Posts Tagged ‘furniture’

Decorating your Outdoor Space will not only give you more living space but will increase the value of your home especially here on Long Island New York. As a home stager & Redesigner, I always like to add value to my clients’ home. This is a great way. There are many things you can do without spending a fortune. Here are just some suggestions to get you started.

• Create an outdoor seating area.
• Mismatch furniture, paint it all the same color.
• Don’t forget to accessorize it with pillows, bringing in lots of color.
• Add drape to an arbor or gazebo.
• Treat your wall like an indoor wall, just make sure it can withstand the elements.

2 Clicks Outdoor Furniture

Patio  Garden Tips

Of course you can add more elaborate items and spend more money but you don’t have to. Check out magazines and your local garden shop to get ideas. And remember “Decorating your Outdoor Space” not only creates more living space but adds value to your home!

What’s old is new again! How many times have we looked at a furniture piece and though it had seen better days and discard it? What if we had painted it instead? We never seem take in consideration that painting furniture can bring new life to an old piece!  As a home stager in Long Island New York, when doing a Staging Consultation or Redesign project, I often see outdated furniture that can be reused when painted. Clients are often surprise at my suggestion, saying “I never thought of that!” It save money and reuses existing items. That’s what staging is all about!!

All you have to do is sand it down, fill in holes, prime and paint. Not difficult to do or you can hire a professional. It would still probably be cheaper then replacing the piece. And what a difference paint makes!! So the next time you have an old piece of furniture that you want to discard, ask yourself, can this piece be save by painting it?

If the answer is yes, then by all means do it! What’s old is new again!!

Centsational Girl

Centsational Girl

Spring, real estate busiest time, are you ready? Typically spring has always been real estate busiest time, especially here on Long Island NY. As a homeowner looking to sell your home, are you ready? There are so many things you can do to get you home ready and it won’t break the bank. These are just a few suggestions.

1. Curb Appeal. Now is the time for planting flowers and mulching. Just these simply suggestions can make a huge difference in your curb appeal.
2. Furniture placement. Do you have too much furniture in you home? If so, eliminate pieces. Remember space sells and if your house looks too cramped, then buyers will think the house is too small. Less is more!
3. Clutter. Nothing turns a buyers off faster then too much clutter.
4. Updating your kitchen and bathroom.. It doesn’t have to be costly. There are many new products on the market that can totally change the look of  kitchen or bathroom. Rust0leum has a great product that can literally transform your cabinets and countertops.
5. Clean! Clean! Clean! I can’t stress that enough. Buyers will be turned off if they perceived your home to be dirty.
6. Hire a Home Stager. Hiring a professional home stager will give you the edge in this very competitive market. Well worth the cost!

These are just a few suggestion to improve the look of your home. Home owners would be wise to follow as many of these suggestions as possible. Spring, real estate busiest time; are you ready?

Color made easy. Many people fear picking out colors. Hopefully I can take that fear away. Most people are attracted to the level of saturation (Intensity of that color) and not so much with the color. Think blue and how many variations of blue there is. You many like one shade of blue but not the others. When picking a color there are many things to consider.

1. Visually- what are you attracted to?
2. Saturation- it’s the saturation of that color that matters most, not the color itself (Think shades of blue).
3. Col0r ratios-using the 60-30-10 ratio in a room will pull the room together. And add different values for interest.
4. Use color three times at different levels.
5. Adding a contrast wall actually shrinks a room.
6. Create balance-a room that has all the furnishing near the floor tends to be bottom heavy. Don’t forget adding visually interest near the ceiling (wall art, drapes).
7. Stay within three values of that color. When looking at a color strip go up or down the color.
8. Are your color current-like food, design has an expiration date. Has your’s expired?
9. When purchasing major items like sofa go with neutral and add punches of color. It’s easier to replace pillows then a sofa.
10. Love the color you choose-or you won’t be happy no  matter how great the room is!

If you need help in pulling together a room, or afraid to get started, give Abella Home Staging & Redesign a call. We can get started and give you the rooms/home you desire!

Bland is Boring!

