Ways to Spread Cheer and Spend Less this Holiday Season

The holidays are all about spending time with good friends and loved ones.  Whether you’re opening your Elite Built home in Louisville to guests or simply enjoying it with your family, there are a number of ways to surround yourself with the best parts of the season AND save money for more important things… like gifts!

Choosing a Bold Christmas Tree

You can get away with a smaller tree if it’s a less traditional color or tree type. The bolder the color, the more of an impact it makes, while costing less than a big evergreen. If your existing collection of Christmas ornaments isn’t enough, try a couple homemade ornaments for a personalized look. Also, stick to one vibrant color theme so they really pop!

Hanging a Festive Wreath

Wreaths can come in all different styles, sizes and materials, so it’s an easy do-it-yourself decoration. Gather natural elements from your yard or nearby park, or check out a sale at your local arts and crafts store. Hang it on your front door to spread the cheer with neighbors and passersby!

Getting a Head Start on Gifts

Wrapping gifts is already on your to-do list, so why not start early and use them in your festive décor! Some colorful wrapping paper, ribbon and ornaments are a special touch for the eventual receiver, but can also add some cheer placed under your tree in the mean time! The dollar store has all the materials you need, and will help you stay on budget if you choose to add a couple faux presents as well!

Using Colors of the Season

If you stick with certain color schemes, you’ve got the making of a festive home even if your décor isn’t specific to the holidays. Household items or natural elements in reds, greens, silvers, golds, blues and whites can help evoke the feeling of the holidays.  Create homemade vignettes with ribbon, candles, pinecones, berries and other cheap or free items. Cover mantles, tabletops, dressers and more with your favorite colors of the season.

Incorporating Holiday Scents

What aromas remind you of the holidays? Hot chocolate, freshly baked cookies, pine needles, cinnamon… whatever it is, fill your home with it! Bake cookies with your family or create a hot chocolate bar for any guests who stop by. Use scented candles and air fresheners as an affordable way to fill your home with a feeling of the holidays!

Other Tips:

·      If you’re planning a party, co-host with a friend to cut costs in half!

·      Prepare dinners and meals in bulk to cut costs on ingredients and save energy. Plus, you’ll have leftovers to enjoy!

·      When shopping online, look for promo codes and compare prices. Also, take it slow! Some sites give discounts if customers leave stuff in their cart overnight.

You CAN enjoy the holidays and turn your home into a winter wonderland without breaking the bank. Whether it’s some DIY decorations or a few sensory touches in your home, your family won’t want to spend the holidays anywhere else!

Prepare Your Home for This School Year

Summer quickly came to an end here in Louisville and now school is underway! It’s not always an easy transition to get back on schedule, but there are ways you can better prepare yourself- and your home- for the rest of the year.  Try a couple of these organization tips to make hectic mornings and busy after school schedules a little more manageable. 

Clothing Organizers. Cut in half the amount of time it takes to get ready in the morning by setting your kids up with clothing organizers.  These simple closet buddies prompt kids to figure out what they’re going to wear the night before and have it ready to go for the next day. No more running around for a missing sock or their favorite t-shirt minutes before the bus leaves.

Create a Calendar Corner. This area will be the central hub for the organization of all assignments, after school activities, sports, etc.  Use white boards or chalkboards for easy revisions and color code by family member for easier organization. 

Prep the Kitchen. Especially in the first couple weeks of the school year, premade meals are going to be a lifesaver as you get back into a routine.  Plan meals and healthy after school snacks before the week starts. Store the meals in the freezer and have the snacks in a designated spot, so they know where to go when hunger strikes!

Stock Up on Extra School Supplies. Pencils, pens and notebooks will all go missing or break throughout the year.  Take precautionary measures and make sure your home is fully equipped with the essentials for when that time comes. 

Create a Homework Station. Especially as kids get older, it’s important for them to have a designated space to study and do homework that isn’t the dining room table.  Create a distraction-free space in a bedroom, living room or an office with a desk or bookcases and no TV!

