Earth Day may come once a year, but there are everyday things each of us can do to protect the environment. As a homebuilder, Taylor Morrison has taken a leadership role by creating eco-friendly homes. This means building with sustainable materials, recycling jobsite waste and taking other steps to design and build energy efficient homes.

Here are some things you can do to celebrate Earth Day every day of the year.

1. Leave your car at home. You can cut greenhouse emissions by about 1,600 pounds a year just by leaving your car at home twice a week. Car-pool or take public transportation instead. 
2. Take care of that annoying leak. Over 1,300 gallons per year is wasted by a faucet leaking just one drop of water per second. 
3. Switch to energy efficient light bulbs. Replace electric bulbs with LED or compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFL) lights that are designed to last longer and use less energy, and they don’t cause heat build-up like regular bulbs. 
4. Wash your dishes more efficiently. Don’t run the dishwasher until it is full. Tests show that pre-rinsing dirty dishes doesn’t improve dishwasher cleaning, so skip that step. 
5. Don’t bag grass cuttings. After mowing leave the clippings on the lawn. They’ll decompose and enrich the soil. 
6. Use reusable bags when you shop. Keep a few in your car so you’ll always have them available when you go to the store. 
7. Take showers instead of baths. A five-minute shower only uses 10-25 gallons of water while a full tub requires about 70 gallons. 
8. Put the shades down. Closing the shades will help your air conditioner be more efficient. Even without air conditioning closed shades keep your home cooler. 
9. Recycle waste and other items. Besides recycling trash items there are other things you can do. Donate clothing, old electronics and other unwanteds. 
10. Use natural cleaning products. Avoid regular household cleaners, which can be very toxic and polluting. Clean with green products instead. 

Find out more about the Taylor Morrison Elements program and how we build eco-friendly homes.

Need to sell the home you’re in before you can move to a new one? Real estate pros say you’ll have a lot better luck attracting buyers and getting your asking price if you put a little effort into upgrading your home. That doesn’t have to mean a $60,000 kitchen and bath remodel. There are dozens of little things you can do that can make your old home look fresh and appealing. Here are some of my favorite inexpensive tips to help you spruce up your home before you sell it.

• Exterior quick fixes. 

This sounds like a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised how many people don’t bother to clean up the exterior of their homes when they put them on the market. Make sure the lawn is mowed and watered regularly. Pull out weeds, deadhead old flowers and put in new bedding plants, trim shrubs and trees. Sweep the walkways and replace cracked pavers. Have the kids pick up their toys and put them away.

Wash the windows and hose down the siding to remove dirt and cobwebs. Clean out the gutters and replace and broken pieces. Get a nice new welcome mat. Has your front door seen better days? Give it a couple coats of paint and consider adding new hardware. Make sure the porch light and doorbell are in good working condition. Replace any torn or sagging screens. Invest in a new mail box.

• Paint. 

Most experts recommend that you paint everything white or a light neutral. It will make even small rooms look bigger. Don’t forget the trim and baseboards.

• Spruce up cabinets. 

You don’t need to replace them – that’s expensive. You may be able to get by with a good cleaning or a coat of paint. If they’re really shabby, consider having them refaced. While you’re at it, replace the knobs and pulls.

• Change out plumbing fixtures. 

Replace old, pitted bath and kitchen fixtures with new ones. Don’t forget the shower head.

• Switch out the switch plates. 

This is such a cheap fix – often 30 cents or less a piece.

• Bring in a plumber and electrician. 

Check for and repair leaks, drips and running toilets. Ask the electrician to repair any loose wirings and faulty outlets. Consider installing power outlets with USB ports.

• Regrout and caulk. 

Dirty grout and crumbling caulk indicate neglected maintenance – a big red flag to prospective buyers.

• Spiff up the bathroom. 

Refinish old tub, sinks and shower enclosures. Buy a new toilet seat. Hang a new shower curtain and put out new, clean and neatly folded towels. Put fresh soap in the soap dishes and be sure the mirrors are polished.

• Clean and organize storage spaces. 

This will cost you next to nothing but time. Clutter is unappealing and makes closets and storage spaces look small. Don’t forget the storage spaces under sinks.

• Have carpets and flooring professionally cleaned.

