Showing posts with label Decorating. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Decorating. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Small Savannah Businesses You May Not Know About

 Savannah is growing, and in a very creative way. No longer does a new business hang their shingle out front, join the city chamber and advertise in the yellow pages. As we know times have changed! I love what I see happening with new businesses here in Savannah. Since the arrival of SCAD Savannah has really begun to flourish as an artist’s haven. The latest evolution of this creative city is extremely community oriented, and inclusive as it expands not only geographically, but also in size and product. Here are several new community businesses that nourish the creative community that are great for everyone!

Cohen’s Retreat - A creative collective, an artisan/design destination.
This midtown historic campus has evolved into a creative community thanks to the new owner’s vision. About the property: Cohen’s Retreat is a community of art, food, with a coffee/juice bar, commercial and residential cottages for rent scattered about the property. There is a main building plus sixteen cottages. The residential cottages are energy efficient with skylight and wood grain flooring. The commercial cottages have a main room, office and are equipped with a full kitchen and bathroom.  A couple of working craftspeople live in the cottages already, and several business have made Cohen’s retreat their home as well. The north wing of the main building will host lectures, classes, workshops, and more. The south wing, a gallery space, has already hosted two shows.  A banquet table dominates another room.  A new patio space, vegetable and herb gardens, and a fountain to be installed out front.  Many of the fully-renovated cottages are still available for rent. The cottages behind the main building are leasing quickly - with a potpourri of design oriented small businesses - photo stylists, prop stylists, artists, and designers
Art Tank will be a space available to rent for events. It will be a place to gather, to learn and connect with like-minded folks.
“We just wanted to provide a setting where the most accomplished artist can come in and go away with something, but so can someone who has never even picked up a paintbrush.”
New, and in the latest issue of Savannah Magazine. 10pm. Located at” 5715 Skidaway Road, Savannah

Fish Out of Water Designs – Artisan upholstery
An unusual, eclectic, bohemian style upholstery workshop. Custom upholstery, re-upholstery,
pillows and modern trends are discussed with clients over coffee and beneath painted taxidermy fish. A designer upholstery boutique where a client's furniture restoration and design needs can both be met. A place to create and have fun. There are even classes! Seminars, couples classes, individual projects - the hours are flexible the classes tailored to your needs.
“If you need something upholstered, Evelyn is your girl! She really engages the client in the process so that simply spending time with her in her workshop is a valuable experience. And the quality of her work is second to none!”

“Savannah Plush is designed to celebrate and share the uniqueness of the community in which we live. We celebrate the creative talents of carefully hand selected local artisans. Even our name was carefully considered and selected. "Savannah" for the exquisite physical location we call home and "Plush" to describe those special little touches that we all love to add when feathering our nests.” – Located at Cohen’s Retreat on the second Floor

Started as the brainchild of mother-daughter duo, Lynn Rahn and Brooke Rahn Thomas, Clutter
Furnishings and Interiors is Savannah’s hottest, new design and home décor destination. Clutter’s mission is to provide an array of one of a kind vintage, repurposed, consigned, and antique pieces to the huddled masses, and to create a space for clients that blends their style with great new finds. Located in Savannah’s Eisenhower Square Shopping Center, Clutter is one of several new mid-town, retail destinations designed to make all Savannah-ians lives just a little richer.

The Mill is an interactive, collective studio concept soon to be in downtown Savannah where designers of any kind can come work/sell their craft. By creating a space where designers can come to work on their own time, celebrate the process of their work and sell their product all at once brings attention to the great people behind America's handmade goods.


“Maven Makers is working to establish a collaborative work-space with the goal of creating a community of knowledge, design, and creativity. We are a community of people working together to foster growth to the individual first, then local companies, and for the overall city. Our space is for everyone with a desire to learn, inspire, teach, design, and create. Maven Makers’ vision is to establish a community-supported maker-space in Savannah, GA, which seeks to equip and empower the community starting at the individual level by delivering a common location with affordable resources for designing and building, whether for profit or mere enjoyment.” Maven Makers has had several events where ‘regular folk’ built bicycle racks for the Savannah Bicycle Campaign, and magazine racks for NPO’s in Savannah.

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Top 10 Best Valued Home Improvements

Since the real estate market is looking up you may be thinking about selling your home and buying a home you have been dreaming about for a while. If so than its time to focus on some home improvements or repairs you might have been putting off. Here are the top 10 home improvements that will bring you the most bang for your buck, according to the 2014 Cost vs Value report. This report is organized by region, unfortunately it is not specific to Savannah. So this list and estimated amount recouped is an average in the South Atlantic and I added their estimates for Charleston SC as a comparison since it is a coastal city.

