Staging and Redesign Tip of the Week

Choose a focal point

Try to give each room a focal point, whether it's a fireplace, a window with a great view, the television, a bed, etc.  Determine what your focal point is and then rearrange furniture to bring attention to it.  A focal point will make the room look more unified.

Smart Move Design, a home staging and redesign company serving central and northern NY

Bring the outdoors in

Now is the perfect time to bring some nature into your home and add a little "wow" 

Cattails make a dramatic display -  Cut them down to place in a vase on your mantle or table. 

Leave them long and put them in a large vase in a corner of the room.  

Add some of those feathery reeds you see along the side of the road. 

You can also turn your bed at an angle in a corner of the bedroom and place your display in the corner behind it.  Don't forget to coat the cattails with hairspray so they don't explode! 

 

For another look - pick up some dead tree branches and spray paint them. Put them in a vase,  alone or in an arrangement. Black is dramatic, but don't stop with black - experiment with different colors and coordinate with a set of dishes, a decorative pillow, a throw, etc.  

Pinecones are plentiful now and look great in a bowl as a centerpiece. Add some acorns and nuts. Use individual pine cones as place card holders at your next holiday dinner.

Smart Move Design, a home staging and redesign company serving central and northern NY

Home Staging Tip of the Week

When getting your home ready to sell, giving your rooms a fresh coat of paint has a big payoff. HomeGain surveyed 2000 Realtors and statistics show the return on investment for painting interior walls is 150%.

Pick a neutral color palette - this does not have to mean white or beige! Try Benjamin Moore's Adam Gold, Celery Salt and Richmond Gray. Or Sherwin Williams' Divine White, Softened Green and Humble Gold.

Flat and eggshell paint tends to work best when selling -it hides imperfections and dries to a smooth finish.

Adventures in color

Is choosing paint color your worst nightmare? For many homeowners it is.

Amy Wax, author of Can't Fail Color Schemes, says color combinations you feel most comfortable with will make up your unique signature palette.

Take a cue from nature and your surroundings. Collect items with the colors you love and you will begin to see a pattern. Think about the mood you are trying to project in each room.

Calm and serene? try shades of blues and greens. These are calm, cooling and relaxing.

Optimistic and happy? Yellow is the color for you -and it can stimulate conversation and memory.

Passionate, energetic and stimulating? Red and orange colors are great for eating, socializing, and feeling confident!

There is a wealth of information in books and on the internet to help you nail down the colors that will work for you and your home. But if you are not a do-it-yourself type of person - hire a redesigner, color consultant or interior designer - they can help.

True Value has a fun color quiz for you to take to get you started - click on the link and it will bring you to the quiz. Color Quiz

Lisa Ryan is the owner of Smart Move Design, a Home Staging and Redesign company serving Central and Northern NY.

What you see (and smell) is what you get

(photo from hgtv.com)

At least that's what most buyers think when viewing a home for the first time.

That's why, when selling, making your home neutral is so important.

If your home has distracting colors, strong decorating elements, or noticible odors (food, pets, tobacco, etc) then a buyer will have a hard time visualizing their things in your house.

So neutralize the bold wallpaper, paint colors, & carpet.

Take down those political, religious, personal "statements" & family photo groupings.

Put away the cat litter box, refrain from cooking with garlic, onion or curry before a showing, and smoke outside.

Make your home the kind of home that ALL buyers walking through the door will see themselves living there.

Lisa Ryan owns Smart Move Design, a home staging and redesign company serving central and northern NY

Home Staging Tip of the Week

Let the sun shine in.

Buyers love light and airy living rooms. Open up your window shades to let some light in. Cheat some sunshine with a light-colored paint and lots of artificial lighting. You can never have too many lamps. Uplights are an inexpensive way to add lighting behind furniture and plants. Last, arrange the space with lightly colored furniture, and you'll have a living room that brightens your chances of a sale.

A recent vacant staging lighting dilemma -

This charming room had nice big windows in the front and these two side windows shown in the picture. Unfortunately, the three large front windows opened to an enclosed porch which darkened the room. It also had no ceiling light.

Light paint, light furniture, and 3 floor lamps placed in a triangular pattern helped give this room a nice glow, especially in the evening.

Smart Move Design is a Home Staging and Redesign company located near Syracuse, NY and serves the Central and Northern New York areas.

Let's barter!

Barter: To trade goods or services without the exchange of money.

I've always been a trader at heart. From trading marbles and rocks, barbie doll clothes to books, the love for trading hasn't changed since I grew up. My most recent "trade" is for salon services.

I am redesigning a small salon space in return for pedicure and manicure services. What fun! Not only do we both get to do what we love, she gets a new look to her space and I get some lovely guilt free nails and toes.

While bartering can't happen all the time as there are bills to pay, I definitely will barter when I can. Hmm, wonder if they would take staging services for my car payment this month?

Do you barter?

