Art Gray
Example of a mountain style home design design in Austin

Design Builders & Remodeling is a one stop shop operation. From the start, design solutions are strongly rooted in practical applications and experience. Project planning takes into account the realities of the construction process and mindful of your established budget. All the work is centralized in one firm reducing the chances of costly or time consuming surprises. A solid partnership with solid professionals to help you realize your dreams for a new or improved home. Hand fabricated barn doors create a clean and modern twist to compliment this homes historic charm

Design Builders & Remodeling is a one stop shop operation. From the start, design solutions are strongly rooted in practical applications and experience. Project planning takes into account the realities of the construction process and mindful of your established budget. All the work is centralized in one firm reducing the chances of costly or time consuming surprises. A solid partnership with solid professionals to help you realize your dreams for a new or improved home. Hand fabricated barn doors create a clean and modern twist to compliment this homes historic charm

Design Builders & Remodeling is a one stop shop operation. From the start, design solutions are strongly rooted in practical applications and experience. Project planning takes into account the realities of the construction process and mindful of your established budget. All the work is centralized in one firm reducing the chances of costly or time consuming surprises. A solid partnership with solid professionals to help you realize your dreams for a new or improved home.

Design Builders & Remodeling is a one stop shop operation. From the start, design solutions are strongly rooted in practical applications and experience. Project planning takes into account the realities of the construction process and mindful of your established budget. All the work is centralized in one firm reducing the chances of costly or time consuming surprises. A solid partnership with solid professionals to help you realize your dreams for a new or improved home. This classic Connecticut home was bought by a growing family. The house was in an ideal location but needed to be expanded. Design Builders & Remodeling almost doubled the square footage of the home. Creating a new sunny and spacious master bedroom, new guestroom, laundry room, garage, kids bathroom, expanded and renovated the kitchen, family room, and playroom. The upgrades and addition is seamlessly and thoughtfully integrated to the original footprint.

Design Builders & Remodeling is a one stop shop operation. From the start, design solutions are strongly rooted in practical applications and experience. Project planning takes into account the realities of the construction process and mindful of your established budget. All the work is centralized in one firm reducing the chances of costly or time consuming surprises. A solid partnership with solid professionals to help you realize your dreams for a new or improved home. Hand fabricated barn doors create a clean and modern twist to compliment this homes historic charm

Design Builders & Remodeling is a one stop shop operation. From the start, design solutions are strongly rooted in practical applications and experience. Project planning takes into account the realities of the construction process and mindful of your established budget. All the work is centralized in one firm reducing the chances of costly or time consuming surprises. A solid partnership with solid professionals to help you realize your dreams for a new or improved home. Nina Pomeroy

Samsung Serif TV – Along with 4K Ultra High Definition display technology, the Samsung Serif TV provides consumers with a more elegant viewing experience designed to blend naturally within the home. It makes a bold centerpiece statement with its generous size and it's unique I-shaped profile, broadening at the bottom to form a sturdy base and at the top to create a small shelf. This unique collaboration between Samsung and the award-winning Paris-based design duo Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec blends design and technology to make the Serif TV a stunning piece of art.

Design Builders & Remodeling is a one stop shop operation. From the start, design solutions are strongly rooted in practical applications and experience. Project planning takes into account the realities of the construction process and mindful of your established budget. All the work is centralized in one firm reducing the chances of costly or time consuming surprises. A solid partnership with solid professionals to help you realize your dreams for a new or improved home. Nina Pomeroy

Samsung Serif TV – Along with 4K Ultra High Definition display technology, the Samsung Serif TV provides consumers with a more elegant viewing experience designed to blend naturally within the home. It makes a bold centerpiece statement with its generous size and it's unique I-shaped profile, broadening at the bottom to form a sturdy base and at the top to create a small shelf. This unique collaboration between Samsung and the award-winning Paris-based design duo Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec blends design and technology to make the Serif TV a stunning piece of art.

Design Builders & Remodeling is a one stop shop operation. From the start, design solutions are strongly rooted in practical applications and experience. Project planning takes into account the realities of the construction process and mindful of your established budget. All the work is centralized in one firm reducing the chances of costly or time consuming surprises. A solid partnership with solid professionals to help you realize your dreams for a new or improved home. Historic quality elements pressured and featured with modern craftsmanship all creatively mixed in this inviting home

Residential exterior painting is a labor-intensive, detailed, and time-consuming project that demands the rich experience of a professional house painter. Whether you intend to put your house for sale, improve its curb appeal, or host many parties, new exterior paint can allow you to fall in love with your home all over again. Isn’t a DIY painting project more cost-effective? While the initial cost may be cheaper, when you cut corners and overlook imperfections, you may end up spending more than intended to correct the errors. Instead, hiring an exterior house painting team will ensure that your project is ideally, efficiently, and professionally completed. Let's explore the benefits of hiring a professional house painter in Miami, Florida

