One-third of Dutch households are using some sort of smart home technology, to regulate their heating, monitor security and even switch off lights.

Intelligent robot vacuums that clean the floor, your children telling the bathroom light to turn itself off and checking who is ringing your doorbell while you are having drinks with the neighbours smart home technology is seeping into many aspects of our lives.

Yet despite the advantages smart home technology offers, research published in September shows that even though almost two-thirds of Europeans are interested in installing some sort of smart system in their homes, most have not yet gone down that road.

The research was published by the Smart Home League, an alliance of companies involved with smart home technology. It showed that although only 11% of European homes currently employ some form of smart technology, that total is set to accelerate as more devices are developed and more consumers become aware of the advantages they bring.

Climate

German intelligent home climate management system Tado for example, says it want to demonstrate how technology can help people make their lives easier with technology, while saving energy and cutting energy bills at the same time.

Energy saving is a hot topic in the Netherlands and the Dutch can count themselves among the early adopters when it comes to smart homes. Research by the Smart Home Monitor early this year showed over one third of Dutch households already have some form of smart home technology, far outstripping the European average.

Energy and climate control systems to help residents to reduce energy consumption and save money were top of the popularity list, followed closely by followed by lighting and home security.

Consumers have a wide choice of devices and suppliers to choose from. Among the dozens of security systems on offer, French firm Netatmo has smart alarm systems using cameras, movement sensors and smoke alarms so you can protect your home both inside and out. The company also produces air quality monitors and heating system regulators. The aim, the company says, is to help users create a safer, healthier and more comfortable home.

Light switches

While the advantages of a complete home security system are easy to see, some of the more minor services offered by smart home technology such as light switch control might seem a waste of time.

However the Smart Home League research showed that two-third of Europeans are bothered by simple household tasks such as turning down the heating and searching for keys which can be easily solved using smart home technology.

The smart home is currently moving from early to mass adoptions, but to drive that forward, companies much make sure devices are accessible, affordable and easy to use, the League says. Smart speakers like Amazon Echo and Google Home have accelerated smart home adoption, because they are simple to set up and easy to integrate into every day routines.

Cost effective

In this way, the smart home can support consumers by making their homes safer, more comfortable, more energy efficient and increasingly cost effective.

The alliance survey also showed that 37% of people plan to buy a smart home product within the next year and that 68% of people who already have one such product are ready to buy another. This, the compilers say, suggests people who use them are aware of both the value and the benefits.

People want a smart home that provides them with a positive experience, says Dave Ward, European product director at Smart Home Alliance member Ring in a press release. They want to see a true benefit, something that solves an issue, rather than simply adding technology to their home.

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Would you let a robot vacuum your floor or use your phone to turn off the lights? - DutchNews.nl

In season nine, episode seven, The Spock Resonance, Sheldon is asked to take part in a Star Trek documentary by Wil Wheaton.

Sheldon is overjoyed to have been asked to participate, especially when Wil reveals Bill Nyes son will be on hand to help.

During the interview, Adam asks Sheldon: Do you have any Spock collectables?

Sheldon said: I have many. My most treasured is an autographed napkin given to me by my very thoughtful friend Penny.

READ MORE:Big Bang Theory: Did Young Sheldon star Iain Armitage ever appear?

While Penny and Leonard process what the camera may have caught them doing, a problem lies with when Sheldon said it was installed.

In 2012, the sixth season of Big Bang Theory premiered with The Date Night Variable.

During the episode, Leonard and Penny are working on their relationship and gather at Leonards to watch sports.

However, in the background, there was no Aquaman on display.

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Big Bang Theory plot hole: When did Sheldon install security camera? Blunder uncovered - Express

SINGAPORE - A tender to install, operate and manage 6,000 digital displays screens in lifts and lobbies in Housing Board blocks has been won by Target Media Culcreative (TMCC).

The panels will be built by June 2020 and allow more residents to receive information and news from the screens, in line with the Republic's Smart Nation drive to leverage digital technologies.

The project will be fully funded by TMCC - a joint venture between Singapore Press Holdings and Focus Media China - which beat out three vendors to win the tender.

Most of the panels will be installed at lift lobbies on the ground floor, with others inside residential lifts.

The content broadcast on the screens will range from local notices on activities in the estate to nationwide updates on emergencies and public health advisories.

