Staging: Staying Current

Remember when staging your house meant making it look as much like a model home as possible? The barren counter tops, the rug-less floors, the generic artwork? These days depersonalizing and de-cluttering a home are still extremely important, but thanks in part to shows like Fixer Upper and Hometown, there's been a subtle shift towards houses that feel warmer, more comfortable, more lived in--in short more like real homes than model homes.

I'll never forget one early client. Her beautiful historic home had been on the market for 18 months and listed with 3 different agents. The price had been dropped several times. When she hired the agent I worked with, she couldn't understand why a stager was being brought in since she had already "staged" her home. Her idea of staging had been to pack up every single piece of artwork and decorative item and stash them in the attic and to push all the furniture against the walls to make the rooms look "bigger." Even 10 or so years ago, buyers weren't buying it.
These days you can't insult your buyers' intelligence. They watch HGTV too, and quite frankly they've become suspicious of homes that look overly staged or not lived in. They know someone lives in your house, and they are looking to live there too. When they walk in and don't see ANY of your stuff, they begin to wonder where their stuff will fit. Will they have to become minimalists to live in your house?
One room where people following old advice can go overboard is the bathroom. For a time, we were told to pick up all of our rugs, hide our trash cans, and clear our counters of everything other than 3 decorative items. (Remember that model home?) But a vase of flowers isn't going to give anyone ideas about how they would really live in your house. So instead of clearing out their bathrooms, I suggest that today's clients simply cut back on the amount of things they have on display and focus on making those things attractive.
Instead of those three useless items, consider a pretty soap dish with yummy smelling soap or a pretty liquid soap dispenser, an attractive container to corral your toothbrush and toothpaste, and a pretty basket to stash your hair products in. One client who took my advice to heart even bought pretty crystal decanters to put the family's mouthwash in--and it looked really cool!
In the shower, aim for no more than two bottles of shampoo/conditioner and maybe a razor. You can even pick bottles that go with your color scheme given the variety available these days. On the floor, one or two rugs are ok depending on the size of your room, just make sure they are in good condition and add to the decor. You don't want to look like you are trying to hide the flooring, but your bathroom doesn't need to be an echo chamber either.
The key to contemporary staging is balance. Yes, you want to show a lot of open space, but you don't want rooms to look empty or sterile if you are still occupying the house. Yes, you want to take down all those family photos, but you also want the house to have a sense of unique style and personality. Striking this balance takes a little effort, a lot of common sense, and some creativity. If achieving that balance is a challenge, hiring a stager is a good way to make sure you hit the mark.

Staging: Using Bulbs to Update a Lamp

My dad made this lamp in high school wood shop, so circa 1950. It was catalpa wood so very orange. I chalk painted it, but have struggled to find the right shade for it over the years. Then I was in Ace the other day and saw these "fairy bulbs" and fell head over heels. Who needs a shade?
With all of the cool new Edison bulbs and other creative bulbs that are meant to be seen these days, updating light fixtures just got a whole lot easier. Big bonus: the light this bulb casts is soft and warm and dare I say "magical" so it adds a lovely romantic glow to the room! It also comes in a rainbow version that would be great for a kid's room. So many possibilities.....

DIY: dumawall

FINALLY!!! A way to DIY your shower that is as easy as putting down a laminate floor. Seriously, how did it take them this long? This is a product that is going to revolutionize showers, back splashes and other wet surfaces if it is as easy to install as it promises.

I can't wait to give it a try!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woFhwV2wnGQ

Staging: The Garage--The Forgotten Room

This post is for sellers who are going above and beyond--whether it's because you want to get absolute top dollar for your house or because you live in an area with an extremely competitive market. Agents and stagers will tell you that kitchens and baths sell a house, and that's no lie, but it's the forgotten spaces like closets and GARAGES that get you those extra bucks or give your house the edge it needs to beat out the one down the street. 

So let's talk about the garage. I'll never forget the conversation I had with an experienced agent who said he told all of his clients to clean out their garages and put a fresh coat of paint on the walls. Why? Because people are let down when they walk through a beautifully staged home and then step into a grungy garage. It reminds them that the house is NOT brand new and it may make them question the interior of the home. A clean, freshly painted garage on the other hand looks new and appealing to buyers since it speaks of a well maintained home.

