HOW TO BE HAPPIER IN YOUR HOME

Here at Parkview Homes we strive to bring you happiness in your brand new home. However, once you move in, you are in control of creating your own “inner home happiness” for your new home.

I came across a great article with some great tips on how to do just that: http://headedsomewhere.com/2012/10/12/10-things/ (Click through for the full article).

It contains some great tips, not just for your home but also for you in order to create a better world each and every day for yourself. When I came across the article I knew it was something I wanted to pass along.

Here is the basis of each of the points they share:

1. Make your bed – a three minute task that provides positive impact by improving the look of your bedroom.
2. Bring every room back to ready – clutter causes stress, and that's a fact! Simply take three minutes to bring each room back to ready before you depart it. (Does this apply to the kitchen? I don’t think three minutes will cut it!)
3. Display sentimental items around your home – make your home a gallery of positive memories.
4. Start a gratitude journal – before bed, write down one happy memory from that day. Reflection is a part of happiness.
5. If you can’t get out of it, get into it – rather than drudging through the mundane household tasks, crank the music, sing and dance while vacuuming, doing dishes, or making the beds. In other words, create your own fun!
6. Before you get up each morning set an intent for the day – this is not adding another "to do" item on the list. Your daily intent could be "hug my loved ones" or "be productive".
7. Do small favours for your housemates or family members, expecting nothing in return – not even a thank you! This will cultivate a strong healthy relationship.
8. Call at least one friend or family member today – texts and emails don’t count!
9. Spend money on things that cultivate experiences at home – save money for a new BBQ or a DVD for family night.
10. Spend a few minutes each day connecting with something greater than yourself.

I love this list, they all make sense to me and I plan to implement some of these items into my own home and life right away! I particularly like item #6, I enjoy the idea of having an intent each day. Some days I have a lot to do in terms of tasks, but would benefit from having a larger purpose to my day. Something positive to think about accomplishing as I move through the day.

I already make my bed each day (check), and I was happy to see that number one on the list was covered off. I enjoy the satisfaction of turning down the bed each night and tossing the big pillows on the floor. “Messy bed equals messy head” sticks in the back of my mind.

I hope this inspires you like it did for me and good luck creating your personal list!

- Susan

___________________________________

Susan Fenn
Design Studio Manager
Parkview Homes Design Studio
580 The Queensway, Peterborough ON
susanfenn@parkviewhomes.ca
705.741.4410

Lyon's Gate III by Parkview Homes

Location, Location, Location!

Ask any real estate professional and they will tell you how important location is when making the biggest investment of your life, which of course is purchasing a new home.

At Parkview Homes we recently released the third and final phase of our executive Lyon's Gate community, which is located in the prestigious West End Peterborough.

The Balsam Executive

Our new Lyons Gate III Sales Centre is now open at 1633 Lansdowne Street West. We invite you to drop in and discuss with us how you can become a resident of this brand new and exclusive community. Featuring twenty-eight 40 & 50 ft. premium lots, Lyon's Gate III offers the new luxury executive home you are looking for. With a wide selection of bungalow, bungaloft and two story designs to choose from, we are sure to make your dream of a luxurious new home a reality.

The Charlesworth Executive

Our design team has meticulously designed each of the homes available in this new community to provide you with the features you should expect in a brand new luxury executive home. Including but not limited to:

• All brick exterior with premium stone accents
• Coloured exterior window sashes with coordinating grilles between the panes of glass
• Elegant front door entry with designer glass window and contemporary door hardware
• Soaring 9' ceilings on the main floor
• Gourmet kitchen with maple cabinetry, granite countertops, taller uppers, pot and pan drawers, upgraded Moen© faucet, undermount sink, under cabinet light valance and crown molding.
• Hardwood floor in the great room
• Oversized trim and door package featuring captivating 7'-8" extra height doors and archways on the main level
• Cabinet style gas fireplace
• High-efficiency gas furnace 

The Waddell Executive

If you're thinking of downsizing, up-sizing or upgrading and you are looking for the perfect location, then look no further! Within minutes of Lyon's Gate III you will find all the amenities you could ever need; easy access to Highway 115, Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC), Fleming College, Peterborough Sport and Wellness Center, Mapleridge Recreation Center, great elementary and secondary schools, retail shopping, a wide assortment of restaurants, golf courses and so much more!

We are quite excited about this new community and the opportunity it will provide us to meet many new individuals and families looking for their ideal place to live, play, relax and grow within one of the best neighborhoods in Peterborough.

