by Jennifer Farlin | Apr 30, 2015 | Home Staging
Pretend it’s Wednesday. I know it’s Thursday.
I’ve got real estate on my brain. We currently rent and are looking to buy. My husband loves Zillow. He loves going to Sunday open houses. He loves driving around looking at neighborhoods. I do not. It stresses me out. Even as I type this my palms are getting sweaty. For starters buying a house is a big flipping deal. I know because I’ve bought 3 of them. It’s not just buying shelter–it’s aspiring to a different life. It’s what rises up to greet you in the morning and what surrounds you as you sleep. It’s where your kids make their childhood memories. It’s where life–good and bad–is lived.
And houses are expensive. So I become crazy when I walk through them and they are up for sale with as much care as a toaster in a garage sale.
Houses should not would not NEVER be sold casually…unless you have money and time to waste. People put more time in cleaning out their cars when they sell them than they do their houses. I know this because I’ve looked at A LOT of houses. A LOT.
To quote someone somewhere and I don’t remember who-You wouldn’t go to a job interview in your pajamas so why would you try to sell your house when it is wearing its pajamas? I think I got that quote wrong but the gist of it works.
Which brings me to the point: Staging. I’ve successfully staged many homes for sale over the years and what I tell every client is that the sellers (the client) cannot see (or smell) their own homes objectively. It’s hard. When I sold the houses I’ve lived in I had babies and little kids and mess and clutter and a life to live inside the “product” being sold and it was crazy. It’s a product, by the way, once the For Sale sign goes up. A product that needs to be prepped and marketed to get the fair asking price in a reasonable amount of time. If neither is done then the price or the time it sits on the market, or both, will be jeopardized.
When I walk through a house as a potential buyer I do open the master closet to see how big and I do see all the clothes and mess shoved onto the floor. I do look around the house to see if it is clean which = maintained. I do notice if the house smells musty, dirty, or worse. I see the stains on the carpet, the dry rot, and the weeds. These are all psychological turn offs for buyers and fairly easy to correct. I say psychological because I don’t care what you say–Buying A House Is An Emotional Decision. Yes, I know all about solid foundations, new roofs and HVACS, location, location, location, and plumbing–but if you get the heebie jeebies when you walk through the front door, well more times than not–it’s a NO.
Here are 10 obvious and not so obvious staging tips:
1. SPOTLESS bathrooms. NO Excuses.
2. Update dated brass fireplace screen. Spray paint it with heat resistant paint (black?), remove it all together, or replace it with something current.
3. Frilly master bedrooms complete with lace and stuffed animals. NO. A master bedroom needs to appeal to both sexes. Keep colors neutral. The bedspread should be free of wear and tear and clean.
4. Stainless steel appliances and granite in the kitchen. So many times it’s the first thing I hear–it isn’t selling because the kitchen is dated. I know it’s money but the house sitting on the market or the asking price going down is money too.
5. Open the window shades. SUNSHINE is FREE.
6. Each room should have one main use. Is it a bedroom or is it an office? Pick one and pack up the rest.
7. Pack up unnecessary items and furniture. A cluttered crowded house says NO STORAGE.
8. Speaking of storage—Clean Out Your Closets. Buyers open them! If your closets are shoved full of random items this not only says not enough storage, but it also reinforces the wrong idea–Disorganization. Remember it’s an Emotional Decision and buyers are looking for an upgrade on their lifestyle when they buy your house. The house that is neat and orderly sends a positive message for better living–and that is the house buyers want.
9. Curb appeal is vital and don’t forget the backyard!
10. Plants! Greenery helps bring life into each room, cleans the air, creates a zen environment, and fills in bare spots.
More posts like this one? Read on Gentle Reader, Read on.
Prime Real Estate–INSIDE Your Home, Curb Appeal, Spring Staging and Redesign Decorating Tips, My House For Sale
by Jen | Apr 14, 2014 | Art, Happiness at Home, Home Staging, How To, Interior Decorating
www.squido.com
Today I hauled out a desk I’ve had since college and painted it white. I’m getting ready for our new home in DC. The to do list that I’ve been staring at suddenly doesn’t have me beat anymore. I’m ready for some change. Sunshine and warm weather do that after a long, long winter. I’m ready to tackle some projects and ready for action–says the sedentary girl sitting on the couch with her laptop with a cup of coffee and the Today show… I’m currently living in a house that is up for sale. Last June I was living in a different house that was up for sale. Golly, it would be awesome if I can spend every spring prepping for buyers. Not to brag, but I sort of kind of a little bit always have a nice house. I follow my own advice. At least I do. My kids, not so much.
EVERY single house I stage the owners always say the same thing—I wish we had made these changes earlier so WE could have enjoyed them. I make it my mantra to NEVER say that about my own houses. I want it to be nice NOW, not just when it’s on the market.
So here are my Top 10 Spring Staging and Redesign Decorating Tips that are the backbone to any good looking house-and well, what I do inside my house.
