We asked designer Monica Pedersen to come up with three outdoor tablescapes for the patio at HGTV Dream Home 2009, and you get to pick the one we use! Check out Monica’s designs and matching invitations, read about how she came up styles that tie in to the home’s location in Sonoma and California wine country, then vote for your favorite.

You can vote once a day until Oct. 31, then we’ll reveal the winning design during the HGTV Dream Home special premiering Jan. 1.

I can’t spoil the surprise, but maybe I’ll drop a hint or two. Hey, it’s Friday!

Like I said, we’ve got something fun coming next week. Monday to be precise. It’s a way for you to get involved with the HGTV Dream Home we’re building in Sonoma, Calif.

Debbie, I like the way you think. BL, no Jack for now, but you never know. There are other plans afoot for having fun with the HGTV Dream Home this year. And you never know when Mr. Thomasson’s going to show up. You’ll just have to keep checking back.

In the meantime, our good friends at DIY Network now have their Blog Cabin tour online. Take the tour with 360-degree images of every room in the gorgeous lakefront cabin. And make sure you enter every day for a chance to win the cabin!

See you Monday!

FC

Our sister site HGTVPro.com just launched their new feature following the construction of the HGTV Dream Home in Sonoma, Calif. Head on over there now and check out the exclusive videos, photo galleries, field reports and more. And check back often, they’ll be adding more about the home in the months ahead.

Our good friends over at HGTVPro.com have just put up a slide show of construction images from the HGTV Dream Home in Sonoma, Calif. Stay tuned for more!

It looks like Friday got here a little early this week! Here’s an artist’s rendering of the 2009 HGTV Dream Home in Sonoma, Calif. Have a look and come back to the blog to share your thoughts.

And since so many people keep asking, since it’s not shown in the rendering or the floor plans, yes the home does have a two-car detached garage.

Stay tuned — we’ll have more about the home coming soon including videos of the construction. And remember, the 2009 HGTV Dream Home Giveaway starts in January, when you’ll be able to enter daily for a chance to win this gorgeous, Craftsman-style home.

The wait is over, the floor plans are in, and I’ve got some information on the 2009 HGTV Dream Home from house planner Jack Thomasson. It’s a three-bedroom, 3,600-square-foot classic farmhouse. Click here to see the floor plans and learn more about the design. And stay tuned for more information, I hope to have a rendering of the house available soon and some photos from the job site. And yes, there will be a two-car detached garage with side entry.

You’ll be able to enter the 2009 HGTV Dream Home Giveaway for a chance to win the home in Sonoma, Calif., starting in January.

Special Update! Good news! I’ve just received a beautiful artist’s rendering of the Sonoma home, and we’ll premiere it this Friday.

Hello! We just received the floor plans for HGTV Dream Home 2009, located in beautiful Sonoma, Calif. I hope to have them ready to put online soon, maybe as early as this week. In the meantime, I’ve noticed several comments from Sonoma locals, extolling the fabulous natural beauty and cultural highlights of the area. If you’ve got some photos or videos you’d like to share, go ahead and add them to the photo gallery. I know, it says “Your Trip to the Keys,” but I don’t have a gallery for Sonoma yet.

In other “HGTV gives away a house!” news, this Sunday we’re announcing the winner of the first HGTV Green Home. Watch Sunday at 8/7c to find out who’s moving to South Carolina. Plus, we’ll also be announcing the winners of the “Get More Green Sweepstakes.” The prizes are a $15,000 shopping spree at Sears and a $10,000 Kohler gift card.

After the Green Home special, stick around for the season premiere of HGTV Design Star Sunday at 9/8c. And starting this Friday, you can enter the Design Star Sweepstakes for a chance to win a $5,000 shopping spree from Sears AND a $5,000 gift card from Lumber Liquidators. That’s a lot of flooring, folks.

Check back soon for more about HGTV Dream Home 2009.

Surprise!

The HGTV Green Home Sweepstakes may be over, but you can still get more green! Enter the Get More Green Sweepstakes for a chance to win the grand prize of a $15,000 shopping spree from Sears. Plus, the second prize winner gets a $10,000 gift card from Kohler. And you can enter once a day until May 22. We’ll announce the winners during the HGTV Green Home Giveaway television special Sunday, June 8, at 8/7c on HGTV.

Since I’m still waiting on those floor plans for the next HGTV Dream Home, I thought I’d try to find a question I could answer. DB Coop wanted to know if I ever get to visit the Dream Homes in person. OK, easy enough. Yes. The team that creates the online tour does visit the home each year, and so far I’ve been lucky enough to take trips to Lake Lure, N.C., Winter Park, Colo. And, of course, the beautiful Florida Keys.

Here I am in the woods at Lake Lure. For some reason we just thought that sign was hysterical.

Here’s a picture from inside the HGTV Dream Home in Lake Lure, one you didn’t see in the online tour.

Funny story about that picture above. For some reason we never did figure out, there were literally a hundred or so pillows in that house. Not throw pillows, just big fat white bed pillows. So when Bruce, the genius who shoots and creates the 360-degree panoramic shots for every HGTV Dream Home, needed to photograph the master closet, JP and myself had to move all these pillows and stash them in the master bath. Then put them back in the closet.

Speaking of Bruce, here he is at the Winter Park house.

It seems like there are always some cool animals hanging around. In Lake Lure, it was this great big black lab that belonged to the builder.

In Winter Park, we met Shadow. She belonged to a builder working on the house next door to the HGTV Dream Home, and would wander over to say hello occasionally. Here she is with JP playing with her favorite toy, a stick.

While Winter Park was a dog town, Islamorada was ruled by cats. There are cats everywhere in the Florida Keys, and they are exactly as laid-back and chillin’ as you’d expect cats to be when all they have to do is hang out in the Keys all day. This is Pistol. He literally moved right into our room at the Islander Resort.

Well, since he’s been there for 16 years according to the staff, I guess we’re the ones who moved into his room. Luckily, Mrs. FCole, who went with me, loves all animals and was thrilled that Pistol adopted us for our stay. Seriously — Pistol stayed with us for four days. Never left our room except to go outside for a bit to tend to his cat business. Most of the time he just curled up on the bed and napped. He may still be in that room, as far as I know.

Well since I can’t tease you with clues today, let’s go home shopping instead. You can search for homes in the Sonoma area, where we’re building HGTV Dream Home 2009, on our sister site FrontDoor.com. They even have an awesome 400-acre vineyard that could be yours for just $9.25 million. But there are plenty of much more affordable listings, too. Or you can just wait until January 2009 to enter for a chance to win the HGTV Dream Home.

Don’t forgot, the HGTV Green Home sweepstakes is still going on, and you can enter once a day until May 9 for a chance to win a beautiful eco-friendly home in South Carolina.