Kates Home Staging and Interior Design Blog for Orange County & Rockland County New York

Ever walk into a room and it feels very dark and uninviting?

How would a potential home buyer feel in this room?

If you are trying to sell your home, the wall paint color can really transform the entire feel of the space. 

Color invokes emotions in almost everyone.

Here is an example of a bedroom before a color consultation:

Here is the same bedroom after the color consultation:

This bedroom is using the same bedding as the first picture.  Only a few items to the left of the bed were removed and the walls were painted a much brighter color.

If you are planning on selling your home and are not happy with some of the wall paint colors in your home, a professional home stager can help.  We will show up at your home with large paint chips and help you decide on the best colors for each room.

Kate's Home Staging and Redesign serves the Rockland County, Orange County, Bergen County, and Passaic County.  We offer Benjamin Moore and Sherwin Williams color consultations in your home. Please call us at 845-538-3623 to schedule your color consultation today.

In today's real estate market, it is imperative that your online home pictures really WOW any potential buyers.  A certified home stager can help any home seller or Realtor sell their home quickly and for the highest dollar amount.

The latest HomeGain 2009 survey states that home staging services have a 586% return on your investment.  Home staging may also be tax deductable since it falls under marketing and advertising for the sale of your home.

Here is an example of a bedroom before home staging:

Here is an example of the same room after home staging:

What a difference some fresh paint and carpeting made.  We simple rotated the bed and added some fresh linens.

Kate's Home Staging and Redesign, we specialize in home staging, vacant home staging, color consultations, and interior designs.  We cover the Rockland County, Orange County, Bergen County and Passaic County areas.  Call us at 845-538-3623 to setup an appointment.

What impression does an overcrowded room give to a potential home buyer? 

• Your home is too small.
• There is a lack of storage space.
• The home may not have been well maintained.

Home Staging can help a potential home buyer prepare their home for sale and it can address issues such as an overcrowded room filled with too many things.

By simple removing some furniture and items, this enclosed porch as transformed.

  BEFORE

  AFTER

By simply re-arranging the room's existing furniture, it looks twice the size.  The floral chair and ottoman was removed and the home seller has gained a beautiful porch.

Home Staging can help you transform your home and does not have to be expensive.  A professional home stager is trained on how to use your existing items for the largest impact.

Kate

Kate's Home Staging and Redesignserves the Rockland County New York area, Orange County New York, and Passaic County New Jersey.  To set up a home staging consultation, please call Kate at 845-538-3623 or visit www.kateshomestaging.com for more info. 

Home Staging can address many different issues when you are trying to sell your home.  By knowing what furniture to remove and what items to eliminate, any room can be transformed.  By selecting the appropriate wall paint colors, a room can go from dark and uninviting to a complete standout.

Home Staging is not expensive and is considered a less expensive alternative to interior decorating.

Home Gain's latest survey gives home staging a 586% return on investment.

The typical home staging consultation in Rockland County, New York will run about $250 - $300.

The cost of home staging is always less than your home's first price reduction.

Here is an example of a Living Room before the home staging consultation:

Here is the same Living Room after:

By simply removing the sofa table and all the items resting on it, the view into the Kitchen appears much larger.  By clearing off the Kitchen counters, the Kitchen appears much neater and cleaner.

The above picture is an example of the difference a simple Home Staging Consultation can make.

Kate ~ Kate's Home Staging and Redesign

If you are planning on selling your home in Rockland County, NY or Orange County, NY please contact Kate for a home staging consultation which includes a customized Action Plan and complementary paint color consultation.  Call Kate at 845-538-3623 or visit www.kateshomestaging.com for more info.

Recently, I was called in by one of my Realtor partners for a Home Staging Consultation and to create a customized Home Staging Action Report.  The home sellers decided to implement my Home Staging Action Report on their own and called in some movers to help them move some of their heavy furniture out to their PODs container.

When you walk into the home's Entry Way, you are greeted by the Dining Room on the right side. The Dining Room was a great size, but as you can see from the "before" picture the entire room was being overpowered by extremely large furniture.

My suggestions were to removed the following items from this Dining Room:

• The large china cabinet
• The wine rack
• All the additional table leaves
• Two of the chairs without the arms
• The area rug
• All the items on the top of the side cabinet

Kate's Home Staging and Redesign further suggested the following changes:

• The side cabinet be relocated to the longest wall.
• A painting be hung over this cabinet (a painting was moved from another wall in this room).
• Wine bottles could be placed on one side of the cabinet as an accessory.
• A long thin accessory item should be placed under the picture (candles were taken from another room).
• The tall faux plant was already in this room and it was recommended that it remain.
• The red vase in this room could be used as a Dining Room table centerpiece with flowers.