Project
South Atlantic
Charleston SC
1.      Entry Door Replacement (steel)
101%.
148%
2.      Garage Door Replacement
89%
110%
3.      Deck Addition (wood)  
89%
112.2%
4.      Attic Bedroom
88%
94.2%
5.      Window Replacement (wood)
84%
92%
6.      Minor Kitchen Remodel
83%
107.2%
7.      Basement Remodel
83%
97%
8.      Window Replacement (vinyl)
81%
92.8%
9.      Siding Replacement (vinyl)
80%
109.5%
10.  Bathroom Remodel
77%
100%

You may not even notice your front door anymore, but a new door makes a great impression on buyers and yields the highest return on your investment. If your front door doesn't need replacing or you'd rather spend less money, you can paint it and replace the hardware for a similar impact. The same goes for your garage door, there is nothing like a fresh coat of paint to improve the unique features of your home.


Buyers are looking to expand their living space, and going out back where there is a new deck is a great solution, especially here in Savannah. If you already have a deck, you might consider enhancing the outdoor living space with a water feature, an outdoor fireplace, or a built in grill. That are lots of sites on the internet that can offer some economical ideas to create affordable outdoor living space. House logic is a website we like that offers some great home improvement ideas. Here are some ideas for decks http://www.houselogic.com/outdoors/decks/. Another way to add living space is going up and turning your attic into a bonus room.

Improving the living space you already have is another upgrade you might consider. A minor remodeling of your kitchen such as, new lighting, new cabinet doors with new hardware and adding a tiled backsplash will bring a fresh look to the area. Also new lighting can really transform a room. A little bigger investment is to replace windows, but as you can see the return here is really pretty good. Check out This Old House website that has loads of low cost kitchen/bath upgrades: http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/photos/0,,20210747,00.html

If you are considering doing most of your improvements or repairs yourself here are a few websites we have come across that we like. Many of them have videos that show you how to.

The Family Handyman - http://www.familyhandyman.com/
Today’s Homeowner with Danny Lipford - http://www.todayshomeowner.com/



Monday, January 6, 2014

2013 Best Homes Awards by Fine Homebuilding

With the holidays having come to a close, I find myself reflecting back to the best of 2013. Doing my usual internet surfing for a good topic this morning I discovered the 2013 Fine Home Building HOUSES Awards. They have awarded some real gems for the year of 2013. The awards say alot about the trends of homebuilding, and remodeling. Here is a video of their 2013 pick for the best Small Home Award:

2013 Best Small Home 



2013 Best Remodel - Fine Homebuilding Houses Awards

Ross Levy and Karen Andersen of Levy Art & Architecture designed the BEST REMODEL of the year, a restoration and reinvention of this Edwardian San Francisco row house. The extensive remodel successfully bonds preservation with performance while maintaining a critical focus on the homeowners' lifestyle. Few homes accomplish so much with such little impact.

2013 Best Retirement Home - Fine Homebuilding Houses Awards


The award for Best Retriment Home goes to Jon Nystrom for the house he designed and built for himself and his wife in Boerne, Texas. Designed with an emphasis on long-term livability and built with regionally appropriate, durable, and low-maintenance materials, this home is remarkably fit for aging in place in style and comfort.

Find out more about this award-winning homes and others at: http://www.finehomebuilding.com/house...

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Decorating Your Outdoor Living Space


Now that the weather is a bit cooler it is just delightful to be relaxing outside. I like to think of my backyard and patio as extended living space. Here a few ideas on how to decorate that extra room for relaxing and entertaining.

From Savannah’s Interior Design store 24e

24e Cypress Swing Bed 24 East Broughton Street
A step outside is how far away your new favorite destination could be. With a 24e Signature Line Cypress Swing Bed just outside your back door…

Refined Rustic Back Porch Southern Living

Decorator Cindy Smith of Circa Interiors, Charlotte, NC, used purple accents in addition to wood, metal, and stone to create a refined, rustic back porch design. http://www.southernliving.com/home-garden/gardens/front-back-screen-porch-patio-00417000071944/page67.html 

Bungalow Porch
Southern Living

An extra-long porch swing anchors this porch space and, at 7 feet long, invites stretching out for long afternoon naps. The swing is hung the swing by ropes to give it a more natural look. A brightly patterned outdoor rug pops against neutral tones. http://www.southernliving.com/home-garden/gardens/front-back-screen-porch-patio-00417000071944/page3.html