There are many great reasons to upsize in 2021. After a challenging year and new lifestyle changes that have impacted us all, now is a great time to upsize your home and finally gain the comfort (and sanity) you’ve been looking for.

Affordability

Mortgage rates have hit historic lows, thanks to efforts by the government to stimulate the economy. Many metro areas have also seen a slowdown in-home price increases. Now that remote work is available for many Americans, buyers are free to stay farther away from their metropolitan workspaces, offering them more affordable options. If you want to grab more space at a lower price, now is the time to do it!

5 Fun Ways to Celebrate Safely During the Holidays

Get Creative

There are so many exciting craft ideas out there for you and your family to explore. You can find all sorts of inspiration online on Pinterest, Instagram, and even TikTok. Ever heard of hot chocolate bombs?

And here’s a pro tip: A quick search for “hygge” on any social media platform will send you down a rabbit hole of all things warm, delicious, and cozy!

Learn Something New

Do you have any skills or fun hobbies you’ve wanted to learn but never had the time? Watch cooking videos and tutorials with your loved ones to plan a downsized holiday meal. Take a short calligraphy course and try out some fancy handwriting. The possibilities are endless!

As we head into the last few months of the year, the leaves are falling, the temperatures are dropping, and amazing product is beginning to show up at grocery stores and farmer's markets. Next time you're meal planning or grocery shopping, check out these wonderful, seasonal fruits and veggies to add some color to your plate.

Apples

While sliced apples might be a staple of school lunches, many delectable recipes use cooked apples. Now is the perfect time to visit a local apple orchard and have fun with the family picking a bushel of the sweet, crispy fruit. Once you take them home, you can use them in a pie, cobbler, applesauce, or spiced apple cider.

One of our favorite ways to use apples is in baked oatmeal. Cooking the apples brings out their natural sweetness, which delivers some excitement to this otherwise drab breakfast entree.

If you’re like us, the middle of summer is just about the time this Texas heat becomes unbearable, and you start dreaming of white sand, blue waves, and more iced tea than you can shake a stick at. The kids are dying to build sandcastles, and you’re dying to lay under a giant beach umbrella with a good book. Sound familiar?

While this year is a little different than others, getting out in the great outdoors is still one of the safest things you can do. And if you’re feeling especially safety-conscious, use this time to plan next year’s beach adventure.

It’s usually easy to tell when your home is dirty, right? There's a pile of laundry on the floor, dishes in the sink, and maybe even mud tracked in from the great outdoors. Those are easy messes to identify—even if they aren’t easy to clean! But once these messes are cleaned up, don’t wash your hands and call it a day. There are many areas in our homes that we don’t think about cleaning regularly that can be truly filthy homes for bacteria, dust, and other foul things to grow and accumulate.

When was the last time you took a duster or a disinfectant to one of these areas?

From home decorating to home staging, 2020 is shaping up to be a year where the unusual is in high demand. Statement pieces, handcrafted details, and bold maximalist murals are all ways to catch a potential homebuyer’s eye this year—or just make your new place feel a little more “you”. We put together a list of the top trends interior decorators are recommending for the beginning of the decade—and don’t worry, “farmhouse chic” has dropped off the list once and for all.

Here are a few of our favorite 2020 home design and decorating trends:

If you’re facing a move across country with kids in tow, you may be nearing panic mode. The mere thought of getting a whining toddler to pack up all their toys is unnerving, let alone the thought of spending six hours trapped in a car with that toddler. Or, maybe your kids are school-aged, and you have to break the news that they’ll be leaving all their friends behind and starting a new adventure somewhere else.

If that doesn’t sound like your idea of fun, you’re not alone. Fortunately, we see families like yours make the big move from one side of the country to the other all the time—and we’ve learned a thing or two from their strategies throughout the process.

Ready to get a head start on the spring selling season? Listing your home in the wintertime is a great way to take advantage of a less competitive market and more committed buyers. You won’t have to worry about landscaping, and you might sell your home in days if the right buyer finds you at the right moment.

Showcase your space with these five tips for winter home sellers:

If you’re traveling to see friends and family this holiday season, your mind is probably already full of visions of roasted turkey and gingerbread men. You’ve put your mail on hold, wrapped your pipes, packed your bags—and checked them twice. But before you hit the road for a holiday adventure, take a moment to prepare your home for the time you’ll be gone with these tips:

Prepare Your Pets

Staging your home may not be mandatory, but it’s something that should be strongly considered when selling a property. Staging your home means having it professionally decorated and furnished to make it look more appealing to buyers. It helps potential buyers imagine life inside of the house, which could lead to a shorter time on the market! According to the National Association of Realtors, “39% of sellers’ agents stated that staging a home greatly decreases the amount of time the home is on the market.” That’s why staging your home can be a very beneficial part of the selling process, keep reading to learn why it’s an important step.

