Do you want a home that opens with an inviting entrance that makes a statement? Take a look at this Monterey Bay model at Victoria Estates. The generous circular entry gains additional emphasis and drama thanks to the stone medallion in the center. A work of art in cut stone gracing your entrance encourages guests to pause in appreciation; then as they look further your home comes into view as part of the curved vista.

This design combines a number of elements that play off the medallion. The white baseboards and stone thresholds separating the rooms echo the white frame of the centerpiece. Paint and room flooring choices bring coordinated colors into play. You could use that medallion as the inspiration for decorating every adjacent room.

Subtle ceiling lights invite guests into the living room. The traditional furniture becomes more intriguing when combined with the well-designed lighting and rich wall colors. Notice that the oval coffee table continues the curve theme into the living room. Even the dishes on display in the china cabinet make the connection.

When you plan your home, keep in mind that you can take advantage of one powerful element such as this medallion by repeating the theme in other rooms. This creates a more congruent look, which is one hallmark of great design. Spend some time with one of our designers to discover other ideas that will make your home as special as you want it to be.

It’s nice to have space for entertaining outdoors, and setting up a table and chairs provides the opportunity for dining al fresco in your own home when the weather allows, but you may also want to consider finding a corner of your yard to create a get-away space.

This could involve a simple chair and path like the one in this picture. It’s almost like a secret garden that you and your family can enjoy.

Another option is positioning a comfortable hammock along the side of your home where it’s more difficult for visitors to find you when you want to enjoy a quiet weekend-afternoon nap.

How about a bistro table and two chairs – just the place for you and your spouse to share a cup of coffee before work?

Whatever purpose you have, you can find just the right combination of outdoor furniture and location to create a special place outdoors. Here are some ways to make this happen.

Plan what you want. Would you like a place to read or a spot for an afternoon snooze? Use your goals to decide how to add both charm and additional functionality to your yard.

Walk around your house. You may think that all of the outdoor space is in use, but often a side yard is available. This photo shows a common path from the front to the back of the house on the side opposite the garage. By adding the stepping stones and a chair, this family created a special nook.

Take a look at the edges of your yard. Often trees and bushes hide a cozy spot that would make a fun place to read or relax with the addition of a bench or other seating.

Plan this into your landscape. When you design your yard’s landscape or make any changes, think about ways to create the feeling of rooms outside – bushes, plantings and low walls can add a sense of someplace special.

Today’s kitchens are often so much more than a space to prepare food. They may serve double-duty as a spot for homework, paying bills, checking out the latest on your Facebook page or planning a party. Family members may look to you for a paper clip, stapler or pair of scissors. You may need to combine cooking with help on a school project or while fielding questions from your office after hours. At its best, your kitchen is the heart of your home.

With that in mind, this kitchen at Shoreline gives you the space and storage to do more than cook. The convenient desk area provides just the right place for your grade school student to complete math homework with you looking over his shoulder when needed. Your high-school daughter can plan her 15^th birthday party on the phone with her best friend while you listen and make suggestions as you prepare dinner.

We’re ready to support your home administration needs too, with a modern version of old-fashioned pigeon holes to hold bills, envelopes and note cards. A complete wall of drawers and cabinets can hold kitchen supplies or everything you need for a convenient home office. Multiple outlets along the extra-long counter can be used for a mixer or coffee-maker, as well as a printer to support all the family computers.

Whether you use this space to multitask or your family uses it to work on projects while still being in easy reach if they need your help, this kitchen is designed to fit your multipurpose life and, we hope, make it just a bit easier.

Would you like your bedroom to feel special and glamorous? This room shows how it’s done, with color and design choices.

Let’s start with color. The room is essentially black, white and red. A straight palette of black and white is stark. By adding the red, gray and brown, the room is softened but still contains the contrast that captures the eye.

Black generally presents a luxurious feel and this room is no exception. The matching nightstands, the bed and mirror frames, the European-style shams on the bed and the small round table in the foreground all add to the strength of this room’s design with their presence. If you want to add drama to a room, drop in some black.

Red is used strategically as an accent. The curtains have the strongest red presence, and the one small pillow and vase of roses pull the color into the room. The red chosen is not bright but rich and dark – almost but not quite maroon.

