This week’s of Home Ideas features an interesting article about the latest home lighting trends — recessed lighting is out and hidden track lighting is in; art deco remains timeless; green is hot for new home construction; large lighting and ceiling fans; metal table and floor lamps; organic materials; antique fixtures and multi-dimensional room lighting. Many of the trends go well beyond function and efficiency, to other aspects like style, because for most homeowners it’s all about having a good-looking fixture to accent their interior design. There’s also a cool design tip about solar lighting and an excellent read about how to create a contemporary look in your home by incorporating key elements like color, metal accents, texture, wood tone and lighting. For a great selection and pricing, you’ll want to visit LAMPS PLUS®.

Whether you’re looking for an affordable starter home, vacation cottage or a guesthouse addition, our two-bedroom house plans are designed to be as simple or luxurious as your budget and tastes requires. You’ll find a wide range of architectural styles and sizes featuring gourmet kitchens, wraparound porches, large master suites and open floor plans to adapt to your changing lifestyle.

So start searching for a two-bedroom plan that fits you with our recent issue of Dream Designs, featuring some of our best-selling designs. Be sure to check out our newest addition – the Wakefield, which is just over 2,000 square feet but comes with a 279 square foot bonus room and two-car garage. Other highlights to this floor plan include cathedral ceilings, a formal living room with fireplace, a kitchen with lunch counter, solarium, and first floor master suite.

Today is a day to pull out all the stops to celebrate all things Irish by eating, drinking and getting together with family and friends for the festivities. The commercial aspect of St. Patrick’s Day has not been lost on businesses either, who find creative ways to link their products to the color green. While some products are “literally green” and a marketing tool, there are many products that are eco-friendly and celebrate saving our earth and living healthy.

So after all the celebrating is done, spend the next few days reflecting on how much “green” is “really” in your life.”. Whether you are looking for the perfect house plan, remodeling your existing home or simply shopping for home products – you can easily find everything you’re look for without sacrificing functionality and style thanks to new technology and high quality eco-friendly products. So get out a pen and pad and start putting together your list of green products for your new or existing home. And if you are looking to build a home, check out our exclusive collection of green house plans.

When you’re choosing decorative accents and accessories for your new home, don’t forget about the exterior, because decorative accents like — shutters, mantels, moldings, door surrounds, mounting blocks and gable vents — will provide the finishing touches you need to a create a home of distinction.

This week’s issue of Home Ideas explores Mastic Home Exteriors exclusive Designer Accents™ collection of finishing accessories. Our architects and designers recommend using Mastic on their house plans, because they offer a full-line of eco-friendly designer accents, which compliment any architectural style and are made to last a lifetime.

Over the holiday’s I treated myself to buying my dream beach house plan. I figured if I had the house plan, I would take the time needed to find the perfect piece of land to build my dream retirement home in Rhode Island. I grew up in Providence, Rhode Island and even though I moved away 25 years ago, I have always spent at least two weeks in the summer renting a beach house in Westerly, since Misquamicut has always been one of my favorite beaches in Rhode Island.

Last week I flew in from Maryland because my realtor had three great pieces of land to show me. It proved to be a great trip, since I found the perfect piece of waterfront land right at the end of Misquamicut State Beach. I can actually picture how beautiful my new house is going to look. I am going to build the Wind Song, a house plan I bought from this great company called The House Designers.

This house is as beautiful outside as it is inside. If I could have drawn my own plans I would have drawn just as many windows and patio entrances as this designer did to enjoy the ocean view and soak up the warm sun.

I especially like the fact that I will be able to easily entertain my friends and family and that I have the extra space for them to stay over. I love cooking and this kitchen has all the storage and workspace I could ever need. I highly recommend if you are looking to build a new home that you visit their collection of house plans, they are simply the best I’ve seen on the Internet and I’ve been looking for almost 10 years.

This dream home is beautiful inside and out.

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.