These are several handy tips you’ll want to bear in mind for your next home remodeling project.

Remodeling your home can be stressful and time-consuming, but if you go about it in the right way, you are guaranteed success. Here are a few home remodeling tips to ensure your newly fashioned home turns about absolutely stunning.

• Hire a build-design team who has been in the business for a while and has experience creating the type of home you’re seeking.
• Be honest and clear with your remodeling team about what you want and what you don’t want. Make your needs and desires known, so that they can tailor their plans to them.
• Spend plenty of time looking online and in magazines for design ideas before you make your plans. This way, you don’t run across an idea you never thought of and wish you’d included it.
• Remember that open floor plans and spaces are popular right now, and for good reason. They make it easier for family to be together and make your home feel more welcoming.
• Include one or two “splurge” items in the design that you want, but don’t really need.

Start planning your remodel today, because only after what you establish what you really want, is it possible to achieve it.

Here are some of 2015’s hottest interior design trends. Source: WSJ.com

A new year brings new interior design trends. If you’re thinking of remodeling or building a new home this year, keep these trends in mind as you create your own designs.

• Metals are very trendy right now. Creating a layered mix of silver, gold and bronze is a unique way to call attention to your space.
• Rugs patterned with irregular shapes and swirls, similar to those you would see in a Monet painting, are great for both dining rooms and living rooms.
• Indigo blue is more popular than ever, especially when used with lighter colors such as coral and sage green.
• When choosing glass items, be sure to opt for smoky glass rather than clear glass. It gives the room a mystical, refined look.
• Graphic tiles are popular both indoors and outdoors for 2015. Unique, colorful concrete tiles are perfect for those who want to share a little bit about their lives and passions with visitors.

Start planning your remodel today, and be sure to include some of these stunning ideas. Whether you create an indigo and sage living room or a kitchen with metallic decor, you’ll have a home to be proud of in 2015.

Here are some great “green” tips to help you make the most of recycled tiles in your kitchen. Source: Houzz

Tile is pretty much a fixture of kitchen décor. However, if you’re redoing your kitchen or building from the ground up and want an environmentally conscious space, you can’t do much better than recycled backsplashes. You can get the beautiful look you want and make sure your kitchen was completely sustainably sourced. Use these tips from Trilogy Partners to learn more about common types of recycled tile.

• Use glass tile for a backsplash if you want a more modern look. While you might see some variation between tiles, it’s generally very pleasing to the eye, and is often the case with new tile as well. Recycled glass tile also uses only 30% of the energy required for new glass tile.
• Consider ceramic tile for your backsplash if you prefer a more uniform look. Unlike some recycled tile, ceramic is typically made into a uniform color that’s ideal for clean décor styles and bold, bright or darker colors, as well as white.
• Try metal tile for a bold, sexy look! Making recycled metal uses just 5% of the energy needed for new metal tile too.

Contact Trilogy Partners to learn more about recycled backsplahes and tile for your kitchen.

For anyone looking to upgrade their kitchen BUT remain eco-friendly, here are a few “green” kitchen appliances that you’ll want to consider. Source: Houzz

The appliances you install in your kitchen make a huge difference in how the overall space looks. They also say a whole lot about you as a homeowner. That’s why many people are looking for eco-friendly appliances for their kitchens. If you’re building a home or upgrading your kitchen, consider these appliances for your space. They’re good for the environment and they can make your space look great. Use this guide from Trilogy Partners to help figure out which ones are right for you.

• Consider family size when buying a refrigerator. An eco-friendly refrigerator that’s too small is going to have to work harder to cool your food when it’s packed full. Most families can use a refrigerator of about 25 cubic feet efficiently.
• Think about a magnetic induction cooktop if you use the stove a lot. You might be used to a standard gas stove, but they aren’t quite as environmentally because of how natural gas is sourced.
• Buy an oven that’s the appropriate size. They usually come in 24, 27 and 30-inch sizes, but if you don’t cook much, small works just fine. Convection ovens also use less energy.

Contact Trilogy Partners to learn more about eco-friendly appliances.

There are plenty of reasons why you’d want to “go green” and create a more eco-friendly home. Here are some tips to help you get started. Source: Houzz

For a lot of homeowners, the first things that come to mind when they hear “going green” tend to be big, expensive, and time-consuming. Examples range from installing solar panels to building walls with straw bales. However, it is important to remember that going green doesn’t have to be complicated.

So get started with these green home tips:

• Awnings can have enormous impact on household operating costs because sunlight hits the Earth at a steeper angle in summer. This means that awnings placed in the right positions can let in less sunlight in summer and more sunlight in winter, thus reducing cooling and heating costs in the respective periods.
• Likewise, it never hurts to improve the insulation on the sides of windows with a little foam. Instead of a can, invest in a foam gun for both superior control and a reduction in waste.
• Using recycled products is beneficial for the environment, but using reclaimed and repurposed products is even better. You may even find such products appealing to your sense of aesthetics, since so many of them tend to be so full of character.
• Finally, avoid products that contain contaminants such as VOCs.

