Author Archives: FultonHomes

Creating a Headquarters for Fun

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Game room from the Corsica model at Ironwood Crossing

Game room from the Corsica model at Ironwood Crossing

Our homes have many functional areas – kitchens for cooking, bedrooms for sleeping and so on. So how about creating a space meant for fun? If you’re fortunate enough to have a game or rec room in your home, that’s great. But if you don’t, you can still make room for entertaining your family and friends.

Start by thinking of what space you can spare. Perhaps it’s that formal dining room or living room that you never use. Or you might have an extra bedroom. Even part of your family room could work with a fun-focus.

Then consider what elements make a place special for entertaining. How about music? A chance to watch movies together? Video or board games can also add to the fun mood. You could add a bookshelf or closet where everything like this lives, to be drawn on when you have company or your kids say they have nothing to do.

Pick up a few surprises at the dollar store so that you can pull out prizes to make game night more special. This could also be a great place to store favorite snacks such as caramel or kettle corn – perfect to make movie night special. Finally, throw in a few decks of cards. There’s nothing like a card game or two to start building a competitive spirit!

What other activities does your family enjoy? Consider adding a few hidden craft kits or toys for an afternoon surprise. Art supplies or photos and scrapbook materials can also make a quiet day go faster, and your family may show unexpected skills, making something worth keeping.

So when you’re looking at the potential for your home, be sure to include space and tools for fun. They will liven up your life on a regular basis.

How to Create a Photo Wall: Part 2

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photo_displayOnce you have all of your photos and frames, how do you move from that to an attractive wall display? There are many techniques to use. Here are a few suggestions.

Pre-plan your display on the floor. Determine the size you want for your total display and measure out that much space on your floor. Experiment with different arrangements until you have a look you like. Take a picture of it so you have a record to work from, then start hanging, working out from the center.

Use photo shelves. Many stores carry narrow shelving that works perfectly for displaying photos. You can set up three or four of these and then experiment to get the best arrangement of photos on the shelves. This also makes it easy to change out photos as new ones come along.

Keep frames set close together. For an effective grouping, don’t be afraid to keep photos close to each other. An inch or two between each is plenty of space. You really want the photos to feel integrated on the wall.

Use brown kraft paper or newspaper to determine your final layout. You can cut paper to the size of each photo and tape them on the wall to determine the best layout. Once you have your plan completed, just place nails right through the paper at the right spot for hanging, then tear the paper away. That way you know the photos will be set exactly right.

It may take a bit of effort to get your family wall finished, but once it is you can enjoy it for years.

How to Create a Photo Wall: Part 1

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IMG_0478Most of us have lots of family photos tucked away – older ones in boxes, newer digital ones on our computer, phones or uploaded to instagram or the cloud. But sometimes it can seem overwhelming to display these photos on a wall in your home, even though you would like to. Here are some suggestions for going from a hidden photo collection to one you can share with guests.

Plan a theme. Lots of graduation photos and other professional shots are OK, but your photo wall can be much more fun to look at if you focus on more candid shots such as vacation photos or pictures taken at family events. You can also combine photos of your children at different ages so that people can see the changes as they get older.

Vary the size and shape of the photos. Include both horizontal and vertical shots and choose which photos to emphasize with larger sizes. Warehouse and drug stores can blow up your photos to almost any size.

Crop your photos. Often our pictures have too much unimportant background and the people can get lost. Use an inexpensive software package such as Photoshop Elements to trim the unimportant elements out and let the people shine.

Use simple and similar frames. Many art supply stores offer sales on stock image size frames such as buy one get the second for a penny. Keep your eyes open for those opportunities and buy all of the frames you need at one time. Having a consistent look for frames helps your finished wall look more professional and encourages people to focus on the photos not the frames.

In our next blog we’ll take a look at how to create an effective photo display.

 

 

Protect your Pets

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max-webIt’s summer again and it’s easy to forget the safety measures we all need to take to keep our pets healthy and happy all summer. Arizona’s heat is hard for our furry friends, but taking extra care will help ensure that they have a good summer. Here are a few reminders.

Don’t leave any living creature in a car in the summer heat. Temperatures in a car can quickly reach slow-cooker level, and even a five-minute trip can do permanent damage to a small body like a pet’s. Leave your pets at home when running errands.

Make sure your pet has plenty of water and shade. If you ever leave your pets outside, make sure they have shade to protect them from the sun – pets can get sunburned too – and plenty of fresh water in a non-spill bowl. If possible, don’t leave pets outside any longer than it takes them to do their business.