Here are two "after" pictures, I think the home sellers really did a great job following through the suggestions...

The hard wood floors look amazing and this architectural detail was completely hidden before with all the furniture that was in the room.  I also really like how much larger the room looks once the Dining Table additional leaves were removed.  In my opinion, seating for 6 is plenty when you are showing your home.  The home sellers did not do anything to their wood floors, the floors happen to be in perfect condition.

Kate

Kate's Home Staging and Redesignis an interior design and home staging company that serves the Rockland County and Orange County area of New York and Passaic County of New Jersey.  We specialize in home decorating, color consultations, vacant home staging, home staging, Realtor educational seminars, interior redesign, and home decor discounts.  Please contact Kate to schedule your design consultation at 845-538-3623 or visit www.kateshomestaging.com.  Every Home Staging Consultation includes a complete Home Staging Action Report!

Mirrors are a Feng Shui chi enhancement because this object can activate and circulate chi throughout your home. A well placed mirror can bring light into a dark area, reflect something beautiful, visually enlarge a small space, and provide s sense of safety. Since mirrors activate chi, their placement is always a good idea in your home office, kitchen, living room, or family room.

Your bedroom is a place for relaxation and reflection. Mirrors can activate energy in your bedroom, which can influence your sleep. The larger the mirror is, the more it will negatively influence your sleep.  Closet doors with mirrors are considered a problem and should be covered with a curtain that can be closed at night and opened during the day.  Another option for the mirrored closet doors would be to replace them with a wooden door.

Mirrors on top of dressers are another problem in bedrooms.  A simple solution would be to drape these mirrors with fabric during the night to ensure your sleep is not disturbed.  According to Western Feng Shui, the only time a small mirror is permitted in the bedroom is when the door cannot be seen from the bed. All other mirrors should be avoided in the bedroom.

When selecting a mirror (for your living room, kitchen, bathroom) it is important to ensure the mirror will reflect entire images.  For example, if you have a dressing mirror that chops your head it could affect how you feel about yourself negatively.  Also, it is best to avoid mirrors that are broken up with decorative bevels.  Mirrors should never be placed directly across from each other, this creates an endless reflection which can be very confusing.

So, if you are having trouble sleeping in your bedroom perhaps it is the active chi in your mirrors keeping you up at night. Covering your bedroom mirrors with fabric for a few nights may be worth trying to see how much better you are able to sleep.

Kate, Kate's Home Staging and Redesign, we specialize in home staging, interior redesign, home decorating, color consultations, home decor discounts, crown molding installations, and more.  Call Kate to schedule your design appointment at 845-538-3623 or visit www.kateshomestaging.com

When a home owner places their home on the real estate market, their home becomes a product that needs to be marketed and prepared as such. Any professional home stager will tell you, having your home sparkle is a necessity if you want your home to sell quickly and not to turn off any potential buyers.  A savvy buyer can tell if your home was only surfaced cleaned because a buyer will look in your medicine cabinets, under your kitchen sink, and in your closets!

A home that is completely clean sends a message to all buyers that it is well maintained and move-in ready.

Here is a quick cleaning list to run through before placing your home for sale:

1.  Your kitchen needs to shine.  This includes all the appliances (inside and out).  Please clean the inside of your oven with Easy Off Oven Cleaner and do not use it for storage.  The exhaust fan above the stove needs to be free of dust too.  If you have granite, pick up a granite cleaner to make sure it shines (they all seem to work about the same).

2.  Your bathrooms need to sparkle.  Pick up Clorox Clean-up, this clean works wonderfully and will remove any mildew in your bathtub or sink.  I like Cleaning The Green Window Cleaner for glass, it smells great and is also good for the environment.  Also, remember to store your toilet brush and plunger away during all Open Houses.

3.  Any tile grout lines must be cleaned.  If your grout lines used to be white and now appear to be a dark gray, it is time to use the Clorox Clean-up and a scrub brush to remove the dirt.  If your grout is beyond the help of Clorox, please call up Stanley Steamer (or a similar vendor) and have your tile grout steamed and sealed.

4.  All carpets need to be professionally cleaned every year. If you have pets and you are trying to sell, I would recommend you have your carpets professionally cleaned more often to ensure your home smells fantastic.

