Hello fellow Minnesotans! If you are coming to the fair (or making a trip from out of state to attend the Great Minnesota Get Together), make sure to stop by the Marvin booth. We’re located in the Grandstand, on the upper level southwest quadrant.

Come see us! We have lots of great products from Marvin Windows and Doors, Integrity Windows and Doors and Infinity Replacement Windows. It’s a chance to check out some of our most popular offerings and chat with our retailers about window replacement and the soon-ending energy tax credit.

And in the spirit of the Fair, here are a couple other things we love to do while there:

• Anything on a stick: Pronto Pups, mac and cheese, alligator, cotton candy and deep fried Snickers.
• All you can drink Minnesota milk: just $1!
• The Mighty Midway: go on these wild rides BEFORE consuming deep fried Snickers.
• CHS Miracle of Birth Center: baby animals, what could be cuter?
• Concerts: not to be missed! This year’s lineup includes A Prairie Home Companion, Tim McGraw and KISS.

So grab your family and friends and head down to the Fair for some food, fun and Marvin! The Minnesota State Fair runs through Labor Day and more info can be found at www.mnstatefair.org.

Photo courtesy of the Minnesota State Fair.

Just as January often tests the quality of a home’s insulation and heating, August tends to be the month of truth for a home’s cooling systems.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, Americans spend on average 7 percent of their annual income on utilities. It’s no wonder we’re always looking for ways to save a few dollars, especially in the warmest summer month where the utility bill — and the heat — can keep you up late at night.

Tom Kraeutler, host of The Money Pit, recently shared a list of economical tips and tricks to help you keep your utility bill low as the temperatures rise. Here are a few items often overlooked:

• If your air conditioning equipment is getting old (and therefore less efficient), you might actually make money by trading up to Energy Star-qualified AC units and systems. Installing a new system now can compound your summer energy savings with valuable tax credits and local utility rebates that are available until the end of this year.
• Seal all duct seams to keep that hard-earned cool air from escaping into dead ends. As much as 20 percent of circulating air is lost to leaks and faulty connections, but a bit of your time and some mastic sealant or metal (UL 181) tape is all it takes to seal ducts in attics, basements and crawlspaces.
• Strategic landscaping will have your home made in the shade, so add and maintain trees on the south and west sides to help shelter and shield the sunniest sides of the structure.

If you haven’t the time for a landscaping job or AC replacement before the next heat wave, think smaller.

Check out the latest product from Dyson – the Air Multiplier. These bladeless fans draw in air from the base and amplify it 15 to 18 times. This product has drawn a lot of buzz at tradeshows with its sleek design and unique function. Dan Neil of the Los Angeles Times wrote, “It functions beautifully and looks great too. This thing is flat-out brilliant.”

To show how the product works, the team at Dyson created this video which shows the device drawing and amplifying air. Check it out:



If you live in a climate where the seasons really change, you know that the warmth of summer really means something. Now, I am sure for those of you in San Diego, Miami and Austin, summer means something to you, too.  No matter where you live, being comfortable during the summer can sometimes be challenging.

I give the advice all the time to have your heating and cooling system checked each year, but did you know spring and early summer are actually the best time to have this done? You see, if your central air conditioner needs some TLC, it needs to be above 70 degrees to properly add the right amount of refrigerant.   And just as you would control drafts in the winter, you want to make sure that your windows and doors are tightly sealed in the summer, as well. If you need new ones then all you need to do is visit www.marvin.com.

At my house, the use of the A/C is sporadic at best.  One issue for us and many others is that closed-in, stale feeling the air can have when the system is running for days on end. One way to help the indoor air quality is to install and outside air exchange system. Many manufacturers offer these. The unit brings in fresh outdoor air, filters it and then circulates it through your system to keep the air fresh inside your home. This can be especially helpful to those who suffer from allergies or Asthma. In fact, the EPA estimates that the indoor air inside your home can be 10 times more polluted than the outside air. The cost of installation is around $1,500-$2,000. You can talk to your HVAC contractor about this.

Another way to stay comfortable is to move the air. Keep those ceiling fans turning to keep the air temperature consistent at all levels of your home. By doing this, your HVAC system will actually run less and you could even save a little on your energy bills this season.

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Everyone’s looking to make their home a little more inviting and comfortable, right? Here are some tips to help make your dining room, that ever-popular gathering spot, a bit more people-friendly.

The Calfinder blog sets the stage by suggesting a few tips for creating “the perfect gathering spot” in your home:

• warm and chic: blend the style with the comfortable, stylish living room or family room that neighbors your dining room
• eccentric and colorful: with a simpler, modern furniture style, spice up the room with some bold, even funky decor to surround the understated furniture
• boxy-modern: ultra-modern style choice can, in and of themselves, be a conversation piece and can add a nice bit of sophisticated fashion to the dining room

Of course, dining rooms and kitchens so often work hand-in-hand, so it doesn’t do much good to design with one without concern for the other. A recent post from Re-Nest should provide all sorts of design and remodeling inspiration, as they show off photo (and links to more information) from 20 “amazing bright, light” kitchens (and some bathrooms, too).

