Interior Decorating

American Dream Home

Home is the American Dream

Home ownership is not only the crown atop The American Dream, private property ownership is the very cornerstone of American liberty, upon which our free enterprise system and indeed our republican form of government have stood for almost 250 years.

TLK Luxury Custom Homes - Your Dream Home

 

Protection of private property is essential for the preservation of individual freedom. When individuals do not possess secure property rights, dependency on government for the essentials of life become inevitable.

America’s Founding Fathers believed that private property ownership existed long before government in ancient common law.

TLK Luxury Custom Homes - Modern American Dream Home

 

“Home ownership has long been accepted as a core component of the American dream, as it confers several economic benefits on homeowners, including the ability to accumulate wealth by accessing credit and building equity,” according to Forbes magazine.

“Home ownership is proving to be a cornerstone of financial security,” says the Mullin Group of Berkshire Hathaway. “Two major personal wealth goals, home ownership and net worth, work hand-in-hand. If you’re looking for financial security, home ownership should be a top priority."

TLK Luxury Custom Homes- American Dream Home in Stone

 

Mark Fleming, Chief Economist for First American says, “Buying a home is not just a financial decision. It’s also a lifestyle decision.”

In fact, Gregory Schmidt with the New York Times reports that “Nearly three-quarters of Americans say owning a home is a higher measure of achievement than having a successful career, raising a family or earning a college degree,” according to a new Bankrate survey.

TLK Luxury Custom Homes - American Dream Home Back Yard

 

TLK Luxury Custom Homes believe in America greatness and they believe in the American Dream. Let the Kneedlers help you take a step into the American Dream by building your Dream Home on a little piece of America.


 

2023 Color Wars

TLK Luxury Custom Homes - Unlock Lockdown Living

 

Once upon a time, there was but one agreed Color of the Year amongst the decorating Kingdoms of the earth. This special color appeared everywhere, on everything and peace reigned throughout the land. The elders still speak of the age of avocado refrigerators and the all-powerful, Great Accent Wall of Punjab.

 

TLK Luxury Custom Homes - Evergkade Deck -Valspar-Color 2023

 

As time went on, the designers became dissatisfied with the old ways and no longer wished to paint the entire Kingdom burnt orange or baby blue. Powerful factions began to break away and choose their own Color of the Year and that, ladies and gentlemen, is how the color wars began.

 

TLK Luxury Custom Homes - Canyon Ridge -Better Homes and Gardens 2023 Color of the Year

 

These designers enlisted armies of paint manufactures to create the most fabulous color of all, every year thereafter throughout the Kingdom.

TLK Custom Homes - Viva Magenta- Pantone Color of the Year 2023

 

That brings us to the year 2023, where a myriad of paint creators juxtaposition for fame and fortune by giving you just the one color of which you have always dreamed to use in your custom luxury home.

 

TLK Luxury Custom Homes - Rustic Greige - Dutchboy Color of the Year 2023

 

Even wood stain manufacturers now have a Color of the Year and for 2023, Minwax has chosen a rich, warm stain called Aged Barrel. Minwax says Aged Barrel's traditional roots provide a grounded feeling in any room.

TLK Luxury Custom Homes - Aged Barrell- Minwas Stain Collor of 2023

 

Let TLK Luxury Custom Homes be your champion in the explosion of wonderful colors coming on the scene this year.

 


 

Luxury Is Looking Up

TLK Luxury Custom Homes - Unlock Lockdown Living

 

One of the hottest trends in luxury homes right now is incorporating dramatic ceilings into the design. Ceilings that “make a statement” lift your custom home to a whole new level of luxury.

 

TLK Luxury Custom Homes - Vaulted-Cathedral-Ceiling

 

For the first time, designers now consider ceiling to be the fifth wall of your room that can actually add value to your luxury custom home. Mike Woodley of Woodley Architectural Group says, “Good design sells better and quicker, and the ceiling is an important part of good design.