In its call for tender in October this year, HDB said that commercial advertisements could also be displayed, but it will be capped at 30 per cent of the total screen time.

There are currently about 8,700 such panels installed at common areas in HDB blocks.

TMCC operates 8,000 screens across seven of the 16 townships in Singapore - Choa Chu Kang, Tanjong Pagar, West Coast, Jurong-Clementi, Sembawang, Tampines and East Coast-Fengshan.

International brands such as McDonald's, Mitsubishi and Redoxon, as well as government agencies such as the Ministry of Communications and Information and Ministry of Manpower have broadcast content on these screens, TMCC said.

Apart from investing in the hardware and software of the panels, the firm will also pay a temporary occupational licence fee to HDB, which is similar to the current arrangement it has with town councils.

Mr Jeff Liu, chief executive of TMCC, said: "In our past experience of building 8,000 screens, we understand how the digital display panels can bring vibrancy and relevance to HDB dwellers.

"In sync with the Singapore's government push for digitalisation, our smart digital display panels serve as an innovative channel and green initiative for the majority of Singaporeans to receive timely and relevant information."

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Target Media wins HDB tender to install digital display screens in lifts, lobbies next year - The Straits Times

Written by Hina Rohtaki | Chandigarh | Published: December 16, 2019 10:38:22 am The vendors site in Sector 15, Chandigarh. (Express photo: Kamleshwar Singh)

IN ANOTHER glaring example of splurging public money, the Chandigarh civic body will be providing flooring afresh on a site meant for street vendors which was refurbished in January this year with neatly layered paver blocks, completely intact. The new flooring at this vendors site which is one of the largest among all vending sites in Sector 15 will be done at a cost of Rs 37.49 lakh.

According to the estimate prepared by the engineering wing, accessed by Chandigarh Newsline, of this Rs 37.49 lakh, around Rs 1 lakh would be spent on dismantling the concrete paver blocks and stacking the existing ones. Providing and laying cement concrete of specific grade excluding the cost of shuttering will be done at a cost of Rs 19,48,875 and another part of it will be done at a cost of Rs 8,66,658. The railing would be installed at a cost of Rs 3.02 lakh.

When contacted, Chief Engineer Shailender Singh said that existing pavers are not to be dismantled and an approach road needs to be made. However, when told that it was in the documents of estimates prepared by the engineering wing that the existing ones will be dismantled and nowhere in all the 17 points of the estimate it was mentioned that any approach road will be made, he said he would check with the executive engineer concerned.

Former councillor and BJP leader Saurabh Joshi said that this expenditure was not justified as the site was refurbished in January this year and pavers were completely intact. It is surprising that not a single paver block is broken. And why do they want to make it concrete again by splurging public money? Just this January, they made the area concrete, Joshi said.

Joshi also raised a question as to when the change in land use was done as it was a green belt earlier. Has a proper procedure been followed when the change in land use was done because I was told by the department of urban planning that the CLU cant be done? So now, how did they convert the green belt into this land? And did they call in public suggestions and objections for this? Joshi asked.

Surinder Sharma, president of the Residents Welfare Association of Sector 15, said that a vigilance inquiry should be ordered into the fresh expenditure that is being incurred at the site. They have made it a money-minting thing. Everything is in a perfect condition. Moreover, they should focus more on the fact that the choice of this site is faulty. Who will provide security to the girls who are in the hostel adjacent to the site? he asked.

The site was recently revamped for as many as 936 vendors. Residents have already been raising questions on the choice of the site saying that there is a girls hostel next to it and it will become a hub of anti-social elements.

For all the latest Chandigarh News, download Indian Express App

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For refurbished vendors site, Chandigarh civic body to spend again, readies flooring estimate of Rs 37.49 lakh - The Indian Express

Bathroom

Photo Courtesy of National Association of the Remodeling Industry

Family Features

MISSION, Kan., Dec. 17, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- (Family Features) Adding additional bathroom space to your home or renovating an outdated lavatory can improve your homes usability and increase its value, too. To get the most practical benefits and value out of your new space, there are several factors to consider.

Before you get started, take into account these considerations about the design and function of your new bathroom from the remodeling experts at the National Association of the Remodeling Industry.

