This Bungalow combines a variety of wood and stone textures for a cozy Craftsman feel. The kitchen and bathrooms feature granite counter tops and stone and tile detail. Both the main and lower levels have a fireplace. Built-in shelves and storage areas make it easy to organize the entryway and office space. A custom bar near the kitchen and sunroom provides a handy area for the host or hostess to entertain. Overall, the warm tones and intuitive flow of the home create a living space that is both beautiful and practical. Enjoy your tour!

{Welcome!}

{Front Entry}

{Powder Bath}

{Kitchen & Dining Room}

{Living Room}

{Built-In Bar adjoining Kitchen & Sunroom}

{Sunroom}

{Laundry Room}

{Master Bedroom}

{Lower Level Family Area}

{Lower Level Bath}

{Office}

{Lower Level Guest Bedroom}

We hope you enjoyed your virtual tour. If you are interested in building a home to fit your lifestyle, contact Home Comfort Company today!

We love how this bumped in wall and track lighting showcases the home owners’ love for doing puzzles.

                                  We love the way this stack stone adds texture and warmth to this living room space.

                                                         We love this simple and bright breakfast nook with built in booths.

We love this use of barn doors as a modern alternative to pocket doors. 

We love this wide planked barn wood inspired floor juxtaposed with their crisp modern features.

Overall, we love that the homeowners came to us with specific features they wanted in their home so it would custom fit their life. A home will always come together beautifully when it reflects those who dwell within.

We recently completed this 2300 sq. ft. home in the Capitol Heights neighborhood using Energy Star standards. Our clients infused a more contemporary design with their rich cultural heritage. The result was a wonderful blend of modern and rustic, timeless and personal. We invite you to enjoy a virtual tour of this stunning home…

A few stills…

{front exterior}

 {front entry hall}

 {living room}

 {kitchen}

 {master bedroom}

{patio}

We appreciate the opportunity to share this beautiful home. Join us next week for a closer look at the incredible detail and design that truly make this home one-of-a-kind. Interested in working with Home Comfort Company to create a home built to fit your life? Contact us today to discuss how our expertise and experience can make your dream a reality.

• Book shelves
• Message center
• Desk
• Bench or window seat (for sitting AND storage)
• Display case
• Cabinet storage space
• Mudroom cubbies or lockers
• Wine rack
• Loft or bunk beds
• Closet systems
• Pantry storage

If you are building a home, think of ways you can use built-in storage to simplify, organize, reduce furniture expenses and maximize your square footage. What are your hobbies? Do you collect anything? Do you have children? How will you manage the paper flow in and out of your home? How do you organize your closets? Is there any “dead” space in your floor plan that could be put to use? Browse Pinterest and Houzz for ideas. Make the most of your space! Here are some concepts we love to get you started…

 Built-in mailboxes and lockers for each family member creatively manages flow in and out of the home.

Traditional Entry by Portsmouth Architects & Building Designers TMS Architects

Traditional Kids by Chicago Interior Designers & Decorators Michael Abrams Limited

Here in Madison, WI, three-season porches are typically used from May through October. Screen windows allow breezes and sunshine in while keeping insects and the harsher elements outside. A four-season porch would have the insulation and duct work necessary to make the room cozy and practical year round, including chilly winter months. It provides additional interior space, essentially extending the footprint of your home.

Which is best for your home? It depends on your personal preference and budget. Home Comfort Company will help you determine the best option for you and your home. No matter your choice – three or four season – we can blend it with your existing architecture, creating additional living space or room to relax and entertain. Here are some of the porches we’re loving this Spring…

And…window condensation.

What causes the pesky moisture build up on our windows? Humidity, water vapor and steam. These forms of water are present in varying quantities in all air. Moisture in wet air tries to flow toward drier air, mix with it, and balance itself.

Scientist describe this force as “vapor pressure”. Vapor pressure can force moisture through wood, plaster, brick and even cement…right through most of the materials we use to build our homes. That is exactly what happens when moisture seeks to escape from the humid air – usually found inside your home – to the drier winter air outside.

Certain building materials (such as glass window panes) stop water vapor. As our building materials become more advanced, our homes become “tighter”. While this results in more energy-efficient homes, it also means that moisture created by bathrooms, kitchens and laundries can no longer escape easily into the drier outdoors. The modern insulation and construction that keeps the warm air in and cold air out also locks moisture inside our homes. This can quickly create window condensation and harmful indoor moisture levels.

