Our own Pierre Martell was on hand at the Fredericton Convention Center for the NB Premier Awards for Energy Efficiency last week.  Martell Home Builders was the proud recipient of the Premier Award For Energy Efficiency in the category of New Construction residential.

Earlier this year, we launched our ECOmmunity at Sterling Meadows in Moncton and qualified for the first Net Zero incentives offered in the Province.

Thank you to Efficiency New Brunswick for this fantastic honor.

A house becomes a home when there are images of you and your loved ones on the walls. Getting family portraits can be a struggle though because of pressures on time and money. If you have managed to get the time do portraits done this season you want to make sure that you get the best end product possible. To help you do just that, here are some tips about how you make the most of your family portrait session and be proud of the pictures on your walls.

1. Avoid Sunny Days – If you’re just taking some pictures yourself because of time/money constraints you MAY think that a bright sunny day is the perfect time to take a beautiful outdoor portrait… you would be mistaken! In truth, the best time to take an outdoor portrait is on an overcast day. This way you avoid shadows and harsh lighting that will leave your portraits blotchy and over-exposed!

2. Coordinate, Don’t Match – While there are exceptions to every rule, in general pictures where everyone is matching exactly can look pretty cheesy. To avoid this instead of prescribing the same outfit for each person, choose a color palette (ex: navy, red. white, and beige) and let each person put their own personal style into it. This way your family looks coordinated but not corny. This also allows for the display of individual personality which will make the pictures much more nostalgic in the future.

3. Match Your location – Location can be extremely important if you’re doing non-studio pictures. Whether you choose and indoor or outdoor location there are a couple of things to keep in mind. a) choose a location that means something to your family or that suits your family’s style! These pictures should be reflective of you! b) match your outfits to you location. For example, if you’re doing pictures in a field you may want to go for more “natural” looks whereas if you choose an urban area you may want to spice things up with more urban looks.

4. Relax - You can’t fake being relaxed so you really need to actually be relaxed. Family pictures should be natural and fun just like you are in real life! Kick some of that stress by taking time to chat and hang out with your kids before picture time. Prepping details beforehand will also help decrease day-of stress.

It’s May which means it’s time for another edition of the colour palette of the month! This month our palette is coming up tulips! The right combination of purples, pinks, greens, and greys makes any keeps any room fresh and infuses it with the right amount of spring-time air. Check out these examples of how you can use this fresh spring-themed colour palette in your home!

Taking care of yourself needs to be a top priority but this can be especially hard when dealing with running a home. Luckily, there are experts to help us relax and rejuvenate when we need it the most. One of the up and coming spots for exactly that is Mother Nurture Day Spa. With over 10 years experience as a massage therapist and an esthetician at her side, owner Michele Fury really does have the expertise to suit your needs.

As “downtown Moncton’s holistic day spa”, Mother Nurture bring an organic and holistic element to their services that is not offered anywhere else in the city. With a concentration on aroma therapy, you’ll notice the difference (and the smell) the moment that you open the door of 376 St. George Street. The products used at the spa are organic, wild crafter, and often Canadian. This means that you can relax even further knowing that the ingredients in the products used haven’t been genetically modified.

Mother Nurture is also know selling natural citronella bug repellant which is safe for the whole family. Stock up soon, soccer season is just around the corner! Coming soon to the spa is also a series of fitness classes for customers looking for therapeutic exercise and also for those uncomfortable in a gym atmosphere.

For more info, you can check out there Facebook page here

Product to Try: The head massage at Mother Nurture is 45 minutes of head, shoulders, and neck massage. Combined with the therapeutic hot towels and essential oils, this massage is perfect for any need. The essential oils can be personalized to your particular needs (relaxation, detoxification, etc) which makes this the perfect massage.

Neglecting your lawn now can mean paying for it later. Whether you want your lawn to look good because you’re selling your home or you just want to keep your home beautiful, taking the time to protect your lawn in the spring is key. Spring is the beginning of new grass life which means that nurturing your yard starts now. Here are some tips about how you can start to cultivate the type of lawn that you can be proud of and that your neighbors will be jealous of.

 Attack Thatch (Aka Rake) – Thatch are those nasty clumps of dead grass that essentially suffocate any new baby grass trying to survive in this world. So, once the snow is gone (which it likely is now… fingers crossed for no more snow!).. dig out your rake and get that dead grass out of there! Make sure to rake deeply especially if you didn’t take the time and do so in the fall.

