It’s that time of year again! Cookouts, swimming pools, watermelon themed treats and celebrating our independence. Yes, folks, it’s the 4th of July. Everyone has their own tradition for this holiday. Some people travel and go see their family and friends. Some stay at home and cook out. Some like to go outside and watch the people playing with fireworks. And waiting to see if that bottle, they stuck in the ground is going to make it the entire time. Maybe that’s just me. The 4th of July brings

The United States will celebrate 243 years of independence this year on July 4th. Our country is a unique and beautiful place that has been influenced by generations of innovators, immigrants and pioneers. There is no way to boil down the American identity into just one picture or sentence. We have always and will continue to be a melting pot of ideas, cultures, languages and beliefs. Our homes are no different. The house plans that we have in the U.S. have adapted from years of necessity and cr

Just over 18 million acres of prime, old growth forest are destroyed each year. This level of destruction is incredible and can be prevented by changing simple things about our lives. One of the major contributors to deforestation is the need for lumber. This is a huge industry and it is slowly destroying the beautiful country that we live in. One of our favorite companies and corporate partners wants to help decrease this amount of deforestation with an innovative solution. Bingham Lumber is a

You’re back at the worksite this week. The basic structure is there. The roof is on, the doors are in and the windows are installed. It still looks unfinished. It looks like a kid who has all of their clothes on, but the buttons aren’t done up quite right. Let’s get this home looking ship shape. Time to look into Siding. Siding is the exterior covering of your home. There are a variety of different materials that it can be made out of and many different ways that it can be put on your home. You

It’s summertime and that means time to find the pool floaties, noodles, life vests and swim shoes. So, you go through your house hunting these like Elmer Fudd. After hours of searching and the kids asking every five minutes, “Can we go swimming, yet?", you finally uncover them. They were under the Easter decorations and on top of the Halloween decorations. And you realize something. You just don’t have enough space. So, what do you do? If you are like me and my husband, then you decide to build

We’ve all had that moment. You’re walking down the hallway to check the thermostat and you trip over 3 stuffed animals, 2 naked barbies and 4 hot wheels cars. Frustrated, you start opening closet doors desperate to find a place to store the overabundance of kid stuff that your home seems to grow like a strange crop. Each door you open is something to add to the nightmare. This closet is full of holiday decorations. This one is full of winter coats and boots. And this one is full of kitchen appli

Coming out to the job site today, your home is starting to look more like a house and less like a kid’s clubhouse. You actually have all the doors installed and the roof looks good. Now its time to think about the windows. Let’s take a look at the different types of windows and their options. You might think that you could just go into a hardware store and just say, “I would like 6 windows, please," and they would be delivered just like that. Like many things in life, this purchase comes with as

Now that summer is in full swing, it’s time to kick back and relax. Enjoy some swimming. Slather on the sunblock. Drink some of those fancy coconut drinks with the little umbrellas. It’s that time of year when we all start having dreams of Florida and the beautiful sandy beaches. So, let’s look at some plans that are so perfect for The Sunshine State that we named the collection after them. One thing you have to remember about Florida and the house designs that are created and built in the area

Warm sand, palm trees swaying in the ocean breeze, the smell of coconuts and suntan oil; who wouldn’t want to live in a beach paradise? On the East Coast, Florida is the prime beach location. It’s warm for most of the year, its mostly surrounded by the ocean and it only occasionally gets the horrific weather. Wouldn’t you just love to build a home in Florida? Yeah, me too. There’s just one minor problem. I have way too much family in this part of the world to uproot and go to Florida just to be

This week is Outdoor Living Week and I’ve shown you some great house plans that give you a wonderful space and some great grilling gadgets. But what if you aren’t in the market for a new house and you don’t have a nice place to grill? Well, we can fix that. Grab your tools and let’s build us a deck! Building a deck is a relatively simple process. Basically, if you know how to use hand tools and a measuring tape, you can build just about anything. So, we’re going to walk through the basic proces

I don’t think it is any coincidence that Father’s Day is in the middle of June and that June is when you really start grilling out. So in honor of Father’s Day, I went and found 20 of the coolest grill gadgets. Some of them I have seen before, some we actually own ourselves and some just make me go “Oh that’s cool!" And all of these products are available with Amazon Prime shipping so if you have prime, you can get it delivered in two days. The pictures are links that will take you directly to A

Well summer is in full swing and that can only mean two things; mosquitos and oppressive heat. No, wait that wasn’t what I meant to write. I meant to say Father’s Day and Cookouts! Yes! Father’s Day is right around the corner kids and I hope that you have that perfect gift picked out for dad. And what do dads like to do? Grill out and give you unnecessary advice. So let’s celebrate dad this week with our Outdoor Living Week! Starting with some house plans that make you want to slap some hot dogs

This year is shaping up to be both dangerous and deadly. So far this year there have been over 1,000 preliminary reports of tornadoes in the United States alone. Of that number, nearly 800 have been confirmed. In those storms, 38 people lost their lives. There have been at least 4 confirmed EF4 tornadoes in 4 different locations. Let’s keep us all safe this year, ok? Severe Weather The majority of the United States is at risk for severe weather. There are very few places where you can live that

In 1993, there was an historic flood throughout the Mississippi Delta and its tributaries. I was a child at the time, but I remember hearing my parents talking about the river rising and the chances of the levee breaking. I didn’t understand what was really going on at the time, but I remember that we took steps both at home and at school to be prepared for if the flood came. We were spared that year but thousands had their lives ruined. Forecasters are saying that this year may be the year that

With the temperatures rising and the days getting longer, swimming is just too much of a temptation to be ignored. A relaxing dip in a cool pool, lake or river is perfect for these hot summer days. But a relaxing day can turn tragic in an instant. Death due to drowning claims over 3,500 people per year. And to make it worse, drowning is the second leading cause of death for children under 5. As a mother of 2 beautiful little girls, I never want to see anything bad happen to a child. So let’s tal