http://lifesimplifiedforyou.com/2010/10/19/whos-house-my-house/ My absoulute new favorite website!!! I can toss out all my old files, folders and "inspiration board" in regards to my dream house! Houzz – Home Design is “like the Flickr of design idea sites” according to The Washington Post and I couldn’t agree more. You are able to browse by style, space or even metro, continually adding ideas or showing off your own space in “My Houzz”! WARNING- You may lose complete hours or days while perusing Houzz but it’s worth every minute! Learn more by clicking the link above!

Neat Homes, Active People http://www.hhs.gov/news/healthbeat/2010/10/20101015a.html From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat. A look into urban homes suggests a neater home may indicate a more physically active life. NiCole Keith of Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis saw it in data on close to 1,000 African-Americans in the St. Louis area. Researchers looked at things like conditions of drapes and ceilings. And residents were asked things such as how much walking they did. People in the neater homes were more active, and Keith thinks they were more active with things like housework: ``Our study simply suggests that house cleaning may be one way to increase physical activity in urban African-American populations.’’ (8 seconds) The study presented at a meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine was supported by the National Institutes of Health. Learn more at hhs.gov. HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss. Last revised: October, 18 2010

66 All-Natural Cleaning Solutions Real Simple has a great list of cleaners and how to use them. Love this! http://www.realsimple.com/home-organizing/cleaning/all-natural-cleaning-solutions-00000000011547/index.html

How to declutter your home this year http://www.cnn.com/2011/LIVING/01/04/live.simply.move.overseas/index.html (CNN) -- When you declutter and organize your home, sometimes it's helpful to play a little game called "Let's Pretend We're Moving Overseas." Armed with this mental filter, you analyze every item in your home by wondering if you'd pack it in your tiny luggage space. You ask yourself, Is this thing worth hauling 6,000 miles across an ocean and in to a new home? Is it providing that much meaning and value to my life? If not, why bother having it now? Well, four years ago, my husband and I asked those questions, but it wasn't for a game. We moved out of our apartment in Austin, Texas in the fall, lived with friends for a few months while we finalized our plans, and then boarded a plane for the Middle East the following February. In that process, we held a yard sale and sold most everything we owned. We saved a few sentimental things for a storage unit, and the rest -- 15 cardboard boxes, ultimately -- went with us. I didn't know it at the time, but this event was a stake in the ground for us. Here, we made a big change. We jettisoned almost all our physical possessions, and from that moment forward, became hyper-selective about what we allowed in our home. If we just went through the pain-staking process of saying goodbye to our things, why haphazardly welcome more stuff in, stuff that will ultimately only add to clutter?

Help! My pebbles (and sand) ARE my rocks! Are any of you familiar with this "Pickle Jar Theory of Time Managment"??? I am really giving it a try this year, but not doing too great here on day #2. http://www.aaagoingplaces.com/acs/pagesnd10/feat_pickleJar_nd10.htm

This article worries me a bit. I'm living in an apartment and someday hope to buy my own home, but this makes it sound even SCARIER! Didn't think that was possible! USATODAY.com - Homeownership used to be the bedrock of the American dream, but the economic storm and its lasting effects have radically changed how everyone — no matter what stage of life they're in — looks at their home. Many potential home buyers are now hesitating, taking a closer look at their options. "People are starting to realize that the American dream of homeownership is not right for everyone," Kim McGrigg, community manager at Money Management International, a non-profit consumer credit counseling service. Read the rest here: http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/basics/2011-01-30-life-stages-housing_N.htm

Affordable Rental Homes Hard to Find NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Can't afford to buy a home? You might have a tough time finding a cheap place to rent too. A record number of renters are spending more than half their income on housing, according to a report released Tuesday by the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies. One in four renters -- or about 10.1 million households -- spend half their paychecks on rent and utilities, the study found. Another 26.2% spent between 30% and 50% of their income on housing. This is due in large part to rising housing costs and weak income gains. The center defines "affordable" as less than 30% of household income. "In the last decade, rental housing affordability problems went through the roof," said Eric Belsky, managing director of the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies. "And these affordability problems are marching up the income scale." Continue reading: http://money.cnn.com/2011/04/26/news/economy/affordable_rentals/index.htm?source=cnn_bin&hpt=Sbin

