Steps to Prep for Selling or Dwelling
This is my 15th year of my Staging business. Due to the pandemic, it’s difficult to focus and simple things like knowing what day it is becomes challenging. Happy anniversary to me. Read more
Is your house a home or a storage facility?
Question: “We will be selling our home and moving to a new home. We need to declutter, get rid of some ‘stuff’ but don’t want a yard sale. How can we get rid of perfectly good new gently used stuff before a move?”
Selling Your House While Living in it
After years of helping clients and teaching on how to prepare a house for sale, last year this teacher became the student. I sold my house, downsized and moved. You don’t know what you don’t know until you are in it. The moment you decide to sell is the time to start prepping for the move. The contents of a large house will not comfortably fit in a smaller house. Read more
Clutter eats equity
Spring is in the air. After every frigid snow event we end up with temperatures in the 50’s. Time to start the spring-cleaning process. Clutter eats equity. An overly cluttered house will look and feel smaller. It may even give you an uneasy, unsettled feeling. In some cases, you may even feel buried alive surrounded by mountains of stuff.
Life in Boxes, A Moving Story
When moving, every item needs to be accessed on whether it gets packed, donated or discarded. Every. Single. Item. When downsizing, you can’t take it all with you and soon realize how emotionally and physically exhausting the process is. A few readers and I share some thoughts on decluttering and moving. Read more
Anatomy of a Room Redesign Part 1
Less is more unless you’re trying to have a functioning family multipurpose room. A reader asked for help with redesigning her family room. This column will share the dialogue between us to understand the needs of the family in order to create a functioning, attractive space. Follow the journey and stay tuned to my next column for my suggestions. This may help you access a room in your own house. Read more
Let it go!
Labor Day weekend marks the end of the summer. As I write this column for the first weekend of September, enjoying a delightful cucumber/watermelon seltzer, thinking how I’m running out of time to let go.
Downsizing, moving and trying to get it all done is extremely stressful. Already got rid of many items yet there is so much more to purge. Some things are easy to let go while others, not so much. Read more
The Evolution of Formal Rooms to Open Concept
Deep into the process of downsizing my home of 29 years has me accessing how it has evolved. The living room was never used because of the family room. The formal dining room, used maybe twice a year, was cramped which lead to switching the rooms for a more comfortable experience. Read more
A stager preps her house for sale
As I sit here wondering what to write about, I think of change and how so many fear change. The one thing that is constant is change. I’ve worked with a few clients over the years that have a hard time with change. One client, during a staging consultation, had an issue with moving a chair away from the fireplace. “It has always been there”, they said. I explained how it was blocking the view to the fireplace and how we are selling the house and its beautiful architectural feature is hidden behind a chair upon entry into the space and in photos. The chair stayed put and the house lingered on the market for a very long period of time. The energy was blocked.
Living in an authentic home
The authentic home is your own home that reflects your personality and lifestyle. It not only functions, but also looks and feels good. If there is a room that is not being used, try to figure out why. If no one uses the family room because it feels uncomfortable, that’s not an authentic room.
Simple changes can transform a space. It’s all in the details. The right color, whether a new paint color on the wall or new accent pieces, can refresh a space. Sometimes all that is need is editing, de-cluttering, rearranging furniture and a few new decorative accessories, your home can be an authentic home.