Please contact us for more information.

There are plenty of perks for installing a radiant heating system, including how eco-friendly it can be. Source: Houzz

Radiant heating means that the home is heated using plastic tubing circulating warm tubing usually placed beneath the visible flooring material. . Under the right circumstances, it can make a home more comfortable to live in while also reducing its heating bill because less heat is lost while being moved to where it needs to be. In a high altitude or cold weather environment, radiant heating has become the standard choice. Trilogy Partners uses radiant heat in all its high country homes.

Here are some of the most important considerations when installing a radiant heating system:

• Since radiant heating is less common than convection heating, you should choose a contractor with experience installing such systems.
• Most heating systems of this kind are installed beneath the floors. Therefore, you may need to vacate your home for a couple of months depending on the extent of the installation.
• You need to choose your flooring material so that the electromagnetic waves can pass through. Tile and concrete are perfect, but layered engineered wood can also work.
• Learn about how such heating systems are best used. For example, they need time to heat up, meaning that they are best when continuously run at lower temperatures.
• Ask an energy-efficient consultant to study the effects on your home’s overall efficiency before you have one installed.

To learn more about less common heating systems such as geothermal heating, please contact us at Trilogy Partners.

We’re going to “bust” some of the common green roofing myths that you may have heard. Source: Houzz

When it comes to green building, there are a lot of myths out there that often dissuade people from investing in it. For example, there are more than a few green roof myths out there. However, they are just that – myths. Green roofing is actually quite beneficial. The following are a few green roofing myths to avoid:

• Green roofs only work for green buildings – Your home doesn’t have to be completely green for a green roof to be effective. In fact, a green roof can be the only green feature your home has and it will still provide you with a ton of environmental benefits.
• Green roofs cause structural issues – Your roof isn’t going to be more prone to leaks if it’s a green roof. In fact, green roofs often have longer lifespans since they add a layer of protection to your waterproof membrane.
• Green roofs are too expensive – It doesn’t cost as much as you think, and the benefits are worth the cost – including the fact that some green roofs can last twice as long as normal roofs.

Avoid these green roof myths and contact us at Trilogy Partners for more green roofing information.

Using WaterSense faucets and duel-flush toilets, as well as reusing graywater, are some ways you can reduce the water usage in your home and otherwise live “greener”. Source: Houzz

When planning your bathroom design, one thing you should consider is the amount of water you use. Not only do you want to reduce water usage in order to save money on your water bills, you’ll want to do so to reduce your environmental footprint as well. The following are a few water conservation tips to consider when planning your bathroom design:

• Install WaterSense faucets – Faucets that are approved by WaterSense label will reduce the flow of water by up to 30 percent without sacrificing any performance. This can end up saving you roughly 500 gallons of water every year. Go the extra step by adding an aerator to decrease the water flow while increasing the water pressure.
• Install a dual-flush toilet – Toilets consume a ton of water. Dual-flush toilets boast two flushers, one for liquid waste, which uses less than one gallon of water, and one for solid waste.
• Use graywater – Install a graywater system in which used sink water is filtered and disinfected before being reused for toilet flushing.

These are a few ways you can reduce your bathroom water use. For more water conservation tips, be sure to contact us at Trilogy Partners.

Here are some tips for anyone who’s interested in going green. Source: morgueFile

You’ve probably heard about the phrase “going green” on more than a few occasions. While the concept is noble – going green refers to reducing your environmental footprint – the phrase itself has become something of a buzzword. The following are a few tips about going green that you should be aware of:

• Do your research – Don’t just buy into a product or service because they advertise it as being “green.” This word can be very misleading. For example, one product may be more eco-friendly than another, but that doesn’t make it eco-friendly in itself.
• Think about the future – In addition to how green the product or service is in the present, consider its future. Can it be reused or recycled? How long will it last? These are factors of being green as well.
• Is it local? – Materials that aren’t locally produced aren’t going to be very green because of what’s required to transport them to you. Look for products that use local materials to cut down on fuel use.

These are a few things to keep in mind when going green. For more tips about going green, be sure to contact us at Trilogy Partners today.

Some tips for creating a green home include installing awnings and insulation, and using high quality materials that will last longer. Source: Houzz

Striving to create a greener home environment is a great way to reduce not only your environmental footprint but to also reduce your monthly utility costs, thereby helping you save a lot of money in the long run. The following are a few tips for creating a green home environment:

• Install awnings – Strategically placed awnings can help you reduce the amount of energy you need to use. For example, during the summer awnings will help block out the sun’s heat, while in the winter the sunlight will hit your home at a steeper angle, which means low-angled light will be let in to heat your home.
• Add insulation – If you’ve added energy efficient windows, then the last thing you want is for heat to escape around the sides. Use fill-in foam insulation to help reduce the amount of heat that will escape around your windows.
• Use high quality materials – Not only should you use reclaimed materials, you should use materials that last so that you don’t have to waste money and materials replacing them.

These are just a few tips for creating a green home environment. Contact us at Trilogy Partners for more green home design advice.