Spring
Home & Garden 2010
Change it up Supplement to the Grand Forks Herald, Sunday, April 25, 2010
Redecorating doesn’t have to cost a fortune. Sometimes it’s just a matter of using the old in a new way ■
By Ann Bailey
style or content. If people want their rooms brightened up, removing heavy, dark curtains is as easy way to do that. Blinds can replace the curtains if privacy is an issue, Kallinen noted.
Special Features Staff Writer
When it comes to decorating, change is good. Simple things, such as painting the walls, rearranging furniture or adding a rug to the floor can give the room a whole new look at little cost, say Julie Danks Kvitne and Paula Kallinen, of Meadowbrook in Grand Forks. Danks Kvitne, owner of Meadowbrook in Grand Forks and Fargo, and Kallinen, Meadowbrook’s regional manager, provide in-home consultation on decorating in addition to in-store consultations. When the two women go to a home, one of the first things they do is clean out the room and start from scratch, they say. When they put the furniture back in the room, they experiment with moving the furniture away from the wall and “playing the angles” of the room. When Kallinen and Danks Kvitne decorate a room, they may use pieces of furniture that were in the room or go to another room and find a different piece to put in it. They also may choose another use for a furniture piece, such as using an ottoman for a coffee table. Because diversity in furniture groups adds interest, Kallinen and Danks Kvitne may break up sets of furniture, instead of putting the same pieces back in the group. Once the furniture is rearranged, adding an area rug will pull the room together, the women say.
Accessories
Adding a faux crystal bobeché to a candle is an inexpensive way to dress it up.
A fresh look
Another way to give a room a different feel is to paint it, which gives it a fresh, clean look. People may want to consider painting one wall a different color from the rest for varying shades of the same color. Moving pictures or grouping them differently is another way to change the way a room looks. Pictures or photos can be grouped by appearance, frame
Jackie Lorentz, Special Features staff photographer
Chad Caya is a Grand Forks professional painter who is known for his work with decorative painting and historical restoration on exterior buildings.
Painting with panache Use creative paint techniques to get that special look ■
By Ann Bailey
Special Features Staff Writer
From raising the height, to creating a focal point, to crafting a style, decorative painting can enhance a room in an artful way. Through techniques such as glazing, graining and marbling, decorative painting can make rooms appear higher, larger, lighter and more elegant, according to a book called Professional Painted Finishes book. Meanwhile, decorative painting also can camouflage design flaws and damaged walls, according to Professional Painted Finishes. Graining, a painting technique used to make surfaces resemble wood, and marbling date back thousands of years, the book said. Glazing, a newer technique, has been used since the 12th century.
Reserved style
These days, homeowners want their walls painted in a more subtle style than
PAINTING: See Page 2
Photos by Jackie Lorentz
Adding or changing around accessories, such as pillows and throws, is another way to decorate inexpensively. “Your accessories are the least expensive way to touch up your room,” Danks Kvitne said. Meanwhile, candles, baskets and ornamental wall art are ways to add texture to a room. “By adding texture, it also gives more warmth to the room,” Kallinen said. A floral or greens arrangement is an easy way to make the room more vibrant. The arrangement can be real or artificial, purchased from a florist or grown in the homeowner’s garden or backyard. “If you have a vase, get sticks or pussy willows,” Danks Kvitne suggests. “We think floral and greens really do make a home,” Kallinen said. Dressing up candles with bobeches or beads also will add interest to a room, she said.
Finding another use
Meadowbrook owner Julie Danks Kvitne, right and Paula Kallinen, left, talk about how to update a room with changing only a few pieces or by adding new furniture for a new look.
An ottoman can be used as a coffee table without taking up any more room than a wood coffee table. linen can be used to cover a guestroom bed. When people are considering redecorating, they should take inventory of what they own before they go out and buy something new, Kallinen and Danks Kvitne said, noting that they often find decorating items in
Straight-up gardening Repurposing items such as table linens, is another way to decorate without spending money. For example, a lace table
Texture and a splash of color can be used together in a small decorative setting. people’s basements, attics, garages and closets when they are doing a job for them. “The things are there, you just have to think of them in a different way,” Kallinen siad.
Things are looking up for gardeners short on space
■
By Ann Bailey
Special Features Staff Writer
The sky’s the limit when it comes to choosing plants for vertical gardens. There are hundreds of plants from which to choose and a myriad of ways to group them, say gardening experts. Meanwhile, vertical gardening or gardening with upright structures, can take many different forms and be beneficial in numerous ways. According to the University of Missouri Extension Service, vertical gardening can: ■ Provide privacy and disguise unattractive views. ■ Provide excellent air circulation for the plants. ■ Be built in shaded areas. ■ Grow more plants in a small area ■ Be within reach of people who cannot garden in a traditional way. If people do have physical limitations, they should consider questions such as whether the plants will be grown at ground level, in a raised bed a tabletop planter or in a container, the University of Missouri extension services advises. Other things gardeners should consider before they plant are whether they will be gardening from a seated or standing position and how high the plants will be at maturity. Although vertical garden-
ing is especially attractive to people with small yards, apartment balconies or in the narrow space between the garage or sidewalk, all gardeners can find a place for a vertical garden. “Really, it could be done anywhere you have the space,” said Jodie Ramsey, who owns Jean’s – the Right Plant Place in Perham, Minn., with Julie Schroe. The women spoke about plant options for vertical gardening at Gardening Saturday April 10 in East Grand Forks. Here’s a look at some of the plants, including a tree, vines and perennials for sun, shade and partial shade, that work well in vertical gardens, according to Ramsey and Schroer:
Tree
Caragana arborescens or pea shrub: “The size you buy them at the nursery are the size they’re going to get,” Ramsey said. Instead of growing up, the branches grow toward the ground, she said. The Walker variety, which has small needle-like leaves, grows to about 5-6 feet tall and is 3-4 feet wide while the Pendula variety has wider leaves, grows to about 6-7 feet tall and is 5 feet wide. Both varieties have small, yellowpea like flowers.
Jackie Lorentz, Special Features staff photographer
A Dropmore honeysuckle grows up a trellis built by Louie Forseide, Grand Forks.
Vines
Clematis: Clematis can punch up the vertical color in the yard. If you’re looking for a patriotic theme, plant Niobe, which is magenta red, Huldine, which is white and Ken Donson, which is deep blue. Gardeners should plant something shorter in front of them or put a piece of yard art to keep the roots cool, Schroer said. Akebia quinata: Also known as chocolate vine, the
12-inch tall vine grows 3-4 feet wide and has dark maroon, vanilla-scented flowers, which bear edible fruit.
Perennials
Angelica or Masterwort: A biennial that produces attractive cut leaves that resemble celery. The plant grows up to 5 feet high and has flower heads that are a purplish magenta color. VERTICAL: See Page 2
2 Grand Forks Herald/Sunday, April 25, 2010
Landscaping: Keep it simple, functional, cost-effective “Know what you’ve got before you start.”