Often, when sellers declutter their homes, they box up everything and stack it floor to ceiling in the garage. I've seen listings where buyers weren't even allowed to look in the garage. If you are in a hot market, you can get away with that, but if you aren't, not even being able to look at a space is going to turn off potential buyers. So GET RID of that stuff! Now that I've told you what not to do, here are some good tips for making buyers want your garage as much as they want your house.

1. Fresh paint. You can do whatever you want, but I like putting a color in the garage. It makes it feel like a room--perhaps even a room that the man of the house would enjoy spending time in....hmmmm. I like blue or gray, but I once painted a drab garage a sunny yellow that really made it inviting. My current flat builder beige garage is getting a coat of Clark & Kensington Drifting Away in a washable semi-gloss. (Again, I like to do this long before we sell so that I can enjoy the pretty color.)

2. Put up curtains. Maybe you have cheap mini blinds that came with your house. I bet they're dirty and maybe broken. Curtains again make the garage look like a livable space--and it's easy to take them down and wash them. (Yup, that blind is going too.)

3. Hang artwork. Real artwork. A framed poster of a classic car or motorcycle might give the man (or handy-woman) of the house more positive ideas about the space. A nice floral painting is perfect hanging above or sitting on the gardening bench.

4. Clean, clean, and clean some more. Make it as clean as your house.

5. Get organized. Declutter your garage too. Buy pretty colored totes to store your stuff. Clean and hang garden tools in an attractive manner. 

6. Make sure the light fixtures are all clean and have working bulbs so the space feels bright. Consider adding battery powered task light to dark corners, and make sure they are on for showings.

Really, it's pretty straight forward. Treat the garage just like any other room in the house you are trying to sell. It needs to feel like a fresh, clean space that people can imagine using for more than a place to dump their stuff. Create a room that welcomes gardeners, mechanics, hobbyists of any sort, and you've sold your garage as nicely as you've sold your house.

Staging: Replacing Caulk

If you want to do like that Sheila E. song and live a glamorous life, I have some good advice: Don't be a homeowner or stager! I'm only partly kidding here. Whenever I do my walk through of a client's home, I am not only looking at it through the eyes of a potential buyer, but also of a potential home inspector. An average buyer will spend about 30 minutes looking at your home. They might not notice little things specifically, but they WILL notice if the house appears to be generally run down or unkempt. Inspectors on the other hand, spend hours going over your house with a fine tooth comb. They see, photograph, and list all of its flaws for your buyer to consider. This can affect the amount you get for your house and even make a buyer walk away, so you want to really impress your inspector, and the only way to do that is to keep up with maintenance.
Living in southern Texas, one thing that any homeowner who has a west or south facing door can tell you is that the caulk has to be replaced fairly often--maybe once a year or every two years. It's not a big job, but it's the kind of little detail that shows you really stay on top of things.

My back door faces west and gets cooked all summer long, so in the fall, I peel out the old caulk and replace it. My tips for replacing caulk are: Get yourself the caulking tool shown in the center of the bottom photo because having the right tool for removing and installing this sticky goo is essential. I have small hands, so I prefer the squeeze tube of caulk to a gun, but try both to see what you prefer. Make sure to get Window & Door caulk, and if you can, buy something that is UV resistant. It does last a little longer, even here.  I also wear old clothes for this project because I'm a disaster and always get some on me. If you are allergic to latex products, you will want to wear gloves.
Another trick that can help is to tape off the area to be caulked with blue painter's tape to ensure a straight line and that caulk doesn't smear all over your brick or siding.
Replacing caulk isn't glamorous. In fact, it's down right boring. But, it will help keep your home comfortable, protect your door frames, and it just looks better than those nasty cracks.
I've seen photos like the one above on many inspector's reports. If you are selling your home and want to get top dollar, don't let it be on yours!

Staging: The Great TV Debate

When it comes to staging, there is no item in your home that is as hotly debated as your beloved TV. Now, to be fair, a lot of us these days don't really love our TV that much. For years, people have hidden them in hutches, behind artwork, and more recently behind barn doors. Ours has been banished to a spare bedroom that is now furnished and used solely as a media room, and I know many people who have dedicated media rooms. I have friends who don't even own a TV. Some people just see them as eyesores. So it's not uncommon for a stager or a real estate agent to suggest that you put your TV in storage before you list your home if it happens to be in your living room. 