According to Heating & Ventilating magazine, cooking for a family of four adds 4.5 lbs. of moisture a day to a house. Each shower contributes half a pound. Weekly laundry adds 30 lbs. of moisture to the air, and dish washing adds 1.2 lbs. High humidity can greatly contribute to the deterioration of a house and to the discomfort of its owners. What can be done to reduce humidity and condensation in your home?

1. Control sources of humidity. Vent all clothes dryers, burners, etc. to the outdoors. Use kitchen and bathroom exhaust fans.
 
2. Use winter ventilation. Older homes will usually allow moist indoor air to more easily escape to the drier outdoor air. Newer homes should be ventilated using exhaust fans or even briefly opening doors or windows in a bathroom or laundry.
 
3. Use heat. The process of heating your home will reduce the relative humidity by providing a drier heat. It will counterbalance most of the moisture produced by modern living.

Image courtesy freedigitalphotos.net

 
Each December we deliver a tray of homemade goodies to our Madison-area business partners. It’s one way of letting them know we appreciate their exceptional work and dedication to our customers. This year we had four generations of Santa’s Helpers scrub up, don aprons and pitch in to whip up lots of treats in the Home Comfort Company kitchen!

Making lots of chocolate goodies…no snitching, right?

What could be more fun than making pretzel treats with your Auntie…?

…Making spritz cookies with your Uncle!

Even the littlest elves find a way to get in on the tasty fun.

Treat trays ready to deliver to our wonderful partners.

Happy Holidays from the Home Comfort Company Family!

Recently Bonnie made a guest appearance as a Color Consultant in the paint department of a hardware store here in Madison. We asked her to share some of her tips for choosing colors for a home.

Tip #1 Choose a Color Palette

Choosing a color palette for your home has never been easier. You can use social sharing tools like Houzz and Pinterest to find the colors you like. Create an Ideabook with room colors that appeal to you. As you add pictures and pins to your collection, you’ll begin to see a pattern in the colors that attract you. Create your color palette from those colors.

Another great online tool is Design Seeds®. Design Seeds® allows you to create a palette by pulling colors out of a specific photo that appeals to you. (See photo below.)

For a more traditional approach, find a curtain or rug with colors that appeal to you. Use that piece as the foundation for choosing the color palette for your home. Many paint companies also provide brochures with color palette suggestions.

Tip #2 Designate Your Interior & Exterior Colors

Once you have your color palette, determine which colors you would like to use for the interior and exterior of your home. Look at your house – inside and out – as a whole. When considering the outside, think about what you want to say to your neighbors and guests as they approach your abode:

Friendly? Think blues, greens or earth tones.
Traditional? Consider tans or other neutrals.
Daring? How about navy blue with a salmon pink or sunny yellow front door!

As you move inside, borrow softer or bolder versions of what you see on the outside. Remember, colors set the mood for a room and either enhance or detract from the ambiance and enjoyment of a space. Blues and greens are relaxing and ideal for bedrooms – especially in soft tones. Red and orange are stimulating and exciting, perfect for dining areas such as the kitchen or breakfast nook.

Browns create a feeling of warmth and safety and are good for a man cave, family room or office. Purple evokes romance or contemplation and dreaming (perfect for the master bedroom!). Yellow is a “pick-me-up” color and is ideal for smaller spaces like a powder bath as it makes the space feel bigger and brighter. It is also a good choice for a cheery kitchen, hallway or laundry room with little or no natural lighting.

Tip #3 Avoid Common Color Mistakes

Limit your focal points. Be strategic in using color to make a statement. Pick a few places throughout your home to be dramatic and bold. The rest of your home should be more neutral, complementing the focal points. Use various shades of one color throughout the house to create a flow from room to room. The focal points will then stand out tastefully, giving your home a personality that welcomes rather than overwhelms.

I also caution clients about going too dark. I work with them to select the perfect shade. I help them visualize what that small swatch of color on the paint chip will look like on a much larger scale in their living room. When you have a large area of concentrated color, you tend to get tired of that color over time. Hints of color are better. A smaller area of color also allows you to more easily make a change with fewer coats of a small amount of paint. Finally, going dark can be dramatic in a small powder bath with no window, but it may be frustrating in a family room or dining room because it tends to make the room feel smaller than it actually is.

What does Bonnie enjoy most about helping people pick the colors for their home?

“I love helping people achieve the feeling that they want for their home,” says Bonnie. “A home is a special place, and you should truly enjoy living in it. It should be an expression of you. I’ll ask a client a lot of questions about her lifestyle: Do you entertain? Where do you spend the most time? Do you prefer urban settings or the outdoors? I use the answers to design a home that reflects the client’s personal style, her ideal color palette and a home that truly reflects her.”