Tips to Help You in the New Year

Every year many of us make New Year Resolutions to better ourselves in one way or another. Often these new years resolutions involve us trying to better ourselves physically. If you have or and going to make a resolution to work out  or eat healthier we are here to help! We have searched the web and found a couple site and post that can help you in reaching you resolution.

Working Out

• Fitness programs: 5 steps to getting started
• http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/fitness/HQ00171
• How To Start Working Out When You Don’t Like To Exercise
• http://summertomato.com/how-to-start-working-out-when-you-dont-like-to-exercise/
• How to Start Working Out When You Don’t Know What You’re Doing
• http://jamesclear.com/start-working-out
• Fitness 101: The Absolute Beginner's Guide to Exercise
• http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/guide/fitness-beginners-guide

Healthy Eating

• A Beginner’s Guide to Healthy Eating
• http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/11/10/healthy-eating/
• 15 Simple Ways to Eat Better Today
• http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/nutrition_articles.asp?id=1011&page=2
• 22 Cheap and Easy Ways to Eat Healthy 
• http://greatist.com/health/22-cheap-and-easy-ways-eat-healthy
• Healthy Eating: Starting a Plan for Change
• http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/healthy-eating-starting-a-plan-for-change#

What do you think? Have you found any helpful tips or sites yourself? Let us know so we can add them to help others.

10 Holiday Traditions to Start this Year

Check out this great blog we found about ten great and fun traditions to start! Click here or the picture!

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Or check out our Website at buildingahomeinutah.com

Building Tip #4- Don't forget the family members on four legs!

When building a home if you have pets taking advantage of this time is something you might really enjoy now and in the long run and be happy that you did. Below are pictures and descriptions of things people have had built into their homes to accommodate their furry friends.
When doing this in your home be creative have fun with it we love our pets for a reason and you know them best, I hop you enjoy the options I have found below.

A built in Litter Box

• Having a special cabinet or wall section in you kitchen, laundry room, or bathroom be added with a built in litter box can put it out of site from guests and even away from little hands, while still making it just as easy for you to clean it up.

Built in Food Bowls

• Having a specific place for your pets to eat added to your home can make a random food bowl on the floor a part of your kitchen or laundry room while also giving you a place to put the food and treats. 

They even added a facet to making filling up the water bowl even easier.

Built in Dog Bath

• These can be easily added to your garage, laundry room, or mudroom. This would provide you an easier way to clean your muddy pet. This can also be used by anyone in the family including muddy kids. With its multiple uses this one is a hard one to look past.

Lastly a Build in Dog or Cat Crate or Bed

• Adding this to your home can provide you furry friend with their own special space to go, while making it look completely apart of your home.

As a final note I have plans for when I build what I am going to do for my dogs. I have two giant english mastiffs, don't ask me how I ended up with two of the heaviest dogs in the world. No ordinary dog house will do for these dogs as our female at 5 months currently is as long as a loveseat laying down and 80lbs to give you an idea of their size. My husband planned on building them an epic dog house of 32 sq ft since we prefer to keep our dogs outside during the day. Instead when we build we are going to have a 3 car deep garage and at the very back we plan to have a separate room with a door to the back yard that has a doggies dog big enough for them on it. In that room we will put beds and food bowls for them to enjoy -we really love our dogs. That way they can have a their own room that is connected to the house so they can stay warm and cool, while still being able to enjoy and play outside. 

Do one of these things or even something you have thought up on your own is something that can completely fit you and your pets, not everyone will need a room at the back of their garage for their dogs, but I do and I am excited to have that for my dogs. 

Thanks for reading we hope you enjoyed. Is there anything you would be interested in doing leave us a comment let us know what you love or what you think? Or check us out at buildingahomeinutah.com

Building Tip #3- Avoid Changes

This is a simple on today, but is important to keep in mind while building. A lot goes into building and designing a home countless choices will be made by you from your blueprint to the molding you want. These many choices are best made before you even start building because the builder needs to know what materials supplies and plans they need to make to build your dream home.  Once all the decisions are made and building does begin this is where changes sometimes invariably happen. Making changes once the building process has begun can be a huge no-no that can cause you and your builder more time and frustration to make the change and it will usually end up costing more money.