By Ann Bailey
Special Features Staff Writer
Jackie Lorentz, Special Features staff photographer
Chad Caya used a painting technique to create a marble effect on a wall surrounding a fireplace in a downtown Grand Forks Brownstone.
PAINTING/
Continued from Page 1
they did a decade ago, said Chad Caya, owner of Caya Painting in Grand Forks. Caya, who has been painting professionally in Grand Forks since 1992, said that decorative painting with a bold, wall paper-like look was popular a decade ago, but the trend now is toward a more muted look. “I think less is more,” Caya said. “It’s nice just to do an accent wall. A little goes a long way. It might have more impact if you do one wall instead of four walls.” Decorative painting also can be used to create a focal point. For example, in one of his customer’s homes, Caya did a 10-by-20 foot textured marbled design around a fireplace. “The first thing people do is come up and feel it.” Decorative painting uses artists’ techniques and can be a painstaking process. The marbling Caya did around the fireplace took 100 hours of work, he said. He began the process with 150 grit sandpaper and ended up with 1,200 grit sandpaper.
Jackie Lorentz, Special Features staff photographer
A close-up of faux marble detail Chad Caya painted reveals a textured appearance.
Outdoor
On the exterior, decorative painting can be used to create different sheens. For example, identical colors can be painted on both the trim and siding of a home, but the sheen can be changed so the two look different. Changing the sheen also can highlight the architectural features, Caya said.
If your yard is in need of landscaping, it’s best to think before you dig. The first thing you should do is to take a good, hard look at the space you want to landscape, said Helen Cozzetto Cozzetto, a landscape architect who lives in Grand Forks. “Know what you’ve got, before you start,” Cozzetto said. “You don’t want to be planting and then next year, have to dig it up again.” People should examine the area they want to landscape from the front, the back and the sides, noting where there is sun, shade and slopes and where the wind hits. They also should call a “one call” number which will dispense people from various companies to find out where underground lines are located. People also should consider how their families, including children and pets, use the space and take note of how big an area will be used for recreational activities such as playing baseball or setting up a hockey rink. Another question to consider is whether there are any views or focal points that could be highlighted. Make sure you plant flowers where they can be seen. “You can have absolutely beautiful flowers, but no one to see them,” said Ron Smith, NDSU Extension Service horticulturalist. Those areas may be betSmith ter suited to ornamental shrubs, he noted. On the flip side gardeners should take note of things such as the location of patios, fencing, irrigation systems and anything else that might interfere with trees, shrubs and
Helen Cozzetto landscape architect
flowers, Cozzetto said. Those areas can be outlined in spray paint. The answers to those questions are, in a nutshell, your basic landscape plan, Cozzetto said. Gardening and landscaping don’t have to be complicated undertakings. “Keep things simple, functional, cost-effective and conserve water,” Cozzetto said. “You want to keep your maintenance to a minimum.” Before choosing plants to use for landscaping, one of the first things people should know is their soil type, she said, noting that Red River Valley soil is alkali. Another thing to remember is that because the soil is clay, people shouldn’t mix sand with it. The mixture will turn into concrete, she said. When it comes to plants and planting, here are some of Cozzettos’s and Smith’s dos and don’ts:
Dos
■ Do solve drainage problems before you plant. “You’re going to be fighting an uphill battle if you’re trying to get water to move off the planting site,” Smith said. ■ Do water gardens and lawns in the early morning so the plants have a chance to dry out during the day. That helps prevent them from getting a fungus. ■ Do know the width and height of the trees and shrubs you buy. “What you see is not what you get in the end,” Cozzetto notes. ■ Do try to plant native plants and water-conserving plants. Plant different kinds of flowers, so that you have a sequence of blooms from mid-spring through late fall. ■ Do plant for wild creatures, such as birds and butterflies.
■ Do use rain barrel, rain chains and plant rain gardens. ■ Do support local nurseries and landscape design experts. Buy plants and other items, such as peat moss and mulch there. That way, you know they are suited to the local climate and soil type.
Don’ts
■ Don’t plant trees and shrubs too deeply. If you do, you can kill them. ■ Don’t plant trees or shrubs under the eves of your house or too close to the sidewalk. Don’t plant ash trees. They are being threatened by the emerald ash borer. ■ Don’t plant plants in rocks. “It gets really hot and dry,” she said. That bakes the plants and they die. “If you want plants, forget the rocks,” she advises.
VERTICAL/
Continued from Page 1
Ligularia: “Ligularias are great for giving you that big-leafed, tropical look,” Schroer said. The plants need a lot of moisture and some wilt in the sun, so they should be protected from wind and sun. Alcea rosea or hollyhocks: Hollyhocks, an oldfashioned plant, grow to be about 6-feet high and come in a variety of colors, including black and nearly peach. Hollyhocks frequently need to be stalked. Ornamental grasses: They include Calama-
■ Don’t overdo your planting. “What you see now is not what you see later,” Cozzetto said. ■ Don’t use a lot of pesticides. ■ Don’t plant weeds or invasive species. Check with your local county extension agent if you’re not sure about the plant. ■ Don’t over-water or over-fertilize. Gardening resources include the NDSU Extension Service and the Grand Forks Horticulture Society, she said. To contact the extension service in Grand Forks County, call (701) 780-8229 or send an e-mail to: NDSU.GrandForks.Extension@ndsu.edu. Smith can be reached by e-mail at: ronald.smith@ndsu.edu For information from the Grand Forks Horticulture Society call Karon Miller at (701) 772-2835 or online at: www.karongrostis or feather reed grass, an early blooming ornamental grass, Andropogon gerardii or big blue stem, also known as turkey foot and Miscanthus sinensis or maiden grass which grows 5-6 feet high and forms clumps. Asclepias or butterfly weed: The plants, which are related to milkweed, attract monarch caterpillars. Persicaria polymorpha or knotweed: The plant, which grows 4-5 feet high, blooms for most of the summer and does not require deadheading and does not need staking.
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Gaming furniture moves into family rooms Grand Forks Herald/Sunday, April 25, 2010
By Melissa Kossler Dutton Associated Press
Patio comfort
McClatchy Tribune
The Havenhill loveseat from Homecrest Outdoor Living has individual seats for rocking or stationary seating.