If you can’t get rid of stains, hide them with strategically placed furniture or throw rugs.

• Clean the lights and fans. 

Replace ratty old fan blades with new ones. Get the dust off light bulbs and fixtures and make sure there are working bulbs in chandeliers and overheads.

• Make the beds. 

Fluff the pillows and add new or freshly laundered comforters or spreads.

• Declutter shelves and surfaces. 

When it comes to accessories, knickknacks and bric-a-brac, less is more. Same goes for old newspapers, magazines, video games and all the other stuff that collects on tables and shelves.

• Clean and clean again. 

Dirt is a turn off. Make sure your oven is sparkling inside and out. Clean out the refrigerator (yes, people will open it and look inside). Dust window sills. Clean the mini blinds. Don’t forget the range hood and furnace grills. Do the dishes and put them away. If you don’t have the time or energy to do it yourself, invest in a quality maid service.

When I was little, my dream home looked a lot like Cinderella’s castle – complete with moat, drawbridge and Prince Charming. Even now, I can still moon over glossy magazine spreads of fabulous multi-zillion dollar palatial mansions. But the home I own is one I can actually live in and keep reasonably tidy without a Downton Abbey-sized staff. That got me to thinking: with all the choices, all the homes for sale, what steps would I take to find my dream home today? Well, if you’re a modern-day Cinderella looking for your contemporary castle, here are 10 tips to help you know you’ve found THE one. No fairy godmother required.

1. It feels like love at first sight. Maybe you’ve looked at three dozen homes and they’re all starting to blur. But the moment you see this one, you can’t wait to get out of car and go inside. If you get that fluttery, warm and fuzzy all over feeling, this could be the home of your dreams. 
2. It’s perfect enough. Sure, you’ve dreamed of a master suite with his and hers walk-in closets the size of a hockey rink and this home only has one walk-in in the master. But when you’re in love, you’re willing to overlook little flaws. You actually find them endearing. Heck, you even turn them into positives. You’re definitely hooked on the house. 
3. It meets your most important standards. Tiny flaws are one thing, but a deal breaker is a deal breaker. If your heart is set on a big kitchen with lots of windows, you will never be happy with a small, dark kitchen. Keep looking, someday your prince will come. 
4. You start mentally furnishing and decorating it. The minute you leave, you want to go pick out paint chips. You want to shop for furniture because you’ll need a bigger dining room table. You’re ready to swing by the garden store and check out flowers for the window boxes. That’s the home for you. 
5. You start bragging about it. You post about the house on Facebook. You text your best friend about it. You call your mom. It isn’t yours yet, but you talk and write about it as if it were. And woe to the poor soul who suggests that the guest bedroom seems a tad small. That person is in for an earful for daring to dis your dream home. 
6. You adore the location. It’s not just convenient. It’s perfect. It’s close to your favorite stores. The school district gets top ratings (and, big bonus, the grade school is just down the block). You’ll cut 20 minutes off your commute. There’s a cute little neighborhood park nearby. Whatever rings your bells, this location has it. 
7. The price is right. This dream home won’t turn into a financial nightmare. You can afford it without giving up your cable TV and living on Ramen noodles. 
8. The timing is right. The house will be ready for you when you’re ready for it. You won’t have to wait forever or coordinate a major move overnight. 
9. The size is right. It’s not too small, not too big. It has all the room you need right now with enough flexibility to grow with you. 
10. You can see the future from here. The holidays are months away, but you know exactly where you’ll hang the wreath. You can imagine the kids and the dog playing in the back yard – and you don’t even have kids or a dog yet. Congratulations! You’ve found your dream home. Better get your bid in. 

How about you? Was there one thing that made you certain you’d found your dream home? Share it.

Looking for Houston new homes for sale? Check out Taylor Morrison. You’ll find over 30 communities and neighborhoods in the Houston area. Right now, through June 30, 2013, when you purchase a new home in one of our select Houston communities and upgrade it to a Taylor Morrison Interactive Home™, you’ll receive an iPad mini free. That’s going to come in handy, because you can use it to control all the features in your new high-tech home of the future.

