Blind Bay Beauty
Posted by Shoestring Interior Redesigns on 17 May 2008 | Tagged as: Home Staging
Home Staging can improve the value of your house
Posted by Shoestring Interior Redesigns on 17 May 2008 | Tagged as: Home Staging
As some first time buyers get priced out of the market and the housing market starts to slow a little, home owners may be reconsidering whether to sell or if already on the market may be thinking about reducing the price to encourage buyer interest.
Kym Tarr of ShoeString Interior ReDesigns says ‘If you prepare your property well before you put it on the market you will greatly improve the chances of achieving the asking price and your chances of selling quickly. If already on the market your home could benefit from a staging makeover which could turn the next viewing into a sale.’
How to turn a viewing into a sale
Most buyers make a decision on whether the house is for them within the first few minutes and you don’t have long to make those first impressions count. The viewer has usually seen the house details previously, so what are they basing that quick decision on? They are responding to subliminal sensory stimulators, the hidden persuaders that stimulate the interest of the buyer. These sensory stimulators operate on a subconscious level and enable buyers to form a positive bond with the property and imagine themselves living there.
Home Staging is the art of setting the scene in the house so that all of these positive persuaders are in place. The key to effective home staging is in a number of issues: depersonalising (to allow the viewer to imagine it as their own home), decluttering, ensuring tip top cleanliness, harmonising the space, creating balance and creating the right ambience.
Home Staging Consultations in the Okanagan Area
ShoeString Home Staging offers an initial consultation with a detailed report suggesting actions which may include reducing or re-organising some of the furniture & personal items, lighting and accessorising rooms to create a more harmonious effect.
After the consultation options include a) the homeowner putting into effect the necessary changes suggested b) A half or all day Home Staging makeover
Home Staging before or after putting the house on the market?
Ideally a home should be professionally presented before being valued and marketed. This is common practice in the United States where Real Estate Agents have proved the increased value of property and speed of sales where properties are presented well. However in this country we are lagging behind a little, many home owners suffer from having to show around more viewers than necessary before they clinch the sale.
Buyers agree that when a house is not up to the standard they expect, they try to bargain price for the ‘work’ they perceive they will need to do. The solution is therefore to make the house as appealing as possible before the first buyer steps a foot over the threshold. Get the presentation right and the offers will follow.
Useful Hints we can ALL use!
Posted by Shoestring Interior Redesigns on 14 Apr 2008 | Tagged as: Welcome
- Peel a banana from the bottom and you won’t have to pick the little “stringy things” off of it. That’s how the primates do it. Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store. If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster.
- Store your opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil. It will stay fresh much longer and not mold!
- Peppers with 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for eating. Peppers with 4 bumps on the bottom are firmer and better for cooking.
- Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef. It will help pull the grease away from the meat while cooking.
- To really make scrambled eggs or omelets rich add a couple of spoonfuls of sour cream, cream cheese, or heavy cream in and then beat them up.
- Add garlic immediately to a recipe if you want a light taste of garlic and at the end of the recipe if your want a stronger taste of garlic.
- Leftover snickers bars from Halloween make a delicious dessert. Simple chop them up with the food chop per. Peel, core and slice a few apples. Place them in a baking dish and sprinkle the chopped candy bars over the apples. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes!!! Serve alone or with vanilla ice cream.
- Easy Deviled Eggs- Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal, mash till they are all broken up. Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing it up mixing thoroughly, cut the tip of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg. Just throw bag away when done easy clean up.
- Expanding Frosting- When you buy a container of cake frosting from the store, whip it with your mixer for a few minutes. You can double it in size. You get to frost more cake/cupcakes with the same amount. You also eat less Sugar and calories per serving.
- Newspaper weeds away- Start putting in your plants, work the nutrients in your soil. Wet Newspapers put layers around the plants overlapping as you go cover with mulch and forget about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening plastic they will not get through wet newspapers.
- Broken Glass- Use a wet cotton ball or Q-tip to pick up the small shards of glass you can’t see easily.
- No More Mosquitoes-Place a dryer sheet in your pocket. It will keep the mosquitoes away.
- Squirrel Away! To keep squirrels from eating yo ur plants sprinkle your plants with cayenne pepper. The cayenne pepper doesn’t hurt the plant and the squirrels won’t come near it.
- Flexible vacuum - To get something out of a heat register or under the fridge add an empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap roll to your Vacuum. It can be bent or flattened to get in narrow openings.
- Reducing Static Cling- Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip and you will Not have a clingy skirt or dress. Same thing works with
- Slacks that cling when wearing panty hose. Place pin in seam of slacks and — ta da! –static is gone.
- Measuring Cups-Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill with hot water. Dump out the hot water, but don’t dry cup. Next, add your ingredient, such as peanut butter, and watch how easily It comes right out.
- Foggy Windshield? Hate foggy windshields? Buy a chalkboard eraser ($ store) and keep it in the glove box of your car. When the windows fog, rub with the eraser! Works better than a cloth!
- Reopening envelope- If you seal an envelope and then realize you forgot to include something inside , just place your sealed envelope in the freezer for an hour or two. Viola! It unseals easily.
- Conditioner- Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It’s a lot cheaper than shaving cream and leaves your legs really smooth. It’s also a great way to use up the conditioner you bought but didn’t like when you tried it in your hair…
- Goodbye Fruit Flies- To get rid of pesky fruit flies, take a small glass fill it 1/2″ with Apple Cider Vinegar and 2 drops of dish washing liquid, mix well. You will find those flies drawn to the cup and gone forever!
- Get Rid of Ants- Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, take it “home,” can’t digest it so it kills them. It may take a week or so,especially if it rains, but it works & you don’t have the worry about pets or small children being harmed!
