Recycled Designs: Designing your Home with Character

Are you looking for new housing trends, photos from the New American Home , travel destinations, or decorating ideas ? We know the place to go! Check out The Official Lifestylist® Channel - a place where we are putting together videos and information that can help you find the answers you are looking for. There are lots of new projects in in production - we would love to hear from you and know what you'd be interested in seeing. Next week we are off to Arizona to visit The Mosaic Cafe , Sabino Canyon and Old Scottsdale! We will also be getting some advice from Thermador on what are the best appliances for my cooking style. Lifestylist® Designed homes are becoming something that consumers are asking for, and we will be sharing some of our latest designs soon as well. Visit our new channel often to stay in touch - we'll see you there!

Being a part of The New American Home and active at The International Builders Show is paying off - our phone is ringing off the wall! It seems like people are ready to move forward and start finding the home of their dreams again instead of waiting.  Today the sun is finally out and I've heard that new communities are busy - are you ready for these new customers coming to your door? Now is the perfect time to do some spring cleaning of your existing models. One of the services we offer our clients is to go into an existing model and seasonalize it - for warmer weather lighten up the colors of accessories, move things around to give the model a new look, and make sure that everything that is in your model is in selling shape. We make a list of items that need to be replaced or repaired and make recommendations to the builder as to what needs to be done to help you sell homes. These services are done by an accredited Lifestylist® - not an assistant or intern so you...

Valentines Day is almost here! I love making gifts for my family, friends and clients, and this is the goodie they always ask for. At the recent IBS Show in Orlando I had my granddaughter help me make up some cookies and candy that I brought to the NAHB staff and to my favorite clients - it was a huge success. That is one of the important parts of being a Lifestylist® to me - using my talents to bring joy to others. I've been entering variations of this toffee in the State Fair of Texas for years and this is the version that everyone asks for. The key to candy making is having a good thermometer, and when I invested in a digital one it made all of the difference in the world. As soon as the temperature gets up to around 250 degrees start watching very closely - it will get to the optimum temperature quickly and if it heats to even 5 degrees more than it should it will burn. Enjoy! Texas Butter Pecan Toffee Ingredients: 1 lb Texas pecans 1 lb but...

This Lifestylist® got a lovely thank-you note the other day from a reader. I had recommended The Gaylord Texan as the place to stay during Super Bowl XLV, and they couldn't agree more! With North Texas having the coldest weather we've had in years, being in the wonderful atmosphere of The Gaylord Texan with all of it's attractions, shopping and dining under one roof is definitely the place to be. We have had the wonderful opportunity to meet with John Imaizumi - Senior Vice President and General Manager . It is obvious from the moment that you meet him why his "Stars" (what the employees are considered) and guests love him so much. His honest compassion and love for this group shines through, and you can see his attention to detail everywhere you turn. Even if you aren't staying at this hotel, it's the perfect place to just go spend the day during your Super Bowl XLV visit. The Gaylord Texan is the official hotel for The Dallas Cow...

There are thousands of show homes built every year, but Champion Homes discovered a way to really set themselves apart from the crowd while doing a wonderful thing. At the recent International Builders Show in Orlando, their Genesis division unveiled "The Tyler" - a beautiful modular home that was built at Champion's manufacturing facility in Lake City, FL. The home showcased how beautiful accessible design can be. The kitchen and master bath had the necessary clear space radius, and the wider hallways allowed for wheelchair accessibility. the home was filled with lots of innovative products - I especially loved the storage options that were shown. The home was part of the NextGen Experience and was in the outdoor village at the show. Now that the show is over, Champion is teaming up with the non-profit organization Rebuilding Together and will be delivering the home to a lot in Tampa where it will be reassembled. The home has been donated to Mr. Waldemar ...