Metallic accents such as the silver lamps and the nightstand pulls continue with a sense of glamour. In this room gold was an option, but silver is the more sophisticated choice.

Patterns subtly mark this room as professionally designed. Striped curtains, tone-on-tone black shams on the bed, two silk throw pillows with rich fringe on the loveseat, one small red pillow and of course lightly patterned carpeting create interest without distracting from the appealing lines of the room.

The final note of luxury and glamour comes from the loveseat and table. The soft brown leather works in this room. Rounded arms and graceful feet fit the bedroom and the pillows and table invite the owner to stop with a cup of good coffee in the morning.

If you’re drawn to the look of the Southwest, you can create that feeling in your own home. This bedroom captures the right mood with just a few touches.

To begin, the fireplace resembles a classic desert beehive style, made of stucco with bricks surrounding the small half-oval fire box. If you have a fireplace, stucco, tile or brick on the surround can stand in for this look no matter the fireplace’s shape and still support Southwest styling.

The flooring here is carpeting, in a neutral stucco-like tone that complements the look. Terra cotta or neutral tile or even dark wood flooring would suit this Southwest feeling.

The wood frame on the door to the outside has a rustic appearance that suits the theme. Knobs and hinges are bronze, helping the room to look older. Southwest styling is a little rustic, but it does not have to look like a barn door to fit. This element is perfect.

The bed linens provide the next strongest impression after the fireplace. The soft colors and varied stripes reflect without reproducing old Indian blankets. The pillows look like they’re trimmed in suede. Natural fibers such as suede and leather contribute to a Southwest impression.

This room has some modern pieces that provide a good contrast. The contemporary up-lights by the fireplace provide just the right distribution of brightness and shadows. And though the style is modern, they are unobtrusive enough to keep from distracting your eyes.

It’s the same with the artwork to the left of the fireplace. While a contemporary abstract, the colors and feeling work with the Southwest theme. However, a sand painting or small Native American woven rug on that wall would also work well.

It’s not hard to carry the spirit of the Southwest into your home. It’s a look rich in tradition and appeal.

Most people’s lives are busy, with to-do lists that never seem to end. When your life is pulling you in all directions, it’s important to have a place for relaxing and just being yourself. At Fulton, we design our master bathrooms as places to temporarily escape from the regular tensions of life.

The mood enhancing starts with furniture-quality cabinetry, providing plenty of storage for everyday bath supplies. This allows you to use your countertops to accessorize your bath and create a luxurious spa feel. In this room, unique finds such as the Moroccan lantern and flower arrangements with old-world charm work together to help create a designer style instead of the pedestrian approach of bathrooms in the past.

Sink and tub feature faucets in the same style and matte finish. This surface has developed into a preferred choice in recent years. More subtle than standard chrome, it provides the flexibility to use other metals such as the lantern and platter without creating conflict.

The 18-inch porcelain tiles provide one of the sturdiest and maintenance-free flooring options for bathrooms, while still coordinating with the dark luxury of this space. Lighter countertops, a white porcelain sink and bath, and the large window keep the darker color choices from becoming gloomy. Instead, this bath has an intimate feel despite its unusually large footprint.

Special touches such as the mirror frames and the attractive tile pattern running above the countertops add that element of the unusual. When life involves running all the time, isn’t it nice to start and end your day in comfort and luxury?

Sometimes it seems as though you have to sacrifice either comfort or style in a home. This room from one of our Shoreline models demonstrates that it’s possible to have both.

Nothing sets a room off more effectively than a fireplace, and this one makes a statement that sets the stage for the rest of the room. The fireplace is framed in stone, with an appealing yet subtle personality. The two insets to either side can be used decoratively, and the glass shelves support that. You could also use the space for cabinets to hold DVDs and games for family use. The niche above the fireplace is perfect for a flat-screen television. A screensaver turns the TV into art when not in use.

Dark wood flooring combines with an area rug to identify the conversation area. With an open-concept floor plan, design tools such as rugs and furniture arrangement help to define every functional space. Thanks to the rich granite countertop and upholstered bar seats, the flow between kitchen and living area is smooth and unobtrusive.

There’s plenty of cushy seating in this room. It seems designed equally well for a group to get together for a football game or just to chat around a warm fire on a cold evening. The wing chair begs someone to curl up in it with a good book and chocolates on a quiet afternoon. A bank of windows provides a nice splash of daylight and adds to the spacious feeling of this home.

