Michigan Inspiration
Steve and Beverly Smirnis, publishers of Building Savvy, were asked by the Home Builders Association of Greater Grand Rapids (Michigan) to judge its annual housing awards program.
How exciting that one of the entries they judged was a second home for a Dallas family!
The builder wrote about this project: Dallas, TX-based clients sought to build a lakeside vacation home capable of accommodating both family gatherings and corporate retreats. The decision to demo the property’s existing mid century home was difficult but unavoidable given their needs. They opted to rebuild with a larger but low-slung modern home that could blend almost seamlessly into the landscape, using a subdued palette and incorporating mid century elements honoring the original structure.
These cabinets colors in the entries judged by the Smirnis team seem to be spot-in with the latest colors. Benjamin Moore’s Color of the Year for 2021 is Aegean Teal–blue/green with a touch of gray and can lean either neutral or colorful.
Beautiful ceiling treatments are well executed by the builders in this market. The Smirnis team especially loved these barrel ceiling treatments.
With 20+ years writing and reporting for a Dallas/Fort Worth homebuilding industry magazine and national feature writing for the magazine network it is affiliated with, Beverly and Steve Smirnis have been asked to do a lot of judging by various HBAs and it’s something they particularly enjoy. Recent judging experience includes: the Greater Orlando Builders Association’s Parade of Homes and Major Achievement Awards, Parade of Homes for the Building Industry Association Of Okaloosa-Walton Counties (Florida) and the Collier Building Industry Association (Naples FL) Sand Dollar Awards. The Smirnis team has also judged Best Products at the National Association of Home Builders’ International Builders Show.
