Make Your Homes’ Curb Appeal More Appealing
Help your home make a good first impression and stand out from the others. Even if you’re not planning on selling, you can still make these changes to make your home more appealing from the outside:
· Paint your front door an updated, eye catching color. If you’re brave try a bright green, red or pumpkin.
· Add a window box and plant some bright, cheery flowers. Use moss to line the box then add the soil. Or plant the flowers in pots and then add to the box.
· Make a new path to the front door using stone or paving bricks. It looks so much nicer than walking up the driveway to the front door.
· Add bushes or trees to line your driveway. Or add bricks, in a pattern, to the sides of the driveway for a more custom look.
· Add a patio using paving bricks or stone. Then add a fire pit to the patio for a relaxing place to sit and unwind in the evening.
· Install solar lights along the path to the front door and around flowerbeds for instant light when the sun goes down.
· Change out your old, weathered garage and entry door lights for new ones with a new finish.
· Makeover your deck by reapplying stain and adding benches and garden planters.
· Install an arbor in the side yard with roses or clematis climbing over it.
· Keep flowerbeds weed free and trees and bushes neatly trimmed.
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Fake More Space
Potential buyers always want more for their money. We all do, right? Here are some ways to create the illusion of extra square feet. Try these in your home even if you aren’t trying to sell. You’ll love the feeling of more space.
· Take down worn drapes and yellowing blinds. Leave your windows bare. It makes your rooms look bigger. If you aren’t trying to sell, replace with sheers and/or roller blinds for a cleaner look.
· Clear the small appliances off your kitchen counter. Reducing the number of items gives the feel of more work space.
· Take out the dining room table leaves and all but four chairs to create a better flow around the room and more space.
· Packing up and putting away half the kids toys, games and books will double the look of the space.
· Too-tight spaces are a major turn off to a buyer. They’ll be trying to figure out how all their furniture will fit into the space. Remove one piece of furniture from each room and enjoy the added space.
· Go through the closets and box up out of season clothing, shoes, boots, etc. Try to empty your closets by 1/3 to create a feeling of having plenty of storage space.
When you do sell your home, you’ll have less packing and cleaning to do now too.
Filed under Home Sale | Comment (0)Make Your Home More Inviting to Potential Buyers
When a potential buyer walks through your home, you want them to be able to envision their family living there. That’s how you make the sale! You want them to feel comfortable and relaxed from the start. Here are some ideas to make your home more inviting to potential buyers:
· Place a plate of cookies and a pitcher of water with lemon slices in the kitchen. You probably don’t have time to bake everyday, so freeze the dough and take it out to bake when needed.
· Hide pet items. Put litter boxes, toys and bowls out of sight. I know you love your pet but not everyone has animals, nor wants them.
· Heat an apple pie in the oven or warm a baked goods scented candle on the warmer. Nothing makes you feel more at home than the smell of fresh baked pies.
· Light candles and turn on table lamps in every room to create a warm glow. It just feels more homey.
· Put away toilet brushes, plungers, sponges, toothbrushes and medications. Yes, we all have them but we don’t have to let everyone see them.
· Get rid of the clutter. Stay up on the recycling, garbage, donations and picking up around the house.
Filed under Home Sale | Comment (1)Feng Shui Your Home
Are you trying to sell your home and not having much luck? Why not try what everyone in Hollywood seems to be into and create a good feeling in your home if nothing else. You might want to try these even if you aren’t trying to sell your home. Here are five easy ways to Feng Shui your home to create a good aura:
· A bowl of fresh fruit in the kitchen sends a message that the potential buyers life will be bountiful and abundant. The kitchen symbolizes prosperity.
· Place a comfy sofa on the east side of the family room or den. That’s the side of the room where people seek warmth and relaxation.
· The color green symbolizes new opportunity, so place a green mat outside your front door.
· Red is the color of discord and can cause mental fatigue and argumentative feelings. I love the color red but if I were trying to sell my home I would go with neutral colors to keep the prospective buyers calm and interested.
