It's finally summer and with the brutal winter that occurred throughout most of the upper Midwest and beyond, people want to be outside. When working with sellers, one of the things I advise them on during a Home Staging Consultation is to treat almost any outdoor living space as additional square footage. I know it is not counted towards the square footage total in valuing your home, but many buyers gravitate towards the outdoor spaces and you need to give them priority. Whether it is a deck, patio, screened in porch or front porch, they all need to be addressed. With a front porch it is the first thing the buyer sees and it creates such a homey, cozy spot that they can see themselves enjoying quiet time with a cup of tea or a book and watching the world go by.   If it is a back deck o... 06/10/2019

How much should you offer on the home you fell in love with?by Kevin Dimmel  Share     Tweet    You’ve spent the last few months looking for a home and now, the only thing that stands between you and having the right to negotiate full ownership of the home of you fell in love with is preparing an offer that will be acceptable to the seller. The purchase and sales agreement iis the first formal communication that leads to the final deal and eventually a closing when it’s time for you to take ownership of the property. The total agreement between buyer and seller combines financial details with overall efforts of both parties geared towards reaching an agreement and working on the steps towards the closing itself. Over the last five years, it’s been a seller’s market, which means that in ... 05/25/2019

I normally see two schools of thought regarding artwork when I am assisting home owners in getting their home ready to hit the market. One is that all artwork should be off the walls and leave everything neutral. This I especially see if the home has just been painted and the seller is reluctant to put holes in the walls. The second school of thought is that all walls should have a piece of artwork including small spaces and hallways. What should be your mindset for selling is somewhere in the middle.  You must have artwork on your walls when you are selling your home. It will create a place for the eye to land as well as enhance a focal point. This is extremely important when it comes to the MLS photos. What angle will they shoot the room from? What is the first wall a buyer sees when ... 05/16/2019

With summer comes one bad thing.....mosquitoes! Oh I hate that annoying buzzing at your ear and the horrible itching at night.There are seven plants that you can add to your patio to keep your guests and you more comfortable without applying layers of chemicals to your skin. Lavender  Rabbits and insects won't even destroy this plant in your garden. And is there anything prettier than multiply lavender plants in bloom. Place them in varied height pots for a stunning eye catching look on your patio.   Marigolds  Marigolds are hardy and can make great borders or you can even add them to your vegetable garden.  Citronella Grass    Citronella has a distinct smell and there is a reason most patio candles are citronella. It is the most effective at repelling pests. This plant is low maintenan... 04/17/2019

Ahhh......I think it is finally Spring and with that comes an urge to redo a room or two in your home. An easy way to do that is with a paint color change or even changing a few accessories like throw pillows, accent pieces or artwork. I love Coastal Colors as they are so fresh you can almost smell the salt air. I will say I have some coastal color favorites when it comes to paint. Let's start with Drizzle by Sherwin Williams SW 6479. There are so many rooms that I have used this color and have never been disappointed. In a Family Room:  A guest bath:  And even a Laundry Room:  Another great coastal color is Rainwashed by Sherwin Williams SW 6211.  Again I have used this in a laundry room and also a Master Bedroom and Living Area.   Sherwin Williams Comfort Gary SW 6205 and Sea Salt SW ... 04/08/2019

A lot of people know what buyers want:Stainless Steel AppliancesOpen ConceptMove In Ready And so on.But it is just as important to talk about what buyers DON'T want. Actually this is a little tougher to talk about as sometimes people take it personally. Don't take it personally. These are things we all need to know to get our homes sold. 1: BUYERS DON'T WANT SMELLSI am not talking about smelling fresh flowers, although fake fragrances and air fresheners are bad. Many people are allergic to fragrances so be careful. The smells I am talking about are:    A. Pet Smells. I have dogs, large dogs. And when I sold my house my #1 goal was to make sure my house did not smell like I had dogs. I received feedback that the buyer's couldn't believe that there were pets in the house. Perfect! If the... 03/04/2019

I love the Parade of Homes and it starts today! Even though it doesn't feel like Spring in Minneapolis, the start of the Parade signals the start of the Spring Market and that brings hope that the days will become longer and trees should start to bud soon.  Tour 472 New Construction homes at all price levels. Free guidebooks are available at Holiday Station stores. You can map out a certain area of the Twin Cities or choose based on price.If you have never been to any Parade of Homes I encourage you to do so. Even if you are not in the  market for a new construction home, it is a fun reason to get out of the house and get some decorating ideas.  It also is a way to keep current on what's in style for updating your own home if you are going to do any updates or put it on the market.  The... 03/02/2019

