Category Archives: Home Design

Minimalist Home Design Ideas

An increasing desire for tranquility and calmness has led to the rise in popularity of minimalist home design ideas. Homeowners increasingly yearn for feelings of tranquility, peace, and calmness in their homes to combat the general hectic and busy nature of other aspects in their lives. This desire has led to a rise in popularity where homeowners achieve minimalist design ideas and plans, according to home-builders. Builders are now offering several ways to achieve minimalist home design, which can aid designers working with clients who want their home’s layout to promote peacefulness.

Homeowners Achieve Minimalist Home Design Ideas

How to elevate your minimalist home design ideas.

The latest trends in home decor reveal a desire for a feeling of tranquility and calmness with minimalist home design ideas, perhaps as a response to today’s overly busy and distracted lifestyles. A return to natural materials in home design, has everyone looking for a way to create a peaceful, less hectic inner space. When it comes to home decor, less is more and soothing.

Simplify Your Design Strategy
When revamping your room to create a more minimalist effect, choose a limited color palette, meaning one to three colors at most. Select mostly more muted or neutral colors, though you can use one vivid color in a piece of furniture or art to grab the spotlight. These are great ideas for how homeowners achieve minimalist design ideas and plans.

Let the textures of the materials that you use for the floors, walls, ceilings and furnishings — whether they are natural wood, stone, ceramics, glass, tile, fabrics or canvas — create the room’s visual interest instead of yesterday’s too-busy colors and patterns.

When planning your minimalist home design ideas, choose a couple of contrasting textures, like glass and reclaimed lumber, or woven fabric and stone, to highlight in the room for the best effect.

De-Clutter Your Spaces
Decide what items you really want and need to be in each room and get rid of the rest or find a way to store it neatly, preferably out of sight. One of the greatest visual clutter culprits today comes from technology. It’s hard to know what to do with the mass and tangle of cords from all the latest gadgets, power strips and chargers everyone uses in their homes.

Minimalist home design ideas for viewing television. To streamline the technology you use for viewing television, movies and more, a product from LG Electronics USA can solve your cord clutter problem and turn your living room into an amazing home viewing theater. The LG CineBeam AI ThinQ 4K Laser Projector (HU85LA) creates an impressive 90- to 120-inch cinematic screen by placing it just 2.2 to 7.2 inches away from the wall, needing no complicated installation. With its streamlined and compact design, the state-of-the-art projector incorporates LG’s ThinQ AI and has the Google Assistant built-in so you can control your compatible smart home devices with just your voice.

Choose Furnishings with Clean Lines
Homeowners achieve minimalist design when selecting new furniture for their minimalist rooms, look for high-quality, standout pieces designed with clean lines, with no fussy design details or busy patterns. Don’t acquire more furniture than the room really needs. Chances are you can do without all those end tables and extra chairs.

Make one exceptional, stylish piece of furniture be the focal point for each room, and don’t over-furnish or over-decorate the space around it.

Then avoid the urge to smother the couch or sectional with tons of blankets and throw pillows. Let the furniture speak for itself.

Streamline Artistic Expression
Art for minimalist home design ideas. Instead of filling every wall with pictures, choose just one accent wall, eliminating excessive decor elements around it. Let one work of art dominate that space, reducing any competition for attention.

The LG CineBeam Laser Projector can display a chosen photograph or work of art on your accent wall. With 8.3 million pixels, it delivers impeccable precision and detail at four times the resolution of full HD, along with incredibly vibrant color reproduction. It works without the need to darken the room around it, using gentle light that produces clear images without any harsh brightness.

Leave Plenty of Open Space
Resist the urge to fill every corner and surface of the room with ornaments and knickknacks. It’s the open space, unencumbered by any visual clutter, that creates the feeling of calm and tranquility you’re craving.

And if you’re lucky enough to have a great view out the window, install only simple, streamlined window treatments or no window treatments at all to highlight that view.

Minimalist home design ideas and decor is all about making careful choices and choosing the best quality furnishings and decor over quantity of items. You can turn any room into a beautiful showcase that you’d be happy to entertain and live in, with some thoughtful decision-making.

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Helping Homeowners Achieve Minimalist Design
Cad Pro is an affordable and easy alternative to other more expensive home design software programs. Cad Pro is great for creating innovative smart home designs, custom home plans, building plans, office plans, construction details, and much more.

CAD Pro allows anyone to share their minimalist home design ideas and plans with clients, colleagues or professional remodeling contractors using Dropbox®, Google Drive™, OneDrive®, and SharePoint®. Export files to Microsoft Word®, Excel®, and PowerPoint® with a single click.

CAD Pro has helped thousands of homeowners, professional designers, builders and contractors plan and design all types of floor plan designs. CAD Pro is used by NARI professional remodelers and contractors and the NRCA roofing contractors. CAD Pro is also used by NHBA home builders and contractors, the National Kitchen & Bath Association (NKBA). as well as the (NALP) National Association of Landscape Professionals.

High-Tech Smart Kitchens

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Top Home Appliance Trends

Discover the top home appliance trends that home-buyers are seeking the most for new homes and remodels. Popular home appliance designs are a perfect blend of innovation, precision, and purposeful designs that integrate with any smart home design plans.

