Architect

March 1, 2016

Top 4 Things to Consider When Designing Windows for Your Home

Architect, Custom Home, Decorations, New Home Owners, Purchasing Design, Mt. Sterling Homes, northern Utah homebuilders, Planning

Designing a custom home is a unique experience. You have the ability to design exactly what you want out of the building you’re going to call home for maybe the rest of your life. So, since you want your house to be everything you’ve ever dreamed of, we are here to help you with some simple tools that will guide you to choose the perfect windows for your lifestyle.

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1.From the Outside Looking in

Remember that windows allow people to see all that is going on within your new custom home. So, when you are deciding what you want for windows, try and match it to what you want others to be able to see. If you like your privacy, large windows might not be for you, but for someone else the nice natural light might take priority over privacy.

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Windows will Affect Utilities

Especially here in Utah, having large amount of windows may cause your heating bill in the winter and A/C bill in the summer to increase. There are ways to help reduce this, like getting double pained and insulated windows. If you like the really open look, then don’t be surprised the first time you open up your gas and electricity bill. We can help you to take steps to increase the insulations of the windows in your home, which will help your reduce that increased cost for those floor to ceiling windows in your front room.

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Widows can help design

Choosing the right windows can help your home have a memorable appeal. Be sure to take into account what the whole picture looks like. Remember the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

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More Windows, More Light

Now, we realize that this can go against what we said in number 2, but it is true. If you have more windows you will have more natural light streaming into your home. This can help you with using electricity on lighting during the day time. So it can really be a double edged sword. Make sure to just do some simple research and number crunching to see what the overall outcome will be on your wallet.

We at Mt Sterling Custom Homes hope that this helped you to think about some different things when designing your custom home. Windows are great and will be a huge part of your home, so take the time to make the right choice for you!

November 15, 2015

5 Bathroom Ideas You’ll Love

Architect, Custom Home, Decorations, New Home Owners Building, custom home, Custom Homes, Homes Northern Utah, Lifestyle, Mt. Sterling Custom Homes, northern Utah homebuilders

Whether we like to admit it or not, bathrooms are one of the most important rooms in our homes – and often of the most neglected when it comes to style and design. If you’re creating your ideal bathroom or simply revamping your current one, here are some ideas that can help make your bathroom the best room in your home.

Feature Floor Tiles

Tile

Gone are the days of linoleum or basic brown tiles. Bring in variety with multi-colored or patterned floor tiles. If you aren’t sure your style is that vibrant, try going with stone tiles – many have several colors naturally that are still different, yet more subtle.

Under-counter Lights

Looking for a high end look for a great price? Not only do under-counter lights mean you’ll no longer have to turn on the light while on your midnight visits, but by placing lights under your counters you help brighten up your bathroom and draw attention to your vanity as well. This feature can look especially stunning when used with a floating vanity.

Free Standing Bathtub

Pulling your bathtub out of the wall can make it the focus point of your bathroom. Find a style that will fit your bathroom decor already – a more curved tub brings softness, while angular tubs can make bold statement. Claw-foot tubs are a well known and loved classic, and can bring a rustic or vintage feel into the room.

Large, Walk-in Showers

walk in shower

The majority of people start their day in the shower. It’s where we relax, come up with our best ideas, and sing our hearts out. By making it larger, more welcoming, you’re sure to make your daily shower one of the best parts of your day. Try using oversized glass panes surrounding it, or floor to ceiling tile or stone.

Double Your Shower Heads

While you’re envisioning your shower, the most important part is your water flow. Double shower heads are becoming more and more popular, and waterfall style shower heads have been a luxurious choice for the past few years By adding one (or both) of these options, you’re sure to create a shower you’ll never want to leave.

If you’re building your own home it can be a little overwhelming to figure out what you want. Our staff at Mt Sterling Custom Homes would love to help you with the process of designing your custom bathroom – as well as the rest of your home.

