Staging: The Best Decluttering Method

As a life long minimalist and a home stager, I think the number one question I get is, "What is the best method for decluttering my home?" The answer is simple, but not what clients usually want to hear. You have to look into a few and choose the one that fits your personality. No matter how popular a method is, it won't work for you if it doesn't match up with how you think, feel, and live. One size does not fit all.
I'll never forget the first time I watched an episode of Tidying Up With Marie Kondo. I laughed so hard I about fell out of my chair. I thought the woman was off her rocker bananas bonkers and her method was gimmicky. Ok, I still do. Things do NOT spark joy for me. If my house has a spirit, I'm moving out--AND I don't fold my socks. I dump them unceremoniously into a drawer. They are all exactly the same (black Hanes) so any two will do, and I don't have time to waste folding them anymore than I have time to waste picking a color of socks that matches my outfit. (All my winter pants are black too, so....) The point is, her method wouldn't work for me. There are a lot of people out there it wouldn't work for. I would not suggest this method to a highly logical client.
Then there is the Swedish Death Cleaning method. I'm ok with it because, again, I don't have sentimental attachments to things, but if you do, this method may be too heartless for you. It could simply be too painful and strict. I would not suggest this method to a sentimental client.
I know a lot of people who have good luck with the 3 Month method. You put your clothes on their hangers backwards and what you don't wear in the 3 months (seasonally appropriate of course) you donate. You put everything from your cabinets in boxes, and what doesn't get pulled out and used in 3 months gets donated. For some people this helps them to really identify what they actually use and need. Other people would be completely freaked out by such a strict method. Some might need to modify it to 6 months or a year.
Here's the deal. We're all different when it comes to our stuff and our relationship to it. There is no shame in that, and we should not feel ashamed if we are not on board with the latest decluttering or organizing trend. When it comes to decluttering, you have to take a beat to become aware of your relationship to things. Are you like me and have no feelings for any objects? Do you place great sentimental value on things? or do you fall somewhere in the middle? Once you answer that question, you can then choose a system that will work for you.
On a final note, if you really don't want to get rid of a bunch of your stuff before listing your home, you can pack stuff in boxes and stack them in the garage or put them in storage for the length of the sale--and that's ok too.

Staging: DIY Wreath Revitalization

One of my (and I think many stager's) favorite tips for sellers is to hang a wreath on or near the front door. Right behind a fresh coat of paint on that door, a wreath is a great way to instantly increase curb appeal with very little effort. However, the stinking things can be pricey. In many cases, it's cheaper to paint that door! This is where a little creativity and a can of spray paint come in.
Maybe you have an old wreath laying around that isn't looking it's best anymore. If you don't, there's always the local thrift store. You may have to remove "accessories" like flowers, Christmas decorations, etc. to keep it simple. Then, simply paint the wreath.
I had this old twig wreath hanging out on my front porch, and it was looking pretty faded. It originally had lovely silk flower sprigs in it that had all blown apart and away in the gentle Texas breeze. There were so many possibilities, but I chose white for a few reasons. One, I already had a can of white spray paint. Two, I have dark red bricks and the white brightens things up and is visible from the street. Three, it goes with my existing patio furniture.

There are probably too many good ideas to list, but here are a few:

Unadorned gold, silver, or red for Christmas.
A bright orange for fall.
White for winter.
A pretty pastel for spring.
A contrasting color like blue on a yellow door, or lipstick pink on a green door.
A much darker or lighter shade of your door color.

One thing to remember if your house is on the market is to keep holiday/seasonal decor simple and to a minimum--but you still want the house to feel welcoming. A nice monochrome wreath in a seasonally appropriate color certainly fits that bill.

Staging: My Number One Tip

If there is one staging tip I could give everyone wanting to sell a house, it would have nothing to do with paint color, decluttering, or furniture arrangement. It would simply be: Don't Procrastinate!!!

If you are even toying with the idea of selling your home, then NOW is the time to start staging. Look around your house (or better yet, have a friend or family member known for their brutal honestly look around your house) and identify areas that need to be decluttered, things that need to be repaired, things that are hopelessly out of date, etc. Get a notebook and make a list.

I suggest starting with decluttering. We all need to do it to one degree or another, and more often than we think. Getting rid of clutter makes our homes feel brighter and more spacious, and it frees up mental and emotional space for us to spend on other things like friends, family, and hobbies. Starting long before you might want to sell gives you a chance to really think about what you want to keep instead of waiting and just frantically pitching stuff at random 2 weeks before your listing date.

When you look at repairs, think about the things that are driving you bonkers around the house. Why live with a switch that doesn't work or a faucet that drips? Some things can even be safety issues or cost you money, so make those repairs!

After that, look at the things on your list that are changes you would enjoy. Did you paint your dining room dark red when you moved in, but now you'd really like a lighter color? Did you buy a house with a green toilet, and you've always wanted a white one? Why wait to make changes that YOU will enjoy? Plus, starting ahead of time gives you a chance to take advantage of sales and coupons and saves you money in the end.