When selling your home, Bland is Boring! Most people have probably heard the term Home Staging or have seen staging on HGTV. But what they don’t realize, it’s not as easy as removing clutter, or family photos. In a recent episode, I saw a home owner remove all family photos, including all wall art. Her walls were bare and she had removed all clutter to the point, where  there was no centerpiece and no accessories  at all! Her home was bland and boring. Buyers are not going to “Fall in love” with a home that is bland or boring.

Many people think they know how to stage their own homes, because they’ve seen it on HGTV. It’s not that simply! It takes an expert to see what needs to be removed and what need to be brought in. Removing to much is just as detrimental, as having to much!  There is a fine line and a home stager knows the difference. A Home Stager can make recommendation on paint colors, furniture placement and even updating accessories.

Buyers have to picture themselves living in your home, they won’t do that if it’s bland and boring!

Bland & Boring! No Charm or color!

Should you hire a home stager, when selling your home? Most homeowners can decorate their house to sell for the most part. They can repaint, get rid of clutter, clean the carpet and on on. So why use a home stager? At Abella Home Staging & Redesign, Long Island New York, we think staging is much more then simply painting, cleaning and eliminating clutter.

A home stager can give an unbiased opinion of what needs to be done. The see what a buyer will see when walking through your home. And even though a home owner can paint, they are often unsure of what color to choose, or what items to eliminate. There many good reason to hire a home stager, here are just some of the reasons:

1. A home stager will know where the correct placement of furniture should be and if there are too many pieces.
2. A home stager can view the house objectivity. They are not emotional attach to the home. They can see faults that you can no longer see.
3. A home stager can bring in the necessary accessories needed to update the look of the home at a substantial saving to the homeowners.
4. A home stager has knowledge of what the buyers are looking for in a home.
5. A home stager knows the real estate market and can create the right atmosphere needed to make the buyers “fall in love” with your home.

Most homes today need to stand out among the competition. Staging your home will give you the edge you’re looking for. Not only will it stand out it among the rest, but chances are it will sell faster and for more profit. When you take into consideration that your home is probably one of your biggest investment, why wouldn’t you want to get the best return on your investment?

Make you home stand out among the rest!!

Making your bedroom serene!

Making your bedroom serene doesn’t mean you have to lose style. A soothing bedroom doesn’t have to be boring. Here are some easy step to achieving the bedroom of your dreams!

1. Imperfection-don’t try to fight it, instead embrace and work around it.  Long narrow horizontal   windows can be a problem but if you get floor to ceiling curtains, that will give the illusion of wider windows.
2. Matchy, Matchy-this is one place you can and should match. Matching nightstand , lamps these will give the room a symmetric look and feel to the room. This will enhance that soothing feeling that we want to achieve.
3. Fabric-use fabric that can withstand stains
4. Color-when choosing sheet for your bed, my rule of thumb is to match the bedspread. Too many color  are jarring to your sense.
5. Be practical-don’t try to have a high fashion bedroom that only looks good but is difficult to live in. Be practical and make it livable.

Remember this is your bedroom, use items that will appeal to your sense. Limit the amount of furniture (over crowding is a huge problem in bedrooms) and if you can at all help it, don’t put your office in the bedroom. Think 5-star hotel feeling and you won’t go wrong.

Drastic changes that can affect your home and your bottom line! There are so many ways to drastically change the look of your home. I recently was watching the show “The unsellable” on HGTV where Sofie Allsopp recommend to the seller that they replace their dinette set. The totally cost for that was $450! I though that was pretty pricey. For Long Island New York, home owners that would cut into most of the budget. I started to think, what are home owners thinking as they watch this show. Well it got me thinking so much that I decide to blog about! Not just here but in facebook and in activerain as well.

There are many ways to drastically change the look of a room without changing out the furniture. Here are just some suggestions:

• Paint the furniture.
• Recover your sofa. It’s like a brand new sofa!
• Recover your dining chairs, the look can be very elegant.
• Paint your cabinets instead of replacing them. Much less costly!

These of course, are just some of the way you can drastically change the look of the room without going broke. If you are doing the job yourself, make sure you get the right paint and if you’re out sourcing it, make sure they are qualified to do the job. As a professional home stager it’s our job to transform the seller’s home without going over budget. If we do our job correctly not only will we have transform the look of the room but we would have worked with what the home owners have.

Before and After Photo by Centsational Girl