Texas New Year’s Home Preparation

Loose weight. Eat healthier. Meal prep. Work out. Save money.

Sound familiar?

New Year’s resolutions are such a huge trend in American society. And to be honest, they can be very effective when taken seriously. Sometimes we lack the extra “push” to kick ourselves into gear, but New Year’s resolutions are a perfect excuse to get started.

While most New Year’s resolutions are focused on some type of self-improvement, why not dedicate a resolution to taking on some home preparation tasks for the new year? Your Texas luxury home deserves to be taken care of from time to time and the start of 2020 is a great season to start in.

Here are a few things you can do to prepare your Texas luxury home for the new year:

Reseal the Windows

It’s not something you think about a lot. Your windows get installed and, like most of us, you forget about them as the years go by. Texas environments call for heavy HVAC use, but the weather may not be the only thing to blame here.

As the sealant on your windows deteriorates from weather and use, you can end up losing a lot of the temperature regulation in the house. If you feel like your HVAC bill has been continually increasing, chances are – it has!

Do yourself a favor in the start of the new year and hire someone to reseal the windows. It will keep your home temperatures under control and make your HVAC costs more manageable.

Carbon Monoxide & Smoke Detectors

This is an easy, but super important tip – make sure your carbon monoxide and smoke detectors have working batteries in them. We often forget to ever replace them, and usually these monitors/detectors will have some sort of power from the house. But in the case of power going out during a fire or bad weather, they’ll shut off and revert to using battery power.

Even if that hasn’t happened and your batteries haven’t been “used”, alkaline batteries lose their charge slowly over time. Make sure to take some time and replace them all!

Conclusion

Texas home preparation for the new year can mean a lot of things. Whether you want to fix pieces of your house, replace or remodel sections of your home, or restyle a room, making a “New Year’s Resolution” to do so is a great excuse to get started. It’s especially helpful to reseal your windows in Texas so as to keep heat and air conditioning from escaping your house. You’ll save extra money in HVAC utilization in the long run! Also make sure to check the batteries in your carbon monoxide and smoke detectors. The batteries run out slowly over time and it’s always smart to make sure they are in working order in case they ever get used (we hope they don’t!)

Christmas Home Décor: Preparing to Host

Christmas is such an incredible time of year. But for most of us, the décor in your house starts to feel stale once you’ve set the same stuff up year after year. And that’s generally fine if it’s just for you and your family.

If you’re hosting Christmas this year, why not bring a little something extra to the mix? Whether it’s décor or preparation ideas to host guests over the weekend, these are a few tips to help you properly get ready for being a great host this Christmas season!

House Appliances

You want your home to be clean when hosting guests, and that’s not just the regular practice of vacuuming and dusting. Think of the pieces you haven’t deep cleaned in a while, such as the microwave, oven, and fridge. If you’re hosting people overnight, you want all the things you use on a day-to-day basis cleaned that may otherwise be forgotten when cleaning only for a short afternoon visit from friends.

Accent Colors

Accent colors are a great way to add a nice “pop” to your luxury home. Pretty much any color hue can do when it comes to accents. The main thing is to make sure that you state it a few ways throughout the room.

Couch pillows are a great way to add an accent color, as well as some piece of fabric. If you have a throw blanket, it’s easy to reinforce the accent color you’re going for.

Treat the Carpets

Sometimes, vacuuming just isn’t quite enough when it comes to carpets. Dirt and dust gets stuck in the roots of the carpet and make it incredibly difficult to clean; practically impossible by a vacuum alone. That’s why it’s smart to hire a professional carpet cleaner before you host for Christmas this year!

Find a good vendor that can deep clean the carpets and give them the freshening they need. You shouldn’t need to do this often, but if there’s ever a good time, it’s right before the holiday!

Have a great holiday! Merry Christmas from Luxury Homes Designed & Built by Tony McClung!

Home Essentials for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is such an incredible time of the year. It’s great to bring family together for fun hangs, catch up with each other’s lives, and indulge in piles of food that are far from being approved by any diet program you’ll ever come across (that’s the best part after all!)

Preparing Your Home for Thanksgiving

If you’ll be hosting any guests this upcoming Thanksgiving, you want your home to be properly prepared! Here are a few tips on how you can prepare your luxury home for guests this upcoming Thanksgiving:

Make It Cozy

Thanksgiving is still in fall, but it’s definitely towards the chillier end of the season! Thanksgiving is made fun by great company and great food, but you also want your home to be cozy and relaxing for guests.

