Tag Archives: home decor tips

Our Facebook Community

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1174859_10152279240831574_5564617463489738871_nAt Fulton Homes, we’re proud of our Facebook community. Well over a thousand of you have chosen to like our Facebook page. We work hard to develop posts that you will enjoy and value. From information on Fulton-sponsored local events to examples of the newest home products, we want our page to work for you.

We’ve also begun to add photos to our Facebook posts. Many of these are from our model homes and the Fulton Design Center. We constantly add photos to our collection as new models and communities open, so you have the chance to see the freshest efforts of our team.

Our most recent post asks you to let us know what kind of information you want from us. We’ve received requests for more information on our homes and communities. In the next few months you’ll see our response to those requests. Like our Pinterest site and these blogs, we hope you find many things of interest and use on our Facebook page.

If you have ideas for Facebook posts or some things you’d like more information on, just let us know. And we want you to know how much we appreciate your replies and likes when you respond to a post. If we provide something you find particularly interesting or valuable, we encourage you to share it on your page so your friends can benefit also. We look forward to your insights and feedback.

Pinterest as a Resource

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10390905_10152277534276574_5215464937568786779_nHow often do you visit Pinterest? If you enjoy visual images and want a way to organize them, Pinterest is just the site for you. At Fulton Homes, our Pinterest boards are organized to make it easy to access information, ideas and images we think you will enjoy and value.

First, we have photos from our models, design center, and communities so you can browse through much of what we offer at home. Next, all of our blogs going back several years are listed by category on the appropriate boards. So if you’re looking for ideas about guests rooms, bathrooms or family rooms, take a few minutes to see if any of our blogs can help.

While you’re visiting, you may also want to look at rooms some of our designers have created as well as examples from other designers around the country. We are constantly adding pins that we think you will find useful.

Finally, we have Pinterest boards developed as a resource for you as a homeowner, homebuyer, or family member. Need tips to sell your home so you can buy one of ours? We have some ideas on that board that may help you. Want to get to know our state better? Check out our Arizona board for ideas. Planning your move and not sure where to start? Our boards help you plan, pack and settle in your new Fulton Home.

We also have ideas for family fun, celebrations and entertaining. If you would like to see other boards on our Pinterest site, let us know. After all, it’s there for you.

Tile with the look of wood

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Design Center 015It can be difficult to choose between tile and wood flooring. Wood feels warm and inviting, and the look works with both traditional and modern homes. For many people, wood will always be their first choice. It may have been the flooring they grew up with, or the way wood works in a space fits their taste and style.

Others prefer tile. Particularly in our hot Arizona climate, tile makes a home feel cooler and is more comfortable for pets in the summer. Maintenance for tile – with the grout sealed – is easy. Little wet kid feet coming in from the pool or pet paws don’t damage tile, and a damp mop makes it look like new again.

One recent entry to the market combines some of the look of wood with the durability and ease of tile: rectangular tiles designed to look like wood. Minimal grout or grout in a similar tone can give you all of the benefits of tile while still appealing to the wood lovers.

The photo above shows just one finish available in this new tile. Others mimic the rich browns of cherry or walnut flooring and all provide enough variation to keep the same organic style you have with wood flooring.

For an opportunity to see the wide choice of colors and finishes in this tile, why not visit the Fulton Design Center this Thursday September 18th from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. for our browse night?

For more information, visit our website at: http://www.fultonhomes.com/design-center. We look forward to seeing you there!

Just the Right Neutral

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Carpet Design Center 055Most people want neutral carpeting, but how do you choose the right neutral for your new home? Here are a few tips to help you define your best choice.

Choose carpeting later: There is such a large selection for neutral carpeting that you can find a shade and tone to work with any décor. So if your new home has an open floor-plan spend time first on those options that have fewer choices such as cabinetry or countertops. Then bring samples of your choices along when you select your carpeting.

004 carpetingNarrow your search: Select three or four samples of carpeting and pull them away from the rest. Your favorite may pop out at you once you see your selections together.

Look for contrast: Is your furniture dark? A lighter carpeting choice will showcase your décor more effectively. On the other hand, if you have light colors in your home, darker carpeting can add drama. Overall, balancing dark and light creates a more interesting look.

Pull a color out of your upholstery fabric: Are there any prints highlighted in your home? Look for a neutral tone that you could pull out to integrate your furniture with your flooring more effectively. Guests may not notice the connection consciously, but your home will feel more coordinated.

