Open Concept Living For Your Custom-Built Home

When one thinks of an open floor plan they think of two living spaces joined into a larger living space by working around traditional partition walls. Open concept floor plans have been around for some time, but have recently found an increase in popularity as an architectural trend sometime in the 1990. Many homeowners flocked to the idea of an open concept home by hiring professionals to remodel their homes. The point is to create a sense of openness by joining a kitchen and a dining room or a living room and a dining room. Many end up connecting all three into one large living space. Open floor plans normally connect living spaces and don’t apply to bathrooms or bedrooms. There are many advantages to upgrading a home for open concept living for your custom-built home.

Without interior walls, an open floor plan provides natural sunlight that can reach more indoor spaces. Those who want to switch to an open concept should think about adding additional windows to the kitchen or living room not only to provide a beautiful view of the outdoors, but bring in more natural sunlight as well. having vaulted ceilings, especially in a two-story home, helps create a feeling of a larger space, which is easier for entertaining. Speaking of entertaining, open concept plans allow a homeowner to still talk to their guests in the living room while preparing in the kitchen or dining room. Those who have closed plans with a separate kitchen often have to keep their guests in the kitchen if they want to interact with them while they’re preparing a meal. This is also not good for the flow of traffic around the home and can make a social gathering feel cramped. 

While more and more homeowners are moving to an open concept plan, it’s important to still work on a focal point in each section of the space. Having eye-catching fixtures or certain furniture can really bring out an open concept design. Many open concept designs focus on minimalism. Homeowners do not want that much clutter to take away the openness of the space. In fact, having too much going on between the spaces defeats the purpose of having an open concept space. It can be quite overwhelming to the eyes if clutter creates a boundary of sorts between each room. 

It’s also important to keep a consistent color scheme through each room. Each room needs to work together as a whole to make the open concept layout work. A homeowner does not want to assault the eyes of their guests with different imposing colors in each section of the large space. Keep repeating colors or patterns to make everything come together.

When you’re ready to create an open concept living space that fits your personality and is comfortable for you and your family, then it’s time to contact Tony McClung. Whether you’re simply renovating an old home or building a new one Tony McClung can help bring out the best for your interior in the Dallas area.

Must-Have Upgrades For Luxury Mansions

Having a large home on a large plot of land might make it a mansion by definition, but what classifies it as a luxury mansion? Is it the location? Preston Hollow? Or the size of home? What about the design of the home?

Regardless of whether you’re currently in the market for a new house, browsing luxury homes for sale can capture your attention for hours on end. These high-end properties possess stunning views, palatial scales, magnificent finishes and astonishing amenities. They are so awe-inspiring, in fact, that it can be difficult to imagine what it would be like to live in them. A guest should be walking through the interior of a luxury mansion and wonder what it would be like to live inside of one.

One must-have upgrade for luxury mansions should be the flooring. It might not sound like the most obvious choice on a list of upgrades for a luxury mansion, but flooring is an important interior feature that will pay off in the long-run. While it may not be an attractive option for upgrading for a luxury mansion, homeowners need to keep in mind how much of a first impression flooring can make once anyone walks through the door of a luxury mansion. Homeowners can make any statement they want with their choice of flooring. Upgrading flooring is also a good idea for homeowners who are planning on putting their luxury mansion on the market eventually. Upgrading flooring gives a major boost to a home’s value. This is especially true if the home’s interior has been upgraded in other regards such as walls or ceilings. Having flooring that looks dated compared to the rest of the interior can interrupt the flow of the home and make guests think twice about labeling a mansion as a luxurious one.

Room size is important for a mansion, but large rooms aren’t enough to warrant a luxury tag. When one thinks of walking into a luxurious mansion, one doesn’t just assume the home will have massive halls and large rooms filled with nothing. Luxurious modern mansions need to have rooms that will entertain guests from multiple kitchens to game rooms and bars. A luxury mansion will also have libraries and home theaters for the more modern luxury mansion. That’s the fun part about luxury homes is seeing the different amenities and features the homeowners upgraded into the home. Many mansions do not have such features or amenities which does not bring the home’s value as high as it could be 

A luxury mansion should be more than a space for the homeowner to live. For a mansion to be considered luxurious, it should reflect the personality of the homeowner. If you’re a homeowner and you feel your mansion could use a little more flair, then it’s time to contact Tony McClung to help you bring your mansion to life. Tony McClung can help take your mansion into the title of a luxury one as a respected architectural design professional. What are you waiting for? It’s time to let your mansion speak for you as a homeowner.