Shoppers should get ready to pay more CINCINNATI — Households reeling from gasoline near $4 also face bigger bills for everything from changing their babies' diapers to wiping their noses to treating themselves to ice cream. Major makers of everyday consumer products and groceries say they have to raise prices to offset soaring costs for their fuel and the materials and ingredients that go into their products. Retailers are trying to pass that along at the cash register, adding pressure on a sluggish U.S. economic recovery. The list of companies saying this week that they are raising prices is long: Kimberly-Clark (KMB) (Huggies diapers, Kleenex facial tissue); Procter & Gamble (PG) (Pampers diapers, Gillette shavers); Unilever (UL) (Dove soap, Ben & Jerry's ice cream); Colgate-Palmolive (CL) (toothpaste, soap); and PepsiCo (PEP) (soft drinks, Frito-Lay snacks). Even as corporate results were being analyzed on Wall Street, the news about Main Street wasn't encouraging. The U.S. Commerce Department reported that economic growth slowed in the first three months of the year, while unemployment benefit requests climbed again last week. So while companies have seen better results in the past year after battling for frugal shoppers with price cuts and discounts during the recession, it might be tough to find much slack in many homes' budgets. "There's a fine line that these companies are going to have to work around," said Jack Russo, an Edward Jones analyst. "You've got to be real sensitive to consumers and their ability to afford higher-priced products." Kim Smith, a mother of two in Cincinnati, said she can't, and doubts that the many people already hurt by rising gas prices can, either. "That's going to affect a lot of people," said the restaurant worker. "Stuff is getting too high; if it gets higher, you won't be able to buy it." Continue reading: http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2011-05-01-rising-prices_n.htm

A House Built on Trust

HOW do you get a house that is perfectly calibrated to your needs and sensibilities for only $150,000? Well, it helps if your lifelong best friend is an architect and partner in a design-build firm, one in which the architects are also experienced contractors.

Alison Threatt, 36, grew up in Winston-Salem, N.C., where she met Yumiko Foust in the third grade. As teenagers, Ms. Threatt recalls, the two were quiet girls who played piano duets. “For us, an ideal Friday evening was listening to Harry Connick Jr., and going out and drinking tea.”

A soft-spoken woman, Ms. Threatt graduated from the University of Virginia, in Charlottesville, and became a nomad, living in Poland, Ecuador, Benin and Quebec. But always, she stayed in touch with her dearest friend because, “I’m an only child, so I think, for me, Yumiko is the closest person I have in my life as a sister.”

Her friend, meanwhile, studied architecture at Virginia Tech, where she met her future husband, Tom Virant. The Virants eventually settled in Asheville, N.C., and formed a business partnership designing and building houses.

To read the rest:http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/21/garden/in-virginia-a-house-built-on-trust-on-location.html?_r=1

10 Easy Feng Shui Rules You Should Follow....

The ancient art of feng shui can be difficult to explain to those who have never heard about it. Simply put, it is about balancing the energy of any indoor or outdoor space. The name is composed of two elements, feng (wind) and shui (water), and is based on Taoist principles. The core beliefs center around the five elements (fire, earth, wind, wood and metal), how to balance them in a room and how to promote harmonious energy. Harmonious energy can help with relationships, relieving stress and encouraging good fortune. The following are some feng shui tips.