Design Builders & Remodeling is a one stop shop operation. From the start, design solutions are strongly rooted in practical applications and experience. Project planning takes into account the realities of the construction process and mindful of your established budget. All the work is centralized in one firm reducing the chances of costly or time consuming surprises. A solid partnership with solid professionals to help you realize your dreams for a new or improved home. Nina Pomeroy

This article is posted here with the consent of the author. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy, position, view, or opinion of Crestron Electronics, Inc., or of any of its employees. Crestron Electronics is not responsible for, and does not verify the accuracy of, any of the information contained in this article. By Jeff Singer The “smart” revolution began several years ago with smartphones (a.k.a phones) and has extended in recent years to thermostats, doorbells, alarm systems, and kitchen appliances. Smart devices are so ubiquitous that the term “smart” is overused to the point that it is almost meaningless. Companies are eager to jump on the bandwagon and claim their products are “smart,” and consumers proudly claim they have a smart home because they have lighting control. Misconceptions about smart homes are prevalent and create confusion in the marketplace. This can have deleterious effects on businesses and underserve consumers. Here are seven of the most popular misconceptions about smart homes: 1. Apps are smart Apps are convenient and easy to use. Yes, it seems there’s an app for everything. People expect to be able to download an app and do just about anything. App developers and many companies do not disavow consumers of this myth. On the contrary, they promote this idea with carefully worded descriptions. The promise of having the world at your fingertips for $1.99 is very enticing. Although it sounds too good to be true, it is also too good to pass up for many people. This leads to undervaluing home control and disappointment when the apps don’t work, which undermines confidence in our industry. The fact is that apps are not smart. They do not control anything. They must connect to and communicate with a control system or cloud service that processes, prioritizes, and executes commands. That’s the real magic and what most people do not understand. 2. Smart devices work together With so many smart appliances and devices on the market today, it’s understandable that the average consumer might think that they actually communicate and work together. This is simply not the case. Smart devices are not that smart. They are designed and manufactured by different, often competing, companies. There are no national or industry standards governing these products. Even if they all operate using Wi-Fi® communications, that doesn’t mean they work together. Some companies promote a home control platform, which unites different devices from different companies – in theory. The platform is yet another third-party software totally dependent on other companies developing APIs and writing control modules for their hardware to run on that piece of software. The devices are not independently compatible. Also, when updates are made to either the hardware or the software, functionality may be affected for some period. That’s a nice way of saying the device or system won’t work and there’s no way of knowing for how long. 3. It’s a DIY project Which brings us to the next myth, which is that the average person can do it themselves. Unless you are a skilled professional, I would not advise taking on a smart home project. You want to make a light turn on and off with your Alexa® or Google Assistant™ virtual assistant software, go for it. A smart home takes much more planning and expertise. I have no problem changing a light bulb or hanging a light fixture in my dining room; however, I am not going to rewire my house. I may change the flush valve in my toilet, but I’m not going to replace the pipes in my house. You get it. Integrating devices and systems, establishing different zones, creating scenes, designing the UI with a balance between control, feedback, and simplicity – all takes experience and skill. 4. Need a programmer to make changes Early adopters may have experienced the pain of trying to make a simple change or update to their home control system. Years ago, if the cable provider changed the channel line-up, the homeowner would have to call the dealer or programmer to make an appointment for them to come out to the house to reprogram the system. The system wouldn’t work as expected until it was updated, which often took several days and beaucoup bucks. Not anymore. Technology has evolved so now it’s easy for system owners to change favorite channels, create scenes, rename buttons, update images, and more. While a professional is needed for the initial installation and setup, the system is easy to manage once it’s up and running. This makes life so much easier for both dealer and customer. 5. Tech becomes obsolete quickly Similar to updating the UI, updating firmware or hardware used to be a stressful process. A smart home should be intelligent enough to update itself. Apps don’t become obsolete. Updates are constantly pushed out from the cloud, making them better all the time. The same is true for a good smart home system. New features, functions, and device support gets added in the background consistently, so the system you installed (or purchased) yesterday gets better over time. Swapping out decorative elements, such as keypads, dimmers, and touch screens is also seamless. When a new device is added, all the settings are pulled down from the cloud and it just works. No system interruptions. No sunk costs. No imposing house calls. No surprise bills. 6. Lighting control saves energy and money Lighting control is one of the most popular smart systems, but it takes more than just one system to make a home smart. On the surface, it makes sense that if you dim the lights ten percent, then you save ten percent of energy costs. If the shades are raised during the day to take advantage of sunlight so the lights don’t need to be on (or at least not 100%), but that causes the room temperature to rise a few degrees, which triggers the air conditioner to run longer and more often, was energy usage (or cost) reduced? A smart home integrates all the various systems and technology to optimize comfort, convenience, safety, and sometimes energy. 7. Home technology is easy to hack Security is at the forefront of people’s minds these days. Personal identities are stolen; email accounts hacked; private photos publicized; and more. A smart home must outsmart those who don’t respect privacy. Crestron control systems adhere to the strictest security standards. The same Crestron control system that goes into a home is also installed in secure government and military facilities, global banking institutions, hospitals, and other mission critical applications. When installed correctly by a trained professional, a Crestron smart home is the gold standard for security, comfort, and convenience.

