Following a few simple tips can help reduce the chance of a burglar breaking into your home while you're away on a summer vacation.

Summertime means travel time for many homeowners. So how do you protect your home from a break-in while you’re driving Route 66 or sailing the Caribbean? Dream Doors of Jacksonville offers 10 simple tips for keeping criminals out of your home:

1. Stop by your nearest police station or substation and ask to have an officer step up patrol of your neighborhood while you’re away. After all, many of your neighbors are likely to be traveling as well.
2. Halt all mail and newspaper deliveries or have a trusted friend or neighbor collect them while you’re away. A big stack of unchecked mail makes a home a prime target for burglars.
3. Lock all doors, windows, pet entrances and garage doors. Leave a few shades open or partially open, so that it looks like someone is home.
4. Place all of your valuables (including jewelry and financial papers) to a safe deposit box, so that a would-be burglar peering into a window won’t see them.
5. Install timers to turn on outside lights, particularly the light in your doorway, and a few indoor lamps. Setting timers to turn on your radio or television at random times is a great way to make would-be thieves believe someone’s inside. Just be sure to check all light bulbs and batteries before you leave.
6. Arrange to have your landscaping continue while you’re away, especially if you’ll be gone for more than a few weeks. Overgrown grass in a neighborhood full of well-manicured lawns is a sure sign that no one is around.
7. If you have a vehicle that will remain at your home, park it half-way down your driveway to make it appear as if someone is home. This also will keep a burglar from being able to park his own car in your driveway, pretending that he’s supposed to be there. Just be sure to take all valuables out of your car, including GPS systems and stereos.
8. If you can’t arrange for a house sitter to stay in your home, have a trusted friend or family member check it daily, inside and out.
9. If your work or other commitments require that you let clients, vendors, etc. know you’ll be unavailable, let them know via your phone or email that you’ll be just that – unavailable, not away. Criminals have been known to hit homes of coworkers who have bragged about upcoming vacations.
10. If the doors on your home are old or warped, consider purchasing a new door from Dream Doors of Jacksonville. They’re made of metal and two- or three-pane tempered safety glass panels. Burglars would have to make an awful lot of noise to break past them.

Call Dream Doors of Jacksonville at 904-880-7778 or visit our designer showroom in the Mandarin neighborhood to learn more.

The top color trends of 2012 focus on blues, greens and neutrals.

The top color trends for 2012 seem inspired by a lifestyle trend toward minimizing and simplifying to a more holistic, eco-friendly and relaxing mode of living. If you’re looking to boost your home’s curb appeal and resale value, a fresh coat of paint in a hue that communicates these sentiments will help.

This year’s most popular colors primarily fall in to the blues, greens and neutrals categories. Blue-based colors are reminiscent of clean, running water, an element essential to life and good health. They convey a relaxed, refreshed feeling and range from faded denim to 1960s retro turquoise to deep indigo.

Greens, understandably, are popular among eco-conscious homeowners. Drawn from elements of an unspoiled landscape, they range from pale celery greens to funky avocado greens to darker mossy greens. Tone-on-tone layering is popular within this color group, creating sense of depth as if walking into a forest. Combining blue and yellow tones, greens covey a relaxing, purifying feeling.

Neutrals are a hit among those looking to simplify their lives by minimizing their surroundings. This means not only clearing clutter from their homes’ interior, but giving their homes’ exteriors a cleaner, more streamlined and versatile look. But contrary to conventional thinking, neutral need not equate to boring. Layering of neutral tones can create a little subtle drama. Plus, neutrals can be complemented by pops of color in your gardens and entryway decorations.

If it’s time to give your home’s exterior an updated look, call Dream Doors, Jacksonville’s front door specialist. We can give your home’s entryway a beautiful makeover with new colors accented by stylish glass inserts. Shop online or stop by our showroom in Jacksonville’s Mandarin neighborhood.

Start the New Year with a new look for your home's front door.

