Nicole Hurst (Your Halton & Peel Home Staging Expert)

As the weather gets a little milder, the weekend Open House signs are starting to pop up like crazy in the Georgetown, Mississauga, Brampton and Milton area. Cole House Design (a home staging and interior decorating firm in the area) has recently stopped by a few, and was surprised at the number of home owners who have neglected to think of curb appeal and outdoor spaces, even in the early Spring. Front and back yards with terrific outdoor decor, can be key selling features even when it is not 80 degrees outside.

Of the homes we visited, the weather has obviously not been warm enough for many to deal with their yards. I noticed that patio furniture was dusty and piled against the fence, or it was being stored in the garage or basement. It would be in a seller's best interest to get out the patio furniture and wipe it down. Setting it up in a simple conversational arrangement is ideal with two chairs and an end table (photo courtesy of Home Depot Canada). If chair cushions look a bit tired, home decor stores have new ones out already. You can certainly take them with you when you move, so splurge a little and update your patio set. Although it is still a little cool for the umbrella to be cranked open, make sure the barbecue is out and also clean and tidy.

The stain or paint that should have been redone at the end of last summer by many home owners was also showing its age on many backyard decks Cole House Design visited. Overall, these outdoor spaces which could be a big selling feature, were looking forgotten and run down. Of course, it's still too cool to stain or paint, but when trying to market a house in the early Spring, it is always a good idea to give decks and patios a thorough sweep. Purchasing a terrific doormat for the back door, something Spring-like and colourful, is also a great idea!

Purchasing a few Spring blooms (daffodils, hyacinth, and crocuses) and planting a variety of them in big planters at the front door, makes a home show well from the street. A mat for the front door/porch is also a terrific idea, and will give potential buyers something to remember your property by if they plan to attend numerous open houses in a weekend.

Take a minute to pick up the dead branches and leaves leftover from the Fall on your lawns. Do not remove mulch from the beds though, as this is an insulating factor your plants need until our temperatures warm up more here in southern Ontario. While outside, pull the Winter accummulation of papers and recycling out of your bushes and hedges. Rake up any clumps of dead grass sitting on top of your lawn, and sweep off the driveway removing dirty tire tracks leftover from the Winter.

Cole House Design says that all of the time and effort you take in cleaning up your outdoor spaces and improving your home's curb appeal will pay off. Colourful outdoor decor will be a pleasant welcome for visitors, and all of your hard work will hopefully promote a quick sale!

For more help with staging your home indoors or out, contact Cole House Design!

Thanks for reading!

Sincerely,

Nicole Hurst - (President)

www.colehousedesign.com

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 on Ontario, including Georgetown, Mississauga, Brampton, Milton, Oakville, Acton, Erin, Rockwood, and surrounding area.)

Cole House Design has staged numerous homes in the Halton and Peel regions of Ontario as of late. And many of those home owners have asked us the same probing question - "do I really have to stage my closets too?". Now most of these clients had closets bulging at the seams, and they were all a little concerned about what we would uncover. But the answer is always the same, "YES".

Now I am no Martha Stewart, and I will admit that I have never staged a coat closet quite to the degree she has below (even though the photo is inspiring). But potential home buyers WILL look in coat closets, linen closets, bedroom closets, kitchen and bathroom cabinets, and armoires during open houses and showings - GUARANTEED. So be prepared, and make sure your closets and cabinets are neat and orderly!

Cole House Design can help you get things tidied up and re-organized, and bring new life back to an old coat closet. As seen in the photo below, of one transformed during a home staging in Mississauga, Ontario.

Here are Cole House Design's quick and easy tips to help you through the dreaded coat closet clean-up:

• Pack up your family's out of season jackets and place in storage.
• Do the same for either the winter boots or the flip flops, depending on the season.
• Purchase a set of wooden hangers (perfect for heavy jackets), and discard those ugly and mismatched wire and plastic hangers. We purchased the ones above at our local Ikea.
• Install some simple wooden shelves or place a small wooden shelving unit at the base of the closet for shoe storage. Plastic ones do not typically hold up well under the weight of numerous pairs of shoes. The ones we used above were purchased at our local Home Depot.
• Place baskets or bins along the top shelf for storage of hats and mitts, sunglasses, silk scarves, purses, or any other miscellaneous items you may need while getting ready to leave.
• Place a small hook inside the door for your pet's leash and collar (if need be).
• Tuck umbrellas neatly upright in the corner of the closet in an umbrella stand or do as I do, and place them upright in my rubber boots (if you need to put your boots on, then you will likely need the umbrella too - LOL).
• If you have no room for an entry hall table near the front door, a small key rack can also be installed inside the closet for easy storage of keys.

Last but not least, don't forget to install a mirror somewhere between the coat closet and front door, so you can check your appearance one last time before leaving for the day!

If you have a catastrophe of a closet, contact Cole House Design for assistance! We would be more than happy to help! For a list of our other services, please check out our website at www.colehousedesign.com. Thanks for reading!

Sincerely,

Nicole Hurst - (President)

www.colehousedesign.com

Phone 416-878-0338

(Cole House Design is a home staging and interior decorating firm serving Georgetown, Acton, Mississauga, Oakville, Brampton, Milton, Rockwood, Erin, and surrounding areas.)

