House Highlight

This beautiful center hall transitional is located in Brittany Hills, a private neighborhood on Onondaga Hill. The eat in kitchen steps down to the open family room with fireplace. The first floor has formal living, dining, and a study. The second floor has a master suite and 3 additional bedrooms. The back yard is wooded and during open house we spotted two fawns.

Staging highlight for this home - we chose minimal furnishings to show off the home's best features (large windows, wainscoting, open floor plan) while adding accessories to give it warmth. If a home is overcrowded with furnishings, the beauty of the home can get lost.

Click here for more info on the home or to contact the real estate agent.

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

Green Tip

Tis the season for holiday lighting!

Try switching your holiday lights to LEDs this season.

Check out the benefits of using light-emitting diode bulbs (LEDs for short)

LED bulbs use 90% less energy than traditional incandescent bulbs.

If you switch over to LED holiday lights, you'll save an average of $50 over the holiday season on your energy bills.

LEDs last about 6 times as long as CFLs and 60 times as long as old-school incandescent bulbs, so you have to change them less often.

They're less likely to cause fires (as much as 90% of the energy consumed by incandescent lights is given off as heat).

Unlike CFLs, LEDs contain no mercury.

Information provided by Ideal Bite

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

The New and Improved Tax Credit

Good news - The extension to the home buyer tax credit has been approved. Yesterday, the Senate voted 98-0 in favor of the tax credit extension. It is up to the President now to put his signature on the bill for approval. The tax credit is $8000.00 for first time home owners and has been extended to June 30, 2010. Purchase offers must be in by April 30 with a closing date of no later than June 30.

Better news - The new bill has been expanded to include existing home owners. Those who have owned a home for at least 5 years can receive a tax credit of up to $6,500 when they purchase their next home. There are income limitations of $125,000 for singles and $225,000 for joint filers. The maximum purchase price of a home is $800,000 and vacation homes do not qualify. The same date deadlines above will apply.

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 Makes a Difference

This was a vacant staging job we did for an article in our local paper.  The article came out on the cover of today's Home and Garden section in the Post Standard (May 9).  You can read the online article here (sans photos).

What the article didn't say:  We had 3 days to find a vacant home, pull the furniture and accessories together, then stage the home. On staging day, the "before" photo shoot was at 10:30 a.m., the "after" photo shoot was at 3:15 p.m. leaving us less than 5 hours to stage a vacant 1500 sf, 4 bedroom home from top to bottom!  A downpour during the move, airbeds that wouldn't stay up, last minute paint fixes, a few minor repairs, all the while neighbors, realtors, and clients decided to come through unexpectedly to look at the home made for a crazy (but exciting) day. 

 

This home was on the market for 30 days prior to staging. The seller received an offer within a week of staging and the home is sold!

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

Transformation - Plum Court Condo in Franklin Square

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Our staging inspiration - we kept a contemporary look using clean lines in cream and black. We drew in red from the exposed brick and green from the stained glasss light in the kitchen area (as well as the outdoor courtyard).  We carried the colors throughout the first floor.  Upstairs we had the blue/gray carpet to draw from.

The asking price on this condo is $299,900.  It is a first floor condo in Plum Court.  Open floor plan,  1st floor location with private courtyard, high ceilings, gas stove, hardwood floors, marble, exposed brick, 1st floor laundry,  pantry, 2 bedrooms and 2 1/2 baths.

Plum Court is located in a renovated warehouse in Franklin Square, Syracuse, NY.  

Email for additional info on home staging or realtor contact info.

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

Looking to buy your first home this year?

If you're a first time home buyer, you'll get a significant tax credit for signing a mortgage this year. The new stimulus bill will give you a refund for 10% (up to $8,000) of the total amount paid for your new house. Just don't sign a subprime mortgage.