The dawn of a new year brings a sense of renewal and, for most, a list of resolutions designed to help improve one’s health and looks and to make life easier and more enjoyable. These typically focus on one’s body image and financial goals. But what about the home you live in? Extending those resolutions to improve your space allows for psychological and perhaps even financial benefits.

So why not start with your front door? Jacksonville’s Dream Doors shows how a door makeover or a complete door replacement can help give your 2012 a beautiful start.

1. Energy boost: If one of your New Year’s resolutions is to save money, you’re in luck. Replacing your aging, warped doors with solid new door that boasts a low SHGC and U value can help lower your cooling and heating costs. A door’s U value is the measure of the heat escaping from inside your home to the outside through your doors. Similarly, the SHGC (Solar Heat Gain Coefficient) refers to the amount of solar heat that passes through a window and into your home. The lower the SHGC and U value, the more energy efficient your home is. That’s why Dream Doors of Jacksonville offers exterior door makeovers featuring beautiful glass inserts with U values of .24 to .38 and SHGCs of .11 to .33.
2. Curb appeal and value boost: A revamped entry way also can help boost your home’s curb appeal and increase its resale value. Studies show that an attractive front entrance can boost a home’s perceived market value by an average 6.6 percent. So, if better money management is a goal for you in 2012, this is one investment that will pay off nicely.
3. New look, new outlook: Another goal that tops many a New Year’s resolution list is to improve one’s home or office environment. Clearing out clutter and sprucing up, whether that means a new coat of paint, new or rearranged furniture, or planting a garden, lend feelings of order, ease and reinvigoration. So, turning your drab front door into a dramatic entryway with stunning glass inserts can help give you a positive emotional boost, too.

If you’re ready for a beautiful new look for your home, turn to Dream Doors, Jacksonville’s top provider of door makeovers and door replacements. Call 904-880-7778 or stop by our Mandarin-area showroom today.

Energy-efficient upgrades to your home, incluing installing new exterior doors, can land you a tax break if you move quickly.

We know, we know – Holiday shopping has you frazzled. But while you’re busy making your Christmas and New Year’s Eve party plans and getting all your shopping, wrapping and cooking done, don’t slip up and miss out on your energy efficiency tax credits. With all that cash you’re spending on your gift buying list, it’ll be nice to get a break from Uncle Sam next year.

If you move quickly, one of those breaks could be a tax credit of up to $500. Under President Obama’s Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010, homeowners can claim a tax credit for 10 percent of the cost (up to $500) of new, Energy Star-rated exterior doors installed in their primary residences by December 31. Other tax credits included in the program, designed to make America’s homes more energy efficient, are:

• 10% of the cost of insulation and sealing materials, exterior doors and roofs;
• 10% of the cost, up to $200, of exterior windows or skylights;
• Up to $300 for electric heat pump water heaters, electric heat pumps, central air conditioners, biomass stoves and natural gas, propane or oil water heaters;
• Up to $50 for advanced main air circulating fans; and
• Up to $150 for natural gas, propane or oil furnace, or hot water boilers.

Remember – Purchases and installations must be completed by December 31 and you must include credit claims with your 2011 federal tax return filings. Government officials have not yet decided whether to extend the tax credits into 2012, so this may be your last chance for money back on your energy upgrades. Visit the EnergyStar website for all the specifics. And call Dream Doors Jacksonville at 904-880-7778 to choose your beautiful new front doors today.

Those life-size Nutcracker statues look great, but they could offer thieves a place to hide while breaking into your home. Dream Doors of Jacksonville offers holiday doorway safety tips.

The Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas and New Year’s Day holidays are meant to be joyous occasions. But that joy can quickly turn to despair if you’re not mindful of your doorways. Jacksonville’s Dream Doors offers a few tips for keeping your home safe from thieves who prey on holiday shoppers.

