05.02.07
Home Staging Strategies
Home Staging Strategies
By Jeanette Joy Fisher
Who are you preparing your home to sell to?
You, as a home seller, have two initial choices.
1. Sell your home as a bargain to investors or bargain shoppers with limited income, or
2. Sell your home for top dollar to your target market.
To prepare your home to sell to investors and bargain shoppers, all you need to do is look for a real estate agent who does a lot of advertising of fixers and handyman specials. This agent will list your home under market value. Then sit back, watch TV, and sell your home for a rock-bottom price. Don’t be surprised when you get many offers for lower than your asking price right away.
If you want to work a little, or perhaps a lot, you can sell your home for top dollar. Explore ways to create a buyers’ dream home. Because buyers let their emotions rule their decisions, stage your home for your specific buyer profile.
To sell your home for market value quickly, remove all your personality from the home. Besides getting rid of clutter, pack your family photos, children’s artwork, trophies, and personal effects. Buyers want to envision their belongings in their new home.
Home staging strategies include setting up spaces with suggested activities that buyers perceive as a lifestyle change. You want home shoppers to think that if they choose your home, they will enjoy a new life.
Get busy removing clutter, packing memorabilia, staging, and sell your home for top dollar. Don’t be surprised when you get many offers for more than your asking price right away.
Copyright (c) Jeanette J. Fisher. All rights reserved.
Jeanette Fisher is the author of real estate and interior design psychology books, including how to “Sell Your Home for Top Dollar–FAST” and “Home Staging for Top-Dollar Sales.” For more articles on how to sell your home, see http://www.sellfast.info. For Home Staging tips, see http://www.homestaging.us
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Beach Theme Bedroom
Beach Theme Bedroom
By Lee Dobbins
Using accessories is a fun way to accent your bedroom for a beach theme. You will find that you can dramatically change the look of your room simply by making small changes with the accents. See how easy it is to get a designer beach theme look in your bedroom without shelling out the big bucks.
If you’re not sure exactly what you want in your beach desing, try looking in decorating magazines and books to get a flavor of the accessories you would like to see in your bedroom. For keeping the beach look consistent, you’ll have to limit yourself to only purchase the accessories that match your theme.
Colors for a beach décor should make you think of the beach. Light and breezy with lots of blues and maybe even some yellows. If you prefer neutral tones think of the beige of beach sand and the color of shells.
Incorporate sea shells, ocean prints, and other seaside accents that will help bring out the beach in your bedroom. You should group your accessories in odd numbers. It always looks nice if your groupings consists of tall and short accessories mixed together. An interesting group of accents might consists of some shells aside a nice beach theme frame and a taller lamp.
Use beach theme prints and photos on your walls to establish the theme throughout your bedroom. Many people do not know how to correctly hang a piece of art and this makes a big difference to the visual appeal. Whether you are hanging a large oil painting or a small print, the middle of the piece should be at eye level. If you have a large piece of artwork you can try using it as a headboard. When hanging prints or photos behind a table, always place them 7 to 10 inches above the table. Hang pictures in circular, triangular, or rectangular geometric groupings to add interest.
When accessorizing your bedroom don’t forget about the lighting. When purchasing lamps make sure to buy ones that go with the beach theme you want to create. For beach style lighting try using clear glass lamps filled with shells or figural light house shaped lamps.
Area rugs can define a space and pull your bedroom together. Rest furniture completely on the rug for a warmer effect. Only use rugs that go with your beach accessories.
Using pillows can add interest as well. Use several at the top of the bed and vary the texture colors and patterns while still keeping the color and theme within your overall bedroom design.
Don’t think you have to buy everything for your bedroom at once. Shop around to find the perfect accessories to match the beach theme in your bedroom. You can find bargains at consignment stores flea markets and yard sales.
Lee Dobbins writes for Bedroom Designs and Decorations where you can find out more about decorating your bedroom. Read more articles on bedroom decorating.
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Decorating Tips: Best Placement for Rugs Under Furniture
Decorating Tips: Best Placement for Rugs Under Furniture
By AnnaRae Mills
Small rugs and accent rugs can usually be placed wherever they look good or fulfill a specific purpose, but larger rugs look best when basic guidelines for placement are followed. Since a larger rug often serves as an anchor for a furniture grouping or the main floor covering in a room, proper placement is essential for several reasons, including a balanced look.
A typical setting for a large rug is under a coffee table and/or in front of a sofa. The coffee table is usually centered between the long ends of the rug. The rug can be along the front edge of the sofa or it can be placed under the sofa’s front legs, 2 to 3 inches behind the front legs. The back legs of a sofa usually do not get placed on the rug unless the rug is a very large rug.