5.  Fireplaces must be cleaned on the inside and also the brick or mantel.  If your fireplace is discolored with black soot, you can use Easy Off Oven Cleaner and a scrub brush to remove the discoloration on the brick.  Any metal on your fireplace should sparkle as this is the focal point of the room.

6.  Hard wood floors need to be vacuumed and all your furniture needs to be moved and vacuumed under. Swiffer Wet is a great product to touch up hard wood floors quickly and it also smells great.

7.  All lighting fixtures and ceiling fans must be cleaned and free of dust.

8.  All furniture should be dusted or sprayed with furniture cleaner.  Clutter should be removed from the top of all furniture to streamline the look and feel of your home.

9.  All garbage must be emptied. All the garbage cans should be emptied during an Open House, I would even recommend hiding the garbage cans if possible.

10.  Wipe down all walls, switch plates, and door knobs to ensure they are free of fingerprints. Any walls that are in bad shape, really should be touched up with paint to give your home a well maintained look.

11.  Windows and glass of your entry way door must be cleaned.  Windex sells a cleaner that connects to your garden hose to help clean the outside of your windows and it works rather well. All the glass in either your entry way or back door must be cleaned, this door will be the way a potential buyer enters into your home.

12.  Check your outside yard to ensure it is free of debris. Please make sure your garbage cans are not visible from the street and your external curb appeal looks fantastic.

Home Gain's 2009 Survey of the Top 12 Home Improvement Results lists cleaning and de-cluttering as their #1 item with a 872% return on investment.  According to Home Gain, if a home seller spent $200 cleaning they would receive a $1,700 price increase in their home sale.  It definitely shows how some elbow grease pays off.

When a potential buyer walks into a home and it is full of clutter and requires hours of cleaning, the buyer is thinking about the hours of work it will take to make the home "move-in" ready. A dirty home may also open up your home's price for further discussion.  Why take this chance, when a few hours of elbow grease will have your home "move-in" ready.

Kate, Kate's Home Staging and Redesign, specializes in home staging, interior design, color consultations, custom wood signs, custom molding installation, and vendor discounts.  Contact Kate to schedule your design consultation at 845-538-3623 or visit www.kateshomestaging.comfor more information.  We serve Rockland County & Orange County, New York and Passaic County, New Jersey.

After living in your home for several years, it becomes increasingly more difficult to notice those everyday items that need to be updated and your bathroom is no exception.  Depending on the size of your bathroom, it could be quite costly to renovate.  Why renovate when you can completely transform your bathroom by simply updating key aspects?

Here are a Few Quick Tips to Freshen Up Your Bathroom:

1.   Replace all your outdated or worn out towels, with new, plush towels in a more bolder color.

2.   Upgrade your cabinet hardware to create a more streamlined look.

3.   Replace that old medicine cabinet, with an oval, ornate mirror.  This will really set off the look of your bathroom.

4.  Update your old bathroom vanity, with a new pedestal sink.  A small pedestal sink can be purchased for under $200 and can really open up the space in a small bathroom.

5.  Replace your existing towel and toilet holders with more modern replacements in a pewter finish.  Anything in a brass finish should really be replaced as this dates your home.

6.  Update your bathroom faucet with a more modern looking one.  Here again, pewter is a great choice.

7.  Switch out your plastic shower curtain with a white fabric curtain that has a slight pattern on it.  This will give your bathroom some more texture.

8.  Paint your bathroom walls a warm color such as a medium brown or pale green.  Paint is a great way to transform a room and is very cost effective.

9.  To create further architectural interest in your bathroom, wainscoting and chair rail molding can also be used.

10.  Add the finishing touches to your bathroom, such as silk flowers to the back of the toilet tank to draw your eye up or towels rolled in a basket under a pedestal sink.

If you need some home decorating help and live in the Rockland County, NY or Orange County, NY area please contact Kate's Home Staging and Redesign to schedule a design consultation by calling 845-538-3623 or visit www.kateshomestaging.com . We specialize in interior redesign and transforming your space is our specialty.

Home Staging is the process of highlighting a home's strengths while downplaying it's weaknesses, through techniques such as depersonalization, de-cluttering, cleaning, addressing maintenance issues, and implementing interior design principles. A typical home staging consultation will last about two hours and will have your home headed in the right direction for a quick real estate sale.