But is this a good idea?

My answer is: NO. A resounding NO. We stage our homes so that they will show at their bests, but we also have to keep in mind that we want people to be able to imagine themselves living in them. Part of that dream we are selling involves watching football games with friends, Friday night date night at home with a favorite movie, and watching Saturday morning cartoons with children. If your house has a dedicated media room, that's fine, but if it does not, you don't want buyers looking at your house and asking, "But where would we put the TV?" and don't think they won't. I've done it myself--my husband does it more than I do, and I've been to numerous open houses where I've overheard other potential buyers asking this same question. Technology is a major part of our lives right now, and that has to be addressed when listing a home. So save yourself the storage fee, and leave your TV where it is, but don't ignore it.

Make sure it is dusted and spot free before each showing. Turn it off.

If it has a feature that will allow it to act as artwork when not in use, take advantage of it!

If it's winter, leave it on that fireplace video on youtube....

And make sure it is off when the photographer comes to take pictures for your listing. 

With just a little common sense, you can make it a feature, and you won't leave any potential buyers wondering where their TV would fit. Instead they'll be planning their first Superbowl party in their new home.

Staging: Refresh Your Welcome Mat

Over and over again, we are reminded that we never get a second chance to make a first impression when buyers see our homes. This is the gospel of home staging and real estate because it is the absolute truth. However, all of the little things that your stager or agent suggests for sprucing up your curb appeal can add up. $20 for a new wreath here, $30 for a new Welcome mat there, and pretty soon you've spent hundreds just on your front porch. What's a seller to do? Well, if you have a faded and worn old Welcome mat like I had, refreshing it with a coat of latex paint is a cheap solution. I just used some interior latex that I had left over from painting a room, but you could easily use craft paint or anything you have laying around. I haven't tried it, but I bet a person could even spray paint it. You could choose a color to compliment your exterior color scheme or a seasonal color. (Craft paint will cost you $2 instead of $30!) I like to use these cabinet & door sponge rollers because they hit the top layer of the design without getting too much paint in the grooves so that the pattern stays true. 

Really, this is a great money saving tip for any Welcome mat that isn't looking it's best anymore, and since it's just paint, you can change it up for very little money whenever you feel like it--and you're keeping it out of the landfill! 

Photo Shoot: Isn't it Romantic?

My most recent photos were of a rural wedding venue. Gorgeous architecture. Beautiful outdoor settings. It's no wonder so many Texans decide to get married in the country!

Budget Friendly Bathroom Transformation Part 3

We've all heard it: The devil is in the details. When it comes to staging your home or just redecorating for your own enjoyment, don't skip the small stuff. 

The finishing touch in this room makeover was framing the mirror. Again it was a super easy project involving some rosettes and trim pieces from Lowes. I think the whole project cost around $30, was an easy DIY, and really finished the room. It amped up the country charm and provided a lovely architectural detail. A simple frame is just a great way to breath new life into an old mirror.
Other small finishing touches included swapping out the old bulb in the fixture above the shower area for a brighter, whiter, more energy efficient LED bulb and painting the switch plates and baseboards to match the cabinets.
In the future, the owner may decide to replace the doors or paint them white. There is always room for updating and upgrading in a home, but as I've said before, doing it over time, saves money and headache and allows you to purposefully choose what you love to keep and what you don't love to edit.

Budget Friendly Bathroom Transformation Part 2

Again we were so excited to get started that we forgot the before photos, but luckily, my friend has some spindles in her house that we have not yet removed....yet....so you can see what we started with.

These old spindles remind of old banks and prisons....

 After removing the spindles from the small privacy wall in the hall bath with my handy Sawzall (my favorite tool to borrow from the hubby), my friend and I constructed a simple column using lumber from the trim section at our local hardware store that only had to be cut to length--a task easily accomplished with the chop saw. I admit to a fair amount of measuring and math being involved since I used simple butt joints instead of miter joints. I left the last spindle in place and screwed the new column to it for added stability. I counter sunk the screws since I knew the end result would all be painted. My friend is an excellent finish person with attention to detail that I can't even begin to imagine. She did filling and sanding to such a high quality that the column looks seamless. Then she painted it to match the cabinets. Leaving a column saved us a lot of money and headache since it meant that we could leave the header in place. It also creates wonderful architectural character in the room. Getting rid of the spindles opens up the space, makes it look brighter and roomier, and creates a display shelf. Since simple columns could be a feature of an old house or a new one, instead of dating the room, it makes it feel timeless.
We could have just painted the spindles white like so many home owners do, but removing them altogether opened up the space so much that it was worth the added effort and expense. With lumber, filler, and screws, I'm pretty sure we came in under $50. I will say, this was definitely a two woman job. Having someone to hold the pieces in place while another person installs the screws made it much easier and safer, so if you take this on, enlist a friend to help.

