Choose all the right details so it feels like you—inside and out

Oh, there's no place like home for the holidays

'Cause no matter how far away you roam

When you pine for the sunshine of a friendly gaze

For the holidays, you can't beat home sweet home

Whether or not you’re familiar with the lyrics of the classic Perry Como song “Home for the Holidays,” the message of coming home is a powerful one, especially this time of year. Decorating and preparing a feast there, gathered together with those nearest and dearest to you, is a priceless yet simple joy.

And in the spirit of the season, we here at Trilogy wanted to spread some more of it by sharing one of our new Palisades Homes. See how you could turn a semi-custom house built by us into a home that makes every gathering feel sweet.

Give yourself the gift of choice

When you pick a semi-custom Palisades Home, you’ll be gifted with many choices to create the perfect space. You can bring your own plot of land to build on, then the fun really begins as you start making selections.

Start by selecting one of our three floorplans to best fit your needs. Then, we have four different home styles to choose from: Farmhouse, Modern, Coastal, or Tuscan. But one of the best parts about our Palisades Homes is you don’t have to stick to those options if you’re starting at the beginning of the building process. Think of them as just a jumping-off point—our process allows you to customize the selections to ensure your home feels like you.

Check out how Trilogy blended elements from these four different styles to create this beautiful, unique home:

Step into a new home 

If you would rather have a brand new home without going through the designing or building process, you also have the option to purchase a home where Trilogy has already bought the land, done all the building, and made the selections, like the one in the photos below. 

Exterior

• Doors: A craftsman-style front door welcomes residents and guests alike. We coordinated this color to play well with the warm-hued walnut garage door and its design. A complementary front door and garage door with the same design creates cohesion from the outside. Don’t have the budget or the desire for real wood? We get it—these doors are actually metal made to look like wood! And if you’d prefer to make your own selections, you can choose the doors most suitable for your home.
• Lighting: Simple but modern, the lighting for this home offers distinct possibilities. The lanterns in this home reflect a contemporary sensibility with a hint of European flair, while the black barn light sconces give it a slightly more country feel. And if you’d rather go semi-custom, Trilogy can help you in finding the right design to provide both safety and style for your residence. 
• Rocks: Stonework gives a rustic touch to the design, and the mixed tones in the Aspen Southern Ledgestone we chose for this house work well with both neutral and gray paint hues.
• Trim: A slightly darker gray than the exterior finish called Pompeii Ruin was chosen to complement both the white and gray base colors as well as the stonework. Picking a dark trim as opposed to a bright white trim can really make a difference in the look of the house, and if you decide to make your own selections, you’ll have control over what it ends up being. 
• Paint: We tied the entire exterior design together by picking neutral but sophisticated exterior paint and stone colors, creating just the right look. Stonegate is a great “almost white” shade to start with, which really pops against the trim and stonework. Gray hues have been a popular pick for years now, and the Subway shade pairs just as well. If you end up going with a semi-custom home, you can mix and match these options to see how they come together to create stunning color combinations for your home.

Interior 

This is a great example of stepping outside the box of our usual home styles. We’ve blended a few features in this kitchen to create a special look, pairing black fixtures with warm, weathered woods and a backdrop of calming neutral tones. It’s one of the many ways we can make your house feel like home, whether you choose your own selections, or enlist Trilogy to pick out a beautiful design for you.

• Cabinets: These cabinets were done in the color Evermore, with its warm, ashy hues providing a strong backdrop for the kitchen. 
• Sink: For the sink, we chose the popular Carmella, with veining that echoes the gray exterior hues, providing a through-line for the design.
• Countertops: Trilogy used a popular quartz countertop from MSI brand to complement the cream, gray, and other neutral hues. 
• Backsplash: We chose a simple white herringbone patterned tile to pop against the smoky shade of the cabinets. 
• Fixtures: The black sink fixtures add some drama, coordinating with the other black hardware. However, we ended up picking a stainless steel dishwasher to match a stainless steel fridge, which is often much more available and budget-friendly.
• Lighting: Glass pendant lights echo the design of the similar chandelier, making every corner of the kitchen design feel cohesive.

Receive a  festive homecoming 

What style would you call this home? We’d love to hear your thoughts! And if you’re ready for a new house to come home to, reach out to Trilogy and find out about our Palisades Homes and easy True Quote process. It’s just one of the many ways we can help you get the house you want at a price you can afford. Contact us to learn more!

