By Stephanie Decker, Staged Marin Homes
In home staging it is vital to make a home look high fashion without paying the cost of high fashion. Home stagers are always increasing their staging inventory and can’t pay full price for furniture and accessories, or their business won’t be successful.
Unfortunately, there is not just one place to find home staging supplies so being creative is important — not only in what you use but what you buy.
Here are my top five ways to make a home’s interior look expensive and in fashion, but not at the cost of your bottom line.
1. Use one expensive piece in each room. In order to make a room look high fashion, you have to believe that it is, even when it isn’t. The way to do this is to incorporate one expensive, well-positioned piece in each room.
It can be a piece of art, a table or piece of china. I will position it where the focal point is so that when the buyer first walks into the room this is what they see first. Then, they just assume that everything else is expensive too.
2. Use white. White will always be a staple that home stagers use. It gives the look of light, cleanliness, and an open space. I love white moldings, cabinets, and doors. I also love white lamps, accessories, and linens.
White is easy to clean and can also be bought very cheaply but made to look expensive. One of my favorite stores to find inexpensive white accessories is Z Gallery.
Using inexpensive white pieces on an expensive table is my favorite trick. It highlights the table while filling the space.
3. Look at what can be recycled. To bring fashion back into your home, you might see if you can re-cover your old upholstered furniture. Continue reading »
By G. M. Filisko, contributing writer, HouseLogic
When it comes to making sure a home looks perfect before the sale, don’t overlook the exterior details. A sagging gutter here, a gutter with plants sprouting out of it there, and the sellers’ first impression is nothing but a missed opportunity.
Encourage sellers to tackle minor but money-saving or big-impact home upgrades over the Memorial Day weekend—like making fast gutter fixes. Show them how with the May “Weekend Warrior” bundle now available at the REALTOR® Content Resource, the new tool brought to you by the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®, where your NAR membership entitles you to download free homeownership content in your consumer Web site, blog, or e-newsletter.
The “Weekend Warrior” bundle includes tips on projects sellers can conquer in just a weekend like saving energy on water heaters. Here are just a few of the tips available now at the REALTOR® Content Resource: Continue reading »
By Barbara Ballinger, Architecture Coach columnist
The increased use of digital applications to ensure consistency, safety, speed-cooking, and make bathing and kitchen work more enjoyable continued this year at the annual National Kitchen & Bath Association industry show.
Bathroom and kitchen products have gotten so smart, in fact, that home owners soon may have little to do but sit back while the power of water swooshing from a rainhead turns on its lights, or a laundry “cabinet” steams wet clothing dry while making it smell as fresh as the outdoors.
Here are other favorites seen at this year’s show:
1. Aquatic’s tubs look inviting, and the 60-inch by 32-inch models that fit a standard-size alcove offer a plus — they’re accessible and don’t convey an institutional aesthetic. The touch of a button causes a tempered, double-pane glass front to drop down. Other benefits: a 30-second quick drain, unobtrusive grab bars, and optional air jets.
2. Delta’s “Touch20” technology lets users tap a faucet to turn on water, thereby eliminating twisting a lever for those with arthritis or simply up to their elbows in flour or other cooking messes; it also times-out after a few minutes, so water stops flowing; good for conservation. Continue reading »
Oversized furniture and too much clutter can instantly make a small space seem even smaller. But buyers often say they want a spacious, cozy home — not a small, cramped one. So how do you show off a home’s space in your listings or staged properties?
I’m looking for your best staging tip for capturing a room’s space. How do you make it look roomier, longer, or wider? Send your tip, along with any photo illustrating your tip, to Melissa Tracey at mtracey@realtors.org. Please include your name, company, and city and state.
Some of your best examples will be featured in an upcoming slideshow at REALTOR® Magazine online.
Looking for a steady stream of tips you can share with sellers to get their home ship-shape for showings? Take advantage of the just-released, free customizable content widgets available at the REALTOR® Content Resource, which let you easily incorporate homeownership content into your Web site or blog.
Customize the size and shape of the widgets, and take advantage of hundreds of articles written by premier journalists on such topics as home improvement and maintenance, landscaping, pest control, energy efficiency, tax credits and deductions, finance, insurance, and building a community.
The widget content updates automatically in real time, so there’s no need to refresh or re-import it.
Choose from three widget sizes and display up to four articles at a time. With just a few keystrokes, you’ll have imported the content you need to show clients your mission is to help them protect their most important investment.