Preparing the Home For Post-COVID-19 Hosting

Being a host at heart must be difficult for those who have been unable to host parties due to the coronavirus pandemic. While it has given homeowners a chance to reevaluate and make any necessary changes to their home, it doesn’t amount for much if no one is there to admire their handiwork.

Fortunately, constructed has been considered an essential industry during the pandemic, so home remodeling projects can continue. This is the perfect opportunity for homeowners to prepare their homes for hosting once everything goes back to normal. There will be parties again and there will be rooms full of laughing guests. The best thing any homeowner could do right now while everything is in a state of limbo is starting the project they’ve been meaning to start, but never had time to. The pandemic is an unfortunate worldwide event that will be remembered in the history books, but it is a blessing in disguise for those who can, safely, prepare their homes for post-COVID-19 hosting.

Prepare the Exterior

Chances are if homeowners are going to host their first post-COVID-19 party, then they’re going to want to host it outside. Imagine their guests being cooped up for months in their homes under strict quarantine. Their lives have been nothing but delivery to their door with little opportunity for some fresh air. The exterior of any homeowner’s home should not only look like a book cover to keep guests interested in their interior, but it should also be a place where guests can mingle when this is all over.

Prepare the Interior

Guests don’t just walk from the lawn to the backyard. A homeowner’s home isn’t just a pleasant exterior as a hollow shell. The space inside should not just be full of lavish furniture in a lifeless living space. Preparing the interior of the home allows guests the feeling of walking through a space that leaves them in awe as they make their way to the party area outside. Imagine that childlike wonder of moving through the line at an amusement park for a ride where they set the aesthetic and prepare the rider for what is to come. With the right preparations, the guest will be moving through an aesthetically pleasing interior, one they wish they were quarantined in themselves.

Of course, even with restrictions being slowly lifted, homeowners should still take extra precautions when preparing their homes for post-COVID-19 hosting. Keeping all surface areas disinfected, limiting the self-service of food, and practicing safe physical distancing should still be encouraged. However, that is all something a homeowner can do from their beautifully remodeled exterior.

When you’re ready to start post-COVID-19 hosting outdoors, then you should contact Tony McClung about your options for preparing the exterior of your dream home. Reaching out to a quality home builder like Tony McClung will ensure you have a safe and rewarding exterior and interior remodeling so you can finally bring back the party host inside of you.

Stay safe!

Remodeling During Shelter-In-Place Order

There are so many things we take for granted on a daily basis. We’re assuming you, like everyone else, is realizing just how many things are affected by the coronavirus pandemic! But if there’s one benefit to all of this, it’s that it is giving homeowners a chance to slow down and give attention to the projects they’ve been meaning to get around to. One of those being - remodeling!

Remodeling During Shelter in Place Order

If you are trying to start or finish a remodeling project but are finding yourself in a conundrum given the current world circumstances, don’t worry - you can still get it done in a safe manner! There’s a lot of factors that go into remodeling, so we’ll try to highlight a few peripheral ideas for you to consider as you go about your home remodeling projects at this time:

Safety of Your Family

If you planned to hire a remodeling company for your home remodel, you probably have a lot of questions regarding the safety of your family at this time. Is it ok to outsource construction at this time? Will your family be safe?

Luckily, many shelter-in-place orders do consider construction and remodeling services to be “essential services”, meaning you’re able to hire a remodeling company at this time! But how is it safe? Find a remodeling company that will work with you and make you feel comfortable 100% of the time. This means audio or video calling whenever necessary, only being in the house when you are ok with it and communicating to you from different stories of the house for sake of social distancing!

Compliance with CDC Guidelines

One of the most important things here is CDC compliance – which is directly related to the safety of you and your family during the remodeling process. If you are working with a remodeling company, make sure that they are following all necessary CDC guidelines. That includes not only the owner and office staff, but all respective contractors as well.