There are so many styles available to dress the ceilings of each room of your home, but the first element to address is height. Eight foot ceilings no longer satisfy the luxury custom home buyer, but just another 12 inches brings you tons of options. By the way, Realtor.com® found that raising ceiling height to 10 or 11 feet from the standard 8-to-9-foot range, resulted in an average 50% jump in listing prices per square foot.

 

TLK-Custom-Luxury-Homes-Casette-Rack-Ceiling

 

Tall ceilings aren’t really that “new,” you say. Well, we’re talking about a whole lot more than just a spacious entryway or great room with a plain white ceiling. We’re talking glamour, with a generous helping of ouuus and ahhhs..

TLK Custom Homes - Elaborate Ceiling Tiles

 

Once you leave square feet in the past and open your mind to thoughts of cubit feet, your luxury ceiling design options become legion! Think texture. Think color. Think depth. Think shape. Think looking up into the starry night skies!

Even elaborate ceiling tiles have taken on a vastly upmarket look, from intricate metal and wood designs to ornate plaster effects. These are not you grandmother’s ceiling tiles. These tiled ceilings are to die for, as they say.

 

TLK Luxury Custom Homes - Luxury Wooden Ceiling Tiles

 

Imagine styles like tray ceilings, then dare to entertain the idea of coffered ceilings and barrel vaulted ceilings. Coffered ceilings are sunken panels of various shapes and sizes elaborately constructed into a grid pattern that is not only impressive, but helps to absorb sound in the room.

Vaulted Cathedral ceilings have two equal sloping sides that meet in the middle high point of the room, while conversely, vaulted barrel ceilings feature a grand, semi-circular arch resembling a barrel or circle, cut in half.

 

TLK Luxury Custom Homes - Hall Barrel Ceiling

 

TLK Luxury Customs Homes could even vary the ceiling designs from room to room to set different moods though out your home.

 

TLK Luxury Custom Homes - Rich Wood Coffered Ceiling

 

TLK’s savvy ceiling designers can coordinate each room's “fifth wall” with the room’s other details to create a completely balanced, sophisticated look.

The right “fifth wall” treatment can whisper Country French in your kitchen, while a richly stained coffered ceiling brings a feeling of the British Aristocracy to your library or billiards room. From intimate conversation spaces through a gorgeous barreled ceiling hall, into an elegant dining room, the statement ceiling makes it all happen.

 

TLK Custom Luxury Homes - Barrel Kitchen Ceiling

 

Luxury ceilings help set the stage to the drama that unfolds in your new custom home

Don’t kid yourself, there will always be drama… but with TLK Luxury Custom Homes, it’s drama in a good way!

 


 

Light Up The Night

TLK Luxury Custom Homes - Unlock Lockdown Living

 

Landscape lighting is one of the most dramatic improvements you can make to your home’s curb appeal. In fact, professional outdoor lighting design is an investment that will even increase the resale value of your home. We call it, spotlighting your home's value with landscape lighting.

 

Custom Landscape Lighting - TLK Luxury Custom Home

 

Luxury architectural and landscape lighting should be a dramatic journey that moves guests through one area of your outdoor living space into another. TLK Luxury Custom Homes will use subtle lighting along paths, pool edges, and doorways, creating definition, insuring safety, and tying everything together. In areas where more light is needed, for instance for cooking or dining, the TLK team will increase the number of lighting fixtures to direct the light exactly where it's needed.

TLK Luxury Custom Homes can design landscape lighting systems that really impress! Then, because every element is professionally installed and connected to a central power source, you’ll have control everything from one spot in your home.

 

Glamorous Landscape Lighting - TLK Luxury Custom Homes

 

Lisa and TK Kneedler will work with you to determine which elements of your home you want to feature and what you might want to hide or disguise with lighting. For instance, you might want to show off exquisite landscape elements like a water feature with a wash of light. On the other hand, you might want to direct attention away from a storage area for pool equipment.

Dramatic Architectural Llighting-TLK Luxury Custom Homes

 

Landscape lighting can also “set the mood” for a moonlight swim or a romantic al fresco dinner. Warm lighting usually looks more elegant and can be more relaxing in comfortable outdoor living spaces.

