ADD A LITTLE COLOR TO YOUR LIFE

A lot of you may live in a drab apartment where you can't paint or do anything awesome. There are ways of adding color without painting or putting too many holes in the wall. A few are:

- Add some beautiful wall art with beautiful colors
- Through accessories. This is my favorite way because you always switch them out inexpensively with changing seasons or if you get bored with them.
- Add some beautiful draperies to the windows. My favorite place to buy curtains is Ross. They have a lot of great curtains for 50-75% off department store prices. The curtains I have in my bedroom were $10.00 a panel at Ross. A few weeks ago I was at Bed Bath and Beyond and I saw the EXACT drapes for $40.00 a panel. I saved $60.00!!!
- Family photos with beautiful colors
- A beautiful area rug. Area rugs can be expensive but remember there is nothing wrong with shopping in the clearance section. You can find beautiful rugs for 1/2 the cost.
- Get your digital camera and take some pictures! Frame them and you can instantly transform a wall or small space with your own photography/art.
- Accent pillows. So accent pillows can be VERY expensive. Most places sell them from $15-$30 (+) each!! Yikes! That can add up super fast. 2 pillows for $50.00??? I don't think so! I also bought my accent pillows at Ross. I paid $8-10 each. I spent less than $50 for 5 pillows instead of $50.00 for 2 pillows and they look fantastic!
- Fresh fruit. Take a glass bowl (which you can find just about anywhere at any price. Even thrift stores have beautiful glass dishes) and fill it with colorful fruit. It will instantly add color to your kitchen.
- Fresh plants and flowers. The key word in there is FRESH. Plastic plants are ok if you keep them to minimum. Fake plants usually 1. you can tell its fake and 2. just collects dust. Not every plant in your home has to be real but if you add a bouquet of fresh flowers to your table every now and again (especially when you have guests) this is a great way to instantly add a touch of nature indoors and a splash of color.
- A colorful homemade headboard. Headboards can be very simple to make. There are endless possibilities. All you need is a little creativity.
- Get a little crafty! As long as you don't make your house look like a kindergarten classroom.
- Dishes. Displayed on shelves or set a nice table setting.
- Frame your favorite wallpaper and turn it into artwork.

These are just a few of my favorite ways to add color to a drab room without the high price tag. If you have any ideas please leave a comment!



Picture from apartmenttherapy.com



This may not be your favorite style...especially for a master bedroom. But I added this to show you how easy making a headboard can be. They just painted a wood board blue, then stenciled the flower on. You could really do anything!

Picture from pointclickhome.com

GRADUATED!!

I finally graduated from the Haverhill Institute of Staging and Design!! YA YA!!

HOT OR COLD KITCHEN FLOOR PLAN?

Trying to figure out if a kitchen is functional or not can be super easy. A very easy and accurate way is to look at a kitchen floor plan and pretend you are making a spaghetti dinner. Walk through the steps of preparing a pasta meal (getting the pasta out of the pantry, the pots needed, the side dishes [salad, bread etc], distance from sink to stove etc.) Think in your head where you would store items, prepare food, clean items, and dispose of waste. You will find that this simple little tip will make a big difference in picking a functional kitchen layout when you are shopping for a home or planning to build a home.



Photograph source: www.myrecipes.com

Another thing to remember when evaluating a kitchen design is the working triangle. The working triangle describes the relationship from the stove, fridge, and sink. These three work spaces should form a functional triangle. In kitchens where multiple cooks will be working, it is a good idea to have two working triangles. An easy way to make this happen is to simply add a small preparation sink (at least 9-10 inches around) in the island.



Floor plan source: www.ehow.com



Floor plan source: www.nkba.org

It can be difficult on a paper floor plan to tell if a dishwasher and oven is is a functional place. An easy way to tell if the location of the dishwasher and oven are functional is to visually open the doors and see what happens. Where does the door fall? If it falls in a major traffic space or somewhere someone could easily trip, they are not in functional places and you may want to re-think the layout.

There are good things and bad things about this kitchen. Take a look at it and see if you can figure out what they are. Remember the working triangle, open doors (where do they fall?), traffic patterns and storage.



Photograph source: www.imagineyourspace.com

HOW TO MIX FABRICS

FABRIC COORDINATION:

It is important to know how to mix fabric types to make a room have character, visual interest and beauty without having chaos. Mixed fabrics and patterns are a beautiful way to do that. To some this process may be overwhelming because they simply just don't know how to mix fabrics. There is a simple way to mix patterns.

1. There are 4 fabric types: Curvilinear, Linear, Geometric, and solid. You can use 1 of each of the first 3 types listed (curvilinear, linear, and geometric) and then as many solids as you like.
A. Curvilinear: Can be identified by curved lines.
B. Linear: Can be identified by straight lines (diamonds, stripes, plaids)
C. Geometric: Can be identified by geometric shapes (Greek key, houndstooth, polka dots etc.)
D. Can be identified by one dominate color. They key to mixing multiple solids is using different textures to add visual interest.

2. Color scheme:
A. Look at the color wheel. Do the colors coordinate? Don't make your fabrics matchy-matchy because that shows no imagination as coordination shows style and personality.
B. It is helpful to have an inspiration piece such as a painting, nature, item, photograph, rug etc. Pull your color scheme from your inspiration piece and then you are sure to like it.

3. Pattern Scale: Small, medium, and large patterns are all subjective to each other. Make sure 1 color or pattern size isn't overpowering the others.

4. Remember the 30-60-10 rule when you are picking colors for your fabrics. Categorize the colors in your color scheme into 1. Main color 2. Secondary color 3. Accent color(s). Use the colors proportionately as to not overpower the eye.
A. 30-60-10 Rule
i. 60%- Main color (walls, sofa etc.)
ii. 30% Secondary color (accent chair/furniture, rug, drapes etc)
iii.10% Accent color(s) (pillows, art, other accessories)

Remember this is a simple and safe way of picking out fabrics with still having style and fun. There is nothing wrong with mixing it up a little bit and adding more geometric patterns or curvilinear patterns etc but make sure to not overwhelm or create chaos by going overboard.

SUMMARY

1. MIX PATTERN TYPES: Curvilinear, Linear, Geometric, and Solids.
2. Color Scheme: Do the colors coordinate? Use an inspiration piece.
3. Scale: Small, Medium, and Large
4. 30-60-10 Rule



Room Source: http://www.housetohome.co.uk

WHAT IS DECLUTTERING??

Have you ever heard the term "De-cluttering?" What is de-cluttering? De-cluttering is the process of eliminating clutter. It includes minor home repair and a very thorough cleaning. This is one of the most important aspects of home staging.

Question: Why is de-cluttering so important when trying to sell a home?

Answer: If a potential buyer is going through a home and the home owners have their collections, personal photographs, or other personal belonging displayed the buyer may become distracted or uncomfortable. If a buyer feels uncomfortable or distracted they will not purchase the home. Remember you are selling walls, lighting, cabinets, flooring NOT your personal treasures so don't let them get in the way of a sale.

De-cluttering can be overwhelming but it is an IMPERATIVE step to get your home sold. Once the de-cluttering is complete, one's perspective of a rooms potential will be much more clear. If you can only take one home alteration step when selling your home I would highly, HIGHLY recommend you pick to de-clutter.

Healey Home

The Healey home was a project I did for my staging accreditation certificate. I did this home with things I found around the house. There was a 0.00 dollar budget.