How high tech? Well, you can see who’s at the front door, even if you’re upstairs or in the kitchen. You can even tell them to come in or come back later using the intercom system. You also have the option of camera monitoring and intercom communication with every room in your home – great for checking on a sleeping infant or to see if the kids are really doing their homework. Use your iPad mini (or any Internet-connected device) to program your whole house audio system choosing from over 70,000 Internet stations or any digital audio source. The security system with remote notification lets you check the status of your alarm and arm or disarm it from your smartphone, computer or tablet. How comforting is that! And if you’ve ever been half way to work and wondered if you turned off the coffee maker, worry no more. When you have an Interactive Home, you can manage small appliances as well as all your lights whether you’re at home or on the road. You can choose from two optional Interactive Home packages that can be expanded to fit your needs and customize your living experience.

If you’re in the market of Houston real estate, visit one of our select Houston communities where the Interactive Home is available and get a hands-on demo of the features. You can schedule an appointment by calling Internet Home Consultants Sarah and Teresa at 281-780-4652 or schedule an appointment online.

Find Houston new homes for sale

Taylor Morrison has Houston new homes for sale to suit everyone’s taste and budget – from the mid 100s to the 700s and up. You’ll have your choice of the most in-demand locations like Katy, Humble, Cypress, Sugar Land, Pearland and League City – communities with great schools, easy access to the places you want to go and a range of popular amenities on site or nearby. When you find your Taylor Morrison home, be sure to share the experience here.

You have the keys to your new home. It’s exciting. That big move ahead of you, not so much. Moving is a lot of work and you’re going to be very busy. But life will be a whole lot easier if you plan ahead. Here are a few of the things you’ll need to do AFTER you’ve made your move.

Take inventory of your furniture. Before the movers go their own way inspect your furniture and appliances to determine whether or not anything was damaged in the move. Don’t sign off on anything that was.

Make sure all systems are go. Check to see if the gas and electric are on and if your telephone line is live. Also, make sure you know the schedule for other services such as cable installation and garbage pickup.

Locate the main circuit breaker. The time to get ready for future issues is now. Find the breaker box and label each breaker so you’ll be prepared in the event of an outage.

Know where the water is turned off. There may come a day when you need to turn off the main water line fast so find out where to shut it down before you desperately need to.

Be prepared for an emergency. Have at least one fire extinguisher upstairs and one downstairs handy to the kitchen. Establish emergency exits for your family. Take stock of the smoke alarms and install carbon monoxide alarms. Also, let the family know exactly where they can find a first aid kit.

Identify nearby health professionals. Find the professionals you – and your pets – will turn to when health care is needed. These can include a physician, dentist, optometrist and veterinarian.

Get street legal. It’s easy to put off updating your driver’s license. Contact the local DMV to find out what you need to do to change your address or to get a new state’s license if need be. Also, you may need new plates.

Take care of other pesky little details. A move triggers changes that need to be made. Will you need to set up new bank accounts and order new checks? Also, notify your different insurance companies about your move.

What’s not to love? Spacious homes on spacious home sites, a heart-of-Orlando location, a top-rated school district and one of the best values in an in-demand location – Sawgrass will have all that and more! If you’re looking for South Orlando new homes, you’ll want to join the Sawgrass VIP list. That way you’ll be sure to receive news about floor plan and pricing releases, model openings, special events and other updates.

When it opens for sales later this year, Sawgrass is expected to offer homes ranging from 3,800 to over 4,100 square feet with four or more bedrooms on 70-foot wide sites. It’s perfect for a family with teens or anyone who just wants a lot of elbow room and privacy. Community amenities on the drawing board include a pool, clubhouse, playground, basketball and tennis courts, sports fields and pocket parks. There are also several ponds and conservation areas throughout the site.

With prices anticipated to start in the low $300s, Sawgrass will be a great value in a prime location, especially if you work in the Medical City area, which is only 6 miles to the east. But Sawgrass is convenient to all major Orlando employment centers. Downtown is just 12 miles to the north, the theme park corridor is 12 miles west, so commuting shouldn’t be an ordeal. If you travel, you’ll appreciate that the Orlando International Airport is just minutes from your front door.