 So today's tip is when building a home and making your decisions and think about them so you know your making the right one and then very important -stick them!  Don't let a brand new trend suddenly make you want to change your kitchen cabinets, stand by your decisions you choose them for a reason. I guarantee you your home will be beautiful and you will love it, especially when you build with us at Echeon Homes who specialize in affordable and custom homes. Find out more about us at buildingahomeinutah.com- Sorry for the little bit of the cheesy ad there we just truly want you to be the smartest you can be while building a home and we have help many homebuyers do so.

Building Tip #1 -Run an Extra Gas Line

Run an extra gas line

 If you have a gas line up it either for a 
fireplace or stove have us or whoever you are building with run an extra line. You can do this to either your patio for a future grill or in the basement so you have the option of putting in a fireplace there. Doing this while you are building can cost a couple hundred dollars depending, but if you try to do it after the fact the price will jump to the thousands. Take it from the Life is Yellow blog on their and their neighbors experience.
 "If you have one gas line already in place for your living room fireplace or stove, run another line on the opposite side of the house so you can upgrade to a gas stove (would do that again in a heartbeat – LOVE my gas stove!). In our neighbors’ case, they ran an extra line for the basement level of their home. At the time of purchase, they didn’t want to pull the trigger to put a second fireplace in downstairs (they run a few thousand) but if they ever want to down the road, they (or future buyers) have the option, ready to go." - See more: Here
Or check out our website at http://buildingahomeinutah.com

Building Tip #2 - Pre-Wiring

Pre-wire for everything you can think of! Even the stuff you don’t thing you need. When your building a home you can take full advantage of having no walls.  When you pre-wire during construction you can choose where things go and you don't have to fish wire through walls and floors which can cost twice as much to do versus doing it while the walls are open and exposed.  Even if you may not be able to or what to put it in after you finish building having the option by prewiring can save you money, time, and hassle if and when you do want to put it in and prewiring for anything and everything will always add value to your home.

You may also think you would much rather ride the wireless wagon, but unforunately wireless technology in not up tp par, it just isn't as robust or reliable as a hard wired connection. Most wireless systems only work in and for a small space and plaster walls, stone interior facades or other common residential obstructions  can cause the wireless to not work properly if they work at all.  

 So to help you in figuring out what to prewire we have come up with a couple places and ideas that you can pre-wire during construction to save you time, money, and hassle in the long run.

• Things to Prewire for

• Speakers for the inside and outside
• Motion Sensors
• Security Cameras
• Surround sound inside and outside
• A theater room
• A generator
• securitySystem 
•  Door Phones
• Intercoms
• Driveway Vehicle Detection
•  Communicating thermostats
•  Motorized window treatments
•  Entry systems
•  Irrigation systems. 
• And the Obvious ones
• Cable
• Internet
• Phone Lines
• Also to prewiring any or all of these you should also decide on two locations for centralized controls, like one in the living room or kitchen and the other in the master bedroom.
• We offer many standard features that help out and include some prewiring to find out more click here.

• Usually Forgotten Places
• The Garage
• The garage most homes is a central nerve cneter of the home, as the many entry point into the home, you can take advantage of this fact by having a chain of events be trigger when you arrive home through your garage. For example when you garage door opens the kitchen or mudrooms lights could turn on or the thermostat could adjust or in a reverse affect that system could also alert you when the garage door has been left open
• Hallways and Closets
• Although you may not think of these places when you think of prewiring, but they can acutally hold a key to helping you save energy.  By prewiring for halway sensors and leyrt installing them when someone exits the hallway the sensor could send a signal to the security or lighting system to turn off the light, the same can be done in larger closets that have lights.