The most in-demand kitchen appliances combine both form and function with sleek modern looks and smart, trend-forward features. More than ever, homeowners expect appliances to offer customizable capabilities to meet, but not complicate, busy lifestyles. Those features must come without sacrificing style and the top home appliance trends listed below.

CAD Pro has helped thousands of homeowners, professional designers, builders and contractors plan and design all types of floor plans for these top home appliance trends. CAD Pro is used by NARI professional remodelers and contractors and the NRCA roofing contractors. CAD Pro is also used by NHBA home builders and contractors, the National Kitchen & Bath Association (NKBA). as well as the (NALP) National Association of Landscape Professionals.

Popular Home Appliance Designs

Popular Top Home Appliance Trends

Unique Finishes
Though stainless steel continues to be one of the top home appliance trends; some consumers are seeking new options that are still sophisticated. One of the most in-demand alternatives is black stainless, with a rich, matte look that puts a new face, and a sleek edge, on traditional stainless steel. Its popularity hasn’t diminished in fact, it continues to be a popular and a growing color at Whirlpool Corporation.

Purposeful Home Appliance Innovation
Like many aspects of the home, smart features are infiltrating the kitchen and homeowners expect these popular home appliance designs. But consumers aren’t looking for a “gadget” or technology just for the sake of it; they want innovative features that are meaningful and helpful within their lives. Smart appliance advances must enhance their experience with the product and be meaningful to their lifestyle and needs. Also, the technologies must be easy-to-use, intuitive, and customizable.

For example, Whirlpool Smart Ranges help make cooking more accessible and convenient. Select smart ranges feature a touchscreen that learns and adapts to the homeowner’s cooking style and allows for instant access to their most-used settings. In addition to these top home appliance trends, voice control capabilities allow cooks to control their range with Google Assistant or an Alexa-enabled device keeping hands free for prep and other tasks. With some models, homeowners can use their smartphone to access cooking features such as Keep Warm and Yummly Guided Cooking.

Compact Appliances
As homeowners downsize and de-clutter, manufacturers are responding with popular home appliance designs such as compact or multi-use appliances that don’t skimp on capabilities. For example, the Whirlpool 2.8-cubic-foot Smart All-in-One Washer & Dryer washes and dries laundry in the same unit. And because it’s ventless, it can fit into a range of spaces including closets and bathrooms for those with limited amounts of room. Top home appliance trends like this allow builders to save overhead costs by not having to install external ducting/venting and a blower.

Another solution is the Whirlpool 1.1-cubic-foot Low Profile Microwave Hood Combination, which allows building industry professionals to replace bulky, traditional hoods with a microwave hood combination with performance. Despite its compact size, the hood delivers a powerful 400 CFM motor class*. Plus, homeowners free up precious counter space.

Side-by-Side Refrigeration
Though French-door/bottom-freezer refrigerators have gotten a lot of attention in recent years, builders are reporting growing demand for traditional side-by-side refrigeration that keeps most-often-used items at eye level.

With these popular home appliance designs, builders and homebuyers have more options than ever to meet nearly any lifestyle and style preference. Learning what clients are seeking most in their appliances will ensure you can specify the right package to fit their needs while enhancing the look of their favorite room.

For more information about Whirlpool Corporation, its portfolio of brands and other offerings for industry professionals, visit WhirlpoolPro.com.

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Cad Pro is an affordable and easy alternative to other more expensive design software programs. Cad Pro is great for creating innovative smart home designs, custom home plans, building plans, office plans, construction details, and much more.

CAD Pro allows anyone to share these top home appliance trends, ideas and plans with clients, colleagues or professional remodeling contractors using Dropbox®, Google Drive™, OneDrive®, and SharePoint®. Export files to Microsoft Word®, Excel®, and PowerPoint® with a single click.

The terms Whirlpool and Yummly are licensed trademarks of Whirlpool Corporation.

* Appliance must be set to remote enable. WiFi & App Required. Features subject to change. Details and privacy info at whirlpool.com/connect.
* Appliance must be set to Remote Enable. Select recipes only. Look for recipes with the Connected Fork icon in the Yummly app. U.S. Only.

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High-Tech Smart Kitchens

While there’s no shortage of high-tech smart kitchens and technology options, dealers and designers report that their clients have mixed reactions to incorporating smart kitchen technology. Homeowners have expressed reservations about their own comfort with today’s hi-tech kitchen options, as reported by a KBDN survey.

Studies have shown that 81% of Americans have a smart phone and consumers average nearly 2-1/2 hours a day on social media, while many have been slower to embrace new technology in their kitchens.

Designing High-Tech Smart Kitchens

Incorporating High-Tech Smart Kitchens

Connected appliances and products that showcase the latest tech advancements may be hot commodities on the floor at the Kitchen & Bath Industry Show, but dealers and designers often report less enthusiasm among their client base. This leads to questions about whether the technology being offered for high-tech smart kitchens is meeting the actual needs and desires of today’s consumers, as well as what concerns may be holding them back from fully incorporating smart kitchen technology with today’s connected products.

Additionally, dealers’ and designers’ attitudes toward technology may be coloring the picture. In a recent homeowner survey looking at bath technology trends which was conducted by the National Kitchen & Bath Association (NKBA) in conjunction with the Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association (CEDIA) – the majority of homeowners said they believed technology was “essential” in the master bath, even as the majority of bath dealers and designers said it was not. This begs the question: Is the design industry truly leading the charge when it comes to high-tech smart kitchens in the home, or is the industry following a few paces behind?

