16 Tips from a Design Pro
My Home Ideas
Take note of these portable decorating ideas from designer and style expert Charles Birdsong, including using antiques and old books as a design element, balancing lights and darks, and following the shape of a room or an object within.

Plan Your Dream Space Virtually
Charles and Hudson
FloorPlanner, a free service with a meatier Pro version, lets you lay out a room in a simple two-dimensional setup but view the designs in all their 3D glory. It’s as simple and pointing and clicking, dragging and dropping. Don’t try it if don’t have a good half an hour to burn.

5 Books On Self-Sufficiency In The Home
Re-Nest
Sarah Rae Trover writes: “For the last few weeks, with temperatures finally (though just slightly) above freezing, we’ve had some serious spring fever. Our thoughts have turned away from our indoor chores and all we can think about is digging in the dirt and taking on new outdoor projects to make us more self-sufficient in our living space — anything but the remains of dirty piles of snow. Here’s a few books to tide you over until Spring is in full swing!”

Navigating Today’s Real Estate Market
HomeIntel Blog
If you’re trying to sell your house, this collection of tips should be helpful. There’s plenty of substance in the article, but this quick summary seems to cover the basics: “Think positive, but be realistic. And clean your house!”

 
Links We Love: Inspiring Kitchen/Bath Makeovers & Projects
DIY Life
Is it wrong to link to a round-up post in our round-up post? I hope not because these kitchen and bath makeover projects make for some nice eye candy — and they might give you some ideas for freshening up your space.

One of the most beautiful homes…ever
Curbly
Speaking of eye candy, Curbly.com’s DIY Maven calls this house one of the most beautiful she’s ever seen. Great use of windows to really bring the outside in.

Awesome Custom-Printed Window Treatments
CalFinder Blog
Speaking of windows, we’re obvious fans. We’re also kind of fond of these unique window treatments (one of which is shown in the photo at right). A neat way to turn some windows that might otherwise be a bit plain into true works of art — and nice conversation starters.

Here’s a Building That Makes Money Selling Electricity
Home Design Find
Speaking of conversation starters, how about selling electricity back to the grid to make an extra few bucks? This house in France is so green, its owners actually create more energy than they consume, without sacrificing a nice modern aesthetic.

Aren’t you pleased we made the “speaking of” gimmick work for the entire post?

Photo courtesy of the CalFinder blog

Remodeling Cost vs. Value Report
Remodeling Magazine
In this ongoing report, now updated for 2010, Remodeling Magazine digs into the approximate return on investment homeowners can expect for several common remodeling and home-improvement projects. For example, you can expect to spend about $10,634 to add a nice wood deck to your home, and data shows that will likely return about 80 percent of that value if you sell your home. The data is broken down by region and comes accompanied by a series of articles elaborating on the hard numbers.

25 Biggest Renovating Mistakes
HGTV.com
“From ignoring prep work and safety, to setting unrealistic budgets and selecting the wrong fixtures, this is a fearless exposé of the most common renovation mishaps. Find out how it happens, why people do it and, best of all, how to avoid making these mistakes in your own home.” The list includes everything from the small — excessive use of duct tape and inaccurate measurements — to the big — building a small bathroom and hiring the wrong contractor. Read up to help protect yourself.

Home Star: 5 answers about ‘Cash for Caulkers’
Professional Remodeler
“The Home Star program — or “Cash for Caulkers” as some have dubbed it — could provide a big boost to home energy efficiency through billions in tax credits and other incentives over two years. President Obama came out in favor of the program in December as part of the administration’s plan to drive job creation, but the final approval has to come from Congress.” Written for an audience of builders and remodelers, this article provides a good overview for anyone who’s interested in how “cash for caulkers” might help encourage energy efficiency and help homeowners save some money.

Energy for the future: Smart grid technology
Builder Blog
This introduction to smart grid technology — which generally refers to efforts to add computer and communications technology to the existing electricity grid, making it possible for the grid to operate more efficiently and reliably — is full of links and information about where the technology stands today and the benefits it offers homeowners.