Connect your carpeting with your paint choice. When you visit the Fulton Design Center, you have an interesting selection of neutral palettes to choose from for custom paint for your walls, and you may find it easier to make a paint choice first and then use that tone to determine the best carpeting for your new home.

Guest Room Comfort

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Corsica Model at Ironwood Crossing 027When you stay at someone’s house, what special features make the guest room memorable? The first and best thing a guest room can offer is comfort. After a day of sight-seeing or socializing with friends or family, it’s a pure pleasure to sink into a bed with a good mattress and a nice selection of pillows. This bed provides extra coziness with the plush bedcovering and plenty of pillows in all shapes and sizes – enough to prop your back against if you want to read in bed.

Have you thought about what guest room amenities you would appreciate? This room, from the Fulton Homes Corsica Model at Ironwood Crossing, offers a nice desk with a comfy chair in case you want to check email on your laptop, phone or tablet. Selecting a transparent desk and lamp keeps them unobtrusive while still functional.

A ceiling fan helps visitors from more temperate climates handle our hot summers in Arizona. And choosing carpet for the flooring will be appreciated by guests who forget their slippers.

To make your guest room more inviting, how about fresh flowers, several books or magazines for reading or just browsing through before bed, a few favorite snacks and some space in the closet for hanging clothes that wrinkle easily. Welcome your guests with a few little touches – if possible tailoring those special features to the personality and preferences of your guest.

So spend some time thinking about what you want in a guest room when visiting, and apply those thoughts to your own guest space. You’ll find that welcome guests enjoy their stay and will visit again.

Home Office with Style

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Corsica Model at Ironwood Crossing 001With a home office, style can be just as important or even more important than function. As an integral part of your home, office space should appeal to the same aesthetic that you use in the rest of your home. Colors, furniture, accessories and lighting need to work for your projects while still presenting the feeling you want your home to convey.

This home office, from the Fulton Homes Corsica model at Ironwood Crossing, comes into view the minute you walk into the home. If your home’s first impression occurs with your home office, more than ever you want it to represent your style.

Take a look at the different ways this home office sends a message about the homeowner. The desk has strong modern lines, and positioning it facing front makes it even more powerful. The cabinet set behind the desk allows files, papers and office supplies to stay hidden, maintaining a home-like feel even if it is a fully-functional office.

The old-fashioned leather wing chair on the left provides a touchstone of tradition, as well as providing a comfortable seat for a guest. By having this chair behind the desk rather than in the front, the homeowner can chat with a visitor and the desk is off to the side rather than serving as a barrier.

Accessories and art demonstrate a contemporary flair, and colors stay neutral with the exception of the two glass vases on the window between the home office and the living room. Low maintenance plants add a note of warmth.

Functional and livable, this home office can serve multiple purposes while helping to contribute to the comfort and style of this Fulton Home.

Hardwood Flooring

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Hardwood Design Center 058With a classic and timeless look, hardwood flooring is hard to beat. Hardwood flooring, with its long life, flexible background for any décor, and variety of tones and finishes, can work in any room in your home. At the Fulton Design Center, take the time to investigate our hardwood options for flooring.

Fulton Homes offers a choice of Shaw, Armstrong or Holland Hardwoods brands for flooring, all three with a long-term and well-deserved reputation for quality materials and construction. Hardwood flooring has been designed to last, and it has a significant impact on resale value and speed. But the main reason to select hardwood flooring comes from the elegant appearance of this choice.

Many of today’s hardwood finishes tolerate more wear due to modern coatings. But hardwood flooring gains personality with wear. If you’ve ever visited a historic home, you may have noticed that those hardwood floors can last through generations of use, and a few scratches and dents don’t detract from the way this flooring creates an environment of tradition.

With hardwood flooring, changes in décor are easier, as wood makes a perfect background for any combination of colors and style. Hardwood provides the perfect background for area rugs, adding an additional layer to your home’s design.

Hardwood flooring isn’t for everyone. When you’re ready to choose flooring for your new Fulton Home, talk to your designer at the Fulton Design Center to determine if hardwood is a good choice for you and your family.

As you will find out when you talk to others who have chosen hardwood flooring, it’s an option you won’t regret. To see the full range of Fulton Homes’ hardwood flooring, visit the Fulton Design Center on one of our browse nights: the first and third Thursday evening of every month.