The Chester Executive

 For your convenience our Lyon's Gate Sales Centre is open five days a week. For more information I invite you to kindly contact me at anytime to set up an appointment, to discuss how easy it is to own a brand new home in Lyons Gate III.

I look forward to working together to find you the perfect new home!

Sincerely,
Rick






Rick Phillips
Director of sales and marketing
705 748-4663 (Sales Centre)
705 868-6443 (Cell)
rphillips@parkviewhomes.ca

A great start to 2015 for Jackson Creek Meadows!

The 2015 building season has started with a bang in our Jackson Creek Meadows Community! Sales of single detached homes and townhomes have been brisk since the middle of January, despite the frigid temperatures. However, the perfect storm of historically low interest rates, limited inventory in the resale market and a desirable West End Peterborough location has made Jackson Creek Meadows the smart choice for many families, first time homeowners and retirees.

Surprisingly we still have a small handful of premium lots ranging from 40’ to 60’ in width, backing onto a heavily treed green belt, adjacent to the Trans Canada Trail. These lots probably won’t last through the spring market, so don’t hesitate and miss out on the opportunity to live in this family friendly conservation community!

We are also pleased to announce that we will be opening a brand new model home this spring! The exciting grand opening of The Charlesworth Executive Model Home is tentatively scheduled to open in the middle of May. A completely new creation from our design department, The Charlesworth Executive showcases an open concept eat in kitchen/great room across the back of the home, with soaring vaulted ceilings and a covered deck.  The plan also features a popular loft master bedroom, two main floor bedrooms, full double car garage and a well-appointed finished lower level.

The Charlesworth Executive

Our design team has also just put the finishing touches on a new fully furnished townhome model, The Berkley. The Berkley townhome boasts 1890 sq. ft. of living space featuring 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, open concept main floor with eat in kitchen, great room and separate living/dining room. The unspoiled lower level offers a full walkout and three piece plumbing rough-in, ready to go for a fourth bathroom.

Executive Townhome Collection

The Jackson Creek Meadows Model Home is temporarily located at 343 Florence Drive.

Model Home Hours:

• Monday - 2pm to 7pm
• Tuesday to Friday - 11am to 7pm
• Saturday & Sunday - 10am to 6pm

Our new Charlesworth Executive Model Home will be located at 105 Chandler Crescent. We invite you to come in and visit us and see our full selection of available lots and home designs.

We look forward to making your new home dream come true in Jackson Creek Meadows!

See you soon!
Paul


Paul Davidson
New Home Specialist
705.748.4665
pauldavidson@parkviewhomes.ca

2015 Trends in Design

Each year the Interior Design Show (IDS) in Toronto promises to surprise and amaze the thousands of participants who attend with their flashy displays of new and exciting products. As always, as a designer, I was anxious to see what’s hot and interesting in for 2015, in hopes that I may be able to bring some of those trends back to the purchasers of Parkview Homes via the Parkview Homes Design Studio. As you may or may not know at the Design Studio we pride ourselves in always trying to offer the best selection in design to our purchasers.

This year at the show there were a few new hot items I would like to share with you!

1)     Granite and Quartz Sinks:

Traditionally we have seen these materials used repeatedly in countertops and even in kitchen backsplashes. However, traditionally these popular and stunning products have not been used for sinks. Bathroom sinks are an unusual and interesting way to use of this material. This new application for granite and quartz make stunning vessel sinks, as well as molded stand-alone bathroom sinks with fabulous colours and patterns.

2)     Modern Farmhouse Décor:

We have seen rustic flooring and tables become increasingly popular in the past few years. Modern farmhouse is combining those items with a few modern touches. For example, in the kitchen pairing a rustic wooden kitchen table with modern leather white parsons chairs, a black rod iron chandelier and an old world white brick on the wall as an accent provides an eclectic but interesting mix of elements in a room.

This same look can be pulled off successfully in any room of the house and what’s really nice is that you can keep some of your old classic furniture pieces and purchase a few new modern pieces, without making too much of a dent in your wallet and you will still be keeping up with the trend.

3)     Kitchen Design:

This is one of the most important elements when building a new home. Deciding on what to do in the kitchen can be one of the most challenging but fun parts of the design process. The kitchen, as we all know, is the heart of the home and sets the tone for the overall look and feel in the home.