Behind the Scenes of Shipping Container Architecture
Re-Nest
Perhaps you’ve seen photos (like the one here) showing modern, almost futuristic-looking homes, office buildings or other structures using massive shipping containers as the core of the structure. Well, if you’ve ever wondered how container architecture works, where the containers come from, or how they’re modified into livable structures, Re-Nest has some answers for you.

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ZipToGreen: How To Reduce Your Home Energy Use
Re-Nest
How’d you like a planning tool lets you create a personal action plan for reducing home energy, thereby saving money and doing a little to help save the planet? For free. Sounds nice, eh? Well, we might have just that with ZipToGreen, a new site that offers greening recommendations, including costs, incentives and a personal calendar to schedule it all out.

Before & Afters of 2009
Centsational Girl
A quick, photo-heavy recap of 30 of this wonderful blogger’s favorite around-the-house upgrade and overhaul projects from 2009. A salvaged dresser, some thrift-store chairs, a bathtub update, a fireplace makeover and more. You’re sure to get some inspiration from this one.

Taking Design to Bed: 6 Beds that Will Rock Your World
CalFinder
These beds will almost certainly change the way you think about the piece of furniture on which you sleep. A couple of these beds are a bit on the wild side, but many are certainly reasonable to put in a bedroom near you.

Solar Energy at Home
HomeIntel
If you like the idea of solar energy but don’t know where to start, this article has some good suggestions. Try an electronic book reader that runs on solar energy, or perhaps some outdoor lawn lamps. Every little bit counts, after all.

Photo courtesy of Centsational Girl

We love blogging! One of the best things about this new adventure is reading other home blogs and learning about what people are saying. We hope that our posts have led you to some new favorites, as well.

On that note, please go check out The Homies (great name!) from Apartment Therapy. It’s an awards program for the best home blogs. We look forward to reading these blogs and learning new things and we hope that you do, too!

Best Green Home Resources: Our Go-To List for Renovations
Re-Nest
The great blog for green homes, Re-Nest, has put together our list of resources — including great Web sites, books, architects, designers and stores — for people looking to renovate green. And as always, the site’s readers offer more suggestions in the comments section.

Kitchen Designs Around the World
CalFinder blog
Jennifer writes, “Let’s travel the globe, if only for a moment, and see what other nations are up to in kitchen design. Every culture has something to inspire new ideas for a room that garners much of our attention.” She offers a peak into kitchens from France, Italy, Australia, Mexico, Russia, Scotland, the Netherlands, Finland and Great Britain.

Warm, Mid-century Modern Living Room makeover
HGTV.com
“Think mid-century modern style is uninviting? See how one couple warms up their mid-century style in the living room with the help of host Karen McAloon from Find Your Style.” Check the before and after photo in our post here, and read more at HGTV.com.

Hot colors for 2010
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Apparently green might be the “it” color for the year ahead. This article offers insights from a variety of designers and other color gurus. Maybe you’ll find some inspiration for your next paint job or linen purchase.

Photos courtesy of HGTV.com

Incredible Textured Kitchen Countertops
CalFinder
According to CalFinder, “Cosentino North America has quarried and extracted semi-precious stones like amethyst, jasper, quartz and more… And their commitment to green manufacturing is impressive: Cosentino’s ECO line uses 75% post-consumer/industrial recycled materials, including mirrors, porcelain, stone scraps and glass bottles.” And they look great.

Before & After: Kati’s dining room + Dominique’s hall
Design*Sponge
Some inspiration for great, creative paint jobs. Take a room from OK to awesome with a clever idea and some good weekend work. Be sure to scroll down to see the photos of Dominique’s staircase.

