| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
A forum for advice, thoughts, rants, and raves about the Northern Virginia real estate market.
Friday, September 21, 2012
New Mortgage Rates!!
Monday, September 17, 2012
Window Seats
Window Seat Options for Storage Solutions
A window seat can add as much as 13 cubic feet of valuable storage space that doubles as attractive, usable seating for your home.
If you have an odd-shaped space that would be good for a window seat, have the seat custom made so it'll fit just right. Image: FreeportWoodworking.com
A space-savvy window seat is an attractive, low-cost way to boost your home’s storage potential.
Comfort and storage capacity go hand-in-hand when you add a window seat. The benefits of window seats are many: They de-clutter, provide comfy built-in seating, and add architectural appeal to any room.
Types of window seats
Window seats typically are one of three types. Each type can be made with a storage compartment accessible via drawers, doors, open shelves, or a lift-up seat. An average window seat takes up about 13 cubic feet and provides about that much in storage space.
- Freestanding units are low-cost and portable but aren’t as finished-looking as built-ins. Cost: $200 to $500.
- Custom-crafted window seats give you exactly the look and style you want and can be made to fit into odd-shaped spaces. They are also the priciest option. Cost: $400 to $1,000.
- Modular window seats are built using stock kitchen cabinets from a home improvement center. This is a moderately priced option that the average DIYer can tackle. Select quality construction upper cabinets to achieve the proper height for your window seat base. Add a ¾-inch veneered plywood top, a cushion, and a toe-kick base; paint the unit to complete, if needed. Cost: $600 to $800.
Where to add window seat storage
Position versatile window seats in virtually any room. Some options include:
- For entryway storage, use a window seat to stash boots, shoes, and seasonal or sports gear.
- In playrooms, a kid-friendly seat is perfect for storing toys and games. Use safety hardware that prevents doors or lids from slamming on fingers or trapping kids inside. Outdoor fabrics work best in a kids’ space for stain-resistance and resilience. Also use quality, washable paints or polyurethane finishes over stains.
- In a bathroom, cover window seats with outdoor fabrics and moisture-resistant paint. If possible, install the seat so a heating duct vents through the seat base—towels stored inside will be toasty.
- Niches naturally lend themselves to retrofitting with window seats. Existing niches can be found in a bay window or alcove. Or, your could create a niche by flanking your window using cabinets or bookcases. If you choose to forget the niche, a seat can be successfully positioned on a flat wall.
Window seat installation tips
- Don’t let a floor or wall vent keep you from installing a window seat; simply redirect the vent toward the window seat’s toe-kick, and provide an opening for heated or cooled air to flow into your room.
- Your windows will determine the length of your seat; the height (including the seat cushion) should be 18 to 20 inches, and the depth a comfortable 20 to 24 inches to allow for cushions along the back.
- Building codes require fitting windows near a window seat with tempered glass.
Read more: http://www.houselogic.com/home-advice/home-improvement/window-seat-options-storage-solutions/#ixzz26l7YaSrG
Mortgage Rates!!
Mortgage Rates
|
Updated as of 9/17/2012 10:46:26 AM CST
|
|
Debra Gorman
Phone: (703) 361-9161 Cell Phone: (571) 215-9716 Email: debra.gorman@mortgagefamily. Web Site: http://phhmidatlantic.com |
PHH Home Loans Mortgage Rates. Purchase Price: $425,000, Down Payment: $85,000 (20.00%),
Loan Amount: $340,000 for properties located in State: VA, County: prince william |
Program
|
Loan Amount
|
Monthly Payment
|
Rate
|
APR
|
Points
|
APR Costs
|
Lock
|
$340,000
|
$1,527
|
3.500%
|
0
|
$1,849
|
30 days
| ||
$340,000
|
$2,307
|
2.750%
|
0
|
$1,849
|
30 days
| ||
$340,000
|
$1,411
|
2.875%
|
0
|
$1,849
|
30 days
| ||
$340,000
|
$1,456
|
3.125%
|
0
|
$1,849
|
30 days
| ||
$340,000
|
$1,551
|
3.625%
|
0
|
$1,849
|
30 days
| ||
$344,250
|
$1,498
|
3.250%
|
0
|
$1,849
|
30 days
| ||
$345,950
|
$1,506
|
3.250%
|
0
|
$1,849
|
30 days
| ||
$345,950
|
$1,412
|
2.750%
|
0
|
$1,849
|
30 days
| ||
$340,000
|
$1,623
|
4.000%
|
0
|
$1,849
|
30 days
| ||
$346,939
|
$1,631
|
3.875%
|
0
|
$1,849
|
30 days
| ||
$345,950
|
$1,602
|
3.750%
|
0
|
$1,849
|
30 days
| ||
$340,000
|
$1,648
|
4.125%
|
0
|
$1,849
|
30 days
| ||
See conditions below. APR = Annual Percentage Rate.
| |||||||
* For government programs, actual loan amount is higher due to upfront mortgage insurance added into loan amount. | |||||||
Friday, September 14, 2012
GRATEFUL SHED
A family discovers the joys of DIY design—and muddy feet—in their home made up of distinct pods that blends harmoniously with its surroundings in the rainy mountains of Kauai.
Tanya, Chris, Jackson, and Zeke spend much of their day outside.
