A Beautiful Home that We Staged is for Sale in Bayport NY

We staged a lovely, custom built home in Bayport NY last week.  If you are looking for a beautiful, family home on Long Island - with all the amenities and custom finishes...this is for you.

If you are interested in seeing this property, please call the listing agent, Anthony Pellicane of Simplicity Real Estate at 516 852-9753

For home staging help, please call me at 631 793-1315



US Home Sellers Should Take Some Cues from Sweden

While perusing Pinterest this morning, I came across some beautiful photos of a home for sale in Sweden.  It's so serene, uncluttered - just lovely.  I thought I'd show it on my blog today - hopefully some homesellers will gain some inspiration to declutter and get their homes buyer ready.

Image Credits, Emmas Blogg

Another "What Not to do When Selling Your Home" Blogpost

"The Univited Stager" Saturday Series....Continues.

Today I wanted to do a roundup of some of the funniest Kitchen and Bath listings on the Internet.  Some of these are still for sale. When you list your house, your kitchen and bathrooms are of paramount importance. People will buy your home based on the beauty, warmth and functionality of these rooms.  So make sure yours look great!

1) Banish Clutter: Buyers want to know that they will have ample space to put their things away.  This home yells "there's no room in this kitchen!"

Source: Ugly House Photos

2) "Honey did you see the note I left you in the kitchen that the realtor is bringing a potential buyer over today?  No?  What...you couldn't find it?"

From Real Estate Rumble

3) "Yes there's plenty of storage space in this kitchen and we'll show you!"

From Hooked on Houses

4) This Texas family let the kids design the kitchen! And there's the designer!

From Hooked on Houses

5) From the people who gave you the Open Kitchen....

From Hooked on Houses

6) You may love your kitties - but some buyers may not and some may even be allergic. So, don't be too obvious with your pet paraphrenalia!  I once did a staging consultation for a woman who had 19 cats (and one dog). Believe it or not the home was immaculate - but she refused to downsize the number of litter boxes and other cat items.  Guess what - the house did not sell.  Wonder why??

7) "We're swinging sellers!  Don't worry, we'll be busy barbequing and we won't look when you are in the bathroom."  And...what the heck is that thing on the sink?

From Lovely Listing



8) And this is my favorite - the fish sink! Don't let the cat from #6 see this! He'll be sooo jealous!

From Lovely Listing

So that's it for today from the "Uninvited Stager." Remember to de-clutter, remove pet paraphrenalia, don't let your kids do any designing, close all your cabinetry doors, make your bathrooms private - and if you have any "taste specific" items like the aquarium sink - it's best to remove them because most buyers will go "Huh?"

If you are having any trouble selling your home, please give me a call at 631 793-1315.  I can help you! 

Happy Selling!

Want to Win $5000 worth of Furniture from Raymour & Flanigan?

Do you need some new furniture - just about everybody does, right?  Especially when you are selling your home.  Why don't you enter their contest to win $5000 worth of new furniture?

Source

Just go to this LINK on their Facebook page to find out the particulars.  On Facebook, they have a link to their site where you can create a beautiful room of your choosing and then enter it to hopefully win.

It's worth a shot.  So, get going and give it a whirl. The contest ends in mid-February - so get going right now!

Have fun...and you never know.  You may win!  Good Luck!

I am Still a Cheerleader for the Homeseller

Back in High School, I was a cheerleader for Bayside High School in New York. I had a lot of fun doing it...I loved cheering our sports teams on to victory!  We wound up winning several championships while I was there in basketball and football.

I am still cheering - but for the homeseller who needs to sell quickly and profitably.  I cheer them (and their realtors) on as they market their properties in this rough and tumble real estate market.  When you have a great team - a seasoned realtor and an experienced home stager - it's much easier to win this real estate game.

If you are about to put your home on the market, don't just put it out there and see what happens.  You need a game plan.  Let me help you to succeed - with my great home staging ideas and successful and knowledgeable realtor recommendations that I can make.

S-U-C-C-E-S-S...That's the way we spell Success!  Happy selling!!

PS If you didn't know which one was me - I am in the middle of the second row from the top...with my goofy hair parted in the middle!

Artwork Can Help Give a Room Some Life

I have been sorely absent from my blog and I apologize.  Life takes over sometimes - and time just slips away. Today I just wanted to give you some ideas on how to give your home more zip and punch when it's on the market. 

A fresh, neutral paint job always helps a room...but after that you need to add some color back into the room to give it a lift.  Adding a colorful throw and pillows or perhaps a colorful rug can add some zing to the room. 

Above, this home in Seaford NY (that you've seen on this blog) has just sold. Without the colorful accents and artwork, this room would have looked very dull. The color gives it a lift - for very little money. 