When using a large rug that covers most of a room, it’s best to use a rug size that allows at least 8 inches of a hardwood or tile floor to be exposed around the rug. Center the rug in the room as much as possible, with an equal distance from the wall to each side and an equal distance from the wall to each end. This equal spacing guideline still applies if there is a feature (such as a closet or fireplace) that sticks out in part of the room.
Large rugs are often used in a home’s dining area. The best size of rug to use under a dining table extends a minimum of 24 inches beyond each edge of the table. This allows someone to sit down or get up from a dining chair while the chair’s back legs remain on the rug. If you’ve ever tried to get a chair’s back legs up and over the edge of a rug while seated, you know how important this guideline can be.
A large room might have a sitting area that is separate from the room’s main area. A mid-size rug can help define a sitting area, which could include a couple of chairs and perhaps a small table. A good size would be 4 X 6 feet, 5 X 8 feet, or a 5 to 7 foot round or hexagonal rug. The front legs of each chair are on the rug and the chairs are arranged, often at a slight angle, so the people sitting there can have both feet on the rug. It’s okay to have all four legs of each chair on the rug if the rug is large enough. However, it is best not to have more than two feet of empty rug behind the chairs.
Sometimes, a couple of things get overlooked when people want to get a large rug. Think about this for just a moment: You know the design and color you want, but will the rug really fit where you want it to go? If a door opens over the rug, does the door have enough clearance? Will the rug’s desired placement impact any air vents or electrical outlets?
I certainly don’t want to throw a wrench into the cogs of your decorating plans, but thinking ahead will almost always help you avoid unwanted “surprises.” Good placement for large rugs might not seem like such a big deal, but poor placement can throw the look and feel of the entire room off balance.
You’ll find that it’s time well-spent to mark off the area for a new rug before you get the rug. This can be done with newspaper and masking tape, plus a tape measure. Put newspaper where you want the rug and hold in place with the tape. You can also use a blanket or sheet folded to various sizes. Work with this outline until the overall size looks just right. Measure the outline and look for a rug that closely matches those dimensions.
With the wide variety of rugs in every design and color you can imagine, you’ll probably be able to find your favorite rugs in just the right size for each particular placement.
AnnaRae Mills is wild about rugs! She has a goldmine of tips and information to share with you. Decorating ideas, shopping tips, and much more. Find out how to pick the right rugs for your home. See pics of all rug types at http://www.Area-Rug-Tips.com
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Updating A Kitchen For Under $1000
Updating A Kitchen For Under $1000
By Dan Calderwood
When you remodel a house, the kitchen and the bathroom are the most important rooms to pay attention to. A kitchen can be given new life for under $1000. However, you will need to be careful to choose the right items that make a difference and not to be wasteful on unneeded items. Additionally, your money will go a lot farther if you do the work yourself. Labor is often the most expensive component in a rehab.
The kitchen is often the room that will make or break a sale. There are several areas that you should consider when you are rehabbing the house and the kitchen will always be the number one area to focus on. You have several areas where a little work and money can make a large difference.
The number one item that will be noticed in the kitchen will be the cabinets. You won’t be able to replace the cabinets for under $1000, but you can make some improvements. If the cabinets are worn and used, you should consider cleaning and painting them. Use quality paint and a neutral color than goes with the floor and the counter tops. Also, you should consider changing the cabinet hardware, handles. These items are like jewelry and they can go out of style. A new coat of paint with new handles will really make a difference.
The next area to look at is the counter top. Like the cabinets, this can be very expensive to replace. However, it is also the second most important item in the kitchen. You may want to consider placing tile or something similar. The will probably be your largest cost, but it will also make a huge difference.
If you decide to update the counter tops, don’t forget to work on the backsplash. You can add tiles here and make a huge difference in the whole counter top. Even if you don’t update the counter top, you may want to add a tile strip above the existing backsplash to give it a classier look.
Lighting is also an inexpensive way to make the kitchen look updated and roomier. Taking out the old florescent lights and adding a nice light fixture will make a huge difference. You can also add can lights in areas above the sink to make an inexpensive improvement. Additionally, you may consider placing running lights along the top and back of the cabinets. This is very cheap and can really add to the mood in the kitchen.
You will want to avoid replacing large appliances, but you may have to. If you have to put in a new fridge or stove, you will want to match the existing appliances, but you don’t have to pay retail. Often you can find an outlet that sells the scratch and dent appliances that were damaged in shipping or on display. You can pick them up cheaper there and you can often install them where the damage won’t be seen and it doesn’t affect the usefulness of the appliance.
If you are updating the appliances, stick with black or stainless steel. These appear more modern and you can mix and match them on your lower end homes. If you are updating a kitchen for under $1000 then you are working on a lower end home.
You may also want to look at the floor. If it is old vinyl, it may need to be replaced. You can find several inexpensive options to work with in this area. Go to a flooring outlet store and look at their options. Remember to match the floor to the cabinets and countertop.