To better understand the answer to this, Kitchen & Bath Design News recently polled more than 130 kitchen and bath dealers and designers to find out more about their clients’ interest in today’s technology, the features they value most as well as their concerns about incorporating smart kitchen technology. Additionally, respondents were asked to rate their own comfort with technology and use of home tech products, since kitchen and bath professionals are so often involved in making key decisions as far as what and how much technology will be incorporated into their clients’ kitchen projects.

Driving the Hi-Tech Market
Incorporating smart kitchen technology into a kitchen project is usually a joint decision, according to those polled. Indeed, when asked who drives the initial interest in tech products, survey respondents said their clients did so (32.5%) more than they did (23.3%), though most of the time, it was a joint decision (44.2%).

The primary reason for high-tech smart kitchens was overwhelmingly seen as convenience, which was cited as the most important benefit by 56.9% of those polled (see Graph 2). This was followed by speed/time savings (15.4%), safety/home security (13.9%), remote access (6.9%) and improved cooking performance (6.9%).

The vast majority of homeowners are “very interested” or “somewhat interested” in smart kitchen technology according to dealers and designers polled, with less than a quarter saying their clients are “not very interested” or “not at all interested”.

When asked to talk about what most excites them and their clients about today’s high-tech smart kitchens, the answers ranged from the ability to use smart appliances to improve kitchen processes (i.e. detecting spoiled food, refrigerator doors left open, cooktop or oven not turned off), to being able to monitor family members from a distance (i.e. a senior with mobility or cognitive issues or children coming home to an empty house).

Others expressed excitement that kitchen technology is evolving from “a bunch of independent gadgets” to a “truly integrated smart home where everything works together to make life run more smoothly.”

One respondent cited “instant access to recipes and the ability to create shopping lists, have food delivered fresh from these lists and get more accurate cook times” as tech features that are enticing consumers today.

Another noted, “As far as excitement goes, the cleanliness, time savings and guessing factor have all been addressed in some way, shape or form when incorporating smart kitchen technology. Faucets that are touch-less for cleanliness or the option to specify an amount to fill by [spoken] word definitely add value and a time savings factor.”

Hi-Tech Consumer Concerns
While technology is slowly but surely gaining ground in the kitchen, consumers continue to voice some concerns, according to those surveyed. One of the biggest concerns among these is the worry that incorporating connected appliances will shorten the lifespan of the product due to how quickly technology becomes dated, as well as potential repair costs. In fact, of those polled, more than three quarters (76.2%) said their clients were either “very worried” (30.8%) or “somewhat worried” (45.4%) about this (see Graph 4). By contrast, only 22.3% said their clients were “not very worried” and a mere 1.5% said they were not worried at all about high-tech smart kitchens.

Privacy concerns also were cited by designers as a concern related to incorporating smart kitchen technology, with more than six in 10 saying their clients were very or somewhat worried about the impact technology in their home could have on privacy issues. Nearly a fifth (19.2%) said their clients were “very worried” about privacy issues as they relate to technology in their homes, while 44.6% said their clients were “somewhat worried.” Another 30% said their customers were “not very worried” and 6.2% said their customers were “not at all worried.”

Designers themselves, however, seemed quite concerned with this, with many expressing the belief that the dangers of privacy loss might be far beyond what their clients realize.

“It’s really not safe at all,” one stated. “We’ve been anesthetized by that truth, but there is no privacy, and the more tech you have in your home, the greater the danger.”

Another noted, when it comes to high-tech smart kitchens, I’m seeing more concerns than excitement right now. Those range from privacy issues to dangers presented by hackers. It’s common knowledge that companies eavesdrop on users to gain information on how to target advertising. However, the companies can be hacked, and malfunctions can occur. There’s also the possibility of neighbors accidentally receiving information without a homeowner’s knowledge. The designer went on to recall an incident where the family’s baby monitor picked up the neighbor’s conversation from a kitchen 100 feet away.

Other professional designers’ question whether the available technology meets their clients’ actual needs. As one stated, “Since my clients who can afford a kitchen renovation are usually in their 40s, 50s or 60s, technology isn’t as important to them. They may be impressed with incorporating smart kitchen technology and what can be done, especially when looking at appliances, but they aren’t really using it. Part of it is the thought that technology changes so rapidly that paying a premium for something that might be obsolete in a year doesn’t interest them. And many of my clients find available technology irrelevant. They don’t want to start the oven from their phone when they’re away from home. They want functionality and beauty, not bells and whistles.”

Another designer believes that clients’ biggest concerns are “reliability and the higher cost, knowing that improvements are happening all the time and tech become obsolete fast.”

Hi-Tech Kitchen Designers
While industry pros admit that high-tech smart kitchens don’t have all the answers for consumers’ concerns about kitchen technology, most will agree that knowledge and expertise are critical in educating clients and helping to guide them to the best decisions for their projects.

Yet that can present challenges when many design pros lack first-hand experience themselves. In fact, when asked to rate their comfort level with home technology, barely a quarter felt they were “very comfortable,” while another 44.6% said they were only “somewhat comfortable.” Nearly a third said they were “not very comfortable” (19.2%) or “not at all comfortable” (10%) with today’s home technology.