Let me be the first to say that I love animals! Love love love. That does however exclude snakes :-)But...when I put my house up for sale I had to address the issue of my dogs and what I was going to do when I had showings. It is something you need to give some serious thought to and discuss with your Real Estate Agent.Although it is disclosed that there is a an animal in the home, it is always best if the potential buyer never encounters or sees your pet. They do not always read all the disclosures or remember them from house to house and either way, it is best that when they enter your home they see no sign of your pet.  This includes: No Kennel No Food and Water Bowls No Beds or Toys Now this is tougher for cat owners as if the cat if left in the home, the kitty litter needs to be le... 02/04/2019

Selling your home is not easy nor convenient. When you have children it is even more challenging and much more inconvenient.A common theme I run into on most Home Staging Consultations is toys. It seems as though young kids just have a lot of them. I'm sure it is all because of Grandma and Grandpa. :)    Many parents struggle as to what to do with all the toys that are in the living room, the dining room, their bedrooms, the family room, the bath tub and just about everywhere else.Here are my recommendations: Toys Are Not the First Thing the Buyer Should See When They Walk In The DoorIn other words, whatever rooms you can see as you enter should be toy free zones. So if those rooms for you are say the foyer, living room and dining room, those should not have any toys in them. I am not s... 01/31/2019

It's been very popular for a few years....have you tried it? Chalk Paint? You see so many vintage shops selling old furniture that has been redone in chalk paint; and pop-up weekend shops carry many chalk painted pieces. I have bought a few and love them. Purchasing the finished product always seemed the easiest to me. BUT......I have a vintage round coffee table with caster feet that I love and when I purchased it almost 20 years ago it was the very popular sage color.   I have been so tired of that color (besides it being a bit dated) but I never wanted to get rid of my favorite coffee table. It is complete with raw wood nicks and dings and I love the imperfection of it.     So I FINALLY decided to do something about it when I saw a dining room table done in chalk paint at a client's ... 01/04/2019

If you are building or remodeling a home, there is a chance that you may have come across these abbreviated letters. But many of my clients just starting the process get a blank look when I say "Have you considered LVT?" LVT stands for Luxury Vinyl Tile. When I mention the word vinyl I sometimes see a horrified look on my client's faces with flash backs to the large linoleum rolls of flooring from the 60s. That is NOT what I am talking about.  Many times LVT is used as a catch all for all vinyl flooring but there is a difference based on style. Luxury Vinyl (LV) comes in many styles and colors. It comes in long planks (LVP -Luxury Vinyl Planks) of different widths for the appearance of real wood. It also comes in 12"x24" rectangles for the appearance of ceramic tiles (LVT). These rectan... 11/07/2018

Yes it is in demand! From the 55+ market to young families, more and more people are looking to one level living for ease.It's not for everyone. In our area many of the one level living homes have one bedroom on the main level plus will have a full lower level with one to three bedrooms. This may not work for a family with infants or young children as parents will want the kiddo's bedrooms on the same floor theirs.Many one level living homes however have at least two bedrooms on the main level if not three.I recently staged a model home that is one level living with one common wall. A townhome so to speak. These are higher end and due to the townhome setting are more likely to appeal to the 55+ who wants the one level living but not give up the space or luxury. These would also appeal t... 10/19/2018

I ran into this situation this week while doing a Home Staging Consultation. The home owner had filled every room with Fall decor. Table tops, baskets of pumpkins on the floor, little scarecrows hanging here and there, towels with leaves hanging in the bath.   There is a right and wrong way to enjoy the seasons while selling your home. Wrong Way: Having Your Seasonal Decor Overwhelm The Features of Your Home: This can happen even without seasonal decor, it's called clutter. You don't want buyers looking at your 'things' as they are not buying your things. You want them looking at the architectural features of the home. The high ceilings, the built-ins, the fireplace and so forth. An abundance of things takes away from the house. This goes for all areas of your home.....the yard included... 10/05/2018