In summary, you can often make a big difference in the kitchen without making a big difference in the pocketbook. Remember that cabinets and counter tops will be the first areas looked at. Lastly, the kitchen must be spotlessly clean. If it is dirty, then you are wasting your time making upgrades.
HomeBuildingRemodeling.com is your source for top quality home building, remodeling and home decorating information. For free articles delivered daily by email, visit HomeBuildingRemodeling.com and enter your name and email under the Free Home Building and Remodeling Updates section.
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Organizing Your Child’s Bedroom in A Weekend – 6 Easy Steps
Organizing Your Child’s Bedroom in A Weekend – 6 Easy Steps
By Marcia Pasram
Ever look at your child’s bedroom and wonder how it got that way? Clothes all over, toys, stuffed animals and dolls thrown around in a disheveled mess. The bed, although made up, still doesn’t help the look of the room. Sounds familiar? Well, I did just that last weekend. I looked at my daughter’s room and could not bear to enter it. After looking around, I decided it wasn’t just a matter of having her clean it up, but it was, in fact, that she had nowhere to put her toys and belongings. Or at least, she didn’t have enough room for everything. Remember, this is a 6 year old I’m talking about. She doesn’t know the meaning of the word organization. So, I rolled up my sleeves and got to work.
The First Step – Sorting
We made different piles for the toys, dolls (with a different pile for all the tiny clothes and accessories that they come with), stuffed animals, arts and crafts, and books etc. The larger items we sorted separately as well. Anything she didn’t want anymore, we put in a bag to be donated.
Then we stood back and tried to figure out where to put it all. We decided to take the closet door off of her closet and made an area on the unused floor for the toys. This is a 10 x 10 room we’re talking about. Creativity is a must when organizing it. I found a small shelving unit in my basement that would fit perfectly in her closet. I added a few baskets and began throwing the sorted toys in a predetermined basket. One for dolls, another for arts and crafts… you get the idea. We allowed space for some of the larger toys to sit on the shelves and stood the books up neatly. Looked great but it needed one more thing. Beaded curtains. That’s right, beaded curtains come in every color and style imaginable. We chose a purple iridescent one to match her room and hung it up to replace the door we took off. We now had a closet space that is multi-functional and adds more space to a very small room.
Now, what to do with all the stuffed animals she wouldn’t part with. After much consideration I decided to build up as there was nowhere else to go in her room. We made a wall to wall shelf over her window and stored all the stuffed animals there. When she wants to play with them, she just has to ask, and we take it down for her. They are out of the way and actually acts as decoration for her room not an eye sore as before.
2nd Step – Clothes
I decided that at 6 years old, my daughter needed to be able to have easy access to her daily wear. Her dressy clothes for special occasions and church etc. were hung in her closet. Anything that she would wear on a daily bases were then placed in her armour. We used the smaller drawers for her underwear, socks, belts etc. The larger drawers were used for her school clothes (jeans, tops etc.) and another drawer for pajamas. Other foldable clothes that she didn’t wear as often or hadn’t yet grown into were placed separately out of her reach in the armour.
3rd Step – A place for Dirty Clothes
Pop up hampers. The greatest invention. They look good and you can get one to match any room or decor. Princess is the theme in this room. So, of course, we have a princess hamper. We placed that in the corner of her closet and her dirty clothes scattered all over the room is now solved.
4th Step – Knick Knacks
The hardest part to the organization was where to put all the little decorative stuff. You know, the trophy’s, ornaments, pictures etc. With so many things, where do you put it all in a small bedroom? This is where some creativity as well as decorating skills come in. We decided to put up shelving on the walls for her to display her knick knacks. With all the different types of shelves and shadow boxes out there, following your rooms theme decor is easy. With that said, we put shelves up on 2 of her 4 walls. Staggered them for interest and got to work displaying her stuff. Her room was organized and still had personality – her personality. All of her things were proudly and neatly displayed. She was very happy.
5th Step – Decorative Hooks
Another easy thing to do is put decorative hooks behind her door or in the open for displaying things that can be hung. My daughter loves to wear her robe daily and always has jackets or hats laying around her room. Sometimes she wears something that she doesn’t want to put in her hamper, but wear again later that day or week. These items can be hung on hooks placed strategically around her room. It’s an easy and effective way to keep the clothes off the floor. If you prefer not to see the clothes, put the hooks on the wall behind her door. It keeps the clothes etc. out of site but still accessible.
6th step – Under Bed Storage
With so many different options for storage bins, boxes etc., utilizing the wasted space under the bed is now easier than ever. I picked up an under bed storage unit for storing all the seasonal clothes, So now my daughter has a place for clothes that she will not be wearing for a few months. The winter clothes are swapped out for the summer clothes and vise versa. This works great for us and she doesn’t have to filter through a lot of clothes to get to the stuff she needs now. Storing away clothes with the change of seasons makes everyone’s life much easier and keeps the drawers and closets neat, tidy and uncluttered.
