by Alison Moore Smith | May 2, 2009 | Design Your Own House, for Home
After choosing the perfect kitchen faucet, we were on the lookout for a faucet model that would work in other rooms. We will have a second kitchen in the entertaining area and a third kitchenette in the office. There will also be a utility sink in the laundry room....
by Alison Moore Smith | May 1, 2009 | Design Your Own House, for Home
An owner-builder is someone who both owns a property and acts as their own general contractor on the job. They either do the work themselves or hire employees or subcontractors to do the work. When we built our last custom home in 2003, we hired a general contractor....
by Alison Moore Smith | Apr 28, 2009 | Design Your Own House, for Home
Appliances are not only a major expense in a home, but also a long-term investment. If you choose well, your appliances should give you years of service. In our last home we installed a Wolf 48″ professional rangetop, model SRT484DG, with four gas burners and a...
by Alison Moore Smith | Apr 11, 2009 | Design Your Own House, for Home
Custom kitchen and bathroom cabinets are gorgeous, but are going to take a chunk out of your homebuilding budget. And you're going to live with them for years. Make the most of it with these eight essential features. Designed with You in MindDon't rush in and let the...
by Alison Moore Smith | Apr 2, 2009 | Design Your Own House, for Home
For the first many months of planning, we had determined that our new, custom home would have a real, wood-burning fireplace in the family room. We'd still use a gas fireplace for our master bedroom, but not in the main living area. Neither of us is terribly enamored...
by Alison Moore Smith | Mar 25, 2009 | Design Your Own House, for Home
Today I went to City Hall to find out how we go about submitting the plans for approval. When my ancestors came to American, they looked for some empty land, cut down some trees, and had at it. Today the process to build a home is incredibly complex. I understand...