Ask them their practices and what they have been doing as of recent to maintain social distancing and sanitization during these times. This can be a great way to quickly assess who is actually taking the pandemic seriously before moving forward with any one vendor.

Shopping for Materials

This matters regardless of whether you’re hiring a project out to contractors or doing it yourself. At some point, you’ll need to purchase materials, and that’s not always the easiest during shelter-in-place orders. Obviously, if hardware stores are open, feel free to get the supplies you need safely and speedily. But if stores are closed, or you’re simply trying to limit your travel, look into reputable online sellers or online-order gateways for local stores. It’s a great way to get materials without worrying about being exposed during your trips!

If you have any questions or need a Dallas Home Remodel, be sure to reach out to Luxury Homes Designed and Built by Tony McClung. We would love to talk to you about your needs!

Hоmе Imрrоvеmеnt Prоjесts During COVID-19 Lосkdоwn

Hіrіng a соntrасtоr tо hеlр уоu соnduсt a hоmе іmрrоvеmеnt рrоjесt саn bе hard durіng thіѕ lосkdоwn реrіоd, if not impossible. So, whаt іf уоu оnlу nееd tо do a lіttlе раіntіng in your hоmе? Dо уоu nееd tо hіrе a соntrасtоr tо dо ѕuсh wоrk during thіѕ реrіоd?

DIY just may be the way to hаndlе a раіntіng рrоjесt since уоu аrе іn Isolation. Wіth a lіttlе bіt of effort and mоtіvаtіоn, you саn ѕрruсе up уоur hоmе раіntіng уоurѕеlf.

Thе fіrѕt thіng уоu nееd tо do іѕ to сhооѕе thе rооm thаt you аrе going tо rе-раіnt. Juѕt a hіnt: fоr fіrѕt-tіmе раіntеrѕ, rooms lіkе thе kitchen can bе more dіffісult, уоu should choose a room lіkе the dіnіng rооm оr a bеdrооm, whісh hаѕ lеѕѕ furniture against thе wаll, аnd thаt саn bе rearranged tо make раіntіng ѕіmрlеr.

Nоw choose a соlоr. If уоu аrе оvеrwhеlmеd, you саn ѕреnd some tіmе online rеаdіng home decoration tірѕ. Next, соvеr thе floor with newspaper аnd the еdgеѕ оf thе walls wіth tаре, аnd bеgіn!

Yоu can ѕаvе money bу doing thе wоrk уоurѕеlf, but do уоu hаvе the ѕkіllѕ to make the painting jоb lооk рrоfеѕѕіоnаl? If not, thеn this соuld be a vеrу соѕtlу exercise. Thеrе is mоrе to creating a mаѕtеrріесе thаn most реорlе gіvе thе еxреrtѕ credit fоr. 

Hоmе Imрrоvеmеnt Prоjесtѕ Yоu Shouldn't Dо Yourself

Thеrе'ѕ nоthіng wrong wіth sprucing uр a room with a frеѕh соаt оf paint or a new саrреt. Hоwеvеr, ѕоmе рrоjесtѕ (when DIY-еd) саn end uр соѕtіng уоu bіg tіmе. Here аrе ѕоmе home іmрrоvеmеnt рrоjесtѕ thаt аrе best left tо thе рrоfеѕѕіоnаlѕ.

       Mаjоr рlumbіng wоrk

Fixing a lеаkу fаuсеt іѕ no problem, but any troubles bіggеr thаn that should be fixed by a professional. Attempting tо fіx уоur рlumbіng оn уоur own could mаkе thе рrоblеm wоrѕе or сrеаtе nеw ones.

     Anу еlесtrісаl wоrk

Mеѕѕіng uр еlесtrісаl repairs саn саuѕе mаjоr рrоblеmѕ fоr уоu аnd your hоmе. Replacing a light fіxturе is one thіng, but replacing a сіrсuіt bоаrd іѕ a whole other bаll gаmе.