• We actually include lights in all the larger closets including the pantry, to find out more about our standard features click here.
• The Front Door
• Although it isn't the garage or mudroom the front door is the next common entrance into a home. Prewiring for a security pad next to the front door is a good idea for common sense and convience.
• Patios and Deckstear it up to bury wiring 
• Once you have you new lawn and garden done the last thing you would want to do is, so prewiring on and near you decks and patios in very important. You want to prewire anywhere you might want to hear music. Also it is smart to prewire for junction boxes around your backyard. Junction boxes throughout your back yard can be very useful in many ways. We have 4 in our back yard and each has been used multiple times for tools, speakers, lights, etc. 

When you plan on building be sure to look into prewiring and talk to your builder about what they do or do not include standard and remember to be smart and logical when building a house and get advise on things you don't understand. This is it for Building tip #2!

The Right Christmas Wreath For Your Front Door

If your like me and opposite of my husband you love decorating your house in glittery lights, green and red ribbon, berries pinecones and garland, beautiful tree, and we wouldn't forget the finishing touch of the perfect wreath on your front door!

Choosing the perfect tree is part of any holiday decorating tradition, but finding the right wreath for your front door can really finish off your holiday look and can be a beautiful and elegant addition to your exterior décor.  Choosing the right wreath, however, can be complicated, so here are a few tips to consider for finding a holiday wreath that not only works for your door, but also coordinates with your other holiday decorations and the exterior of your home.

Size

The size of your wreath is an important consideration in making it look its best on your front door.  If you have a large, prominent front door then you'll want to choose a wreath that matches it well.  A small wreath will get lost on the door and won't look proportional.

Color

While you may select a wreath based on its appearance and whether it matches your other holiday décor, you will also want to choose a wreath that has colors that complement the color of your door.  If you have mostly red and green holiday decorations, but have a blue door, you may want to consider a blue and silver themed wreath, perhaps hung with white lights, to better complement your front door. I have a white door so for me have a very unlimited wreath choices except the snow covered snowflake wreath would practically disappear on my door. 

Materials

This is the area where you can really get creative.  From natural to synthetic, from pine to grapevine, there are a number of options from which you can choose. I personally love the natural stuff and that's my style.  Again, when selecting a wreath for your front door you'll want to consider whether it matches not only the other decorations, but the door itself and the style of your home.  For example, if you live in a traditional or historic style home, using natural materials such as greenery and berries may look better than a more modern arrangement. 

Decorating for the holidays should always be fun and reflect your personal style. But when selecting particular items for the exterior of your home, it is always a good idea to be sure they accent rather than detract. 

To find out more about us or if your thinking of building a home check out our website at buildingahomeinutah.com

Little Things Not To Forget When Building…!

Check out Lindsay Michaely's blog post on the little things not to forget when you build a house.
  "As you know there are many things to consider when building a house… here is a compilation of lots of little things you may want to do or at least consider when going through the planning or design process. Including my own experience as well as researched what other buyers did that they loved, or wish they had done....Read on HERE"

I love the ideas she has on simple things we can easily overlook or not even think of. Some of my favorites were:

• Cubbies in mudroom with an outlet in each one (may want to consider outlets with USB ports for charging phones, tablets, etc.)
• Pasta filler faucet near the stove top (so you don’t have to lug the pots full of water from the sink to the stove top)
• Run an electrical line with a few floor outlets, especially since we have very open floor plans these days and the couches are not always against the walls
• Master switch from master bedroom that controls all exterior lights 

At Echelon we can make all these little things not be forgotten to learn more about us check us out at buildingahomeinutah.com

Ask for the Leftovers!

Ask for leftover paint, vinyl, granite tiles, carpet scraps, etc.

Most of the bigger builders will put together a very nice box of touch-up paint for you as normal practice, but if you can, you may want to also request that leftover vinyl flooring, the sink cut-out from your granite counter, and the leftover hardwood flooring pieces and carpet remnant be left for you. These can be helpful patching materials when accidents happen and it’s nice to have everything match. Note that many of the finishing steps are done by subcontractors, however, and it may just not be possible to capture any of the leftovers. In addition, significant leftover materials may be used in other homes or even returned to the supplier. It never hurts to ask! 

To look out for more building tips coming your way or to find out more about us at our website http://buildingahomeinutah.com/