By Jean Patteson The Orlando Sentinel
The makers of outdoor furniture are very much in tune with the uncertain economic times. Their collections for spring and summer focus on “dazzling color to brighten our moods, plush comfort to ease our tension and increased value to minimize the impact on our wallets,” said Jackie Hirschhaut, spokeswoman for the American Home Furnishings Alliance (AHFA) in High Point, N.C. Cheerful reds and yellows are key colors for 2010, along with calming shades of leaf green and watery blue. “And the season’s most vivid fabrics provide a dramatic contrast to new bright-white frames that are adding a contemporary twist to traditional styling,” said Hirschhaut. Comfort features include deep cushioning with outdoor foams that resist damp and mildew, along with rocking and reclining options. New synthetics that look like natural materials add durability to many products. Lightweight, non-rusting aluminum frames are teamed with materials that look like wood or wicker, but are much tougher. And several new sofa, bench and swing designs offer “individualized” seats, where each seat can be independently operated to rock, recline or remain upright and stationary. There is also a trend away from large, traditional pieces, said Greg Donelson, sales and operations manager for Robb & Stucky’s patio division.
Furniture makers have long made pieces for storing gaming consoles and their accompanying equipment in children’s rooms. Now they’re starting to offer more stylish varieties for other parts of the house. “Gaming consoles have really moved out of kid’s bedrooms to family rooms,” said Patricia Bowling, spokeswoman for the American Home Furnishings Alliance in High Point, N.C. Furniture makers have “kicked up a notch” the functionality of living room and game room cabinets, she said, and borrowed many of the storage ideas and organizational aspects of children’s bedroom furniture. The newer pieces can store the various controllers and specialized accessories, such as musical instruments and sports equipment that are popular among video game enthusiasts. Designed to keep a room tidy and attractive, the furniture also can accommodate cords and plugs. The trend toward hanging televisions on the wall rather than storing them in cabinets also has helped drive the need for new, family room-style furniture, designers and manufacturers said.
“...the season’s most vivid fabrics provide a dramatic contrast to new bright-white frames...”
Jackie Hirschhaut
As more homeowners move into smaller houses and condos, designers of outdoor furniture are responding to the downsizing movement. “Sectionals are not so overbearing. Styling is more contemporary, with a smaller scale and cleaner lines,” said Donelson. For homeowners wanting to splurge on a single item, he predicts daybeds with canopies will be popular for their “wow factor.” Some include a variety of reclining options and even a built-in massage function
– along with solar panels to recharge the battery that operates the mechanisms. Those on tighter budgets may postpone purchasing entire sets of patio furniture, opting instead for a few new accessories – outdoor floor and table lamps, planters, silk plants, wall art, shatterproof tableware and pillows. The quick, affordable way to make an old set of outdoor furniture look fresh, he said, “is with a splash of colorful new pillows.”
Patricia Bowling spokeswoman for the American Home Furnishings Alliance
Game furniture
Huge growth in home gaming sales convinced Hooker Furniture in Martinsville, Va., to start designing furniture for games, said spokeswoman Kim Shaver, citing a 2009 Centris study that said more than 33 million U.S. households have systems. The pieces are such an important part of the company’s furniture line, she added, that it intends to create a gaming room at the International Home Furnishings Market in High Point, N.C., in April. “We’ve decided to ramp our development of the gaming console,” Shaver said. “It’s extremely popular with retailers and designers.” Hookers’ gaming cabinets come in three finishes and are designed to reduce clutter, she said. “The units are more casual in design,” she said, and are meant for family rooms and recreation rooms.
Designer Eric Ross of Eric Ross Interiors in Franklin, Tenn., said he counsels clients putting together game rooms to choose furniture with doors that will hide the sets and accessories.
Cleverly hidden
“You’ve got to conceal all the equipment,” he said. “Children aren’t neat.” A nice feature of some of the new furniture is fullextension, pull-out storage trays that let players see all the games at once, Ross said. Before furniture makers started manufacturing consoles for gaming systems, homeowners often tried to create their own with shelving and baskets – a do-it-yourself solution that Ross found lacking. “You can see in the baskets,” he said. “It’s just not practical.” Van Shephard, senior designer at Lombards Furniture Galleries in Columbus, Ohio, agreed that a cabinet is best, to hide all the game parts. Some highend retailers have started making TV cabinets designed to accommodate the wires and plugs from gaming units, he said. “It’s very up and coming,” he said. “It only makes sense.”
CREATIVE WINDOW DESIGN
McClatchy Tribune
Some patio furniture includes a variety of reclining options like this Pride rattan recliner.
“Gaming consoles have really moved out of the kid’s bedrooms to family rooms.”
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Grand Forks Herald/Sunday, April 25, 2010
Decorating together ■
By Melissa Rayworth Associated Press
McClatchy Tribune
A rabbit is silhouetted as it disappears into some bushes at dusk in Easton, Pa. Easter aside, for many home gardeners spring is face-off time with rabbits. There are no magic tricks for keeping bunnies at bay. But there are some simple things you can do to help protect vegetable seedings and other plants from those busy little jaws.
Gardeners gird for annual face-off with pesky rabbits By Diana Marszalek
For The Associated Press
When Barbara Jenkins first moved to her home in New York’s Hudson Valley, she fell in love with the wildlife, including the “cute little bunnies” who romped so close. Several years and many nibbled gardens later, the fluffy-tailed hoppers were not quite so cute anymore. After watching the rabbits help themselves to her tomatoes and squash blossoms, Jenkins, of New City, erected a garden-protecting fence, which they adeptly found their way around. She sprinkled pepper flakes on the plants, which lasted only as long as the plants stayed dry. Planting marigolds – which Jenkins heard repelled rabbits – didn’t work either. “They just bypassed them and went right on in,” she said. Now that spring has officially sprung, home gardeners throughout the country are starting to lovingly prep, plant and – hopefully – protect their gardens. That often means facing off against rabbits. “It’s usually when you first start putting in the little plants, the seedlings, that the damage is really done,” said John Hadidian, director of the Humane Society of the United State’s urban wildlife program, adding that gardeners in no part of the country are spared. “Rabbits are everywhere,” he said. The reality is there are no magic tricks for keeping bunnies at bay, experts said. There are some simple ways to try to protect plants – such as installing fencing or shade cloths that make them less attractive – but gardeners are unlikely ever to emerge the victor in this age-old battle, Hadidian said. First, he said, rabbits are timid and largely transient – meaning that even once you’ve seen and identified your garden invaders, they could be long gone, munching elsewhere, by the time you figure out how to keep them out. Those that do stick around tend to multiply – and multiply quickly. Known for being prolific, rabbits have babies young and quickly, something Hadidian said developed as “their strategy to cope with the fact that everyone wants to hunt and eat them.” The species that like to eat rabbits – hawks, foxes and owls, to name a few – are not always present in suburban or edge neighborhoods. And then there’s the problem that rabbits – which are actually not rodents, as commonly believed, but their own genus called lagomorphs – are attracted to homegrown gardens for much the same reason we are: They taste
in the
good. “Like any herbivore, there are preferred foods and less preferred foods,” Hadidian said. Garden-eating rabbits are only doing what nature programmed them to do, he said, so go easy on them. “You can solve a conflict without harming them,” he said. Susan Littlefield, the National Gardening Association’s horticulture editor, said the best way to rabbitproof a garden is to install a fence that’s about 2 feet high – 3 feet if you’re up against larger hares. In either case, rabbit fences should be made of 3/4-inch wire mesh, and should extend down into the ground about a foot. The underground wire barrier should also include about an extra foot that is placed at a right angle away from the garden, creating an underground Lshape, she said. Young plants also should be protected with shade covers. Individual trees or plants could be protected with cylindrical wire guards. Having a dog around doesn’t hurt either, she said. And look on the bright side: Having rabbits healthy and actively chomping away is a sign that things are working right in the ecosystem, Hadidian said. “It’s when you don’t see them out there that we begin to worry about what’s going on,” he said. That’s a mantra Jenkins said she has reluctantly adopted. With her gardenprotecting fence gone, she said she prefers the open look much better, even though rabbits still stop by to munch. And while she is continuously on the lookout for plants that don’t appeal to rabbits, Jenkins has turned philosophical. “Basically, we’ve just come to the conclusion that we’re all in this together,” she said. “Maybe we can share a little bit better.”