· Mirrors capture light and bounce it around the room making it feel larger. Experts also say buyers will “see” themselves in the home when they walk by a mirror, helping them feel a connection.
Filed under Home Sale | Comment (0)Control the Clutter Before You Try to Sell Your Home
Are you trying to sell your home or thinking about trying to sell it? You want your home to look it’s very best for prospective buyers, so you need to control the clutter. Prospective buyers want to be able to visualize their own family living in your home and clutter can get in the way of that. And don’t think they won’t be looking in everything. They will be opening cabinets, drawers, closets, and seeing how you use different areas of your home. You need to make it as inviting as possible to all prospective buyers, so purge, downsize furnishings and collectables and organize your home. Even if you’re not trying to sell your home you can use these ideas to make your home more comfortable and relaxing to your own family.
· Get rid of magazines- Do you have piles of magazines everywhere in your home? Some in the bathroom, craft room, living room, family room, bedroom? Really? Do you read all of them? Go through all of them and only keep the ones from the last month and recycle the rest. When the next month’s magazines arrive, get rid of last month’s whether you’ve read them or not. Maybe you should think about canceling some of your subscriptions if you’re not reading them all. Magazine’s stacked everywhere help make a home look cluttered.
· Use baskets to hid items- Baskets look great on shelves and can hid almost anything you can think of. They’re great for those magazines you decide to keep, remotes, small toys, extra blankets, and can be used in closets to control like items. Find baskets to match your décor and measure the area you’ll be using them in for a perfect fit.
· Clean off those kitchen counters- Take everything off your kitchen counters and only put back those items that you use daily. Store the rest away in easy to access cabinets if you use them more than once a week, but not everyday. A prospective buyer wants to be able to see there’s enough counter space to be able to prepare and cook meals for their family.
· Clear off your landing zones- Sometimes we don’t realize how cluttered our homes look to other people. Are you used to putting items in different areas before you return them to where they belong? Does it sometimes take you days before they get to where they belong? Make it a habit to take items to where they belong several times a day. Before bedtime take a few minutes and have the whole family take their items and put them away.
· Get rid of coat rack- Do you have a coat rack by the front door? Get rid of it, at least while you’re trying to sell your home. Take the coats, jackets, umbrellas, hats, etc. and put them in a closet or store them away if it’s off-season. Having an overflowing coat rack by the front door looks cluttered and crowded. You want the entry of your home to be open and inviting.
· Overflowing bookcases- Are your bookcases overflowing and messy? Purge some of those books you no longer need or want. Donate them to a charity, a school or give them to a friend that would enjoy them. Then take the remaining books and organize them by color, size or subject. Leave space for some decorative objects and stack some books horizontally for a different look.
· Downsize your collections- Everyone loves to collect items important to them or their family. But are yours out of control? Take your favorite objects to display and store away the rest. You can rotate them every few months for a new look. You’ll enjoy your items more when you bring them out again and you can think of new way to display them. Try using them in different rooms than you usually do. Display your grandma’s plates in the guest room or your pottery collection in the family room.
· Organize your medicine cabinet- When was the last time you went through your medicine cabinet? You should go through it at least every six months. Toss out old medications, empty bottles, old cosmetics, old toothbrushes, etc. Make room for the things you really need. Take out everything, clean the shelves and return only the items that belong there. Divide the cabinet into areas so you can find medications, first aid and grooming items faster and easier.
· Don’t forget the bedroom closets- Potential buyers want to see there is plenty of room for their things in your closets. Purge your closets of items that don’t belong there first, then toss or donate items that haven’t been used in a year. Organize the remaining items by categories such as hanging clothing, shoes, bags, folded clothing, belts, ties, extra bedding, etc. Leave at least 30 percent of the space unused so things don’t look crowded and new items can be brought in.
· Do a quick clean-up- Every night before the family goes to bed, do a quick clean-up of the whole house. Have every family member take their things to their rooms and put them where they go. Every morning before everyone leaves for the day have all rooms straightened up, beds made and do a quick clean of the kitchen and bathrooms. You never know when someone will want to come by and look at your home.
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