Top 10 Home Trends for 2013

Top trends include the move toward clean, contemporary kitchen cabinets and the rise of quartz composite countertops. Here are Neil Kelly’s top trends for 2013, based on extensive input from the firm's 20-person design team: 10. Kitchen Cabinets A clean, simple, contemporary look will be popular with homeowners looking to economize and eliminate unnecessary clutter and fussy details that equate to high maintenance and complicated living. For those who don’t want to spring for new cabinetry, re-facing or refinishing cabinets offers more bang for the buck. 9. Countertops Granite has been dethroned. While granite isn’t going away and still has many die-hard fans, the new king of countertops will be quartz composite — the closest thing to no maintenance, bullet-proof countertop materials available today. 8. Hardwood Floors Pre-finished and engineered wood flooring will become more popular than the once gold-standard of site-finished flooring. Pre-finished woods provide a hard, durable finish, are an installation time saver, and eliminate the sanding dust dilemma. Engineered wood floors are also compatible with under-floor heating systems, a big plus in cold climates. 7. Glass Backsplashes Glass mosaic tile is on the way out. Taking its place are glass/stone/tile mosaic composites that can add more texture and visual interest and that tie in more readily with stone or quartz countertops. Be on the lookout for back-painted, solid glass panel backsplashes in contemporary settings, which provides an ultra-clean, almost ethereal look to a polished, modern kitchen setting. 6. Stylishly Simple Sinks Goodbye double-sinks, hello deep single-bowl sinks. With accessories such as fitted colanders and dish drains, deep single-bowl sinks have all the benefits of a divided sink, plus the large size to actually fit that roasting pan or those baking sheets into the sink all at once. Stainless is still popular, but the quartz composites are a great value and durable option. 5. Color Palette Charcoal is the new black.  2013 will find this silky color everywhere as it blends the right amount of chocolate, grey and a touch of green. 4. Bathroom Stone Synonymous with luxury, Calacatta marble will find its way into both traditional and contemporary bathrooms. Calacatta is a rarer stone than Carrara marble, but is quarried in the same region. It is valued for a whiter background and bolder grey veins. 3. Texture and Sparkle Bedazzled may find its way into home décor and design as homeowners seek a blend of classic textures and colors with pops of bold color and elements of sparkle.  Glossy glass tile backsplashes and sparkle on polished nickel fixtures trend in 2013. 2. Living In Your Home Longer/Multi-Generational Living With many certified aging-in-place specialists (CAPS), Neil Kelly designers predict a growing trend to help aging baby boomers safely “grow old” in their homes, for as long as possible. Watch for easy kitchen and bath upgrades to enhance functionality, comfort and safety. 1. Healthy Home, Healthy Living Green and sustainable design is here to stay. The number one trend for 2013 will be to create a healthy living environment, free of toxins and harsh chemicals.  More and more homeowners are taking advantage of federal and state incentives to evaluate their home’s energy efficiency and overall performance. Upgrade trends include the use of low VOC materials to improve indoor air quality, testing combustion safety, and radon mitigation.  
The Skylar Grande – semi-custom plan

The Skylar Grande – semi-custom plan

All of our semi-custom plans are fully customizable to create your ONE OF A KIND home.
Price: Starting on your lot at $535,000
Contact: Sean Sullivan 828.669.4343

Features: Energy Star Certified, NC Green Built Home, Universally designed plan

Click here to see a 360 degree virtual tour!

The Skylar Grande is an upgrade to our popular Skylar model that adds a screen porch, formal dining room, and a stone chimney. It is a universally designed home that not only boasts a quaint craftsman architectural feel, but also incredibly energy efficient construction. This floor plan works well for families of all size and ages. Since it has two bedrooms with two full baths on the main level, it works great for families with younger children, but since it also has two bedrooms upstairs, it also works well for the next generation to accommodate guests or a home office. Click “read more” to see more photos, floor plans and more!

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Top Ten Design Flaws – building new and remodeling

Click on the microphone to listen to this podcast! Guest: John Petri, Petri Architecture In part from “Patterns of Home” by Max Jacobson, Murray Silverstein and Barbara Winslow, with eye of adjustment towards resale.   Ignoring Site Characteristics (trying to force preconceived ideas or plans) Insufficient programming (thinking/talking it through) Over building (too much square footage can weaken design integrity) Poor Circulation (function of space and relationship to neighboring space) Indoor/Outdoor relationships (underused) Lacking sufficient light Layering spaces (when to – when not to) and Creating Spaces In Between Proportions (functional & aesthetic) & Curb Appeal Materials & Colors (stay neutral/classic w/o professional assistance) Resale … remember resale!! (design for yourself yes, but consider 2nd owner)

The Virtuous Circle of Home Building and Employment

The Virtuous Circle of Home Building and Employment Home building creates jobs. In fact, for every 100 single-family homes built, enough work is generated to create 305 full-time jobs. With about half of those jobs created in the construction sector alone, home building has the potential to help transform a sluggish economic recovery into a more robust expansion.   It's also true that a faster pace of job creation will in turn support demand for both rental and owner-occupied housing. But an anemic labor market has held back housing demand. As a result of this chicken-and-egg problem, the Great Recession and its aftermath have suffered from a vicious circle in which declines in home building resulted in lost jobs and a weak labor market held back demand for home building. However, recent housing and economic data suggest that a virtuous cycle is beginning to take hold. Growing optimism among home builders is leading to higher levels of residential construction, which suggests better times ahead for job creation and housing demand.   In particular, the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) for October increased one point to 41, the sixth consecutive monthly increase. Two of the index's three components remained the same: current and expected sales, while the traffic index rose five points to 35, the highest in more than six years. The index, however, remains below the tipping point of 50 where an equal number of builders see better conditions as see poorer conditions. Nonetheless, consistent with the positive October reading of the HMI, September housing starts and permits registered large gains. Overall starts increased 15% to an annualized rate of 872,000, the highest since July 2008. Single-family starts increased 11% to 603,000.
Laura Kirkpatrick Sullivan, ID.ology Interior Design

Laura Kirkpatrick Sullivan, ID.ology Interior Design

Home and hearth, and the comfort they engender, figure prominently in Asheville interior designer Laura Kirkpatrick’s work. Her firm, ID.ology, offers interior design services to private and commercial clients, staging services for home sellers and consultation for anyone wishing to put their best, well-designed foot forward. Kirkpatrick has had a lifelong love of the visual — and she likes to mix things up. Working a treasured family heirloom into a contemporary design is the type of challenge she enjoys. And she’s as comfortable in a hardhat as she is flipping fabric swatches. The daughter of a real estate broker/contractor dad, Kirkpatrick earned her real estate brokerage and general contractor licensures in 2006. Read More

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