Work from Home? You Should Think About Adding a Pocket Office

May 21, 2013 by Jen

More and more, it seems that people have a blended career where they work from home a few days a week, and work from an office a few days a week, rather than working 100% from either location.  This trend might be responsible for the recent popularity of the “pocket office.”

The term wasn’t invented until a few years ago, but it refers to a custom home office that is built into a convenient nook in your home.  It specifically refers to a home office that doesn’t need to occupy an entire room, which means you don’t need to choose between having the things you want (a guest bedroom, a game room, a media room, etc.), or somethig you need – your home office. It could be a transformed closet to extra counter space in your kitchen, the important thing to remember is that it will take some creative thinking and vision! Need some inspiration?  Check out our idea book on Houzz here.

 

If you are interested in transforming your home and want to talk to us about any of the latest trends you’d like to incorporate into your new custom home, we hope you’ll get in touch with us!

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The Best of Both World’s: How NanaWalls Can Transform Your Home

May 13, 2013 by Jen

One of the most popular trends in custom homes that we’ve seen recently is the use of NanaWalls in Northern Virginia.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with the term, a NanaWall is a glass wall system that opens and closes completely and allows you to enjoy your interior space in a variety of weather conditions.  Because the NanaWall is made of floor to ceiling glass, even when it’s closed completely, it gives you the feeling that you are sitting outdoors.  Its a great way to accomplish “bringing the outdoors in” like we have been discussing in our last few posts.

NanaWalls are also perfect for homes in Virginia, because, as everyone who has lived here for more than twelve months knows, the summer, and even the spring, can occasionally become a bit too hot and humid to enjoy the outdoors.  With NanaWalls, even on the hottest days you can enjoy your backyard for more than five minutes at a time.

 

We like to share some of the trends in home building that our customers seem to be enjoying the most, and if there is a trend that you’ve noticed that you’d like us to highlight on this blog, just leave a comment below!  And as always, if you’re interested in talking about your custom home project, please contact us at any time!

What’s the Difference Between a Three-Season Room and a Four-Season Room?

May 8, 2013 by Will

OK, so the difference may seem obvious, but there are some important nuances here to help you decide what you want for your custom home.  Both three-season rooms and four-season rooms are types of patio enclosures, but a three-season room is typically is made to be used from Spring to Fall, and a four-season room can of course be used all-year round.

The key difference comes down to weather protection.  Sometimes it helps to think about it like this — a three-season room might make an ideal pool-house if you have a pool in your backyard, and you want some protection from the elements while you spend a lot of time in that part of your home.

But in Northern Virginia, we find ourselves recommending the four-season room much more often, because we know that our customers tend to be happiest when they can use every nook and cranny of their home throughout the entire year, and the winters in Virginia tend to be a little unpredictable.  The four-season room is always going to be attached to your home, and it’s always going to have more protection in the form of insulation than the three-season room.

But even though a four-season room is more popular in Northern Virginia overall, the only thing that really matters is creating the right custom home for you — so if you have questions about the pros and cons of the three-season room vs. the four season-room, we would love to talk to you about it in detail.

Bringing the Outdoors In: Embracing the All-Season Room

May 1, 2013 by Will

Northern Virginia is definitely a unique place, with a unique climate, and the custom homes here definitely reflect that.  One of the popular trends we see that fits perfectly in Northern Virginia is the all-season room.  This is fantastic for Northern Virginia, because it let’s you enjoy the feel of outdoors even when it’s too hot or too cold to be in your backyard.

You can have an open, sun-filled room with outdoor style furniture that gives a sweeping view of your backyard, but at the same time protects you from the elements.  In many cases, a good all-season room may segue nicely to a stone patio or landscaped backyard, allowing you to transition from indoors to outdoors with a comfortable step in between.  In other cases, you might have an all-season room built alongside a deck or wooden staircase to the backyard.

As always, trends like this are great if they fit the vision you have for your home — it’s our job to help you understand your options, and the implications of your choices, so that you have the information you need to make the right decision.  If you think an all-season room is right for your home, drop us a line and we’d love to have a conversation!

And if you want to flip through some fun examples of all-season rooms, there are some beautiful examples on Houzz that you can see by taking a look at the link below in the photo caption.


Drop us a line if you want to talk about your options for adding an all-season room to your home. 

The Top Three Reasons for Businesses to Invest In a Custom Commercial Location

April 26, 2013 by Will

As we discussed before, the underlying goals of a business owner who needs a new commercial location are very different from those of someone who wants a custom home to live in, because at the end of the day, a business is making an investment, and needs to be profitable.  But when you get beyond the underlying goals, and simply look at the immediate reasons for starting construction, the reasons start to look very similar between the two categories:

  • The business is unique, and none of the existing options can fit your needs.  This is the most straightforward reason to go for the custom option: no two businesses are exactly the same, and many of our customers need their business location to reflect their personality, because that’s what their customers expect.
  • The business is growing, and needs more space at the current location.  In other cases, it is a straightforward decision that comes about because the current location is holding the business back due to limited size.  The easiest example to think of here is a restaurant that could double its seating capacity, or a warehouse that could increase its inventory with a bigger location.
  • Your first location is thriving, and your ready for a second.  This applies to many local businesses (like Cupcakes Actually, for example), who experience great success at one location, and want to duplicate that success in a new local market.  For many consumer businesses, having a consistent brand experience is an essential part of expanding the number of locations where you operate, and you need an experienced building partner to make that happen is necessary to make that happen.

There are lots of reasons for businesses to opt for a custom location, and if any of these reasons apply to you, we would love to hear from you.