Dream Home Pinellas

Welcome our Newest Team Member- Chris Dufala

2013 By Dream Home Pinellas Leave a Comment

We welcome our newest team member, Chris Dufala.

Chris has been in Sales Management as well as day-to-day leadership roles for many years.

Chris has spent his entire career focused on enabling companies to leverage a variety of technologies to achieve their own growth and prosperity. He is a serial entrepreneur with previous ownership in many successful business ventures.

Chris has a long track record of improving sales by not only bringing in new business but also by helping existing customers grow their businesses.

Chris enjoys being outdoors, stand up paddle boarding, golfing and target shooting. Chris is a Rotarian and enjoys giving back to the community by volunteering for many area charities including the Palm Harbor YMCA as a Board Member. Chris enjoys coaching youth sports and spending time with his wife and three children.

Chris joins us as our Lead Buyer Specialist and Team Partner.

Chris can be reached at 727-741-9007

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Why You SHOULD List During the Holidays

2012 By Dream Home Pinellas Leave a Comment

House on suburban street with 'For Sale' sign in foreground

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Spotlight on Pinellas: Z – A Specialty Spa

2012 By Dream Home Pinellas Leave a Comment

This week we’re at Z – A Specialty Spa in Palm Harbor!

We got a chance to catch up with our favorite aesthetician in Pinellas County! Check out these amazing specials!

Filed Under: Our Blog Tagged With: local spa services, Spotlight on Pinellas

Thanksgiving Home Decorating Ideas!

2012 By Dream Home Pinellas Leave a Comment

Six easy, inexpensive ways to decorate your home for Thanksgiving!

Dream Home Pinellas is on Pinterest! And one of our favorite things to do is find beautiful, inexpensive ways for you to spruce up your home for the holidays.

Thanksgiving is just around the corner, so here are some of our favorite finds. You can click on the photo and it will take you directly to Pinterest and you can repin it!

The first one is like a favorite recipe: just three ingredients. Cranberries, a candle and a vase. Voila! A beautiful, simple and elegant centerpiece.

Just a few gourds and miniature pumpkins can give your table an elegant, yet earthy feel.

Have some extra wine bottle corks laying around? Get some paint and make some beautiful placemats with the kids! Personalize them for each member of your family or just for the kids table.

When the paint dries, head to Kinkos and laminate it for a dollar or two, it’s so simple!

Give thanks for your loved ones with this simple and easy centerpiece idea, using dollar store candle holders and mod podge (click on the picture for the simple instructions!)

One of the most simple ways to decorate your home, table, or mantel is to use a pumpkin as a vase! You can use any color pumpkin and any other flowers to get a different look every time.

There’s a lot to do on Thanksgiving, from setting the table and all that cooking, so setting up a children’s table that gives the kids something to do works for everyone! Here is a simple way to personalize their table while also making for an easy cleanup.

We’re pinning up a storm over on our Thanksgiving Decorating Ideas board so come on over to Pinterest and check it out the rest of our finds!

Filed Under: Our Blog Tagged With: Pinterest, Thanksgiving decorating ideas

Spotlight on Pinellas: Glass Blowing at the Industrial Arts Center

2012 By Dream Home Pinellas Leave a Comment

We love our Spotlight on Pinellas feature because there are so many treasures here in Pinellas County that few people know about and this month we found one of them, situated nicely near south St. Pete in the quaint town of Gulfport.

It was actually our 15th wedding anniversary this month and to celebrate, we decided to take part in the ancient art of glass blowing and create our own works of art! Just a short drive away from anywhere in Pinellas County (or Tampa Bay, for that matter), is the Industrial Arts Center, located at 2902A Beach Blvd. South, which is
in the Art Village Courtyard, where you can do just that.

You can choose between eight different pieces ranging in price from $40-$65 and a skilled instructor will take you through the step-by-step process.

Look at how our creations came out!

How cool is that?

I made the flower vase and my husband made the fluted bowl and we had a blast doing it. The arts center is a non profit organization so make sure you head over there to try out it out! We plan on taking the kids there to make Christmas ornaments around the holidays, too. If you’re looking for something to do for date night or a night out with the girls, they even have a ladies night and hot date night!

All the information is at the Industrial Arts Center website, so be sure to check it out. Have fun!

