May 27, 2010

Lessons to learn before buying your vacation or retirement home

Posted by mcgoughinteriors under Canadians moving to Arizona, retirement homes
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Are you thinking of buying a second home either for vacations or retirement? With the housing market still suppressed in poplar vacation spots like Arizona, California, and Florida there are some great bargains. But buying a second home when you don’t live full-time in the area has some challenges.

Arizona is a popular vacation and retirement spot and many of my clients are remodeling and designing their second homes. They come from all areas of the United States and many have moved down from Canada. I want to share some of their lessons to help you with this exciting phase of your life.

Lesson I Research the Area

Cheryl and David Burwash are Canadian natives who have recently purchased their second home in the Phoenix area. Cheryl says that when she told her friends and family that she and her husband David had settled on Arizona everyone said she was crazy. “Most Canadians living in the east vacation in Florida and buy homes in Florida,” she says. “But we’ve been to Florida and we don’t like the weather.” This past winter in Florida drove that point home with colder and wetter days on average making the sunshine state the gloomy state. “We had friends visit us in Arizona after spending time in Florida. It only took a few days of our predictable sunny, warm weather before they said that they understood why we love it here.”
Weather is a huge draw for Arizona but that’s only one reason Cheryl and David settled here. “We’ve been vacationing in the area of the past 12 years. We love it here and we really know the area and what it has to offer.” However, Cheryl admits that when it came time to look for a house she realized how much she didn’t know. As a vacationer she had never spent time driving through neighborhoods. She found a real estate agent in Canada who made contact with an agent in Phoenix. “The Phoenix agent would send us listings. But once we found a house we then needed help with inspections and services. Living out of the country is even more challenging than just living out of the area. Maureen has become a great resource for us guiding us to contractors and overseeing their work while we are gone.”
What services and activities are essential to your vacation or retirement lifestyle?

Consider:
• Shopping
• Medical facilities
• Entertainment
• Transportation hubs
• Hotels for guests
• Activities for kids
• Sports

If like Cheryl and David, golf is an important activity, make sure there are enough options to keep your interest – and enough sunny days to enjoy it.
You don’t have to spend 12 years to decide where you want to retire but one visit won’t be enough. Schedule your visits for different times of the year too. While many people love Arizona in the winter, they often find it too unbearable in the summer, the same holds true for other popular places like Florida. And if your vacation or retirement dreams include skiing in the winter, you may just discover that your snow retreat is a treat in the warmer months as well.
Cheryl and David have just finished remodeling the kitchen in their new home and plan to start spending more time south in the next few years. They can’t wait.

Next blog: choosing your second home for how you plan to live.

 

March 28, 2010

Stripe it Right with Tibetan Rugs

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When decorating your home, I would bet that you give the least amount of attention to your floors. You agonize about wall colors for hours, blinds, curtains, and where to hang your art. But when it comes to floors, you either live with what you have or choose to replace your floors with newer versions of what you have.

I realize that this may not be true for every home, but given the price of flooring, whether it’s hardwood, tile, or carpeting most people play it safe. This can be a great choice. However, neutral-colored quality flooring should be treated as a blank canvas.

One of the most dramatic ways to treat this “canvas” is with area rugs. You certainly can shop at a house wares store and there’s always a furniture store somewhere going out of business hawking Orientals at blow-out deal. But if you want something truly special, I advise you to consider Tibetan wool rugs. These handmade works off art are made from high quality wool. I have an amazing supplier who sells 80 knot and 100 knot rugs. There’s a nice discussion of the history of Tibetan rugs on the blog Oriental and Tibetan Rugs: http://1000sofrugs.com/Oriental-Rugs/.

I own several of these beauties and have decorated many homes with them. Tibetans come in an amazing array of sizes and patterns. I like them better than traditional Turkish and Orientals because I find may of the designs to be more contemporary.

The rugs I want to share with you today are striped. They are all the same style but each rug has 10 different colors in it making each rug look different. Through my supplier I can even have a rug custom-designed for you.

Striped Tibetan Rug

10 color rug for endless design options

How to decorate with a Tibetan rug

First, remember Tibetan rugs are more than comfy floor coverings.
Use a rug as a back drop for furnishings, window coverings, etc.
Use the rug as a color anchor and pull out one or two colors to create a color theme or tie a room with many different elements together.

Think big. You want a rug to fill a space. It’s o.k. to put a rug over wall-to-wall carpet as an accent piece. Consider it as an investment. The design value of these rugs is that they are so complex and well made that the same rug in two different rooms or different houses will look like new pieces.

Great Tibetan rug special

My Tibetan rug supplier has extended me an amazing price on his 80 and 100 knot rugs that I would love to extend to you! This isn’t a going-out-of-business rug blow out special. Contact me and let me help you find a handmade treasure that’s perfect for your space and your design needs.