Smart Move Design is a Home Staging and Redesign company located near Syracuse, NY and serves the Central and Northern New York areas.

TIps to beat that summer heat.

This weekend in Central New York temperatures hit the 90's.

A/C is great for staying cool and so is a pool, but here a few alternative suggestions to beat the heat in your home and maybe even save some $$.

Change up your wall color this season. Cool colors will make your home feel cooler. White, gray, light green and light blue on the walls reflect the light away and won't retain heat.

Pair your wall color with white for an extra cool, summery look - white trim, soft white muslin drapes, and white accent pieces will give the room a breezy cottage feel.

Remove heavy rugs and throws and opt for lighter materials. Bamboo rugs are a great natural element to bring in (and they are inexpensive too).

Pull in a few accent colors from your garden - orange and yellow are especially vibrant against cool colors.

Turn on that ceiling fan - ceiling fans help keep you cool while using less energy than a 100 watt bulb.

If you do use A/C, make sure you keep your A/C unit in a shady spot - direct sunlight on the unit decreases efficiency. No shade? Plant trees or bushes around it to make shade.

And finally, switch from cotten sheets to linen on your bed. Linen will keep you cooler as it has better wicking properties.

Smart Move Design is a Home Staging and Redesign company located near Syracuse, NY and serves the Central and Northern New York areas.

Home Staging Tip of the Week

One of the hardest parts of getting your home ready to sell is de-personalizing it. In order to make it appeal to more buyers, you'll need to remove your family photos, all personal belongings and yes, even your collectibles. If a buyer feels they are "visiting" your home by seeing the family photos, collectibles and decor, then they can't picture themselves living there.

So when you are getting ready to sell, don't get overly attached to your things “We buy all our furnishings and accessories because we love them. We have a tendency to think everyone else loves them, too, and that’s just not true,” says Barbara Jennings, author of several home-staging guides. Look at your furnishings with a critical eye and remove anything that doesn’t complement each room’s best features.

Don't forget your belongings will move with you for a treasured place in your new home, so pack them away now.

Smart Move Design is a Home Staging and Redesign company located near Syracuse, NY and serves the Central and Northern New York areas.

One Minute Organization Tip

For remote controls and small “cluttery” items, store in a decorative basket or tin on a shelf or table where you will only see the container. It's an easy way to do a quick pick up and you can do the same in all rooms.

Smart Move Design is a Home Staging and Redesign company located near Syracuse, NY and serves the Central and Northern New York areas.

Home Staging Tip of the Week

When staging a home I often have to move furniture to create better flow in the room.

Several times, in a carpeted room, I've been left with deep carpet indentations made from heavy furniture legs. I learned about this quick fix from a realtor I work with, and it is a great quick fix.

Place one ice cube in each indentation in the carpet left by the legs of whatever piece of furniture you've moved. Simply leave the ice cubes there, and as they melt and the water is absorbed by the carpet, the indentations vanish. The water evaporates and the carpet looks like it should. Any leftover trouble spots? Use the tines of a fork to gently fluff plush carpet fibers back to their original height

Smart Move Design is a Home Staging and Redesign company located near Syracuse, NY and serves the Central and Northern New York areas.

Home Staging Before and After Pics

Everyone always loves to see before and after pics.
Here are a few from a recent staging.
This was an older vacant home and it wasn't showing well.
When there is no furniture in a room, potential buyers' eyes are drawn immediately to any imperfections in the room. Furniture shows you the room's possibilities.

Smart Move Design is a Home Staging and Redesign company located near Syracuse, NY and serves the Central and Northern New York areas.

update - Purchase offer put in by the first couple who walked through the door - sold in one day!

Let's talk Curb Appeal

There are three things that will bring buyers into a home.

1. A good realtor.
2. Good photos of the home on the internet.
3. Great curb appeal.

It's the spring season - the grass is growing and flowers are blooming, so let's talk curb appeal.

Great curb appeal is what gets buyers out of their car and into the home. Without curb appeal, potential buyers will think twice about getting out of the car and some will just keep on driving. Here are the "must do's" for curb appeal.

Mow the lawn and get rid of weeds.
Edge sidewalks and remove grass or weeds growing between the walkway spaces.
Remove trash, debris, garden tools, toys - in other words, declutter the yard.
Clean the windows
Clean the gutters.
Pressure wash dirty siding and dingy decks.
Trim tree limbs that are near or touching the home's roof.
Give the front door a fresh coat of paint. Think color.
Plant or place flowers. Give the home a splash of color with hanging baskets, pots, and window boxes of flowers.
Replace or add a new welcome mat.

Smart Move Design is a Home Staging and Redesign company located near Syracuse, NY and serves the Central and Northern New York areas.

Staging a vacant home.

Everyone knows vacant homes don't sell well.
Here are just a few thoughts potential buyers can have when they walk into a vacant home:

What is this room for?
Wonder if my furniture will fit?
Oh, it's vacant they must need to sell so will probably take less money.
Why is it vacant? What's wrong with it?