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Top 5 Fall Activities Around Tampa Bay and Pinellas

2012 By Dream Home Pinellas Leave a Comment

One of the best parts of fall is all of the fun places to go to enjoy it all with the family!

Here are some of our favorite fall activities around Tampa Bay (and beyond!) to enjoy with your family. All of these are just a short drive away.

Sweetfields Farms in Masaryktown has a pumpkin patch, games for the kids and a really great corn maze. There are also food and wine vendors for you to enjoy and there’s plenty of activities to make a whole day of it! The kids love climbing on all the haystacks shaped in Halloween themed characters and shooting the potato launcher. One year, one of them even won $20 by hitting the target!
Of course there is the Mickey’s Not so Scary Halloween Party at Walt Disney World which is fun for all ages! You can dress up and go trick-or-treating throughout the park. Click the link to download the event guide for Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween. The event runs through November 2.
Have you picked out your pumpkins yet? Every year, we head to the pumpkin patch at Heritage United Methodist Church off State Road 580 on Landmark Drive between McMullen Booth and U.S. 19. The pumpkin patch is a great place for field trips, they read stories to the children and there are oodles of photo opps. All proceeds from the pumpkins go to help fund the church’s mission projects and student camps. Click the link for the pumpkin patch directions and hours.
But once you get the pumpkin home, how will you carve it? This year we’re doing Angry Birds! (We already have the Angry Birds pumpkin carving kit!)
We can’t forget the athletes around here, there are a lot of fun runs in our area, including this Halloween Halfathon which includes a half marathon and a 5k race in Ft. DeSoto. Costumes are encouraged!

What is your favorite fall activity in the bay area or beyond?

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Here in Pinellas, It Is a Seller’s Market!

2012 By Dream Home Pinellas Leave a Comment

Answering the Question: Is it Time to Sell?

If you’re on the fence about selling your home because you’re wondering if it’s the right time, I want to share with you what we’re seeing out there right now.

People in Pinellas County want to buy.

The problem?

There are not enough homes on the market.

This is a great problem to have, that means YOUR HOME has a great chance of selling right now!

Source: Pinellas Realtor Organization

We have seen our local market shift to a seller’s market over the past six months.

In some Pinellas County neighborhoods like Safety Harbor, homes are on the market for as little as three days. Not only that, according to the recent numbers released by the Pinellas Realtor Organization, median home sales are up more than 7 percent from this time last year for single family detached homes. And we are seeing offers come in at or above listing price!

That’s the state of home sales this month, so if you’re on the fence and you’re looking to sell, contact Dream Home Pinellas to discuss the possibilities.

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Spotlight on Pinellas: F.E.A.S.T. Food Pantry

2012 By Dream Home Pinellas Leave a Comment

Spotlighting One of Pinellas County’s Food Pantries

“If you can’t feed a hundred people…feed one.” – Mother Theresa

It’s officially the fall season which also means that we’re approaching the giving season. But it’s not only during the giving season that our local food pantries need help, they need help all year ’round.

One Pinellas County organization, the F.E.A.S.T. Food Pantry, is currently feeding more than 3,200 families a month and they’re adding 2-3 families a day!

We are excited to have been a part of a large donation drive with friends and family recently where we collected 26 bags of food!

The Dufala Family posing with the donations, tada!

Click the link for the list of donation items needed. F.E.A.S.T. provides food to families in Oldsmar, Dunedin, Palm Harbor, Ozona and Tarpon Springs. Many families are homeless or elderly, out of work or victims of life circumstances.

The F.E.A.S.T. Food Pantry is located in Palm Harbor and accepts donations any time at their office located at 2255 Nebraska Avenue on the same property as the Grace Community Church.

Have you considered a holding food drive or donating to a food pantry? Don’t wait for the holidays, you can donate to F.E.A.S.T. and your local food pantries all year long!

Filed Under: Our Blog Tagged With: Spotlight on Pinellas

Trending: Wood Tiles, A Hard Wood Floor Alternative

2012 By Dream Home Pinellas Leave a Comment

A Beautiful Alternative to Hard Wood Flooring

There’s a new look trending among designers in America’s homes and at first glance it looks like a wood floor.

Look closer and you’ll see it’s actually TILE that looks like hard wood. They’re actually porcelain tile planks designed to appear like wood floors and they’re a perfect alternative to expensive hardwood flooring.

They’re also the “in” thing right now.

Why?