If all of these photos and ideas have inspired you to give some redesign or remodeling a go, the aptly named Remodeling Guy has 10 great kitchen remodeling ideas, including “bold colors on bottom,” solid black countertops, glass cabinet doors and more.

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Choosing a Vessel Sink Design For Your Bathroom
Charles and Hudson
“Vessel sinks are the hottest new trend in bathroom design. In many ways, vessel sinks are a throwback to a time before plumbing when people washed up each morning in elaborate china basins that sat atop their bedroom vanities. …
To choose the perfect vessel sink for your decorating style, start by matching material to design.” This post offers a great overview of the considerations you should make when shopping for a vessel sink.

Design Dilemma: Help for Hallways
Home Design Find
“We lavish lots of attention on perfecting our kitchens, living rooms, and even our bedrooms. But there’s one space that ironically is the most used AND the most neglected: the hallway. Many of us simply forget to spend any time at all making it a more pleasant passage. Just a few touches, however, can make a dramatic difference that will have even more impact if a hallway begins at your front door.”

The Scoop on Radiant Floor Heat
Re-Nest
A run-down of the pros and cons (mostly pros) of radiant floor heating. All sorts of advantages — relative efficiency, invisible, silent — seem as though they outweigh the big drawback: the system is far from quick to kick in when you need it.

Fabulous and Fire Resistant
Curbly
“Located in Malibu, CA, this weekend get-away was designed with an emphasis on sustainability and fire resistance. Owners and architects Nick Roberts and Cory Buckner incorporated a ‘noncombustible shell’ and ‘deep-set fire-resistant windows’ into its construction. The couple’s interest in fire resistance comes from personal experience. In 1993, a wild fire consumed the 4000 sf they were living in at they time. They escaped the fire with 3 carloads of belongings and moved into Cory’s parent’s house 30 minutes away. A week later, fire destroyed that house too.”

You could say they’re a little obsessed: Theme houses and replica rooms
Shelterrific
“There are people who love a good theme room, and then there are people who really love a good theme room. For whatever reason, sometimes obsession sets in, and quite suddenly you’re knee-deep in a replica room.” This post introduces you to a few of these gung-go shelter geeks, with photos, of course.

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Remember the big New Year’s Eve rollover from 1999 to 2000? Some people thought the world was going to end, and others just looked forward to a fresh start in a new century (and a new millennium).

Looking back, the worrying was pretty much unwarranted. As we prepare to start yet another year and yet another decade, bring some optimism and happiness with you into 2010.

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas from all of us here at MLuxe! We’ll be back with our regularly scheduled posting on Monday. Until then, enjoy some Christmas cheer via It’s A Wonderful Life.

Christmas traditions are numerous and varied: trimming the tree, singing carols and waiting for Santa to come. For many people, one of the most treasured and passed-down traditions are Christmas cookies. Christmas is only a few days away, but it is easy to whip up a few batches of your favorite seasonal treats.

Epicurious offers 25 recipes for Christmas cookies–plenty to choose from!

If you want to swap your delicious Christmas cookies, consider a cookie exchange. Better Home and Gardens has some helpful hints for a successful party:

• Don’t invite too many people — 8 to 12 is the right amount. Although you want to make sure there are lots of cookies to exchange, you don’t want your guests to have to make massive amounts of cookies.
• Make sure you know what sort of cookies everyone is bringing. You don’t want everyone to show up with peanut butter blossoms!
• As the host, you will need to provide beverages and maybe a few snacks–not too many, since you’ll be filling up on cookies!
• A cookie exchange is a great time to bring out all your fun holiday decorations and dishes.

Happy baking!

Image courtesy of  Key Lime Yummies Bakery on Flickr.

Architect Sarah Susanka, author of the best-selling “Not So Big House” series, visited Marvin’s headquarter’s and manufacturing facility in Warroad, Minn., to see the window she designed as it took shape.

As part of the myMarvin campaign, Sarah was asked to design her dream window — then we built it. The video above shows the behind-the-scenes work involved in bringing Sarah’s inspiration to life, and she discusses her inspiration and design philosophy as well as the importance of windows and good lighting. You can see the design drawings, and more unique windows from other myMarvin designers, at myMarvin.com.

This classic San Francisco row house was transformed from an old, drab house into a light-filled modern home by Jonathan Feldman of Feldman Architecture in San Francisco. The goal was to transform the confined feeling of the house into an airy, spacious place to live.

In order to do this, Feldman had to make some changes, including moving the living spaces to the top floor, where the light is best. Almost all walls that could be removed were, to create a more open floor plan. Windows were added along the length of the house to let daylight flood in.

The owners of the house wanted to take advantage of the renovation to make the house as green as possible. A solar-powered radiant heat system, a large photo-volatic roof array and recycled materials for insulation, flooring, cabinets and countertops were added. Marvin’s double-paned clad casements and Ultimate Double Hungs with Low E II coatings also help Pierce House be energy-efficient. To add even more “green-ness” Feldman used a portion of the upper floor for a roof top garden.

Pierce House is now a true San Francisco treat! For more information, visit the myMarvin Architect’s Challenge page.