furnishing your new home when building featured

Furnishing your New Home (when Building)

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furnishing your new home when building featured

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Are you in the midst of building your dream home and now it’s time to start thinking about furnishing your new home?! I assume you are already a *tinch* overwhelmed with all of the design decisions … and now you have to make even MORE decisions on how to furnish your home?! Yikes! I’ll lay […]

Apr

03

Design + Decorate

Top Exterior Siding Materials Pros and Cons Tennessee Valley Homes FI

8 Top Exterior Siding Options: Pros and Cons

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Top Exterior Siding Materials Pros and Cons Tennessee Valley Homes FI

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Choosing your home exterior material is a BIG deal! Not only is it one of the most expensive line items when building a home, but your exterior is also everyone’s first impression of your home … and I know you want to make a traffic-stopping great first impression! If you are confused about your exterior siding options […]

Mar

27

Building a Home

Common light fixture types explained and where to use Serena and Lily

Common Light Fixture Types + Where to Use

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Common light fixture types explained and where to use Serena and Lily

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When choosing light fixtures for your home, it’s important to first have a basic understanding of the purpose of your lighting. This allows you to better determine which light fixture types belong in various rooms of your home. In this post, I’ll provide an overview of the three types (purposes) of lighting, six common (most used) light […]

Mar

20

Design + Decorate

8 clever tricks to make your small home feel bigger

8 Clever Tricks to Make your Small Home feel Bigger

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8 clever tricks to make your small home feel bigger

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Do you live in a smaller home that you would like to feel more spacious? Or possibly you dream of building a custom home, but a large home isn’t a reality because of your budget and/or land size. Whether you’re building a smaller custom home (custom homes do NOT have to be large!), or you […]

Mar

06

Building a Home

mudroom

How to Choose the Best Floor Tile Type: A Comparison

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mudroom

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Are you clueless when it comes to understanding the differences between ceramic, porcelain, and stone tile flooring?! No worries … many people answer YES to this question! So I’m sharing how to choose the best floor tile type. In order to know what type of tile is the best choice for your home (and budget), you […]

Feb

20

Design + Decorate

How to hang pendant lights over kitchen island featured

How to Hang Pendant Lighting over Kitchen Island

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How to hang pendant lights over kitchen island featured

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Feeling a bit confused on how to hang your pendant lighting over your kitchen island?! Curious how high to hang the pendants and how far to space them apart? Unsure how many pendants you need for your island size?  You aren’t alone! SO. MANY. PEOPLE. ask these exact same questions! I will answer all of […]

Feb

13

Building a Home

hey there,

I designed my own custom home from the ground up, inside and out. A home that is cozy, comfy, laid out perfectly for the way my family lives, and makes us happy every single day. Oh, and did I mention I did this all without going over budget?! 

Yep, it’s true. I’ve been there, done that, and actually lived through it … and you will too. Pinkie promise!

a.k.a. Caroline on Design

I’m Carrie Barker.

DREAMING OF BUILDING A                   HOME BUT AREN’T SURE WHERE TO START?

Get My free  
Home Build Prep Guide

yes! I need this!

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