Low level lighting may be best to direct the eye along the path. while artificial “moon lighting” transforms larger, sweeping areas into an enchanting glen with an almost mystical quality.

On the other hand, cool, bright lighting is best to dramatically accentuate some of the more grand elements of your architecture.

 

Luxury Custom Landscape Lighting - TLK Luxury Custom Homes

 

Although one of the most effective design elements of your custom luxury home, architectural lighting sounds a little daunting and therefore, is often ignored completely. Be bold and allow TK Kneedler to show you the perfect balance of utility and elegance.

 

Light Up The Night With Class - TLK Luxury Custom Homes

 

You don’t need to know the difference between lumen and wattage or be able to calculate how much each light is needed to cover the area you want to accent. Simply, let TLK Luxury Custom Homes do all of that for you.

 

Luxury Landscape Lighting - TLK Luxury Custom Homes

 

Finally, custom-designed landscape lighting not only surrounds your home in luminous luxury, but it also protects your property after dark. TLK Luxury Custom Homes believes that their clients are really looking for security and serenity. With Lisa’s keen design sense and TK’s law enforcement experience, their team is uniquely qualified to give you both.

 


 

Introducing The Butler’s Pantry

TLK Luxury Custom Homes - Custom Made In The Shade

 

Open concept living has become all the rage over the past few years, but as wonderful as these modern innovations are, did we really think this through?

When the whole family is over and the den is filled with cousins, kids, toys and football, it’s wonderful to remain a part of the fun from inside your busy kitchen. Bravo! Excellent idea.

What happens when more formal entertaining is required? Do you really want your pots and pans shoved in the face of your company’s CEO all during dinner? Will the committee chairman be impressed with your exotic display of dirty dishes?.

 

Butlers Pantry Walkthru - TLK Luxury Custom Homes

 

What  if we created a custom Butler’s Pantry between your fabulous, open-plan kitchen and your elegantly laid, formal dining room. We can’t claim to have invented the Butler’s Pantry, but we do believe it could support your informal daily lifestyle, while preserving the elegance of special occasions.

Butler’s Pantries were popular in the magnificent houses at the turn of the19th century when the likes of “Lord and Lady Grantham” entertained with lavish dinners and soirées. Kitchens back then were steamy, noisy places filled with cooks, cleaners and servers that no guest was ever allowed to see. The Butler was the ring master of this circus and kept things flowing beautifully from oven to table. Everything he needed to make this magic happen was kept in the Butler’s Pantry. The crystal, the silver cutlery, fine china and exquisite table linens were kept there, under the watchful eye of the family’s butler. Some very expensive, opened bottles of wine were also kept in the Butler’s Pantry.

 

butlers-pantry-drawers - TLK Luxury Custom Homes

 

Today’s Butler’s Pantries re-imagine these transitional spaces. Modern homeowners demand designs that have it all. Think functionality meets trendy style, with timeless beauty.

This clutter-free and organized Butler’s Pantry will save you time and alleviate “pre-event” stress because everything you need is in one place and is instantly available at your fingertips. If you’re handing over the cooking to a caterer, the chef may actually kiss you for providing him with a Butler’s Pantry!

Your custom, luxury Butler’s Pantry can serve as a staging area for meal preparation that gobbles up copious amounts of counter space and cabinetry. It can serve as your drinks station with room for wine bottles and tea pitchers.

 

butlers-pantry-throu-the-kitchen-arch - TLK Luxury Custom Homes

 

Did we mention all of the additional storage that a well-designed Butler’s Pantry has to offer? There are some kitchen appliances that are never used except for formal-ish dinners, so just stick them in the Butler’s Pantry cabinets.

Why not add an additional micro-wave oven, or small refrigerator to your Butler’s Pantry? You could even add warming drawers and ice makers to your Butler's Pantry, and the addition of a second sink is practically a “must have” in your luxury custom Butler’s Pantry.

 

corner-butlers-pantry - TLK Luxury Custom Homes

 

TLK Custom Luxury Homes can help you design a dream Butler’s Pantry. We will help you coordinate cabinetry and counter tops to compliment the style of the rest of your house. We can add elements that echo the character of your home and help you choose lighting and fixtures that make your Butler’s Pantry look stylishly modern or lavishly extravagant, and all points in between.