The powder room above, in a $3.5 million home that sold in 3 weeks, gets a little facelift with a beautiful metallic plaster in a sage green on the walls, an inexpensive gold mirror...plus a beautiful piece of artwork framed in black.  Left plain white, as the builder had it, it looked uninspiring.  Small changes will give you more bang for your buck.

Here are some prints being offered right now (the offer expires in 2 days - so you'll have to act fast) from One King's Lane.  If you don't know about this online site, you should sign up HERE because they offer some great furniture, bedding, candles, mirrors, artwork and other home decor items at discount prices - especially wonderful at this gift-giving time of year.

This framed fish print, for only $79, would look great in a bathroom

Here's another - but slightly more expensive at $159 because of the beautiful frame

For $159, this would look beautiful in a Master Bath or Powder Room

This is a little pricier, at $269, but these antique bird prints would look wonderful

in a den, library or great room

This one I want for myself!  It would look great in a bath or a ladies' dressing room

Not as colorful - but so elegant for $139!  Shells are a great accent for any home.

Another shell print for $139

Add this pair of fish prints in a man's office, den or library - at $139 each.

So sign up and try the One Kings Lane site out - I know that you will find some wonderful items there.  Whether for staging or for your own home or as gifts, the site offers some great deals on a daily basis. I buy my staging items there - as well as for my own home.

If you need some help staging your home or listing, give me a call.  Whether it's vacant - or it's been on the market for a long time with no success...I can help you.  Give me a call at 631 793-1315.

An Open House Today in Seaford NY, from 1-3PM

Hope to See Some of You at This Open House in Seaford


When: Sunday, September 25 from 1-3PM
Where: 4058 Meadow Lane, Seaford NY

You will get to see some of my staging inventory because this was a vacant property that we staged for sale...and you'll get some great ideas of what to do in your own home.

Hope to see some of you there today!

Linda

Another Renovated Home for Sale in North Bellmore NY

We created another beautiful satged home for a real estate investor in N. Bellmore NY.  The home was lovely - but cold and uninviting - because there was no furnishings and accessories to liven it up.

Here are some after shots...

Beautiful Dining Room...

Entryway

Bedroom

Master Bedroom 1

Master Bedroom 2

Baby's Room

Living Room

It's Shakespeare's Birthday - So Why Not Link Up Some of His Quotes as They Relate to Home Staging!

Happy Birthday William Shakespeare!  People who have known me for a long time know me as a lover of English Literature...especially William Shakespeare.  And as old English majors never die - here are some thoughts about how some Shakespearean quotes might apply to staging a home for sale (and - of course - how some people don't do anything to get theirs ready!!).

From As You Like It..."Can one desire too much of a good thing?"

From "Hooked on Houses," this really appeared as a photo from a house for sale.

Apparently, Elvis has not left the building!

From James Swann, 101 Things I Hate About Your House

Oh boy - why didn't the realtors say anything to this homeseller?? From Ugly House Photos

Hamlet said "Hold a mirror up to nature," but he forgot to give realtors advice

about how to take photos of small spaces with mirrors.



"Nothing will come of nothing," is a quote from King Lear.  So - always sell your home furnished.  Also, don't just give up and sell "as is" - because you will get an "as is" offer or none at all.  We staged the home below in less than a day - for a very modest monthly rental and it sold in 30 days. 

Before...

After - with our "Value Line" furnishings

You can make the most of a small space - it takes clutter control, editing and some creativity but it can be done.  Home buyers want "space." but when you make your small rooms functional and beautiful - they sell. Just remember this quote from Hamlet... "O God, I could be bounded in a nutshell, and count myself a king of infinite space…”

Designer Chad Eisner, created a great space in a small kitchen. From House Beautiful

A small but beautiful bedroom, from HGTV. The horizontal stripes

add a calmness to the room - just like looking at the horizon.

This design also gives the perception that a room is wider

Propero, in The Tempest, said "We are such stuff as dreams are made on," - so you need to give a buyer a picture that's much better than your ordinary life.  They need to see the dream of the lifestyle that they want to live. 

From the Finnish magazine Avotakka, via Hooked on Houses blog

Photographer Mauricio Fuertes, via Inspire to Desire

So "Brush up your Shakespeare, start quoting him now (from Kiss Me Kate) and you'll be a wiser home seller.  Remember, Shakespeare wrote..."People usually are the happiest at home". So when they come to view your home - give them a reason to feel and be happy!
If you would like to create a happy home for buyers to fall in love with, call Linda at 631 793-1315 today.  We have two convenient locations - my home office in Great River and my studio at 325 Main Street in Huntington NY.