Handling your everyday errands should be a snap, too. When you need a gallon of milk, there’s a Publix grocery nearby that shares a shopping center, a bank, dry cleaner and pharmacy. Just three miles west, you’ll find a Costco, Target, movie theater, Home Depot and Burger King at Orange Blossom Trail. The Florida Mall is five miles to the north and when you’re really in the mood for some power shopping, Orlando’s major outlet malls are about 12 miles away.

Schools are a big consideration for many families when looking for new homes in Orlando. Kids in kindergarten through fifth grade will attend A-ranked Wetherbee Elementary, which just opened in the 2011-12 school year. South Creek Middle, now in its seventh year, serves grades 6 through 8 and Cypress Creek High, grades nine through 12.

Along with the many area theme parks and cultural attractions, Sawgrass is close to some exceptional natural attractions. Split Oak Forest Wildlife and Environmental Area has nearly 2,000 acres of preserve habitat for native wildlife and plants and is a popular place for hiking, horseback riding and nature viewing. East Lake Tohopekaliga covers 12,000 acres and attracts bass fishers, campers, boaters and birders.

Inspired by you isn’t just a slogan. At Taylor Morrison we really do listen and learn from what homebuyers tell us. We’re also big fans of Pinterest. So we’re really excited about our new Pinterest-inspired model home at Summerwood in Houston.

We chose the Camden model to showcase several of our favorite home decorating pins. Come for a visit and you’ll see them on display throughout the model. We took a big cue from homeowners’ love of color – especially fresh blue and green schemes. You’ll see it reflected in a colorfully decorated craft room, painted ceilings, and colorful tile backsplashes and richly colored cabinets in the kitchen. Tech-friendly features are in demand, too, and the Camden includes plenty of Pinterest-inspired tech ideas like USB outlet plugs. We’re putting together a Pinterest board to display in the model so visitors won’t miss any of the Pinterest touches.

The Camden is one of seven floor plans offered in the Summerwood 70s Premiere Series. The one- and two-story plans have four to five bedrooms, up to 3,421 square feet of living space and start from the $300,000s. There are seven more plans in the Summerwood 60s Chateau Series starting from the mid $200s.

Whichever you choose, you’ll have ample opportunity to add upgrades and options for a personalizing touch. One of the most popular here in tech-savvy Houston is the Taylor Morrison Interactive Home, our industry-leading connected home solution. Its many options include a front door video monitoring system (great when you don’t want to come downstairs to see who’s knocking), an LCD command center, a whole house audio system with over 70,000 Internet stations and iTunes integration, Selective Call Intercom, camera monitoring and a completely programmable lighting control system that lets you manage lights and small appliances-- everything from the porch light to the toaster!

Summerwood is a great community for anyone who enjoys the outdoors and socializing. Amenities include 150 acres of nature preserves, catch-and-release fishing, a fitness center, community center, two community pools and miles of nature trails. All that and a quick commute to downtown Houston make this an inviting place to put out your welcome mat.

For more information about Summerwood and new homes in Houston, call Internet Home Consultants Sarah and Teresa at 281-780-4652 or send an email request. And if you have a favorite Pinterest-inspired pin, let’s hear about it.

Is it a formal room for special occasions? A casual space for everyday? Or the place where all the clutter seems to congregate? Whatever you use your living room for, Taylor Morrison has something for your lifestyle. We design our homes and the rooms in them to suit local tastes and preferences. So read on to see which living rooms are hits with homeowners in the cities where we build. Then let’s hear which are your favorites or, even better, what your ideal living room would look like.

Austin’s Most Popular Living Room

One of the favorite living rooms in our new homes in Austin is the Florence plan. Buyers appreciate the way it opens onto the kitchen. The big windows on the backyard that bring the outdoors in and the high ceilings add to the sense of spaciousness. You can find the Florence at Crystal Falls The Fairways, in the thriving Northwest Austin corridor. See the floor plan and take a virtual tour.

You know how a new pop of color can perk up your wardrobe? It can do the same thing for your home. Maybe you can’t afford a pricey total make-over, but painting your home interior, a piece of furniture or just adding some colorful accessories can do wonders on a budget. And just like clothes you wear, colors for interior decorating follow trends. So grab your paint chips and fabric swatches and let’s see the color mavens say is in for home fashionistas.