Rearrange your living room to an open concept. Make it easy to enter and exit by moving couches and chairs to the outskirts of the room and allowing for space for your guests to hang out, relax, and have conversations! Add extra pillows and blankets to couches – we all have that uncle or aunt that’s out-cold after every family reunion meal…and don’t forget football!

Charcuterie Boards & Other Snacks

There’s definitely a lot of food already during Thanksgiving, but it’s still a good idea to offer a snack that’s easily transferrable to the dinner table once you all start with the main course.

Since most of your guests are probably pulling the “fast-for-a-couple-meals-before-thanksgiving-dinner” plan, they’ll be hungry by the time they get there. Chances are, the food won’t be ready right away so go ahead and prepare a small charcuterie board for your guests. When dinner rolls around, you can put the appetizers on the table to be a part of the food rotation!

Conclusion

Thanksgiving is such an incredible holiday. It’s great to catch up with family and indulge in amazing food, but it can be stressful when you’re the one hosting. It’s always a smart idea to make sure your home is ready for guests. Lay out some appetizers that are easy to snack on while guests wait for food, lay out plenty of pillows and blankets in the living room and make your home a cozy social space this Thanksgiving season!

Decorating Your Luxury Home for Halloween

Halloween is in just a few days! This holiday is such an interesting one when it comes to decorating your house. You don’t want your décor to come across as being too “creepy” (unless that’s your style!), but if you err too much on the side of caution, it can be difficult to distinguish between Halloween and regular ol’ Fall décor.

How to Decorate Your Luxury Home for Halloween

You want your Halloween decorations to be unique, fun, and cute without loosing the spooky nature of a well-decorated Halloween house. Here are a few tips on how you can up your Halloween decoration game this year:

1)  Spook Up Your Porch

The front door is where all the magic happens when it comes to Halloween decorations. If you’re aiming for a balance between “cute” and “spooky”, it’s always smart to lean a bit more in the direction of spooky on your front porch!

Black and white outdoor striped rugs, piles of multi-colored pumpkins, lanterns and weather-resistant candles, and even fake dead tree props are a great way to bring a unique spooky lift to your front porch this Halloween!

2)  Mini Pumpkin Wreath

A neat trick is to try using Putka pods to make a wreath! The dried seeds look exactly like miniature pumpkins which brings a fun, festive twist to the classic seasonal wreath. Furthermore, since the seeds are dried out, they don’t deteriorate over time, making it an easy décor item to recycle season after season!

3)  The Birdhouse Ghost-Town

Here’s a fun idea – you can create a cute and spooky “ghost town” to be displayed in your house by using birdhouses! The simple, plain wooden birdhouses from craft stores are super cheap and you can find a ton of different shapes, sizes, and models. Buy some black spray paint and cover them up, rearrange them in any way, and you’ll have a fun new addition to your Halloween décor!

Have a great Halloween Dallas!

Dealing with Tornado Damage in Dallas

First off, from Luxury Homes Designed and Built by Tony McClung, we want to say that we are praying for the entire city of Dallas. Storms rolling through in the middle of the night are terrifying for the safety of you and your family, but also cause concern over your home, business, schools, shopping centers and more.

While the safety of our family is what is most important, we often take for granted how much our homes mean to us. They’re always there to provide shelter for our children, family and possessions. However, after this past weekend, the reality that we cannot take that for granted has quickly set in.

No one ever wants to deal with tornado damage – it can be emotionally and financially devastating. But in the chance that your home did sustain damage from the tornado, here is a bit of a checklist to follow on steps you should take to reconcile everything to the way it was before:

1)  Review What Insurance Covers

Home insurance is so important, not only for the occasional busted water pipe or leaking appliances, but also for natural disasters like tornadoes. Every home insurance plan will be different, so it’s important that you first research precisely what your home insurance covers before doing anything else.

Depending on where you live, who you used, and what plan you selected, tornadoes may or may not be covered. If you don’t remember what your plan was, reach out to a rep from your insurance company immediately and they should be able to figure this out for you!

2)  Calculate Your Losses

After a tornado, it’s important to know exactly what you did lose. Is the house entirely demolished or only partially damaged? Do you need to replace a few key items or have all your belongings been lost?