In some ways, it was simpler before. When Joy Lane Hicks wanted to buy a new piece of furniture or do some redecorating, she says, “I would start with, ‘Hey, honey, I have an idea,’ and he would drop his head, groaning and moaning.” She’d decorate, and eventually he’d learn to love the finished product. But much has changed in the decade since Hicks and her husband got married and bought their Jacksonville, Fla., home. Audiences – male and female – now lap up hours of TV programming about renovating, decorating and DIY-ing. Magazines and Web sites explore every aspect of home design. And big-box retailers offer surprisingly stylish furniture and home accessories at bargain prices. Men are now as likely as women to want a voice in decorating a shared space, says HGTV’s David Bromstad, host of “Color Splash” and the network’s original Design Star winner. “There’s more education about design now,” he says, and cutting-edge style is accessible to everyone. That’s good news to Hicks. She loves when her husband sits down to watch a design show with her. But some nights, “These ideas start percolating. We’re watching and he says he loves something, and sometimes I’m like,
How to fix up, and not break up ‘No way. That is ugly.”‘ It’s possible to decorate without battling, says interior designer Kathryn Bechen of Solana Beach, Calif., who teaches a seminar called “Decorating without Divorcing.” But conflict is common when both partners weigh in on which sofa to buy and where to put it.
Talk first, buy later
Bromstad suggests that couples approach a joint decorating project by going together to favorite “bars, restaurants, hotel lobbies, anywhere the atmosphere appeals to you.” Really look around, he says, and discuss what works and how you might replicate aspects of it in your home. Also, leaf through magazines, tearing out pages and making a collage of what you both like. Money is a common source of arguments, so Bechen advises couples to agree on a budget in advance. Designer Brian Patrick Flynn, founder and editor of the online design magazine decordemon.com, says it’s important to discuss priorities. “If she wants to spend $1,500 on a nice damask wallpaper,” Flynn says, “he may think $1,500 for something that goes on a wall is ludicrous. But maybe he just spent $1,800 on surround sound. They need to compare notes on how much they value cer-
Shared experiences
Candace Moody and her husband, Thom, have spent portions of their 30-year marriage living outside the United States, and they developed a habit of combing flea markets for decorative pieces. Although he favors more crowded rooms and she prefers a sparser look, they find common ground decorating with items that evoke their shared travels. Today, they have a home in Florida. “When people come in, they say, ‘your house feels so much like you.’ And it does,” Moody says. “It’s us together. It’s our story.” Shades of gray and green are gender neutral, and couples often agree on them, says Flynn. Even some purples – deep royal purple, for instance, or a rich violet – tend to appeal to both sexes. Again, planning and discussion help. As they look at specific shades, couples may find they agree on more than they expected.
Take turns
When decorating an entire room, says Bromstad, start by agreeing on one major piece – perhaps the bed or sofa. Once that’s chosen, each partner then suggests other pieces. “It’s not a competition to see who can come up with the best night stand,” he says, but you’re looking “realistically at whose suggestion
works best.” Mixing and matching sometimes creates the best result. “If he wants to use a pair of masculine, leather club chairs,” says Flynn, “let her choose a pink throw pillow. It’s still a man’s chair, but you’re bringing in that little ounce of femininity.” Bromstad agrees: Let one person pick a modern sofa, he says, while the other chooses an antique looking, ornate side table. Or if one partner has an old heirloom piece of furniture, let the other partner choose a nontraditional color to paint it. Bold contrast looks great, and leaves everyone feeling represented. If you have enough space, Bechen suggests letting each person have one room that’s entirely his or hers to decorate. That tends to make compromising in other rooms more palatable. If disagreements get heated, Flynn says, bringing in an outside voice can help restore the peace. Interior designers will do a consultation, often for just a few hundred dollars, giving you detailed design recommendations and information about resources. In the end, says Bechen, “the focus should be on the relationship,” not the rooms. “The purpose of organizing and decorating is to enhance the relationship,” she says, “not the other way around.”
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Hedges serve variety of purposes Grand Forks Herald/Sunday, April 25, 2010
By Dean Fosdick
For The Associated Press
Good fences do make good neighbors, especially if you like hanging out with the wildlife crowd. The right collection of trees and shrubs adds long-term interest and privacy, while providing cover for birds, pollinators and other wandering critters. Decide what it is that you want from a living fence and then select some flowering shrubs (lilacs, quince, weigela), deciduous bushes (barberry, burning bush, spirea) or evergreens (arborvitae, boxwood, yews) to accomplish it. All provide a different look or serve a different purpose, from security to nourishment to sound abatement. And there’s nothing wrong with blending varieties or even incorporating them into standard fencing. “Diversity of species is good insurance against devastation by pests, including insects, disease and mammalian,” said Barbara Bates, a horticulturist with the Kane County office of University of Illinois Extension. “Multi-purposing plants” also give you more bang from your landscaping buck and labor, she said. “There are many fruiting shrubs and dwarf trees
McClatchy Tribune
A multi-species hedge network of tightly pruned evergreens direct traffic and provide a protective microclimate around a potage garden in the backyard of a privately-owned country house near Heusden-Zolder, Belgium. The hedges also are an attractive complement to the many colorful blooms growing around the property. that will provide food for family, friends and wildlife. Those that have displays of bloom, fragrance and fall color can add a seasonal dimension of change to your landscape.” Hedges are used prima-
rily for creating property borders, establishing visual screens and directing traffic flow, Bates said. “We are impatient and want instant gratification when we can get it,” she said. “Fences are faster than hedges and serve the
purposes equally well. (But) for plant people who root themselves in their garden abodes, the era of hedgerows continues.” Hedges are practical, with tree and shrub barriers tending to outlast fences, said Michael
Fixer-upper financing By Eve Mitchell
Contra Costa Times
WALNUT CREEK, Calif. – The word “as-is” can indeed be one scary phrase. Especially when buying a home in today’s market where foreclosures and short sales that need fix-up work are plentiful. But a little-known Federal Housing Administration loan program that’s been around since 1978 can help take the sting out of “as-is.” Only 219 borrowers took advantage of the FHA’s 203(k) program in 2009. Not that many lending and real estate professionals are aware of the program, say observers. Last year, Tom Meyer found a classic Oakland, Calif., home built in 1925 near Mills College he liked a lot. As a short sale it was priced right and about half the original asking price. Trouble was, the place needed some fix-up work – foundation improvements, dry rot work, a new roof over the garage and other improvements. With the help of the FHA’s 203(k) renovation financing loan program, Meyer folded about $100,000 worth of repairs and improvements into his $422,000 mortgage. He had bought the home for $320,000.