This year’s trend in kitchens is minimalist. The trend in cabinetry is flat or slab cabinets, showcasing clean lines. Clean line cabinetry is a stand-alone feature in new kitchens, as no hardware is growing in popularity. Doors and drawers open based on touch or integrated handles at bottom of doors. The European trend of open shelving can also work well to contain everyday plates, cups, etc. in place of uppers. High gloss and wood combinations take top spot in kitchen design.

I look forward to helping our purchasers integrate some of these new and fresh as well as their unique ideas into their new homes!

For more information about the Parkview Homes Design Studio and the many trends offered within, please contact:

Susan Fenn

Design Studio Manager

580 The Queensway, Peterborough ON

705-741-4410

The Role of a Design Consultant

Today’s forward thinking builders’ hire well trained and knowledgeable design experts to build a rapport with their homebuyers.

After the home sale is finalized, Parkview Homes purchasers are invited to visit their Design Studio at 580 The Queensway, to learn more about the plethora of standard and upgrade options available to them, for designing and personalizing their homes.

The role of the design consultant is essentially three-fold:

1. To educate homebuyers on the pros and cons of available options.

2.  To provide product information required to make good choices.

And most importantly,

3.  To assist and guide the homebuyer through an often-overwhelming process of selecting finishes for their homes.

Parkview Homes takes a one-stop-shopping retail store approach to selections. Where often you will see builders sending their homebuyers from store to store in search of options for their new home, Parkview’s Design Studio proudly struts all of their current and trendy standard and upgrade options under one roof, making it convenient for their buyers.

The bar is being raised in every consumer goods and services industry segment to meet the ever-increasing demands of today’s well-educated shoppers. 

Parkview Homes continues to offer best in class products and finishes with it’s exclusive professional Design Studio.

For more information please contact:

Susan Fenn,
Design Studio Manager
580 The Queensway
705-741-4410

The First Time Home Buyer Blog: Visiting the Kitchen Designer

Howdy! And Welcome back to my First Time Home Buyer Blog in this edition I am going to expand on my experience of visiting the professional kitchen designer as part of my Design Studio Selections process.

If this is the first time you are checking in with me, here are the links to the previous blogs you have missed:

·        First Time Home Buyer Blog

·       First Time Home Buyer Blog – Personalizing My Floor Plan!

·        First Time Home Buyer Blog – Design Studio – Part 1

·       First Time Home Buyer Blog – Design Studio – Part 2

So just a little insider knowledge before I dive into my experience. Every purchaser of a brand new Parkview home gets to go through the Design Studio Selection process to select the finishes for their new home, and that includes the opportunity to meet with Debbie from AYA Kitchens. I highly recommend taking the opportunity to meet with Debbie she is super nice, highly professional and has the expertise to provide amazing suggestions to make your kitchen, your dream kitchen, while working inside even the most limited of budgets.

Initially I wasn’t planning on visiting with Debbie because of my restricted budget. I figured I would be able to pick out everything that I needed from the standard and upgrades available at the Design Studio, but when I wanted a different kind of cabinet in my powder room I booked an appointment to visit with Debbie and discuss my options.

When I arrived at AYA, Debbie was there ready to work one on one with me, discuss my kitchen and bathrooms options and offer up suggestions to make my life easier. She provided me with simple solutions such as adding a corner folding cabinet and a cabinet opposite my sink to optimize the storage space in my kitchen, adding an extended cabinet over my fridge so the cabinet wasn’t set back and under cabinet light valance for better lighting. She was also ready with suggestions to meet my personal style such as changing my standard oak cabinets to maple and changing my door hardware for a smoother, sleeker look.

She also listened to my thoughts and wishes for my kitchen and offered suggestions on how we could accomplish what I was looking to do. I had some extra space in my breakfast area, that I gained when I customized my plan, so I wanted to see if I could extend my kitchen into that area. I also wasn’t excited about the location of my main bank of drawers so I wanted to see if I could move it closer to the sink. And lastly, I wanted to see about changing the cabinet in my powder room to white, in a sleek and modern style.

In the end I decided that my kitchen needed the extra space, the moved bank of drawers, the corner folding cabinet and the cabinet on the opposite side of the sink and the maple upgrade. I also added the maple upgrade to my bathrooms for consistency throughout my home. 

When I got the drawings to sign off on I was blown away and I knew it was my kitchen! I can’t wait to move in so I can start cooking and baking in it!

Here is a sneak peek at my future kitchen:

In conclusion I LOVED MY KITCHEN DESIGNER EXPERIENCE! I was blown away by Debbie’s attentiveness to me and my needs, even though I didn’t have a big budget to spend. She made the experience 100% valuable and amazing, and made me so happy that I made the decision to go see her. I am having difficulty putting into words how excited this experience made me for my new home and how appreciative I am for knowing that my kitchen will be just perfect because of Debbie’s help.