So now that my daughter’s room is organized, she and I feel much happier. She loves her room and works hard on keeping it organized and tidy. Her friends always compliment her on her room and that makes her feel special. I hope this will motivate you and act as a guide the next time you undertake a room organization task. I think the main thing I found is that you need to have a place for everything. If you have a place dedicated for a certain item, it’s that much easier to put it back there when you’re done using it. A simple concept, but one that seems to elude a lot of us.
See my article coming soon on “Decorating a girls bedroom”.
Written by: Marcia Pasram
For more information on decorating ideas and tips, please visit:
http://www.homegardendecor.com/
http://www.wallwinedecor.com
http://www.uniquecandlegifts.com
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Lighting, the Affordable Decorating Alternative
Lighting, the Affordable Decorating Alternative
By Vicki Duong
If you’re thinking about redecorating your place but are on a somewhat tight budget, consider flirting with the idea of playing with lighting. Affordable and versatile, lighting is a key element in living; without it we wouldn’t be able to see where we’re going! On a serious note, as much of a necessity as lighting is to everyday living, lighting can also be used as a decorating accent.
Take for instance, outdoor lighting. Usually porch lights and lamp posts are what people first think of when it comes to this sort of lighting and overlook the decorative possibilities. Landscape lighting such as ground level cannister lights and mini ground torch lanterns are a subtle way to enhance the appearance of your front or back yard. Classier looking than your average glow-in-the-dark lawn gnome, these outdoor lights create a lit pathway and don’t disrupt the look of your home during daylight hours.
Planning to recreate a fresh look inside your home? Wall lamps, picture lights and other assortment of wall mounted lighting are perfect for accenting rooms and highlighting family portraits and artwork. A personal favorite of mine are the adjustable cannister-styled spot lights; small in size and easy to install, these lights are bright enough to show off my photography collection and most even come with a dimmer switch – perfect for mood lighting.
Speaking of mood lighting, table and floor lamps make for excellent background lighting. Traditional styled table lamps that feature silk shades and gold leafing accents evoke a romantic ambience, while contemporary styled floor lamps that feature a floor length glass diffuser transform any cocktail party a socialite setting. Now that you’re ready to use lighting to your decorative advantage, remember that you should always consider energy cost, wattage, whether it’s easy to install, and of course, the mood you wish to evoke.
Start redecorating your home with pendant lighting, lamps and wall sconce, available from Eco-Lights.com.
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05.01.07
How To Choose The Right Blinds For You
How To Choose The Right Blinds For You
By Elena Price
The first thing to consider is what sort of window you want to cover. If your window looks out to a beautiful view and is fairly private then a soft draping blind such as a Roman blind is suitable. You can then raise the blind to a level you require, allowing access to the views while framing the window and view elegantly.
Roman Blinds are usually made from fairly light weight material; often sheer so are ideal for French windows and porches too whereby you do not want a full covering but some covering on occasions is useful.
If privacy is what you need a vertical or Venetian blind is ideal as you can let light in without becoming exposed to your neighbours. Venetian blinds are a stylish and modern option and can be adapted to suit any room from a study to a dining room.
Roller blinds are a straightforward approach to window coverings as they are fuss free and simple. Roll them up and down as you wish however they are more suitable if you are a less private person. Roller blinds are useful in bathroom windows where you may already have a disguising patterned or tinted window.
Today it is very common for buyers to opt for a wooden blind, wooden Venetian blinds in particular are very popular. Wooden blinds appear natural and can blend in very nicely with other interior furnishings. In order to choose an appropriate wooden blind, be sure that it matches with the furniture of the room in question.
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Secrets of Creating a Happy Home
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Did you know that color, shapes, and light evoke different emotions? If you know a few simple design tricks, you can make any space feel happier. Here are 4 design elements that will evoke a happy mood in your home.
1. Yellow
Yellow is a very cheerful color. Use yellow accessories to create a happy mood in a room, or for a more dramatic shift in atmosphere, paint the walls and ceiling.
2. Red
The color red increases blood flow, speeds up metabolism, and boosts brain functioning. Add splashes of red in a room to improve a sluggish environment.
3. Circles
Curved shapes connote comfort and nurturing. You don’t want everything in a room to be circular (that could make you dizzy!), but you can cheer up a space just by adding a few curves.
4. Sunlight
Natural sunlight is one of the best mood elevators. If your space feels gloomy, you will notice a lively boost by simply opening blinds and pulling back draperies. And while you’re at the window, open up and let some fresh air in!
Just a few easy changes can make a big difference. Here’s to your happy home!
