Whether your garage is attached or detached it is important that your design complements the architectural style of your home and fits the needs of you and your family. Here are some simple tips to help you design your new garage so it retains its value and functionality for years to come:

First of all you need to decide what you want to use your garage for, besides housing your cars. Do you want to have a substantial amount of storage space for your recreational and seasonal items? Do you want to have a workshop? Do you need a home office? Do you plan on putting appliances like a garbage disposal or extra refrigerators in your garage? Do want additional living space, like a second floor suite or apartment?

Once you’ve decided how you will utilize your new garage, then you will be able to determine the appropriate size of your garage. Think down the road, because most likely you will have an additional vehicle or RV to store.

Most house plans give you the option to choose whether you want an attached or detached garage and whether you want a front, back or side-entry. Most attached garages have three points of entry: the garage door, an inside entryway into your home and a backdoor. One of your main considerations when deciding the location of your garage is how convenient it is for you and your family.

Your garage may not be at the forefront of rooms to furnish, but it can easily become the messiest area in your new home. Simple accessories like cabinets, work tables, benches, shelving and racks can get you quickly organized. Be sure that the items you choose are durable enough to withstand the elements and daily use and abuse.

If you plan on spending any valuable time working in your garage, then it is a good idea to choose adequate lighting, since most garages have limited access to natural light.

These are just basic tips and guidelines to help you design your garage. You can also get inspired by checking out the newest garage doors by Wayne-Dalton and Overhead Door.

The Wayne-Dalton 7400 models combine the classic swing-open appearance and detailing of carriage house wood doors with the convenience of standard sectional garage doors.

Every month we continue to add new house plans to our collection of over 4,000 best-selling house plans to meet the growing needs and styles of homeowners. Some of the most popular home design features that consumers are looking for in their new house plan are: a split level floor plan layout; green features; functional and easy to maintain using the latest building products and technology and an open floor plan to allow for flexibility. Take a look at this Frank Lloyd Wright inspired house plan with its stone exterior, low roofline and covered entryway. The main floor features a roomy master suite and office with the kitchen and living area just down the hall. A built-in bench wraps around the kitchen area, making additional seating and cozy spaces for entertaining family and friends. The lower level is spacious with a recreational room, exercise space and three additional large bedrooms. Enjoy more of our new and exciting house plans in our latest issue of Dream Designs.

A good house plan allows for expansion over time as your lifestyle changes or your family grows. A bonus room provides that and can be finished when you build your home or at a later time when your needs change or budget allows. You’ll find that bonus rooms are often over a garage since they can be easily and inexpensively designed into the trusses, but really can be designed on any floor of the house. The additional space can be used for an office, playroom, home gym, media room, extra bedroom or anything you want it to be. Be sure your bonus room includes energy-efficiency features such as sufficient ceiling insulation and well-sealed double-glazed windows. Enjoy browsing through our extensive collection of house plans with bonus rooms.

Wonderful two-story house plan with plenty of bonus rooms.

I hope you caught this week’s issue of Dream Savings from The House Designers, featuring money savings coupons and rebates from companies like Lumber Liquidators, Wayne-Dalton and a real interesting rebate called “Cash for Appliances” on select ENERGY STAR® products to help you save money on building your new home. If you missed the e-newsletter just visit their money savings section on their website to find ALL the latest rebates, including garage doors, floors, tax credits, house plan savings and much more. I hope you enjoy all the savings and rebates you’ll find here, I particularly liked the $100 off a THD exclusive house plan.

Our ENERGY STAR® and green home plans have all been selected from our best-selling collections and architectural styles, which include everything from tiny house plans, country home plans, fabulous kitchens to luxury one story and two story house plans. Our ENERGY STAR® house plans have a wide range of energy saving elements that can help you save 20% to 30% off your energy costs. Check out our some of our best selling ENERGY STAR® and Green home plans in this weeks issue of Dream Designs.

On of our best-selling ENERGY STAR® house plans is the Bellingham, a contemporary two-story craftsman with great curb appeal. From the eloquent pergola entry and covered porch to all the custom designed windows. Inside the open great room and hearth room share a double-sided fireplace. Entertaining is made easy with the over-sized kitchen area that leads into the dinette and hearth room or for outdoor living you can easily access the screened porch with fireplace and back deck. This plan comes with an optional basement that features a recreational room, game room, wet bar, wine room and additional bedroom. The three-car garage feeds into an oversized storage area with lots of built-in lockers and walk-in closet.

Enjoy the wet bar and wine room in this eco-friendly two-story house plan.

What good timing! When I purchased my house plan last October from The House Designers, I signed up for their weekly e-newsletter called Home Ideas. Every week I get helpful tips about what products I should use when building my new home. This is the first home I’ve ever built and I am so excited, yet overwhelmed by all the decisions I need to make. My house was framed last week and I have been laboring on choosing what flooring I want for each room in my home. I couldn’t believe this week’s Home Ideas was all about choosing the right flooring. I spent my entire day on the Lumber Liquidator’s website ordering my hardwood flooring for EVERY room in my home. I was especially excited about having bamboo flooring in my great room; it’s going to look great with my stone fireplace.

