The good life may be closer than you think

Published 9:45 am Monday, April 9, 2018

Welcome to the home edition of Lifestyles Magazine.

We are featuring stories about how people are turning their homes into beautiful places where they enjoy can their friends and family while escaping the pressures of the world. 

Using the old saying “Home is where the heart is” as inspiration, people increasingly are discovering that the best place to kick back and take it easy is in one’s own backyard. 

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Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam

Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home

A charm from the skies seems to hallow us there

Which seek thro’ the world, is ne’er met elsewhere

Home! Home!

Sweet, sweet home!

There’s no place like home

There’s no place like home!

The song “Home, Sweet Home!” by Henry Bishop

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Patricia Wilson, our home-design expert, shares great ideas for those who want to transform their private outdoor spaces into the most popular “room” of the house. 

“With a little design magic, you can create a serene sanctuary for unlimited outdoor pleasure at your home,” says Wilson.

The good news it does not take a lot of money to make a covered patio a place where the people you love the most will gather again and again. Wilson says look to nature for inspiration. 

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“Toto, we’re home! Home! And this is my room – and you’re all here!

And I’m not going to leave here ever, ever again, because I love you all! And –

Oh, Auntie Em, there’s no place like home!”

Dorothy from “The Wizard of Oz”

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The backyard escape can be more than just a covered patio or screened-in room. Check out the story about how today’s pool builders are helping homeowners turn the entire backyard into the escape of their dreams.

They say to look at the big picture of how a swimming pool, landscaping, outdoor kitchen and dens and even specialty features such as stand-alone fireplaces are fire pits  work together to create a place you will never want to leave.

We also have a story about how a home builder took an old lake house in the beautiful Hideaway community that was by all accounts an eyesore and turned it into the envy of the neighborhood. 

Those who are looking for transformation ideas  should check out the homes that will be on view during the Tyler Area Builders Association’s annual Parade of Homes set for June 2-10. —-

“Ah! There is nothing like staying at home, for real comfort.”

Jane Austen 

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If you think the good life only can be found at a resort or one of the world’s vacation hot spots, think again. The good life just may be closer than you think. The good life may be in your own backyard. 

Enjoy the magazine.

Danny Mogle, editor