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This outdated bathroom gets a makeover that appeals to buyers without costing the homeowner a fortune.A cluttered bedroom never goes over well.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

Hey friends!  So, in the last few months, all hail broke loose!  Okay, now that I got the cheesy jokes out, let’s talk insurance!  On May 16th, 2010, Oklahoma City was struck suddenly with a large and violent hail storm.  My little house, (and my car) took a beating.  The hail came down the size of softballs, obliterating most of the cars, roofs, and siding in my neighborhood, mine included.  The following video was taken by me during the storm.  I was freaking out to say the least.

After the storm, I didn’t know what was going to happen. My car was undriveable, my roof had water coming in, windows were broken, and I was shaken up. The rebuilding process began the next day with long holds on the phone with the insurance company. Due to the large number of people affected, some people waited

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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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When I bought my house all of seven months ago, the previous owners were offering a flooring credit, which I didn’t take. I figured I’d just do the carpet in the den, tile in the laundry and refinish the hardwoods all myself. Boy was I naïve. When I priced carpet for the den I thought I could live with that price, then I found out how much it costs to have it installed (insert shocked face here.) Same went for tile, the labor is just insanely expensive.

The carpet in the laundry had years of water stains, pet odors, and God knows what else embedded in it’s pile (who puts carpet in a laundry room?!). The smell had become so bad that we had to institute a rule in the house: The laundry room door was to remain closed at all times, because the smell would spread to the entire house. Imagine the reaction of guests. “Fallon, your home is so cute……. OH. MY…. What’s that smell?! Did something die in here?” Yup, every time. So, I survived five months with that, shoot me an email and I’ll let you know where to send my medal. Unfortunately, I don’t have a picture of the offending carpet.

One weekend, I happened upon some tile on sale at Lowe’s, $0.58/sf. I was quite pleased with the price. I calculated the size of my room and determined I would need a mere 47 square feet. Pennies! The 13″x13″ tiles came in boxes of 15 for $9.99. I bought three boxes and 5 individuals for a grand total of somewhere in the $35 range. Not bad. I also purchased a tiling kit that had a float, some nippers, a bucket, sponge, tile spacers, etc. I think it was somewhere around $15-20. Mortar and grout were another $9.99 each. So, I spent a total of $70. Not bad for a new smell-free laundry room. Throw in the inevitable free lunch I was going to have to offer up to my poor friends who volunteered, and we’re looking at more like $90. Still, not bad, much better than the $300 I was quoted by a tile guy. My good friend Aaron owns a small construction company so he loaned me a tile saw, tile cracker, extra floats, a mixer (VERY IMPORTANT), etc. He gave me a quick run down of the misery that was about to ensue, gave me some pointers, and my wary volunteers and I went to work!

Being bound by my can-do attitude, a little naïve optimism and a tight budget, I went headfirst into tiling my teensy laundry room. First was the

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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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With Spring being ever so close, I’ve begun thinking about what to do for my lawn. Currently, it looks pretty sad. The house at the end of my street appears to be in full bloom with lots of bright yellow daffodils and a green lawn greeting me as I turn onto my street. I might admit a hint of envy. It’s really sparked me to come to the realization that Spring is indeed around the corner and I might want to start preparing for my first spring lawn care season. So, I headed to Lowe’s this last week armed with a gift card left over from Christmas and bought myself a seed spreader, some pre-emergent and a hose. I went home, very excited about my new purchase; And then I just stared at it. I was clueless. The guy at the store suggested that this was the key to a healthy lawn. However, I wasn’t completely convinced that this was the only necessary step. So I did what any resourceful single lady should do… I called my dad. About five minutes into conversation with him I came to the realization that although my Dad can fix broken hearts and boo boos, he’s clueless when it comes to lawns. So I Googled it. There’s a host of information out there. The best source of information I’ve found so far is a little website called allaboutlawns.com

First thing’s first, as much I hated doing it when I was a kid, and since I don’t yet have my own slave labor, uh, I mean children… I had to get

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So, I’m 5 months into homeownership and my “To Do” list has somehow expanded as quickly as waistlines in the winter. I’ve had to learn to be realistic and learn to “trim the fat,” so to speak. Having been spoiled for years as a renter, I’m now realizing that changing the air filter, seasonal pest control, winterizing the doors and windows, putting those cover jobbies on the crawlspace vents, etc are responsibilities that now rest squarely on my shoulders. Not that I wasn’t aware of those responsibilities, I just didn’t realize how time-consuming it can become when the list begins to expand. I’ve had to learn to prioritize and make time for those pressing matters and schedule far in advance the seasonal things before they creep up on me. As for responsibilities, general maintenance seems lightweight in comparison to being a landlord.

The thought of my roommate no longer being just my roommate, but my renter can sometimes be a taxing proposition. Not that our relationship as friends has suddenly become more formal, but I’m now realizing that as my tenant her reasonable enjoyment and standard of living are my responsibility, as far as the roof over her head goes. If my water-heater goes out, I might be able to live for some time with cold water until I can get it fixed or work out some other solution. However, with a renter, I’m not the only one to consider. With her living under my roof, as my tenant, I’m now saddled with the responsibility of fulfilling contractual obligation to my tenant. As our agreement states

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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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I was driving down the road the other day with a friend of mine when I had one of my sudden, spastic “Oh crap, I forgot to…” moments.  It’s usually a quasi-voluntary reaction that often comes without explanation to those around.  This generally contributes to the hypothesis that I’m crazy.  Anyway, enough about my eccentricities, that’s a blog entry for another day.

My friend asked me what my little knee jerk was all about.  When I explained that I had forgotten to go to the Nichols Hills Town Hall on the 4th to file my homestead exemption he seemed confused.  My friend has owned his home for a few years and had never heard of the homestead exemption.  If he didn’t know what it means, I wonder how many others don’t know.  So, here’s an explanation in my own words:

A homestead exemption is basically a coupon for $1,000 off the assessed value of your home.  This can save you around $100 off your annual tax bill depending on the valuation of your home.  A hundred bucks may not seem like much, but hey, it’s dinner for you and 3 friends.  If you own more than one property, homestead can only be filed on your primary residence.  You only have to file once, unless you change your deed, or change your primary residence.  So, if you purchased a house in 2009 you have until March 15th to file for a discount on this year’s tax bill.  If it’s received after that date, it will kick in next year.  Either way, it’s not a bad return for 10 minutes of filling out a form.  There are other discounts available for those with low incomes as well.  Check with the Assessor’s Page for more information.

Happy Homeowning!

Fallon Brooks is the keeper of one mortgage and two cats… an avid tweeter, who bought her first home October 2009 and enjoys sharing what she learns with other soon-to-be home owners.

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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