Best House Floor Plans

Laundry rooms and mudrooms deserve green love too. Just because these rooms accommodate dirty duds, soiled shoes, and pet traffic, does not mean there are things you can do to rejuvenate the laundry room and mudroom with green qualities.

Replace flooring.
Certain types of flooring are gaseous and contain toxic chemicals that are bad for your pet’s health. For better air quality, do not use carpet, rugs or vinyl floors. These elements are known to release allergens that promote poor air quality.

Bamboo is an eco-friendly, renewable resource with minimal toxins. The flooring is preferable to other types of material for several reasons. Generally, since it is a weed, it does not contain pesticides. More importantly, because it reintroduces oxygen, it’s an optimal material for keeping the mudroom and laundry room clean.

Reuse your lint.
If your attire is made of natural or organic materials, your lint can double as mulch. Spread lint from the dryer on bare spots of your lawn. It not only prevents erosion, but also thwarts weed cultivation. However do not let the lint-mulch make contact the stems of your plants.

Remove pet urine.
Bid adieu to pet urine odors with an eco-friendly solution of white distilled vinegar. As this green tactic works on any material conducive for moisture, allow the vinegar to sit for an hour or more. Next, thoroughly rinse and dry the area. Then, saturate with a sprinkle of baking soda and a light mist of water. Let the two compounds set into the fabric for three to four hours before vacuuming the mixture.

Reorganize chaos.
Although the laundry room and mudroom tend to serve as the catchall for clutter, nothing maintains better order than a wicker, bamboo or a recycled plastic container. Make sure the container has several compartments and complements the your laundry room or mud room’s décor.

If you’re feeling a bit zealous, you can create your own laundry detergent. Click here to read the article.

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There are several misconceptions about the design and green qualities of the modular home. In this installment of Best House Floor Plans, we’re evaluating five common fallacies associated with the home built off-site:

Fallacy #1: Modular homes require almost a year to build.
On the contrary and depending on the size of the modular home, the factory built domicile has an assembly time of three to five days. Once the modular home is transported to the construction site, it requires only two to three months of construction time, compared to the conventional home, which requires nine months to a year for completion.

Fallacy#2: Modular homes are more expensive to build.
According to national averages reported by architects, modular homes are 10 to 20 percent more cost effective than the standard built home.

Fallacy #3: Since, modular homes have to be transported from point “A” to its final site location, the factory built home is not green.Actually, many factory built homes are developed in accordance to a rating system, mandated by the U.S. Green Building Council. An example is the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). These pre-constructed homes are by far more energy efficient to live in.

Fallacy#4: The home built by module has only one insipid home style.
Contrary to popular belief, modular homes are architected into a myriad of style options:

Colonial
Contemporary
Contemporary
Dutch colonial
Georgian
Mediterranean
Victorian

Fallacy #5: The building green concept is a marketing ploy used to promote the modular home building industry.
Several years before going green or being eco-friendly was popularized, modular manufactures analyzed the amount of waste and its effect on the environment. The findings showed that significantly more building materials end up in landfills during standard home builds than the pre-fabricated home.

Moreover, the home floor plan, erected by module is green because it offers three redeeming qualities:

-    It is environmentally conducive for the occupant, as well as the planet
-    Decreases homeowner’s operational costs on energy
-    Has a substantially smaller carbon footprint

In summation, modular homes are not only eco-friendly, but exude highly stylized characteristics, often indistinguishable to the traditional constructed home.

Read more on Modular Home Design.

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If you’re thinking about transforming an extra bedroom into a cozy study or library BestHouseFloorPlans.com gleaned several winning interior design tips and ideas from HGTV, HousePlansandMore.com and other interior designers. Here’s what we learned about designing a study:

Basic interior designs are applicable to designing the study. The premise of the study is based on the fundamental principles of interior design: color, balance, scale, proportion. This translates into selecting furniture, wall art and accessories that are harmonious in nature to your study’s décor.

Types of Study themes

E.-library. This modern day study is also dubbed as an e-library or media room. Reminiscent of the millennium age of electronics, consider using an HDTV flat panel screen to double as your computer monitor.

Victorian Parlor/study. Originally, the study was inspired by the Victorian parlor library. For the antique collector, the Victorian inspired study exemplifies the ultimate showcase for refined elegance and comfort.