We’re proud to build homes that people enjoy living in and sharing with their friends. Successfully combining comfort and style, what could be better?

The teenage years can be difficult as children begin to draw away from parents and develop their own personality and style. One important and positive way to encourage this process is by letting teens decorate their rooms to match their current mood and taste.

Because this is such a time of change, chances are good that the rooms will go through an evolution. You can help this process along by starting with a room that is neutral enough to support all the changes to come. Here are some suggestions:

Keep it simple. A room with a strong personality will overwhelm any changes your teens want to make. In this photo, the carpeted floor is a crisp white, along with the walls. The white on white design supports virtually any color scheme. The pink/orange colors come from the bed linens and hanging lamp – both inexpensive and easy to change as your child’s tastes shift.

Choose plain furniture. This bed is interesting and yet its minimal lines open it to the possibility of many styles and colors. The four-poster provides opportunities for additional decorating touches by hanging fabric or accessories such as the fabric lamp cover to the right in the photo.

Look for temporary decor. The pattern to the left is actually a set of temporary decals. These are available in many colors and styles. You daughter can arrange and rearrange those to suit her mood. Shop the Internet to find these – there are many companies producing them. The other wall color comes from a large canvas. This piece is significant enough to command attention, but easily replaced later. You can find prints or just stretch fabric over a canvas frame to add color and style quickly and inexpensively.

Decorating their rooms provides a good way for teenagers to express themselves. And remember if they choose dark purple or black for the walls, it’s only paint. With luck you may get a room that looks as cute as this one does.

If you dream of a kitchen that’s beautiful and yet still designed for the serious cook, take a look at this Monterey Bay kitchen from Victoria Estates.

Let’s look at function first. The double oven provides a standard convection oven at the bottom, with a convection/microwave combination above. These are both set at just the right height for pulling out hot dishes without having to bend over or reach up, a good safety consideration.

The walk-in pantry is one particularly appealing functional feature. With plenty of shelves, food staples and serving dishes are only a step away. Larger equipment has a place here, and closing the door keeps any clutter out of sight.

The refrigerator is built in for style but still has the basic water and ice dispenser. To the left the cabinet and counter provide a perfect staging ground for a coffee-maker or other commonly-used kitchen appliances. There’s plenty of counter space to use thanks to the large island. Pendant lights over the island provide extra brightness for detailed tasks.

The island itself is more than a kitchen tool. A countertop seating area with enough room to comfortably seat four provides the ideal setting for everything from a place for a few couples to snack on appetizers while talking to the cook to a buffet setup for a much larger gathering.

From the standpoint of style, a designer touch is clearly evident. The rich cabinetry benefits from the judicious use of dark glaze to mark out the molding. 18 inch porcelain tiles are a softer reflection of the striking granite countertops. Choosing to cover the refrigerator and range hood in wood rather than stainless helps this kitchen retain a warm feel. The furniture style of the island helps make the transition from kitchen to living space smooth and connected. Altogether, an ideal kitchen.

Hanging art in a home requires more than a hammer and nails. Getting it right can make the difference between art that adds interest to a room and art that looks out of place.

It’s not about color coordination. Other issues are much more important. Here are some basic tips for arranging and hanging art in your home.

Think proportionally. A large wall will completely overpower a smaller work of art. You can save your smaller pieces for walls chopped by doors or windows. Another option is to group smaller works in interesting ways. This gallery approach demonstrates that smaller art can work well in a large space if it’s grouped.

Hanging art in a line at eye-level like this provides a clean design from a distance and an easy opportunity to study each piece from up close. Having all the frames in the same color also pulls the images together.

Another alternative with smaller pieces is to lay them out in a rectangular area, balancing dark and light as well as sizes. Start by laying them down on the floor where you can move them around until you have a pleasing arrangement. Another way to determine a workable layout is to cut newspaper to the size of each image, and tape the shapes to the wall with masking tape, moving them until you’re satisfied. Replace each newsprint shape with the appropriate painting, print or photo.

If you’re not sure which image or images you want on each wall, simply set the art on the floor just below where you’re thinking of hanging it. As you walk through your home, imagine it hanging on the wall above. Within a few days you’ll know whether it’s in the right place.