Month: June 2012

Shades and Highlights: Things We Like June 2012

Welcome to the first installment of “Shades and Highlights,” a monthly article dedicated to revealing some of Highlight Homes’ favorite new (and not-so-new) discoveries. Because we are aware that a home remodel may merely serve as the solid foundation of any residential makeover – a blank canvas, if you will – we’d like to take this opportunity to point you in the right direction with regard to filling that canvas with color, texture, “shades and highlights” in order to showcase your home sweet home in the best light imaginable.

Sherwin Williams paints is just ONE of our favorite things this month! Image credit: © Anna Rutkovskaya | Dreamstime.com
Sherwin Williams paints is just ONE of our favorite things this month! Image credit: © Anna Rutkovskaya | Dreamstime.com

Things we like this month include:

  • Lonny Magazine – This exquisitely written, photographed and designed publication is jam-packed with ideas and imagery that can fuel any interior design project – from comfortably casual to luxuriously lavish. Flip through each elegant page online, and feel your imagination take flight.
  • South of Market – The brainchild of visionary Southern interior designer, Kay Douglass, this trendy shop boasts locations in Atlanta and Charleston. Customers are presented with a true treasure hunt as they journey through an extensive inventory of “the rare, the beautiful and the can’t live without”. Unable to get to the store? No worries. Many items are also available for purchase online.
  • Boise Cascade – As dedicated to sustainability as we are, Boise Cascade is a leading manufacturer of engineered wood products, plywood, particle board, doors and more – much of which Highlight Homes uses in our quality crafted home renovations and custom home construction. The best part is – while they are an internationally recognized company – their Georgia distribution center is located right up the road in Auburn, GA.
  • Sherwin Williams – Whether you’re talking about a gorgeous kitchen renovation or a complete exterior facelift, we always recommend Sherwin Williams paints and stains. They have a wonderful application on their website called the Color Visualizer, where visitors can upload photos of a room or the exterior of their home and “paint” the space with a wide variety of shades and hues from the Sherwin Williams collection. It’s fun and enlightening!

Stayed tuned for the July edition of “Shades and Highlights” to learn about more things the talented design-build team at Highlight Homes likes. If you have suggestions for things YOU like that you feel we should check out, please let us know below in comments.

Ready to start fresh and create that “blank canvas” to work within? To contact us to discuss an upcoming home remodel, we invite you to call us at 678.873.9234, e-mail us at info@highlighthomesga.com, or fill out our helpful online contact form. If you wish to learn more about us, visit us online at www.highlighthomes.com and be sure to “like us” on Facebook!

* Highlight Homes is not directly affiliated with South of Market, Lonny Magazine, Sherwin Williams or Boise Cascade. These are merely the opinions of the design-build team at Highlight Homes.

Image Credit: MANY-COLOURED PAINTBRUSHES © Anna Rutkovskaya | Dreamstime.com

Inspiration Accumulation: Gathering Ideas for Your Home Remodel

Magazines and catalogs are great resources for images to fill your home renovation "Dream Book"  Image credit: Ugur Akdemir/Stockvault
Magazines and catalogs are great resources for images to fill your home renovation "Dream Book" Image credit: Ugur Akdemir/Stockvault

If you’re an avid reader of Highlight Homes’ blog, you know we often recommend building a “Dream Book.” A “Dream Book” will not only help you capture images of your favorite things and ideas you’d like to incorporate in your own home, but it also serves as a valuable tool for your future designer and renovation company. You may have the perfect vision of what you want in your head, but it’s not always easy to transfer that vision through words alone.

The challenge is – where should you begin looking for these images. Home décor magazines such as Elle Décor, House Beautiful, Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles, and Better Homes & Gardens are a terrific source. Enjoy perusing the pages and whenever you see something that speaks to you personally, simply clip it out and add it to your “Dream Book”.  There is also a treasure trove of sources on the internet such as HGTV.com, TradHome, and Rue. We are HUGE fans of Pinterest, too – we believe it is one of the best tools people can use to get there style, ideas & taste across to us! Inspiration can come from just about anywhere! Feel free to draw pictures and take photos to add to the book, as well. And don’t forget about catalogs – particularly for places like Restoration Hardware, Pottery Barn, Ballard Designs, and IKEA – they are loaded with great images that can help you fill the pages of your “Dream Book.”

From a professional standpoint (and because Highlight Homes just so happens to be proud members of this organization), the National Kitchen & Bath Association (NKBA) website is an AWESOME resource for stunning images of some of the most beautiful kitchen and bath designs we’ve ever come across. Their DREAM pages are filled with professionally photographed kitchens and baths that range from sleek contemporary to timeless traditional.  Make sure you’ve got plenty of paper and toner in your printer – you’re going to need it!