Meet the Pros: Sound Design To celebrate it's 20th anniversary, Sound Design built a 6,500-square-foot showroom in Horseshoe Bay, Texas to demo technology in a "relaxing, luxurious ambience that appeals to our local clientele." “We’ve learned a lot over the years, and our experience helped us design the new showroom in a way that presents a relaxing, luxurious ambience that appeals to our local clientele,” says Sound Design owner Chris Bean. “We used the best-of-the-best in every category, from the Runco 63-inch plasma TV framed and hidden by a VisionArt motorized art print to the ultra-high-end CAT MBX Sequoia speakers and of course the ELAN g! system.” The showroom’s entrance living room features A/V and lighting control from an Elan TS10 10-inch in-wall touchscreen, an Elan TS2 in-wall touchscreen and Elan HR2 handheld remote. The system distributes audio and video content to a system consisting of a Runco V63 63-inch plasma display, a Planar 2×3 Matrix Wall with six 46-inch panels, a Planar Mosaic wall with four 46-inch panels and four 15-inch square panels, a two-channel audio system that uses two 7-foot-tall CAT MBX Sequoia’s, and a surround system that includes an Integra DTR 50.4 receiver, Newport speakers and two Sunfire HRS-12 subwoofers. “Many of our clients are tech-savvy homeowners who have become mobile tech enthusiasts through their everyday interactions with iPhones and tablets, and they want that same instant satisfaction to apply to their household media and home functions,” says Bean. “Just a few years ago, the most common client request was for an amazing home theater to enjoy the newest DVDs or Blu-rays. Consumer culture is now moving beyond just high-quality audio and video and our clients are demanding easy, fast, total control of everything in the home from their touch panels, smartphone or tablet.” The most unique part of the new showroom, Bean says, will be the 640-square-foot simulation room, which is still under construction. Featuring AboutGolf’s newest three-projector continuous curve screen golf simulator, a LaserShot shooting simulator with five-channel surround and 30 competitive games for two players, and a VRX iMotion triple-LCD display driving & flight simulator, this room is a virtual playground. “The simulation room is a step forward for CI showroom design and for our company, and it allows us to open the imagination of our clients to show them that anything is possible,” says Bean. “Homeowners in Horseshoe Bay are all about recreation and a luxury lifestyle, so we wanted to show the unique ways people could enhance their home’s fun factor. From controlling lighting, heating and surveillance cameras on an iPhone to a hyper-realistic golf simulator that makes you feel like you’re really teeing off on the course, our Horseshoe Bay showroom is as state-of-the-art as it can be.” Sound Design also built a commercial-quality home theater that uses a Display Development HD3 projector, a 184-inch Stewart Filmscreen Luxus Deluxe screen, a Kaleidescape M300 player connected to a Kaleidescape CinemaOne server in the lobby, a Theta Casablanca III preamp/processor, Theta Compli-blu Blu-ray player, a PrimaCinema server, and a bevy of California Audio Technology speakers, subwoofers and amplifiers.

Design Builders & Remodeling is a one stop shop operation. From the start, design solutions are strongly rooted in practical applications and experience. Project planning takes into account the realities of the construction process and mindful of your established budget. All the work is centralized in one firm reducing the chances of costly or time consuming surprises. A solid partnership with solid professionals to help you realize your dreams for a new or improved home. Nina Pomeroy

Design Builders & Remodeling is a one stop shop operation. From the start, design solutions are strongly rooted in practical applications and experience. Project planning takes into account the realities of the construction process and mindful of your established budget. All the work is centralized in one firm reducing the chances of costly or time consuming surprises. A solid partnership with solid professionals to help you realize your dreams for a new or improved home. Nina Pomeroy

Design Builders & Remodeling is a one stop shop operation. From the start, design solutions are strongly rooted in practical applications and experience. Project planning takes into account the realities of the construction process and mindful of your established budget. All the work is centralized in one firm reducing the chances of costly or time consuming surprises. A solid partnership with solid professionals to help you realize your dreams for a new or improved home. Historic converted barn w/chestnut beams & floors, vaulted ceiling LR w/field stone fireplace, and exceptional charm! Quiet and cozy space located off this grand room includes a den + guest room with its own bath. The grand staircase takes you to 4 BRs and 4 full baths. Through the post and beam defined archway, you’ll enter the party room: LR/DR & kitchen w/5-burner gas range & generous work island w/marble counter.

