Category: Home + Lifestyle

The Pinterest-Proven Formula for the Ultimate Cozy Bedroom

(Image credit: My Scandinavian Home)

Let’s do an experiment. Navigate over to Pinterest, type the phrase “cozy bedroom” into the search bar, and see what comes up. Pretty specific, right? It seems the internet has decided there’s a clear-cut formula to having a beautiful-but-cozy bedroom, and it involves lots of texture, a lack of housekeeping and copious amounts of tea. If you’re after this look for yourself (I don’t blame you, it is lovely), hang around while I break down this blueprint.

Read the source article at Apartment Therapy

Make It a Valentine’s Day to Remember

Decorating for Valentine’s Day is a great way to get into the holiday spirit and remind you about the love in your life.

But decorations don’t have to be cheesy hot pink, plastic, or printed with a cartoon character! It is time to glam up the romantic side of this holiday in your home this year.

For a look this Valentine’s Day that screams chic, not cheap, check out these ideas from Elle Décor. 

A Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Guide to Entertaining for the Super Bowl

Either you like football, or you don’t. Either you like hosting parties, or you don’t. Either you already have Sunday, February 5th penciled in as the date to throw your neighborhood-famous Super Bowl bash, or… you don’t.

It’s not too late to get your act together and put something, anything together for the big game day. You just have to start from a place of introspection (we’re getting deep here—football parties are serious business where I’m from).

Read the source article at Apartment Therapy

Newly inaugurated Trump administration puts mortgage premium cuts on hold

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on Friday suspended a controversial plan that would have slashed the premium rates for certain federally backed mortgages.

The reversal by the Federal Housing Administration came less than two hours after Donald Trump was sworn in as president.

The announcement came in a letter signed by Deputy Assistant Secretary for Housing Genger Charles, which said the reduction in FHA mortgage insurance premiums that was slated to take effect on Jan. 27 would be “suspended indefinitely.”

Read the source article at cnbc.com

America’s new most expensive house lists for $250M

Move over Florida megamansion with 33 bedrooms, there’s a new top dog in the national real estate market. Just listed for a bonkers $250 million in L.A.’s Bel Air, this lavish pile of glass, white walls, and turf is the work of luxury developer Bruce Makowsky, who famously sold a Beverly Hills spec home to Minecraft creator Markus Persson for $70M, a house that Jay-Z and Beyoncé had also been eyeing.

Read the source article at Curbed

Mortgage rates reverse course, moving lower for the first time in more than two months

Fixed mortgage rates, which have been on a tear since the presidential election, retreated this week, falling for the first time in nine weeks.

According to the latest data released Thursday by Freddie Mac, the 30-year fixed-rate average tumbled to 4.2 percent with an average 0.5 point. (Points are fees paid to a lender equal to 1 percent of the loan amount.) It was 4.32 percent a week ago and 3.97 percent a year ago.

 

Read the source article at The Washington Post

CFPB fines TransUnion and Equifax for deceiving consumers with their marketing

HousingWire first broke the news late last week that TransUnion would pay just shy of $17 million as part of a settlement with the CFPB, as revealed by a company filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. As it turns out, there’s more. Today, the CFPB’s report revealed Equifax was fined too. Click the headline for more information.

Read the source article at U.S. Housing Finance News

The New Kitchen Trends We’re Anxiously Anticipating — The 2017 Kitchen

We saw so many beautiful kitchen trends in 2016: tons of marble, rich blue and black cabinets, open shelving, and a mix of materials. While we don’t think these things will disappear overnight, we definitely see a shift ahead. If you’re thinking about redoing your kitchen soon, or are just design curious, read on for what you can expect to see more of in the coming year, and why we think that’s the case.

Read the source article at Apartment Therapy