Real Estate Investing

I’m not meaning for this to be “decoration” week here at Banks.com but it seems that’s what it’s turning into.  By chance!  My Twitter friend Ashley Drake Gephart of Albuquerque, New Mexico - or @AshDHart as she’s known on her Tweets - linked to a very nice site called MultiFuelStoves.com that features 10 very modern, very spectacular fireplaces.

Although it was a tough call between the NASA Style Fireplace or the Table Top Log Fireplace, I ultimately picked this one as my favorite:

The Description:  The portable Planika is the perfect example of a smokeless fireplace. It has beautifully flickering flames specifically designed to create an intriguing focal point in any room of the house.

It’s ideal for households that do not have a chimney or a vent. It is odorless, free of soot or smoke, and emits an amount of carbon dioxide similar to the amount released by a human’s breath. And its circular design fits into a pre-cut coffee table, making it a most interesting conversation piece.

Love.  It.

I am not a decorator.  My centerpiece pictures are hung to high.  The family photos lining the hall are arranged flatly - with no imagination altering the the bleak straight line that takes you from point A to point B.  I thought as I hung them I was doing better than how it turned out, but looking at the finished product was disappointing.  It’s been six years now, so maybe I should tackle them once again.

I’ve always heard the placing items in a group of three offers a certain symmetry that’s appealing.  So what do I have?  Groups of eight (my japanese tea set) and groups of five (the earthen crockware I inherited from my husband’s side).  The one group of three I had was glass bottles filled with rocks - one of the bottles broke.  I guess that’s what happens when you combine stone and glass.

All is not lost, however.  Lynnae of being frugal cruised Flickr Creative Commons for decorating ideas and presents some here.   I can handle this bowl of fruit idea.

I also like Heather’s Thanksgiving table decoration that can actually be used throughout Autumn family dinners.  Heather spent the weekend preparing a fabulous Thanksgiving meal so she could write about it on Home-Ec 101 this month.  Fabulous.

Speaking of candles, it looks like the clear glass container is the way to go.  Over at Pink Roses and Teacups, they used the same idea but the filler around the candles was acorns.

Finally, I like Sarah’s idea about just using your edible groceries (acorn squash, pumpkins) on your mantle as decoration.  She even uses the miniature pumpkin as a bath toy for her baby.

What kind of ideas do you have for decorating inexpensively?

Concept houses can be really interesting.   We have tiny houses, storage buildings converted to houses, cave houses, tree houses, and now…. now we may be getting airplane houses.  The idea was conceived by an entrepreneur right here in my own community - an airplane converted to a house.  But not just any airplane house, according to World Net Daily - one that can withstand hurricane force winds.

Simply put, Bennington is looking to plant a Boeing 727 on a fixed bearing 15 feet above the ground, allowing the plane to rotate 360-degrees into the direction of the wind. The 1,200-square feet of interior space would be decorated with any luxurious furnishings according to the taste of the owner. 

In addition to living quarters (once stripped of all the seats and overhead storage bins, there could be lots of room), the plane could serve as a radar station during questionable weather.  Tom Bennington, the inventor who has a patent on the design, said,

…the first aircraft/residence/weather vane would gain massive media attention, and news and weather crews could even broadcast from there during hurricane season.

I hope it does get massive media attention because I’d love to see the plan(e) in action.

Photo from World Net Daily.