First-Class Cabins
Dwell
“From the familiar log model to Swiss chalets and Swedish friggebods, cabins are the simplest of structures, made from local materials in forms that respond to climatic and cultural needs. However, these no-frills wilderness escapes no longer require giving up modern comforts and aesthetics. Today’s cabins synthesize traditional typology with present-day design know-how and allow architectural explorations in a way traditional homes rarely do. Here we highlight five modern retreats that might give you cabin fever of a different sort.”

House with Enclosed Internal Garden
DigsDigs
This is direct from the “eye candy” category: We’re sharing it mostly because this house looks amazing. Most homes with gardens put them on the outside, but this house is built around a garden. And it’s stunning.

We’ve come across some cool advances in the green world, so let’s get stepping (that’s a little pun — you’ll get it in just a second).

Energy-generating pavement: An untapped renewable?
Greenbeat
Pavegen is a “slab of concrete that harnesses kinetic energy whenever it is stepped on.” The energy, created by the small amount of flexibility in the material, is either stored in batteries or transmitted to streetlights and other electronics located nearby. Based on some of the company’s number-crunching, five units of Pavegen pavement can be enough to power the lights at a bus stop all night.

Green Roofs Are Changing the Way Architects Design Buildings
Inhabitat
Until recently, green roofs have just gone about their work, providing valuable benefits like keeping buildings cool in summer and warm in winter and reducing the urban “heat island” effect. But now, they’ve become a bit more commonplace, and they’re changing the way architects design buildings. This report from Inhabitat shines some light on this green trend.

The New NIMBY-Defeating Wind Turbine
CleanTechnica
Have you heard the term NIMBY? It means “not in my backyard,” as in, “No, don’t put the city’s new landfill in our neck of the woods” or “I don’t want you putting that big, ugly windmill right in front of my nice lake view!” Well, a design team The Power Collective has designed a wind turbine that can power your home without irking your local NIMBY types. Pictured at right, it’s designed to fit nearly seamlessly within the shape and flow of your roof while still catching about as much wind as other mid-size turbines.

The humble pumpkin is a food that belongs to fall. When the weather turns, Grandma’s recipe for pumpkin soup makes an appearance and many pumpkins fall under the knife in pursuit of the perfect Halloween carving. It’s a versatile vegetable, suitable for eating and decorating.

There are lots of pumpkin soup recipes out there. An Easy Recipe has a guide to choosing your pumpkin soup recipe. Try Googling ”pumpkin soup” to pull up delicious results from the Food Network to the Mayo Clinic.

Don’t forget that great American classic, pumpkin pie! Try this recipe for a new twist on an old classic.

Since it is almost Halloween, pumpkin’s main use is carving. It’s easy to get a good jack o’ lantern. eHow has a simple step-by-step guide. And if you would really like to get creative, take a look at this slideshow of ideas, courtesy of Martha Stewart.

And don’t forget to visit your local pumpkin patch for a dose of fall fun and supporting your local pumpkin growers!

We spend a lot of time around beautifully designed products, and we spent a fair amount of time browsing the Web for inspiration for this blog, too. So we come across a lot of eye candy: photos of gorgeous work worth sharing with all of you. Today’s post is a quick round-up of some nice visuals we’ve seen recently.

Feel free to share some eye candy of your own in the comments section — your own projects, some photos you found online, anything.

A bright, airy design, tons of windows with gorgeous views, high ceilings, and a stellar location make this luxury villa (is there such a thing as a non-luxury villa?) a true work of art.

Speaking of luxury villas, when you have a stunning view, why not put it good use, right? Windows for walls is a good start.

Perhaps you’d expect some funky, modernist home design to be found in West Hollywood, but that doesn’t make these photos any less stunning. Bright green on the interior and bold shapes on the exterior make this home stand out in any neighborhood.

Don’t have stunning views or funky architecture to show off? Why not just draw some? It’s probably way less expensive than the gorgeous property, and it’d make for a better conversation piece, too!

Photos courtesy of Julia Palmer Design, Crosson Clarke Carnachan Architects, AI Architects and Charlotte Mann.