“I would not be able to pay a contractor $100,000 and buy a house at the same time,” said Meyer, 58, who works in corporate media at Shaklee’s Pleasanton headquarters. “It had been essentially allowed to start falling apart over the last 20 years.” He had rented in San Francisco for 25 years before moving into his new digs last September with his girlfriend, Cathy Keating. “We like old houses, and a great benefit of this program is that it helped us keep a beautiful but deteriorating house from deteriorating further. With the work we did, we expect it to still be standing and beautiful 80 years from now,” he said. Renovation financing through the 203(k) program allows the costs of needed repairs and improvements to be included in the FHA federally-insured loan amount instead of having the buyer come up with cash or a separate loan to do the work. “This is a perfect loan for an as-is situation,” said Kristine Marr, a loan officer with Prospect Mortgage in Lafayette, Calif. “It’s not a new loan program, although I think it’s going to have a lot more use today because we have so many
foreclosures and bankowned properties. You go into lots of homes and see people have yanked out stoves and ovens and fixtures and sinks.” The work has to be done within six months after escrow closes. Borrowers have the option of putting up to six months of mortgage payments on the end of the loan if they don’t want to live in the house while the work is being done. “Renovation financing is a program that allows you to not only finance the purchase of a home but finance any repairs and/or improvements. It provides (buyers) with a responsible way to purchase a fixerupper property,” said Luis C. Munoz, who helped Meyer with the loan and is a renovation loan specialist with the Oakland branch of Mason-McDuffie Mortgage Corp. Munoz also gives presentations about the program at monthly home ownership workshops sponsored by the Unity Council, an Oakland-based nonprofit. At a time when equity loans are hard to get, the program can also be used as a refinancing vehicle for borrowers who want to do repairs and improvements, provided the value of the
home is greater than the value of the loan. “At the same time as you refinance, you pop in the extra dollars you need for whatever you want to do,” Marr said. FHA home loans require certain health and safety standards be met and that needed repairs identified during the inspection
FINANCE: See Page 6
Kuhns, an extension forester with Utah State University at Logan. They also act as windbreaks and protected spaces where animals, songbirds, game birds and pollinators shelter. “You can use these barriers, especially the taller ones, to create microclimates,” Kuhns said. “Certain fruits and garden vegetables are pollinated better where the wind isn’t blowing, increasing production. Fruit quality is enhanced, too, because there’s less ‘rub’.” If it’s a wildlife hedge you’re after, then stay away from high-maintenance shrubs such as formalized boxwoods or tightly groomed topiaries. “Some things are traditionally clipped but don’t have to be,” said Sharon Yiesla, a horticulturist with the Lake County Unit of University of Illinois Extension. “That’s especially the case with many of the flowering plants popular with pollinators. All you do when you trim is remove the flowers and follow-on food sources for birds. It’s better just to leave them alone and let them go natural.” Many old-fashioned shrubs that have fallen out of favor have worked well as hedges. Aromatic and long-blooming rugosa
roses, for example, grow quite large, although a few of the newer hybrids are smaller. “The rugosas produce fruit in the form of rose hips late in the season,” Yiesla said. “They also provide nice fall colors – yellow leaves mixed with orange. Another plus is that they have good disease resistance. They’re rugged plants.” So rugged they may be considered invasive in some areas. Check with your county extension office to be sure. Thorny shrubs make useful barriers but require careful consideration when deciding location. “Whenever you plant anything, you have to be thinking about property line issues,” she said. “Set them (thorny roses) far enough back that they won’t be a problem for neighbors, particularly those with small children.” Install a fence if lowmaintenance landscaping is a priority. Shrubs and trees can be sizable investments requiring a great deal of commitment. That’s part of being a gardener, though, said B. Rosie Lerner, a horticulturist with the Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service. “You’ve got to enjoy that kind of maintenance.”
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5
Versatile sconces put you in the best light 6
Grand Forks Herald/Sunday, April 25, 2010
By Susan Murphy Casey McClatchy Newspapers
Indoor sconces can perform many smart tricks. Just as theater sconces shunt light to the ceiling and floor to prevent glare and allow guests’ safe movement, lighting fixtures in the home can work similar magic. The right wall sconces can bring comfort with warm, ambient light, can illuminate details with bright, radiant light or can stand alone as works of art. Think of sconces as part of an overall lighting scheme, experts say. Layers of light, including overhead, table, task (say, over a kitchen counter) and sconces, blend comfort and practicality. “Sconces are like a fireplace because they add warmth,” says Bobby Wilson of Wilson Lighting in Overland Park, Kan. “They have a magical draw.” As an ambient light source, sconces can be especially effective when overhead lights are absent, dimmed or shut off. “Light leaks from sconces,” says Shirley Allen, who owns the Light Shop in the Waldo neighborhood of Kansas City, Mo. “A sconce pushes light up and out so it’s flattering and intimate.” And the aesthetic effects of the soft, muted light from sconces should not be underestimated, particularly in powder rooms and family rooms. “Wall lighting has a nice feel because it makes us look more appealing,” says Terri Mott of Rensen House of Lights in Overland Park, Kan. Because sconces light from the walls and not overhead, they eliminate shadows from our faces, Mott notes. On the other end of the spectrum, sconces can be useful for bright light. Whereas ambient light softens a powder room or a family room, radiant sconces can brighten the bathroom where homeowners groom, help visitors navigate a stairwell, or provide proper reading light in bed. Apart from the light they emit, the fixtures themselves can take many forms. Sconces have been
McClatchy Tribune
McClatchy Tribune
Jon Cale of Green Light in Overland Park, Kan. Cale is a sculptor whose craft includes lighting for retail and residential clients. He fashions lighting from almost every kind of metal, including bronze, iron, aluminum, copper and steel. around for centuries, first illuminated by candles. Their evolution has culminated with style in many sizes, from almost undetectably small lights at the foot of stairwells and hallways to wall hangings that are as much about art as they are lighting. Styles and materials also vary considerably, from stately crystal to fixtures with fabric-covered shades to artsy, contemporary free-form glass or metal. “Lighting is a decorating tool that allows a homeowner to share personal tastes so that visitors get a sense of who you are,” Wilson says. Sconces can influence the overall decorating theme, too. They can be fashioned to coordinate with pendant lights or chandeliers, and custommade fixtures can match railings and door pulls. Artisans can tie the pieces of a home together, says Jon Cale of Green Light in Overland Park. Plus, making the pieces to fit the homeowner’s style eliminates the hunt for the right fixtures, Cale says.