What to do with Unused Space…
Posted by Shoestring Interior Redesigns on 23 Mar 2008 | Tagged as: Decorating Tips
Unless a home has been designed by the homeowners, most have dilemmas about the functionality of rooms. In most homes, I find there are rooms that go unused for most of the year.
Why not turn the dining room into a library by adding bookcases. Rows of books make an impressive backdrop and encourage interesting dinner conversation. As excellent space savers, not only do bookshelves provide premium storage space for books, but they also offer a handsome setting for china, crystal and other curios.
Or you could change the conventional dining room into a cozy retreat where the husband could have his friends over for some quality guy time. I recommended a pub table and stools, a couple of comfortable leather chairs, a dart board and a small TV.
Create different use areas in a room, so that more than one activity can take place at a time. This gives you more opportunities to be together as a family, and just requires some rearranging and creativity, not bucks!
Perhaps you can set up a small table and two chairs in an unused corner for a game table, sneak an unused easy chair into the room for someone to read, pick up a couple of bar stools at a yard sale to add to the kitchen counter. Store placemats in drawers to turn the coffee table into a quick dining area, and make sure there are a couple of floor pillows for impromptu movie night….
Maximize your Home’s Potential!
Posted by Shoestring Interior Redesigns on 29 Jan 2008 | Tagged as: Welcome
Top 10 Reasons to Professionally Stage in Your Home:
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End up on a buyer’s “must see” list Are viewed by buyers as “well maintained” Are viewed as “well maintained” by Appraisers Are often appraised at a higher values Are “move in ready”
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“It was great fun coming home tonight to see our house. We felt like we were on one of those “Flip this House” TV shows without the camera recording our reactions. We think the house looks great! ”
Find and Create a Focal Point in a Room
Posted by Shoestring Interior Redesigns on 02 Jan 2008 | Tagged as: Welcome
A room will feel more inviting and offer a more comfortable place to rest if you arrange the furniture or accessories around a focal point. What is a focal point? Sometimes a focal point is an architectural feature, or it can be a special picture, mirror, or dramatic piece of furniture.Take a look around your room to determine the ‘biggest’ feature. It may be a fireplace, a picture window, or a built-in bookcase. This will generally be your focal point. If your room has no distinguishing architectural features, identify the largest furniture pieces. These could become your focal point.
A focal point should be something interesting to look at, something colorful or texturally and visually appealing. You can create a focal point for the room, by focusing on artwork, floral arrangements, paint color, or shelving.
The focal point should be the ‘first thing’ you see when entering a room. If possible, build your furniture arrangement around the focal point. If an outdoor view is the focal point, orient the furniture inside and outside to take advantage of window areas.
You can create a focal point wall by painting one wall a different color from the rest and accessorizing with a wall arrangement, artwork, or display shelves. You can also use lighting to enhance your focal point. For example, use a picture light, track light, or wall washer fixture on a painting or wall display. If you’ve identified a mantle or shelf as the focal point, use plants and accessories to decorate them. Try using a contrasting color to make the focal point stand out. For example, use a light wall color behind a dark wood armoire.
Summary:
- Focus on your room’s best qualities by choosing a focal point you enjoy.
- Decorate and ‘frame’ a focal point with plants, curtains, and art.
- Remember to try choosing the ‘first thing’ you see, or the biggest item for a focal point.
Inaugural Meeting Roaring Women Ltd
Posted by Shoestring Interior Redesigns on 02 Jan 2008 | Tagged as: Welcome
March 17th, 2008
We are just beginning a local chapter of Roaring Women that promotes some of the most dynamic women in North America. At Roaring Women we Promote Educate and Connect women in business.
Women are starting businesses at an unprecedented rate - How are you going to differentiate yourself from anyone else?
Roaring Women provides you with opportunity to promote yourself online, educate yourself through tele-workshops, and connect via meetings and through the newsletter - and that is just the beginning!
Never been to one of our Dinner meetings? The first one to be held in Kelowna is on March 17th, 2008. More details will be forthcoming.
We have more than just a membership website, We also have web building tools, online referral networks and consulting, coaching and publishing services you can access at a reduced rate.
View all benefits here. www.roaringwomen.com
Hints for Hibernation
Posted by Shoestring Interior Redesigns on 12 Dec 2007 | Tagged as: Newsletters
Winter is almost here in Kelowna! YUK!! Instead of spending time on a beach in Mexico, we are doing some preventative maintenance around the house to see it through the cold winter months…
Like changing all the bulbs in the house and stocking up on spares. Especially any under-cabinet lighting in the kitchen as this type of task lighting will be a necessity for seeing what you’re cooking on grey days now that duller days are well and truly on their way.
Check the furnace, and change the filters. Ensure the hot water tank is in good working order.
Check your smoke alarm and make sure it’s functioning. If you have a carbon-monoxide detector, check it at the same time.
Don’t forget the outside …..
Clear the gutters once all the leaves have fallen to stop any possible damp from penetrating your walls.
The grass should be cut one last time (once the rain has stopped) and fences should be checked to ensure they will last another winters gales.
Remove the last of the summers hanging baskets and replace with pansies, ferns and ivy for a lasting effect.
To a squirrel, the inside of your chimney is prime real estate. So you need to check for obstructions at the beginning of fall, before you start using the fireplace.
Now that we have done all this, we are ready to enjoy the beaches of Mexico!
Sensational Lakefront Property-click to view show
Posted by Shoestring Interior Redesigns on 01 Dec 2007 | Tagged as: Home Staging
Full of Character-click to view show
Posted by Shoestring Interior Redesigns on 30 Nov 2007 | Tagged as: Home Staging
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