SpaceA primary consideration is the available footprint to create your new bath. This is often a concern as children reach their teen years and also with expanding families. If there arent enough bathrooms in the house, you may want to add another, or it may be that you simply need to improve the layout and features to make better use of the existing space. For example, if the bath will be shared by multiple members of the family, a separation of the sinks from the rest of the room may be helpful.

FeaturesDetermining how you will use your bathroom dictates the features youll want to include. A guest or hall bath is likely to have far fewer features than a master bath but may share some similarities with a kids bathroom. First, youll need to make decisions about basics like lighting, the number of sinks and amount of counter space youll need.

If you like baths, youll need to decide between a tub and shower combination unit or separate facilities. With a separate tub, the style you prefer may guide your overall design. The aesthetic for a bathroom with a focal point like a claw-foot tub is likely different from a jetted tub.

StorageStorage is one of the biggest concerns in any design, particularly in rooms as small as typical bathrooms. Carefully consider this aspect of the room during your pre-planning phase. To help determine how much space you need, make a list of all the items you need to store in the bathroom, including cleaning agents, toiletries, linens, first aid items and medications.

Its a good idea to also think about where in the room you would like to store each of these items. You may want some of the toiletries in the shower area, while others will be used near the sink or dressing area.

SustainabilityMany contemporary bathroom fixtures are designed with sustainability in mind, so you can manage your water usage while still enjoying a water-rich environment. You can find water-saving features on everything from toilets to shower heads to even sink faucets.

AccessibilityApplying universal design principles to your project can promote safety and increase your homes appeal to a wider range of buyers in the future. In the bathroom, you can improve safety by incorporating non-slip flooring surfaces and ensuring the space is well-lit.

Other ideas include adjusting counter and toilet heights to make bathrooms more accessible (wall-hung toilets should be approximately two inches higher). You could incorporate structural bracing around the tub, shower and toilet for grab bars. You might also consider a walk-in tub or stand-up shower with no threshold, levered handles for faucets and an adjustable showerhead.

Find more ideas and inspiration for your bathroom design at remodelingdoneright.com.

Michael Frenchmfrench@familyfeatures.com 1-888-824-3337editors.familyfeatures.com

About Family Features Editorial SyndicateA leading source for high-quality food, lifestyle and home and garden content, Family Features provides readers with topically and seasonally relevant tips, takeaways, information, recipes, videos, infographics and more. Find additional articles and information at Culinary.net and eLivingToday.com.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/9f118ec1-6d4a-480d-aca7-8ca23e7e7572

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Make the Most of Your Bathroom Renovation - GlobeNewswire

Professional Handyman and Home Improvement Business Expands from Washington, D.C. to Southern Maryland

WASHINGTON House Doctors, the trusted source for handyman services, home repair, and home improvement, announced today the expansion of the trusted territory in Washington, D.C. to now also serve Southern Maryland.

Under the leadership of local owner Kevin Logan, House Doctors is expanding its home improvement and repair services to residents from Washington D.C., to Annapolis, Chesapeake Beach, Lusby, St. Charles County, St. Marys County, Waldorf, Lexington Park and everywhere in between including most of Southern Maryland.

House Doctors hires only experienced technicians who are scheduled online at the time most convenient for the home or commercial property owner. The company also makes house calls to offer estimates for larger repair and remodeling projects.

Twenty years ago, there was a large construction boom for housing. But now people need to take care of all of their houses, said Logan. With the increased need for home renovation services, we dont want to leave the residents in Southern Maryland out to dry.

House Doctors experienced, insured, background-checked and uniformed handymen technicians specialize in projects that take two hours to two days to complete, such as repairing decks, doors, and drywall; putting a fresh coat of paint on a fence or wall; fixing or replacing a leaky faucet; installing a new fan; or cleaning out and fixing your gutters.

Theres never been a more optimal time to get into the home repair and home improvement business in Southern Maryland, said Jim Hunter, CEO of House Doctors. Home improvements are booming in Maryland. Thanks to the increasing popularity of platforms such as HGTV, the demand for repair and maintenance projects, and even larger-scale upgrades and remodels continue to be indicative of the changing demographics influence from millennials, baby boomers and aging in placers.

For more information on House Doctors of DC, visithttps://housedoctors.com/handyman-dc/services/or call 202-499-3748.