Likewise, when it comes to smart speaker home devices like Amazon Echo, Google Home, etc., which are often an essential component to today’s integrated homes, only a third of dealers and designers polled actually own and use these devices in their own homes. More than half (56.9%) said it’s not something they “want or need right now,” while another 9.2% said they didn’t have or use such a device but planned to in the future.

Some design professionals, recognizing that the fast-changing nature of incorporating smart kitchen technology or smart home technology might require a little help to keep up with, are partnering with technology experts or integrators on kitchen projects that incorporate advanced technology. However, barely a quarter of those surveyed (26.4%) are currently doing so, though another 43.4% reported that they are looking into this for the future.

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Cad Pro is an affordable and easy alternative to other more expensive home design software programs. Cad Pro is great for creating innovative smart home designs, custom home plans, building plans, office plans, construction details, and much more.

CAD Pro allows anyone to share their ideas for high-tech smart kitchens and plans with clients, colleagues or professional remodeling contractors using Dropbox®, Google Drive™, OneDrive®, and SharePoint®. Export files to Microsoft Word®, Excel®, and PowerPoint® with a single click.

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Popular Home Design Trends

As the seasons change each year, many homeowners will start researching popular home design trends. In the home design world, things are getting very exciting. Not only are the new year’s hottest hues making their grand debut, but home design trend experts are also gearing up to make their anticipated predictions for home interiors.

CAD Pro allows anyone to share their ideas and plans with clients, colleagues or professional remodeling contractors using Dropbox®, Google Drive™, OneDrive®, and SharePoint®. Export files to Microsoft Word®, Excel®, and PowerPoint® with a single click.

CAD Pro has helped thousands of homeowners, professional designers, builders and contractors plan and design all types of floor plans for popular home design trends. CAD Pro is used by NARI professional remodelers and contractors and the NRCA roofing contractors. CAD Pro is also used by NHBA home builders and contractors, the National Kitchen & Bath Association (NKBA). as well as the National Association of Landscape professionals.

Top Rated Popular Home Design Trends

Top 8 Popular Home Design Trends

Here’s some good news for those who want to get a head start on their remodeling plans: Home remodeling site Houzz, a database where millions of professionals and homeowners go to share decorating ideas, recently pulled together a list of eight popular home design trends poised to make it big and there are more than a few ideas we’d like to share with you. Read on for a glimpse into your decorating future.

ONE: – Anything-But-White Kitchens
In the kitchen, an all-white palette has reigned supreme for a long time and for good reason. They’re timeless, classic, clean, and work well with almost any style. But today’s homeowners just may be itching for change. According to popular home design trends from Houzz white cabinets are still popular with remodelers (with 40 percent of renovating homeowners installing them), there’s also more of an uptick in those searching for alternatives. Houzz points to soft hues, like light grays and blues, as on-the-rise replacements for the all-white kitchen. Another option for those who can’t part with their white cabinets. Pops of wood, which can be introduced through open shelving, countertops, drawers, and pull-outs.

TWO: – Return of Formal Dining Rooms
Whether it’s a casual weeknight supper or a Saturday dinner party, meals these days tend to be shared over informal arrangements, often within or near the kitchen. But your formal dining room can offer much more than mere storage space for your finest china. Houzz expects these popular home design trends and homeowners to treat their dining rooms as the “wow” spaces they have the potential to be, with bold colors, patterns, eye-catching light fixtures and artwork that might not fit elsewhere within the style of the home. Talk about dressing to impress.

THREE: – Spa-Like Bathroom
With bathrooms becoming more spa-like wellness retreats in the home, benches, stools, and window seats are becoming much more common and one of the popular home design trends. Keep a stool or bench near the vanity as a place to perch during your nighttime skincare routine, or by the bath as a catch-all for towels, candles, books, and face masks.

FOUR: – Tiled Bathtub Aprons
In a bathroom, tile is often one of those tricks’ designers use for popular home design trends. Tile can yield style with big results at little cost. But while you might expect to see it covering a floor or shower surround, tile can also totally transform a bath. According to Houzz, this versatile material is increasingly being used to dress up a tub apron, which adds style in addition to giving the appearance of a fixture that’s entirely built in.

FIVE: – Double Floating Vanities
Speaking of bathrooms for popular home design trends, homeowners are also looking to spruce up their sink areas with floating vanities. Beloved for their clean, minimalistic look, these contemporary favorites are practical for their ability to free up floor space, which can create an illusion of size in a room with minimal square footage.

SIX: – Exciting and Functional Laundry Rooms
It used to be that, if a homeowner wanted to have a little design fun, the default location would be the powder room. (The pint-sized space is small enough to handle big ideas and feels separate enough to work with little cohesion from the rest of the home.) But, these days, homeowners are seeking excitement in another hardworking space: the laundry room. According to Houzz, one of designers popular home design trends are increasingly using the laundry room to experiment with cheerful colors, playful patterns, and quirky design ideas, including chalkboard walls, themed wallpapers, and creative storage solutions. Anything to make the task at hand a little more enjoyable, right?

