Decorating

Imagine doing such a beautiful job decorating your new home that the builder asks you to decorate his models.

That is what happened to interior designer Joyce Peltz after she and her husband, Marshall, purchased a new home in Roslin Reserve in Oswego.

The Peltzes stumbled upon the Roslin Homes' community last year when they drove to Oswego to see Joyce's daughter's new home.

The couple decided to tour the semicustom home community since it was across the street.

The Peltzes liked what they saw and eventually chose the 3,754-square-foot Ironstone model with a few modifications.

"We looked through all the floor plans and looked at all the blueprints. We kind of went back and forth between two, but I loved the openness of this two-story floor plan," Joyce said.

The Peltzes had lived in an old foursquare home in LaGrange Park for seven years, so they found that "it was really fun to start from the hole in the ground and work up," Joyce said.

"Roslin was really nice to work with because their goal is to be semicustom, so they're very receptive to changes and ideas, which was very fun for us."

Among the options the Peltzes chose were hardwood flooring, cherry kitchen cabinets, a tray ceiling in the master bedroom and a reconfigured laundry room.

They also chose the five-bedroom option. One bedroom serves as an office for Joyce, who is an interior designer.

Two other bedrooms are dedicated to grandchild sleepovers. Another is a general guest room and there is the master bedroom.

The Peltzes say they particularly enjoy their three sets of French doors that lead from the family room to the backyard, the ceramic fireplace and the plasma television installed above it.

Joyce said that she is a traditionalist at heart, even through she chose a contemporary model. She especially loves the separate living room, dining room, family room and kitchen.

And as a designer, she has enjoyed working on the rooms in her new home, giving them a casual European look with bright colors and tiles.

It was her choice of products, colors and changes to the home plan that caught the attention of the Roslin sales staff.

Learning she was an interior designer, they checked out her experience and previous work and eventually recommended Joyce be retained to decorate models.

Joyce ended up decorating one model with a casual lakeside theme with lots of seashells and a laid-back atmosphere.

A second she decorated with a Pottery Barn feel and a third she said has a "West Indies plantation flavor."

Roslin Reserve offers 10 floor plans, base priced from $345,900 to $405,900. A total of 74 homes will be built within the community.

Roslin Reserve is located at the intersection of Wolf's Crossing Road, one block west of Douglas Road. Take Route 59 to Ogden Avenue (Route 34) and then go west to the Route 30 intersection. Turn left on Route 30 and then right on Wolf's Crossing Road. Drive two miles and the sales center is on the north side of the street.

The center is open daily from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Call (630) 242-2930 or visit www.roslinhomes.com.