• Don’t advertise: Thieves often look into your trash and peer into windows to see if your Black Friday or other holiday shopping has netted items they’d like to have under their own Christmas trees. So, when you throw away the box that your new Blu-ray disc player came in, don’t simply toss it in the trash can that spends hours outside your front door or on the curb in front of your home. Instead, take all tell-tale packaging to a dumpster, preferably one that’s a significant distance from your home. Also, store away such gifts in a closet until you’ve had time to wrap them.

• Lock up: Keep all doors and windows locked, and keep curtains drawn in a way that won’t allow those outside to see your stacks of gifts.

• Don’t give thieves a hiding place: Burglars look for homes that have doorways and windows shrouded by bushes, shrubs, trees or large holiday decorations. This gives them a spot to hide from neighbors and passing police officers while they shimmy open your doors or windows. Trim back trees and shrubs away from your doors and windows, making them clearly visible. Also be mindful of your holiday decorations. That life-size Santa statue looks great, but it could offer another hiding spot for thieves. Keep doorway decorations small and place those larger pieces in more open spaces.

• Shed some light: Install bright, motion-activated lights in and near your doorways and other dark spots where thieves might try to hide. A bright light shining on a stranger in your doorway or yard can help alert neighbors that something is amiss.

• Show your numbers: In case your efforts to protect your doorway and home safe fail to deter a determined thief make sure your house numbers are clearly visible from the street. This will help police officers called to your home find it easily and quickly and may boost the chances that the thief will get caught before he makes his way out of your home.

Safe and happy holidays from all of us here at Dream Doors, Jacksonville!

Make sure the Halloween decorations you choose for your front doorway are safe for young trick-or-treaters.

If you love the treats and trickery and tricked out costumes of Halloween, no doubt you’re in decorating mode this weekend. And we’ve got a few great ideas for dressing up your doorway, Jacksonville.

No occasion makes decorating more fun than Halloween. But if you’re not careful, you could turn your doorway into a miniature hall of terror – literally. The wrong decorations can make the evening downright scary for both your visitors and you. If someone gets hurt on your property as a result of the items you choose, it can have serious legal and financial consequences. Dream Doors of Jacksonville urges you to choose wisely when it comes to three common Halloween hazards:

• Tripping hazards: Clearly mark the walkway leading up to your door and remove any items that could cause trick-or-treaters to trip. Situate larger decorations along the walls of your entry way and perhaps in the yard several feet from where children will walk. An example is placing fake gravestones in your grass with small, battery operated lights shining on them, so children can see them from a distance. Of course, some kids will simply be too excited to use the walkways and instead run through yards. To avoid injuries, choose decorative items (like those gravestones) made with soft, pliable materials such as Styrofoam.

• Fire hazards: Dark areas dimly lit with candles are a beautifully spooky, but chancy decorative choice. It takes only a second for a long, flowing costume like a Dracula cape or princess gown to catch fire. Instead of lighting up jack-o-lanterns with lit candles, use battery operated tea lights. Even those candles in wax-lined bags can be dangerous if knocked over. Instead, use solar powered or battery operated lights along walkways. And opt for orange, purple or green Christmas tree lights around your door and in your trees to give off a spooky (but safe) glow.

• Music: Scary music and sound effects are a fun way to add a spooky ambiance to your decorated doorway. But keep the volume low enough that you can hear trick-or-treaters coming. If it’s too loud, it can scare very young children and make their Halloween experience not so fun. It also can annoy neighbors who may choose not to participate in Halloween goings-on.

From all of us here at Dream Doors Jacksonville, Happy Halloween!

Dorothy opens the door from her sepia-toned world to the glories of Technicolor Oz - and filmmaking hasn't been the same since.

In life, in literature and in Hollywood, there are endless symbolic messages implied by doors. Jacksonville’s Dream Doors shares a few of its favorite cinema doorways.