To learn more about franchising opportunities with House Doctors, visithttps://www.housedoctorshandymanfranchise.com.

About House Doctors

Known as the trusted handyman service for home repair and home improvement, House Doctors offers a myriad of services from drywall and gutter repair to kitchen and bathroom remodeling. The House Doctors team of insured, bonded and uniformed handymen have a wide array of skillsets to tackle even the longest list of to-dos. With a one-year guarantee, prompt and precise service and a team of qualified craftsmen and technicians, House Doctors is not only a handyman service but a trusted home advisor among the customers it serves. Founded in 1995, House Doctors is located across the countryand has targeted several growth markets for the next few years.

To learn more about house Doctors franchise opportunities, visithttps://www.housedoctorshandymanfranchise.comand for more information about the brand, visit the company website athttps://www.housedoctors.com.

The Southern Maryland Chronicle is a local, small business entrusted to provide factual, unbiased reporting to the Southern Maryland Community.While we look to local businesses for advertising, we hope to keep that cost as low as possible in order to attract even the smallest of local businesses and help them get out to the public. We must also be able to pay employees(part-time and full-time), along with equipment, and website related things. We never want to make the Chronicle a pay-wall style news site.

To that end, we are looking to the community to offer donations. Whether its a one-time donation or you set up a reoccurring monthly donation. It is all appreciated. All donations at this time will be going to furthering the Chronicle through hiring individuals that have the same goals of providing fair, and unbiased news to the community. For now, donations will be going to a business PayPal account I have set-up for the Southern Maryland Chronicle, KDC Designs. All business transactions currently occur within this PayPal account. If you have any questions regarding this you can email me at davidhiggins@southernmarylandchronicle.com

Thank you for all of your support and I hope to continue bringing Southern Maryland the best news possible for a very long time. David M. Higgins II

Continued here:
House Doctors of DC Increases to Meet Greater Demand - The Southern Maryland Chronicle

If youve ever been owned by a cat, you know about cats and doors. Yes, you read that sentence correctly. Anyone who has a cat at home realizes it is the cat who does the owning and not vice versa.

Cats simply cannot abide closed doors, and our cat Puddin is a perfect example of that phenomenon. The last few months have been quite trying for the little princess because I began closing the bedroom door at night to keep the dog in.

Ive written before about Banjos doggie dementia and his new habit of going downstairs several times a night to bark at his water bowl in the kitchen until someone that would be me goes downstairs and escorts him back to the bedroom. I solved that problem by locking him in the bedroom at night, but the door being shut was an issue for Puddin.

Its not that she wants to be in the bedroom all night. Its that she wants the ability to come and go as she pleases. It was entertaining to see her little white paws appear under the door as she tried to open the darned thing. Id hear the door rattle and look up from my book to see those adorable paws. Once I turned out the light, I assumed she gave up, but no!

One night, I was awakened from a sound sleep when the door banged against the wall in the wee hours. I hadnt latched it well enough, and Puddin pushed and pushed until it opened. I sat up in bed, and she leaped onto my legs meowing indignantly. I think she said, What were you thinking? or something to that effect.

I tried shutting the door more firmly, but Puddin broke in another time or two. Finally, I left the door cracked open with a shoe in front of it to keep it from opening wide. That was fine by Puddin because she can squeeze through tiny spaces.

Puddins trials and tribulations began anew when we finished remodeling the guest bathroom on the main floor. Looking ahead to aging in place and the possibility of one of us needing a walker, we enlarged the shower and put in a pocket door to provide a wider entrance.

The construction didnt bother the princess, but she had an issue with the new sliding door to the shower being closed. I was blissfully unaware of her distress until I was drinking coffee in my easy chair early one morning and heard a strange persistent noise. It sounded like something or someone was falling. Thankfully, it was only Puddin trying to get in the shower. Another problem easily solved by sliding the door slightly open.

Next, it was the pocket door that irritated her. When we crank up the wood-burning stove during cold spells, we close the doors to the bedroom, dining room and bathroom on the main level. The dining room doors are small French doors Puddin has learned to push open an inch or two, but the bathroom door was something new.

Again, I heard a loud noise. I headed to the guest bath, and sure enough, the princess was rattling the pocket door by pushing it with her paws and nose. I took pity on her and cracked it open a few inches.

