Friends! Hi!  We are finally half way through the week. I don’t know if it is just me but no amount of coffee can make this week go any faster. This week feels so long it should be Friday already. Anyone else agree? In just a few short weeks my parents and I are going to Vail and I cannot wait! Skiing is on my mind even though the weather here in February is hot. I am the palest I have ever been in my life and am contemplating laying out to catch a tan. And today is February 1^st!

Steve Hawkins Custom Homes is building a commercial building for a company called LifeGift. Lifegift is an organ and tissue recovery agency. This company offers hope to individuals needing transplants. It was such a touching ceremony that after Julie and I left we became organ donors! Below are some photos of the ground breaking and all the hard work Steve and Janice have put in to start this off right!

WINTER WHITES

Hello to you all! Hope 2017 is treating you the way you deserve. This year has been too good for words. One of the goals I have made is to journal as much as I can and to be honest it has been life changing. I actually started journaling a lot starting this past October and it has been so therapeutic to go back and read what I found to be great, or what caused worry in my life, or to just read whatever was on my mind that day. My thoughts are pretty sporadic and A.D.D. Even just me writing that sentence I stopped to check my phone, email, and drink some coffee.

A TIMESLESS ERA

When you picture all white bathrooms or all white kitchens you are trying to accomplish this purity atmosphere. A timeless since of inspiration with a touch of simplicity. To add color so you are not overwhelmed with all white you can paint your walls grey, or even a fun color like a light baby blue. You can even accessorize with colors such as your floor rugs, add a colorful chair. To me wall art can make or break a room but is a great way to add color. No matter what all white is a look that will never go bad. Your bathroom deserves to look this good.

Stylish Spaces

Now that we can say goodbye to summer we can start prepping for Holiday season. To prep for holiday season you will most likely be hosting/attending lots of parties and what is better than the company of friends & family? I can’t think of anything better! If you are preparing to host a party and have a cleaning addiction like me I have the perfect quick cleaning tips. Twenty minute quick cleaning: wipe down all counter tops, take trash out, put dishes from sink to dishwasher. Forty minutes: do everything in the twenty minute routine but add dust cleaning, vacuum, and Swiffer. Hour: do everything from the forty minute routine but also make sure all beds are made, take dishes out of dishwasher and put everything up, finish your laundry, and most importantly light those candles!

Stress Free Is The Way To Be

One of the most important things about being a host is making sure your quests are stress free. For me I become frantic over my parking situation. I live in an apartment with limited spaces for visitors. Guests do not like to have difficulty with parking, which is why nice places offer valet.  Obviously, you and I will not hire someone to do valet just for a home party so a way to minimize this problem is to design your driveway to be easy to enter and easy to exit.

Wrap Around

If you are someone who likes to host parties, or you are like my parents and their house is the house we do birthdays, holidays, or just casually meet at, then design your driveway ahead of time to be able to fit multiple cars. A perfect driveway for this is wrap around driveway. My parents actually have this type and it is great to just pile in all those cars so they do not have to park on the street or park far away.

Port Cochere

Another option is the Porte Cochere. This look had me at hello. Porte Cochere’s are not just great to add more covered parking spaces but it also enhances your curb appeal. The covered parking is great for when it is raining outside or even just to hot (Texas heat is unnecessary) and you need that extra shade before you start sweating. Here are a few Steve Hawkins Custom Homes photos of Porte Cochere’s. Enjoy!

When In Doubt, Keep It Simple, Keep It Clean

Laundry rooms are one of the last rooms people think about when custom building. Most people are excited to design their kitchen, master bathroom, how big to make the family room, where to put the fireplace, etc.

I don’t know if it’s because I live in the smallest apartment ever with no laundry room, but I cannot wait until the day I can walk into a room with a washer and dryer and have counter top space so I can fold my clothes or have a bar to hang my wet clothes on. What a dream!

MINI STEVE HAWKINS

Most people, not me, but most people when they think laundry they sigh and find something else to do, which makes a bigger pile of laundry. Growing up my dad did laundry every morning and sometimes mornings and nighttimes. So I formed these habits as well. Laundry is a chore I love and a chore that helps me unwind, which my dad always says. Growing up I thought my dad was crazy for always doing laundry but I totally get it now and am literally a mini Steve Hawkins.

FALL IN LOVE WITH DOING LAUNDRY

Ways to make your laundry room not feel like a chore. If you can, place windows in this room to bring fresh light in. No one hates a room with natural sunlight.  One item I am most excited to have is a bar to hang your clothes on, whether it is to let them dry, or just once they are done drying I can hang the ones that hang in my closet versus folded in my drawers. Have custom built cabinets placed in this room so you can hide your cleaning supplies. In a perfect world, this room will also be Milo’s room for storage. Dogs have lots of necessities such as dog food, dog toys, dog bones, dog shampoo, leashes, etc. So the laundry room can be used for different supplies, not just cleaning your clothes. I have even seen today people placing dog showers in their laundry room so they can clean their pets. For me though, Milo Hawkins loves his shower time and makes it a game so my laundry room would become a pool if I started cleaning him inside versus outside with a water hose. And my OCD self could not handle the mess that would occur inside. Lastly, place a sink inside the laundry room to help treat stains, clean dirty shoes, fill your dog’s water bowl up, or if you like to hand wash certain clothes.