There are so many reasons to take a critical look at our homes and make changes long before we plan to list.
1. Avoid the mad rush (and stress and anxiety) to get the house sale ready. I call this the "Don't kill yourself" rule as in, don't kill yourself doing in two weeks what you have had years to do.
2. YOU get to enjoy the changes you make for awhile.
3. You may decide that you love your home so much that you don't want to sell after all. (I've had it happen.) Sometimes we think we need a bigger, newer house when what we really need is to get all the junk we don't use out of ours and freshen it up.

So whether you are thinking about selling 6 months from now, 2 years from now, or not at all, NOW is a good time to apply some of the basic rules of staging to your home.

Photo Shoot: English Manor....in Texas

Taking photos of homes in Texas poses completely different challenges than I faced when I first started back in Wisconsin. Snow and ice are never issues, and grey skies are a rarity, but July and August are hotter than bloody blazes and fog and humidity (and sunscreen in my eyes) create their own unique challenges. One thing I've learned is to always wear my boot when photographing country properties. This time, I did NOT because it was so hot. Instead I wore regular walking shoes. I knew immediately that I would be walking around this pond to get just the right shot. I was careful and made a lot of noise, but I still startled a big water snake. He shot out of the grass and into the pond like I had launched him out of canon. Snakes don't bother me at all, but it did remind me to wear my boots, no matter how hot it is. That perfect photo is worth sweaty feet!

Staging: That Extra Room

We're not all lucky enough to have an extra room that we use for sewing, working out, watching TV, etc. but for those of us who are, those rooms can be a challenge when staging the home to sell. This room started out as a sewing room. The house had 4 bedrooms, 3 of which were being used as bedrooms already. We could have left the room a sewing room, but in reality, if you are advertising a 4 bedroom, it doesn't hurt for buyers to see 4 bedrooms. In this case, the owner had the bed already and other furniture was borrowed to set this up as a lovely sleeping space. If you don't have a bed, I often suggest borrowing one. If you can't do that, you can sometimes get away with faking one using boxes and an air mattress--as long as the buyers don't decide to sit on it! If you want to leave the room as an office or hobby room, that's ok too, just make sure it is super tidy and nicely decorated.

Staging: Make Sure Everything Works!

This dining room was already a beautiful, well appointed room. A few pieces of artwork were removed or changed to make the room feel less crowded, but the elephant in the room was the beautiful light fixture--the one with one bulb that refused to work no matter what we replaced. So, we replaced the whole fixture. One really important thing to remember when staging is that selling a home is not just about having the right color of throw pillows. The home needs to be in excellent repair. Every little thing that doesn't work tells the buyers you just don't care about maintenance, and that is NOT the message you want your house to send.

 

Staging: Girly, but NOT too Girly

A teenage girl's room is often the bane of a stager's existence. In this case, the room wasn't that bad. A bit of tidying, decluttering, and the removal of one dresser so that the size of the room would be more apparent were about all it needed (other than some serious paint on the doors). I keep reminding sellers that it's ok for a house to look like people live in it--as long as those people are all neat freaks! Buyers want to see a clean, comfortable HOME. 

The pink and black doors and trim had to be painted white. Sometimes you just can't avoid it.

Home Improvement: Staining Concrete

We've all been there. You're painting your garage door or your porch ceiling and you drip paint on your concrete. This is when you learn that if you don't get to it immediately with the hose and scrub brush, your concrete has a permanent stain. This is plain old latex house paint we are talking about, so why do we spend oodles of money on fancy concrete stains? This is a good question. I've used a lot of stains over the years. Acid stains bring out the natural imperfections of concrete to create a stone look, but they are nasty to work with. Behr makes a solid color stain I like, but it takes ages to dry here in the sticky South. Valspar makes a floor and patio paint that I won't even bother to complain about. So let's talk about the cheap way to stain unsealed concrete, latex house paint mixed with water. It's by far my favorite way to go. You can get a solid color, a marble finish with a poured technique or a granite finish with a sprayed on or flicked on technique (use old spray bottles or cheap paint brushes), and you can get any color you want. Here's how you do it:

My concrete was outside and dirty, so I started by pouring half a gallon of bleach on it and spreading it around with my handy scrub brush. After half an hour, I rinsed it thoroughly with the garden hose. Protect any surrounding plants with old towels.

My concrete had dried over night so I misted it with the garden sprayer. I wanted it damp but with no standing water. Then I mixed 80% water/20% paint in some old juice jugs. I poured this on randomly and let the colors bleed into one another. The slope of the concrete did a lot of the work for me. 

After the poured "stain" had dried, I splattered it with some black and brown using an old brush to create a more blended look. 

Since I was just practicing techniques before a bigger project, I used leftover paint I had from around the house: black, white, gray, and a milk chocolate brown. If this were indoors, I would let it dry over night and then seal it with a water based poly for easy clean up and a smoother finish. Outdoors, I don't want a slick surface, so I'll just leave it. I did something similar on my front porch over 2 years ago and it still looks as good as the day it was done, even after pressure washing. I plan to do the bedroom floors in one of our rentals at a future date. Finished concrete is bullet proof and budget proof, so something to keep in mind for interior and exterior purposes.

