It seems like one of the favorite stories publications are writing about right now (besides Paris Hilton going to jail) is the alleged housing slump. The power that the press has to determine housing prices is amazing.
The part that seems to be missing from all of the stories though is that simply put, housing should be based on supply and demand - shelter is a basic need and there is only so much all of us can or afford.
I've been working with one of my favorite builders in Tucson this week and their market has been hot particularly hard by the housing slow down. National builders came in to make a killing in a hot market and have left just as quickly.
A great home is a great home and for many people is a life long decision. Buyers need to remember that they aren't buying something they can walk away from in six months if they change their minds - a partnership needs to be developed between the builder and the buyer.
Canoa has done a tremendous job with this. They are a smaller builder, but have been building in this market thru the good and bad times and consistently build a home anyone (including myself) would be thrilled to own. There sales team takes the time to get to know the new families and help them choose the perfect home for their lifestyle, and design their homes around the lifestyles that suit their homes and their communities.
The next time a builder starts "throwing money" at you to buy one of their homes, think about if you are making your long term decision because of short term incentives, or because it is the home of your dreams.
Junior Lifestylists - The Next Generation
It’s amazing sometimes how kids “get it” more than most adults do. This weekend I spent time with my favorite Lifestylist® - Jenna. She understands how rooms should be designed around the interests and Lifestyle of the client and her room is the perfect example.
With Jenna, it’s all about pink and ponies. If it’s a pink pony, even better. She has taken a personal interest in designing her room and has done a remarkable job. Her Mom let her choose her own furniture, bedding and lighting and it’s ideal for what she needed. A bunkbed with bookcases houses her growing book collection and the top bunk has become the “stable” for her ponies. Wall shelves allow her to organize her other collections in a neat manner.
Kids rooms should be about kids. A place where they can dream, learn, grow, and above all, a room that’s all about them.
With Jenna, it’s all about pink and ponies. If it’s a pink pony, even better. She has taken a personal interest in designing her room and has done a remarkable job. Her Mom let her choose her own furniture, bedding and lighting and it’s ideal for what she needed. A bunkbed with bookcases houses her growing book collection and the top bunk has become the “stable” for her ponies. Wall shelves allow her to organize her other collections in a neat manner.
Kids rooms should be about kids. A place where they can dream, learn, grow, and above all, a room that’s all about them.
It’s amazing sometimes how kids “get it” more than most adults do. This weekend I spent time with my favorite Lifestylist® - Jenna. She understands how rooms should be designed around the interests and Lifestyle of the client and her room is the perfect example.
With Jenna, it’s all about pink and ponies. If it’s a pink pony, even better. She has taken a personal interest in designing her room and has done a remarkable job. Her Mom let her choose her own furniture, bedding and lighting and it’s ideal for what she needed. A bunkbed with bookcases houses her growing book collection and the top bunk has become the “stable” for her ponies. Wall shelves allow her to organize her other collections in a neat manner.
Kids rooms should be about kids. A place where they can dream, learn, grow, and above all, a room that’s all about them.
With Jenna, it’s all about pink and ponies. If it’s a pink pony, even better. She has taken a personal interest in designing her room and has done a remarkable job. Her Mom let her choose her own furniture, bedding and lighting and it’s ideal for what she needed. A bunkbed with bookcases houses her growing book collection and the top bunk has become the “stable” for her ponies. Wall shelves allow her to organize her other collections in a neat manner.
Kids rooms should be about kids. A place where they can dream, learn, grow, and above all, a room that’s all about them.