Lime is Prime - Grass is no fan of acid (which could be indicated if you have compaction or moss) so make sure to create a neutral pH for your little ones by liming your lawn. Make sure to send in a sample of your soil to ensure that it does indeed need liming because liming is only corrective, not preventative.

Whack those Weeds-  Getting rid of weeds before the flower and seed is key. It may not be fun, but getting outside in the spring and scouring your lawn for those pesky dandelions will help your lawn to be even more beautiful (and less yellow) when the summer months roll around. While spraying weeds with herbicides may be more effective in the fall, in the spring doing outsides and pulling them will garner you better results.

If your interested in learning about more spring lawn care tips a great place to start is the About.com site (here) or to go into a local home renovations or gardening store and talk to one of their experts. 

The only thing harder than shopping for a new mum is being one. Both of those were true though for Amy Clinch who struggled to be able to get the products that she wanted for her new born in Moncton. Amy will tell you that when she was pregnant that she resorted to traveling all over Atlantic Canada and ordering online on order to get the products she wanted for her baby because of the limited selection available in Moncton. And it was this struggled that gave Amy the idea of starting her own store here in Moncton so that other mothers didn’t have to go through the same thing she did. Ana Banana, named after Amy’s daughter, is a high quality baby products and accessories store that experienced real success itself in its first two month of business.

Being a new mother can be very overwhleming and big generic box stores don’t help that. Ana Banana prides itself on giving you the one-on-one customer service that you and your new family member deserve. Located at 1612 Mountain Rd. the store is filled with innovative and award winning products for newborn-4 year olds. From strollers to toys to cribs to swaddling cloths, this store has products that you wont find anywhere else in Moncton. As well, Ana Banana offers registry services to help loved ones with their shopping experience as well.

Recommended Product: One of Ana Banana’s most successful products to date has been their breathable swaddling clothes. These clothes, made of  muslin, have gained so much popularity because of the reduced risk of SIDS associated with the breathable material. So, whether you’re expecting yourself or know someone who is, this is the product to try!

For more information about products or store hours you can call (506)-386-baby (2229)

All inspirations images were found on Pinterest. Interested in learning more about how to use Pinterest yourself? Check out our blog here about using Pinterest to build your dream home. 

Pinterest is the newest and hottest internet tool for saving and storing your inspiration online. Whether you’re following fashion trends, looking for a recipe, or building and decorating your home, Pinterest is there to help you keep track of all of the images and websites in which you find inspiration.

So, How does it work? Well, after having been invited to the site you set up your profile so that you can connect with others. Once you are set up you create ‘pinboards’ to which you will ‘pin’ things. For example, if you create a “wall paper” or “kitchen” pinboard when you found a picture of a great paisley wallpaper or a beautiful retro kitchen, you  pin them to their respective categories. When you ‘pin’ something it just means that you organize that image (and it’s URL) to a certain folder in the same way that if you were searching through House and Home and found a picture of your dream master bedroom, you would cut it out and put it in a “master bedroom” folder with all of your other ideas. Here is an idea of what your ‘boards’ will look like:

And ‘inside’ a pinboard:

This tool is perfect for those of us who are looking for inspirations whether it’s for clothes, food, fitness, or for our homes. So go ahead and request  your invitations today. You’ll love how easy it is to find and keep track of all of cool ideas for your home.

How do you use Pinterest?

Whether or not you like mustard on your hotdog, you’re going to love it in your home. This month’s colour pallet highlight’s the new “IT” colour: Mustard. This pallet contrasts deep blues and warm browns with  bold eye catching mustard. Using a bold colour can help to create vocal points in any space. The uniqueness of the colour also creates the “wow” space that you want to show off to your friends. Here are some ways that you can use this pallet in your own home:

1. The Bunny Mask!

Become a family of bunnies with these fun and furry masks! For more info on how to make this great craft click here

2. Easter Egg Basket

Put your hands to work - literally! This craft is easy for younger children and will look great on your fridge! For more information click here

3. Bunny Chair Cover

Sitting becomes hopping when you put this bunny chair cover on. Make this even more fun by customizing each of the bunnies to look like each of your family members! For more info on how to make this craft click here.

 What will you be doing with your family this Easter?