With the door issues handled, Puddin has shifted her attention to the new television and chest in the living room; and dogs, doors, and cats are living in harmony at least for now.

Kathy is a Sandy Springs resident. Find her books, Lord Banjo the Royal Pooch and The Ink Penn: Celebrating the Magic in the Everyday, at the Enchanted Forest and on Amazon. Contact her at inkpenn119@gmail.com.

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Solving the problem of dogs, doors and cats - Dunwoody Crier

After the hectic years of child-rearing end and grown children move out, many empty nesters find themselves in a state of adjustment.

While some rejoice in their leaner schedules and newfound quiet, others deal with loneliness and depression, often referred to as empty-nest syndrome. In either case, most empty nesters eventually reach a point where they ask themselves :Is it time to downsize, upsize or just renovate and configure their current home?

A recent report from Freddie Mac found that baby boomers have stayed in their homes much longer than previous generations. A 2019 report from Houzz, a home-remodeling website, found that 60% of baby boomers defined as people ages 55 to 74 planned to stay in their homes for the next 11 or more years. Older Americans tend to move into residential care communities in their mid-80s, according to data available from the National Center for Health Statistics, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

For those who opt to stay in their empty nests, many decide it is a good time to finally do the renovations they might have put off in previous years. These home makeovers tend to fall into three broad categories: fixing a space to make room for a new lifestyle or hobby; sprucing up a now unused space so it can be rented out to create a new revenue stream; or renovating to make a home more comfortable for visits from adult children and their expanding families.

Taking the time to figure out how you want your empty nest to affect your lifestyle will help you figure out how to reconfigure a home, said Robin Baron, an interior designer with her own firm in Manhattan. Many of her empty-nest clients have approached her after deciding they want to entertain more, but shes had to pick apart what that means.

Do you want to have more dinner or cocktail parties? Do you want to host fundraisers or just have several friends over for a movie night? Will you do the cooking or hire caterers? The word entertain is too broad, so you must narrow that down, then come up with the design, she said.

Mary Ann Gioeli, a publishing executive, said she knew immediately what she wanted to do when her son moved out. About two weeks after Ryan, now 30, left their Upper West Side apartment for the Air Force in 2014, she threw out the gross black leather couch that was in his room and repainted the formerly bright blue space a neutral white. To turn the room into a den, she bought new furniture, including a pullout couch, and moved the television from the living room.

Even if you have no plans to sell the home for another 10 years, it's a wise thing to do

For Gioeli, 67, this was the first step in transforming her three-bedroom apartment into a more adult space. Although she was thrilled her home had been the go-to hangout for her son and daughter, Francesca, now 32, and their friends during their adolescence, she longed to turn the large, bright apartment into a quieter space. Somewhere you can have a conversation, she said.

When her daughter left to rent her own apartment in 2016, Gioeli turned her bedroom into a proper guest room. Out went the dated furniture, in came a queen-size bed. These renovations cost a few thousand dollars and were paid for from savings, said Gioeli, who is separated from her husband.

In late 2016, she finally tackled what the family had longed to do: a complete revamp of the dated bathrooms. A tub in the master bath was removed, and a walk-in shower was installed. Double sinks and new storage spaces were added, as well as a new marble floor. The guest bathroom was also thoroughly updated, with a glass-encased shower replacing a former closet space. A home-equity loan covered the $65,000 price tag to renovate both bathrooms.

I told my kids they will always have a home to return to, said Gioeli, whose daughter boomeranged back home this year. But its been great to be able to open up my home and have friends stay over.

Brad and Karen Hacker of Cooper City, Florida, who live about 15 miles southwest of Fort Lauderdale, slowly transformed their home after their two sons, Lane and Drew, now 29 and 25, moved out for good in 2014 and 2018.

Karen Hacker said their four-bedroom home needed a lot of upgrades, as renovations to their home of 26 years had largely been held off to save money for their childrens college education. But as different parts of the home started to wear down, the couple saw it as their chance to revamp it for themselves.