The REALTOR® Content Resource, powered by HouseLogic, is an exclusive, free benefit for NAR members. HouseLogic is the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS’® no-topic-left-uncovered consumer Web site geared to helping homeowners make smart decisions to maintain, protect, and increase the value of their home.
By Barbara Ballinger, Architecture Coach columnist
After being much more cautious about selling, buying, building, and remodeling, home owners are eager now to dip their toes into the residential market. A host of new design trends await them, which could be seen in exhibitions at this year’s National Kitchen & Bath Association industry show, held in Chicago.
What’s cooking? Seven favorites to follow:
Robern vanity
1. More “jewelry” for the home. A decorative faucet or handle can easily—and affordably–add a fashionable touch to a room, the design impetus for Brizo’s “Virage” line with its sleek, arching twist, inspired by old wrought-iron European gates. Daltile’s “Stone a la Mod” tiles offer a similar decorative accent with a mix of depths—from recessed to raised—in one tile pattern.
2. Light, action, cameras! Light equals drama, and it showed up in Toto’s “Luminist” integrated vessel sinks made from a proprietary epoxy resin that appears translucent and is integrated with LED lighting. Robern’s vanities come with an illuminated light rim, handy for a night visit.
3. Faster meals. Instant gratification doesn’t mean just fast food outside the home. Home cooks, too, look for ways to speed the process and enjoy other pursuits. TurboChef, which introduced super-speed cooking to get a 22-pound turkey done in 1 hour and 7 minutes, has improved on the oven’s consistency and quality through updated software and additional cook settings. Its 30” double wall oven design now also features a bottom convection oven cavity and top speedy cooker. Continue reading »
By Barbara Ballinger, Architecture Coach columnist
Interest in going green and making homes sustainable continues to gain interest among manufacturers, vendors, design professionals, and home owners, as evidenced by the exhibits at the 47th annual National Kitchen & Bath Association’s industry show, held April 16-18 in Chicago.
Brian M. Johnson's design won best sustainable kitchen at the 2010 National Kitchen & Bath Association’s industry show.
Brian M. Johnson, an architect and designer with Collaborative Design Architects in Billings, Montana, won for “Best Sustainable Kitchen” in the NKBA’s annual Design Competition, where winners were announced Friday, April 16. Johnson’s design paired warm woods (mahogany not sustainable but bamboo is), soft stone (soapstone in the radiant fireplace), natural light, stained concrete, and steel ductwork.
Though going green can cost 10 percent to 20 percent more on the front end than a traditional design, the payback can be worthwhile and occur within a relatively fast time frame, depending on choices, Johnson says. “It can occur within five years if it’s a green system such as radiant floor heating,” he says. Johnson recommends cutting costs to afford sustainability by taking advantage of some free green strategies and then spending judiciously; here’s the game plan: Continue reading »
By G. M. Filisko, contributing writer, HouseLogic
Showings typically take place during the day, but you can help sellers make their home stand out by suggesting exterior lighting that will not only improve security but also highlight the elegance of their home and its landscaping in the twilight.
For tips on boosting outdoor lighting for safety and curb appeal, head to the REALTOR® Content Resource, the new tool powered by HouseLogic, where your NAR membership entitles you to download free homeownership content for your consumer Web site, blog, or e-newsletter. Here are just a few of the tips available now:
Strive for a “moonlight effect.” This naturalistic look features light no more intense than that of a full moon, but strong enough to make beautiful shadows and intense highlights.
Highlight trees. Whether illumined from below or given presence by a light mounted in the tree itself, trees make stunning features. Continue reading »
By Charlene Storozuk
BEFORE
Something that I always stress to my clients is the importance of removing outdated, worn or non-neutral carpeting when selling your home.
Many home owners make the mistake of providing for a carpet allowance in their asking price. They believe that the future home owner will want to choose their own carpeting.
There is something to be said for the future home owner having that choice. However, in many cases carpeting can be the deal breaker that will make a potential buyer move on to the next listing.
Many of today’s buyers are looking for move-in ready homes and others may not have additional funds available for the upgrade.
This issue came up close to home recently. We are in the process of preparing a family member’s home for sale. The carpet was in excellent condition; not a wear mark or stain in sight. You couldn’t kill that carpet if you tried. It makes me wonder how the carpets of today will look 40 years from now. Many of them won’t stand up like this if I had to guess.
The only negative about the carpet was the color: orange. While that was the color of the day when it was installed, it’s just not that high up on the carpet color wish list now. Continue reading »
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