Figuring out exactly what needs to be replaced is important for getting back on your feet quickly and efficiently. When it comes to belongings (as opposed to the home’s structure), make a list organized by necessity-by-use. That can help you to determine which things will need to be replaced first as you are recouping everything.

3)  Starting the Rebuild Early

Chances are, your insurance company won’t get you the money for the damages until a couple months out. Unfortunately, that means you’ll have to make-do in the meantime. Once you have a running list of needed appliances or lost belongings, as well as a detailed list of what in your home has been damaged, it will be way easier to start rebuilding your home.

Hire a contractor to at least repair the necessities as you wait. Whether that’s spots in the roof or siding, broken HVAC systems, busted walls, etc. – whatever you deem essential by everyday-use standards should be your first focus on repairing. Get the rest of everything done when the insurance repair money comes.

Conclusion

Emotions run high when tornadoes come through a community. Damages can range from light to severe, but it never matters – it’s always an emotional and financial stressor. Living in Dallas this week, we have seen how important it is to have a game plan on how to handle a situation like a tornado disaster.

Start by making sure you know precisely what is and is not covered by your insurance plan. After doing that, make a detailed list of what in the house structure has been damaged, as well as what belongings have been damaged or lost. While you wait for insurance money – which can sometimes take a couple months to receive – start repairing the necessities to get back on your feet quicker as you’re recovering from some of the losses.

Luxury Homes Designed and Built by Tony McClung is a family run business that cares deeply for our community. Please let us know if you need any help with your home during this stressful time.

Integrating Fall Colors in Your Luxury Home

Dallas Botanical Gardens Pumpkin House

Fall is officially here, and that means a lot of us – at least the procrastinators – are running around doing last minute shopping to decorate our luxury homes with fall décor. Fortunately, there are so many varying fall decoration styles and methods. Anyone who is buying or rearranging their current décor knows that fall is all about the colors. The colors used in fall décor can be the defining key in a uniform and beautifully decorated house.

How to Integrate Fall Colors in Your Home

There are so many different ways you can bring fall colors into the mix at your house. Every mantel, shelf, pillow, centerpiece – you name it and it can be used to bring all your décor together. Here are a few of our top tips on how you can integrate fall colors in your home this fall season!

Pillows

Ok, we know that’s an obvious one. But pillows can actually be a great way to give your fall décor a bit of a color twist this season. With so many reds, oranges, and yellows that are bound to scatter the house, couch pillows can be used to bring in an unexpected color pop.

Purple, for example, can be an excellent fall accent color but only when used in moderation. Too much color gets out of hand and seems disjointed. If you have any center couch pillows, try swapping them out for a basic purple or royal blue pillow and see how it meshes with the rest of your home’s design!

Table Centerpieces

Table centerpieces are usually neglected when it comes to decorating. We throw a couple fake flowers in a vase and call it good! But this is an excellent area to focus if you want to bring some interesting statement colors into your fall décor.

Try using a pumpkin (we definitely recommend fake ones!) in replacement of a vase to hold the flowers. It goes the extra mile to make a fall-design statement and will look great with the rest of your home’s decorations.

Conclusion

Fall doesn’t need to be an intimidating season to design for. We seem to place so much attention on rallying up our fall décor and often forget that it can be a fun season to experiment with fall décor. Try introducing some accent colors, like rich purple or blues, in a few pillows throughout the house! Table centerpieces are also a great opportunity to play with fall design ideas. Swap out vases with a fake pumpkin or log and use that to bring a bit more fall color pop into your luxury home this season!Fall is officially here, and that means a lot of us – at least the procrastinators – are running around doing last minute shopping to decorate our luxury homes with fall décor. Fortunately, there are so many varying fall decoration styles and methods. Anyone who is buying or rearranging their current décor knows that fall is all about the colors. The colors used in fall décor can be the defining key in a uniform and beautifully decorated house.

The Dynamics of a Custom Home Builder

Are you looking for a custom home builder who could build your dream home? There are a lot of luxury home builders out there, but it is important that you decide to work with the right choice. The perfect home will be where you make memories and truly live your dreams.

A Home is More Than A House

A home is not merely a place where you reside. Your home needs to have the right substance and character and it should speak your story. This is why Tony McClung makes it a point to add the personal touch to every home he builds. Having a well known reputation as a custom home builder in Dallas Texas, Tony McClung is known for his keen eye to detail and the smart sense of architecture and designing.