Sweet Surprises Stash. A simple surprise may be all it takes to make a tough assignment and stressful test seem not so bad. Keep candies, post-its and other little surprises on-hand to stick in their backpacks and lunchboxes when they have a big day ahead.  Nothing like an afternoon sweet or pick-me-up note to get them through the day!

The start of another school year doesn’t have to be a struggle if you take advantage of a couple of these home organization tips.  Your kids may not be ready to let go of summer and go back to school, but at least your house will be!

Top Kitchen Trends for 2016

Recently, REALTOR® Magazine contributor Melissa Dittmann Tracey reviewed which kitchen design trends continue to be most popular. Luckily at Elite Homes, you can use our design center to make your new kitchen trendy! 

Not surprisingly, transitional, traditional, and contemporary styles remain the most popular, but industrial and farmhouse are picking up speed! And while neutral colors remain dominant (whites/off-whites, grays, beiges/bones), the two-tone trend is growing, with 42% of designers reporting that they’ve used a mix of color cabinets in recent remodels or mixed up the color palette by using a different countertop material for the island versus the perimeter counter space. 

If you haven’t gotten your kitchen remodel going yet, here are a few more design trends from the National Kitchen & Bath Association!

Tilt-outs and Tilt-ins for Storage. These solutions make life easier, which is why this design element will never go out of style. They are extremely functional and conserve valuable countertop or pantry space.

Wood or Tile Flooring. Wood and ceramic/porcelain tile remain the two most popular kitchen flooring materials.

Quartz and Granite Countertops. Quartz has gained considerable share in countertop preferences over the last five years. 

Coffee Stations and Wet Bars. Built-in coffeemakers and coffee/espresso stations, and integrated wine/bar areas are making themselves part of today’s kitchens.

Special Pet Spaces. Feeding stations, under-counter crate areas, pull-outs to store pet food and toys.

Docking and charging stations. People spend a lot of time in the kitchen, and the convenience of being able to charge a phone or tablet, and to play music while cooking or entertaining, is a trend that’s sure to continue.

Tips for creating a baby nursery with all the necessities!

While the nursery is technically the baby’s room, parents/caregivers spend a lot of time there – rocking, nursing, singing, changing, playing, pleading – for the first year or two. When putting together your list of “Must-Haves” for the nursery, remember to make it a practical space that you’ll be comfortable in, and one that will be adaptable as your child grows.

The Crib. As the centerpiece of the room, this is one of your most important purchases. Before you choose a crib, think about having to buy multiple beds in the future. (i.e. Crib, then toddler bed, then twin.) Consider a convertible crib that turns into a toddler bed and eventually a full-size bed headboard. Buying a convertible crib might save you money in the long run.

A Mattress. While you don’t have to spend a fortune, make sure you get one that’s comfortable and sturdy.  A good crib mattress should last though several children, withstand lots of scrubbing, and eventually fit into a toddler bed.

Crib Sheets. The American Academy of Pediatrics advises having no bedding (i.e. bumpers or pillows) in the crib, so you’ll just be buying fitted crib sheets.  Buy multiples, and make sure they’re durable because you’ll be washing them a lot! If you can’t resist buying a bedding set to use later, you can use the quilt/comforter as a wall hanging until the baby is old enough.

A Glider/Rocker. You may think they’re old fashioned, but you’ll want a rocking chair. Trust us, at 3 am, you’ll be glad to have someplace comfy to nurse. And most babies really do like being rocked to sleep. Go with something simple and classic that you won’t mind having around the house after baby grows up.

A Dresser. Save yourself some money and forego buying a changing table. Instead, invest in a medium-height dresser that can double as a changing table. (Just add a plush changing mat to the top.) The top drawer can store diapers & supplies. Test out the drawers and make sure they slide easily, because putting laundry away is tedious enough without having to wrestle the drawers open all the time.

