Staircase - cottage staircase idea in San Francisco

Nobody would be foolish enough to knowingly purchase PIZZA using a third party call-center middleman.But every day, thousands of people do exactly that when they purchase flowers for delivery! That’s because a NEW TYPE of “florist” has appeared on the scene. And that means most flower buyers pay as much as 50% MORE than they should pay! Finding A Floral Supplier When a prospective flower buyer wants to buy flowers, his first stop is usually the internet. The author’s flower shop is in Charlotte, NC and the two most widely used search terms in this area are: “Charlotte flowers” and “Charlotte florist.” When the customer searches for either of these terms, he will get a list of results. Paid results (advertising) are usually shown first. Organic (website) results come after the advertisements. When a customer clicks on an advertisement, he is usually taken to a beautiful website owned by a call-center floral middleman offering beautiful flowers, hand-delivered by a LOCAL florist. And the products are sales TAX FREE. But what is not revealed is that the middle man does not actually have a flower shop in Charlotte! The Difference Between Toasters and Flowers With “durable” products like toasters and sweaters, the location of the seller isn’t terribly important. That’s because the products will be shipped from a warehousevia USPS, UPS or FedEx. But flower arrangements are *fragile* and cannot be shipped that way! Instead, they must be locally custom-hand-crafted and hand-delivered! And this means that if a customer orders from a middleman’s website, the order must – somehow – be passed from the middleman’s company to a REAL local florist in, for example, Charlotte, NC. This “order transfer” is done by one of the three florist-to-florist networks: FTD, Teleflora and Bloomnet (1-800-Flowers). Too Many FEES and COMMISSIONS Membership in these networks is not free, so the middleman always adds a “handling charge” – typically about $15 -- to the customer’s bill to help pay for hiscosts to access to the network. Please note that the $15 handling charge usually far exceedsany TAX FREE “savings!” But the “handling charge” only helps pay for *access* to the network. The florist-to-florist network also takes a 7% commission, and also credits a 20% selling commission back to the middleman! What this means is that, for a typical online floral purchase, just under HALF of the customer’s money vanishes in unnecessary FEES and COMMISSIONS. By comparison, when a customer buys a toaster from an independent business listing it on Amazon, only a few percent of the purchase price goes to fees and commissions. With this huge profit potential available to third party floral marketers, it is not surprising that these middlemen spend huge sums on advertising and sales promotion. A few years back, one even took an ad during the Super Bowl! Buy Direct For Better Value Clearly, the consumer will always get His Best Floral Value by placing his floral order DIRECT with a Real Florist n the City where the flowers will be delivered. Sometimes it may be difficult to tell whether a Flower Supplier is located “in town.”Here are three easy ways to separate a “real” florist from a floral middleman: 1. Look for the street address, city and state on the website. Often this will be found on a tab labeled “About Us” or “Contact Us.” If you cannot find an address at all, then this is almost certainly a middleman! 2. Look at the telephone number. If the only number on the website is a TOLL FREE “800” number, then the floral supplier is probably not local. 3. Look at the invoice (before you click the BUY NOW button!) for any “Handling” or “Service” charges. A REAL florist will never add these charges to your bill! For more information about Charlotte Flowers and Charlotte Florist, please visit the author’s Flower Hut website at http://flowerhut.com. BUT, if you do not want flowers delivered to Charlotte, Matthews, Mint Hill or Pineville, NC, please do NOT order from us! Take the time to find a REAL florist in the town where you need flowers delivered. You’ll be glad you did!

Completed in 2018, this Westlake Hills duplex, designed by Alterstudio Architects, underwent a dramatic transformation by mixing light & airy with dark & moody design. The goal of the project was to create a more intimate environment using a more saturated and dramatic palette. Additionally, it draws from warmer wood tones such as walnut alongside luxurious textures, particularly in navy, dark grey, and emerald green. The end result is an elegant, timeless, and comfortable space conducive to cozying up with a book at the end of a long day.

Budget Blinds blackout roller shades, photo credit installer Adam Brannick
Example of a mid-sized transitional guest bedroom design in Cedar Rapids with gray walls and no fireplace