In the spirit of the season, we’re saying thanks to our clients and readers with some invaluable budgeting tips for those of you getting ready to build a new home. 

Here’s the thing about budgets: whether you’ve got a small one or big one, the important part is to make one and stick to it. But how do you know what to include in the budget? Think of it as a holiday meal. You wouldn’t want to miss any of the courses, but you also don’t want to make more than you can finish! With this in mind, here are some key points to consider when making your budget: 

Appetizers. Start by making a wishlist of all the little things you’d like to see in a new home. It’s your amuse-bouche—the delicious bits whetting your appetite for this home design process. 

• Make perfect menu pairings: Just like most dishes benefit from being paired with a tasty beverage, think about which things will enhance your new house. Include the small stuff, like brass kitchen cabinet pulls, a picture window in the office, or a sink in the laundry room. Identifying these dreams helps solidify a vision of your home, even if they all don’t fit in your budget. 
• Then prioritize: Don’t overeat before you hit the mains! Focusing on the must-haves in your budget can help you know when to pass on other small-plate items, like luxe wallpaper. This might mean postponing putting it in the dining room until a later date so you can stay within the budget you have now. But since you’ve kept some key items on your wishlist in the design, it’ll still allow you to build a home you love and feels like you.

The main course. Moving on to the star of the show, now focus your design on the essentials. This is the “meat” of the meal. 

• Pick your protein: What kind of beast will you build the rest of your feast around? Do you need a lean white meat option, like a simple 2-bedroom plan? Or does your family need a different animal entirely? Some people prefer a cavernous critter with 3 large bedrooms. Others need a surf-n-turf style split plan to keep kids on one side of the house and adults on the other.
• Then add garnish. Consider your lifestyle and the little things you can sprinkle into your design to make it fun and functional, even if you can’t do it right away. For example, maybe a finished garage with oodles of built-ins is on your wishlist, but not in the budget. Our Palisades Homes still come with an attached garage, so the raw space will be there until you can add to it. 

Side Dishes. Just like your cousin who always brings her famous bacon green bean casserole to Thanksgiving every year, most folks have sides they must have to feel the holiday spirit. The same is true for houses!

• Identify Comfort Foods: Ask yourself what will make your home more liveable. Is it cozy carpeting in the bedroom? A huge soaker tub to escape to once the workday is done? 
• Curb some cravings: While it might be tempting to overdo it, pause before you exceed your budget. For example, if you have your heart set on ultra-plush carpet and a soaker tub, can one of those wait just a little longer? Pick wallet-friendly floors for now so you can have your big bath, and add the carpet at a later date. And if you do have to wait, Trilogy can still make it feel like you with paint and other selections within your budget. And whether it’s massive or mini, there are always ways to incorporate new features down the road. 

Dessert. Now for the sweetest part of the home feast: style. What kind will be a reflection of you? 

• Pick a satisfying finish: From the exterior to the interior, identify the style that suits you best. (Not sure? Trilogy’s got a blog to help you find your own style.) Whether it’s Farmhouse to Modern, Tuscan to Coastal, style is truly the cherry on top of your design.
• Savor small bites: Do you want to go big for your home style, only to come up short in the finance department? Even if your budget doesn’t allow for a full-on farmhouse wood accent extravaganza, we can help you scale it down to find some small, satisfying notes to include in your design and still illustrate your style.

*Burp*. Overstuffed your budget? One of our top tips is to make choices you can edit over time. You can always trim some of the non-essentials now (like a marble-topped kitchen island) and then add it later once the build is done and you have more breathing room in your finances. Or if you had your heart set on a gorgeous laundry room complete with high-end wood cabinets, you can just install the washer and dryer for now and add cabinets down the road. There are so many ways to get creative about budgets while still creating a home you love!

Got more questions? Trilogy is here to help. We’ve got a custom True Quote process for our clients to take the guesswork out of what you’ll be paying when you build a Trilogy home. It gives you an exact budget so you can get what you want at a price you can afford. Contact us to find out more!

Trilogy has gone to the dogs! And that’s a compliment if you’ve got fur like I do. My name is Ruger, and I’m a VIP (Very Important Pup) here at Trilogy.

And today, my two-legged coworkers have finally come to their senses and turned the blog over to me. Sure, I’ve read their other blogs, and while I think it’s funny when they use fancy phrases like “Home of the True Quote”, I thought our readers might benefit from a different perspective about what goes on around here. Follow along with me for a day in the life of a doggo at the Trilogy offices!

Good Morning, Paradise! 