1.Pare down. Declutter. Remove. Purge. Pack it away. Abolish. Dispose. And stage a coup of your stuff. Here are some links to previous posts I’ve written on the subject: The Home Purge Game, Prime Real Estate–Inside Your Home. Remember that an organized home sends a positive message. If your knick knacks are smaller than a football rethink them. They just add to the visual clutter factor. Bigger is better. If it is something that brings you joy and is teeny tiny then by all means keep it out. There’s a difference between a room full of meaningless stuff and a room that makes your life better/happier.
www.apartmentherapy.com
2.Clean it. Buyers and even yourself may excuse dated if everything is clean and bright.
Real Simple
3.Open your curtains and blinds. Sunshine makes everyone happy.
www.ninainvorm.punt.nl
4.Add greenery and flowers. This is HUGE. Pretty flowers and plants in trendy pots (go to TJ Maxx) can work miracles towards making a room more inviting and cheerful. Game Show Decorating–What Do These Have in Common? And, Plants Make It Pretty.
Southern Living
5.Get rid of dingy throw/scatter rugs. Show your floor off.
Bread and Olives
6.Spruce up your front door. Clean it up. Scrub the area around the door bell and the moldings. If you want to take it up a level try to polish the metal. Really feeling crazy? Paint it.
Southern Living
7.What about your front hall? Take as much out of your front hall as you can. A table, mirror and nice vase of flowers are perfect.
www.thenestinggame.com
8.Be greeted with style. What door do you enter from? (What Door Do You Use? And One Door’s Journey, Or…A Follow Up) If it is through the garage does it depress the heck out of you because there are so many piles and so much chaos? You deserve to be greeted with love. Make this is a priority. Set the kitchen timer and give yourself 20 minutes a day to work on this until it’s “done”. No excuses! Less is more.
www.centsationalgirl.com
9.Think spa when it comes to your bathrooms. Fluffy white towel, a white fabric shower curtain, white accessories–keep it fresh. Then add a plant. Sick–Or A Tour of Bathrooms.
10.Hang big art on your wall. Bigger is better. Less is more. It’s easier AND it’s less visual clutter. You Gotta Have Art.
Benjamin Moore
Happy Spring!
Joy to You~Jen
by Jen | Oct 4, 2013 | Happiness at Home, Home Staging, How To, Interior Decorating, Western Feng-Shui
Eclectic Garage And Shed by Hershey Photographers Amy Renea
Did you read yesterday’s post? Ok, we’ll wait while you click here.
Be it ever so lovely there’s no place like home. What’s one thing you can do to your house to make it feel “homey”? Add plants. Greenery. Flowers. They give instant home appeal. This goes for staging your house for sale, as well. Plants make a room more inviting and more inviting gets buyers.
Portland Interior Designers & Decorators Jessica Helgerson Interior Design
Did you know that house plants can improve the quality of air in your house? The air quality in your own home is usually much worse than the outdoor one. Synthetic chemical cleaning products, foam in our furniture and carpet, and other building materials in our houses all emit toxins. Then there is mold, tobacco smoke, poorly ventilated cooking sources… I’m sort of freaking myself out. Open some windows everyone. I’m perusing around the web and a lot of folks concur these are some of the best house plants for air-cleaning (the site I’m looking at right now is DrAxe.com Maximize Your Health):
Areca palm
Reed palm
Dwarf date palm
Boston fern
Janet Craig dracaena
English Ivy
Australian sword fern
Peace Lily
Rubber plant
Weeping fig
Then there is the Feng Shui side to this. Plants bring great energy into your home. Plus, you can’t have good energy in your house if the air quality isn’t good. Bamboo plants create good feng shui AND clean the air in your home. Have you seen the Feng Shui Money Trees in Lowes or Home Depot? I think I’ve seen small bamboo ones even in dollar stores. Well, the logic behind these is any healthy, vibrant lush plant represents vibrant and well-rooted energy—a growing energy you would like to see reflected in your money (check out About.com Feng-Shui). Common ones are jade trees (a succulent) and Pachira Aquatica Bonsai. Do with this as you choose but a plant that can clean toxins out of my house, bring good energy, make my rooms look better, and maybe help me attract money? I’m in.
AND. According to a University of Agriculture in Norway study, indoor plants can reduce fatigue, coughs, sore throats and other cold-related illnesses by more than 30 percent, partially by increasing humidity levels and decreasing dust.
Myers Design
AND. House plants make people feel calmer and more optimistic, says Bruno Cortis, M.D., a Chicago cardiologist. He says that studies have shown that hospital patients who face a window with a garden view recovered more quickly than those who had to look at a wall. What about watching the news? If I put 600 plants around my TV will I feel calmer over the government shutdown??
Anywhoooo.
All this being said–I’m a plant killer. I try. I do. I water too much, I water too little, I put in direct sun, I put in not enough sun. Sigh. Here’s a list of the hardest plants to kill. I got this list from ivillage.com Clean House Happy Home where you can also see pictures.
Pothos
Aloe
Spider plant
English Ivy (also a good air cleaner)
Jade plant
Rubber tree (love these and also on the air cleaning list)
Diffenbachia
Peace Lily (air cleaning list)
Snake plant
Ficus (don’t do it)
A couple I am skipping because they look really ugly.
Fiddle-Leaf Fig
Areca Palm (This is also on the air cleaning list and I have had one for FOUR years. It still lives!)
I’m going to the store and getting 600 more of these tomorrow. We’ll see if it helps.