Give Room for Imagination

When many think of Texas, they think of endless farmland, cattle and horses. But what most don’t know is that we have amazing beaches along the gulf coast! This guide will show you five of the best beaches in the lone star state for endless summer fun!

Rockport Beach

Everyone is ready to change something big in the new year! If your big change happens to be your home’s interior this year, here are some of the top design trends for 2019 to inspire you!

The Color Green as an Interior Design Element

Kermit got it wrong, it’s so easy being green. The color of tranquility and ambition has been seen a lot in designs leading up to the new year and may even take over 2019! Many say it also helps remind people to be eco-friendly and live a life of sustainability. Whether you choose to paint an entire room, or to add a pop of color with some accent pillows, green is where it’s at.

Out with the old, in with the new! If you’re ready for a new year and a new you, putting your holiday decorations away once the festivities are over, cleaning thoroughly, and getting organized can get your new year’s resolutions off to a great start. Making sure everything has a place to be put away is the first step to a clean and organized home.

From the yummy treats of Thanksgiving time, to the wonders of the Christmas season, the holidays can be a wonderful time for children—but they can also be dangerous. From poisonous plants to electrical hazards, fun holiday festivities can pose potential dangers for your kids, especially younger ones.  

Here are some simple steps to keep children safe during the holiday season:

So it’s the week before Halloween, and you just got invited to a costume party with no time to prep costumes for yourself, let alone your kids. Don’t panic! There are loads of quick last-minute costumes that you can throw together in a pinch, with just the items you have in your closet already. Your kids will love the creativity, and you’ll save money in the long run!

Here’s our top 5 picks for simple DIY Halloween costumes your kids will love:

If your children have left for college or maybe to start families of their own, your home might be suddenly quieter and better organized than it’s been in years. Now that you can finally hear yourself think, you may have realized that you have more space in that big house than you know what to do with. If you’ve found yourself with an empty nest, downsizing might be the perfect solution for your new lifestyle needs.

Here are five things to consider when thinking about downsizing:

It’s that time of year again, and parents everywhere are starting to round up the little ones from their romps in the great outdoors, and rope them into backpacks, uniforms, and shoes. Your older kids may be used to this, but your little ones may need some help adjusting to their new schedule. We may not be Pinterest, but we’ve got some suggestions for five easy ways to transition your kiddos into the new school year.

Planning to sell your home soon? To sell your home quickly and get your asking price, it’s imperative that you prepare your home for showings with staging. However, deciding to stage your home doesn’t mean you have to blow your budget. If you don’t have the time or budget to hire professional stagers, try our easy staging tips to get your home ready to hit the market!

The arrival of Spring might make you feel inspired to tackle that spring cleaning list or - it may leave you wanting to breathe new life into your home’s interior design. By adding new design trends, revamping your home’s interior design can keep you feeling refreshed and excited.

While décor and design trends like all-white kitchens and neutrals quickly become a fad you’ll need to forget in order to stay on top of current trends, you’ll want to embrace these unique 2018 home design trends with open arms. 

Moving can be stressful during any time of the year, but even more so with the added chaos of the holiday season. You’ve got holiday parties, baking, dinners to plan, presents to wrap and lights to hang – but all with the added stress of packing your belongings and making sure your utilities are turned on in time and your decorations go up before Christmas. With our tips, you can get organized to move into your new home and enjoy the best of the holiday season.  

1. Combine your new address cards with your holiday cards 

Instead of dealing with the stress of placing two orders of cards this season, include your new ‘we’ve moved’ message on your holiday cards, with your new address. This can save you time, money, and the hassle of sending out twice the amount of holiday mail. 

2. Pack and label your holiday décor separately

When moving just before or during the holiday season, be sure to pack your holiday decorations and décor separately. Label the boxes clearly and have your movers place them in the living room once you arrive at your new home. This way, you can unpack and hang your holiday décor as soon as you get to your new home! 

3. Find out the federal and state holiday schedules 

If you’re moving in close to Christmas, check with your electric and gas company to determine which days they’ll be closed over the holiday season. You want to avoid moving into your new home with no lights and no heat during the winter season. Make sure you plan for potential weather delays, too! If you’re moving to a new state, stay tuned to the weather ahead of time. 

4. Order a Christmas dinner dish instead of baking 

Christmas dinner is exhausting work for hosts. If you’re not hosting this year, opt to pick up a dish or dessert from a local store or bakery instead of baking. Your baking dishes will likely be in one of the dozens of packed boxes and will be difficult to find anyway. If you’re stuck hosting this year, ask your guests to bring certain dishes or sides to alleviate the majority of the cooking from you. Alternatively, you can order much of your holiday dinner from local bakeries, restaurants, and more.