Sound Design Marks 20 Years with ELAN-Centered Showroom By RS Staff March 12,2013 Marking 20 years of success and growth in Texas as a custom installation firm, Sound Design is opening a new state-of-the-art home technology showroom in the resort community of Horseshoe Bay, TX on April 1. Sound Design showroom The new 4,500 square foot showroom puts the ELAN g! Entertainment and Control System on the main stage, according to owner Chris Bean, who wants to make sure that it is the first thing clients experience when they walk into the entrance living room. “What better way to celebrate our 20th year as Texas’ premier custom installation firm than to open a beautiful new showroom with all the latest home technologies?” Bean said. “We’ve learned a lot over the years, and our experience helped us design the new showroom in a way that presents a relaxing, luxurious ambience that appeals to our local clientele. We used the best-of-the-best in every category, from the Runco 63-inch plasma TV framed and hidden by a VisionArt motorized art print to the ultra-high-end CAT MBX Sequoia speakers and of course the ELAN g! System. "We have another showroom in Lakeway, TX where we’ve been showing off ELAN g! since the system debuted in 2010. When we first got into custom home installation, multi-room audio and video systems were the biggest client request. Today, we are increasingly finding that homeowners and homebuyers are as interested in complete home control as they are in their TVs and music, if not more so. Expandable, easy to use control systems that utilize mobile devices and simplify home living are going to be major sales drivers of the future for both the CI industry and the home building industry. ELAN g! System The showroom offers a tour of top-of-the-line home electronics, starting with the entrance living room that features AV and lighting control from an ELAN TS10 10-inch in-wall touchscreen, an ELAN TS2 in-wall touchscreen and an ELAN HR2 handheld remote. The system distributes audio and video content to a system consisting of a Runco V63 63-inch plasma display, a Planar 2x3 Matrix Wall with six 46-inch panels, a Planar Mosaic wall with four 46-inch panels and four 15-inch square panels, a two-channel audio system that uses two 7-foot-tall CAT MBX Sequoia’s, and a surround system that includes an Integra DTR 50.4 receiver, Newport speakers and two Sunfire HRS-12 subwoofers. “Many of our clients are tech-savvy homeowners who have become mobile tech enthusiasts through their everyday interactions with iPhones and tablets, and they want that same instant satisfaction to apply to their household media and home functions. We’re using the ELAN g! System to show them that home control can be just as easy as using an iPhone,” Bean said. “Just a few years ago, the most common client request was for an amazing home theater to enjoy the newest DVDs or Blu-Rays. Consumer culture is now moving beyond just high-quality audio and video and our clients are demanding easy, fast, total control of everything in the home from their touch panels, smartphone or tablet. ELAN g! does it in spades, and for many clients it’s simply the best choice out there.” The most unique part of the new showroom is the 640 square foot Simulation Room. Featuring AboutGolf’s newest three-projector continuous curve screen golf simulator, a LaserShot shooting simulator with five-channel surround and 30 competitive games for two players, and a VRX iMotion triple-LCD display driving & flight simulator, this room is literally a virtual playground. Bean wanted to show that he’s an outside-the-box thinker, and that, in this resort community, there is a custom installation professional that can bring dreams to life. “The Simulation Room is a step forward for CI showroom design and for our company, and it allows us to open the imagination of our clients to show them that anything is possible. Homeowners in Horseshoe Bay are all about recreation and a luxury lifestyle so we wanted to show the unique ways people could enhance their home’s fun factor. From controlling lighting, heating and surveillance cameras on an iPhone to a hyper-realistic golf simulator that makes you feel like you’re really teeing off on the course, our Horseshoe Bay showroom is as state-of-the-art as it can be.” Sound Design also built a commercial quality home theater that uses a Display Development HD3 projector, a 184-inch Stewart Filmscreen Luxus Delux screen, A Kaleidescape M300 player connected to a Kaleidescape CinemaOne server in the lobby, a Theta Casablanca III preamp/processor, Theta Compli-blu Blu-ray player, a PrimaCinema server, and a bevy of California Audio Technology speakers, subwoofers and amplifiers.