Still Time to Find the Perfect Summer Home

Megan Gates - Even with Labor Day in sight, there is still plenty of summer left for people to enjoy a vacation getaway. Renting a summer home is a great way to get out of town, live like a local, and gather with a bunch of friends and family. Whether you own a property near the ocean, a lake, or a destination city, what sort of summer home are people looking to rent?

Summer homes are meant for people to enjoy time together. Having a house with an open concept, especially in areas like the living and dining room, are beneficial for achieving that goal. The negative aspect for having a house that is too open is that people also crave privacy, especially if they are sharing the space with a lot of other people. There lies the benefit of having more closed off rooms, privacy. The negative side of a more closed concept can make a property feel smaller than it is.

When it comes to functionality, no one wants to go to a summer home and fight over bathroom time like they do at home. Renters want something different than what they’re used to at home and usually more luxurious. Having a property with a lot of bedrooms makes a great vacation home to rent because people tend to vacation with friends and family. The housing trend for this year calls for bigger, more luxurious bathrooms. Having a lot of bathrooms or adding one may not be always be an option in a rental property. However, giving whatever bathrooms are available a face lift to give them a spa feel would be a must have for renters.

A hot trend of new homes is outdoor living space. This doesn't include your typical space of plastic patio furniture and pink flamingos in the garden. People want outdoor kitchens, living rooms and garden rooms. The outdoor space can now be created to be an extensive of your property's square footage instead of a separate area. In terms of flow, keep the outdoor kitchen close to the indoor kitchen.

When it comes to interior design, work with what you have. If you own a home on a beach, play up the beach theme by using inspiration but all the water and sand elements around you. If you have a cabin on a lake, use the natural elements and colors around you for design inspiration. Remember that renters are looking for luxury when they vacation so trying to incorporate a lavish feel into the rooms is a benefit.

With these design tips, your property will become as hot as the summer heat and rented just as quickly. Share any other summer home tips below!

Megan Gates is an active blogger and handles communications on behalf of Elliman.com. She provides written work to the blogosphere pertaining to New York Luxury Real Estate, Long Island Rentals, and the latest in architecture, design and fashion. Follow her on Twitter @ MEGatesDesign.

Architectural Salvage Yard Heaven

Photo: Nova Colette BronsteinNova Bronstein - As an artist almost always looking to make something from something else, I'm always smitten when I can make it over to Ohmega in Berkeley, CA. This architectural salvage yard has ample supply of inspiration! 

Whether you're looking for items with which to decorate your home or, as I more often do, looking for motif-rich items from which to find reference for my art and jewelry making, you'll find myriad items that catch your eye at this or any other architectural salvage yard. 

Antique Steel Grate: Nova Colette BronsteinSmall items cover door knobs and pulls, skeleton keys, ornamental hardware, all variety of metal placards and plates to medium sized items like plaster sconces, tiffany light fixtures, sinks, and large items like claw-foot tubs, pairs and pairs of french doors, sheets of marble and granite waiting to become countertops. The possibilities are near endless.

When I go to Ohmega, I never know what I'm going to find. Take for example the antique grate pictured (left) for the starting point for a piece or collection of pieces of jewelry. I love to work this way and often reference grate or steel-work when making my jewelry pieces. It's not much of a stretch to imagine interpreting this grate on a smaller scale. Say you shrink down the frame to an inch + half or two inches in length, and make it out of sterling silver or copper wire. The circular or flourish details could become accents out of metal or colored beads... Are you starting to see jewelry pieces taking form?  

Photo: Nova Colette Bronstein

Other times when I go to Ohmega, I find I'm most inspired by combinations of colors I see grouped together. Like with the grouping of rusted steam radiators pictured here. To me the play of tone-on-tone moving through a range of color from dark sienna into cool grays and silvers is particularly compelling. The combination of surface detail and repetition of form in this cluster offer rich fodder for jewelry inspiration. The result of these elements have a particularly urban and stunning effect. Wouldn't you love to have or create a piece of jewelry that pulled from this inspiration? 

Photo: Nova Colette Bronstein

Ohmega salvage is a short trek from both University Avenue and 3rd Avenue shopping areas and stretches into two lots on either side of San Pablo Avenue in Berkeley. A salvage yard of this size and as comprehensive as Ohmega never has a shortage of items to ogle, a rare find in this central and urban location.  

Photo: Nova Colette BronsteinNo matter what your goal, Ohmega (or your local architectural salvage yard) offers a stunning array of visual sustenance. And, if, like me, you're interested in jewelry design, you may find that it's easier than you think to find inspiration for jewelry there. Happy designing!

Interested in making some of your own smashing jewelry? As a jewelry design instructor at the Sheffield School in New York, I encourage you to take the matter of making jewelry into your own hands! Check out the newly launched Jewelry Design Course offered at the Sheffield School.  With thousands of active students and more than 50,000 graduates, Sheffield has trained more design professionals than any other school in the world.

• Request a free Sheffield School catalog describing our distance education courses.
• Subscribe to the Sheffield Designer newsletter.