Preparing your home for sale.

A Quick Guide to Prepping Your Home for Sale 

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Preparing your home for sale.

So you have decided to sell your home and you are prepping for your home to go on the market. Here are some handy tips to help entice potential buyers.

1) Half empty closets 
The point of an open house is to show off your home’s assets and convince potential buyers to become definite buyers. To show your home in its best light avoid any clutter, especially in places people expect it like storage rooms and closets. By keeping these areas tidy (an ideally almost empty) you make the space seem bigger and more enticing.
2) Hide your pets 
Not everyone loves animals. To avoid putting off potential buyers ( and reduce clutter) put away any pet related items, especially things like pet food and litter boxes, which smell. Arrange for a pet sitter or animal play date for the day, hide Fluffy’s litter box and Fido’s ratty tennis ball and be sure to vacuum up any pet hair!
3) Don’t overdue the upgrades 
Remember, you are planning on leaving and you don’t really know what the next family to live in this home is like yet. So while you may want the marble countertops they may not. Doing some touch ups is fine, but don’t pour money in unnecessarily. You may not get a good return on the investment, and the new home owners may redo your renos anyways.  A general rule of thumb is you will receive most of your investment back on Kitchens and bathrooms.  While the other upgrades may not result in a positive net return on your investment, they will enhance the saleability of your property.
4) Make it neutral
When potential buyers go to an open house they are picturing what it would be like if they lived there instead of you. To help them get into this mind set make your house as neutral as possible. Hide any family photos, take down the mechanical singing fish from the wall and (as mentioned before) hide any evidence of pets. This also helps reduce clutter and make them space feel more spacious.
5) Don’t forget the kitchen!
People spend a lot of time in their kitchens, so make sure yours is up to snuff!  Dated or unattractive kitchen can drastically reduce the price point of your home. Invest in a coat of fresh paint and make sure your cupboards, light fixtures and counter tops don’t look dated.
6) Always be ready for a surprise showing
You never know when a potential buyer may ask to see your home. To avoid a last minute panic keep your home in “open house standby mode”. Don’t leave dirty dishes in the sink, dirty laundry on the floor or let the bathrooms and kitchen get dirty. Do a quick clean each day in the off chance your realtor calls and asks to show your home on short notice.
Painting Bathroom

Remodelling your Bathroom

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Painting Bathroom

Whether you are fixing up your home before it goes on the market or making your new home your own you don’t want to forget about the bathroom. Rarely thought about, this often used space is an important one. Here are some important tips for when you choose to remodel
1) Choose appropriate materials 
The bathroom gets a lot of use, and as such the surfaces need to be durable. Porcelain is always a safe bet, and can be found in a variety of colours and textures to suit your style.
2) Choose appropriate colours and lighting 
Bathrooms are often small, so you will want to avoid anything that makes them seem cramped. Choosing bright or light colours will help to make the space feel bigger. If you have your heart set on dark, bold colours you can still incorporate them by doing things like tiling the floor or backsplash in that colour, choosing it as your shower curtain or painting a feature wall. For a feature wall, pick one with a window or the shower so it doesn’t feel overpowering.
3) Tub, Shower or Both?
You want to create a space that you will actually use. If you aren’t really going to use the tub you may consider ditching it in favour of a more spacious shower. Then again, if you have a dog or small children the bathtub may be essential. Base your choice on what you will actually use. If you are looking to sell consider a bathtub/shower combo (room permitting) since you want to appeal to as many people as possible.
4) Lighting
You want the room to be well lit, using both natural lighting sources and artificial ones. Natural light from a discrete window can make the lighting less harsh. Opt for a frosted window, or a window with a curtain light enough to allow light in while still maintaining privacy.
Awesome Interior Designs

Decorating the Non-Pinterest Way

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Awesome Interior Designs

Flickr User: byLorena

We have all seen Pinterest posts. Immaculate houses sporting intricate handmade goodies requiring impossible skill levels. Intricate, hand painted murals, driftwood everything, elaborate sewing projects. Most of us don’t have that sort of time (or skill level), but that doesn’t mean you can’t make a house into your home with just a few simple changes. For example:

1) Keep it simple, and easy to clean!

