Sep 7, 2006 Vol. I, Issue 6 By subscription only Published the 1st Thursday of the month. To change your subscription, see link at end of email.   Sign me up!

     - Little Details Can Make A

             Big Difference

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Final Walk-Through Checklist

(a helpful tool for providing your builder

with a comprehensive list of final repairs)

You’re finally getting ready to move into your new home!  You’ve been waiting for this moment for over a year, maybe even two.  You’re excited, you’re exhausted, and you just want it to be over, but there is one more thing you need to do before getting the keys to the front door:  THE FINAL WALK-THROUGH.

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a checklist that leads you through the house, inside and out, reminding you of what to examine in each area while simultaneously creating a repair list for your builder?  Our newest product will do just that and more!  For more information, Click for Final Walk-Thru Checklist.

Model Home Review Checklist

(looking past the decorating to

 see this house as your home)

You’ve visited model after model. Finally, you’ve discovered one that you love. This might be the perfect home for your family, but. . .

 Have you really SEEN it?

• How many outlets were on the front porch?

• Was the exhaust above the stove designed to pull the steam and grease from the home, or is it simply a recirculating system that pulls steam and grease through a filter and deposits it back into the kitchen?

• What was the height of the bathroom cabinets: 32” or 36”?

• Were there exterior floodlights?  How many? Where were they located? Were they static or equipped with motion sensors?

Our “Model Home Review Checklist” provides a thorough and systematic method for looking past the beautiful decorating in many model homes in order to determine if the design will “work” for your family, and if the builder will meet your needs.

This unique tool will help you to focus on the functional features of the house on a room-by-room basis.  It also will make sure you are aware of the specifications associated with the lot and with the mechanical, structural, and exterior elements of your potential new home.  In addition it may introduce you to new building products.  For more information, Click for Model Home Review Checklist.

New Freebies

We’ve added three new pictorial checklists: “Laundry Room Design,” “Kitchen Design,” and “Oops!”  These lists are chock-full of insightful information to help design function into your new home.  And you know what they say: “A picture is worth a thousand words!”  For more information, Click for FREEBIES !

Little Details Can Make A Big Difference

If you do your homework, your home will work for you!  What does that mean?  It means that if you incorporate function as well as beauty into your building or remodeling project, the finished product will make your life easier every day.  And the good news:  paying attention to these functional details often has little or no effect on project cost, but it can have a major effect on the efficiency of your home. Here are some examples of just a few of these little details:

Push or Turn:  In many instances, door handles, as opposed to door knobs can be a little daily blessing.  If your hands are full or your arthritis is acting up, you can open the door with your elbow, and there are many attractive handle styles from which to choose.

On French doors, however, door knobs are a better bet – handles can interfere with window treatments.  As you can see from the picture to the right there is just barely enough room for the door knob next to the wood blinds.

Now You See It, Now You Don’t:  Have you ever wondered if the pest control man forgot to turn off the light in the attic?  Check it out without having to crawl up there yourself by including a lighted switch next to the attic access, as shown in the picture to the right.  If the light is on in the attic, the switch will light up also to let you know.

Speaking of attic lighting, most builders will install only one light per attic access door unless you specify otherwise.  Beefing up this lighting might keep whoever has to go up there from stepping on your duct work or through your ceiling, and it’s an easy fix during the construction phase.  Just have the electrician add a few more fixtures; then equip them with long-burning light bulbs.  (You can pick up these bulbs at the local home improvement store.)  Between the lighted switch and the long-burning bulbs, it should be years before you’ll need to install replacements!

Put a Lid On It:  Do the lids for your pots and pans slide around on a shelf, causing you to shuffle through them to find the one you want?  How about asking your kitchen-cabinet supplier to include several dividers between the front and back of a deep drawer, thereby creating slots for each of your lids?  What a great idea for keeping these items organized and handy!

Copyright © 2006 Tracy DeCarlo - All Right Reserved

WANT A CHECK LIST OF HUNDREDS OF TIPS

AND IDEAS FOR DESIGNING A FUNCTIONAL 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. 

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 Detailed Solutions WEB site 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 idea-packed, monthly 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, 5000-square-foot, custom-built home. By applying many of the tips outlined in 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

Copyright © 2006 Tracy DeCarlo. All rights reserved.