As a final note, I would say that this is a project anyone can take on with a little planning. If two ladies of a certain age can do it, anyone can! Most lumber yards will cut wood to length for a minimal fee. Then all you need is a drill with a counter sink bit and any kind of saw to cut the old spindles in half so you can pull them out, even a hand saw would work. Simple tools, a little money, and some elbow grease created a priceless result.

Budget Friendly Bathroom Transformation Part 1

I recently helped a friend "redo" her hall bathroom, and there is just so much inspiration in the end result, that I have to break this up into a few posts. 

Her house was built in the mid 1980s, and like so many homes from that era, it has some wonderful character elements and some elements that are beginning to look and feel dated. We had two goals. The first was to make the room feel bright and current without erasing all character. The second was to give the room a whole new look and feel without spending a ton of money.

We were so excited to get started that we forgot to take before photos, but luckily she has another bathroom with the same cabinetry that she has not redone yet. Here is the dark brown wood and period hardware we started with:

 The room had two features that she and I both really liked and wanted to preserve and highlight: a pretty blue counter top and pretty blue tile. Blue is thankfully a color that never really goes out of style, especially in bathrooms, and these features were in excellent condition. That was good news for the budget since new counters and flooring can be costly even for budget friendly alternatives. More good news was that the cabinets were also in excellent shape and very sturdy. So the obvious answer was paint. White or off white would have been good choices, but the owner opted for gray as it is a trending color, and a sample of Amy Howard's "A Good Man is Hard to Find" looked amazing with the counter and floor. She also spray painted her existing hinges with Rustoleum in a metal finish and replaced the knobs and pulls with inexpensive brushed nickle pulls that simplify the look and unify the metals in the room so that now the faucet, knobs, and hinges are all silver in tone. (Tip: buy knobs in bulk packs to save money.) She even painted the existing wooden light plate to match since she had the paint already. Spray painting hinges is a favorite cheat of mine since it saves a ton of money and makes it so much easier putting the same hinges right back where they came from.

Both the owner and I loved this pretty blue counter, and since it is in pristine condition, it would have been a waste to replace it. It was really not shown to its best advantage with the brown cabinets and dark hardware, but the gray paint and nickel knobs really make it pop.

In the future, we might decide to router out the scalloped edge on the cabinets to a straight line for a more modern look, but for now she is liking the country vibe it provides (and remember, we didn't want to erase character for the sake of change). She might also repaint the walls from the very pale creamy yellow that they are now to a light modern gray to further simplify and update the color palette of the room. Because she is starting to update long before she might even thing of selling, she has time to make changes as she likes and to enjoy them--and to take advantage of sales at the hardware store! The best part of this make-over was when she said that she used to kind of hate this room, but now she loves it. Music to my ears.

DIY: Crackle Finish Chair

If this was an art piece, I would title it: Dumpster Diving with Cats. I found this chair on the side of road, so not really dumpster diving, but.... I couldn't leave it there. I have a problem where old chairs are concerned. I'm sure I need help.

Unlike most of the chairs I drag home, this one is extremely sturdy, so no fixing was required. I just had to clean off a layer of dirt and a few spiderwebs. Then I coated it with Elmer's Glue using a chipping brush, let it dry overnight, and painted it with interior house paint. I had leftover paint I could have used, but I just had to have this particular shade of purple, so I spent 5 bucks on a sample can, and I feel like it was worth every penny. I didn't feel like this chair was horribly attractive to begin with and thought about just cleaning it up and taking it to Goodwill, but as is often the case, I was reminded that color can make all the difference to so many items so don't discount any item until it's been spiffed up with paint. Lesson learned.

Also, I learned not to leave newspaper laying around in my house....