Don’t walk your pet on hot sidewalks. Most people don’t realize that dog paws are as sensitive to heat as our bare feet. One easy way to find out if a sidewalk is too hot is to put the back of your hand on the sidewalk in the sun. If you can’t leave it there for 10 seconds comfortably, it’s too hot for your pet. Walking your dog on those sidewalks can do irreparable damage in a short period of time.

Make sure your pet knows how to get out of your pool. It may seem like dogs know how to swim automatically, but if they fall in your pool and don’t know the way out, they can end up drowning as they tire from constant swimming. Either keep your pool gate closed when your dogs are outside or work with your pets so that they know how to get out of the pool. Of course, some dogs love to swim and you may have to plan on including them in your family’s pool activities.

Pay attention to pet safety in the summer and you, your family, and your pets can have a great time even in the heat.

Make Kid’s Rooms Special on a Budget

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kids_roomsWhen you move into a new home, decorating budgets and energy generally focus first on the living spaces, and bedrooms – especially the children’s bedrooms – may end up getting short shrift. What can you do to make every child’s room special without breaking the bank? Well, the good news is that dollars can easily take a back seat to creativity in a child’s bedroom. Here are some ideas to help.

Use color: Paint and fabric make a big splash with minimal cost. Visit thrift stores for inexpensive furniture with good lines, and then attack it with spray paint to create something special. Dressers, tables and desks can be renewed by changing a dull stained finish to fire-engine red or sunshine yellow. Add contrasting wall paint, an interesting striped fabric for the windows and some inexpensive wall decals and a bedroom can come to life.

Find a theme: If your little guy is in love with dinosaurs, how about looking for bedding crawling with them? Pick up an extra sheet for window treatments and put up shelves to display his favorite prehistoric creatures. If your daughter loves ballet class, consider a room decorated in ballet pink and black with toe shoes hung on the wall and photos of ballerinas hanging from ribbons. Add a canopy to the bed in tutu tulle with some spangles and you’ve created a dream room for your darling.

Be flexibile: Tastes will change as your children grow, so be sure to select simple furniture that can grow with them and be prepared for today’s dinosaurs and dancers to evolve to new interests. Encourage your youngsters to let their rooms evolve as they do. Toys, books, bedding and accessories may change, but a well-planned room will continue to work for each child until it’s time for them to create homes of their own.

For more ideas on making children’s rooms special, take a look at our Pinterest Board on kid’s rooms at https://www.pinterest.com/fultonhomes/kids-rooms/.

Ways to Survive Summer

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summer_funSummer is definitely here and we need to find ways to cope with the double challenges of children home from school and temperatures in the triple digits. Swimming, water parks, and even running through sprinklers and fountains take your family only so far, and you may find yourself experiencing more than a bit of cabin fever when inside activities seem the only option. Here are a few suggestions for making it through summer’s heat without feeling trapped.

Set up some long-term activities. Board and card games can keep children interacting and entertained as long as you add some elements to liven things up. Think about setting up a series of tournaments with simple prizes for the winners. Or have everyone tackle a more challenging type of game such as backgammon, bridge or chess. If you have an expert in the family recruit them to teach the others. If not, get a few books on strategy from the library or look for expert instruction on the Internet. Make this a weekly event – often enough to keep interest high but not so often that everyone gets bored.

Tackle some redecorating or rearranging projects. You could give each child a budget to spend on paint, inexpensive furniture or anything to make their bedrooms special. You could have a door-decorating contest or encourage them to make one wall in their rooms tell the story of their lives so far. A digital camera and some inexpensive enlargements through your local warehouse store can help each child personalize his or her space.

Create learning opportunities. Take trips to the zoo or local museums. Encourage every family member to look into areas that interest them and report back to everyone else about what they’ve learned. Use the summer months to support reading for fun with regular visits to the library, taking advantage of the activities they offer such as summer reading programs.

And for more ideas on getting through the summer, take a look at our Pinterest Board: Summer Fun, at https://www.pinterest.com/fultonhomes/summer-fun/.

Family Photo Tips

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family_photo_tipsWhen you look back on your life, photos capture memories like nothing else. For our parents and grandparents, taking pictures was limited by the cost and effort. Now with the advent of digital photography, you can create a record of every event in your life. But are you taking the time and energy to take the best photos you can of your family and all of the important moments you want to keep?

We invite you to visit one of the Fulton Homes Pinterest boards: Family Photo Tips. We’ve collected a wealth of advice from professionals and skilled amateurs, on everything from finding poses that create interest to how to group photos on your walls and share them with other family members.