Recreational rooms
light windows in the home of John and Diane Deadwyler of Lee’s Summit, Mo. “This is comfortable lighting,” says Shirley Allen, owner of the Light Shop in Kansas City. “You don’t see where it’s coming from. You just see it cast into the room.” Placing sconces above windows also allots plenty of room for wall art, Allen says.
Bathrooms
In areas where homeowners apply makeup or shave, sconces are best when they are roughly eye level. Lighting above mirrors casts shadows under the eyes and chin, while sconces at eye level brightly show every hair and pore, Allen says. In the master bathroom of Rick and Mindy McDermott’s Fairway, Kan., home, Allen placed Estiluz sconces designed by Leonardo Marelli – perfect for grooming. In a powder room, however, choose a sconce (or a set) that emits a relaxing low light. An Oval Reed sconce from Hubbardton Forge creates a soft feel.
Stairwells and hallways
ture in Rick and Mindy McDermott’s Fairway stairwell emits radiant light and has the added benefit of illuminating wall art. For a hallway, wall torch sconces from Hubbardton Forge accomplish an overall decor and are punctuated with a matching chandelier over the staircase.
Bedrooms
Sconces that frame beds and couches can be great sources of reading light. Two bowed swing-arm sconces by Hubbardton Forge provide convenience. The drum-shaped shade is a popular trend in sconces and can be replaced to match a change in decor. Jon Cale of Green Light is a sculptor whose craft includes lighting for retail and residential clients. Some of his custom work involves fashioning iron railings in a stairwell with matching door pulls, chandeliers and sconces. Cale equips his sconces with LEDs, which he says can last up to 50,000 hours. Recycled, stacked glass produces diffused, ambient lighting. Cale cut and fused scraps from a discarded window, and to the natural green of the glass,
Porch becomes outdoor family room Artemide sconces designed by Ron Rezek high-
A large Leucos Selis fix-
By Jean Patteson
improving the landscaping, fine-tuning the irrigation system and installing a misting system to discourage mosquitoes. Total value: about $25,000. The original porch was cramped, and the framing for the screen hindered
The Orlando Sentinel
ORLANDO, Fla. – On a recent visit to Orlando, Fla., Dean Marisco and Derek Stearns, hosts of the DIY Network’s “Indoors Out” show, were charged with transforming a small screened porch at the lakefront home of Tal and Charmon Shuford into an outdoor family room. The indoor family room, explained Stearns, had been turned into an untidy and crowded rumpus room by the couple’s two rambunctious sons, Wyatt, 8, and Carson, 5. The parents wanted to reclaim the interior space for quieter adult pursuits. Working with a team of local carpenters, stone masons and landscapers, the DIY duo set about upgrading the porch and extend-
McClatchy Tribune
The DYI Network’s “Indoors Out” team created an outdoor living space by opening up the back porch and adding a large new deck to this Orlando home.
ing it outwards with a wide deck. They also decided to improve the second-story deck off the master bedroom by adding railings
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he added blue and black. Cale also fashions lighting from almost every kind of metal, including bronze, iron, aluminum, copper and steel. Cale recommends this raw steel sconce for flanking a fireplace.
Considering sconces?
Is the wall pre-wired? Check with an electrician. How many should you use? Often sconces work best in pairs, flanking a fireplace, bed, sofa, window or mirror. Multiple sconces work well for lengthy hallways or home theaters. Try an artsy single sconce in a small passageway or nook. How high should sconces be placed? Sconces flanking mirrors in the master bathroom should be about 5 feet from the floor (eye level) and no farther than 36 inches apart. If the sconce is bowlshaped, you might want it higher, about 6 feet from the floor, so that the bare bulb and internal parts of the sconce are never in view. If your ceiling is very high, some experts recommend placing the sconce halfway between the ceiling and the floor.
Continued from Page 5
process be completed before escrow closes. However, minor repairs and improvements costing between $5,000 and $15,000 can be done after escrow closes for borrowers who opt for a streamlined repair program. A 203(k) loan can help buyers finance both minor and major repairs and improvements. It can also help buyers compete with investors when bidding for short sales and foreclosures, said Sheri Powers, director of the Homeownership Center at Unity Council. The loans can also be used to pay for improvements such as new appliances, second-story additions, remodeled kitchens and bathrooms, and skylights, just to name a few examples. “Property repairs cost money and they want to make sure people using their loan program are going to be in the home in the long run and not just the short run,” Powers said. The loans have become more popular since home prices started falling and FHA lending limits were raised a couple years ago but are still a tiny sliver of overall FHA loan volume. Last year, 203(k) loans accounted for 219 mortgages in the Bay Area, compared to 35 in 2008, one in 2007 and none in 2005 and 2006, according to Department of Housing and Urban Development statistics. “It’s making a comeback,” said Powers. Marr said that 203(k) financing is not for everyone. A buyer will have to work with contractors and may have to wait several months before moving in, she said. And there is no guarantee they won’t be outbid by an investor for the property. “A lot of listing agents are preferring the investors, because the investors tend to be all cash or 50 percent cash. That’s always hard to compete with,” she said.
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PORCH: See Page 7
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Your perfect sofa
Grand Forks Herald/Sunday, April 25, 2010
■
Use our guide to bring home a sofa that’s your living room’s Mr. Right
7
Ikea Karlstad sofa.
Room and Board’s Wells sofa.
By Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz Chicago Tribune
Buying a new sofa – one of the largest and most-used pieces of furniture in your home, the scene of much reading, TVwatching, snoozing and everything else-ing – is not a task to take on lightly. You want comfort, style, durability, fabric that will withstand a spill and color that’ll hide pet hair. And you don’t want to pay too much. But what’s too much? Prices can vary wildly depending on the store and the manufacturer. Some of those differences are cosmetic, but most of what separates the high-end from the low-end is under the hood. Pricier sofas generally have goose-down cushions for ultimate softness and are made with the most durable materials, including kiln-dried hardwood to prevent warping, doweled joints for maximum stability, and eightway hand-tied springs to prevent sagging. At high-end stores, you’re also paying for the design quality, the knowledge of the sales staff and the ability to customize just about anything. Ultimately, said Peter Howlett, director of operations at highend furniture maker George Smith, where sofas run between $10,000 and $20,000, you’re paying for longevity. “It’s going to last four generations because of the materials we use and the way it’s crafted,” said Howlett.