 

Over The Top Gorgeous Butlers Pantry - TLK Luxury Custom Homes

 

When your neighbor brags about their recent trip to Europe, just say, “that’s nice dear, but have you seen my Butler’s Pantry!”

 

 

 


 

Custom Made in the Shade

TLK Luxury Custom Homes - Custom Made In The Shade

 

Taking their rightful place in the top luxury home trends of 2022  are extravagant covered exterior living spaces.

Since "enjoying the great outdoors" here in Texas demands shading your spaces from the relentless sunshine, luxury home designers have outdone themselves with new shade options for 2022.

 

TLK Made In The Shade Covered Porch

 

After two years of staying inside due to COVID-19, people are craving connection with nature more than ever. Gazing out your window in the morning with that first cup of coffee in the morning, you imagine an outdoor oasis. Julius Caesar felt the same way, so he copied his "front porch" from the Greek portico. Precursor of all porches, the portico originated in ancient Greece as a formal framing device that defined an entryway and created an appearance of authority.

We, much like powerful Middle Kingdom Egyptians, have a longing to domesticate the natural world.  Although, gardens were expensive to build and required a high level of maintenance, gardens were very popular in the Pharaonic period and were built within wealthy households and royal palaces.

Typical gardens in ancient Egypt shared these essential components: an enclosure wall, a water pond, ornate water well or canal, trees, flowers, vegetables and large shaded areas.

 

TLK Made in the Shade Outdoor Oasis

 

Aside from the mere beauty of modern porches and covered patio / deck areas, they are designed specifically to provide the shade we need to survive the solar onslaught.

 

TLK Made In The Shade Portico

 

Not only do shaded areas protect you from the sun, they also help insulate you from exorbitant summertime electric bills.  Porches and covered patios block the sun from shining directly through your windows and heating up your home’s interior.

Let's face it, while shading your home and your guests is definitely the smart move, what we're really after is THE WOW FACTOR.

 

TLK Made in the Shade Tinted Glass

 

The luxury, covered outdoor living space designs that TLK has on offer are not your grandmother's back porch or your dad's plastic sheet over a few metal poles, but gorgeous, modern miracles that will fulfill your wildest dreams.

 

TLK Made in the Shade Understated

 

TK and Lisa Kneedler know how to surround your new custom luxury home with all the "wow" you can handle!

 

 

 


 

Luxurious Master Suites

TLK Luxury Custom Homes - Unlock Lockdown Living

 

Graduating from “master bedroom” to “master suite” has become one of the most popular home remodeling projects in history. Popular especially with people who have worked hard to build a good life and a great future for themselves.

There are a few unmistakable things that say, "We've arrived." You know like purchasing a Lamborghini, going on a six-month European tour, buying a beach house or adding a luxurious Master Suite to your home.

Think 5-star, mountain top, Aspen retreat or Presidential Suite of a grand hotel instead of simply a big bedroom.

 

Luxury Master Suite - TLK Luxury Custom Homes

 

Is adding a drop-dead gorgeous Master Suite to you home or building one into your custom home plan really worth it? When homeowners in a recent study were asked if they were happy with their Master Suite addition project, 100% of the respondents said YES! They all gave the project 10 out of 10 in the "Joy" factor.

What makes luxury Master Suites so popular? Walking into your perfect Master Suite is like driving your carriage into your very own castle and pulling up the draw bridge to make the world go away. The answer really is creating the perfect oasis for you with everything that you want in it just the way you want it. The key is to work with a luxury custom home builder who understands that and will guide you painlessly through the process.

 

Luxurious Master Suite - TLK Luxury Custom Homes

 

TLK Luxury Custom Homes will help you decide how big your oasis needs to be to give you the Wow Factor you deserve. For instance, owner, TK Kneedler has learned by experience that your new addition should occupy from 350 to 600 square feet to give you a truly luxury custom Master Suite. He knows that you'll be happier if the space is designed to give you divided private spaces than if it is not. There are so many details that TK and his designer wife, Lisa can offer you that you may never even have imagined.