Cole House Design has staged and redesigned many a kitchen since we started our home staging and interior decorating firm. I was emailed this week actually about one kitchen transformation that is currently on the portfolio page of our website. The lady had to know what colour the walls were, as she had a similar kitchen and wanted to repaint. I looked at the photo and realized that I had never even mentioned it on my blog, and it is likely one of our favourite kitchen transformations (oops)!

This kitchen had natural maple cabinetry, and the laminate countertops were black with a grey and brown fleck. The tile floor was a pale grey. The original wall colour was a dark mustard. The home owner at this property believed that you picked paint colours to match something in each room. For example, she thought the kitchen cabinets looked yellow, so she painted the walls yellow. She had a taupe leather couch, so the living room was painted taupe. I'm sure you see where I'm going with this - everything blended in very well!!

The original kitchen light fixture was a brassy gold colour. The cabinet hardware was black and oversized, and the finish was beginning to flake off. The breakfast bar was unused, and there was a huge kitchen table (which was oak), that was jammed in the middle of the eating area, restricting flow to the back door and yard. The countertop was inundated with spice bottles and small appliances, and you couldn't eat at the table without first moving the office work.

So how did Cole House Design transform this Georgetown, Ontario kitchen:

• we first had the room painted in Benjamin Moore "RUST"
• we replaced the brass light fixture to a contemporary halogen fixture in a brushed stainless finish
• we also replaced the cabinet hardware with something slightly smaller, in a brushed stainless as well
• we replaced the kitchen table with a maple one that matched the cabinetry and was smaller, thus fitting better in the space
• we added black wrought iron stools to the breakfast bar, as well as black chairs to the kitchen table
• we made sure all of the small appliances and spice bottles were neatly stowed away
• we placed some decorative accessories around the room and purchased new towels to coordinate with the new paint colour

Working with a small budget, Cole House Design had redesigned this space into a funky new kitchen...the breakfast bar could now be used which you weren't able to before, and there was now access to the backyard which was difficult in the past. And that paint colour - still one of my favourites to this day!

Thanks for reading!

Sincerely,

Nicole Hurst - (President)

www.colehousedesign.com

Phone 416-878-0338

(Cole House Design serves the Halton and Peel Regions of Ontario offering the following services; home staging, interior decorating, colour consultations, online staging, interior redesign, and much more.)

Cole House Design recently came across a supposed home staging blog on http://www.realestateblooms.com/. At first I thought it was another article on the benefits of home staging, however as I read on, it started to get a little strange. I am assuming the article was NOT written by an actual home stager.

Here are a few excerpts from the article. Note that I have not altered the wording or the spelling mistakes for that matter (LOL). Read on to see if you find it odd as well!

"Here are some excellent tips for staging your home:

• Remove all the clutters.
• Sell the old canned goods, light bulbs, and similar other unnecessary items.
• Putting up few nice wall hangings will elevate the room decor.
• You can get hold of a professional real estate agent who can help you in getting an interior designer, painter, and plumber to get your home staging done.
• Spray room freshener all around so that your home smells good.
• Small decorative things like vases, scented candles can be used to make your rooms look larger.
• Playing a soft music in the background on the day of the buyer's visit can help in camouflaging traffic noise."

Well if nothing else...it gave me my laugh of the day (LOL)!!

With blogs like this to be easily found on the internet, you can begin to understand why numerous home owners and Realtors are confused on what we as professional home stagers ACTUALLY DO to improve the sale of a property.

Cole House Design is a home staging and interior redesign firm serving the Halton and Peel Regions of Ontario. With our knowledgeable advice and professional service, we can help you attract the quality buyers you are looking for!

Thanks for reading!

Sincerely,

Nicole Hurst - (President)

www.colehousedesign.com

Phone 416-878-0338

(Cole House Design, experts in home staging and interior decorating serves Georgetown, Mississauga, Brampton, Milton, Oakville and area.)

Cole House Design, a home staging and interior redesign company located in Georgetown, Ontario, recently received a promo for a Feng Shui company who also does home staging. Near the end of the email I was surprised to see they offer a "guarantee" on their work. Here's a portion of the email:

"Applying the principles of Feng Shui to sell your home will increase your selling price and reduce the time your home stays on the market. When the Feng Shui is done correctly, your home will sell within 30 days of its listing, guaranteed."

I will be honest, Cole House Design does not offer this sort of guarantee. However...

I DO GUARANTEE that we offer professional home staging service, knowledgeable advice, and that our customer service is second to none!

And based on the homes we staged in 2008, all of our client's properties sold within an average of 23 days on the market!

I have never heard of "guaranteed to sell in 30 days" home staging. Statistics prove that staged homes sell faster and for more money, but no one has ever claimed that staging will guarantee a sale in 30 days or less (especially in today's current real estate market).

Home sales are based on three factors: condition, location and price.

If Cole House Design improves the condition of the property through home staging, and the location is good, but the price is astronomical for the neighbourhood...then I would not want to be blamed for the house not selling.

My question is - do any home stagers offer a guarantee or something similar on the work they do?

Thanks for reading!

Sincerely,

Nicole Hurst - (President)

www.colehousedesign.com

Phone 416-878-0338

(Cole House Design is a professional home staging and interior decorating firm serving the Halton and Peel Regions of Ontario including Georgetown, Mississauga, Milton, Brampton, and Oakville.)