City Living
About five years ago I decided to move from the foothills of Tucson Arizona to Dallas, Texas. I loved my life in Tucson but most of my time is spent flying to help different clients so I needed a city that was in a central location and economical to fly in and out of. When searching for my new home I had hoped to be able to combine my living and workspaces, and to be able to house my growing collections of props, antiques, and tabletop items. A loft would have been ideal, but I yearned for a yard for the animals and a garden for me.I love being able to shop for homes (or just about anything) on the internet. You can look 24 hours a day and don't need a Realtor or sales person to tell you what you want or need.With The Home Idea Factory it was love at first sight. I get all of the benefits of city living - I can see the buildings of downtown Dallas from my roof -but I'm in one of the first neighborhoods that was built in Dallas so I have beautiful mature trees, wonderful architectural gems around me and a melting pot of cultures. My new nest was a printing company that was built in 1941 and not much had been done to it so it was a clean slate for me to make my own.It's wonderful to be able to walk places, and now I can't imagine living anywhere else. I started the City Lifestylist to share all of the benefits and challenges of urban living. Being a Lifestylist is about living the lifestyle that suits you, and living in the Idea Factory is the perfect lifestyle for me.
Rachel Brown of Hells Kitchen
I found out this week that Rachel Brown who was one of the stars of Hells Kitchen - Season Two had died. Someone dying is always a reason to reflect, but Rachel was someone who was in and out of my life for over 20 years so it hit me very hard.
Besides what you saw on Hells Kitchen, who was this person?
I met Rachel shortly after she had just turned 21, and our first meeting was something I'll never forget. Here was this woman who had "it" - she was lanky - your eyes were just drawn to her when she came into a room - blonde, very humble, and a southern drawl that made you stop in your tracks and you wanted you to know who this woman was and where she came from.
Rachel was funny as heck. And it was a dry humor - she would say something and you would think... did she really say that? We used to spend weekends in a local park and Rachel would be there loving on the dogs and throwing the football. What is the most ironic thing to me is that the other memories I have of are when I was cooking for her. I was born with the cooking gene and a group of us would get together and I would try out new recipes that I had found and cook them up for my favorite test group which included Rachel.
Fast forward to when I was watching Hells Kitchen and saw Rachel. She looked familiar... couldn't be.. but it was the Rachel I knew! That wonderful sense of who she was and what she wanted accomplish reinforced that it was the same Rachel. What was her demise in the competition was what I loved about her - she called things as they were, never backed down from a challenge and was a fighter. Leave it to Rachel to leave the competition graciously, and to nurture and acknowledge the person who ended up the winner.
I'll never be the same person after knowing Rachel, but in a very good way. I will cherish an email I received from her after the Hells Kitchen experience, and I will forever be concerned about what happened to the Rachel I knew before Hells Kitchen and the Rachel I'll never get to know. Has reality TV become unreal? What toll does it take on the participants who bare their souls for ratings that have nothing to do with them? I can only hope that Rachel and Kimberly have finally found each other again, and they are enjoying one heck of a tag team football game wherever they are.
Besides what you saw on Hells Kitchen, who was this person?
I met Rachel shortly after she had just turned 21, and our first meeting was something I'll never forget. Here was this woman who had "it" - she was lanky - your eyes were just drawn to her when she came into a room - blonde, very humble, and a southern drawl that made you stop in your tracks and you wanted you to know who this woman was and where she came from.
Rachel was funny as heck. And it was a dry humor - she would say something and you would think... did she really say that? We used to spend weekends in a local park and Rachel would be there loving on the dogs and throwing the football. What is the most ironic thing to me is that the other memories I have of are when I was cooking for her. I was born with the cooking gene and a group of us would get together and I would try out new recipes that I had found and cook them up for my favorite test group which included Rachel.
Fast forward to when I was watching Hells Kitchen and saw Rachel. She looked familiar... couldn't be.. but it was the Rachel I knew! That wonderful sense of who she was and what she wanted accomplish reinforced that it was the same Rachel. What was her demise in the competition was what I loved about her - she called things as they were, never backed down from a challenge and was a fighter. Leave it to Rachel to leave the competition graciously, and to nurture and acknowledge the person who ended up the winner.