Painted Kitchen Cabinets

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Design Center 003There’s a fresh clean look about painted cabinets in a kitchen. They bring light into a space yet still work well with black or stainless appliances. With the black countertops shown here combined with the black and white marble backsplash, this kitchen has the perfect combination of traditional and modern.

design center 002003Painted cabinets today take advantage of some of the options you see with stained cabinets such as glazes to create a more three-dimensional appearance. Take a look at the finish on these cabinets, from one of the kitchen vignettes at the Fulton Design Center.

The detailed trim on the cabinet doors combined with a rich crown molding option offer the perfect surfaces to showcase the dark glaze on these off-white cabinets. The rubbed bronze knobs and pulls suit this inviting style.

If you are considering hardwood flooring in your kitchen, or laminate or tile with a hardwood look, painted cabinets bring a positive contrast between the cabinets and flooring. Adding the dark countertops provides a strong delineation and keeps the kitchen looking interesting.

Old farmhouse kitchens often sported painted cabinets because it was easy to keep them clean and a new surface was only a can of paint away. But with today’s cabinet finishes, a quick wipe with a damp cloth will keep this kitchen sparkling.

With painted cabinets your color and décor options are almost unlimited. Bring in bright jewel tones, earthy colors or pastels and this kitchen provides the perfect background. Enjoy the beauty and flexibility of painted cabinets in your new Fulton Home. For more ideas visit the Fulton Design Center or the Fulton Homes Design Online center at https://edc.envisionoptions.com/welcome/browser.aspx?oid=506&iid=8007295&type=brw&src=edc&toid=505.

Little Touches Make Kitchen Pop

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Corsica Model at Ironwood Crossing 009A smart, functional kitchen can also be lovely. This room, from the Fulton Homes Corsica model at Ironwood Crossing, demonstrates some of the best features a kitchen can offer when the goal is to combine practicality with style.

Let’s start with the cabinets. While glass-fronted doors add appeal to a space, many cooks worry that their cabinets are often just not tidy enough to make glass work for them. By choosing only one cabinet door – the angled one – for a glass front, this kitchen owner can place just the right dishes and bowls in this space to create the impression that every cabinet is this inviting.

Take a look at the type of glass on this cabinet. The vertical lines provide some shielding from seeing exactly what the inside holds and at the same time contribute another design element. Also, this type of glass is less likely to show fingerprints.

The glossy backsplash adds another pop of texture to this kitchen. While the tile and sealed grout make for an easy clean-up of any splashes, the grey, white and light coral tones provide a subtle element of color to the space.

Notice also the high-profile faucet. The clean look and strong curve provides another positive design element, while the skilled kitchen chef recognizes the height advantage when filling large pots. This oversize sink is ready for any culinary adventure.

Finally, the comfortable island invites family and friends to spend time in the kitchen talking to the cook after school or during parties. Overall this kitchen provides high style in its finishes yet still remains functional and welcoming for everyone.

Dining Area Works

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Corsica Model at Ironwood Crossing 015If you’ve experienced dining at a circular table, you know how the space encourages conversation while providing an inviting central area for flowers, a centerpiece, or bowls of good food. The table in this dining room – from the Fulton Homes Corsica model in Ironwood Crossing – also works well in the space. When you have a square shaped dining area a circular table takes advantage of the entire space while still leaving breathing room for wanderers.

This table seats six comfortably and could handle up to eight with just a little squeezing. If you want to try this circle shape, look for a pedestal table that allows you the most flexibility in seating – there are no table legs to interfere with your guests.

The round presentation from the room’s chandelier provides the perfect lighting for the table. Choosing a light fixture with upward-facing shades provides a generous amount of light while avoiding glare. Add a dimmer to allow for darker, more intimate gatherings, possibly with added candlelight.

The built-ins offer another lovely feature in this space. Notice how the upper cabinets frame the window with glass doors that reflect all of the light in this room. The countertop provides the perfect spot to serve a buffet, and you could use the cabinets to store serving dishes as well as table linens. The electric outlet right at countertop level supports heated dishes or after-dinner coffee.

Positioning right next to the kitchen makes it easy to make and serve everything from a quick family lunch to a gorgeous dinner party. The two windows add light to daytime gatherings and ambience in the evening. How would this dining space work for you and your family? Visit our Corsica model to see it in person.