Do you have a little one or two with family too far away to see their progress as they change with every week, and sometimes it seems with every day? How about creating a series of photos using the same background with pictures taken every month to show the progress and growth? Or consider celebrating your infant’s first year of life with a special photo taken every month in appropriate garb for the season or various holidays. You can then turn those shots into a calendar for fond grandparents as a holiday gift.

Online companies will help you take your photos commemorating an important milestone in your or your family’s life to create a book that captures the moments and excitement of that time – something you can look at and enjoy long after the time is past.

Or how about commemorating your move into your new Fulton Home? Photos of the construction process, the move, and the progress of your decorating efforts can tell a story that you might want to share as part of a housewarming party.

When it comes to bringing the moment to life with photography, the only limits are your own imagination. And for more ideas and tips, we hope you will visit the Pinterest board we developed to help you make your family photos something special, at https://www.pinterest.com/fultonhomes/family-photo-tips/.

Fulton Homes: Proud of our Windows

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Mediterranean-at-Ironwood-Crossing-windows-cropped-webAt Fulton Homes, we work hard to keep improving the homes we build for our customers. One example is the decision to use Vinyl Low-E Windows on all of our homes. We began this in October of 2010, as part of our ongoing commitment to build ever-more energy efficient homes.

The Eco-View vinyl window products include the latest technology in providing energy-efficient frame design while not sacrificing style or function. The Eco-view frame uses a sophisticated system of hallways in the frame extrusion. This creates a stronger frame while providing a method to circulate air throughout the frame, making it more energy-efficient. It also helps make it resistant to warping and fatigue. All Eco-view frames are made of 100% virgin PVC (vinyl) material.

Eco-view vinyl windows carry an LC25 light commercial rating. This means that these windows surpass industry standards for residential applications. These windows are part of Fulton Homes’ Energy Star version 3 program. The windows and door systems are also user-friendly and include features that help to guarantee years of reliable service and security.

Eco-view vinyl windows and doors – one more way that Fulton shows its commitment to building homes that are energy-efficient and designed to save you money on your utility bills. For more information, visit the “Fulton Cares” page on our website.

Fulton Homes: Proud of our Sustainable Approach to Building

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tree-webFulton Homes is committed to doing its part to use trees wisely in two ways:

Most homebuilders provide their customers with over 200 pages of paperwork, but that is not what Fulton Homes does. Instead, we give you a password to your personal MyFultonHome account. You can use this to log in securely and access all contract documents, community CC & R’s, Landscape Guidelines, Bylaws and the Public Report. Your account also provides access to your selected options with warranty information. You can also register all of your options online using your MyFultonHome account, saving you time as well as file-cabinet space.

This paperless approach to your home’s paperwork has saved over 3 million pieces of paper since we started this process, and that’s a lot of trees.

The second way we save trees is with our onsite lumber waste recycling program. We work with Waste Knot Recycling Company to help recycle lumber that would otherwise be wasted and added to land fills. Waste Knot takes all of the framing lumber waste from our homebuilding sites and uses those lumber pieces to manufacture “finger-jointed-studs.” Our framing contractors use those studs to build panelized wall systems to frame our homes.

This approach saves money and provides stronger and better-built frames as well as a significant savings in time and labor. Waste Knot Recycling estimates that this recycling of lumber waste saves over 2,000 trees a month, and we’re proud to be a part of that process.

Visit our “Fulton Cares” pages to learn more about how Fulton Homes focuses on helping the environment by saving energy and resources.

Fulton Cares

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fulton caresFulton Homes believes in giving back to the community, and an important part of that is our commitment to build homes that are safe and energy efficient so that we help our homeowners and help the environment at the same time.

Our energy efficient building processes allow us to build homes today that are far more efficient than those of just three to four years ago A third-party testing group checks all of our east valley homes, giving them Power Wise certification. All of our new homes have 14 SEER AC units, higher insulation, and vinyl Low-E windows.  In addition, most of our appliances are Energy Star certified. This makes today’s homes far more efficient and less expensive to operate than yesterday’s homes.

For example, at Fulton Homes, we build well-insulated homes, demonstrating a commitment that has qualified us to be among a select few builders certified as SRP PowerWise Homebuilders. Our assurance of proper insulation includes switching from blown fiberglass to the more environmentally-friendly cellulose insulation, improving insulation around doors and windows as well as silicone-sealed transitions and openings– protecting vulnerable areas where heated or cooled air may escape a home, leading to higher energy costs. We also use Low-E Windows in many of our models, further reducing energy loss.

And if you choose, Fulton offers many insulation upgrades that can provide even more energy efficiency to your home. We believe that our commitment to you and the environment is just one example of the many ways that Fulton cares about you, your family, and our community.