You Can’t, and Don’t Need to, Win Them All Builder “Just as real baseball fans don’t get too upset when their favorite team loses a game (it’s a long season!), followers of the housing industry shouldn’t dwell on month-to-month metrics.” Remaking the great room Professional Builder “Although the idea of a great room has been [...]

Your customers would agree that remodeling is certainly worth the trouble in the end, but the process might drive them (or you, for that matter) batty! To help keep everyone sane, MSN Real Estate offered some valuable tips to those about to go through this process. Here are some things they want your customers to remember. Do [...]

One of the more consumer-oriented blogs that we like is Apartment Therapy. They have a series called Before & After where they cover small projects like renovating a dresser, all the way up to major remodeling projects. Not too long ago, they featured this lovely kitchen: Isn’t it nice? It’s especially impressive considering what was there before (bonus picture of the [...]

Architects are cooking up new business in the kitchen, according to Matthew Strozier at the Wall Street Journal. Citing a recent survey from the American Institute of Architects (AIA), Strozier writes that as kitchen areas are growing and becoming more wide open in nature, architects are seeing steady work from homeowners interested in a kitchen [...]

It’s nice to be able to choose, right? And it’s good to be able to offer your customers choices — except when it isn’t. Psychologists have long noticed that when people have too many choices, they can become figuratively paralyzed. It’s like choosing a sandwich: Sometimes you just want a selection of well thought-out choices laid out [...]

At its best, building and architecture not only provides beauty but also innovative solutions to problems. Here’s a great example of that. Inhabitat recently blogged about the Swiss St. Maurice Abbey. It’s ancient — more than 1,500 years old — and during the thousand-plus years of its existence, it sometimes needs a little TLC. Recently, the [...]

Here is an important piece of news for builders, if you haven’t already heard: Builders all over the country are being fined for not properly following the Residential Lead-Based Paint Regulations. Housing Zone has an in-depth article that lists out examples of builders fined for not following these practices. Did you know that the highest [...]

Many people don’t like to think of growing old, and the uncertainty that comes with age. Can you live at home? Should you? With the “Silver Tsunami”  crashing home as the Baby Boomers age, there are concerns with the elderly being able to live in their own homes. This represents a prime opportunity for savvy [...]

If your clients are looking for a luxurious heat-and-relaxation thing to add to their home, but a steam room is too impractical and a hot tub is too much upkeep (and maybe too Jersey Shore), how about a sauna? According to the Listed blog, they are among the most requested home improvements currently. Listed says: Saunas [...]

Looking for some new business? Who isn’t! With the remodeling industry becoming one of the more robust parts of the building industry, remodelers are looking for new ways to get customers in the door. Fine Homebuilding offers a few provocative answers to this question. One of their readers wondered if offering some sort of incentive, [...]