August 22, 2013

Housing Industry and the Current Status in the U.S.

Architect, Industry, New Home Owners, Purchasing APR, Building, Homes, Housing industry, Mortgage Rates, Mount Sterling Custom Homes, Safety, US

There are plenty of people that worry about the state of the housing market in the United States. The housing market affects different people on different levels. Some depend on the housing industry for employment. Other people are worried about getting a return on an investment they made on a home in the past. There are groups of people that wonder if now is the time to buy a home or would they be better off renting a home. There are many reasons to worry about the housing market and that is why there is so much information being written about it.

The state of the housing market can be broken down into several areas. These include the sales of homes, the construction of new homes and the interest rates of mortgage. In order to understand how the housing market is doing, you have to look at all three areas.

Sales of Existing Homes

During the height of the real estate boom, houses were selling like hotcakes. You could get a premium price on any home you owned because of the demand that there was. When the bottom of the market fell out, the sales of existing homes also slowed. Homes would sit on the market for a lot longer and the price they could get was much lower. Over the last few years the average price of homes has risen slightly, but it really depends on where a home is. Many homes have still not gotten back to the value they had before the real estate bust, but they will get there eventually. The amount of time it takes to sell a home is also decreasing and homes that are priced well and presented in the right way can still sell quickly.

Building of New Homes

At the height of the real estate boom, the sales of new homes were never higher. When the market fell, no one needed a new home and construction of new homes stopped as the supply of homes in the market was much higher than the demand. In 2012 the construction of single family homes increased a little less than 3% over the previous year. That trend is expected to continue and should increase even more in the future.

The Mortgage Rates

The mortgage rates and the availability of money for people to buy a home is a reflection of the housing market. For the past several years the rates have dropped and people have been able to obtain mortgages for as low as 3% APR. That makes home more affordable for everyone to buy. It also is easier than it used to be to get a mortgage although it is still not as simple as it was 10 years ago.

June 21, 2013

Questions To Ask Your Custom Home Builder

Architect, New Home Owners, Purchasing architect, Building Process, company, experience, new homes, purchasing, questions

Purchasing your first home can be a very rewarding experience, especially if you get the chance to watch the construction as it is progresses. The first step in the construction of your home is finding the perfect custom home builder. This might be challenging for those that are novice in the field of purchasing homes, however with the following ‘questions to ask your custom home builder,’ the process will be easy enough for a toddler to do.

1. What are the strong points of the company?
The answer to this question will vary depending on the size of the building company. Strong points can be a personalized updating system where the owner is notified after each milestone has been met in planning. Another could be working solely with one project until it is completed before scheduling another, for companies that tend to overbook their time this can be very worrisome.

2. Does your company work with an architect?
This may not be a very big deal to some people as the architect can be hired outside of the company, but companies that provide their own are rated higher among individuals who are looking to work with custom home builders.

3. Are you experienced in building this size of a home?
This is an excellent question because many companies are either large home builders or small ones. Finding a company that can build any size home at the owner’s desire is a diamond in the rough.

4. What stage in the building process should you be called in?
Although many companies will say immediately, because the quicker they get started on building your custom home, the quicker you can move in it. However, if the decisions have yet to be made on location, size, or style it’s best to figure those out before going forward.

5. Do you have a company construction crew on hand?
Normally this would be ideal, but some companies do tend to sub-contract. Companies that are larger might have their own crews on hand but if they do, the question of how many projects they are currently working on should also be asked.

6. After construction, can you help with home decorating?
This question is not one that is highly asked but there are many home designers that are connected to specific custom home builders. If requested, they might be able to give you a great deal on a package through their advised designer by having your home built by them.

7. Can you provide References?
This question should not be overlooked. References are the only real key that anyone has to knowing what type of work that a company is capable of. By calling the previous clients that they have built homes for and getting a review, you’ll be able to understand exactly what they can provide to you.