• The Forbidden Planet (1956): The semi-hexagonal, three-layer doorway (each layer of which opens in a different direction) that separates the colony building from the ancient Krell laboratories is considered one of sci-fi’s most elaborate doors. Symbolically, it may represent the barrier between civilization and barbarism or between self-control and the ungoverned psyche. We just think it’s cool.
• Pan’s Labyrinth (2006): Oh, if only we all could simply chalk ourselves a doorway through which to escape the troubles of everyday life! In the film, Ofelia draws herself just such a doorway and slips through it, leaving behind the horrors of the Spanish Civil War and an oppressive family life and entering a fantasy world. Unfortunately, the fantastical place she discovers soon bears horrors of its own and Ofelia again turns to her chalked doorway to escape back to reality. One would argue we all have this ability and use it each time we take a break from the rigors of life to enjoy a good book or a great movie.
• The Wizard of Oz (1939): After the tornado, Dorothy opens the simple wooden door to her small Kansas home. But it ain’t Kansas she sees. Instead, our young heroine walks through the doorway of her sepia-toned world into the glories of Technicolor Oz. Though deep-thinkers equate the doorway as part of the journey to enlightenment, film historians see it as quite the visual introduction of Technicolor and the end of black-and-white filmmaking. Dorothy’s ruby red slippers are the prime validation of that theory. Did you know those slippers were silver in the Frank L. Baum novel that inspired the film?
• Scooby Doo: Most any dungeon doorway in Scooby-Doo makes our “cool” list. A favorite? The oft-used secret door disguised as a sarcophagus. Creepy-cool at its cartoon best. Oh, yeah – We dig it.
• Gone With the Wind (1939): We love the Tiffany Glass type door through which Rhett left Scarlet in what endures as one of the iconic Hollywood scenes seven decades after the film’s release. Not only is it one of the most beautiful doors we’ve ever seen, but the doorway is the spot where we see Rhett finally man up to that pretty lil’ tart, who subsequently drapes herself across a stairway and conjures up a little true self confidence of her own. “After all, tomorrow is another day.”

Which are your favorite movie doors, Jacksonville? Leave us a comment on our blog or on the Dream Doors Facebook fan page. And when you’re ready to makeover your entryway into a Hollywood-worthy scene, call Dream Doors of Jacksonville for a gorgeous set of replacement doors.

With beautiful new front doors, Jacksonville's foreclosed homes make great investments or starter homes for first-time buyers.

Savvy investors and first-time home buyers increasingly are turning to foreclosed homes in Jacksonville. Doors, windows and other items often need repairing or replacing to make these homes livable and sellable. Because a home’s entryway is one of its top first-impression selling points, you’ll want to make sure yours makes a great showing.

Homes go into foreclosure because owners can’t or won’t make the payments. And if they’re unable or unwilling to make mortgage payments, they’re likely not paying a whole lot of attention to maintaining the home. Thus, foreclosures typically come with lots of work and TLC needed to restore its livability. With a few smart moves, investors and first-time buyers can make a profit or settle into a great starter home without breaking the bank.

The McMansions of the 1990s and early 2000s are far out of fashion today as home buyers seek to downsize and simplify their finances and their lives. They’re looking for smaller, more practical yet attractive abodes. So, rather than pouring thousands of dollars into upgrades, know that spending just a $100 fixing up a half-bath can add $300 to the resale price – a significant ROI percentagewise.

If you’re considering buying a foreclosure, Dream Doors Jacksonville has a few tips. First, tour the neighborhood and any open houses nearby. Introduce yourself to the neighbors and get a feel for what nearby houses for sale are like. If your foreclosure purchase will be an investment property, you’ll want it to stand out from the crowd, but not in an overly extravagant way.

Once you’ve made the purchase, focus your rehab dollars on the bathrooms and kitchens – the top rooms that potential buyers look at. A thorough cleaning and a fresh coat of paint are relatively inexpensive ways to make a room feel brand new. Consider large floor tiles for small rooms and foyers to lend an upscale feel. But opt for less expensive laminate flooring in larger rooms.

