Tracy's Tips for Designing A Functional Home Vol 1 Issue 1

May 4, 2006
Vol. I, Issue 1

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Published the 1st and 3rd Thursday of the month. To change your subscription, see link at end of email.

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Hi , happy building!

Feature Tips:

- A Great Design for Controlling

the Mail

- Mudroom Ideas

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A Great Design for Controlling the Mail

Mail….it seems to multiply by itself as more of the kitchen island or dining room table disappears beneath the pile. A “drop zone” designed into your new home might be just what the doctor ordered to control and organize this clutter while keeping it out of your main living space!

Located just inside the entry the family uses most, a drop zone can be designed to perform many functions. The drawing to the right shows one such configuration:

The right base cabinet contains a built-in, pullout wastebasket for junk mail.
The left base cabinet holds baskets for the kids’ papers and mail. It can also be designed as a storage cabinet for a briefcase and/or purse.
Drawers provide space for notepaper, pens, pushpins, etc.
Several outlets above the base cabinets let you recharge cell phones and other electronic devices.
Mail slots provide a location to separate bills and important mail.
Hooks keep keys from getting lost.
A light under the upper cabinet brightens the area for mail review.
The wall between the base and upper cabinets can hold a cork board or be painted with magnetic paint to create a message center. You can also hang a wipe board next to the drop zone for family communication.
Open baskets in the base of the upper cabinet provide mail separation for the grownups.
The remaining portion of the upper cabinet can be used for general storage.

You can place the drop zone by itself next to the family entry or incorporate it just inside a nearby pantry or laundry room. Another alternative is to place the unit inside a mudroom.

Mudroom Ideas

In addition to the drop zone, the mudroom can contain locker-type cabinets (with or without doors) to hold shoes, backpacks, sports equipments, coats, and books. Other niceties: a bench for putting on shoes or boots, a broom or coat closet & umbrella storage.

WANT A CHECK LIST OF HUNDREDS OF TIPS

AND IDEAS FOR BUILDING AN ORGANIZED HOME?

If you liked today’s tips you’ll love the book “Don’t Forget the Linen Closets!” It’s packed with over 240 ideas and reminders to help you incorporate function, organization, and efficiency into your home without breaking the bank.

To us, it [“Don’t Forget the Linen Closets”] is the most thorough guide to building a house, regardless of size, in the industry. Most importantly, it is geared toward the folks who will actually live in the house.

By following your guidelines, we are confident that we will have a far more functional home than if we had been on our own. Also, we know that we and the builder have saved thousands of dollars by avoiding rework and non-functional design flaws. In fact we have dubbed the book, “The Home Buyers’ Essential Handbook for Design and Construction in Less Than 50 Pages.”

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and experiences in such a concise and useful way.

Bill and Yvonne Dunbar

Homeowners building a custom home

Orlando, FL – February 2006

If you’d like more personalized help, Tracy’s plan-review service will walk you through the process in detail. In either case, planning the details in the beginning can save thousands in the end! To see more testimonials and/or to place your order, visit www.BuildingTips.net now.

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR ON YOUR WEB SITE?

You can, as long as you include the following blurb in its entirety:

Tracy DeCarlo, author of “Don’t Forget the Linen Closets!” publishes the bimonthly e-zine “Tips for Designing a Functional Home.” If you’re ready to learn how to incorporate organization, function, and efficiency into your new home or remodeling project without breaking the bank, get your FR*EE tips now at www.BuildingTips.net.

Tracy DeCarlo owner of Detailed Solutions, Inc., has more than twelve years' experience in the residential construction industry. As a Home Design Function Analyst, Tracy helps homeowners incorporate function, efficiency, and organization into new home designs or remodeling projects. By working with homeowners to focus on their daily habits and preferences, Tracy helps create living spaces that support and complement their owners’ lifestyles. The time and money saving ideas in her book are the direct result of her success in helping individual homeowners incorporate both function and organization into the design of their new homes.

In 2003, Tracy and her husband moved into their new 5,000 square foot, custom-built home. By applying many of the tips outlined ion her book, their building project finished at less than 1 percent over budget and included only one change order!

Tracy also offers products to help organize the laundry room including her exclusive laundry sorter. After noticing that the laundry rooms in so many homes of all price ranges were small and non-functional, she designed a wall-hung laundry sorter that will sort four loads of laundry in just 24” of wall space. Learn more now at Sort N Neat Product Page.

I’d love to hear from you:

What topics would you most like to see covered in upcoming issues of “Tips for Designing a Functional Home”?
How has this e*zine helped you to improve your design or avoid change order charges?
Mail to: Tracy's Tips E-Mail

Tracy DeCarlo, Detailed Solutions, Inc.

P.O. Box 161644, Altamonte Springs, FL 32714, United States

Phone 407-814-2328, Tracy's Tips E-Mail

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