In previous posts I have mentioned the importance of a staged home, briefly outlined the things a professional stager will do for your home and even blogged about things you should look for in a professional stager. Still not convinced that this approach to selling a home pays off? You’re probably visual, so here’s hard evidence. In the following photos you will note the dramatic differences in each “Before” and “After” shot. At this time I would also like to note that in many cases, the only cost to the client is paying for the stager’s time. In my experience, we are usually able to use the client’s existing furnishings, although some items may need to be purchased or rented depending upon the situation. Your realtor may even purchase the stager’s time for you so that you do not have this added (although worthwhile) expense. Many of the homes I stage are completed in one day and result in a less cluttered, more spacious layout that grabs buyers’ attention before they’ve even passed through the foyer.

A master bedroom & living room with their "Before" and "After" shots

The above rooms were staged by Designing Diva Interiors, LLC. The photos below were staged by others. All are prime examples of how home staging-when done right- utilizes what already exists to bring out the very best in each room.

This outdated bathroom gets a makeover that appeals to buyers without costing the homeowner a fortune.A cluttered bedroom never goes over well. This stager presented the room's best attributes with small changes!

Designing Diva Interiors LLC is proud to work with Edmond Realtors to sell homes faster and often times for more money!

Jennifer Hicks is a Certified Interior Decorator and Owner of Designing Diva Interiors, LLC

Just when you thought you were done with it. Just when you have finished scraping and peeling the last of it. Now that you have had the entire house faux finished from top to bottom. Wallpaper is back. And its coming for you. (Cue “Jaws” theme music here.)

Fear not! This isn’t your 90’s “fruits and plaids” paper and the papers of today bring a lot more to the table than grapes. Surprised? No one was more shocked at the selection than this girl. The last time I looked at wallpaper it was for a client’s pre-teen who wanted to look at nothing but purple and blue flowers. Easy enough. But this week my challenge was..well, actually challenging. My mission was to find a wall treatment that complimented the architecture of a 1908 historical home

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Over the years I’ve seen some pretty amazing transformations take place in clients’ homes, largely because of the painters who changed the entire mood of the space with a well-applied change of color.

While designers work very hard towards making those transformations occur in a timely manner, at an affordable cost and without hiccups, sometimes the client is their own worst enemy. Most of you will hire a professional painter at some point in your lives, if you haven’t already.

To make the painting process as smooth as possible I have asked Lezely Lynch of Edmond, one of the painters I recommend for my clients, to share some of the things she wishes you knew– BEFORE you hire her:

“One BIG thing is that just because a room is smaller or has less wall space does not mean it will be less work for the contractor and therefore less expensive. Kitchens and bathrooms are always more labor for the painter due to so many objects to cut in around (cabinets, windows, mirrors mounted directly to the wall, doors, appliances, etc.).

Also, you would be amazed at how many times I have shown up for a job that was scheduled well in advance just to find that nothing has been removed from the walls and all of the furniture is still up against the walls!  I’m not a mover and I don’t account for having to move your stuff when I figure up the bid…this is YOUR job to have it all out of the way before I arrive.  I should not have to be responsible for moving your heavy, priceless, irreplaceable antique that Aunt Maude left to you, nor should I be responsible for any damages that occur to your things when I have to move them myself.”

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For many home sellers, among the greatest concerns on their mind are things like “Where will we store our extra furniture?,” “We need this house to sell in ___ days,” or “I hope we can keep the house picked up for showings.” All of these make valid food for thought, although most sellers (and even many Realtors®) overlook a very important and inexpensive weapon in their arsenal: Color.

The color of a home can turn buyers on or off before they even hit the driveway. Personally, I have been in love with an all-white 1890s Victorian in Yukon for years, simply because it looks inviting from the outside. On the inside it could be completely disheveled and crawling with rats but I continue to admire it because of that gorgeous eye-catching exterior. We have all seen those houses that tried to be the “cheerful” one on the block and instead ended up looking like a failed Crayola Crayon experiment. If you personally love color outdoors (as I do), you certainly have the right to paint your shutters Sunshine Yellow, unless you’re selling your anything-but-a-garden-cottage home. But there are other ways of keeping the front and rear of your home from being mediocre, such as potted flowers and large ceramic vases.

Already have a nice, neutral color on the exterior of your abode? Look at

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Whether you are selling your home or staying put, chances are you have (or will have) a small space on your hands. Most of us are not lucky enough to have walk-in closets the size of kitchens, so what’s a girl (or boy) to do? Below are my top 5 tricks to making any room feel more spacious!