Once your “Dream Book” starts filling up, reach out to the design-build team at Highlight Homes. We welcome the chance to listen to your thoughts and thumb through your book. We can marry your ideas with your needs, the images from your “Dream Book” and your family’s collective personality to develop a design that’s uniquely YOU, and not just some carbon copy of a room in a magazine.  To get started right away, call us at 678-873-9234, e-mail us at info@highlighthomesga.com, or fill out our online contact form.  To learn more about Highlight Homes, please visit us online at www.highlighthomesga.com. While there, you can take a peek at our online portfolio. Who knows, you might just find the next perfect image there for your own “Dream Book”!

Highlight Homes’ June Renovation Special: Sign a Contract with Highlight Homes by the end of June 2012 to receive a $500 gift card to Home Depot®, Lowes®, or Bed Bath and Beyond®*

*Good for contracts of $10,000 or more;

Highlight Homes is not affiliated with Home Depot, Lowes, or Bed Bath and Beyond.

Offer Expires June 30, 2012.

Must mention ad at time of consultation to receive this special offer.

Celebrate National Home Ownership Month by Breaking Ground on a New Custom Home

Imagine building the home of your dreams on the lot of your choosing! Highlight Homes can help you celebrate National Home Ownership Month in style!
Imagine building the home of your dreams on the lot of your choosing! Highlight Homes can help you celebrate National Home Ownership Month in style!

Before we began building a solid reputation as Atlanta’s premier luxury home remodelers, Highlight Homes was perhaps best known for our signature brand of custom homes

June is National Home Ownership Month!  While it has long been a cornerstone of the American Dream, home ownership has gotten a bad rap in recent years due to a lagging economy and struggling housing market. While many homeowners are opting to stay put and remodel their current home, first time buyers or those seeking an entirely new view from their kitchen window may want to consider a custom home, designed and constructed by the talented team at Highlight Homes.

While many existing homes can be found for a steal, they often require expensive renovations to make them seem more like “home sweet home”. A positive aftereffect of the housing crash is that land is also available at rock bottom prices. Imagine finding the ideal lot, and then designing and building the home of your dreams!  Highlight Homes makes that possible.  Here are a handful of steps to help you get started:

  1. Step #1 is as easy as picking up the phone or reaching out over the internet. Simply contact Highlight Homes by calling 678-873-9234, e-mailing NKinfo@highlighthomesga.com, or filling out our convenient online contact form. We will schedule a meeting to discuss your wants and needs, as well as budgetary restrictions.
  2. If you already own land on which to begin construction of your new custom home, the exciting design phase can begin immediately. In the event that you haven’t found your ideal home site, Highlight Homes can help you find the perfect lot on which to begin building your home.
  3. While we begin our quest for your new home site, you can begin putting together a special scrapbook of many of the elements you wish to incorporate in your dream home. Pour through home décor magazines, search the internet, draw your own renderings, snap photos of other homes around town, etc…
  4. Once we’ve found the perfect lot, a Highlight Homes’ architect will schedule another meeting to sit down with you to look through your scrapbook, learn about your family, and develop a strong sense of what you are hoping for from your new home.
  5. He will then take this knowledge back to his drafting table to develop truly distinctive house plans custom made to fit your family. From mom’s wish to have a laundry room upstairs, to dad’s wish to have a home office with built-in bookcases, to each child’s wish to have spaces that feel all their own – your family’s “wish list” is our command.
  6. When you approve of the blueprints for your custom home, an estimate of construction costs will be developed and – once approved – construction can begin. Our talented team of designers and builders will work closely with you throughout every step of your custom home project to make sure your visions and wishes are being met.
  7. Highlight Homes will take care of the acquisition of the necessary permits and the execution of inspections so that the construction phase goes smoothly from start to finish.
  8. Depending on the size and scope of your custom home, once the permits are obtained the construction phase could take anywhere from 6 to 12 months to complete. We have a solid reputation for finishing on-time and on-budget, and – more importantly – for exceeding expectations in every project we undertake.
  9. Final Walk-through and Closing – A Highlight Homes’ construction supervisor will accompany you through your new home to complete a punch list of any remaining items that need to be addressed within seven days of closing. Highlight Homes also extends a 2-10 warranty on your home from the moment the sale closes.
  10. You and your family can begin moving into the home of your dreams and start making memories right away.

Highlight Homes welcomes the opportunity to celebrate National Home Ownership Month with you by becoming your family’s custom homebuilder. We look forward to hearing from you soon!  To learn more about us and view our online portfolio, please visit us online at www.highlighthomesga.com.