Tibetan rug

Vibrant colors to liven up your space

 

February 11, 2010

Developing a Remodeling Design

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This is the 2nd in my series on remodeling

Planning for a remodel
Planning for a remodel

The most exciting part of remodeling a room or your entire home is the ability to dream. And while budgets, building permits, and the limitations of the physical space will ultimately pull you back to Earth, don’t let that stop you as you consider your design needs.

Here’s how to begin your ultimate dream redesign

Ideas to consider

Make a list of what is important for your lifestyle

  • Lots of storage
  • Large windows
  • Exit to a patio or garage
  • Soft flooring
  • Hard flooring to better control allergies
  • High ceilings
  • Bathroom connected to a bedroom

What would you like to have?

Next it’s time to dream

In your perfect home, or ideal room, if you could have anything what would you have?

Ideas to consider

  • Wine cellar
  • Hot tub
  • Walk-in closet
  • Sun room
  • Gourmet kitchen
  • Whole house audio/visual system

Many people stumble at this point because they don’t know what is available or have never considered what would be amazing to have. Go pick up some magazines. Pull out pictures that you like and organize them by room. If you already have a contractor, get him or her involved to help you brainstorm. If you are remodeling a kitchen or bath, consider hiring a kitchen and bath expert.

Plan it

With your ideas in hand, start laying out furniture, lighting, and other features in each room. Now is the time to consider the current architecture and your budget.

In my next blog I’ll discuss how to hire a contractor.

If you could have anything in your dream home what would you have? Let me know!

 

February 4, 2010

New Location and Contact Information

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Hi Everyone,

We just want to let you know that this rolling stone is working on gathering some moss, or maybe tumbleweeds when it comes to our Arizona location.

Here is our new contact information
Main Business Office:
Maureen McGough Interior Design
7014 E. Thirsty Cactus Lane
Scottsdale, AZ 85266
Telephone: 480-907-5815
Fax: 480-907-7821
Cell: 703-217-0620

Virginia Design Studio:
Maureen McGough Interior Design
10332 Main Street, # 235
Fairfax, VA 22030
Telephone: 703-217-0620
Fax: 480-907-7821

Email, website and blog addresses are all the same:
Maureen@mcgoughinteriors.com
http://www.mcgoughinteriors.com

 

January 23, 2010

Creating the Home of Your Dreams, Remodel It!

Posted by mcgoughinteriors under 1, Remodel | Tags: |
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Anyone who is a regular visitor to my studios, either in Arizona or Virginia, knows that they’ll see something new every time they walk through the door. It’s not so much design wanderlust as design experimentation.

And since opening my Arizona studio, I’ve been eager to start working on a big project. So, I’m starting with one of my own. My husband and I found a great house and we have started a floor-to-ceiling remodel.

This is the first serious “personal” remodel I’ve done in many years and I’m approaching it as both a designer and as a customer. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing details of the remodeling process. I hope that it helps you take the great plunge and create the home of your dreams.

Beautiful View Soon to be Amazing

Buying and remodeling vs. buying new

Let’s start at the beginning – finding the home of your dreams. The collapse of the housing market has shaken up more than a few neighborhoods with homes sadly falling into foreclosure, upside down housing values, and new communities left unfinished by homebuilders out of capital and customers. But it also means there are some great values in some fantastic communities. If you shop wisely there are many advantages to buying an existing home, even one that is older.

For starters,

  • You have a clear view of the price range and whether it’s worth the investment and if the home has a reasonable price tag.
  • With the help of a licensed home inspector, you can better assess the overall quality of the structure, plumbing, electrical, and HVAC systems because it has weathered a few seasons. A so-so looking house in a great neighborhood can become a dream home if it has good “bones” such as solid construction and a good lot location.
  • Established homes also have established landscapes; sit on larger plots of land, and depending where you live, trees lining the sidewalks.
  • Older homes often have nuances such as built- in butler’s pantries, bay windows, crown moulding, beamed ceilings and more.  These wonderful details are often expensive extras when it comes to new construction.

Keep an open mind

One of the enticing parts of looking at new construction is walking through the model unit. It’s always beautifully decorated and spotless. When you walk through an existing home you are always influenced by the color of the walls, wallpaper, rugs, and what ever décor may be on display. Remember, all of that is cosmetic. If a kitchen is beautiful but it is to dark, you can change the windows, cabinets, and countertops.  If a bathroom is tiny but has large walk-in closets you may be able to restructure the entire space. There are also a lot of amazing extras you can add to homes such as a gas fireplace, new entrance ways, redesigned staircases, essentially if it can be built, it can be installed.  The sky may not be the limit, depending on the structure of the house and your budget ,but a whole house remodel can also be scheduled in stages.

Interior Window

We love this exisiting interior arch window


Now, go find your dream home to be!

In the next few weeks I’ll be discussing

  • How to develop a remodeling design and plan
  • How to choose a contractor
  • How to manager and live through a remodel
  • Designing a whole house electronics system

I welcome your feedback and questions.