The Exteriors

A perfect luxury home is the one which makes a statement both inside and out.  Be it the foundation of your home, the roof shingles, the color of the paint, the textured walls, the entrance gate, the design of the lawn, or whatever it is that is a part of the exteriors, Tony McClung is sure to work on every specific detail. The eye to attention infers that he would ensure that every single brick used for the making of your custom home speaks of perfection.

The Interiors

As much as the outer appeal assumes gargantuan importance, there is no denying the fact that your home should have a breathtaking interior. The interior is what makes the home unique and personal. Once again, being one of the top luxury home builders in Dallas, he knows the exact style that seems to work best.

He is known for creating some of the most dramatic spaces and posh interiors. Based on the requirements of the clients and their specifications, he can make smart use of upholstery, tapestries, paintings, modern day décor, and more. Every single element is carefully chosen to ensure that it adds the right magic to the appeal of your home.

So, if you want your home to breathe the wave of perfection and exude the rich vibes of luxury; the smart thing to do is explore the different kinds of homes which he has already done. Check out some Interiors and Exteriors to get an idea of some of Tony’s past work.

Along with this, one has to make sure that the kitchen and bath is done elegantly too because it is not just a necessity. When you are looking to have a luxury home built, every inch of you home should exude sheer perfection. With the best quality of materials used and the most artistic of designs implemented, the finest custom homes are sure to be made. Check out some of Tony’s bathroom designs too!

We are sure that when you avail the services of Tony McClung, you will be able to get the perfect home of your dreams. The homes should always have an artistic, modern, yet contemporary touch. So, be all set to own the perfect house of your dreams. We look forward to working with you to develop your dreams!

Decorating Your Porch for Fall

The fall season is one of the most important seasons when it comes to design. Everyone is waiting for leaves to change colors, the weather to begin cooling down, and fall décor to make its way out of storage and into the house. But fall décor shouldn’t be limited to the interior of a house – something that all too many of us fall victim to.

Decorating Your Porch for Fall

The porch is such an excellent place for seasonal redesign, and fall is the perfect season to add some spice to the front of your house. Here are a few design tips for sprucing of the front porch this upcoming fall season!

1)  One Pop of Color

The front porch is generally a place for neutral colors – brick, natural wood, wicker furniture, and mid-tone cushions. But adding a simple pop of color – red, yellow, purple, etc. – can be a great way to bring a fall “feel” into the mix. Simply add a couple of accent pillows in your favorite color and you’re done!

2)  White Pumpkins

White pumpkins are a very simple but effective fall decoration. Since you’re steering clear of the traditional orange pumpkin color, white pumpkins can be placed with nearly any color scheme or setup to bring a very clear “fall season” visual cue. They are generally small, so you can place them in front door wreaths, on doorsteps, or any other corner or small area that needs a little seasonal design boost.

3)  Warm Lighting

You can get creative here. Nothing can beat the creative addition of warm lighting concepts on a brisk fall evening. For some, it means spreading a few real or fake candles throughout the porch to be turned on at night. For others, finding unique string lights with incandescent or other warm light bulbs is the answer. Lighting is unique to each home depending on location, preference, and the size of the area to cover, so get creative!

Conclusion

Decorating for fall should never be limited to the interior of your home! There are so many unique ways you can add fall colors and décor to the outside of your house for an extra seasonal lift in design. Start looking for unique lighting and accent colors to bring your front porch to life this fall season!

4 Things To Consider Before Renovating Your Home Yourself

You and your partner have probably had many nights where you discuss renovating your home. As time goes on, the topic of renovating your home inches closer to becoming a reality and it starts getting to the point where you need to start ironing out the details of your home renovation. Although, before looking into home renovation you need to ask yourself: should you attempt it yourself or hire a professional? You might go to YouTube or DIY websites and feel confident that you could pull off a task like home renovation on your own. Chip and Joanna make it look so easy don’t they?? However, before you reach for a hammer for demo day, you should look into these 4 things to consider before renovating your home yourself.

 Do You Know What You’re Doing?

Websites and videos might look easy, but can you confidently stand in the archway of the room you want to renovate and say you know what you’re doing? Home renovation isn’t as simple as taking a sledgehammer and going crazy on a wall. It might look fun on home renovation shows, but there’s a lot of behind-the-scenes planning done before they start wailing away at the wall.  