SEVEN: – Fully Wrapped Powder Rooms
Just because homeowners are expanding their creative footprint to the laundry room doesn’t mean they’re neglecting the original statement maker. On the contrary, powder rooms seem to be going even bolder and are one of the popular home design trends. According to Houzz, wallpapers are still the stars of tiny powder rooms, with designers now opting to fully surround the small space with a single eye-catcher, be it a large-print pattern or textural grasscloth.

EIGHT: – Custom Wood Range Hoods
The bathroom isn’t the only space being taken over by texture. In the kitchen, warm woods are making their way to unconventional places, including over cooktops as decorative range hoods. Along with the ubiquitous farmhouse sink, warm wood accents are perfect accompaniments for classic farmhouse-style kitchens.

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5 Popular Bathroom Design Ideas

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Building New Affordable Housing

There’s a big difference between affordable housing and building new affordable housing. Affordable housing is the government-subsidized kind. The latter, or designing affordable housing, describes the ways that architects or engineers have reduced the cost of owning a house, renting a house, or constructing a house. It’s important to remember that affordable housing is not always cheap to build.

With Designing Affordability: Quicker, Smarter, More Efficient Housing Now, this area of home design and building niche area isn’t so niche anymore. Rather it now seems to be something “people are talking about all over the country.” In big cities, especially, these discussions are happening out of necessity. There are fewer and fewer square feet to lay claim to, and what can be claimed still costs a lot. Census data from this summer shows that even rent-stabilized tenants in NYC are paying more than 30 percent of their incomes on rent which qualifies as rent burdened. The same is true for many other city dwellers with market rate rents. Therefore, creating a market for building new affordable housing.

CAD Pro has helped thousands of homeowners, professional designers, builders and contractors plan and design all types of affordable housing floor plans and projects. CAD Pro is used by NARI professional remodelers and contractors and the NRCA roofing contractors. CAD Pro is also used by NHBA home builders and contractors as well as the National Association of Landscape professionals.

Designing and Building New Affordable Housing

Design and Build Affordable Housing

7 Ways for Building New Affordable Housing

(1) – Leverage Land
Land can be one of the biggest drivers of cost when building new affordable housing, Many projects in this camp circumvent this issue by using land that wasn’t used for housing previously. Take the Alley Flat Initiative in Austin, Texas, which has one of the most overvalued housing markets in the country. The initiative makes use of Austin’s many alleyways by filling them with two-story residential apartments.

(2) – Deploy Technology
MIT’s Media Lab harnessed designing affordable housing with the power of sensors and Internet of things-branded products to make a 200-square-foot prototype apartment perform like one four times that size. The system allowed inhabitants to use hand gestures or voice commands to flip, move, and stow the house’s transformable furniture (think Murphy beds and foldable dining room tables). This allows the home to actually be incredibly efficient, but have all the comforts in a smaller space.

(3) – Build Modular Designs
Architects have championed the idea of building new affordable housing. In NYC the 250- to 370-square-foot Micro NY apartments going up in NYC are assembled from modules that are built off-site and later hoisted into place with a crane.

(4) – Re-imagine Public Housing
Many government-led housing projects that went up during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s still stand today, but include swaths of parking spaces that city-dwellers don’t use, this is valuable unused space. Two projects “9 x 18” in New York City and Vandamme Nord in Paris would convert that unused space into retail outfits, or shared urban parks. Those designing affordable housing amenities improve on nearby public housing without requiring any work on the apartments, themselves.

(5) – Build Incrementally
An incremental method for building new affordable housing, calls for setting up a basic house with a roof that can easily accept additions, whenever the inhabitants can afford them. This favela-like approach is gaining legitimacy and traction in Rocinha, one of Rio de Janeiro’s biggest slums, as well as in Brooklyn and San Francisco. The Urban Works Society in San Francisco, for instance, looks at how Marina-style and Victorian homes in the area could be added to architecturally, allowing families to expand without purchasing new property in a city with sky-high rent.

(6) – Rethink Home
Life at home no longer means one family in one dwelling. Urban areas ideas for designing affordable housing impose de facto communes on us; more and more we work from home. Projects like Lo-tek, a coworking hotel in New York City, respond to those vanishing boundaries by offering up spaces that can double or triple in functionality.

(7) – Build Simply
Building simply when building new affordable housing calls for exactly that: using time-tested methods to build houses on the cheap. Designers point to the XS Houses in Houston, Texas, that follow the early 20th century shotgun housing typology most often seen in New Orleans. (It’s experiencing a comeback there, too.) The housing style originates in the Caribbean and has a layout that connects the front door to the back, so it can self-ventilate, and a porch, so its owners have additional outdoor square footage.

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Cad Pro is an affordable and easy alternative to other more expensive design software programs. Cad Pro is great for creating custom home plans, building plans, office plans, construction details, and much more.

Solar-Powered Home Products

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Solar-Powered Home Products

The ever-changing market of solar-powered home products has created some very interesting new solar powered products consumers should review. New panels, energy storage systems, and solar racking systems from LG, Panasonic, Sunflare, and more.

With solar energy systems in high demand across the country and California’s solar mandate set to start in 2020, the time is now to investigate the solar industry and what it has to offer, both for you and your customers. Below are a few of the market’s latest innovations in panels, mounting systems, and energy storage.

CAD Pro has helped thousands of homeowners, professional designers, builders and contractors plan and design all types of solar-powered home products and floor plan designs. CAD Pro is used by NARI professional remodelers and contractors and the NRCA roofing contractors. CAD Pro is also used by NHBA home builders and contractors as well as the National Association of Landscape professionals.