Most people associate Home Staging with the dreaded 'D' word. Declutter! They think that a Home Stager will come in and tell them what they need to take out and remove.That is part of it but most of my home staging consultations also include tips for the homeowner of items to purchase to make the home shine a little brighter. There are three top items I seem to always be recommending. These three things are not updates to the house or upgrades. They are items that you can take with you when the home sells.1. New TowelsNew towels are the best way to freshen up a bathroom. You know when you  buy them and they are all soft and fluffy before you wash them a few times? That's what you want hanging on your towel bars.  They will become your 'pretend' towels that will only be hung for photos a... 08/28/2018

There are a couple things I see in the summer when doing Home Staging Consultations that many times need to be addressed and are super easy to correct. 1. Cobwebs   For most of us, we go in and out of our homes through the garage door, very rarely using the front door or even taking a look at it. In the summer months a cobweb can appear in a matter of hours. Sometimes it seems like minutes.Every day when I water the flowers on my front steps I see cobwebs in the corners of the house and around the door. I spray them off and the next day they are there again. If I don't get out there for a couple days it looks like I have an abandoned house! There are cobwebs everywhere and they stick like glue. Even the jet force on my hose won't  get them off and I need to bring out the broom.     So p... 07/25/2018

In my previous post I showed the incredible transformation of a mudroom. Check out "A Mudroom Makeover" if you missed it. Now I want to show the transformation of the laundry room right next door that was done at the same time.Laundry rooms do not need to be boring and just for function.  In fact, in home sales buyers are loving having a laundry room that doesn't feel like a dungeon and can make laundry time not seem like such a chore.The mudroom looking into the laundry before:  The entrance alone makes a statement now!  A very dated and underwhelming laundry room was the starting point.  Not many words are needed to explain this after shot!  The basic footprint was kept so moving the plumbing was not an issue and saved a lot of money.  Who says a laundry room light fixture has to be b... 07/19/2018

I know the kitchen is the most important room in the house but the mudroom and laundry room get so much traffic and use that most people don't want them to be dingy.Renovating these rooms may not be on the top of a homeowner's list but I have to say that it can not only make you happy as a homeowner but make a potential buyer do a little happy dance!I have been working with these homeowner's for quite a while, first assisting them with the sale of their home and then room by room in renovating their dream home. You can check out a previous blog post to see the first phases in "A Dream Home in the Country Comes True".This next phase may not have felt as glamorous but let me say that it turned out that way. I am going to share the before and after photos of the mudroom and then you will n... 06/12/2018

Everyone has a vision of their 'dream home'. It's different for every person and my job as a designer is to understand my client's vision and assist them in achieving it. A few years ago I met a couple that were selling their home. I assisted them with suggestions on how to get their home in top selling condition, they followed the suggestions and their home sold quickly! During that consultation time they had shared with me that they were looking for their dream home in the country with acreage and that they just hadn't found the perfect home yet. Maybe a year went by when I heard from them again, they had found and purchased their country dream home! They wanted my assistance with some things in their new home so I put on my 'Designer' hat and headed out to see it. As you drive up the... 05/16/2018

To all the Mother's I have known in my Life When I was around 8 years old my parents got divorced so I grew up with live in nanny's because my father needed help around the house and would be gone most weekends.I have a older sister that took on the parent role and she sort of became a mother to me. After I reached 8 years old all my friend's mothers became my mother in a way. We would ride our bikes around the neighborhood stopping in different houses for lunch or a snack and would go back out riding. There would be days that I would be gone all day and sleeping over at my friend's homes because I didn't have a mother at home.Later in life my father had a live in nanny that was quite a bit younger then the rest and my sister and younger brother started becoming attached to her. Then my... 05/13/2018

Most of the clients that I have worked with have heard that question from me. Many get a puzzled look on their face and some get downright scared. Especially the men!I usually throw out that question when I am talking to them about their lighting. Lighting is a key factor whether you are staging your home for sale or updating it for enjoyment. Lighting will always give a room lighting; but I think it should also give a room character!Lighting should make a statement and leave an impression.This couldn't be more important than when you are selling your home. Have the buyer remember your home as the one with the amazing light fixtures.A great way to do that is by adding a little bling. You know....something that sparkles. Crystals, dangles, bobbles and just plain glam. The Master Bedroom ... 04/23/2018