Nicole Hurst (Your Halton & Peel Home Staging Expert)

Cole House Design has recently attended a few fall open houses in the Halton region, and I was surprised at what we found. Although many of the homes had wonderful interiors, the outside of the houses had been neglected and or forgotten about. Although Mother Nature can sometimes throw us all a curve ball this time of year, especially here in the north, curb appeal is still very important when selling your home.

Here are some things that we found in the front yards of many homes we saw:

Although no one enjoys raking leaves...if potential buyers have to walk through piles of them to get to the front door, they may think the rest of the home has also been neglected.

When travel trailers or utility trailers are not being used, store them off-site while selling your home, not directly in front of the garage.

If a family of wasps built a nest in your front window at the end of the summer, it is definitely time to deal with it. Something as big and ugly as this one was, would just scare buyers away...period.

Although this turquoise colour is likely cheery and bright to the current homeowners, it is over the top to most buyers. Always paint trim and garage doors in neutral colours to compliment your brick or stonework, not to make them jump out.

While your house is listed, a dumpster may tell buyers that your home is under construction, that it is full of junk and you are finally getting rid of it, or that perhaps something is horribly wrong and you are dealing with it (like a flooded basement or leaky roof). It is always best to undertake clutter and construction BEFORE the house goes on the market, or take it off the market while you have necessary work completed.

If this is what greets potential buyers as they walk up to your home, they may wonder if the rest of your house is dead and lifeless as well.

Although this home had a beautiful front walkway...most buyers would only notice the dirt spread over it, the grass growing between the flagstones, and the cheap plastic chair sitting haphazardly by the driveway. Not a good first impression!

And on one final note. If potential buyers can't even see the house when they drive by...invest in a good pair of hedge clippers and trim those trees and bushes!

For more tips on curb appeal and preparing your home for sale, visit Cole House Design.

Next week we will be showing photos of what NOT to have in the backyard, while your home is on the market. Thanks for reading!

Sincerely,

Nicole Hurst - (President)

Phone 416-878-0338

www.colehousedesign.com

(Cole House Design provides home staging and interior decorating services to those in the Halton, Peel and Muskoka regions of Ontario.)

Cole House Design was called by a Halton homeowner recently, to assess what could be done to help her plain-jane taupe coloured powder room. Living in a smaller sized house, she had little storage space on the main floor, and was hoping to remedy that by redesigning the bathroom.

The pedestal sink in her powder room provided no storage, so we opted to change it to a wooden vanity with tons of space below the sink. We also added a two bin slide-out garbage can/recycling centre for those pesky toilet paper rolls. The cabinet is done in maple with a dark walnut stain and has slab doors which are very trendy right now. The vanity top is granite with golden hues running throughout, paired with an undermount white sink. We also purchased a new faucet in a simple but modern design.

We exchanged the cheap builder mirror for a painted frame mirror that we picked up for a steal at Canadian Tire. We also purchased a new towel bar, as well as a dual light bathroom fixture all in a brushed stainless finish. The greyish-beige ceramic tiles on the floor were kept the same, as they were neutral and in good condition. The walls were painted in Benjamin Moore "French Toast - CC244", a nice soft buttery-yellow which brightened up the small powder room. We found a large inexpensive canvas at Homesense, as well as some candles and towels, which all added pops of colour to the room.

And all this on a minimal budget! The homeowner loves her new powder room and is ecstatic with the additional storage space. If your home could use a room-redesign, please call Cole House Design!

Thanks for reading!

Sincerely,

Nicole Hurst - (President)

Phone 416-878-0338

www.colehousedesign.com

(Redesigning and staging homes in the Halton, Peel and Muskoka regions of Ontario. Call us today for more details!)

Cole House Design was called to this Muskoka cottage in Gravenhurst, Ontario this past summer. After the homeowner had already reduced the price by $150,000...he was unsure as to why the home just wasn't selling.

After a full home staging consultation (inside and out) by Cole House Design, the homeowner was left with a detailed list of staging recommendations. Being a contractor/builder he was accustomed to the design industry, and decided to complete the staging himself. Although it took him a little while, he followed our recommendations to the letter, and here are some photos of the results:

This loft bedroom was originally being used as a home gym. During our consultation, it was mentioned that a guest bedroom would serve this cottage better. We recommended the new bed linens and where to place the artwork and furniture in the room. With a small bedroom suite actually in storage, the homeowner got it back out and rearranged the bedroom accordingly.