Energy Efficient Solar-Powered Home Products

New Solar-Powered Home Products

Sunflare
The LiteMount series of rackless solar modules is designed to serve as an alternative to traditional silicon solar racks for metal roof placement. The modules integrate seamlessly with metal roof attaching systems and weigh less than 1 pound per square foot installed. These new solar powered products are rated to handle a wind-load of up to 42 pounds per square foot and are shatter-proof, as they have no glass coating. A bypass diode is included at every cell, which keeps the panel active in any level of sunlight, apart from full shade. sunflaresolar.com

LG
LG NeON R Ace is LG’s latest high-performance AC solar panel, set to be available for purchase later 2019. It delivers a direct current power output of up to 375W alongside an integrated 320W micro-inverter. According to the firm these solar-powered home products are fully integrated systems that save time, space, and money for homeowners and installers, and eliminates the need to install a separate inverter. The panel is compatible with EnerVu, an app-based monitoring service, through the EnerBox solar accessory. Users can monitor the system via the app and alert LG customer service if issues occur. lg.com

Solaria
Here’s a list of new solar powered products from Solaria. PowerXT 370 Wp, PowerXT 365-Wp-AC and PowerXT 440Wp are new, higher-powered editions of Solaria’s existing solar panel series. The updated panels offer over 20% efficiency, a design with no visible circuitry, and a 25-year warranty. They also allow users to maximize their power output from their roof layout in a way that does not compromise the home’s aesthetics, says the firm. The PowerXT 365-Wp-AC includes integrated microinverters that provide an increased energy harvest from the panels and a decrease in installation time and overhead. solaria.com

Liftmaster
Liftmaster is now offering solar-powered home products. The 12VDC Solar Residential Linear Actuator Package is a swing gate operator optimized for —and packaged with—a solar panel power source. The full kit includes the operator, control box, and a 12-volt solar panel, which provides up to 126 days of standby power to the gate operator. It is myQ enabled, allowing users to control and monitor the gate using the myQ app. The hardware includes a heavy-duty DC motor, offers smooth start/stop and mid-travel reversal, and provides industrial surge protection against strikes up to 50 feet away. liftmaster.com

Panasonic
Panasonic offers a modular design for new solar powered products. The EverVolt residential energy storage system features a modular design that may be scaled as low as 5.7 kilowatt-hours of energy storage or as high as 34.2kWh. It is available in AC- and DC- coupled editions, easy to install and field serviceable, and compatible with any solar system or inverter. Homeowners may shift between multiple operating modes using an associated smartphone app. na.panasonic.com

Sol-Ark
The Sol-Ark 8K programmable solar inverter is designed to manage grid, solar, battery, load, and generator power simultaneously. These solar-powered home products systems provide 120/240V split-phase power, mimicking grid power supply, may also be used in grid-connected, hybrid, or off-grid systems alike.

Each system order is customizable to a household’s individual power needs, depending on the home’s location, sun exposure, projected energy usage, and anticipated off-grid operation. A single system may support between five to 36 solar panels and zero to 32 solar batteries. An optional EMP, solar flare and lightning protection upgrade system is also available. sol-ark.com

Solar Stack
The Solar Stack solar panel mounting system is designed to attach to residential tile roofs using the same foam adhesive used to install roof tiles. No roof penetrations are required for installation, which reduces the risk of leaks associated with traditional solar racking penetrations, according to the manufacturer.

Each of these new solar powered products in the Solar Stack system is supported by a series of eight-inch titanium alloy pedestals, which are positioned in stacks of two between each panel. The system is UL-certified, and has been approved for use in High Velocity Hurricane Zones, including Miami-Dade County. solarstack.com

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Cad Pro is an affordable and easy alternative to other more expensive design software programs. Cad Pro is great for creating smart home designs, custom home plans, building plans, office plans, construction details, electrical drawings and much more.

Net-Zero House Plans

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Net-Zero House Plans

Net-zero house plans and the opportunities of building a net-zero house in Phoenix, Arizona. The city will be happy to provide you with a full set of plans at no cost for building net-zero homes.

The offer is part of the city’s plan to see all new buildings net positive by 2050, according to an article posted at Architectural Record, and follows a design competition in 2017 challenging architects to develop net-zero house plans for the city’s hot, dry climate.

The winner of building net-zero homes was Marlene Imirzian & Associates Architects, which developed plans for a 2,185-square-foot, three-bedroom home. Home NZ, as it’s called, has a HERS score of 30, making it 70% more energy efficient than an average built-to-code home. With the addition of a modest solar array, the house would be net-zero.

Cad Pro is an affordable and easy alternative to other more expensive net-zero home design software programs. Cad Pro is great for creating custom home plans, building plans, office plans, construction details, and much more.

CAD Pro allows anyone to share their ideas and net-zero house plans with clients, colleagues or professional contractors using Dropbox®, Google Drive™, OneDrive®, and SharePoint®. Export files to Microsoft Word®, Excel®, and PowerPoint® with a single click.

CAD Pro has helped thousands of homeowners, professional designers, builders and contractors plan and design all types of net-zero house plans and designs. CAD Pro is used by NARI professional remodelers and contractors and the NRCA roofing contractors. CAD Pro is also used by NHBA home builders and contractors as well as the National Association of Landscape professionals.

