board games are great ways to let individuals not feel out of the loop. Try to introduce everyone at the beginning of the night to make sure no one feels excluded or awkward.

Remember not to force anything. If you notice a guest feels hesitant or uncomfortable participating in activities you have planned, you should be adaptable. It is good to have several suggestions and work with the group. You are the host so your suggestions will be very important. You may even want to inform your guest of activities prior to the invite — this way your company knows what to expect.

If your company consists of different age groups, consider tailoring different activities for them. You may want to check-in on all groups throughout the night, and consider making kids games or other areas of entertainment for all ages.

For more entertainment ideas, makes sure to subscribe. Thanks for reading!

How to Design a Coffee Bar in Your Home

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Coffee is our fuel which keeps us going through the day. If you are a coffee lover, you know how important coffee is to your sanity, and since your home is your sanctuary, maybe you should dedicate some space to this necessity in your life. Coffee bars are great to add to your home and do not require a ton of investment to begin creating. You can have your coffee bar in your kitchen, office, or even your bedroom. If you are looking to create your own coffee bar, here is everything you should consider adding to it:

The Essentials

To create your coffee bar, you will need to have a few coffee essentials present. Decide how you plan on brewing your coffee. You can add a Keurig, a coffee maker, an espresso machine, a pour over maker, or a french press. You can even invest in a hot plate and brew your coffee wherever you decide to set up the coffee bar. Just make sure to get some coffee mugs or to-go thermals as well. Add anything to your coffee stand that would typically be added to your coffee. You may want to include creamer, sugar, sugar alternatives, honey, and milk. For items that need chilled, you may need to invest in a mini fridge for the area. Consider having clean-up items readily available under your coffee station like paper towels or rags in case any accidents may occur.

Brewed Your Way

Not an avid coffee drinker? That is okay. A bar is still a great option to add to rooms for aesthetics and entertainment. You may want to create an alcohol bar with some of your favorite drinks readily available. You can have a reach-in fridge with chilled beverages or even install a kegerator for instant brews. You can also create a dessert or and an “hors d’oeuvre” bar. Find the perfect remedy for your home or tailor your bar to your guest or events.

Appearance is Everything

Your coffee station does not need to be solely for functionality. Consider decorating it to make it a fun focal point in a room. You can make a DIY chalkboard, install floating shelves, display your mugs, and even add some plants for added character. You can even create a shabby chic look with a distressed, whitewashed coffee stand or a more modern look with floating shelves and a metal end table. The possibilities are endless.

A coffee bar can be aesthetically pleasing and a great addition to your home. You can put it in your dining or living room or even in some place further away from the kitchen in your home. A coffee bar can make your coffee making experience even more enjoyable. For more tips and tricks, make sure to subscribe.