 Some rights reserved by Jenny Lee Silver

You are in college and you want to find a way to secure your laptop from theft.  At home you have your passport, jewelry, cash, a firearm, or even gold.  You go to the park to play some basketball and need a way to keep your car keys and wallet from disappearing.  

The need to keep things safe has been around forever.   While the types of things we need to protect have changed, that basic need has remained constant.

The first patent for a safe was issued in 1835, but over the years the design of safes has changes very little.  They still contain a box, made from steel, with a door that opens and is controlled by some kind of locking mechanism.  But with the advancements in technology, the options for safes have expanded.  Today safes come in all shapes and sizes and the level of security you pick can be determined by what you want to keep protected.  

Think small:

If you are headed to the beach for the afternoon you probably have very few things with you that you need to keep secure.  

Here’s an option.  Take a look at the Compact Safe – P005CRed by Sentry Safe.

This safe offers a three number combination lock and enough space for your cell phone, car keys and wallet, cash or credit cards.  It also has a metal cable that allows you to lock the safe to something else that is a little more difficult to move or walk away with.  It will not keep a determined thief out of your items.  But it will keep an “Average Joe” from trying to steal the small things that can quickly walk away.  You can find the Compact Safe on Amazon for as little as $17 in various colors.

Hiding your valuables at home:

What do you do with your passport, emergency cash or other small item you have at home?  Here your options span lots of different choices.  I’m a Sentry Safe fan.  Over the years I have used or owned a few different styles of safe and found Sentry to be a quality product with reasonable price point.  If you are looking for something small, secure and well hidden, check out the Sentry Safe Floor Safe 7250.

This round, tube safe can be installed in a wall or in the floor or in concrete.  With a dial lock, cover plate and the ability to hide it, you could keep small valuables locked up with confidence that only you know where to find them.

You can find this Floor Safe for $120 on Amazon.

Important and dangerous things around your home:

Medicines are important to lock up.  Pain medication is a popular item for thieves.  Teens have taken medicine from their parents.  And, if you have small children, you want to keep all medicines up and out of their reach.

Here is where the Sentry Safe X125 can be beneficial.  Depending on the model, this safe can be as large as 10.6 inches x 16.9 inches x 14.8 inches.  It can accommodate most laptops, offers a power cord access point, has a carpeted floor, a removable shelf and has two locking bolts controlled with a keypad.  However, like with all safes, if you don’t lock this one down, it’s not going to do you much good.  A thief could easily walk off with a small safe like this. So be sure to secure any safe you may purchase.

Hotels have used smaller versions of this type of safe and they have been beneficial for their guests.  But one word of caution, some of those odd named, hotel safes have master codes like 0000 or 1234 that will open the safe even if you lock it with your own personal code.  So be sure to check your hotel safe before you lock up your laptop as you go out for the evening.

It’s time to go stealth:

Are you a James Bond type of person?  Do you need a little stealth in the way you secure your valuables?  Want to hide your safe in a place most people won’t think of looking?  You are in luck as there are a couple of great options to make this possible.  

The photo above is the Stack-On PWS-1522 in-wall safe.  This safe mounts between the studs on a normal wall and is nearly completely flush with the drywall.  You do not need to smooth out the rough-cut drywall because the safe will cover it, so installation is quick and simple.  The number pad and the knob are recessed and allow you to hang a picture or something else in front of the safe to hide it from view.  The lower half of this picture shows you how a wall safe would look behind a hinged, painting frame.  Now that’s stealthy, and affordable.  You can pick up this safe for about $100 on Amazon.

Need more security in your home:

Next, let’s go a little more high tech and secure.  Do you need something that can secure your weapons or high dollar items?  A full size safe may be the way to go.  These safes can be mounted to the floor with concrete anchors.  Some of these safes weigh as much as 800 pounds or more.  

To make it even more difficult for people to access a safe like this, there are some important things to look for.  First off, hinges on the inside of the door make it more secure.  You lose a little interior space due to the hinges, but with no hinges on the outside of the door for the bad guy to work on, you are more likely to keep your important things safe.  Fire ratings are important as well.  Safes with a fire rating can offer as little as 30 minutes of protection or as much as 90 minutes.  The Cannon Commander Series 43, shown above, offers 90 minutes of fire protection and a cold smoke expandable seal that expands when exposed to heat to help seal the safe off from smoke and water.  On the Cannon Safe website this safe has a list price of $3,699.  However, they offer other models at various price points.  You can find the Cannon Scout S14 for $749 on the Home Depot website and it offers many of the same features as this top-of-the-line model. 