Net-Zero House Plans and Features

Designing and Building Net-Zero House Plans

Building net-zero homes are estimated $344,000 (not including the contractor’s overhead), and is designed to fit on a 60-foot by 110-foot lot. The net-zero house plans are orientation neutral, meaning it would perform as intended no matter which way the building lot is oriented.

According to the description posted with the plans, the single-story house takes its design cues from mid-century modern residential architecture. It includes a large front porch and a built-in garage. Operable, exterior shades can be left open when the sun isn’t shining and closed when windows are in direct sunlight, reducing cooling loads. Shades are designed to prevent 95% of direct sunlight from reaching window glass.

Features for Net-Zero House Plans Include:

Structural insulated panels (SIPs) for the walls and roof. Wall panels are 9 1/2-inch thick (R-45), OSB over polyisocyanurate insulation. Roof panels are of the same construction, 11 1/4 inches thick (R-70).
A reflective cool roof to minimize heat absorption is an excellent feature for net-zero house plans.
Passive cooling by means of a solar chimney at the top of the house that can flush out stale air and introduce cooler, fresh air at night.
LED bulbs, a smart thermostat, and wi-fi enabled energy management.
Heating and cooling with a Carrier air-source heat pump. Whole-house ventilation with a Zehnder energy-recovery ventilator. The variable-speed air conditioner limits starts and stops for higher efficiency.
Double-pane windows.
When building net-zero homes the estimated annual energy costs include $286 in service charges, $240 for cooling, and $597 for lights and appliances.

These net-zero house plans are available free of charge, but they are provided without a warranty, and the homeowner assumes all liability. Also, the city requires that anyone taking the plans agrees to have them reviewed by a local professional architect and/or engineer as well as a licensed contractor before construction starts.

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Bathroom Remodel Costs

Average bathroom remodel costs fall between $9,600 to $11,000 in costs. At the low-end bathroom remodels typically cost around $2,500 while the high-end remodels cost around $23,000.

Cad Pro’s custom home remodeling projects and design software are affordable and easy alternatives to other home design software. Cad Pro is great for creating custom remodeling home plans, floor plans, house plans, outdoor kitchen plans, deck plans and patio designs, and much more.

Share your remodeling plans and designs with clients or team members using Dropbox®, Google Drive™, OneDrive®, and SharePoint®. Export files to Microsoft Word®, Excel®, and PowerPoint® with a single click.

CAD Pro will assist with your bathroom remodel costs

Bathroom Remodel Costs Will Increase Resale Value

If a dripping faucet or stained bathroom walls have you dreaming of the brushed metal, glass tile and ultra-modern sinks in a remodeled bathroom, you’re not alone.

Remodeling a bathroom also provides an increased home resale value, with a return on investment of up to 80 percent.

The average bathroom remodel costs range from $11,364 in 2016, according to the National Kitchen and Bath Association, with about 20 percent of that being labor cost.

A survey by NKBA on design trends showed that half of respondents paid between $10,000 and $29,999 for a bathroom remodel, while 31 percent reported paying more than $30,000.

Breakdown of Bathroom Remodel Costs

Cabinetry/hardware: 16%($1,818)
Countertops: 7%($795)
Faucets/plumbing: 14%($1,591)
Lighting/ventilation: 5%($568)
Walls/ceilings: 5%($568)
Doors/windows: 4%($455)
Fixtures: 15%($1,705)
Flooring: 9%($1,023)
Installation: 20%($2,273)
Design fees: 4%($455)
Other: 1%($114)

* Cost breakdown numbers are rounded to the nearest dollar.
Source: National Kitchen and Bath Association

CAD Pro design software will help you save time and design fees.

Stage Your Bathroom Remodel Costs
If you’re suffering from sticker shock, don’t worry. Bathroom remodeling isn’t all or nothing. You can cut down on bathroom remodel costs by going one step at a time. A bathroom can still benefit from new lighting or ventilation updates followed by a new bathroom vanity or granite countertops. You can always upgrade some features later down the road.

While it’s easy to replace a light or faucet at a later date, you should have your contractor do the larger tasks at the same time. If you plan to replace the tub and install tile floor, it’s best to do that all at once. You may save on labor charges if they can do a few tasks in one day instead of doing these tasks on separate days a few months apart.

Choose quality over quantity when figuring bathroom remodel costs, especially based on the amount of traffic the bathroom gets. It’s a waste of money and a source of future aggravation if you buy a cheap toilet that leaks after you’ve redone the floor.

To save money, wait for sales at your local hardware store and look for rebates on high-quality materials. That way, you end up with a product you know will last and won’t have to have someone replace fixtures from your remodel too soon.

Prepare for Inconvenience with Bathroom Remodel Costs
Hopefully, your contractor won’t forget to mention the inconvenience that comes with bathroom remodeling. When the bathroom is unavailable, chaos is sure to follow.

It’s tough to predict an exact timetable for remodeling. Here are a few things to consider ahead of time:

Locate alternative bathrooms on-site or nearby during construction.
Keep lines of communication open with your contractor; be on the same timetable page of when things will be finished and when you can use your new bathroom.
Plan for at least three weeks of an unusable bathroom.