Only 10% of potential buyers can visulize the potential of a vacant home.

So in answer to that problem, some owners or realtors think "we''ll just rent some furniture and that will take care of the problem"

But filling space doesn't make a cold and sterile environment less cold and sterile. It's the warmth of a room and the emotional connection points that make buyers think "ahh, I could live here"

Here is a visual example:

vacant

with rental furniture

fully staged

Smart Move Design is a Home Staging and Redesign company located near Syracuse, NY and serves the Central and Northern New York areas.

Home Staging Fees are Tax Deductible

Tax tip: Home staging fees are deductible expenses

In today’s market, real estate professionals will be even more competitive in their approaches to attracting buyers. The home staging business is quickly becoming a popular tool used for making one’s home more appealing.

Part of the real estate professional’s job is to suggest ways to improve the likelihood of quicker turnover of their inventory. A professional home stager provides a service designed to sell your home.

From this perspective, if you hire the stager directly, then they are performing a service with the specific purpose of selling your home. Therefore, yes, the cost and expenses incurred for hiring this professional would be considered deductible when selling your home and may be netted against any gain on the sale, along with commissions paid to the Realtor and legal fees.
Specifically, home staging would be considered “advertising fees” and would fall under the allowable selling expenses.

Second, you may be able to negotiate with your Realtor and add the expense to the commission paid for selling the house. Either way, the same result is accomplished, and the services provided will be considered deductible.

That said, if the home stager recommends the entire interior needs a fresh coat of paint, these selling expenses are not allowable deductions.

Bottom line: Paying for the home stager’s services is deductible, while expenses for repairs, maintenance or permanent redecorating of the house are not.

Link to article: http://www.kansascity.com/business/v-print/story/551615.html

Smart Move Design is a Home Staging and Redesign company located near Syracuse, NY and serves the Central and Northern New York areas.

Top 5 Reasons You Should Stage Your Home.

1. You will make more money.

U.S. Housing and Urban Development reports that a staged home will sell, on average, 17% higher than an un-staged home.

2. Your home will sell faster which = less headaches and hassle.

The New York Village Voice reported that the average number of days an un-staged home is on the market is 30.9 versus 13.9 for a staged home.

3. The cost of Staging doesn't cost a dime.

In a 2003 Home Gain Survey of over 2000 Realtors, it was discovered that sellers who spent up to $1000 staging their home recovered almost 200% of the cost of the sale of their house.

4. Home sellers cannot view their house objectively, thus stage effectively.

Our homes are like our children, we don’t always see all of its flaws. We’ve gotten used to the way it looks and in fact it is difficult emotionally to change it.

5. Less guesswork and "do it yourself".

A professional home stager can manage your projects from start to finish. Or, they can give you a detailed enough report based on their extensive knowledge and training to have you "do it yourself".

Smart Move Design is a Home Staging and Redesign company located near Syracuse, NY and serves the Central and Northern New York areas.

Home Staging Tip 2

No this is not a paid ad for Spot Shot carpet cleaner.

But I am highly recommending it.

Clean or new carpets are a must when selling your home. If your carpets are still fairly new (under 5 years) or still in good condition, chances are you won't need to replace them. For carpets that have a few spots on them, I picked this up at our local Sam's Club and tried it on our carpet here at home. and guess what? Presto - no more spots!

The cost was $7.99 for 4 bottles. Sure beats the price of a professional carpet cleaner.

But if the spots are too many to tackle, go for the professional carpet cleaner.

And if having the carpet professionally cleaned isn't going to help your current carpet, spend the money and replace with an inexpensive, neutral carpeting. You'll see a 40% profit on your investment.

Smart Move Design is a Home Staging and Redesign company located near Syracuse, NY and serves the Central and Northern New York areas.

Home Staging Tip 1

but not when you're selling your home!

One of the first recommendations Professional Home Stagers and Realtors give their clients is to "declutter, declutter, declutter!" Less is definitely more when showing your home.

And this usually works well prior to your first open house, but what happens during the selling process when you have to live in the home and work around kids, pets, work schedules, etc?

We give our Home Staging clients a handout on how how to stay decluttered and stress free during the selling process. The handout provides suggestions that are simple and easy to maintain and helps deter frustration during the selling process.

Here are a few tips from the handout:

If bathroom storage space is minimal, give each family member a portable shower caddy for transporting toiletries from bedroom to bathroom and back.

Place under-the-bed storage containers in each bedroom for quick pick ups. Slide em out, fill em up, slide em back.

Solve the problem of what to do with bathrobes and wet towels with an over-the-door peg rack.

Do a 5 minute pick up every night before bed. Assign family members to each room. Hand little ones a pillowcase so they can help with nightly clutter rounds.

Smart Move Design is a Home Staging and Redesign company located near Syracuse, NY and serves the Central and Northern New York areas.