Pippin Home Designs prides itself on staying current with building trends and new products that make it easier and more cost-effective for the builder and in- turn, the homeowner. When the Pippin Team recently toured the Carolina Building Services facilities, they immediately knew that the products and ease-of-use were something to share with readers of our monthly newsletter.

During the tour, the group learned that Carolina Building Services creates products with durable, low- to-no maintenance materials, such as cypress, PVC and MDF. Each product is pre-made built to a plan’s specifications and sent to the site for installation.

Builders are also fond of the products, because they eliminate the challenge of site building. Carolina Building Services takes on a project and provides the builder with a completed item that is precisely built to plan measurements. This company removes the GUESSWORK providing a custom-built finished product that has been completely waterproofed and primed, and is ready for the final paint coat. This is why BUILDERS like them; HOMEOWNERS like them because they are very little to maintain and require little upkeep over the years.

Exterior Products Include:

• Shutters
• Cupolas & Domes
• Crawl Space Doors
• Railings
• Flower Boxes
• Arched Headers
• Columns
• Dormers
• Decorative Balconies
• Trellis & Pergolas

Interior Products Include:

• Cabinetry Systems & Built-Ins
• Closet & Shelving Systems
• Magazine Racks
• Niches
• Mantels
• Garage Storage Systems
• Arched Headers
• Columns
• Door Overlays
• Window Seats

If you are looking for a break from the stressors of the season, take a moment to enjoy the outdoors. Spend some time on your lawn and garden areas; not only can you prepare your lawn for the winter, but you can prep for a beautiful, blooming spring. Below are some tips to get you started.

1. Feed the lawn with winter fertilizer and apply lime if you haven’t already done so this fall.
2. Cut back any dried/withered perennials.
3. AFTER all the leaves have fallen in your yard, apply a top dressing of mulch or compost on beds. Leaves are great mulch if they are shredded. This can be done with your mower. Note: do not pile leaves or mulch on top of evergreens.
4. Add STABIL to any gas-powered garden tools to keep from freezing.
5. Be sure to provide food for the birds.
6. Take in any pots/containers/birdbaths that are not frost-proof. This will prevent cracking in extreme cold.
7. Shrubs and trees may still be planted throughout the winter as long as the ground is not frozen and you do not take shrubs from a protected greenhouse directly to the garden. Harden off first by exposing to temperature gradually. An effective transition would be from your garage to your back porch and then into the ground.
8. Get a jump-start on spring planting: There is STILL time to plant spring bulbs. My best tulips were planted on Christmas Day.
9. Remember to take time to pause and appreciate Nature’s wonders as she prepares for her winter nap.

Jan Enright Feamster Landscape Design is located in Mooresville, NC. Jan has 18 years of experience designing and installing creative gardens. Her designs have been featured in Southern Living Magazine and will also be featured in Perennial Magazine in Spring 2006. Jan can be reached via email at creategardens@adelphia.net or by phone at
704- 663-0500. You can also visit her website at www.creategardens.com

We’ve all heard or repeated clichés from time to time, but did you ever stop to think about what they actually mean? Typically, they are not just idle phrases, but were said to make a point or accurately interpret a real event.

For example, “the air was so thick you could cut it with a knife.” This is a great feng shui phrase, because it explains exactly what was happening to the chi, or energy, in the room. This phrase was most likely used by someone that walked into a room after a fight or argument. Upon entering, they likely felt the heated energy, or chi, and spoke about it in the most descriptive way they could. With the visual created from the cliché, one can imagine the energy filling up the room to a point where it felt “thick.” The cliché explains exactly what is taking place, but in feng shui we call it a buildup of excess chi.

Along the same line, if you’ve walked into a room that looks great, but something just isn’t right, and you say “I can’t put my finger on it, but”, it’s your intuitive sense kicking in. You won’t figure out what’s wrong by using your five senses, because it’s your sixth, or intuitive sense, that has given you this message. This is the sense that feng shui practitioners use to ensure positive energy is flowing through your home or workspace.

Don’t forget - the intuitive sense applies to all aspects of your life from home designing and decorating to everyday struggles and choices. When you’re faced with a difficult decision and your gut begins to ache, stop and tune in to what your intuitive self is trying to tell you. It will help you make the right choice!

--Valerie Delong combines her business sense and unique creative style, seeking to enrich people's lives and businesses on a more powerful and intimate level. She is a Reiki Master in the Usui tradition and has studied Kinesiology, hellerwork, and other body-mind therapies. Her home is in Charlotte, North Carolina.

• First Place, Custom New Homes 4,000-5,000 square feet, 2005 Best of the Lake Competition sponsored by Lake Norman Home Builders Association
• Jennifer B. Pippin and Pippin Home Designs, Inc. Featured on Two Episodes of Desperate Design Television Show
• Contributed to Fall 2005 Bath Report in National Trade Publication, Kitchen & Bath Design News - November 2005