What a gorgeous weekend for the Annapolis Home & Garden Expo at the Byzantium Event and Conference Center on Riva Road. The halls were filled with over 70 companies (click here for exhibitor list) exhibiting their services and products. Just in time for the warmer weather, the show gave me some wonderful ideas for remodeling my home and working in my garden.
First I sought out the landscape design specialists, of which there were several. I wanted to get a good look at their portfolios. Water features are always something that I am interested in and the landscape designers at the Expo had many ideas to share.
It was definitely an education to peruse the showcases of the roofing, deck and fence companies. What a plus to be able to discuss my old house with experts all in one place. Since my roof may only have a few years left, I made an appointment for an inspection to see if it could limp through another Maryland winter.
Have you started to consider alternative energy yet? I talked with Solar people who explained how we could turn around our electric consumption and start getting off the grid. Once I have the roof redone, I think going solar is absolutely on the list.
Be it a sunroom, skylight, patio, or anything I could dream of, there were people at the Expo who would build it for me. There was a solid showing of local custom home improvement companies, especially baths and kitchens, to help me understand what it would take to get my job done.
It may sound funny but we got really excited to learn about ductless heating systems. We have an older home and it was great to be able to compare a few of these systems on the exhibit floor in the same afternoon. Window and insulation companies were also another focus of my exploration. With an old house, it is always good to talk to people about ways to improve your overall home health.
The seminars, which ran all day, were a perfect way to get off my feet and learn something at the same time. Professional organizer and home stager, Rachel Jennifer, gave me some ideas about how to get my house uncluttered for spring, and Sara Bendrick, host of DIY’s “I Hate My Yard,” and owner of Sarita Landscape Design, showed me how to add color and texture to my yard.
The Annapolis Home and Garden Expo is definitely an event that I am going to put on my calendar for next year. Having the ability to see all these companies in one place gave me some great ideas.
“Honey, don’t you think it’s time to add that sunroom?”
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