To Paint or Not To Paint

In redesign or staging the decision to paint paneled walls is easy!  In my opinion, it gives a room an instant update.  We all know buyers look online first before viewing a property.  A great way to appeal to buyers is giving them updated spaces to see.   Paint can do wonders!  It can lighten a dark room, give a space a cleaner feel and most of all can bring an 80's room up to 2012! 




The ultimate goal is to get buyers to your listings through great pictures.  Working with a Home Stager can do just that!  They will advise and work with your client to help the product show better in photos and for showings.




Here is a redesign of painted paneling, see what a difference it made in this room!

Don't you feel like painting some paneling now??  
                                              

                                                                    

I'm In Love With Fabric Headboards!

Something I've always wanted to do was make a fabric headboard!   They give a space sophistication and romance.  There are so many styles to choose from, really limitless.


Here are some of my inspiration pictures from Better Homes and Garden:

 And best of all you don't have to know how to sew,great for me since I don't.  ( of course that is another thing I'd love to learn how to do)

I plan on making two headboards for my house, one for my new king bed and one for my youngest daughter's room.  I thought it would be a good idea to practice with my daughter's first.  A big THANK YOU to my husband for helping with all the woodworking tasks!

• First thing we did was measure her mattress, hers is a queen.  Some instructions say add inches beyond the mattress and we tried that, it didn't look good.  So do whatever you think looks best for YOU.
• Got MDF board and cut according to the measurements.
• Bought 2" foam
• Bought batting to wrap over the foam.
• Bought a good staple gun. 
• Spray adhesive, which really didn't help the foam stick to the MDF board.
• Fabric, allowing an extra 6 inches around to staple on the back of the MDF board.

Here is what the steps looked like:

Our headboards are going to be mounted to the wall.


Here is the finished product for my daughter's room.  First you should know that she is 19 years old and has always loved animal prints.  I think she would love the whole room in them. I thought it would be a nice jumping off point to start with the headboard.  Another thing I need to mention is this is only the beginning for her redesign.  We are picking a new comforter, art and new pillows.  Stay tuned for future blogs for this room...

On the king headboard I'm going to attempt tufting, I'll let you know how that goes in another blog.  Wish me luck!

                                                                     

Tips and Tricks For A Closet to Be Proud Of

Whether you're selling your house or not it is time to pay attention to your closets! In my opinion it is kitchens, bathrooms and closet space which helps sell homes. 

If you do not have great closets or linen closets you need to make it look like you do. If you are one of the lucky ones to have big closets and large linen closets, it is time to show them off!

Let us begin with linen closets. Take everything out and look at the items. Purge out what you have not used in years. Do not forget those really thin towels with all the strings; they can be thrown out now. If you are trying to sell your home I suggest packing away 50% of the items. 

Can we talk about folding? Folding is vital to making the linen closet look organized. The sheets should all be folded the same way, with the nice rounded side facing out.  Fold the towels in thirds and place the nicer edge facing out also. Towels should be with towels and sheets should be with sheets.  Things you don't use often should be higher such as quilts, blankets or extra pillows.  Take a close look at the pictures for some great folding examples I found.

Adding baskets to hold items can add texture and help hide things that you do not want to be seen.

When organizing you clothes closets put like items together.  Add built in shelves in the closet to help keep it organized.  Many of the organizers allow you to design it the way you want it to be depending on the size of the closet.

 This is a closet of a homeowner I quickly helped organize for a home staging.  It took about 10 minutes to pull out extra hangers and organize the clothing a bit.  Ideally I would have loved to have nice wooden hangers, but that wasn't an option

Just weeding out the clothing and arranging the items helped this closet put it's best foot forward.

Happy Organizing in 2012!!

Oh How I Hate to Close My Porch

Well it's that time of year again, Fall.  The time of year when New England is covered with a blanket of colors. Really my favorite time of year except that we need to close the porch for the winter.  The porch is the place where we spend most of our time during the Spring and Summer.

When we first decorated the porch I was into country and birdhouses.  I had very heavy roman shade blinds that a friend made and beige walls.  Now it has gone through a transformation to what it looks like today.  I wanted a tropical feel but without bright flowers and pink plastic flamingos.

We added white faux wood blinds, just as good looking at the expensive brands.
I wanted to be able to open them to see the backyard and shut them when needed. To save some money on the larger windows I used two blinds side by side on the same window, but they look like one large one.

 I love our ceiling, it's tongue and groove pine with a clear poly finish. It really makes the room feel warm and tropical. We pained the walls a bright sunny yellow, added some cushions that are red with green palm leaves on them; tropical remember. A large palm wall art was added and a copper vine accent above two of the windows. Seating is very important, we added a small round wood topped table with iron legs. Great for summer dinners!


So as the cold weather approaches and while my porch hibernates for the winter, we will remember the good times on the porch and look forward to when spring will come again...

If your porch needs color coordination, window treatments, a wood ceiling, furniture placement or accessories contact me at lisa@arrangedtosell.com for some ideas. 