A citation from their homeowners association requiring them to pressure-clean the outside of the house prompted them to repaint both the exterior and interior. A broken washing machine resulted in the decluttering and reorganization of the laundry room. In 2017, when the pavers in the backyard started to sink and needed repair, the couple took a moment to reflect whether they should tackle yet another home improvement project or just sell the house. But with most of their friends still nearby (only one close couple had moved away), they decided to stay.

I told my kids they will always have a home to return to ... But it's been great to be able to open up my home and have friends stay over

Their most fun upgrade, they said, was to turn a childs bedroom into an exercise space. They first repainted the room and brought in a TV, treadmill and free weights. Karen Hacker, 54, who formerly worked in human resources, carved out a space for her yoga mat.

Last year, the Hackers, who blog about their empty-nest life, bought a Peloton bike to replace the treadmill. Professing his competitiveness, Brad Hacker, 60, an accountant, said that he exerted himself more because he likes seeing how his performance ranks with others during his workouts but that he enjoys competing against his sons the most. The couple also installed a small infrared sauna in the room this year, so far spending about $5,000 of their savings.

Building the exercise room also turned out to be a real time saver for us, Karen Hacker said, as it eliminated having to drive to and from the gym.

Some empty nesters decide to turn their now unused space into extra income. Hollis Giammatteo, a writer, used about $180,000 from savings to gut-renovate her daughters old basement bedroom and turn it into an Airbnb rental. Inspired by a friend who had done something similar, Giammatteo, who lives in the Queen Anne neighborhood of Seattle, said she preferred to lease the space short term because the city is a high-demand tourist and business destination and she is able to keep the unit regularly booked. She said that using an online portal had made it easy to block out specific days when friends and family planned to stay with her. She estimated she had grossed around $125,000 since her first rental in 2015.

That said, she advises those interested in turning unused space into a short-term rental to investigate local laws. You have to be willing to take on bureaucracy, Giammatteo, 71, said. Depending on the area, you may need insurance, a business license and to pay taxes on income, she said.

Others, like Peggy Griffin of Wellesley, Massachusetts, prefer renting out an unused bedroom to long-term boarders. Griffin, an employee of the Federal Transit Administration, said she didnt want to be a hotelier and liked that she could help keep rents more affordable in the Boston area.

After two of her triplets permanently moved out in 2013, she found tenants through Nesterly, an online home-share service that vets potential renters. Griffin, 61, said she simply cleaned out the bedroom before her first boarder moved in. She charges $1,100 a month for a bedroom with a private bath, and she plans to use the extra income to fix the roof on her 1868 four-bedroom home.

Building the exercise room also turned out to be a real time saver for us

I already know repairing the roof will lead to fixing the siding and the windows, she said.

Updating a homes look, not preparing it for sale, was the goal of 71% of consumers age 50 and older who either had completed a home renovation in the past two years or were in the middle of or planning to begin a remodel in the next six months, according to a survey taken by the Schlesinger Group for Sweeten, an online renovation platform.

We see renovations ranging from updating a bathroom to include a two-person soaking tub to gut remodels that convert bedrooms into hobby rooms from art to yoga, said Jean Brownhill, Sweetens founder.

That said, experts suggest that homeowners check with a local broker before starting a large-scale renovation to see if their design will have resale value.

Even if you have no plans to sell the home for another 10 years, its a wise thing to do, said Dave Goscinski, the owner of JJED Remodeling in Dumont, New Jersey. Youre doing the renovation for yourselves, but can you recoup the investment later?

Goscinski finished working on a kitchen renovation for Maria and Edward Matera of Hackensack, New Jersey, at the beginning of 2017. The couple wanted an updated kitchen and a larger space to host their immediate family, which includes two grown children and their spouses and four grandchildren, as well as relatives from Italy and California, and friends and neighbors.

They reconfigured and rebuilt the addition to the back of the house, providing them with a spacious new dining area and a new deck that allows them to grill year-round. And a pass-through window that was installed between the kitchen and living room has come in handy during her book club gatherings, said Maria Matera, 71.

To pay for the $125,000 job, the Materas refinanced their mortgage.

In previous years, they also turned an unfinished basement into a den and guest room, while an unused bedroom was turned into a guest room and office. I feel like I have so much more space, said Maria Matera, a retired teacher.

Her children say they are happy with the spruced-up house. Our family has always loved food and gatherings around the table, said Damian Matera, 44. My sister, Adriana, and I are thrilled that our parents dream kitchen has become a reality and that the new addition will further our love for good food and time together.