I'll never be the same person after knowing Rachel, but in a very good way. I will cherish an email I received from her after the Hells Kitchen experience, and I will forever be concerned about what happened to the Rachel I knew before Hells Kitchen and the Rachel I'll never get to know. Has reality TV become unreal? What toll does it take on the participants who bare their souls for ratings that have nothing to do with them? I can only hope that Rachel and Kimberly have finally found each other again, and they are enjoying one heck of a tag team football game wherever they are.
Signature Style
I treated myself a few weeks ago to a potters wheel, and it has become my de-stressing tool of choice. If you"throw" a pot and try to push it, chances are good it will implode and it's all over. Today was a good day - I ended up with three items that almost look like something. Usually you sign your pieces to make them yours, and I decided that this was the year I wasn't going to be as embarrassed and came up with a way to make them uniquely mine. Z has always been my signature - if you are looking for an alphabet item chances are good z will be the hardest to find. Instead of signing my pieces underneath, I've chosen to stamp the inside of each item with a z. So now, if you see a slightly uneven bowl with a z in the bottom, you'll know who made it.Choosing what your Signature Style is should be about letting people know what you are about, and what your lifestyle is. It doesn't have to be complicated - it should just be about you.
Building Integrity
This has been an interesting week - lots of battles being fought and on the good side reconnecting with great role models.After getting an SOS from my sister that's building a stunning home in Oklahoma I headed up 35 to see how I could help. From the beginning it's been obvious that we are sisters - she and her husband didn't want a home that was like every one on the block. They wanted one that embraced old and new, had character just like their family definitely does, and was full of the love and craftsmanship our parents brought us up in. This wasn't a project they took on as a whim - finding the right lot and the right components has been a decade long search. They were also looking for partners in the process that could share their passion and to be honest they had no issues with compensating people for their time and involvement. As a person and as a professional there isn't one thing that I would have done any differently than they did.When interviewing builders they spent over a year talking to other consumers that had built in the area, visiting homes built by various builders and almost gave up on being able to find the right partner. Finally they found one that said the right things and was as anxious to get started as they were.Fast forward almost two years, and my sister is still waiting for the home to be completed. It's become the nightmare that we all hear about - the builder is never around and with subcontractors that have no supervision or guidance my sister is having to take on pretty much the builders role to move the house forward. So much comes down to attitude - her family is very sensitive to smoke and they discovered one day that the trim carpenters had been smoking in the house... a lot. They asked then not to smoke in the house because of the health issues and yet the contractors continued to - never even stepped outside to indulge in something that has been proven to be a health hazzard to them as well as everyone around them. Plus the fact that the painters were working in the house with very flammable stains and lacquers. If the builder had been around to see this it should have been his responsibility to handle this with HIS subs and to be sure that the work was being done on time and with the craftmanship that was promised.As someone who makes their living in the home building industry, I'm embarrassed to have people like this call themselves professionals, and it's people like this who hurt all of us. My sister and her family are ending up paying a very heavy price - instead of getting to spend as much time as she would like to with her family and her husband's business she is having to manage subs and do the work that they have paid others to do. Sadly, I think if they knew how much building a home was going to affect their quality of life for this many years they might not have ventured down that road.Fortunately there have been bright spots. It's a family trait / curse that we don't ask people to do anything that we wouldn't do ourselves and many times we work right along side the people we've hired and frienships evolve. One of those is a soul that there aren't even words to describe -someone who has given his time, his sources, and his treasures to make my sisters home as special as they had hoped. He has understood their vision (unlike their builder) and has discovered architectural components that have been around for hundreds of years and will continue to have a place of honor in their home. Their stone work is a masterpiece and you can tell it is a labor of love as is the pool complete with it's own grotto. I'm sure I'll be adding to this subject in the future. What this has taught me is that it doesn't matter if your new home costs $20,000 or $2,000,000 - every family and every home deserves to be treated with respect and with the quality we would expect if we were building it for ourselves.
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