After being woken up by my alarm (the birds) just after sunrise, it’s time for breakfast—meat cereal, my favorite. Then we get in the truck and swing by a few jobsites to check in on the crews before we head to the office. I love to ride with the windows rolled down, sniffing the good sniffs of Paradise like pine trees and coffee trucks. But there’s no time to paws when we get there because it’s another busy day at Trilogy, and I’ve got a lot on my to-do list! First I’ve gotta process some orders from suppliers, then I need to connect with Joe from Lumber, who has my actual dream job of counting and moving big sticks. I take a quick break to greet the UPS guy, and then I get ready for our first client meeting. 

A Dog’s Eye View of True Quote

My new friends are a nice young couple who lost their residence in the 2018 Camp Fire and want to rebuild with a custom home. Our team always asks about their priorities and goals, how long they plan to live there, and what they think their dream home might look like. The lady said she’s having trouble finding inspiration for her kitchen. My coworker said they should try using HOWLS*, which makes perfect sense to me because howling always helps me feel better when I’m frustrated. 

(*Trilogy Human Editor’s note: Ruger misheard. We suggest our clients use Houzz to find inspiration for their home design, but we won’t mind if you need a good howl in the office, too.)

I love it when they talk about the next step, which is going to see the couple’s land. While our team is busy taking measurements and photographs, I can usually sneak away to chase the squirrels. Afterward, everyone starts discussing serious stuff like permits, septic, regulations, and other things, all of which are a little confusing to me. But that’s okay because my coworkers are good at explaining those sorts of things. The couple also seems confused, but my coworkers walk them through everything and reassure them Trilogy has been doing this since 1967 (that’s about 294 doggo years!) All those decades of experience working in the industry and their professional connections make the whole process a snap. 

It sounds like our clients are going to create custom home plans with a local architect, so once they have their final drawings we’ll all get back together to pick out finishes. When this is done, it’s True Quote time! The couple looks relieved when they hear it will provide them with a detailed explanation of the building costs with zero guesswork. They’ll even get a schedule so they know exactly what’s happening during construction. The meeting ends, and everyone’s happy; my coworkers get handshakes, and I get a well-deserved doggy snack from Rivera, my personal cookie jar.

Our Pawsome Palisades Homes

Our next meeting with a senior couple goes quickly because they’ve decided to build one of our Palisades Homes. Out of our three-floor plans, they chose the Sequoia. Easy peasy, like a chew-toy squeezy! It simplifies their decision-making process so they can spend less time picking out things and more time giving me belly rubs during their appointment. Then my coworkers showed them the mortgage calculator on our website and started talking numbers, so I took a little nap on my special office bed. 

At Trilogy, There’s No Place Like Home

When I wake up, my new friends are gone, but our team is still discussing the meetings and how they can help make the home-building process easier for these two couples. My coworkers do this a lot; I think it’s because they really care about their clients, and the community, too. In my furry opinion, it’s because Trilogy is a family business, and even though they’re a bunch of humans, they’ve got a pretty good philosophy of honesty and transparency. I’m glad to be a part of it!

Well, that’s all for today…time to go home and have some kibble.

‘Til next time,

Trilogy’s Good Boy, Ruger.

“Coming home is one of the most beautiful things.” –Andre Rieu

At Trilogy, one of the best moments in the building process is seeing our clients’ reactions when they see their completed new home for the first time. There’s something truly heartwarming about handing over the keys and watching them step into their house as homeowners.

The details about each family may differ—maybe it’s a senior couple rebuilding after the 2018 Camp Fire, or maybe they’re newlyweds celebrating their first home together. But one thing is always the same: the shared feeling of coming home. We see it on the first day, in social media posts about decorating each room, then later in holiday cards taken on the front steps. Trilogy is so honored to be a part of those stories, and we’re excited to share some of our favorite photos with you now. 

We could not have asked for a better team than Trilogy to rebuild our home. Their attention to detail was remarkable and the quality of construction was top-notch.  Our best decisions were rebuilding in Paradise, and choosing Trilogy to rebuild.  - Frank & Gwen Dodini

Our experience with Trilogy Construction, Inc. in building our home was marked by high integrity, good quality, and high-value work. We could always trust Trilogy to be fair and honest. It’s high-quality work and excellent service gave us the results we expected. - Louis and Jeanine Compagno 

Trilogy made our rebuild so easy! So glad we went with them❤️ - Valerie Barton

Got your list of back-to-school supplies for the kids? Check. Watched hundreds of TikTok videos or Reels to find out what kids’ clothes are trending? Check. Found reusable lunch bags adorned with dinosaurs or Barbie? Check. But wait—what about your home?