Mary Dell Harrington, a homeowner in Mamaroneck, New York, and the co-founder of the parenting website Grown & Flown, is working with an architect to update her kitchen so it can accommodate her grown children, who visit often and love to cook. Her two children, Walker Berning, 29, and Annie Berning, 24, both live in Manhattan but often come home on the weekends, cooking elaborate meals with lots of ingredients I typically dont keep on hand, she said.

But the old kitchen is too cramped. Harrington wants to knock down a wall between the kitchen and dining room and install a larger kitchen island to accommodate the crowd, which also includes her husband, Melvin Berning, 65, their two large Labrador retrievers and a nephew who attends a nearby college. Although plans are not final, shes hoping theres room for a proper pantry.

Mary Harrington, 64, a former television marketing executive and the co-author of the book Grown & Flown: How to Support Your Teen, Stay Close as a Family, and Raise Independent Adults, said previous renovations were stressful and daunting when she worked full time and the children were younger and still living at home.

Now Im home to deal with contractors or any emergency, so it should be easier, she said. What we aspire to is not to push our kids away as they grow older but to enter the next phase and be able to hang out with them as they become more independent.

For some empty nesters, however, this is not an easy transition to make. Some parents have complicated emotions about watching their children move on, according to Jane Benjamin, a psychologist and clinical director at the Counseling Center in Bronxville, New York. Pride and joy can be also mixed with envy or regret, Benjamin said. It can also be a reckoning of aging, that things are beyond them, and that can be a vulnerable feeling.

For empty nesters who have kept their kids bedroom as a shrine to their past (read: trophies, primary- or bright-colored walls), Benjamin suggests working in stages. Make your children take what theyd like to keep, retain a few mementos for yourself and get rid of the rest.

Replacing the single bed with a larger bed would be ideal for returning adult children with partners. Personalizing the newfound space might be a fun project and help you accept that youre in a next stage in life, she said.

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Once the kids grow up and leave, what are parents to do with their empty nest? - National Post

Permits to build new apartment buildings in the U.S. are surging as a bulging population of millennials fuels demand for rentals and low interest rates ease construction financing costs.

Authorizations for larger multifamily dwellings those with five or more units jumped to an average annualized pace of 501,000 in the three months through November, according to government data Tuesday, Dec. 17. That's the highest since July 2015. Prior to that year, which was a hot one for condos and apartments, it's the strongest since 1987.

The rental market is booming as young people leave dorm rooms and their parents' basements to strike out on their own. Baby boomers are also downsizing from single-family homes. At the same time, lower interest rates are making it easier for homebuilders who want to meet this demand for rental properties.

"Clearly, we're seeing some re-acceleration in multifamily," Robert Dietz, chief economist for the National Association of Home Builders, said by phone. "It's a bit of surprise."

There are 76 million people in the U.S. who have recently entered or will be entering the housing market, mostly as renters, according to the National Multifamily Housing Council. That suggests a lot of pent-up demand and a positive outlook for the sector.

The data indicate multifamily housing permits are set to buoy overall home building data in the fourth quarter and into 2020, as it takes between one to two months for permits to transition to starts. At the same time, high construction costs and a shortage of workers could create delays in commencing construction.

Originally posted here:
Apartment building permits soar to a four-year high amid rental boom - Crain's Cleveland Business

Construction on Emma Ave. in Springdale is underway. It'll be the site of 26 apartments in mixed-use area

by: Ninette Sosa

SPRINGDALE, Ark. (KNWA) The City of Springdale is creating more living space for people in one of its fastest growing areas.

The Emma Building Group broke ground on the first mixed-use, multi-family apartment complex in the citys downtown area.

Located on Emma Avenue, the 26-unit apartment complex is Phase One of a larger project the building group has planned for the corridor.

The project will create more walking availability in the Downtown area. There will be access to the Razorback Greenway along with commercial and office spaces.

So were going to have commercial on the front bottom floor, residential upstairs and behind. So you get good traffic all day long, said Emma Building Groups Tom Lundstrum.

The building group say plans for occupancy are for late 2020, with pre-leasing slated for spring 2020.

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Construction underway for mixed-use apartments on Emma Ave. - KNWA