Do You Have The Necessary Tools?

You might have the will and DIY knowledge to remodel, but do you have the tools? If you open the toolbox in your garage and only see a saw, a hammer, and some nails, then you might not be well-equipped for minor plumbing or electrical work (maybe also invest in a pair of jeans that won’t reveal too much plumber’s crack). You also need to consider if you need a permit for your remodeling task.

Do You Need A Permit?

Many homeowners aren’t aware that for small projects, they need to seek a permit from their city. Even the smallest remodeling projects beyond basic repairs could require a permit. New windows, siding changes, or even installing fences could require a permit from your city or country.

What Is The Cost Of Renovation?

One of the most important questions to ask yourself is if it’s worth doing it yourself versus hiring a professional. You have to consider that you might need to purchase expensive tools and hardware yourself. You also need to consider that if you don’t do it correctly, you might need to hire someone to fix what you messed up anyway. Which means you’re stuck with the cost of doing it yourself and the cost of hiring someone to do it for you. You might want to just remove the headache and hire someone off the bat.

Before launching into any kind of home renovation, whether you do it yourself or hire a professional, you need to map out everything from the cost of renovation to the return on investment if your purpose is to increase the value of your home. Finally getting the topic or renovating your home off pillow talk and into reality can be very rewarding and give you a sense of accomplishment (whether or not you do it yourself). Just keep in mind if you don’t have the proper planning, whether it be structurally or financially, it could be potentially disastrous. Make sure you reach out to a professional like Tony McClung before attempting any renovation, even if it’s just aesthetically replacing tiles, so you can make the best decision for yourself, your family, and your home. Tony and his team will take care of everything for you - to make sure your renovation looks just as luxurious as your dreams!

Preparing for Fall: Home Care Necessities

Happy Labor Day!!! Today is the day that we feel that summer is finally ending and fall is just around the corner. We know, September in Texas is still hot, but fall is coming soon!

The summer always seems like the most important months to maintain your home during. The spring usually necessitates tons of summer preparation projects and most renovations are done far in advance to the warmest months of the year.

However, fall and winter have huge impacts on the quality, health, and longevity of your home and yard. While the pre-summer landscaping and home renovation projects may be exciting, its important to pay due diligence to the necessary tasks of getting your home ready for the fall. So, on this “Fall is almost here day”, take some time today to prepare for the coming fall!

Preparing Your Luxury Home for Fall

Fall is a beautiful season, and with the right type of preparation and home care, you can have your stunning luxury home ready for the new season. We know fall chores don’t sound all that fun, but truth be told, it isn’t that hard to get your home ready for the fall!

Here are a few of our tips on how to get your home in the best condition for the fall season:

1)  Fertilizing Your Lawn

“Wait, isn’t fertilizing meant to be done at the beginning of the summer?”

Well, sure! It’s a good idea to renew the fertilizer at any time of the year, but research shows that fertilizing a lawn right before the fall actually improves the soil structure for the following year much more than a last-minute refresh in the spring. This is especially important if you live in dryer areas of the country.

If you use a great, carbon-based fertilizer, it will build up the structure of the soil, rather than offering the short-lived boost of most petroleum-based products.

2)  Cleaning the Gutters

Ick - we know, we know. Cleaning the gutters isn’t fun, but it doesn’t take long and it will increase the longevity of your home by preventing flooding, roof damage, and potential foundation issues. And yes, you read that right – improperly maintained gutters can lead to serious structural issues for your house. After all, that rainwater has to go somewhere!

3)  HVAC Servicing

A lot of people get their HVAC serviced right before summer, as they want to avoid the potential complications of it failing on a hot, humid day. But the truth is, your HVAC takes the most pressure during the summer months. The best time to service it is immediately after the hot months, somewhere around July-September, to make sure that everything is in good shape for the fall and to prevent any minor issues from becoming larger ones during the fall and winter.

Conclusion

There you have it! Fall preparation isn’t that difficult. It just takes a day or two of your time to diligently prepare your home for the new season and ensure your luxury home is always in tip-top condition. Pay special attention to the quality of your fertilizer and update it before the fall, make sure your gutters are clean to avoid flooding, and get your HVAC checked after the strenuous summer months and you’ll be well on your way to a beautiful fall season!