Are you ready to remodel your bathroom with newly calculated bathroom remodel costs? Remember to get estimates from three different contractors to ensure a competitive price. Do your homework and check all online sources before contacting any company. Resources such as the BBB and the local Angie’s List of Bathroom Remodelers found here will help you locate the best companies.

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Digital CAD Design Construction Software

Your project is about to begin. You’ve spent months on the design, pricing, and hiring a contractor and an architect. And now the real work begins with the help of digital CAD design construction software.

Digital CAD Design Construction Software Drawings

Timelines with Digital CAD Design Construction Software

Your timeline shows the construction phase for the last 18 months. And that’s the timeline that your budget is riding on. It’s a complete chess game now to make sure all pieces are in place to make it work in 18 months, when it was originally scheduled at 21. Utilizing digital CAD design construction software can benefit these timelines.

By driving the productivity up front and enabling it with a proprietary construction software, you can compress the planning and design phase. It also can cut out the back and forth that typically happens during the value engineering phase because that’s already baked in.

CAD Design Construction Software
This model of exact engineering carries over from years of experience smoothing out the supply chain. Designs can be executed fast in the construction phase when the map is so well laid out, plus trades aren’t stepping on each other, and there is no waste of time or money while utilizing CAD construction software.

The model of exact engineering has proven successful. A completed six-story, 225,000-square-foot off-campus student housing project with more than 500 beds and with a six-story attached parking garage in 10 and a half months, with a clock that started the moment the project was engaged with the developer and finished when the students moved in. These are examples of real-life benefits of proprietary digital CAD design construction software.

It’s not uncommon for [conventional] projects to go six months to a year over timeline. Anyone can take on projects now that in the past wouldn’t have been able to guarantee with other structure systems. The costs with digital CAD design construction software systems are more assured. What drives costs are change orders, things not anticipated by the design team.

Affordable Construction Software
Cad Pro’s software is an affordable and easy alternative to other more expensive CAD software programs. Cad Pro is great for creating custom home plans, building plans, office plans, construction details, and much more.

Share your construction CAD software drawings with clients or team members using Dropbox®, Google Drive™, OneDrive®, and SharePoint®. Export files to Microsoft Word®, Excel®, and PowerPoint® with a single click.

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Popular Budget Friendly Tiny House Plan

A Santa Monica based architectural firm has created a popular budget friendly tiny house plan that’s energy-efficient and it won’t break the bank. Plús Hús, meaning “plus house” in Icelandic, is a 320-sq ft (30-sq m) home that is fully customizable and offers a smart and modern solution for a tiny home, guest-house, garden office, art studio or Airbnb suite.

Popular Budget Friendly Tiny House Plan

Icelandic Popular Budget Friendly Tiny House Plan

This popular budget friendly tiny house plan was developed by Icelandic born duo Erla Dögg Ingjaldsdóttir and Tryggvi Thorsteinsson, the Plús Hús was inspired by the current housing shortage in California and the recent changes to building regulations, which now allow homeowners to more easily add a small dwelling to their property.

This popular budget friendly tiny house plan Plús Hús is built using mnmMOD panels, which are prefabricated off-site using certified extruded polystyrene and 30 percent recycled steel. The building panels are then delivered flat packed to site, where they are assembled in as little as a few days assuming the site preparation has been completed. The finishes are also delivered cut to size in order to minimize on-site waste, construction time and overall costs.

Popular Budget Friendly Tiny House Plan System
Replacing traditional timber framing and building techniques, the mnmMOD panels make up the structure and insulation of the home. Windows and doors have been positioned to allow in lots of natural light, in addition to promoting airflow and cross ventilation. Furthermore, owners have the choice to clad the exterior and interior with any finish they desire.

The average cost of the entire panel system for this popular budget friendly tiny house plan is comparable to traditional stick-built methods; however, in the long run you’ll save thousands in energy bills and maintenance since these panels don’t mold, support fire, get termites or warp.

Furthermore, Plús Hús kits do not contain dyes, formaldehyde, or Molten-Carbonate Fuel Cells, and do not release Volatile Organic Compounds or other harmful toxins into the environment. The homes have a high insulation value, reducing the home’s overall power costs associated with heating and cooling.

Professional Tiny House Floor Plan Software
CAD Pro is computer-aided design software intended to assist anyone with their tiny home design process, which is required by today’s building codes and contractors.

Do it yourself easy tiny house floor plan software can save you a lot of money! Cad Pro’s easy to use drafting and design software allows you to quickly create any type of tiny home floor plans.

Visualize your Tiny Home Plans with CAD Pro
Homeowners, Contractors and Architects use home design software like CAD Pro to visualize your tiny home before it’s built. Start designing your tiny house today with Cad Pro.

Free Plans & Symbols will give you a fast and efficient way to start your tiny house plans.

Tiny Home Design Software with built-in Presentation Features
CAD Pro works great with Microsoft Office which makes your next tiny home design presentation very simple and easy.

If you want an excellent but inexpensive computer-aided design software with powerful functionalities, which can be used in multi-purpose drafting and design. CAD Pro is a remarkable drafting & design software solution with more than 3 million users world-wide and the features of simplicity, compatibility, and flexibility.

Cad Pro is great for creating custom home floor plans, building floor plans, office floor plans, construction details, and much more.

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Popular Tiny Home Builder Plans

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