For example, carving out a cozy reading nook away from your magnificent king-sized bed will give you the perfect way to finish the latest David Baldacci novel long after your husband has turned his light off and gone to sleep. You certainly want an enclosed water closet to ensure you the privacy you need when "the need" arises. Little things like that explain why people love their Master Suite additions!

 

Custom Luxury Master Suite - TLK Luxury Custom Homes

 

What are your Master Suite options?

Well, to begin with, she's definitely going to want a spa-like Master Bathroom and he's going to want a roomy, kick-ass glass shower. You will probably want to think about His and Hers walk-in closets and perhaps a dressing room. Ask yourself this: should the purpose-built vanity be in her dressing area or in the main bathroom itself?

 

Luxury Master Bathroom - TLK Luxury Custom Homes

 

Do you want to head off to the kitchen to get your midnight snacks or do you want a hidden mini fridge and microwave in your Master Suite? Espresso machine for your morning coffee?

Do you want a vaulted ceiling, a tray or coffered ceiling in the main bedroom area? Do you want a ceiling fan or a chandelier?

Do you want an overall sleek modern look or a more elegant and luxurious look? The beauty and style of the space is just as essential to your comfort as cozy bedding is.

Do you want to add a fireplace to your master suite? Skylight? Heated flooring? Private access to the patio? French doors?

 

Custom Luxury Master Bathroom - TLK Luxury Custom Homes

 

TK and Lisa Kneedler will help you with lighting and fixture options and don't forget the view. What do you want to see when you gaze out of your new Master Suite windows?

 

Master Bathroom Spa - TLK Luxury Custom Homes

 

TK will also discuss any special needs that you and your family have or that might present themselves in the future. For example, the height of the homeowner plays a big part in design of the shower and tub.

Large, luxurious large master suites on the ground floor check all the boxes for both safety and accessibility now and into the future.

Whatever you want; whatever you need.... TLK Luxury Custom Homes are the go to experts in Master Suites.

 


 

Grandmillennial Style

Grandmillennial Style

House Beautiful recently carried an article by Emma Bazilian announcing the rise of the "Grandmillennial" style. Grandmillennial is the new favorite of the young, Instagram-posting, décor aficionado with a passion for floral chintzes and antique wallpaper. Some people are affectionately calling this new decorating trend "Grandma Chic!"

The core decades that Millennials are drawing from seem to begin in the 1920s and range all the way through the 1960s.

Grandmillennial Wallpaper

Designer, Meghan Hopp describes Grandmillennial Style as "stepping away from the sort of Modern, Minimalist, white-wall, clean-line design and hearkening back to more traditional kinds of shapes and styles. A lot of color, a lot of pattern mixing, it's really a much richer aesthetic." Hopp, a Grandmillennial herself, is fond of matching classic floral prints over several pieces, hanging vintage wallpaper everywhere and loves the combination of old and new."

TLK Luxury Custom Homes - Grandmillennial Dining Room

Millennials are becoming more comfortable displaying their own individual style and rejecting the high-pressure move for everyone to be minimalist. Ms. Hopp calls it returning to authenticity, coming back to what they really like without feeling the need to always be "young and fresh and, you know, of the moment." Millennials are saying, "No. This is what I actually, really like and I'm not going to wait until I'm 85 years old to live my truth!"

"I think color and pattern have started to make a comeback," Hopp continues. "We're really in this age of sort of like Maximalist design and I think it's going to go even further in 2020. We started off with Millennial Pink and now we're going the whole hog; we're all in!"

TLK Luxury Custom Homes - Grandmillennial Bedroom

Designer, Lilse McKenna says that Grandmillennial Style is “Classically informed". The look is so vastly different from the social media accounts that are clearly just so trend-based. Those of us who are drawn to this style are trend-averse at our cores."
 


 

Colors of the Year 2019

TLK Luxury Custom Homes - 2019 Paint Colors of the Year

Every year the major paint manufacturers announce their Colors of The Year and every year, those colors are fabulous!