Storage. Despite their deceptively small size, there never seems to be enough storage for all the baby’s odds and ends. Incorporate shelving, baskets and/or drawers to contain the chaos. Check out local crafts supply stores & discount stores for cheap and adaptable storage solutions.

Decoration. It’s so easy to personalize your baby’s room today.  From appliques and murals, to monogramed toys and sibling artwork, you can create a nursery that’s original and interesting but not overly fussy.

A Monitor. You’ll have a love/hate relationship with this machine. Constant surveillance isn’t necessary, but if you’re sleeping, doing laundry or are otherwise out of earshot, a monitor of some kind can be a blessing.

A Night-Light. Get one that generates enough light so you can see to nurse or change diapers in the middle of the night, but not so much that it wakes up or stimulates your little one into thinking it’s time to play.

A White Noise Machine. White noise can have a calming effect on babies. Some white noise machines come with preset types of noises, or you can also just use your old boom box and purchase a few white noise CDs to put on repeat.

10 Tips to Improve Your Home's Curb Appeal

First impressions matter. especially when it comes to selling your home, and that usually means having great curb appeal. “Curb appeal” is the impact your home’s exterior makes on visitors. Buyers form vital impressions of homes while standing in the street or sitting inside the car, just beyond the curb. And those first few minutes can make or break a potential sale. 

1.    Clean up.  Sometimes the most obvious way to enhance curb appeal is simply by deep cleaning the exterior of your home. Turn the nozzle on your garden hose to the strongest setting and clean off your driveway, sidewalk, windows, and fence.  If dirt and grime is really caked on your home’s exterior, you can rent a power washer. For maximum sparkle, clean your windows outside and inside.

2.    Give your door a facelift.  A new coat of paint can do wonders. Consider adding molding, which offers a decorative frame for your door, welcoming visitors while serving as a grand entrance.  You can also glam up your door by adding metal house numbers, or a wreath or seasonal decorations.

3.    Have fun with your house numbers. If you’d rather not add house numbers to your freshly painted door, here are some alternative ideas:

·      Add house numbers to a post planter near the front porch.

·      Make use of the front porch stair risers by hanging or painting numbers there.

4.    Add some fun to your light fixtures.  Replacing exterior light fixtures is another curb appeal must. Just make sure your new light fixtures have the same mounting system. And if you want to save on lighting, just try spray-painting them — a can of spray paint costs around $10.

5.     Refresh your mailbox. Replacing your mailbox is easy enough, but why stop there? Try planting a welcoming mailbox garden. Dwarf, compact shrubs are good choices because they stay smaller and require less pruning. Plants such as liriope, daylilies and agapanthus are useful because they don’t get too tall, and quickly fill in, eventually eliminating the need for mulch. 

6.    Bring beauty to your doorstep.  Placing a container garden at your doorstep is a quick and affordable way to liven things up. Not a fan of flowers? Try foliage plants. Just plant something low-maintenance so that they thrive even if you forget to water them. (Dead plants definitely hurt curb appeal!) Choose pots and plants that complement the colors and style of the house.

7.     Install flower boxes. Flower boxes are a quick way to add some life and color to your house windows. If you don’t want to worry about installing flower boxes, the aforementioned container garden is just fine.

8.     Prune the landscape. It’s common knowledge that you should give your landscape plantings a trim before selling a home, but this is also the time to audit your ‘trash trees’ and overgrown foundation plantings. Have the big stuff removed by a professional. Paved paths or patios can bring value to the property because they make life easier without costing much time or effort.

9.    Be deliberate about patio furniture. Limit personal decor and furniture. Just as you would aim to simplify the interior of your home when your house is on the market, the exterior of your home should allow prospective buyers to envision their own style in the space. 

1. Get creative with storing/hiding items. Place a small lattice fence or side of paneling around the A/C condenser, and hide your trash bins behind a small fence or in a garbage can shed. You can also hide your hose in a pot or storage bench.