Additional important things to look for in your safe are the type and thickness of steel it is made from.  The thicker the steel, the more difficult it is to break into the safe.  Look at the bolts that extend from the door.  The longer the bolts are, the more the frame would need to bend to allow the door to be opened.  Digital locks or combination locks are available on most models along with built in shelving and in some cases, a Velcro, adjustable door mounting system as seen here.  Do not forget to check the warranty.  I believe Cannon has the best warranty of all safe manufacturers.  Per their website “A Genuine Cannon Lifetime Warranty Policy will provide hassle free, 100% NO COST repair or replacement after a natural flood, attempted break-in, actual break-in or fire disaster.”

Bring on the technology:

Cannon takes technology one step further.  If you look in the lower, right hand corner, of the Commander Series safe above, you will see an unusual square.  Cannon installed a 110 V, dual outlet, a USB port and an Ethernet jack into their safe.  What does this mean for you?  You could purchase lighting for your safe, which I recommend, but more on that in a moment.  You could add a dehumidifier into the safe in case you live in a damp climate.  Or you could use that outlet to help you protect other very valuable items, the things you have on your computers.

Most people have tons of digital photos, music and movies on their computers but they never think about backing up those files until their computer crashes or is stolen and they loose all those important memories.  Redundancy is key with computer backups.  If you make one backup of your computer, you should make a second and store it somewhere else.  The Ethernet jack in the Cannon safe will let you connect a Network Attached Storage (NAS) drive, also called a personal cloud drive, and then all your files are backed up inside the safe.

You can find some great quality Personal Cloud Storage hard drives from Western Digital.  Just plug in the Ethernet cord to the drive and to the Ethernet jack inside the safe and then connect the back of the safe to your router or switch and you are ready to go.  I personally like the My Book Live Duo from Western Digital because it has a Raid 1 configuration, which allows you to make a backup of your files onto both hard drives in the unit.  This way, if one drive fails you have the second one still working.

Back to lighting:

I mention lighting for two reasons.  First, the safe is dark on the inside.  You can use tap lights, fluorescent lights, LED lights, or just about any other type of lighting you select.  Second, most lighting utilizes a wall outlet and 110V for power.  And thanks to the built-in wall outlet in most Cannon safes, you can put anything you need in the safe from a computer to custom lighting.

If you are looking to really brighten up your safe, I suggest LED lights.  You have lots of options, but one of the best places I’ve purchased LEDs from is Oznium.com.  You can find just about anything you want at Oznium, the prices are great and the quality is even better.  I’ve purchased a number of items from them and with my last order, the postal service beat up the packaging a lot.  I used the online form, told them what did not work and the next day I had a message saying they had shipped replacement parts no questions asked.  The employees at Oznium are 100% customer focused and it shows.

All their lights run on 12-volt power, so you will need a power adapter to plug into your 110V in-safe wall outlet.  Simply connect the lights and you are finished.  They even offer an IR Proximity Sensor Switch that will turn the LED lights on in your safe when you open the door and off when you close the door.

So what level of safe do you need:

Regardless of what valuable item you are trying to keep secure, you probably could benefit from one of these types of safes.  Just remember some key things.  You do not have much security if you do not bolt down the safe. Keep your medications out of reach of children.  If you have weapons in the home, be sure to keep them secure and treat every weapon as if it is loaded.  Think about what you want to secure and then plan on a safe that is larger than your needs.  The odds are, once you buy your safe, you will find out you need a bigger one because of the items you begin to lock up.  Planning is the key.  Check the dimensions of the safe you wish to buy and ensure it will fit in the desired space.  And finally, if you want to keep cash, gold, precious stones, or other similar things safe, you probably should consider a safe deposit box at your bank.  There is a yearly fee for the safe deposit box, but you select who is able to access the vault and then you need your key and the bank’s key to access your valuables.  Now that’s secure.