House Amenities Security – In the front, two custom-built solid metal security doors with keys that cannot be duplicated. – In the back, an outside custom built sliding door with metal security bars and a sliding glass door on the inside. Each door requires a key. – Additional aesthetically designed metal bars have been installed on all existing metal security windows providing a more hardened and enhanced security posture. – Infrastructure (wiring and conduit) has been installed and ready for the security system of your choice – Community has an active Vecinos Vigilantes program and daily police patrols. Neighbors communicate in real time via Whatsapp on two channels. In this community, neighbors know neighbors and who belongs here and who does not belong here. Electric – A whole-house surge protector has been installed at the electrical junction box to protect against lightning strikes. Each A/C unit also has an additional surge protector at the electrical outlet. – Water – Whole house water filtration system with five filters – 3 cartridge, 1 charcoal, and a UV sterilization filter. In addition, this water system features a 1,000 gallon backup water tank and a jet pump to maintain constant pressure. System is still under warranty. – Every room has a ceiling fan. – Internet and cable TV service is provided by Cableonda via a fiber optic connection with the promise of 100mb down and about 8-10 up. Outside Amenities Roof was cleaned and resealed about 2 months. About 29m (95ft) of custom-designed cement planters with river rock exteriors border the house. You’ll find flowers, tomatoes, spinach, herbs and other vegetation growing year round. In front of the cement planters, you’ll find about 25 meters (80ft) of cement walkways to step on during rainy season. In fact, you can maneuver nearly all around the back and sides of the house, work in the cement planters and not get your feet muddy. A custom water drainage system was designed and installed for this property. It routes most rain water from the roof to the roadside drainage system. It works very well. Out and about in the backyard, you’ll find some young fruit trees to include guanabana, (2) limón, melocotón, mangustin, and fig. We also have several active guandu bushes (pigeon peas) to add to your rice or feed your parrot. You’ll also find a small moringa tree, along with some eucalyptus, salvia, and artemisa bushes. The property has been maintained by the same gardener for over 7 years. Community Amenities El Frances is a highly desired location because of its central location to Boquete and David and because of the private bilingual school, Academia Internacional Boquete, about 2 km south of Emerald Drive. For exploration, discovery, and family fun, you are just 10 minutes from the only skating rink in Panama – Boquete Skateworld. A popular upscale restaurant and spa (gym, pool, exercise equipment, massages) is just a 5 minute drive north to the Los Molinos properties. In and around Boquete, there are coffee, nature, and wildlife, hiking trips through the rain forest and up to the peak of Volcan Baru, two zipline parks, Volcan Baru National Park, horseback riding, multiple spas, “Tuesday Market,” rock climbing, water falls, community theater at the Boquete Community Players theater, and art studios. On the Pacific side, you’re about 1 hour to the beaches around Boca Chica, 90 minutes to the beach at Las Lajas, and on the Atlantic side, you are conveniently located 3 hours from the beaches of Bocas del Toro. It takes just a little over an hour to get to Cerro Punta on the other side of Volcan Baru. For shopping, the border (Frontera) to Costa Rica is only 90 minutes down the road. The Frontera has a selection of small malls, small shops, street vendors and foods to check out. It also has the only Burger King in western Panama. The largest mall and centralized bus station in western Panama is scheduled to open in 2018 and it is just 20km directly south to David. David has two cinemas, several shopping centers, office supply businesses, a grocery warehouse (Pricesmart), and a variety of other shopping opportunities. ATMs, convenience stores, and fuel stations are just 7KM down the road. Approximately 11 to 12 years remain on a 20 year tax exemption.

Example of a huge trendy metal floating open staircase design in Minneapolis

Photo: Angela Flournoy © 2017 Houzz
Living room - cottage living room idea in Oklahoma City

Trendy home gym photo in Orange County

swan
Example of a large trendy medium tone wood floor eat-in kitchen design in San Francisco with an undermount sink, glass-front cabinets, dark wood cabinets, quartz countertops, blue backsplash, subway tile backsplash, stainless steel appliances and a peninsula

Inspiration for a mid-sized contemporary porcelain tile and multicolored floor hallway remodel in Vancouver with beige walls

Detail of LED wall sconce with white glass tile background
Inspiration for a small contemporary kids' white tile and glass tile porcelain tile and gray floor alcove bathtub remodel in New York with flat-panel cabinets, dark wood cabinets, a two-piece toilet, green walls and an integrated sink

The master bath features stunning views of Puget Sound. The glass walls between the bath and hall have a hand-drawn etched glass pattern. Photo: Benjamin Benschneider

Tiny Heirloom Inc.
Trendy home office photo in Portland

Carolyn Reyes
Elegant exterior home photo in Los Angeles

Michael Klug
Example of a large classic gender-neutral light wood floor walk-in closet design in Milwaukee with dark wood cabinets

Inspiration for a mid-sized eclectic l-shaped enclosed kitchen remodel in Boston with an undermount sink, shaker cabinets, yellow cabinets, soapstone countertops and stainless steel appliances

The entire house was installed with this warm European oak. The European oil finish gives the hardwood a more natural look.
Large mountain style medium tone wood floor and brown floor foyer photo in Miami with white walls

We went for lots of texture and foliage color in this small space. Ferns hold the composition together while the Persian Ivy, Rhododendron, Hosta and Heuchera provide color and leaf variation. This planting is partially under a deck.

Wrought iron fencing gives any property a distinguished, traditional look that is very appealing. Used for both decoration and functionality, it is made from iron and other types of metal including steel. Wrought iron or metal fencing is worked in a variety of ways to produce a wide range of specific styles. The bars, rails and caps are combined to form a unique package.