It is amazing what slipcovers can do. Couches, chairs and pillows can be given new life almost instantly. Covers can be either purchased (Ikea is always a good place to start) or made. And the best part? If you have a spill (or a pet that sheds) you can easily clean your slip cover in the washing machine. Also, if you want to change your colour scheme you don’t need to replace all your furniture.

2) Paint your rooms so they are timeless

Stay neutral when it comes to picking paint colours. This way when your son decides that dinosaurs aren’t cool anymore you aren’t stuck with T-Rex wallpaper. Plain walks can be accented with bright accessories (like slipcovers) that are easier and less expensive to change.

3) Energizing or Relaxing?

When it comes to choosing colours, remember the function of each room. Bedrooms should be decked out in calming colours (pastels, neutrals, earthy tones, beachy tones) to help you relax after a long day. Social areas like kitchens and living rooms should be full of bold, energizing colours to inspire conversation and fun.

4) Avoid clutter

Clutter makes even the largest and most put- together room look cramped and disorganized. This doesn’t mean you need to be the next Martha Stewart, but find creative ways to incorporate storage space into every room. Children’s rooms can include a toy chest in fun colours, the ottoman in the living room can hide extra blankets, and the guest room window seat can hold your seasonal clothes. When it comes to decorating, less is more.

Budget friendly decorating Ideas for your new home

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Home Decor Design

Congratulations on moving into your new home! As the proud new owner, I am sure you are more than ready to begin to make this place your own. To help you get started, here are some handy tips to keep in mind when you are decorating your new home.

1) Keep your wall colours light

Dark or bold colours tend to make a space look smaller than it actually is. In order to make your space seem as roomy as possible, stick to lighter colours such as cream or pastels. If you really aren’t a pastel person, try sticking to white or cream and use bold or dark colours as accent colours. A fresh coat of paint can bring new life to a tired or dated looking room, and is less expensive than redecorating the entire room.

 

2) Throw pillows and Slipcovers

To update dated or worn looking furniture consider slipcovers and throw pillows. Instead of buying a whole new chesterfield (especially if yours is still in good shape) see if you can buy or make a slipcover for it. This way it looks new, and you can make it fit with you new home perfectly. New throw pillows (or even covers for existing pillows) can help you tie your whole look together without breaking the bank.

 

3) Don’t be afraid of the thrift store

Provided you are up for the hunt a thrift store can be an unassuming looking treasure trove. Whether you are simply looking for some inspiration, or shopping for a specific vintage style piece, thrift stores and garage sales are a good place to visit. You also don’t have to use your newfound treasures for their intended purposes. Vintage plates can become interesting wall art, and old statues, toys or lamp bases make excellent bookends (especially paired with interesting vintage books!)

 

4) A little TLC goes a long way

Sometimes it isn’t that we need a whole new room, it is just that the room we love has gotten lost in the clutter. Moving is an excellent time to sift through your stuff and figure out what you really want to keep, and what can be donated or thrown away. Any room looks larger and roomier when clutter is kept to a minimum.

 

5) Go for a coherent style

Any room is going to look jumbled and cluttered when there are a bunch of different styles mashed together. Pick one, and do your best to stick with it. Whether it is a sleek modern look, vintage eclectic or a more traditional style of decorating coherence is essential to creating a harmonious space. Even if it is something as simple as sticking to a basic colour pallet, you want the objects in your space to work together, not against each other.

 

6) Wall art is important

Wall art helps to make a space feel cared for, and is an excellent budget friendly way to bring life into a tired looking space. Art doesn’t have to be expensive either. Frame some cheap prints (Ikea is a good place to start), make some simple artwork of your own, or frame something you already have (like the cover of or a page from your favourite novel). What matters most is that the space and its wall art reflect who you are.

 

7) Don’t forget curtains!

Aside from being practical, curtains can also be used to divide spaces or bring some much needed colour to a bare looking space. Particularly if you are renting (and therefore can’t paint the walls) curtains are a good way to add some personality and colour to your walls.

 

8) Keep your space clean and clutter free

No matter what your decorating style is your room will always look better if it is tidy than if it is messy, cluttered and dusty. Do your best to keep everything in its place. An excellent way to do this is to coordinate storage space into your decor. Instead of an end table, consider an end cupboard to provide you with extra, hidden, storage room. Add some drawers on rollers to the underside of your bed to store extra bedding, blankets and off season clothing. Drawers are inexpensive to buy or to build, and can be made to match the decor through you choice of knobs and paint colours.