The New Moderns: Just Add Color – Decorating Tips from Downunder

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There’s a new sensibility at work in homes that demonstrates a modernist, almost minimalist, aesthetic.

 

The message of simplicity in concrete floors, natural timber joinery, exposed beams or blackened steel-framed windows and doors may still be characteristic, but it has been brushed with colour. Softly muted tones, deep muddy shades or occasional pops of a bright hue feature in the latest residential interiors. The result is a more casual, cosy and more compassionate version of minimalism.

Does decor add value to your home?  Contact the appraisers at www.scappraisals.com for your Real Estate Appraisal questions.

 

Park House is a perfect example. It’s at the vanguard of Australian home design and stole the show at the recent Australian Interior Design Awards (AIDA), receiving both the coveted Premier Award (Victoria) and top honors for Residential Design.

 

This house is in Melbourne’s suburb of Hawthorn and was a design collaboration between Leeton Pointon Architects and Allison Pye Interiors. It is fresh and inviting, even homely, despite its sophistication, largely because of the muted colour in every room. There are also curvaceous walls, which work as subtle sculptural nuances delineating each space. And a generous use of timber offsets the austerity associated with the many concrete surfaces.

 

 

“Robust natural concrete, polished concrete floors, natural grey rendered walls are set against natural timber ceilings, hand-made bush basil tiles, soft-waxed walls and linen curtains,” says architect Michael Leeton. “Furnishings in natural linens and artwork made from natural materials complete the overall picture.”

 

For the furniture and furnishings, in the bedroom and living rooms of Park House, subdued colours, such as dusty pink, sandy tan, speckled grey and soft teal, add warmth to the more brutish materials used for hard surfaces.

 

“We like to juxtapose raw materials against softer elements as a way of heightening and celebrating their innate qualities,” says Leeton. “It’s a wholistic approach to design that creates environments which imbue this quality and allow a sense of silence to the space.”

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/homestyle/the-new-moderns-just-add-colour-20130711-2pryu.html#ixzz2YpwXdBrX

City of San Diego Bans Overnight RV Parking

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— Overnight parking restrictions targeting recreational vehicles, trailers and campers will soon be in effect for all of San Diego’s streets.

After seven years of debate the City Council enacted an ordinance Monday that would prohibit such vehicles from overnight street parking — a nuisance that has plagued beach neighborhoods. The city had considered a similar ban in 2008 but abandoned it because of budgetary concerns.

Does street congestion effect the value of your home?  Contact the appraisers at www.scapppraisals.com for your value questions.

“The proliferation of illegally parked vehicles is a public safety, is a quality of life and can be an environmental issue that especially impacts our neighborhoods and particularly many of those that are in our beach and bay communities,” said Councilman Kevin Faulconer, who pushed for the ordinance. “Currently we have vehicles that are parked in front of homes and businesses for weeks at a time, taking up valuable parking spaces … and limiting access to driveways and alleys which present major pedestrian problems.”

The existing rules allow vehicles to remain parked in the same spot for up to 72 hours after which they must move one-tenth of a mile although enforcement is spotty at best.

The new ordinance bans street parking of oversized vehicles, nonmotorized trailers and RVs between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. and prohibits them from parking with 50 feet of intersections at all times. Violators would receive a $100 ticket. Residents and their guests would be able to apply for permits to park on the same block as their home while preparing for trips.

Read more at: http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/jul/08/sd-bans-overnight-rv-street-parking/

VA Adds A Green Appraiser to Their Panel Of Appraisers in Southern California

Starting next week the VA in San Diego will have an appraiser that is well qualified to appraise energy-efficient and green properties.    Rene Seabourne of Southern California Appraisal Services, Inc has been added to list of fee panel appraisers for the VA loan program.

Ms. Seabourne is one of the few appraisers in the country qualified to appraise green and energy efficiency properties and now our vets will be able to take advantage of her expertise.  Ms Seabourne not only is a Certified Residential Real Estate Appraiser but she is a BPI Certified Building Analyst, a Certified Green Real Estate Professional and Certified Solar System Designer.

Ms. Seabourne has been called on numerous times to help homeowners rebut prior appraisals that gave no adjustment for energy upgrades and solar systems.  “Every week I get calls from homeowners telling me they did not get credit (adjustment) for their energy upgrades or their solar system and were told there is no value because there are no comps to support value.  Every case is unique but there are other ways of determining value beside available comps; and most appraisers are not aware of the other methods or just do not know how to do an energy-efficient property”.

Energy efficient properties will only increase in the future and make sure you get the value you deserve.  Request a qualified “green” appraiser from your lender to insure you get the value for your upgrades.

If you have any questions about “green” property appraisals contact the appraisers at www.scappraisals.com

Ms. Seabourne is the chief residential appraiser at Southern California Appraisal Services located in San Diego and is also a certified FEMA inspectors as well as her other accomplishments.  Ms Seabourne will continue doing conventional appraisal work as well as her VA work.  Call the experts at Southern California Appraisal Services for your appraisal needs.

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