The First Step In Building (or Remodeling) Your Custom Home

The first step is to meet with and choose your builder (hopefully, SeBern). There are several key reasons for this: You need to decide whether you will need an outside architect, or if one works for the builder (a “Design+Build” firm). This affects everything. The design of your home determines the outcome of your home. Architects tend to be wonderfully …

The Custom Home-building Process

OK, so you are done with compromise and sick of buying someone else’s problems. It’s time to build a custom home. It’s your time. And here’s how, in a nutshell: Call SeBern at 630-377-7767 for an appointment. Reserve a time. That way, you’ll be certain to meet with the owners of the company. After all, it’s completely about you, your …

How to Make a Great Residential Real Estate Investment

For over 60 years following World War II, high end (luxury) residential real estate values consistently increased.  Then, for just a couple of years, the market slowed down.  Well, its back….. Luxury real estate is a rock solid investment for your bank account and your life. Not only is it a wonderful place to live in as you watch your …

Color, Style, & Lifestyle Trends In 2015

As you probably already know, the color of the year is Marsala  (a sort of Cinnamon-Indian Red…Pantone 18-1438 TCX.) But when you choose colors for your home, think long term…unless you want a Marsala-colored roof.  Benjamin Moore’s 2015 color is Guilford Green HC-116. But, what is right for YOU? We recommend that when you color and fashion your home, you …

Good To Great

In the book, Good to Great, author Jim Collins states that Good is the enemy of Great. It’s a natural human tendency to feel that Good is Good Enough. And if you become satisfied with Good Enough, you will never push yourself to reach Great. After our painfully slow recovery from the Great Recession, and with the media inundating us …

Kitchen Ideas

Have you ever noticed that, whether you are alone, or with your spouse and/or children, or with a parent or grandparent or friend, or during a party or holiday with dozens of guests, at some point, everyone will gather in your kitchen? The kitchen is the gathering place of the home. If there is one most important room in your …

Ideas For Your Dream Home

If you are building or remodeling your dream home, then the possibilities are endless. When you custom build, what your home becomes and where it is located are really up to you. So, as long as you are freeing yourself from all constraints, we thought we would share some ideas with you. By the way, these are not impossible new …

Craftsmanship: The Difference-Maker

Building or remodeling a custom home is completely different than buying an existing house. An existing house is nice, sufficient, good enough. But your own custom home is exactly what you need, and what you have always wanted. It is unique in the world, a direct reflection of you and your world vision. It is your style, your taste, your …

Home Office Ideas

A True Story: One of the partners in SeBern Custom Homes was in downtown Chicago for a meeting a week ago. He drove in the rush hour, on a clogged expressway, and parked a in a lot located one block from the meeting. The trip took him one hour and thirty minutes, one-way, and two hours of parking cost over …