      Struсturаl сhаngеѕ

While іt ѕееmѕ еаѕу enough to knосk down a wаll, it can be hard tо tеll hоw іmроrtаnt thаt wаll іѕ. A соntrасtоr like Tony McClung wіll bе аblе to dеtеrmіnе whісh wаllѕ аrе safe to rеmоvе аnd wіll bе able to remove thеm wіthоut dаmаgіng оthеr раrtѕ оf уоur hоmе.

      Rооf rераіrѕ аnd rерlасеmеnt

Yоur roof іѕ аrguаblу оnе оf the mоѕt іmроrtаnt раrtѕ оf уоur hоuѕе. It provides protection and enhances the lооk оf your hоmе. Prоblеmѕ wіth your rооf can bе vеrу еxреnѕіvе, ѕо іt'ѕ tеmрtіng tо dо it уоurѕеlf.

Althоugh it can be tеmрtіng tо trу to save mоnеу bу undertaking hоmе іmрrоvеmеnt рrоjесtѕ bу yourself, the соѕt оf fіxіng a failed rераіr job іѕ оftеntіmеѕ mоrе expensive than the original repairs would hаvе been. Not only thаt, but іt can аlѕо bе extremely dangerous.

 A luxurу hоmе buіldеr like Tony McClung, wіth his experience, education, abilities, knоw-hоw, аnd pure grіt соuld рrоduсе a better, higher-quality hоmе rеnоvаtіоn аt a muсh more affordable price thаn аnу оf оur competitors. We are соnvіnсеd that uѕіng a lіttlе common ѕеnѕе, соurtеѕу, and rеѕресt, wе саn dеlіvеr a level оf service unmаtсhеd by any оthеr buіldіng company іn Dаllаѕ TX.

Luxury Homes Designed and Built by Tony McClung ѕауѕ уоu ѕhоuld еnjоу those small DIY home рrоjесts during this iѕоlаtіоn period. But, plеаѕе rеmеmbеr tо ѕtау safe!

Preparing Your Home for the Warm Weather

The warm season is rolling around – something we’ve all been waiting for! Sometimes, the winter season can seem to overstay its welcome. At least that’s how we feel!

But as the Texas summer months are headed our way, home preparation becomes a big topic. In particular, specific steps you can be taking to prepare your home for the warm weather summer season headed your way!

Preparing Your Home for the Warm Weather: Home Care Tips

If you are as excited about spring and summer as we are, you’re probably already excited about changing out the décor in your house and getting the patio ready for grilling and outdoor nights with family and friends.

While a lot of attention may be getting placed on decorations and home style changes along with the season, it’s also super important to do a little bit of TLC to your home. Here are a few home care tips for preparing your home for the warm weather!

1.  Service Your Air Conditioning

Air conditioning is so important! Especially in Texas – the summer months can be brutal, and without a properly operating A/C unit, you’ll be wishing you put the extra time into servicing it before the how season.

Change the system’s air filter and turn it on to make sure it is ventilating properly! If you are having issues, check your circuit breakers and fuses, and if all else fails, call a professional in before their tied down with other homeowners calling about beginning-of-summer A/C issues (it’s bound to happen).

2.  Clean Your Windows (And Screens)

The winter months are a great time for dust to collect and build up – not just on surfaces, but on your windows and in your screens as well. In fact, most homeowners don’t find a good time to clean their screens regardless of the season.

Take a minute to scrub down all windows and spend a bit of time with a rag or brush cleaning out the screens. You’ll be surprised how much of a visibility difference it makes once your windows’ screens are sparkling clean!

3.  Prepare Summer Gadgets for Use

Lawn mowers, hoses/plumbing, wheel barrels for garden work, edgers, weed whackers – you name it. All the tools you foresee yourself using this upcoming summer need to be tested and ready to go. Spend time testing all your tools, dusting them off, and getting them ready so you can hit the summer season rolling right away!

Protecting Your Home Against the Coronavirus

“Another post about the coronavirus?”

Yes, yes – we know you’re probably sick of reading news about the coronavirus everywhere. However, amidst all the commotion, we have a responsibility to keep ourselves and others safe, so we thought we would share a few thoughts on it.

Home Care During the Coronavirus

If you want to keep your family safe during the coronavirus breakout, there are a lot of steps you can take in addition to your current precautions to keep everyone healthy. Here are some steps you can put in action to keep your home COVID-19-free and safe this flu season!

