calliope & christy, that's the whole crux of the problem realy, the indoctrination into badly designed homes is fairly complete, and when you consider that up to 75% of those homes are also built on the wrong aspect and take orientation of the home into that there are not going to be very many homes that you can buy out of the new or used home lots that will be able to be run with noticable efficiencies. but on the other hand a lot of people do get to build their own home from scratch but they always or nearly always follow the indoctrinated model with some "we love that" variation. need to keep the heart out of these decisions and use the head a whole lot more, and that means oodles of latteral thinking, thinking outside the "box/square" and working outside your comfort zones. and the squares we are in and the comfort zones around us are all indoctrinated, a fairly hard mold to break most of the time. and the current climate in the home design area won't change while we home buyers keep buying what "they" dish out. we don't need macmansions we need affordable comfortable homes, at the time we built ours it cost around $50,000AUD the nearest affordable steel plan home (macmansion style no options away from that style that is all they want to build for us) then was around $80,000AUD, that is a big saving for a young family well for any family, and then the home was so much cheaper to run. it had lots of benefits to suit the local conditions ie.,. it was termite resistant in its own right without the use of any chemicals or barriers, it was also fire resistant ad it had almost no combustable material only furnishings, it was Cyclone proof beyond the minimum standard of normal homes, and the list goes on. Even the plumbing was either exposed or easily got at for repairing or adding to, all modern homes have hidden plumbing so when a fault occurs or addition is needed it requires in a lot of cases the removal of wall sections and alot of mess to complete the task. 'christy', in your travels abd wanderings from this home to that home, have you ever noticed in like climates how one home may be more comfy that anotehr even if someone else yo know through association happens to be living in it, these differences will be there, and they aren't differences by design they are accidental as a builder/planner may have given some homes better aspect and design lent itself to better orientation. we see here our home is that bit more comfy than the one our daughter rents a couple of kilometers away, our young neighbours over the road can't figure why our living area is heaps more user friendly on the comfort side than what his is. the best tools are a compass, and powers of observation with good analytical skills, and being able to figure the suns track over the season. when we buy a home before we step through the door the compass comes out, and if it is the wrong aspect we don't go any further, drives real estate people crazy, but deep down they know we are right they just want everyone to be like the lemmings and just buy a place because it looks pretty or has a pretty view whatever. when people buy cars and fridges etc.,. they are more astute, yet the biggest thing they buy gets cursory attention to detail. when you look at a concept if the first words/thought are won't/can't/yuk then you have locked yourself into the box, make your thinking why/what/how. thanks for the great chat hey? len

Renovator8 - Blast from the past indeed! Hello to you, MightyAnvil and others! I remember the soundproofing debate we all had many years back - very informative (at least for me LOL). I've had some whacky ideas over the years and it's nice to have some unbiased feedback from experienced people like you and others. I'm actually building this condo concept from scratch. Yes, another whacky idea I've been dreaming up for years. I've been wanting to take an urban building (in the middle of the urban core) completely off the grid with the utility only as a back-up. Basically, all the units will operate 100% on photovoltaics coupled with a large Li-Ion battery bank, inverters and BMS. The local utility here is a bit of a tyrant (and monopoly) and has recently come out with a plan to charge flat fees of up to $71/month to residents even if they use no power at all. I realized years back this would happen to power producers so this is the next step in being independent from the utility. I've had a very very hard time getting accurate power consumption figures from elevator manufacturers. The townhome/condo design is one that almost requires the use of the residential elevators to make them easily accessible. Of course there are stairs one could take... but traversing two flights of stairs every day just to access their front door isn't very appealing. I've read mixed reviews about elevators here and reliability seems to be a concern... but then again most of the comments I've come across were for older residential units - not current makes. The machines seem very simple yet are prone to failure more often than I would expect. The installer stated that the units have improved dramatically over the years in terms of reliability, efficiency and cost. I've been told that they are much more reliable than commercial units. But I'm not sure if this is just typical elevator sales guy talk as online reviews are mixed. I was hoping to get some feedback from people that use and rely on their residential elevators on a daily basis. I know people that own residential units here but they rarely use them. I'm going with prestressed/prefabricated concrete panels for this project and the hoistways have already been spec'd per the mfg's requirements. I was originally going to frame out the hoistways but was worried about noise transfer so am now going with concrete enclosures.

Hello Allison, Other than the landscaping and remodeling design tips offered, curb appeal can also be achieved through properly placed landscape lighting. Low-voltage landscape lighting offers security, beauty, efficiency, and is the finishing touch when transforming any outdoor space. Given the layout pictured at this address, the goal would be to highlight the Maple Trees in the front yard (if kept), possibly illuminate any new landscaping added to the front wall of the house, and definitely accent/highlight the front door. Spotlights would work well to uplight the trees and potentially the house. Path/area lights would be ideal for any planter beds or small gardens in the front yard. For directing the attention to the front door, I would recommending using a pair of sconce-style lights; either directly on either side of the door or potentially on the carport columns. Hopefully this helped provide some additional insight. -Evan K. Industry Liaison - VOLT® Lighting

Hon, it sounds like you have this under control! I kind of like the blue on the porch trim. I think it gives the house charm and personality, but my favorite color might not be your favorite. The first thing I always recommend is a big notebook and a twenty five foot measuring tape. I go room by room, sketching all the features in each room-closet, window, cupboard, vanity.... Measure the height of the room also so when you and your notebook are at the paint store, you can accurately estimate how many gallons of paint you will need. I give each room two or three pages on my notebook for my ideas and give each item an estimated cost; $40 entrance rug, $135 lamp with black shade, $300 coffee table, etc. I find that keeps me on budget. I shop for furniture at consignment shops (Ethan Allen chair new $1400, I paid $400). I see you have started idea books, but they are empty. This is the fun part-finding pictures of things you like. After you have a good number of them, you will see a theme. I also use my pictures to show DH what I have in mind. It is so much easier to discus a picture in front of you than trying to describe how you want the finished room to be. I used this method almost daily when we built a house, showing my contractor exactly what I wanted. Back to my notebook, it is very satisfying to look back at the items with a check mark beside them-trim on bookcases, reading lamp, small table. I also note why one of my brilliant ideas was discarded because it wouldn’t work. Six months into this you will forget why you chose pink over red, but your notes will save regret! You are off on a grand adventure. Have fun!