Staging: Bold Color

Conventional wisdom tells us that when we put our homes on the market, they need to be as neutral as possible so that people can imagine their things in them. To some extent, this true, and I definitely advise people to paint over a lot of colors or to repaint when a whole room is a bold color.  On the other hand, a house that is wall to wall greige is forgettable. When buyers walk through your house, you want a few eye catching details that leaving a positive lasting impression. The owner of this home asked me if she should paint over this deep turquoise wall before listing, and my answer was a resounding: NO!!! This was a boy's room and started out looking it, but the solution wasn't new paint. Instead we replaced boyish accessories (including the curtains) with neutrals throughout the room. Boyish wall art was replaced with a large neutral piece from the garden that showcases the stunning color. We also pulled the blue down off the wall and into the room with a throw pillow and a softer blue blanket folded at the end of the bed. The end result was a pretty room that looks like what you find at a nice country B&B. These same tricks could be used to neutralize even the biggest offenders --Pepto pink girl's rooms, Smurf blue boy's rooms, and barn red dining rooms--in the event that a client doesn't have the time or motivation to repaint.  Total cost for this was $5 for the pillow from the garden department at Wal-Mart. Everything else was borrowed from other parts of the house.

This room may not be totally color neutral, but it at least feels gender and age neutral so that anyone can imagine using it. One or two rooms that stand out are NOT a bad thing as long as they stand out in a pretty way. 

Home Improvement: Painter's "Pro" Tip

A few years back my Ace stopped carrying Benjamin Moore and started carrying Clark and Kensington. Both are excellent quality paints, so I'm fine with that. However, my complaint with C&K is that their cans don't last. Give them a year or two and the lids are a rusty, falling apart mess, even if you keep them in a closet in the house. My solution to this has been to use any free air tight container I can get my hands on to store leftover paint. Depending on how much I have, my top favorites are: clear juice jugs, mayo jars, peanut butter jars, and the containers my cats' tartar control treats come in. I know you can buy plastic containers, but why? Isn't there too much single use plastic floating around in the ocean anyway? As for the plastic buckets that the paint comes in originally, I keep those and clean them out for use in the garden, etc. They are handy for a multitude of tasks and can be spray painted for decorative use as planters or any thing else you might want a small container for.

Color: Technology to Help You Decide

I am just having too much fun with this project not to share. Choosing paint colors can be difficult. When it's an exterior color you are choosing, it can be downright stressful. Exterior paint is more expensive and more of a pain to change if you don't like it, so you want to get it right the first time. A lot of times it's hard for people to visualize what a new color scheme will looks like. Technology to the rescue! Many paint brands have online tools that will let you upload a photo of your house or room and then mess with colors. They can be fun or a real headache depending. I often use plain old PhotoScape to give clients an idea of what their home will look like. It's not an exact science, you still have to go to the store and get paint chips to choose exactly the right color, but it can help people get over that first hurdle of imagination--and it's much cheaper than repainting an exterior!

Here we have a late 80s home with brown and tan trim. Today's color schemes lean toward lighter colors in more of a gray tone so the second photo shows what the house could look like. We can even cut and paste doors, windows, shutters, etc. so that people can envision the end result.

How it looks.

How it could look....

Staging: Changing Old Faucets

Having a powder room is a great selling point for a home. Having cheap plastic faucet handles and a light fixture that makes people think of 80s hair bands is not. Changing either one is a project that any DIYer can take on. The first rule of plumbing is very similar to the first rule of electrical. Make sure the water is off!!! In some cases, just the knobs can be replaced with stainless ones. In other cases, the whole faucet has to be replaced. In every case, it's worth the effort! Instant update.

Photo Shoot: Azaleas for the Win!

You just can't beat flowers for photographic magic when it comes to real estate. Whether it's blue bonnets, crape myrtles, or azaleas, Southern houses look best when they are blooming! If your house doesn't already have this touch of magic, some big colorful pots full of seasonal blooms are worth the investment before listing. The bright pop of color will attract the eyes of potential buyers and make your house stand out from the crowd.

Project: Updating Spindles

If you buy a house built before 1980, chances are you are going to inherit a knee wall or bookcase with spindles on top separating a room. The architecture and definition are nice. The spindles, not so much. Thankfully, they are usually quite easy to remove. Cut them with a saw and pull them out. In some cases, all you need to do after that is fill the holes and paint what's left. If you have a header, adding just one simple column can update the space at minimal cost. This is a project I am comfortable taking on by myself with just the chop saw and my drill. Bonus points for freeing up space to put down your keys, phone, etc.

Staging: Bathroom Vanities

We all know we need to declutter our counter tops when we sell our homes, but other decluttering can be just as important. In this case, the artwork had to go as there was just too much going on with the walls. Painting the wall behind the light fixture a neutral color also helped. Painting it the same color as background color of the wallpaper would have been even better, but the seller already had the neutral gray, and it worked just fine. White towels don't add any "color clutter" in this space. The big change out was the faucet. Plastic faucets are currently on the top ten biggest offenders list for home buyers, so if you can replace them: DO!!!