BEHR’s paint color of the year is this beautiful blue called Blueprint. BEHR's Larayne Boaz suggest that you "reimage and dream a new mood or feeling in your home with Peaceful Blue S470-3, Blueprint S470-5, and Deep Breath S460-7." Larayne adds that "These livable blues are soothing and provide a sense of coziness. They are all very versatile and easy to imagine in any room."

TLK Custom Luxury Homes - Behr Paint Color of the Year 2019

This beautiful, neutral gray pictured below, called Metropolitan was Benjamin Moore's Color of The Year for 2019. How could we use this color in your home? Oh, let me count the ways!

Ellen O’Neill, Benjamin Moore's Director of Strategic Design Intelligence says this of the color,“Comforting, composed and effortlessly sophisticated, Metropolitan AF-690 exudes beauty and balance. It’s a color in the neutral spectrum that references a contemplative state of mind and design. Not arresting nor aggressive, this understated yet glamorous gray creates a soothing, impactful common ground.”

TLK Custom Luxury Homes - Benjamin Moore Color of the Year 2019

PPG Paints announced that a delicious green called Night Watch to be their Color of The Year for 2019. Night Watch is a dark, neutral, jade with a malachite undertones.

Dee Schlotter, PPG senior color marketing manager, says,“Night Watch is about bringing the healing power from the outdoors into your home through color. The dark green hue pulls our memories of natural environments to the surface to recreate the calming, invigorating euphoria we feel when in nature."

TLK Custom Luxury Homes -PPG Color of the Year 2019

When Pantone announced Living Coral to be it's 2019 Color of The Year 2019, it spawned a frenzy of of coral love all over the globe. This bright and cheerful color, with its warm, playful presence is not only available as interior paint, you can also get it in everything from fabric to nail color!

Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director of the Pantone Color Institute, explains  ”Living Coral emits the desired, familiar, and energizing aspects of color found in nature. In its glorious, yet unfortunately more elusive, display beneath the sea, this vivifying and effervescent color mesmerizes the eye and mind. Lying at the center of our naturally vivid and chromatic ecosystem, PANTONE Living Coral is evocative of how coral reefs provide shelter to a diverse kaleidoscope of color."

TLK Custom Luxury Homes - Pantone Living Coral

Like everything you add to your home, what's really important is how it makes you feel when you see it or touch it. Everything about your luxury home should extravagantly express both your unique style and lifestyle. Paint accents are just one of the many ways TLK Custom Homes does that for your luxury home.
 


 

Mixing Magnificent Metals

TLK Luxury Custom Homes - Mixing Metals Interior Decorating - TK Kneedler, Rockwall, TX

Although mixing your metaphors is a definite no-no, mixing gorgeous metals when decorating your luxury custom home is very much in vogue. This inclination has been growing over the last couple of years and we predict that metal mania will continue trending well into 2018 and beyond.

Mixing metals can add character and an intriguing contrast to a room. For instance, mixing warm metals like rose gold or copper with cool metals like silver create a particularly sophisticated look. Brass and chrome used together with black lacquer is another chic combo popping up right now. Blending different finishes like matte gold and metallic gold is another sleek way to go.

TLK Luxury Custom Homes - mixing metals in bathroom - Rockwall TX

Adding a few mixed metal pieces to your current interior design is a great way to see if this design trend works for you. Try adding a brass lamp, a nickel vase and a copper tray as accents to see how the combination grabs you before you buy large pieces that could become an expensive regret. Metallic fabric is another great way to test the waters on your mixed metals adventure.

TLK Luxury Custom Homes Rockwall TX - TK Kneedler - brass black and gold fabric

You might find that you like brass and chrome together, silver and polished nickel, or antique brass and oil-rubbed bronze. As luxury home builder, TK Kneedler always says, "Free your imagination!"

TLK Luxury Custom Homes - Kitchen - mixed metal kitchen

Like everything you add to your home, what's really important is how it makes you feel when you see it or touch it. Everything about your luxury home should extravagantly express both your unique style and lifestyle.