Speaking, An Ingredient To Help Your Business

We all remember the days back in elementary school when we had to do oral reports in class.  It was the thing I dreaded the most in the world.  I would worry and stress about it for days, practice in front of the mirror for hours.  When the day came I would pray that time would run out and it would be put off for another day.  When I got called on I'd turn red and get redder the longer I stood up there.  Oh, I would also get the case of the giggles, so embarrassing!


When I decided to do Home Staging and Redesign I really didn't consider having to talk in front of groups of people.  I've always loved interior design and consider myself good at the design aspect of redesign or staging. As I've been building my business I've discovered that TALKING is a big part of the Home Staging business. Talking to Realtors, presenting a power point to a room full of Realtors, doing a presentation for a client and now I've joined a networking group where I have to talk for one minute each week. 


I'm happy to report that I've talked three times in the BNI networking group and I don't think I turned red and didn't have a problem with the giggles.  I've discovered in order to achieve your goals sometimes you need to step out of your box and JUST DO IT. 


So how important is public speaking?  A good speaker can get elected President.  A good speaker can mobilize an army.  A good speaker can capture the imagination of a school child and change their future.  A good speaker earns instant credibility and followers and earns business and trust.


So, this blog isn't about color or furniture placement in a room, but it's about something equally important, talking.  Talking and learning to communicate effectively in business is imperative to the success of any business.  So step out of your box with me, continue to grow and face your fears.

Improve Your Living Space One Room at a Time

When is it o.k. to….

Have you ever gone in someones house and wanted to start moving furniture around?  I know we have all been in that house at one time or another.  If you are someone who just does not know how to arrange a certain room in your home, this blog is for you.    How to improve your living space, make it more family and guest friendly.

As we all know flow is everything in a room.  Do you flow in the room easily or do you run right into a couch or chair? That sometimes can be painful.  When standing in a room that does not flow one begins to feel a bit dizzy and disoriented.   Sometimes it is just a matter of rearranging a few things to make the world feel balanced again.

Goes without saying you should consider who lives in this space.  Adults, kids and pets, everyone should feel welcomed and comfortable in the home.

Let us start at the entrance of the room.  A family room usually has one or two focal points, a fireplace and or large flat panel T.V.  The seating should face your focal point and not be too far away from each other in order to have conversations with your guests.  If the room is larger, it is o.k. to make little conversation areas.  I feel that works if the size of the room can handle it. 

    

How many couches are too many?  What about too many chairs? 

First thing, remove everything that is removable.  You need to look at the space without distractions. (This includes all the items on the walls.)  I find it helpful to use graph paper to draw your space out.  This helps to visualize the space without having to move the furniture around and around.  Decide what is coming back in the space, what is staying out and if possible what is something new that can be added.

I think it is a bonus if your focal points can be next to each other.  This makes arranging the furniture a bit easier, especially if the T.V.  can go above the fireplace.  I really love the invention of the flat screen.  Also consider the size of furniture in the space.  Is everything at one end of the room, making it feel a bit tilted to one side?  Balance is another important ingredient in the layout of the room. 

I personally feel you should allow enough seating for the number of people living in the house.  If you have company you can always bring in extra seating from other rooms.  (Unless, your room can handle the extra chairs.)

Another nice touch if possible is to create a reading corner in the space.  What a wonderful spot to curl up and read a book with someone special.

So there you have it!  Your space has balance, flow and welcomes family and friends with open arms.

Give a Tired Bathroom a Facelift

Do you have a bathroom that you want to update?  If your answer is yes, an economical way of giving your bathroom an update is to frame the existing mirror.   Mirror Mate offers a wide variety of frames to choose from.  Exact measurements are the key to your success.  So double check those numbers and the rest is fairly easy.  Once your frames are delivered, installation is your next step.  Follow the directions that are given, it's just that easy.    Here's how easy it was for a recent staging that we did where we put together a small frame and a very large 8 foot one.

The frames came precut and mitered on all four sides.  We added a little wood glue (came in the kit) and then attached some butterfly clips that pulled the frames tightly together.

After gluing them, we set them aside for 1 hour to dry as the instructions say.  Once dry, we did a test fit of the frames on the mirror.  If your frames are screwed to the wall with glass or plastic holders, you can replace them with smaller/thinner holders that also come with the kit.  In our case, the frames were measured to sit right on the counter back splash, so lining them up was a snap.  If this is not your case, the kit comes with some handy corner blocks to help line up the frames perfectly.  After our test fit, we peeled off the sticky back strips and then pressed the mirrors in place.  What a difference!

Along with frames around the mirror another update to the bathroom would be to add a new faucet and lights.  It's amazing what a difference a small investment can make to a room without breaking the bank.  Finish off the room with a nice neutral paint, new shower curtain (white preferred) and some new fluffy towels. 

If your selling your house just think of the equity you are adding to your home.  Home buyers love updated bathrooms, makes their mental to-do list shorter.  Which in today's market puts your property on the top of their list.