HIRING A QUALIFIED INTERIOR DESIGNER
By Dana W. Todd
When his father opened Pulte
Homes in 1950, now one of the nation’s
largest homebuilders, Bryan Pulte was just
a twinkle in his dad’s eye. “Growing up,”
Pulte says, “I took my family’s homebuilding
business for granted. I didn’t realize
how much knowledge I was absorbing.
Every summer, I had a different job from
carpenter laborer to brick mason laborer.
“I had plenty of opportunity after
school to walk the subdivisions in which
my father was building, planning how I
could change the interior spaces of the homes under construction,” READ MORE
FRAME YOUR FAMILY TREE
by Nancy Atkinson
Looking for a different way to display your family photos? You can reinvent your family photos by popping them out of their existing frames and re-framing them in unifying frames of all one color. Consider converting the photos to black and white and enlarging them, then putting them all in red frames or your favorite color to create a family gallery on one wall. Pulte suggests coming into the modern ages as well: “In this digital age, a great way to redefine photographs is to utilize technology. For digital images; enlarge, crop, and reprint from color to black & white.” Turning photos into Christmas ornaments or scrapbooking can be a fun activity with family and friends. READ MORE
A FRESH FACE FOR AN AGING FLOOR PLAN
by Dana W. Todd
From the mid 1940's to the mid 1970's manu U.S. consumers built and purchased homes with the standard American foursquare configuration of rooms - a "box on a box" style. Homeowner Carole Jacobs and her family own one of these early 1970's houses in Colorado. READ MORE
HOW TO DISPLAY COLLECTIBLES
by Dana W. Todd
We spend a good part of our lives collecting – antique china, crystal figurines, sports memorabilia, old pottery, Christmas ornaments – the list is varied and unique to each individuals’ taste. Sometimes vacations and excursions are primarily focused on adding to our collections. When we get home and review our collectibles, we think, “Now what am I going to do with this?”
“Almost everyone collects something,” says interior designer Bryan Pulte. “We spend the first half of our lives adding to our collections and the second half selling and or disbursing the collection.” Along the way, we try to display these items in our homes so others understand a little of who we are and what we are about. Additionally, people want to have the items that interest them or define important aspects of their lives to remind them of significant events or feed a fascination with history within reach. “If ever one of my clients is short on accessories, I ask, ‘What do you collect?’” he says. “I have designed rooms displaying collections of silver boxes, paper weights, and books among others. Many homeowners don’t realize what they have and how it can add flair and personality to their rooms.” Pulte designs around a few general principles: READ MORE
A FRESH FACE FOR AN AGING FLOORPLAN
by Dana W. Todd
From the mid 1940s to the mid 1970s, many U.S. consumers built and purchased homes with the standard American foursquare configuration of rooms - a "box on a box" style.
READ MORE
A Cottage by the Sea
by Judy M. O'Halloran
"Bulldoze it," exclaimed builder Steve Styles. "You don't know what you are getting into" warned interior designer Bryan Pulte.
But Nancy Pulte stood her ground, just like her recent acquisition, a 1921 frame home in Olde Naples that had braved four hurricanes.
READ MORE
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