Showing posts with label home staging. Show all posts
Showing posts with label home staging. Show all posts

Thursday, July 7, 2016

Home Staging:  To Do or Not to Do?
 
Do This…
  • Hang a mirror on the wall opposite the front door - or in a location close to the front door - so that prospective buyers can ‘see themselves’ in your home.
  • De-personalize and add breathing room by removing family photos, trophies, souvenirs and children’s artwork. Clean out drawers so they’re no more than 30-percent full.
  • Place only a few pieces of furniture in each room and pull them away from the walls to make the room look bigger.
  • While neutrals are the de facto palette when selling your home, add a couple of pops of color to an accent wall or cabinets to bring depth and personality to your home.
  • Highlight tech and green features. Today’s homebuyers are keeping an eye out for smart-home features and green-friendly elements, such as smartphone-controlled thermostats and energy-saving appliances.

Not This!
  • Don’t crowd a room with too-large furniture. If you crammed a king-size bed into your not-so-king-size bedroom, replace it with a queen.
  • Don’t try to mask unpleasant odors with perfumed candles or baked goods in the oven. Have a professional cleaner get to the root of pet smells and musty scents.
  • Don’t use colors randomly. Use a variety of neutral colors that flow nicely from one room to the next.
  • Don’t confuse a room’s purpose. Make sure every room’s primary function is obvious, i.e., a bedroom should look like a bedroom, not a home office.
  • Don’t neglect your home’s exterior. Even if you’re listing your home in the middle of a dreary winter, make sure porches and patios are neat and tastefully accented with outdoor furniture and planters.

Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Home Improvements that Help Sell: In The Kitchen



Top Kitchen Design Trends for 2016


NKBA_kitchen2
Photo credit: William Lesch; designed by: Lori Carroll and Associates, Tucson, Ariz.

Transitional, traditional, and contemporary styles remain the most popular in kitchen design but two new kitchen styles are popping up: industrial and farmhouse, according to the 2016 Design Trends Survey from the National Kitchen & Bath Association.

Neutral colors remain the dominate color scheme, with whites/off-whites, grays and beiges/bones being the most popular by far. Sixty percent of survey respondents report utilizing two or more colors within a kitchen space, a trend that has been growing since 2015. The two-tone trend is also growing more popular within kitchen cabinetry. Forty-two percent of designers report using a mix of color cabinets in their recent remodels. Respondents also reported in mixing up the kitchen color palette by using a different countertop material for the island versus the perimeter of the counter space.

NKBA reports the following top 10 kitchen design trends for this year:

1  Transitional style, with contemporary emerging.
NKBA_open
Photo by: Jeremy Swanson; Designed by: Anne Grice Interiors, Aspen, Colo.

2  Gray/white/off-white cabinets.
NKBA_kitchen
Photo credit: Craig Thompson; designed by: Kitchen & Bath Concepts of Pittsburgh, West View, Pa.

3  Pull-outs, tilt-outs and tilt-ins for storage.
NKBA_shelf
Photo credit:  Craig Thompson; designed by: Kitchen & Bath Associates of Pittsburgh, West View, PA

4  Wood flooring.

5  Quartz and granite countertops.
NKBA_wood
Photo credit: Mike Kaskel; designed by: Kitchen Encounters, Annapolis, Md.
6  Outdoor kitchens (mostly in the southeastern part of the U.S.)

7  Built-in coffee stations and wet bars.

8  Pocket doors.
NKBA_door
Photo credit: William Lesch; designed by: Lori Carroll & Associates, Tucson, Ariz.

9  Special pet spaces (e.g. designated feeding stations, under-counter crate areas and special pull-outs to store pet food and toys)
NKBA_pet
Photo credit: Craig Thompson; designed by: Kitchen & Bath Concepts of Pittsburgh, West View, Pa.

10  Docking and charging stations.


By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR® Magazine