Grey is the New Beige

In our Parade Home for 2009, Lori Caldwell the designer chose a color palette of grey throughout the home. Grey has a lot of range and appears bright to people. It's also very calming. You can also really draw attention to focal points once you add art that is vibrant in color. I've had a ton of people walk up to me unsolicited and tell me the feel peaceful in our home. I think that's awesome because you want your home to be a sanctuary. The judges actually rewarded Lori with "Best Interior Design" award for the Parade. Come see us through September 13th if you get a chance.

2009 Parade of Homes Part 2

Just a quick progress report but I wanted to give you an idea of the Mattern & FitzGerald Parade elevation for the 2009 Parade of Homes. This picture was taken in early June and looks markedly different now, but it kind of gives you the idea.

We wanted to do something a little different this year than Parade's past. I am calling this the Austin House because the clean lines of architecture in Austin were my inspiration. The home will be transitional, meaning it will be a blend between modern and traditional. It's not so contemporary it's over the top, but has a unique architecture featuring the Spirit of San Antonio conservatism. Some of the main features will include stained concrete floors, sand and stain finished wood, grass in the driveway, amazing outdoor living and lots and lots of rock on the interior and exterior.

The show begins September 5th and runs through the 13th. You can purchase tickets at the door for $12 or $10 if purchased at Home Depot.

Quick Tip on Interior Rock

For the Parade of Homes this year, we have an extraordinary amount of rock inside our home. Rock is so powerful when placed inside of a home because it brings in natural elements and connects with people like few other materials. Anyway, when rock is brought in from the quarry, it has quite a bit of dust on it. For outdoor rock, the rain will eventually wash off the dust. For the inside however, you should hose down the rock before bringing it inside. If you do this, not only will your rock look better but you won't have to worry about chalky residue on your clothes when you bump into it.