Put a beautiful finishing touch on your new home or investment home with a door makeover by Dream Doors, Jacksonville’s door specialists. A recent national study concluded that an attractive front entrance can boost a home’s curb appeal and increase its perceived market value by an average 6.6 percent – an average equal value of as much as five times the cost of the doors themselves. Now, that’s a great ROI.

Call Dream Doors at 904-880-7778 or stop by our Mandarin area showroom to choose your home’s new entryway today.

Dream Doors of Jacksonville uses only high-quality hurricane impact glass that's both effective and attractive.

Love the look of decorative glass inserts but concerned about safety in a hurricane zone? Don’t give it a second thought. Dream Doors Jacksonville uses only the highest quality hurricane impact glass to give your home’s front entry way a beautiful, durable and safe makeover.

The 2011 Atlantic hurricane season runs through November 30 and Florida certainly gets its fair share of the rough winds and heavy rains that come with any tropical storm or hurricane blowing by. Today’s Florida building codes require one of three systems when installing or replacing complete door units in homes located within the 120-MPH wind zone (roughly east of US 1 and/or A1A). One option is installing state-approved hurricane shutters. However, these can be unsightly and costly. Another option is providing pre-cut plywood that can be screwed over the door opening – an impractical solution because the plywood must be stored until needed, takes up space in the homeowners’ storage areas and often are forgotten or misplaced by the time hurricane season comes around.

The third option is installing hurricane impact glass – a solution that’s effective, economical and beautiful. Dream Doors of Jacksonville is a licensed Certified Building Contractor (CBC1255285) and our products are Florida approval rated to satisfy the most recent changes to the State of Florida Building Codes for hurricane compliance. Plus, we ensure your door makeover is properly permitted as required for any new door installation or renovation. Call us today at 904-880-7778 or stop by our Mandarin showroom to choose your new door complete with gorgeous hurricane impact glass inserts.

Your home's entryway should be an extension of its interior. Dream Doors of Jacksonville can help with your front door makeover.

Just like a smile or a frown on your face, your front door makes a definite first impression. Dream Doors of Jacksonville specializes in making sure that your home’s first impression is a pleasant one.

What do visitors think when they see your front door, Jacksonville? If your door is worn, the paint faded, your entry way dark and empty, your visitors likely get a sense that your home is uninviting and perhaps unkempt. After all, the exterior of a home typically mirrors, to some degree, its interior. You may have the most stylish and immaculate interior, but if your home’s entry way doesn’t live up to the same standard, it can prove a disappointing welcome to your guests.

Dream Doors of Jacksonville offers these tips on giving your front door a warm, welcoming feel:

Add some color: What color is your front door, Jacksonville? And what does it say about you and your home? The color you choose can be an indication of your personality and your home’s character and sets the standard for all other entryway decorating decisions. A stately black or blue, traditional white, cheerful yellow, dramatic red, regal purple or eclectic orange can help set the tone that you want your home to convey. Just make sure that the color you choose complements your home’s exterior and trim.

Do a little decorating: Look at your front door entryway as an extension of your home’s interior or even an outdoor foyer. Most front doors lead into the home’s living room or family room. Does your family room have a traditional look? Extend that theme to your entryway with deep hues, brass or antiqued fixtures, shutters and flowerboxes. Is your home’s interior more contemporary? Matte colors, clean lines and planters with sleek shapes will give your visitors a hint of what to expect when they enter your home.

Glam it up (or tone it down): Doorknobs and handles, door knockers, kick plates, house numbers and mailboxes all offer an opportunity to add a little bling to your home’s entryway. Brass or wrought iron beautifully accentuates a traditional style. A casual bungalow or rustic cabin style home entryway calls for simple pewter or unfinished wooden accessories such as planters, flower boxes, mail and message boxes and other decorative pieces. Sleek metal, brushed nickel or glass fixtures give your entryway a clean, contemporary look.