Hardwood flooring enhance the look and feel of the open kitchen.

Consumers looking for the perfect house plan can enjoy viewing an exciting collection of 3D house plans from The House Designers. This 3D feature provides a 360-degree view to visualize your dream home from all four orientations.

“We wanted to offer consumers more than just color photography and renderings, which is why we created our 3D house plan videos,” said Jerry Axelrod, architect and president of The House Designers. “Consumers have always enjoyed our collection of color photography, particularly our interior images. This is just another great tool to allow our consumers to view our house plans in great detail.”

Check out this week’s selection of our editor’s favorite 3D house plans in Dream Designs.

Take a virtual tour of this one-story house plan with 17 foot vaulted ceilings.

With consumers expected to spend millions of dollars on new refrigerators and dishwashers as part of the “Cash for Appliances” state-federal rebate program, manufactures like Whirlpool have busily been building an online tool to make it easier for consumers to apply for rebates.

Whirlpool has launched a rebate finder tool for its Whirlpool, Maytag and KitchenAid brands, where consumers can enter the zip code and appliance type at the to learn the amount of applicable state rebates available. The rebate finder also scrolls the Web for utility rebate programs, where applicable.

The federal government is kicking in $300 million for states to disburse as part of the energy efficiency upgrade program, which came about after the Cash for Clunkers car rebate program. Also check out EcoRebates, a cool site designed to help consumers find rebates.

Even house plan websites like The House Designers are doing their part to share valuable coupons and rebates for home building products. The House Designers are the only house plan company to sell exclusive ENERGY STAR/Green House Plans.

Every week I look forward to getting my Home Ideas e-newsletter from The House Designers. It always has interesting articles about home building tips and trends and products. Their writers must be very trendy since they find some of the most interesting topics to write about and the coolest information about building a new home. While I must confess, I haven’t purchased a house plan yet — I have spent the last year creating a file from many of these articles and feel I am closer to deciding how I want to design my new home. I’m pretty sure that my husband and I can agree on a house plan by the end of the month. So far we have three that we really like, the Belle Demure Lorraine House Plan, which coincidentally was the feature house on this week’s Home Ideas, the Babcock House Plan and the Amboise House Plan in the log exterior.

Speaking of this week’s Home Ideas, I highly recommend checking out the latest ledgestone by Cultured Stone® and the insulated siding by Ply Gem’s® American Essence®. These are two really great looking and energy-efficient products. There was also a great article about the latest trends and styles available for home exteriors.

This two-story home offers warm curb appeal in brick and stone.

Our collection of contemporary or modern house plans come in a wide variety of styles so you can build a truly unique home that represents your personal taste and requirements for a truly functional home. A trademark of many of our designs are large windows, dramatic rooflines, stone exterior and open floor plan. Our editor’s have picked some of their favorite contemporary designs in the latest issue of Dream Designs, based on what plans consumers consistently buy from that collection. A big seller is the Hammond House Plan, which has great curb appeal with its columned front entry, arched windows, asymmetrical roofline, accented by peaks and dormers and elegant stone exterior. The inside is luxurious with a large foyer and tray ceiling which lead into the two-story, octagonal great room with large windows, plenty of columns, a fireplace, media center and French doors leading to the backyard. Upstairs are three bedrooms and a bonus space.

A two-story home with classical elements and contemporary flair.

Last spring I purchased a unique piece of land on the lake for a vacation home and I have spent most of my time trying to find the perfect house plan to fit my narrow lot. My builder told me that for the plan to work and for me to have enough outdoor living space I needed a house plan that was 40 feet wide and under. You wouldn’t think this would be so challenging. After spending countless dollars on house plan magazines I decided to look online. Best decision I could have made, since it brought me to your website and a very extensive collection of narrow house plans. I immediately fell in love with The Sunburst (Plan 1160) and was so impressed by all the photographs you had of the house that I could envision my family and I living and decorating our new home. I was so excited to give this to my builder that I purchased the pdf file and was able to email my new house plan in minutes. I can’t wait until April to start building.

[/caption]

The European architectural elements of this house plan, such as an eyebrow dormer, batten-style shutters, and corbels, are anchored with variegated stone cladding that recalls an ageless appeal. The interior complements this timeless architecture, ensuring the home will outlast the trends. Arches frame the views from the foyer into the dining room, great room, kitchen, and breakfast nook. Built-ins flank the fireplace in the great room, and the breakfast nook provides passage to the backyard. The den features a bay window and built-ins, so it can double as a home office. The upstairs master suite features a triple-window view to the backyard, a vaulted ceiling, a fireplace, and built-ins. The attached bath has a corner spa tub, an oversized shower, and a spacious walk-in closet. Upstairs also has three other bedrooms and a media room. Conveniently located near all the bedrooms is a large laundry room.

Perfectly crafted house plan for the whole family to enjoy.