Continental study. The continental study does not necessitate the pomp and circumstance of the Victorian parlor or an e-library. Emphasized by statuesque floor to ceiling shelving, furnishings from various eras come to congruence – especially when an extensive book collection takes centerstage.

Study interior design tip. To introduce an element of drama, consider replacing windows with French doors.

Furnishing Ideas for the Study
Select furnishings compatible with the schematics of your study. The study is conducive for mixing and matching antiques with modern furnishings.  Desks and chairs fashioned like Frank Lloyd Wright’s innovations meld well with modern light fixtures.

At House Floor Plans and More, we found the inspirations to create our own enclosed bookcase, with doors shielded in tempered glass, constructed of cherry wood.

Other Furniture Accoutrements for the Study

•    An armoire
•    Reclining chairs
•    Comfortable sofa
•    Lighting fixtures (lamps, recessed lighting, hanging pendants.
•    Wall-to-wall Bookshelves
•    Artwork
•    Credenza or desk
•    Oriental rugs

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An overview of the best southwestern home floor plans

Southwestern home floor plans used to be architectural styles exemplary of housing in Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico. Today, the Southwestern inspired floor plan knows no geographic boundaries. This week at BestHomeFloorPlans, we went on a virtual tour reviewing information about the Southwestern floor plan. Here’s what we learned:

The Profile: Generally, the southwestern home floor plan is a single level abode, shrouded by a flat roof. The     structure is often asymmetrically structured with brick cloaked in stucco walls and an, enclosed porch

Other Aliases: The Southwestern home plan has several aliases, including: Dubbed, an Adobe, Mission, Pueblo and – or the Spanish Revival home.

Related floor plans The Southwestern floor plan is similar to the Native American and Spanish-Colonial styles.

Southwestern Home Factoid: If you switch placement of the letters, “B” and “D” in the word abode, “adobe” is a commonly used to describe the southwestern style of a home constructed from clay bricks.

Past and Present In the past, the Southwestern floor plan was protected by dense walls to keep intruders out. On the exterior, walls from both sides of the home adjoined to create an expansive courtyard. Today, the courtyard is not entirely enclosed and highlighted with a fountain and pool, as seen at HGTV.

Best Southwestern Floor Plans: At HomePlansandMore.com, this luxurious 3-floor southwestern floor plan was breathtaking. With 1300 square footage almost evenly split between two floors, the expansive space effortlessly accommodates four bedrooms, a 2-car garage, a full basement and more.

Statuesque windows, smooth-faced exterior walls in a light, earthy-toned stucco, this floor plan is representative of the architecture of New Mexico and Arizona.
As for a dwelling, reflective of the dream home, this southwestern home is to buy for.

Meanwhile, be sure to compare our other featured home styles.

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Facts, tips and tricks on organic home gardening.

Organic home gardening is not as arduous as it sounds. It wasn’t very long ago that the thought of organic home farming was unfathomable. These days, green enthusiasts are not the only people taking on organic home gardening. In this segment of Best House Floor Plans, we’re reviewing several benefits and tips on cultivating your own organic food garden.

Why Organic Home Gardening?
Sustainability and self-sufficiency are the most redeeming aspects of organic home farming. Compared to the price of purchasing organic foods at the grocer and farmer’s markets, the overall savings are substantial. If one compares the taste of organically grown vegetables to vegetables harvested using pesticides and other chemicals, produce from organic home gardening is more flavorful and richer in nutrients – sans the chemical residue.

Traditional Farming vs. Organic Home Farming
Nevertheless, there is an overwhelming disparity between organic home gardening and traditional farming. Home organic gardening entails polyculture; where as, farming involves the process of cultivating a single crop or monoculture.

Polyculture presents several advantages. For starters, medleys of crops are grown on a single piece of land, attracting a variety of soil microbes. Additionally, when a variety of vegetables are cultivated in the same land, certain crops serve as natural pest control.

Devising an Organic Home Gardening Plan
Plot the right spot. Considering the type of crops, choose an area conducive for all of your vegetation.

Select the right crops. Not all crops grow in all climates or grow in confluence.
That’s why it’s important to conduct a little research about the types of vegetables you plan to cultivate in your organic home garden.

Fertilize wise. Organic home gardening relies on soil fertilization. Composts, manure and a method referred to as green manuring add nutrients essential to harvesting a prolific vegetable garden.

For additional tips on organic home farming, visit the online magazine, Organic Gardening.

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