PORCH/
Continued from Page 6
the lake view, said Stearns. “It did nothing to enhance the backyard.” The team first tore out the screening. Then they laid low-maintenance, composite decking over the porch’s masonry floor and replaced the white vinyl ceiling with tongue-ingroove pine. Next, they built a deck frame, topping it with more of the same Trex composite decking. “My advice is to go with composite decking, then dress it up with beautiful railings and high-quality furniture,” said Stearns. The piece de resistance, said Marisco, was the installation of an outdoor pool table from All Weather billiards in Naples, FL. Made from aluminum and slate, it was fitted with custom-designed fishnet pockets to reflect the family’s love of fishing.
That’s not a knock on cheaper sofas, Howlett said: “All of them have a relevance in their market.” Here’s what goes into sofas at either end of the price spectrum.
Low
Ikea Karlstad sofa (81 inches, with cotton slipcover) ■ Price: $499 ■ Construction: DIY – you put
available in 11 colors, removable and machine washable ■ Waiting time: None. Everything is in stock.
High
George Smith Signature sofa (72 inches, in a basket weave linen) ■ Price: $10,685 ■ Construction: Hand-built by craftsmen. Kiln-dried beech and
as welts and buttoning. ■ Waiting time: 10 to 12 weeks from the receipt of fabric
Five keys to smart sofa shopping
No matter your budget, a sofa is a big investment. Here are five tips for shopping wisely, courtesy of furniture maker Mitchell Gold. 1. Measure. There’s nothing
Crate & Barrel Trace sleeper sofa. it together. Particleboard, plywood, fiberboard frame; joints secured with corner blocks, staples, screws ■ Cushions: High-resilience polyurethane foam with polyester wadding ■ Customization: Slipcovers
Four patio chairs around a small table from Lowe’s created a comfortable seating area, and an outdoor TV was hung in the former porch area. “The kids will love the TV and pool table,” said homeowner Shuford. “But I’m most excited about the mosquito system. It’s made it possible to get rid of the porch screens.” The system, installed by Mosquitoes & More, automatically delivers a fine mist of biodegradable insecticide through strategically-placed spray nozzles in 30-second bursts four times a day. Additional spray times can be added as needed. A basic 30-nozzle system costs about $2,500 installed. The makeover team also laid a walkway from the front of the house to the rear deck using a composite made from stone and epoxy by EcoSystems Grout. “It’s a real easy DIY
birch wood frame; joints secured with dowels (wooden pegs that are hammered in and glued) ■ Cushions: 80 percent feather, 20 percent down Customization: Everything is customizable, including size, fabric and decorative touches such
worse than buying a dream sofa you can’t get into your home. Go shopping armed with precise measurements of your stairwell, elevator, doors, hallways, garden gates and any other space your new sofa might have to squeeze
project,” said Stearns. “You just dump the composite between wood forms, let it dry and you’ve got a good-looking, waterpermeable walkway.” Finally, City Beautiful Landscaping replaced the sod and installed new foundation shrubs.
When to watch
In January, Dean Marisco and Derek Stearns taped two episodes of the DIY Network’s Indoors Out show in Orlando. Their porch remodel for Tal and Charmon Shuford will premiere at 10 p.m. May 18. Their boathouse replacement for Mark and Melissa Gibson, featured here on Jan. 23, will premiere at 10 p.m. May 25.
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through. 2. While in the store, sink into the sofa the way you would at home. So lie down and put your feet up if that’s how you plan to use it, and test its comfort. Make sure the armrests are wellpadded: you don’t want to feel wood poking through. 3. The sturdiest sofa frame will be made of kiln-dried hardwood like maple, poplar, beech or oak, or engineered hardwood. Avoid air-dried wood or soft woods, like pine. Joints secured with corner blocking, dowels and screws will last longer than just glue and staples, and it’s best to have a ticking between the foam cushion and fabric cover. Check stitches to make sure they’re even and not bunched. 4. Consider the cushions. The softest, most luxurious cushions are filled with goose down, but they take a lot of regular fluffing to keep their shape. Less expensive cushions made of high-resiliency foam compress during use and then spring back to shape. A happy medium: An inner foam core wrapped with a down cover. 5. Notice design details. Check out the sofa’s arms: A roll arm is more traditional, while a square or straight arm looks more modern. If you want the freedom to put the sofa in the middle of the room rather than against a wall, make sure the back is presentable.
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Creative concrete 8 Grand Forks Herald/Sunday, April 25, 2010
By Mary Beth Breckenridge
Akron Beacon Journal
Not so many years ago, few people would have called concrete cool. But just look at it now. The stuff of sidewalks and warehouse floors is finding a new niche in home design, both indoors and outdoors. Artisans are crafting the utilitarian material into all sorts of innovative forms – countertops with built-in water features and fiber-optic lighting, terrazzo-look floors and table tops that resemble stone. And none of them looks anything like your driveway. Concrete has taken a creative leap in recent years, partly because of improvements in materials and techniques and partly because of imaginative minds. Two of those minds belong to Joe Gingerich and Eric Klein, who own the Stark County, Ohio, businesses G&M Construction and Klein’s Lawn & Landscaping, respectively. They collaborate on outdoor living spaces such as patios and kitchens. Together they’ve turned out such creations as a wine cellar in faux stucco and brick, a garden walkway embedded with a leaf design and bar tops accented with stream beds
and waterfalls. One of those bar tops featured a stream flowing with what looked like spilled wine. Concrete presents almost limitless decorative possibilities, they said. It can be formed into slabs, vessels and other shapes. It can be scored or sandblasted. Existing concrete can be polished and dyed or resurfaced with a thin layer of new concrete. And because of the custom work that goes into them, the resulting products are unique. Concrete is “for very open-minded, artistic people,” said Ryan Fairbanks, who like Gingerich and Klein makes his living through creative uses of the material. “If you want something cookie-cutter, this isn’t yours.” Fairbanks is co-owner of Creative Concepts in Medina, Ohio, which specializes in custom concrete designs. He and his partner, Mike Piazza (the concrete guy, not the former baseball player), were recently installing a countertop embedded with glass chips at Guava, a juice bar in Stow, Ohio. They’d already revived the existing, plain concrete floor in the main part of the store by grinding down the top to reveal the granular aggregate, which produces a look similar to terrazzo. Then they scored a design into the concrete,
Colors, polishing dyes, versatility allow familiar product to come inside ■
McClatchy Tribune
Creative Concepts partners Ryan Fairbanks (left) and Mike Piazza trowel recycled glass pieces to embed them into a concrete countertop in Stow, Ohio. dyed each section of the design a different color and polished the floor to enhance its appearance. The store’s logo, a depiction of a guava, was being sandblasted into the surface. In another part of the store, the floor got a different look from being coated with a glossy epoxy and tinted with metallic pigments.