 

November 28, 2009

Brighten a Winter Home with Houseplants

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Winter Decorating with Houseplants for Health and Style

Designing news spaces and freshening existing ones is different in winter than in spring and summer. The basics of good design are always the same but our feelings about our space, the colors and patterns that we are surrounded by, are different. This is owning to changes in natural light, cooler temperatures, lower humidity, and more time spent indoors.

Depending where you live, you may feel a bit down in the winter, especially right after daylight savings when the sun sets earlier in the day. Cooler temperatures also keep us cooped up inside where we are exposed to more artificial light and dryer air.

When winter sets in, I like to add houseplants to my environment. Studies show that indoor plants:

  • Add humidity to the air — this makes your space more comfortable
  • Remove indoor pollutants — you’ll breathe better
  • Improve your mood – they make you feel happy

Plants are also inexpensive decorative objects. Small plants in interesting pots easily become a living focal point in any room.

Large potted plants fill empty corners and add height, color, and interesting patterns to rooms.  Large plants are also good place holders for when you are transitioning a space. In other words, when you aren’t ready to decorate or haven’t found the perfect piece  of furniture or art for your room.

Southern Exposure Not Required

If you are concerned about growing plants because your home doesn’t receive a lot of light, you’re in luck. Tropical plants thrive in low light. In nature, they  grow under a thick canopy of trees. A great resource for growing houseplants and health is How to Grow Fresh Air: 50 Houseplants that Purify Your Home or Office by B.C. Wolverton.

Plants Finish Spaces and Add Life

In this bedroom, these plants help filter the natural light making it softer and more appealing. The plants’ height add visual interest and help divide the space into a sleeping area and sitting area.

Large plants in bedroom

Large plants add height and visual interest to finished spaces

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amarylis

Amarylis

 

Think Color for the Winter

There are many plants such as delicate Paperwhites, Christmas cacti, Pointsettia, and Amarylis that bloom in the winter and are easy to care for.

Explore your local home center and bring home some green this winter- designs by nature

 

 

 

November 24, 2009

Decorate Your 2nd Home With Care

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Decorating your second home

Now that I have an additional design studio in Arizona, I find that a lot of my new clients and neighbors own second homes. Arizona’s year-round good weather is perfect for snow birds who want to head west for sun instead of south. It’s also a great place for the younger set and families who enjoy being outdoors.

Regardless of what age group you fall in, if you have a second home, anywhere in the world, you still need to furnish it.

Home Sweeter Home

Second homes for most people are smaller than their primary residence and they serve a different purpose, usually a comfortable place to escape and relax.

Before you set out to fill your new space here are a few important elements to consider:
1. How often will you be in the home?
2. Is it for personal use or will you be renting the home part of the time?
3. Will you be entertaining a lot of visitors?

If you plan to spend a good portion of the year in your 2nd home, take extra care to buy the best quality furniture, rugs, lighting, etc. that you can afford. Many people say, “it’s only a vacation home,” and then curse the uncomfortable bed they bought on sale or the lamp that really doesn’t match or work well.

Even if you are not in your home a lot, take care to buy furnishings that are easy to care for. Products like all-weather wicker can stand a little weather abuse. Stores such as Restoration Hardware http://www.restorationhardware.com offer a nice line and they ship right to your door. You can order products from one home to be sent to another.

If you plan to rent your home, you want to take care not to furnish it with priceless antiques and family treasures. That doesn’t mean you can’t include your own personality and style. But if you love all- white carpeting and glass trinkets, you will be disappointed by the condition of your house after even the most careful guest leaves. Buy furnishings that can stand up to abuse, that means good quality beds, long-wear dark or patterned rugs, and walls with washable paint.

Beware 2nd Home Design Disasters
1. Thou shall not furnish your beautiful new home with what’s left-over in the garage or attic.

Bargain purchases and left-overs can be design gems but not if they are a hodge-podge of leftovers. Avoid thinking, “it’s only our vacation home,” mentality. Remember that you will be living in your home even if for part of the year. It should be welcoming and comfortable.

2. Though shall look out of the front door before furnishing your home.

Second homes are often in fabulous locations, such as on the waterfront, desert, or mountains. Too often homeowners bring the style of their first home to their second and then find that they don’t like the results. The furnishings founds in a traditional 4-bedroom New England Colonial will be out of place in a Spanish-style mission home on the West Coast. Remember that one of the reasons you picked your 2nd home is for its location, culture, and lifestyle. Explore your new surroundings and bring those elements you love inside. You can still mix in some favorite pieces from your first home but consider them more as odd pieces and accents rather than design anchors.

3. Thou shall relax and enjoy your new space.
Keep your 2nd home simple. No one wants to come home and then have to clean. Choose easy-care fabrics and flooring. Design your home for leisure. If that means converting an unused dining room into a media room or an unused bedroom into a craft room then go for it. Your 2nd home should be a home, and not a house. Think comfort while you design.

 

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