Here's what the cork flooring looks like - but its much lighter in real life. It comes in different patterns and colors - from very light to dark chocolate. Yon can even get it non-natural colors - green, blue, etc.

Another thing we designed has worked very well - using cool reflective light from the outside to illuminate the inside. Under the large north and south windows in the dining/living room we built patios outside. The light reflecting off of the patios reflects up to the ceiling - we slanted the ceilings to reflect the light into the rest of the room. The result is from about 8:00 am to 8:00 pm in the summer we don't have to turn on any lights in the dining/living room - which is the most used room in the house during the day. This is helping to reduce our electric bill.

We finally got in the water tanks - they have been very helpful during our drought this summer. Any time it rains more than about 1/2 inch, all four on the 200 gallon tanks fills up. We then use this water to keep our newly planted trees and vines alive until the next rain.

As you can see, this is a very simple design - water flows off the roof through the downspout into the tanks - then just attach a water hose. The tanks are tall enough so the water pressure easily pushes the water to the back of our property over 100 ft away. I evaluated below ground tanks, but they require electric pumps to get the water out - more electricity and maintenance. Some people have not liked the way the tanks look - they are black to keep algae from growing in them. So we put all four tanks on the north side of the house - the opposite side from the pool where most of our outdoor activities are. So the tanks are really not that much of a eye sore. Here's how I anchored them to the ground so they wouldn't blow away during a hurricane.

I put two layers of 12 X 12 cement pavers with a left over sheet of StegoWrap in between. The StegWrap causes the overflow water to drain away from the house. I put L bolts in concrete on each side and attached a steel cable from the L bolts to the top of the tank. The steel cables keep the tanks from blowing over even when they are empty. The tanks cost about $215 a piece. With all of the materials included, I spent about $1,000 for all four tanks. That works out to $1.25 per gallon and since the tanks should last 30 years, I figure they will pay for themselves many times over. And since flooding is the biggest issue around here, I'm doing my part to retain water to reduce flooding.

Here's some of our plants that have benefited from the rain water collected in our tanks.
One of four grape vines - I'm hoping to have twelve vines and a large grape arbor - and some home made wine! Here's one of our fruit trees - I'm planning for a least 12 fruit and citrus trees. I'm also planning two large gardens. Long term I'm hoping to grow much of our vegetables and fruits - reducing the carbon foot print of our foods - plus home grown is guaranteed organic and tastes much better.

Here's the first fruit (or vegetable) of our labors - a large butternut squash.

Here's some pictures from the outside. We got up the spiral staircase to the balcony overlooking the pool. The kids love being able to go from the upstairs directly down to the pool.

Here's the front of the house - we're still working on the landscaping and probably always will be.