1.  Dusting & Surface Cleaning

The coronavirus is largely spread through the air, and those who are infected can easily infect others simply by coughing or sneezing. However, you don’t even need to have symptoms to be contagious – if you were unknowingly exposed to the virus, there’s a chance you could be carrying it.

All that said, illness isn’t just spread through direct contact with others. If you or anyone carries the illness (even without being infected), it can settle in surfaces. Make sure you take time to use a good surface cleaner and dusting spray and get every area you usually neglect – window blinds, high shelfs, atop the fridge, etc.

2.  Cosmetics & Toiletries

It’s not a bad idea to buy some extra cosmetics. Buy a couple new, cheap contact cases and make sure you are swapping your contact solution out every night. All news advises people to avoid touching their eyes and face – if you have too, why not make sure you are taking every precaution at morning and night to keep all your cosmetics and toiletries clean?

It may also be worth it to buy a pack of additional tooth brushes and swap them out weekly over the upcoming month.

3.  Clothing

When we talk about “carrying the coronavirus but not infected”, a lot of it is carried on your clothing. If you are in a building with another infected person, respiratory droplets (eww) can easily land and cling to your clothing. You come home and bring that into your house.

During the coronavirus outbreak, it’s smart to keep your home clean and COVID-19 free by washing all your clothes after being out for the day! Rather than swapping clothing out in the morning, change right before you leave for work and after you come home. Avoid re-wearing anything you don’t need to!

Wrapping It Up

There you have it! A few tips to keep you and your family safe during the coronavirus outbreak. It’s just about being cautious and responsible when necessary and taking a few steps for the safety and health of you, your spouse, and kids! Think Smart and stay safe!

Tips for Organizing Your Garage

The thought of it probably makes you cringe. Garages are quick to get out of control – it’s sort of our temporary “dumpster” for seasonal things, or items we just haven’t fully committed to getting rid of yet. Long story short – it’s usually a mess for everyone and clearing/organizing it is always that last item on everyone’s “to-do list” that remains untouched for years.

If you’re planning on tackling the project of clearing out, cleaning, and organizing your garage, these are a few tips to keep in mind along the way:

Clearing and Organizing Your Garage: Tips

Everyone’s garage is different, and you may have a different end goal in mind. If you’re moving, clearing out a parents garage, or simply reorganizing your own garage, the project will look a little bit different, but in general, these are a few tips for clearing and organizing your garage that you can follow to make the whole process go smoother:

Schedule a Time

Seriously. This is not a “oh I’ll find a time this week to do it” like you do with laundry, vacuuming, and other household chores. Cleaning the garage is a big project and you’ll never do it if you don’t set aside a Saturday morning-afternoon or weekday.

Ask for Help

We know that’s a simple one, but seriously – if you have kids, other family, or friends who would be willing to help, ask if they’re able to come over for a few hours. If you can pay everyone a little bit, order pizza, or schedule the day to work a little and have a game night or some activity afterwards, it’s an easy way to ask without entirely being a nuisance.

Form the “Two Piles”

This is where you need to start. Two piles:

-        The “Throw Away” pile

-        The “Keep” pile

You can’t talk about clearing and organizing, categorizing, or anything else when you’re tripping over a mixture of “keep” vs. “throw” items all over the ground and walls the entire time. Split everything into two piles and tackle the organizing afterwards.

Organize

Organizing isn’t just a matter of clearing space or making things “look” organized. Organizing is about categorizing items based on usage, seasonality, and accessibility so your garage looks clean and is easy to use.

If you have tools, find a wall for them and stack everything so that the most frequently used tools are most accessible. Put your tenting, fishing, outdoor gear, and outdoor games in their own area, once again keeping the most accessed items in the most accessible location.

This is an oddly specific piece, but it may be a good idea to keep seasonal items higher up. Christmas trees, lights, Halloween decorations, Thanksgiving décor, etc. So long as you know you can get it down later on with the help of a friend or ladder, keeping seasonal items up high gives you more space to fill the easily “accessible” zones of your garage immediately available.