The International Builders’ Show is the largest annual home building show in the world, featuring over miles and miles of the latest and most advanced building products and services ever assembled under one roof. You’ll find the newest innovations and house designs by leading architects, builders and manufacturers in over 300 home building categories at IBS, which takes place Jan. 19-21 in Las Vegas.

Here is a preview of some of newest products, which have been smartly crafted by top brand companies for today’s savvy, environmentally friendly homebuilder – Jenn-Air Wall Ovens, Broan-NuTone Exhaust Fan, CraftMaster Green Doors, DuPont features new color surfaces, Ply Gem premium insulated siding, Lutron sensors and many more new products from this year’s exhibitors.

Tiny green house plans like the Asheville are the focus of the International Builders Show in Las Vegas.

The results are in from a recent survey of designers conducted by the National Kitchen & Bath Association (NKBA) to reveal the key design trends for 2010. The results of the NKBA 2010 Kitchen & Bath Design Trends Survey confirmed the continuation of a number of existing trends in the marketplace, but also uncovered others that indicate shifts in the direction that kitchen and bath style will take this year. Below are 2010’s kitchen and bath trends.

KITCHENS
1. Traditional is the New Contemporary
Traditional will continue as the most popular kitchen design style in 2010, with contemporary following closely behind, while the Shaker style is seeing a surprisingly strong resurgence. Shades of whites and off-whites will be the most common kitchen colors in 2010, while brown, beige, and bone hues will also be popular.

2. Cherry on Top
Cherry will remain the most popular wood for kitchen cabinetry, followed closely by maple, while alder increases in use. As for the finishes placed on those cabinets, medium natural, dark natural, glazed, and white painted will all be common. Other colors of painted cabinetry and light natural finishes are in decline, however, as are distressed finishes.

3. Floored by Tile
Ceramic and porcelain tile, as well as natural stone tile, remain popular kitchen flooring options, but hardwood will dominate the kitchen landscape more than ever in 2010. For countertops, granite continues to be the most popular option, but quartz will nearly catch up in popularity. For backsplashes, ceramic or porcelain tile and glass will serve as the primary materials.

4. Flexible Faucets
Standard kitchen faucets will become less standard in 2010 in favor of more convenient models. Pull-out faucets continue to increase their market dominance, while pot filler faucets will also become more prevalent. Kitchen faucets will most often be finished in brushed nickel, followed by stainless steel, satin nickel, and—surprisingly—polished chrome.

5. Undercounter Refrigeration
French door and freezer-bottom are the two most popular styles of refrigerators, and side-by-side refrigerators remain a popular option. A surprising trend is the extent to which undercounter refrigerator drawers are being used in the latest kitchen designs. Perhaps even more surprising is that undercounter wine refrigerators have been recently specified by half of kitchen designers.

6. A Range of Cooking Options
The tried-and-true range continues to serve as the workhorse for cooking, although the combination of a cooktop and wall oven is beginning to overtake it. Gas will maintain its position as the most popular type of cooktop over electric, although induction cooking continues to gain in popularity due to its energy efficiency.

7. Dishwasher-in-a-Drawer
Standard dishwashers, with the traditional door that pulls from the top down, will once again be easily the most common type in 2010. However, an increasing number of dishwasher drawers will be installed in kitchens this year for their convenience and their ability to wash small loads of dishes in each drawer, thereby saving water and electricity.

BATHROOMS
1. In With the Old, Out with the New
Traditional will be the most popular design style in bathrooms in 2010, as contemporary designs will be a distant second, followed by the Shaker style as an even more distant third. Beiges and bones will be the most common colors used in bathrooms, followed by whites and off-whites, and then by browns, indicating a somewhat subdued color palette this year.

2. Ceramic and Granite
Ceramic and porcelain tile will be the dominant flooring materials in bathrooms this year, while natural stone will continue to prove popular as well. Though increasingly popular in kitchens, hardwood flooring won’t become common in bathrooms in 2010. For vanity tops, granite will remain king, with quartz and marble also proving popular options.

3. Simple Fixtures
Perhaps more than ever, the most common color for fixtures will be white. Bisque and off-white will be the only other fixture colors at all common in new or remodeled bathroom. For sinks, simple undermount models will be most popular, followed by integrated sink tops, drop-in sinks, vessel sinks, and pedestal sinks.

4. A Nickel for Every Finish
Faucet finishes in the bathroom are similar to those used in current kitchen designs, with brushed nickel continuing to lead the way in 2010. Polished chrome and satin nickel will also be incorporated into many bathrooms, just as they had been throughout 2009. These faucet finishes will be followed by bronze and stainless steel.

You can get inspired by some of the newest kitchen and bath designs by visiting our collection of house plans.

Advancements in hearth technology have produced a variety of green options that allow you to burn cleaner and more efficiently than ever before without sacrificing aesthetics. Thanks to ratings and regulations by organizations like EPA, LEED, NAHB and ENERGY STAR® you can confidently purchase fireplaces, stoves and inserts that are more responsible for providing safe indoor air quality while adding warmth to your home.

Here is some useful information to help you understand the different criteria to qualify as a “green” hearth product, as well as some of our new green house plans.