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First lady Jill Biden unveils her first White House holiday decorations
East Wing communications director Elizabeth Alexander told CNN the idea for Biden’s theme was to showcase “things that unite and heal, and bring us together.” Biden and the East Wing began planning for the holiday decorations in early summer, narrowing the ideas and beginning to visualize how it would come to fruition. In each of the public rooms of the White House — which remains closed to visitors due to the Covid-19 pandemic — there is an individual representation of the theme. The Library Room, with decorations of butterflies, reflects the “gift of learning,” while the Vermeil Room notes the “gift of the visual arts” with Christmas wreaths made of…
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This meticulously planned and planted Queen Anne garden changes for the seasons in colorful echoes of a restored Victorian home
BELIEVE IT OR NOT, this sultry Victorian on Queen Anne was once a humble 1906 house clad in white vinyl siding, with a “pretty” pink, yellow and blue garden skirting its foundation. Then Brian Coleman, a Seattle psychiatrist with a love for old houses, discovered a passion for historical restoration. “We added a turret, carvings of sunflowers and cast-iron griffins, along with new siding in a fall palette of deep greens, gold and burgundy,” he says. “The garden had to change!” American poet Phyllis McGinley once wrote, “The trouble with gardening is that it does not remain an avocation. It becomes an obsession.” Coleman tells me his passion (obsession?) for…
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Is Your Home Improvement Contract Legal? – Real Estate and Construction
In an effort to protect homeowners, California has set out extensive requirements for the form and content of home improvement contracts. California Business and Professions Code Section 7159 sets out these requirements in painstaking, and sometimes pain-inducing, levels of detail. The unfortunate result for contractors tends to be confusion and avoidance. Many contractors operate with noncompliant contracts, or have no formal contract and simply operate on the basis of a bid submission. The consequences of doing so can include disciplinary action by the Contractors State License Board (CSLB), fines, and an unenforceable agreement. It is worth the time and effort for a contractor to bring his or her contracts into…
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Here’s Where Home Prices Are Headed in 2022, According to Experts
MikeCanada / Getty Images/iStockphoto No doubt about it — the real estate market has been white hot in 2021. But if you didn’t make a move this year, and you’re thinking about buying or selling — or both — next year, you’ll want to know what to expect. Read: Craziest Things That Kill Your Home’s ValueHome Improvement: 20 Home Renovations That Will Hurt Your Home’s Value As of Nov. 10, the 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 2.98{d4d1dfc03659490934346f23c59135b993ced5bc8cc26281e129c43fe68630c9}, which is actually the lowest it’s been since Sept. 23. If you’re planning to buy a house, you’re almost definitely pleased that rates aren’t exactly skyrocketing — but will it last? Several real…
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Metaverse universe: Realty and luxury brands wait for you to splash crypto cash
It is not real yet but things are moving along at a feverish pace. Metaverse, a dream sold to us most vocally by Mark Zuckerberg of Meta (formerly Facebook) and followed up by the world of tech and beyond, is at best described as a hypothetical evolution of the internet in its current form, and it may or may not happen, however, the number of believers is significantly higher. If you thought only tech companies have ambitions for the metaverse future, that wouldn’t be true. Real estate, fashion, entertainment, and gaming companies are making a beeline for the next big upgrade to the internet, sending the digital real estate prices…
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How to be part of the NDIS property investment boom – Services
NDIS service providers tend to rent the whole property for lengthy periods of time.Photo by Tierra Mallorca on Unsplash Property continues to be a star investment performer during the pandemic with certain types of property delivering even better returns than others. NDIS approved dwellings fall into this category. Property is king at the moment and many people who are investing in property are making significant gains. What we are finding is that investors who are purchasing NDIS approved dwellings are achieving extremely attractive returns of up to 20 percent per annum. The most common question I receive is how do I find or invest in an NDIS approved property. People…
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