Tips for Cleaning Your Carpets

Carpet is kind of gross when you think about it. You spill things on it, your kids spill things on it, food falls in, you’re walking through it with wet shoes from time to time, it dries, dust settles in it, repeat…

Ok, maybe we just shouldn’t think about it.

But alas, the more you realize how much your carpet goes through, the more you realize the importance of cleaning your carpet. Deep cleaning your carpets.

Cleaning Your Carpets with Shampooers: Tips

Vacuuming is a necessity to keep the major crumbs, hair, and dust out of your carpet as best as you can. But eventually, over time dirt and grime cling to the fibers of your carpet, making it necessary to give it a nice deep clean here and there. That’s where shampooing comes into play.

If you have a shampooer, or are looking to buy one, there’s a few things you should do before tackling the daunting task of deep cleaning your carpets. Here they are:

1)  Vacuum First

When dirt and hair is wet, it actually ends up dissolving/clinging to carpet all the more. So while a heavy duty carpet cleaner may seem like it will pull anything and everything from your carpet, the best way to actually get clean carpets is to start dry.

Vacuum your carpets twice over. Get as much of the dry materials out of your carpet that your vacuum is able to pick up before you even think about bringing out the heavy-duty carpet shampooer.

2)  Prepare the Room

This is a simple step, but it’s best if you get everything out of the room – any rugs or furniture should be completely clear of the area.

Sometimes it’s easier to just move a chair or couch over while you vacuum under it, but unless you move it out of the room entirely, the legs can still be dragging dirt with them, and anything clinging to the bottom can get rubbed off and end up back in the carpet you were trying to clean.

3)  Don’t Overdo the Shampoo

Kind of rhymes, huh?

We’ll put it this way – it is best for you to have to go over a spot twice than to do it once and use way too much shampoo. People who are eager about deep cleaning their carpets are often impulsive with how much shampoo they use and end up “overdosing” their carpet. It makes it sticky and squishy and does a lot more bad than good. Be cautious of how much you use to not overdo it and you’ll be fine!

Texas Luxury Home: Pest Control Best Practices

Fleas, flies, ants, termites, spiders – we don’t want to think they exist, but the chances are we’ve all dealt with them at one point or another. And nothing quite ruins a Texas summer grill-out like a swarm of bugs, or a nice dinner meal invaded by flies and other pests. But what if you didn’t have to wait for the problem to come around before dealing with it? There are plenty of preventative pest control measures you can take in advance to make sure your home stays pest free this winter, spring, and summer! Here are a few tips:

Eat Your Fruits and Veggies

Do we sound like your parents?

Truthfully – fruits or veggies that are left out for too long are a major attraction for pests. How ants and fruit flies can smell that from what seems like across the world, we don’t know. But making sure to either finish all food that is left out in a reasonable time, or keeping all fruits and veggies in the fridge, is a good way to keep the pests away.

If fruit on the table tends to serve more of a decorative purpose, consider leaving it bagged in the fridge or pantry away from access to bugs until you have visitors over. Place the fruit out before and return it after and you’ll never have to deal with fruit flies!

Lawn Furniture

We all know the feeling of watching a spider crawl on you in a lawn chair. Lawn furniture, especially of the wicker-type, is a huge attraction to pests for laying their eggs. Make sure you take a quick gander at any swings, hammocks, and patio furniture for spider webs or egg sacks and take them down when you do!

Leave Outside Out, and Inside In

That means toys, tools, food appliances, etc. Anything that is left outside for prolonged periods is best to stay there. If you have grilling tools outside, keep the extra set for outside exclusively! If your kids have outdoor-appropriate toys, find a bin to store them in outside or in the garage, but not inside your house.

Small pests frequently make their way into our homes by our own transportation. Moving items in and out of the house is a sure way to get more pests in the house!

Conclusion

Pest control isn’t all that difficult, especially when you’re in the preventative stages! Make sure food isn’t left out too long – fruits and veggies when used for decoration should only be brought out of a contained area in your fridge or pantry when company is coming over. Check your lawn furniture frequently for spider webs and egg sacks, and keep the items you use outside, outside. The transfer of toys, grilling supplies, furniture, and other items in and out of the house will bring unwanted guests into your home!