This screened-in porch overlooking the lake was in complete disarray. Cole House Design recommended that some of the antique furniture overcrowding the room, be removed. Other furniture pieces were then spaced out a little more, construction materials were sent to the garage, and fresh flowers were added to draw potential buyers into the room.

This master bedroom was dull and boring, and far from dreamy. We recommended that the bedding be ironed out or new linens would need to be purchased. The bedskirt was missing, the TV cabinet was left open during showings, and their was no artwork in the room. The homeowner fixed the duvet issue, hung new artwork, bought a bedskirt and some throw pillows to add colour to the bed, and promised he would remember to close the armoire every morning (LOL).

After following the staging recommendations given by Cole House Design...this Gravenhurst cottage is SOLD!

Thanks for reading!

Sincerely,

Nicole Hurst - (President)

Phone 416-878-0338

www.colehousedesign.com

(Serving homeowners and realtors in the Muskoka region of Ontario, also known as cottage country - Gravenhurst, Bala, Bracebridge, and Port Carling.)

Cole House Design was hired this summer by a client in Mississauga Ontario who needed some redesign assistance in her home. One of the areas we tackled was a linen closet in the upstairs hallway, which needed to be completely reorganized. The homeowner also wanted the dirty clothes hamper, which had been sitting in the middle of the hall for passerby's to see, moved permanently to the base of the linen closet.

First Cole House Design removed the bottom wire shelf which was actually broken and hanging haphazardly. We purchased a new 3 section laundry hamper so the family could easily open the closet door, and throw in their dirty clothes to the proper section (whites/darks/colours).

We donated all of the unwanted and mismatched sheets and towels to Goodwill. We then sorted all of the remaining sheets into plastic see-through bins so that each family member could easily see which bin pertained to their bedroom. The towels were also sorted into bins for each bathroom, as well as a separate bin for beach towels. The children's bins were placed on the lower shelves so that they could easily reach their own things.

We purchased an ironing door mount kit, which allowed the ironing board and iron to be moved from the basement furnace room, up to the second floor where the homeowner preferred to iron her family's clothing before placing it into each of their bedroom closets.

After completing the transformation, the homeowner called us to let us know that the redesign of the linen closet has made her life much easier and much more enjoyable. Hurray!

For help reorganizing your closets...call Cole House Design today!

Thanks for reading!

Sincerely,

Nicole Hurst - (President)

Phone 416-878-0338

(Cole House Design is a professional and fully insured home staging and interior redesign firm serving the Halton and Peel regions of Ontario including Mississauga, Georgetown, Acton, Milton, Oakville, Brampton, Erin, Rockwood, and surrounding areas.)

Cole House Design, a home staging firm located in Georgetown Ontario completed this staging transformation recently. The home had been a former Georgetown builder's model home in the 1980's and had been decorated in some wild colours like violet and aqua. The homeowners had recently re-painted most of the home beige and cream, and were now looking to sell and downsize. They called Cole House Design to complete the staging transformation.

Here are some of the before and after photos of the staging work done:

Family Room

Master Bedroom

Ensuite Bathroom

Guest Bedroom

Living Room

The staging budget on this home was small, and we had to re-use or repurpose many of the homeowners' things. The big splurge was that of the new furniture for the vacant living room, which the homeowners opted to buy instead of rent, and thus be able to use and enjoy in their next home. Since the homeowners had recently repainted, we could not make any colour changes or do any renovations to the home. We also had a strict timeline of getting the property ready to go on the market, in a little under one week.

The homeowners listed this house at the start of June. It SOLD within the first few weeks of being on the market, and they are currently in the process of moving into their new home.

Thanks for reading!

Sincerely,

Nicole Hurst - (President)

Phone 416-878-0338

www.colehousedesign.com

(Cole House Design is a home staging and interior decorating firm serving the Halton and Peel Regions of Ontario including Georgetown, Milton, Acton, Oakville, Mississauga, Brampton, Caledon, Bolton, Rockwood, Erin, and surrounding area.)