Jazz it up
Concrete, whether it’s used for countertops or cinder blocks, is all made pretty much the same way, by combining cement, water and some type of ag-
gregate, such as sand or gravel. Concrete used for decorative purposes, however, sometimes contains a more attractive type of aggregate. And the concrete may contain additives and have reinforcements embedded that make it stronger, more flexible and less porous, Gingerich said. Concrete is durable and environmentally friendly, but it’s not necessarily cheap – at least not in its more innovative forms. A new concrete countertop, for example, typically costs about the same as granite or cultured stone, Fairbanks said. Gingerich and
Klein said their prices start around $70 a square foot and can easily double with the addition of complex features. That’s because of the labor involved, the contractors explained. The materials are inexpensive, but the construction of forms, the creation of special accents and the application of colors and finishes all increase the cost. Jason Geiser displays a range of decorative concrete options at his DecoCrete Supply showroom in Sugar Creek Township, just outside Orrville. A supplier for other contractors, he creates concrete samples to show them some of the material’s possibilities – applications such as floors that mimic flagstone, tile or even barn wood, and walls made from concrete troweled onto metal lath and then sculpted and stamped to look like stone. He’s even used concrete to create imitation trees. The countertop in his showroom has water flowing through an imitation stream, with a lip built in so a sheet of glass can rest over the stream. Light from a fiber-optic system glows through some of the glass chips and sparkles through pinpoint holes. “I’m constantly toying around back there,” Geiser said, gesturing toward a backroom work area. That
day, he was reviving a plastic-laminate countertop by coating it with a thin layer of concrete and spraying epoxy on a decorative floor. Much of the variation in the look of decorative concrete comes in how it’s colored. Dying concrete produces a fairly uniform appearance; hand-applied stains can create more artistic variations. Colors can be added to the finishes, too. Concrete is porous, so some type of finish is typically applied to seal and protect it. Epoxies produce a hard surface that can be glossy or matte but can yellow with exposure to sunlight, so they’re often used for indoor applications such as floors and tabletops. Professional-quality sealers are often applied to guard against stains both indoors and outdoors and to protect against the punishing conditions outdoors. Wax gives a more natural, low-luster look and is easy to repair. Concrete can be expected to last the life of a building, Fairbanks said. “And if you ever get sick of it, you can grind it down and dye it a different color.” And by that time, who knows what the possibilities will be?
Customers are usually more concerned with the quality of construction and builder response than whether a man or woman is running the show. “Once I got to know her, it really didn’t make any difference,” said David Dempsey, who bought one of Diane Cheatham’s houses in her Urban Edge subdivision in northeast Dallas. “Diane has been very good to work with, and she’s a tough business person.” Since female builders many times have shorter tenures in the housing business, they have been harder hit by the industry downturn, said Nayman of Professional Women in Building. “In the last 18 months,
I’ve had an awful lot of members have to go out of the business,” she said. Frisco, Texas-based builder Shelley Reynolds has two custom homes under construction and two more in the planning stages. “And I just sold a spec house, so things are looking good,” said Reynolds, who followed her dad into the business. Since 1999, her Reynolds Signature Homes has built more than two dozen highend houses. “There still aren’t a lot of women in this business,” Reynolds said. “But I’ve been around it all my life.”
Female homebuilders find gender barriers are crumbling By Steve Brown
The Dallas Morning News
DALLAS – Diane Cheatham still remembers the first time she walked onto a homebuilding project. “The first job I walked on in 1980, the contractor looked at me and said it was bad luck to have a woman on a job site,” said Cheatham, who has run Urban Edge Developers Ltd., a custom building company, since 1991. “Things have changed greatly since then.” Cheatham, who builds townhouse projects and has her own subdivision in North Dallas, is one of a growing number of women in what has traditionally been a boys’ club of a business. About 10 percent of the industry’s 175,000-member trade group – the National Association of Home Builders – are women. “Once this market picks up, we think there is going to be an even larger percentage of women in building,” said Carmel Nayman, who heads the builders association’s Professional Women in Building. Count among that number Dallas custom builder Liz Newman, who’s only the second woman to head the 66-year-old Home Builders Association of Greater Dallas. “I absolutely do believe that women have become an integral part of the building industry,” Newman said. “More women have begun taking leader-
McClatchy Tribune
Shelley Reynolds, owner and president of Reynolds Signature Homes, stands in front of one of the homes she is building in Frisco, Texas. ship roles in the construction trade over the years in so many avenues. “I know firsthand how this business gets into your blood, and luckily for me there was no ceiling for women in construction during the timeline of my career,” said Newman, who began building homes in the early 1990s. Like many female builders, Carolyn Isler has home construction in her genes. “My father was a developer and residential contractor, as was my grandfather,” Isler said. “I was around it but swore I would never do it.” Isler got a degree in engineering and worked at other things before she began remodeling and then started Isler Homes.
“I worked for IBM for eight years,” she said. “But when I started my family, I quickly realized that was not going to work out because of the travel requirements.” Isler went back to school to learn about design and construction. She built her first home in 2004 and has done about eight houses and many remodeling jobs since then. “In this market, when it’s soft, people will spend money on improvements, where before they may have sold their home and moved to a new one,” Isler said. The Ohio native said she’s past the point of worrying about how she’ll be received in the industry. “I gave a talk at a Girl Scout career day and was
asked since most of the people who work for me are men, do they mind taking instructions from a woman?” Isler said. “I said, ‘If they don’t, they won’t be working for me long.’” Cheatham agrees that some of her macho construction workers might prefer to be supervised by one of their own. “But they cheer up when they see my autograph on their paychecks,” she said. Many female builders are more detail-oriented than their male counterparts, who tend to focus on the biggest problems, Cheatham said. “When a woman goes out on the job, the first thing she tackles is all the little things,” she said.
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EAST GRAND FORKS
Home Ownership Programs New Construction Opportunities
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$5,000 forgivable deferred loan for 10 years for a newly constructed home or townhome. No income limits. No limit on price of home. All lots within city limits are eligible.
Tax Abatement/Rebate 1. The three primary taxing authorities, City, County & School District, all participating in the incentive program. 2. The program applies to new residential construction only. New residential construction shall include modular homes; & stick built homes. 3. The program applies to single-family dwellings, including townhomes & twin homes, ready for occupancy. 4. The abatement/rebate of real property taxes is for two years, in the two years where payment of taxes are based upon full value of the new dwelling. “Does not include specials‘‘
Down Payment Assistance Program
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Up to $7,500 toward closing costs 1st Year No Payment/No Interest New Higher Home Purchase Price New Higher Income Parameters Up To 5 Years Repayment Plan Interest Rate at 5%
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Developments Waters Edge Greenway Crossing Crestwood Addition
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3515 South Washington, Grand Forks 772-3489
www.sheasnursery.com
7 7 3 - 2 3 7 1 www.ci.east-grand-forks.mn.us
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Peabody’s 1st Addition Point of Woods Addition Riverview Addition