Repainting the outside of your home involves a lot of big decisions that you will be looking at every day for many years. It is also an exciting chance to completely change the look of your home for much less than almost any other renovation project. When paint starts to show the first signs of cracking, chipping, or other aging, you have already waited long enough. Take some time to think about what you would like your next color scheme to be, and get moving. Remember, paint is the first line of defense for your house. Once it begins to age, the boards underneath it will be next to go, and they are quite a bit more expensive to replace.

A good paint job is based on a good color scheme. Now is the time to explore combinations of colors you have always liked, or try out new ones. Most hardware and paint stores should have lots of beautiful sets of paint swatches for you to look at, but don’t let your search start and end there. These days there are a lot of online tools available for designers to play with colors. Right now, you are the designer, so why not play around a bit?

You should use the tools in this article to really explore what is possible for your house, and not be afraid to paint something that is bright and interesting. However, it is important to remember that you house is not floating in a vast white expanse. Any color scheme you pick will have to compliment everything around your home. Think about the colors of the trees, whether they flower, what the foliage looks like in all four seasons, and yes, even what color your neighbor chose to put on their house. Your house will never be viewed out of this context, so it should be in the forefront of your mind during this search. Looking great on paper is hardly the most important aspect when it comes to choosing whats best for the exterior of your home

Check out Kuler.com for an endless list of user generated color schemes, which can be searched by rating, most popular, or keywords.

If you want to get a little more down to earth, try out this tool: CSSdrive.com creates a color scheme from any photo, wether you upload it from your computer, or link to a photo on the web, so you can capture the essence of your backyard, or your favorite Austin vista, in a color scheme.

The Sherwin WIlliams website has an inspiring collection of color schemes specifically picked for home exteriors, with pictures of real homes that feature them. You can browse by region (including one for our own Desert and Southwest Region or by architectural style. These color schemes even have the specific color of paint used (Sherwin WIlliams brand, of course) so you will have no trouble finding these in the store.

The downside of using one of the other color scheme generators, of course, is that dont give you specific paints to go find. The good news is that there is an incredible variety of paints available to you today, and more and more of them are affordable. Bring your color scheme into a paint store, and see what they can do for you. At the very least, they will know what you are looking for and will be able to recommend something similar.

Once you have your color scheme, you need to know how to apply it. In its most basic form, a color scheme for a home has the base color, a trim color, and an accent color. The base color will cover the majority of the house on the walls. The trim color will be used on windows, the edges of the roof, or other areas where the form and architecture of the house should be subtly highlighted. The highlight color can be used on the front door, window shutters, or other features that you want to really pop. This color can be bright, but if it is, use it sparingly. You don’t want to accent your entire house, or a an element that maybe should have stayed in the background, like a rain gutter.

So don’t take this choice lightly, but don’t be intimidated either. Call VanRossun at (512) 263-9244, and let us give you advice and a free estimate for your painting project. We would love to work with you to find the perfect color scheme for your house. Thanks for reading!

all photos courtesy of sherwin-williams.com

Old houses have small bathrooms. They don’t have to seem so small, though. Many of these bathrooms were designed according to whatever was economical and trendy at the time of construction. A remodel can transform these dark, damp spaces into clean, open, appealing rooms.

Storage – in a small bathroom, space is precious. Check for any unused space in the room. This small bathroom owner found some next to their toilet, and put in shelving. Be sure to utilize the area under the sink; no pedestal sinks in small bathrooms! Get a sink that has cabinetry built in underneath it, so that you don’t have to add a separate cabinet to store cleaning supplies or toiletries.

Shower – the shower, whether it includes a bath or not, will take up a significant portion of a small bathroom. If you are using a shower curtain, you are dividing an already small room into two areas. Instead, preserve the space by installing a glass enclosure for the shower. If you have a tub, consider installing sliding glass doors on rails on the outside rim of the tub. Bonus: glass is easier to clean than a curtain!

Mirror - ever walked into a restauraunt that looked spacious, and been suprized to find that it’s half the size, and one wall is a mirror? You can use this same illusion in your bathroom. Install a large, frameless mirror over your sink. This is a modification that pulls serious bang for the buck. Just don’t get carried away: more than one mirror can be disorienting.

Toilet – you can save a lot of space with a smaller toilet. Wall-hung toilets are great for small bathrooms. They create space by eliminating the need for a large tank. The back of the toilet seat directly abuts the wall. Additionally, they are mounted to the wall, and actually ‘hang’ over the floor, meaning that hard to clean area around the bottom of the toilet has been eliminated. Check out this video to learn more: Wall Hung Toilets

These are just a few ideas. Call the folks at VanRossun at (512) 263-9244 to discuss how you can transform your bathroom into a more effective and inviting space.

You can’t really talk about saving water without talking about the washing machine. Only the toilet guzzles more water. So if you are thinking that your old washer, that steady worker that has been trundling clothes around in the basement for for the past 20 years needs to go, don’t miss this opportunity to save a significant amount of water and energy.

There are many different types of washers, but if you are looking for an efficient one, you will have the most options if you look at front loading machines. Within this category, make sure you are looking at energy star models.

Washers typically use a lot of water, and a lot of energy. The front loading design was a big breakthrough in terms of cutting water use. Now some companies are developing proprietary processes to make cold water work as well as hot water when it comes to cleaning. This is significant, because 90% of the energy a washer uses goes towards heating water. LG’s ‘Cold Wash’ technology and GE’s ‘eWash’ are the two main contenders for best cold-wash system.

To find a model that uses the least amount of energy, rely on the U.S. Government Energy Guide labels that should be on all appliances. This tool was created to help consumers quickly compare appliances for energy efficiency. Check out the image below for some tips on how to use it:

To determine how much water the washer will use, you will have to look at the specifications for the individual model. The easiest way to make sure you aren’t using more water than you have to is to not get a bigger washer than you need. This can be hard to estimate. How large, exactly, does a washer have to be for a family of five?

Here’s how to figure it: load capacity for washers is measured in weight. So just take an average load of laundry at home, and weigh it (stand on your bedroom scale while holding it, then without, and subtract). Make sure your next washer is at least large enough to handle that weight, but not too much larger. Find the washer that can handle your load size with the least amount of water per cycle, and you’re set.

Once you have a brand new washer, your washroom might look a little dingy. In fact, it’s probably time for a remodel. So give VanRossun a call at (512) 263-9244, and we’ll talk about how great and shiny your new washing machine is, and what we can do about putting some new flooring down to replace that old stained tile it’s sitting on.