Need some new home design ideas? You have to admit, celebrities know how to pick out some great houses, but one thing you can be sure of, is that most celebs pick out the latest and most current design trends and include them in their decor.

You’ll want to checkout this photo gallery of celebrity homes, where you’ll see a variety of different architectural styles, from contemporary to beach to southern cottage. Perhaps some design or decor ideas will fit into your new house plans…

From the article:

Brangelina may soon be New Yorkers.

In a week where Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were both nominated for Academy Awards, the Daily News reported Oscar’s golden couple were planning a move to a sprawling $40 million estate on Long Island’s Gold Coast.

The Sassafras estate – a 22,000-square-foot Tudor-style mansion that boasts 18 bathrooms – would make the commute easier for Angie on her new film, “Salt,” which began shooting in the area in March.

Meanwhile, Pitt and Jolie are putting their Malibu home (pictured above) on the market, Pitt said at Newsweek’s Oscar roundtable. According to Forbes, the three-bedroom, 4,000-square-foot home has bamboo floors, a pool, tennis court, stairway straight to the beach and sits on three acres of land. Pitt paid $8 million for the property, Forbes reported.

Read the entire article: http://www.nydailynews.com/real_estate/galleries/celebrity_homes/celebrity_homes.html

You never know when inspiration may strike!

Leave us a comment below and tell us which celebrity home is your favorite!

We’ve all been there… When somewhere, during your hectic and crazy week, unexpected company arrives.

Maybe it is parents, friends, or even a repairman. Whoever the guest, it is embarrassing to have a messy home. Wouldn’t it be great if there were a few quick tips that could help give your craftsman style home the appearance of being “uber clean” even during the days you just can’t be on top of it?

Well, now you can!

Here is a great article with easy and helpful tips for giving each room in your home the appearance of “super clean.” Since you may only have a few minutes, you can use that precious time to clean up “in the right way” during your busy week.

From the article:

Rid the sofa of pet hair by wetting the fingertips of rubber gloves and gliding your hand over the sofa. The hair will stick to the rubber.

Next, when the dishwasher is full and the sink is overflowing, stow dirty dishes and silverware in a stockpot and pull them out later to be cleaned.

Next, Hang fresh guest towels. The humidity in this room makes textiles look droopy, even after a recent machine washing.

Read the article in its entirety here: http://www.realsimple.com/home-organizing/cleaning/fake-clean-house-00000000032724/index.html

It is amazing how a few simple fixes can tidy up your house in an incredibly short amount of time. No one will know how you are able to manage it all!

Comment below and tell us about your quick clean up tips!

As we go into this busy Christmas season, we just want to thank you, personally, for all your kind words, support, and business in 2010.

We all have so very much to be thankful for, and we hope that you are able to take some time to spend with your loved ones and family.

So have a Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year from House Plan Gallery!

Post your comments below and let us know where you’re going to be travelling for the holidays…

You can always count on celebrities to go for opulence and extravagance when it comes to interesting craftsman house plans. Should you ever have a spare $20 million, you can ask Tom Brady if you can buy his upcoming Brentwood home. What home wouldn’t be perfected with a monsterous pool, spa, and even an elevator to make traveling through it easier?

In all fairness to Tom and Gisele, a fair amount of the cost went to the lot itself, in the expensive California neighborhood, where they will be neighbors of Arnold Schwarzenegger.

From the article:

Dream job, dream wife – and now Tom Brady is getting his dream house.

The three-time Super Bowl- winning quarterback and his supermodel wife, Gisele Bundchen, are building a sprawling California home – nearly 22,000 square feet in all, from wine cellar to weight room

Read the entire article and see more pictures: http://www.nydailynews.com/real_estate/2010/04/24/2010-04-24_tom_and_gisele_build_20m_love_nest_luxe_calif_home_puts_a_capstone_on_glamorous_.html

Having 3 small kids myself, I can’t imagine how much mess they could make in a house this big!

Leave us a comment below! If money were no object, what rooms would you have in your home?

If you’re anything like most other Americans, you’ve probably been affected, negatively, by the downturn in the economy, etc., and are always on the lookout for new and creative ways to save money, and to put that money to its “highest and best use”.

I found this article and thought it offered an easy-to-follow, and well laid out description of some of the more popular reasons why building your own home, using stock house plans can be a very “tax savvy” move for you, and how you can lessen your actual “out of pocket” costs, by taking advantage of the tax advantages, deductions, credits and more, that are now available to you when you build a new home…

From the article:

Buying a home is one of the smartest purchases you can ever make. One reason is that homeownership has many positive tax implications. The three most important sources of tax savings for home owners are the:

– deductions for mortgage interest
– deductions for real estate taxes
– capital gain exclusion for the sale of a principal residence

The deductions for mortgage interest and real estate taxes reduce the annual cost of homeownership by reducing the home owner’s tax liability each year. For example, a home owner with $10,000 in annual mortgage interest payments and real estate taxes and who falls in the 25 percent tax bracket could realize up to $2,500 in tax savings each year. Home owners who itemize their taxes can deduct from taxable income interest allocable to a first or second home for up to $1 million of mortgage debt and $100,000 of home equity loans. And most state and local taxes paid on homes are also deductible.

Certainly, just the mere fact that you CAN get a tax deduction/other benefit from building or buying a new home isn’t a reason enough to just go forward and build a home that you’re not 100% prepared for, and ready to undertake.

However, its wonderful to know that our government offers these type incentives to help promote home ownership and, hopefully in turn, strong family relationships that contribute to the fabric of their local communities.

You can read the entire article at: http://www.nahb.org/generic.aspx?sectionID=1047&genericContentID=180

Comment below and tell us YOUR money saving ideas!