1. Large artwork will make small rooms appear bigger, so skip the random hanging of small prints and go for one sofa-sized painting or blow up a photograph using a site like Photogonia.
2. Monochromatic color schemes can be your best friend, especially when staging a home to sell. Using many different colors causes the eye to jump around and can visually break up a room. A monochromatic scheme (the use of various shades of the same color) encourages an ebb and flow appearance and makes even dark, small rooms less claustrophobic. For example, a bedroom could be visually enlarged by using a khaki-colored carpet, beige bedding and a neutral paint on walls (try Sherwin Williams’ ‘Trusty Tan’ or ‘Macadamia’).
3. Speaking of paint, a ceiling that is painted lighter than the walls

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Unless you live under a rock (a well decorated one since you read Back Talk’s blog religiously!), you are no doubt being inundated with calls to make New Year’s Resolutions. Personally, I’ve never been a fan. Why make positive changes in your life just one time a year? But the call to action does have its benefits for homeowners who will be using January to kick off long-awaited projects. For my household, that means installing new trim and crown moulding. For you, the job may be much smaller or much more grand; either way, there has never been a better time to start creating a new look for your home. Why? Motivation is at an all-time high in January for everything from weight loss to quitting smoking. Why not use this universal momentum to get the master bedroom repainted? Additionally, prices on the items you will need for your home’s new look will be deliciously discounted as retailers try to make up for decreased profits during the holiday season. This is also the time of year when many home furnishings stores clearance out their inventory to make room for shipments that will soon arrive from market.

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With networks such as TLC  and HGTV shoving DIY projects down our throats every hour of every day, one may easily be swept into the apparent charm of it all: “We made this tiny bathroom a master suite in 2 days with $500!” Every time I hear such claims on TV I want to yell into the unresponsive appliance, “Deceit! Deceit!”

Here’s the thing. As a professional interior decorator, my calendar stays full because people do not want to do it themselves, so I can’t speak against the movement entirely. What I can say is that more often than not my new clients come to be because they tried to do it themselves and they weren’t armed before jumping in with both feet. What the cameras don’t show is the number of behind-the-scenes craftsmen working on the project long after the TV personalities have gone home. They don’t tell you that many of the products purchased were done so at a large dicount or even donated by sponsors. They often won’t tell viewers if any money and time was required at any point to fix a mistake (as often happens during any given project).

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If you’re like most people these days you love the idea of having a beautifully designed home for the holidays but a shortage of time (and patience) keeps your sugar-plum dreams at bay year after year.

DESIGNING DIVA INTERIORS KNOWS HOLIDAY DECORATING.

I also know that whether you’re selling your home or staying put this winter, the right decor makes all the difference. If your home is on the market, turning the residence  into Santa’s workshop is not something I would encourage.  And even if you’re comfy cozy and not going anywhere this winter, choosing the right decor is still important.

As with your year-round furnishings, you want your holiday adornments to

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No one can get your home ready for the masses quite like a professional home stager, but we realize that the term itself, let alone the concept, is still relatively new to many Oklahomans. If your Realtor is not purchasing the time of a Home Stager for you and it isn’t within your budget to hire a pro (although prices can start as low as $200!) here are five tips you can do on your own to achieve an atmosphere worthy of any potential buyer!

1. Declutter, declutter, declutter. That collection of Elvis plates- gone. Your endless supply of Tupperware- pack it up. Get down to the bare essentials. If you will be living in your home until closing, keep a reasonable supply of bath towels, dishes and other daily items on hand. Aside from that, everything else needs to be packed up, donated, tossed, etc.
2. Hang your draperies higher than they are right now. 90% of windows aren’t living up to their full potential and its an easy fix! Your drapery rod should be mounted about three inches below the ceiling line/crown molding. You want your draperies to come within an inch of the floor, so if you have 84″ high windows, buy 95″ long panels and in an instant you’ve added visual space to your rooms.
3. Pink is an artist, not a wall color. While bright colors are fun for the kids’ rooms this is not the time to show your family’s quirky personality to the world. Give the home a once (or twice) over with a nice neutral paint color, such as Sherwin Williams’ “Camelback”. (I’ve even painted my dining room fuschia but you can bet it all went white once the house hit the market.)
4. Your flooring could be turning people away. Have your carpets cleaned, mend any transition places where a flooring material is coming up, and polish the wood floors. Need a cheap replacement for flooring that is beyond cleaning? Linoleum has come a long way, baby. With so many attractive styles available, its definitely a good value for those smaller rooms, such as laundry rooms and bathrooms.
5. Do you smell that? Actually, you may not, but buyers do. When you have lived around a certain scent for an extended period of time, you become immune to it. This includes pet odors, cigarette smoke, strong-smelling foods and mildew in the laundry room. Have a friend or your Realtor walk through your home and point out any offensive smells they notice. Steps #3 and #4 will help with this immensely, but you can also add plug-in room fresheners (please stay away from the potpourri, I beg of you). Love to cook spicy food? During this time when you may be asked to leave your home suddenly for a showing, avoid cooking those foods that leave behind intense smells, or open windows while cooking.

And there you have it! Five secrets of a professional home stager that you can take to the bank!

Jennifer Hicks is a Certified Interior Designer and Owner of Designing Diva Interiors, LLC

Every home I stage has its own unique situation. Some people continue to reside in a home until it sells. Some move out before it has even been listed. Some homes have enough clutter and memories to fill up eight PODS in one week (true story). On the flip side are those dwellings that have very little remaining whatsoever. These are the jobs where furnishings are brought in temporarily and are ideal in my opinion because they offer up a blank canvas of sorts. Here’s a run-down of the ”Before” and “After” photos of a recent staging; a 2400 square foot home that had seen its share of clutter.

Before: Every bedroom was crammed with furniture, including the spacious master bedroom. This greatly limited potential buyers’ ability to appreciate

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