Tanya and Chris Gamby—a psychologist and web developer/portable outdoor movie theater owner, respectively—have called Hawaii home for most of their lives. After a detour to Los Angeles, where their children, Jackson, now nine, and Zeke, seven, were born, they came back. They were perfectly content with their old plantation house in the town of Lihue, on Kauai, when they accompanied Chris’s sister on her own property search in the island’s lush mountains. When they came across a 20-acre parcel that backed up to verdant, rainy valleys and stunning views, Tanya was immediately smitten. “When I saw the land, I thought, ‘I’d sell my soul to live here,’” says Tanya, who luckily only had to sell her existing house to do so. They bought the property as an extended family, and then the Gambys, with $80,000, limited construction experience, and guidance from local architects Ben Sullivan and Tony Hatto (who are also designing them a larger house on the site), built a temporary hangout made from three 10-by-12-foot modules and dubbed it Ag Shed Villa.
When she’s not at the treehouse, Jackson hangs out in the kids’ room.
Originally we were going to put in a green roof and living walls—we had wanted to do that on our bigger house, too. So we started with a design and quickly discovered that there were some issues with living walls and mold in Hawaii, and then we found out that even though there’s all this research on Hawaii being a great place for green roofs, we couldn’t get home insurance here if we put them in. We have everything in place, so as soon as that changes we will put them in, but unfortunately we can’t do it yet.
As it became a real building, our architects engineered it for us so that it would actually meet the codes. It was sort of a back and forth with the architects—we had the shape of the building and the design laid out, and they picked some of the materials, like the cement boards for the walls and the polycarbonate roofing, which was something they always wanted to try. The bathroom walls and the shower are made out of polycarbonate, which is beautiful in certain areas and in some it’s actually really hot, so the downside is we’ve created almost a greenhouse effect in places. But in the rainy season it’s incredibly beautiful. The other thing is, it’s loud. There have been times when it really starts to rain up here, and we can’t hear each other at all.
Just off the kitchen is the lanai, which serves as the family’s main gathering spot. The polycarbonate roof lets light through but keeps the rain at bay.
Connecting the kitchen and laundry area is the dining area, enclosed with floor-to-ceiling glass panels. “Chris built the whole thing,” says Tanya.
Chris: We had to make it up as we went, so some things don’t work perfectly, but overall I think it turned out pretty well. There was a lot of experimental stuff that we tried because we knew we’d eventually build a bigger house and we thought this was a good testing ground.
Tanya: Doing both the Ag Shed Villa and the “real” house, we found that it’s scary to experiment on a real house. It’s very expensive. It’s fun to experiment on something small, because your investment is not as big. If you mess it up or the siding’s wrong on 100 square feet, it’s a lot easier to fix. It was the first time we could say, “Yeah, try that, let’s see what happens.” We definitely changed some of our bigger house stuff based on the Ag Shed, like incorporating the boulders that are all over the land—we’ll repeat that. We actually unearthed one the size of a minivan that we’re going to use in the bigger house.
We had some good unexpected surprises. Initially, we were going to put glass doors everywhere but we had to get out of our previous house before the new one was finished, so we just put canvas up on one wall—it’s so temperate here that it worked fine until we decided we needed a real wall. Chris put up a half-canvas, half-polycarbonate wall temporarily, and I ended up loving it. It looks really cool, it keeps the rain out, it’s solid, it can flip up if we want it to, and I don’t see us ever changing it. A glass door would have been predictable and followed the pattern of the house, but this worked so much better.
Nearby, the bathroom includes a composting toilet and a Home Depot sink on a pedestal Chris made from chunks of found wood.
Tanya: The whole idea for the structure was that this would be a really fun place for the kids for a few years. Chris made a pallet treehouse just outside their bedroom, and we added a slide right out of their bedroom window that leads to it. They’re out there all the time; they use all of that stuff constantly. But timeouts aren’t very effective; you go into their room and they’re gone.
Chris: The kids also like to run into the house and lock the door to the slide behind them—they take turns locking each other out for fun. So it does get a fair amount of use. Tanya: The photographers were saying we reminded them of the Swiss Family Robinson. The day they were here, the kids took three showers, and they were still running around all muddy. And that’s exactly how I wanted them to grow up.
Read more: http://www.dwell.com/articles/Grateful-Shed.html#ixzz26T6QRKpO
How Cool!
TINY STUDIO CABIN BY HINTERLAND DESIGN
It doesn't get much more idyllic than this: An illustrator of children's books who lives on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia needed a quiet workspace that was nearby, but separate from, her family's bustling household. She contacted local designer, artist, and builder Riley McFerrin of Hinterland Design to replace an existing shed on her property, perched on top of a steep hill, by maintaining the old outbuilding's small footprint. The design brief? "Small but airy, bright but cozy, and most importantly modern, yet in keeping with the rustic charm of the country."
Exterior of the backyard studio Riley McFerrin of Hinterland Design built for his client, a children's book illustrator.
Reclaimed materials like salvaged windows and doors kept costs down, while white paint, bright customized workspaces, and custom millwork keeps things airy on the interiors.
No small task, especially with a one-month timeframe and a very modest budget, but McFerrin likes a challenge. He says, "We did a complete demolition of the existing shed, and provided design-build from the ground up. We provided a new foundation, framing, finishes, utilities, custom-built workspaces and interior millwork, using salvaged windows, siding and doors, as well as repurposed timbers for interior shelving and storage."
A recycled barndoor track and wheels affords privacy behind a siding covered panel.
The 200-square-foot studio is tucked into the treeline overlooking the owner's property—one can even glance the Strait of Georgia through the large windows that make interior lights almost unneccessary.
Read more: http://www.dwell.com/articles/studio-by-hinterland-design.html#ixzz26T655THj
New Listings!!
I know I haven't had a chance to blog in awhile, but don't fret I have been working on some new listings. Click the link for the virtual tours to check them out!
12382 Hunters Grove
6801 Coach Way
13030 Smoketown Road
18312 Sharon Road
12382 Hunters Grove
6801 Coach Way
13030 Smoketown Road
18312 Sharon Road
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)