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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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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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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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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Thanks to the first-time home buyer tax credit, first-timers everywhere are clamoring to get their closing date set before the November 30th deadline. As a first-time home buyer, the buying process was a big enough stressor for me, but actually filing for the credit can seem almost as confusing as understanding all those closing documents. Have no fear, It’s actually a pretty simple process and should only require about an hour of your time. You can choose to file for the tax credit on your 2009 taxes, or you can amend your 2008 taxes and get your refund a little faster, here’s how:

First, fill out form 5405.

Don’t let all the tax jargon and instructions fool you, read the instructions carefully. There’s not much clarity on what to send in with the 5405 Form, so I’ll break it down for you.

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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

I love home-improvement projects. There’s just something about improving an area or feature of your home and enjoying the benefits of it when you’re done. Saving a little money on it might be another reason to do it yourself

Our back yard is one of our favorite places, and our pergola is just one of the many things that help it feel like an extra living space. In fact, pergolas may be one of the things I suggest most often to my clients who’ve just bought a house that really has no flair outdoors.

Here’s a great little do-it-yourself guide to building a pergola of your own. Now get to work expanding your living space without the expense of adding square-footage to your home.