It is spring now so my new home should be getting started any day now! When that shovel hits the dirt you know I will be peeking around the corner getting some pictures. Stay tuned for progress blogs and pictures!

Talk to you soon,

Alyssa :)

Here is more information about AYA Kitchens and the Parkview Homes Design Studio!

(Also, there are fantastic videos on this page that will show you the Design Studio and explain the Design Studio (Colour) Selection process!)

The First Time Home Buyer Blog: Design Studio - Part 1

Hello, hello, hello!

Welcome back or welcome if you haven’t read the first few blogs in this series!

If you want to know what you have missed so far, here are the links to the first two blogs I have written about my First Time Home Buyer experience:

·          Blog #1 – First Time Home Buyer Blog

        Blog #2 – First Time Home Buyer Blog – Personalizing My Floor Plan!

In this blog, I want to start talking to you about the Design Studio Selection process. It is an extremely exciting, nerve racking and awesome experience! I want to share with you my experience and also share tips that helped make it a much easier process for me.

First, I want to start by explaining what the Design Studio is. The Design Studio is a convenient one-stop shop for picking out everything that goes into your new home! I mean EVERYTHING! Carpet, floor tile, wall tile, hardwood, kitchen cabinets, kitchen countertops, bathroom cabinets, bathroom countertops, doors, trim, faucets, railings and all exterior finishes - I could go on but I don’t want to scare you! Luckily, all this is available in one place so you can compare colours and styles all in one location. Also, I should point out that the Design Studio has many standard options that are included in the price of your new home. However, if you have the budget and are looking to upgrade your new home, there are many, many upgrade options throughout the Design Studio to choose from as well.

Now for a look into my experience…

As I mentioned before, I work for Parkview Homes, which has given me the advantage of being in and out of our Design Studio many times. Even before I knew I was buying a Parkview Home, whenever I was in there I was looking at all the selection and dreamed about how some of the finishes would look in my imaginary home. I once contemplated becoming an Interior Designer (before I settled on being a Graphic Designer), so picking out interior finishes, matching colours and patterns is very exciting for me!

Here is Tip #1 – RESEARCH!!

Even if you think you know what you want and know your personal style really well, still do your RESEARCH! A good place to start is online, search interior decorating sites. I really loved Pinterest and Houzz. They were extremely helpful in deciding what kind of style I wanted to accomplish in my new house, before I headed into the Design Studio for my Design Studio Appointment. Also, in your research, figure out if you prefer classic, transitional or contemporary styling. As well, I found it helpful to decide what neutral colour I was – are you cream, beige, grey or greige person? I am definitely a grey person! I am a big believer in keeping large items neutral and accessorizing in colour. Accessories are easy to change out, big items such as ceramic tile flooring or kitchen cabinets are not so easy or cheap to change.

Tip #2 – BROWSE, BROWSE, BROWSE!!

Once you have determined what style and colour you would like to see in yournew home, head into the Design Studio for Browsing Hours. Browse through the selections, see what you like, what you don’t like, make notes and take pictures. When browsing at the Design Studio I found it extremely helpful to take pictures of the combinations that I liked, so I could reference back when I got home.

Also, if you are design or colour challenged, don’t worry! Susan, our Design Studio Consultant and Interior Designer is there to guide you through the process and offer suggestions to make your home fit your personal style.

Now I should mention, with my closing date not until fall, I had plenty of time between when I signed my agreement and when I needed to pick my Design Studio Selections. In most cases you don’t have the luxury of that much time. The typical time frame is within 7 days of signing a firm agreement. My suggestion, if you fall into this category, is start browsing online before your agreement even goes firm. You can also visit the Design Studio for Browsing Hours, to get an idea of what is offered and what you would like in your new home!

I am going to break this blog here! I don’t want to bore you with all my ramblings. Stay tuned for my next blog where I will give you a sneak peak at the selections I chose and also explain how beneficial it was to visit our kitchen designer! She’s awesome by the way! :)

Until my next blog - I hope this has been helpful! I look forward to continuing to write about my Design Studio Selection process!

Talk to you soon,

Alyssa

Click here for more information about the Parkview Homes Design Studio!

(Also, there are fantastic videos on this page that will show you the Design Studio and explain the Design Studio (Colour) Selection process!)