As you’re rushing to get everything else ready for the first day of school, don’t forget to prepare your residence! Make your house multi-functional so it’s ready for you and your little ones when they come home each day. Wondering how? Luckily, Trilogy is at the top of our class in the school of home tips! 

Make back-to-school a breeze with these ideas

• Help your closets multitask. Got an extra storage closet crammed with stuff you’re trying to forget about? Clear it out and convert it to a mini office, complete with a desk (see #11). 
• Explore alternative desk options. Speaking of desks, there’s a wide variety of styles out there if you don’t want to sit at the kitchen table, especially if you work hybrid or homeschool. Explore mini lap tables or standing desks to find an option to fit your needs. 
• Consider a hideaway desk. Don’t have the space to dedicate a whole room to your office? Just like Murphy beds, there are Murphy-style desks you can fold up against the wall when not in use, perfect for laptop users or math homework sheets.
• Utilize all your surfaces for storage. Using a cubby with baskets to store art and school supplies is a go-to strategy for many parents. But if you don’t have the real estate for this, try hanging hooks and woven baskets on the wall with the supplies for a stylish and functional home design. 
• Grab and go to make mornings easier. Install an entryway table long or wide enough to line up the daily essentials for the kids—homework, lunches, and school projects—so it’s all in one spot and they can just grab them on their way out the door. 
• Try a mobile workspace. If you or the kids rotate where you do your work, fill a rolling cart with supplies so it can migrate from room to room with ease. 
• Always search for new ideas! Explore Houzz or Pinterest for even more creative solutions to make your home as functional as it is beautiful!

Ready to ace the new semester?

At Trilogy, we love helping our clients make the most of their living spaces. We’re always happy to share our experience in making functional and kid-friendly houses. If you haven’t yet built your new home, we’d be happy to talk you through suggestions that would work for your family and lifestyle! Contact us to find out how! 

“There is nothing more important than a good, safe, and secure home.”

~Rosalynn Carter, former First Lady

With the season changing over this month, now’s a great time to start thinking about upgrading your home security. And contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to break the bank to do it! Trilogy understands not everyone has the budget to install a super-fancy home security system. We love sharing life tips for the home with our community, so check out some of our top home security suggestions below. 

Trilogy’s top home security tips

• Use dowels to secure doors and windows. Start with one of the simplest ways to secure your home: place a dowel rod in the track of your sliding glass doors or windows. If a burglar breaks the latch on your door or window, a dowel rod will prevent it from sliding open. 
• Set up security lights to increase visibility. Shed some light on the outdoors! Installing security lights can help prevent burglars from doing their dirty work in dark corners of your property. 
• Install a doorbell camera for video monitoring. Mini-cameras like the ones from Arlo have been all the rage for a while—and for good reason. They can be paired with a device (like a smartphone) and notify you when the doorbell is triggered. There are also some models that record continuously. 
• Use quality hardware to reinforce doors. While the image of thieves picking locks is popular in the movies, criminals are most likely to break doors open with force. Prevent this with quality door reinforcement hardware. 
• Protect your spare key with a lock box. Don’t leave your spare key under the front door mat or your favorite garden gnome! Invest in a lockbox to keep your key safely locked behind a code. 
• Upgrade your garage door opener for secure deliveries. Did you know there are now garage door openers with cameras and apps to control them? This technology makes receiving deliveries more secure than ever, especially when you aren’t home.

Ready to get started? We can help!

If you’re feeling inspired, try some of these helpful ideas today to keep your home secure! And if you’re building a house with Trilogy, we can handle some of the work for you. For example, we can install a wired version of the garage door camera during the electrical walk.

When it comes to home security, there’s really no one-size-fits all model. However, it is important to make it a priority and find the system or combination of efforts that work best for your house. Take it from one of our local home security experts:

“Security is a layered system. Different homes have different needs, and there are a number of ways you can achieve home security. Some common examples of home security include alarm systems and cameras. it is best to have both of them to enhance your security level. There are also other small things you can do to protect your home, such as making sure you have proper working deadbolts and are using them. Everyone's experience is different with home security, you have to find what fits your needs best.” 

We hope these tips are helpful as you consider what works best for your home! As always, we’re here to help build the home for your style and preferences. Contact us to learn how else we can help or to get started on your next home project.