Here are a Few Home Staging Secrets and Tips to Help Sell Your Home:

• Remove any furniture from your home that is broken or very worn out and that does not serve a needed purpose.  For example, do you really need several extra chairs in your Living Room when you already have a couch?
• Replace any light bulb that is older that 1 year.  Replace the light bulbs with GE Reveal light bulbs, this type of bulb will give off a clear white light and your home will look lighter and brighter if you use it.
• All clutter needs to be removed from all your counters, dressers, tables, and sinks. If you have not used something is over six months, now is the time to pack it away in a moving box.
• Never place furniture up against a wall; there should be at least a 6-8 inch gap behind every piece of furniture.
• Every room should only have one purpose; your Dining Room needs to be turned back into a Dining Room - it should not be your kid's craft room!
• Heavy, dark window treatments should always be removed.  When you are selling your home, you want to use sheers and silk window treatments on your windows to allow natural sunlight to beam into every room.
• Light your home appropriately.  According to HGTV, aim for 100 watts of light for every 50 square feet in your home.
• Bring greenery in the form of real of faux plants into every room.
• To freshen up the appearance of any room, use paint in a neutral color.
• The best accent colors to use are red and black, these colors give your room a rich and luxurious look.
• External curb appeal is very important, if a potential buyer is turned off by your home's front yard it is unlikely they will want to enter inside your home.

If you are planning on selling your home, the best time to consult a professional home stager if before you place your home on the real estate market for sale.  In this economy, you only get one shot to make the right first impression.  A professional home stager can help you design each room of your room to ensure you attract the largest potential buyer audience.

Kate's Home Staging and Redesign works with home sellers and local Realtors to ready home for sale. Contact Kate to schedule your home staging consultation by calling 845-538-3623 or visit www.kateshomestaging.com for more information.

A working environment within the home can be difficult Feng Shui, as the energy from this area can affect the entire house.  More Yang (work) energy is likely to gather in the home office area of the home because contact with the outside world will be the greatest in this room.   The home office is best located in close proximity to the front door of the home and should have a separate entrance for clients. This room should not be of an irregular shape and have any exposed ceiling beams. If your home office is a shared room, please use a screen to try and separate the rooms.

Placement of Your Desk

Your desk should not be placed directly under a window as this will disturb the flow of chi. Your office desk should be situated so you can view the entry door into your office and your back should be against the wall.  A good option is to position your desk on an angle and to place your chair into a secured corner; there should be no windows behind you when you are in a corner of a room.  Your clients should be seated in front of you in a smaller chair with their backs to the door.  If your back is to your clients as they enter your office it symbolizes an absence of power and control.  If you are using a built in desk that is built into the wall and cannot be turned around, please install a mirror over the desk so it can capture a view of the door way into the office. Since most homes in the United States are missing the Fire element, why not install a mirror with a red frame?

Components of Your Office

Since computers, printers, scanners, and all your other business equipment are very yang, the additional of greenery is always a good thing.  Green plants are very Ying and can help diffuse the yang energy.  Please make sure your desk is clutter free and all storage units are not taller than your desk.  Shelves that are built into the wall over your desk can be oppressive.  Aspirational images should be hung in your office. Good lighting and bright colors can all support success in your home office. Please make sure there is nothing stored behind the door that would prevent it from being fully opened; this would symbolize a restricted flow of auspicious opportunities in your career.  If you are not sure how to place the objects on your desk for optimal Feng Shui, the Baqua Map can also be applied to a small space such as desk. For example, the Love and Marriage quadrant falls in the back right corner and the colors to use are reds, pinks, and white.  You could setup a photo of you and your partner in a white picture frame on the right corner of your desk.

It is important to keep your work life separate from the rest of your life, especially when you work from home. Any obstacles that keep a door from opening fully need to be removed immediately to increase the flow of prosperity.  When arranging your home office please make sure your main furniture pieces have a view of the entry door, this will influence your outlook on life.  Always use the Baqua Map if you are not sure where to place an object in a room or even on a smaller surface such as a desk.

Feng Shui is a Chinese Philosophy that has been around for 3,000 - 5,000 years and is based on the art of placement.  If any of your rooms so not feel right when you walk into them, you may benefit from a Feng Shui design consultation.

Kate Case, Kate's Home Staging and Redesign, specializes in home staging, interior redesign, color consultations, custom wood signs, semi-custom window coverings, and more.  Call Kate to schedule your design consultation at 845-538-3623 or visit www.kateshomestaging.com .