To read the tips, go here:http://crazysexylife.com/2011/10-easy-feng-shui-rules-you-should-follow/

Letters: Experience can ease home buying process USAToday.com - While it is true that mortgage standards are higher than they used to be, much of the decision about who qualifies comes down to the lender and loan officer handling the loan ("Tight standards make mortgages tough to get"). USA TODAY's article mentions that a person went through two lenders before finding a third who was willing to do the loan. Mortgage guidelines have become so standardized that differences between lenders are minimal. I'll bet the third lender simply knew more than the other two. As a 19-year veteran of the industry, I don't think loans are difficult to get. People with verifiable income, reasonable debt-to-income ratios (below 50%) and credit scores more than 640 don't have a problem getting a loan as long as they have proper guidance from an experienced loan originator who can set reasonable expectations. It's true we may require more documentation than in the past, but I rarely have a client who feels we are making unreasonable requests. Part of the problem is that people are more concerned about getting the absolute lowest fees and rate rather than considering experience and knowledge. My advice to homeowners: Look for an experienced loan originator with good references from a real estate agent, builder or friend. Jeff Winn, mortgage consultant; South Jordan, Utah Read more letters: http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/letters/story/2011-09-20/home-mortgage-rates/50482894/1

Very few homeowners have earthquake insurance USAToday.com - Cary Mann knows a major earthquake in Southern California could be catastrophic. But Mann doesn't carry earthquake insurance on either his Cathedral City home about 115 miles east of Los Angeles or on the hair salon he co-owns there. "None of my family has ever had it," he said. "They've always said that if there was ever going to be a 'Big One,' the damage would be so massive that the insurance would never be able to pay out to everyone." Many in the state feel the same way. According to the Insurance Information Network of California, fewer than 12% of the state's homeowners had earthquake insurance last year, and fewer than 10% of businesses had the coverage. Conventional home and business insurance coverage does not cover the damage caused by ground-shaking in an earthquake, said Glenn Pomeroy, CEO of the California Earthquake Authority, a non-profit, whose mission is to provide affordable earthquake insurance in California. Add in the California homeowners without any insurance coverage at all, he said, and the percentage drops even further. The low numbers stand in contrast to the potential earthquake threat, which will be highlighted Thursday in the fourth annual Great California ShakeOut, a statewide event to highlight the need to prepare for major earthquakes and practice how to respond when they happen. ShakeOut organizers say they expect more than 8 million to participate. Keep reading: http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/insurance/story/2011-10-18/earthquake-insurance/50818456/1

This is the coolest thing ever! I might have to think about buying one for my new house :) ___________ Review: Newfangled Nest Thermostat That pretty much sums up the incredulous reactions I received when I mentioned the topic of this week's column. After all, the thermostat hanging on your wall is probably like your neighbor's, a blah-looking controller you face only when it's time to warm or cool the house. Unless heating or cooling is on your mind, there isn't much reason you'd turn to the Nest Learning Thermostat either. Except that this is the coolest thermostat I've ever come across, and I don't mean cool as in temperature. Nest smashes any preconceived notions of what a thermostat ought to look like and how it should operate — whether you're in front of it or accessing it remotely from an iPhone or iPad. It takes advantage of cloud computing and what techies refer to as machine-learning. And it learns from your behavior. To be sure, controlling the temp and helping you save energy is Nest's primary aim. But you can't help but be drawn to it: The $249 Nest is a thermostat with sex appeal. Nest becomes available in mid-November, though you can preorder a unit now at BestBuy.com or Nest.com. The thermostat was created by Silicon Valley start-up Nest Labs, whose co-founder Tony Fadell used to be in charge of iPods at Apple. Fadell brings the Apple aesthetic to Nest. More: http://www.usatoday.com/tech/columnist/edwardbaig/story/2011-10-25/nest-thermostat-review/50917506/1

3 Recession-Inspired Home Remodeling Ideas A soft economy prompted some homeowners to take a new look at their existing footprint. Even as housing-market conditions turn a little brighter, many homeowners still opt to stay put and update their current quarters instead of selling at lower prices. The numbers prove it. Remodeling industry sentiment, as tracked by the National Association of Home Builders' Remodeling Market Index (RMI), hit a five-year high in the fourth quarter. In many cases, these decisions are fiscally motivated and reflective of the times, but the following remodeling trends may be here to stay: Read the rest here: http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/3-recession-inspired-home-remodeling-ideas.html