Home Improvement for Women

Home staging – the art of making your home highly appealing in today’s volatile real estate market is a smart way to spark buyer interest that can result in a quicker (and potentially more profitable) sale. When done well, staging can make your home look bigger, brighter, cleaner and, best of all, like the kind of space a potential buyer can imagine moving right into. Brokers have used professional stagers for years, but there’s no reason you can’t implement some of their most effective strategies yourself.

The first step is to clear the clutter. If you haven’t used something in three months, box it up and store it away; if you haven’t used it in a year, get rid of it. If you can’t do either, find a place to hide it, like a covered container. Be ruthless with furniture, too. Professional stagers often remove half of the owner’s furnishings, leaving rooms looking much bigger.

Once the clutter is gone, you can swap out furniture and accessories among rooms; it can give your house a fresh new look without spending any money.

Choose a few pieces of appealing art, and be creative about how you display them. Try grouping pictures, staggering them a bit higher or lower than the next. Or position them in a triangular arrangement. If you have high ceilings, consider hanging art in a verticle line to accentuate their height.

Remove heavy drapery and replace with something light and airy. Natural light improves the look of any space and makes a room appear larger. Extend curtain rods to make narrow windows seem wider. If your ceilings are low, hang the rods at the ceiling line and let the curtains create an illusion of height.

Once you’ve let the sun shine in, turn your attention to the artificial lighting in your home. Most rooms aren’t shown off to their best advantage because they are improperly lit. Aim for about 100 watts (use a variety of light fixtures) per 50 square feet of space. Once you’ve got lighting in place, install dimmers so you can vary brightness levels according to your mood and the time of day.

Don’t be surprised if after all your hard work, you find yourself wondering why you ever wanted to move in the first place. Do it Barbara’s Way!

For more tips, videos and how-to’s, visit barbarasway.com

Are you putting off looking for a new, bigger place until the economy improves, your bank account is bigger or your debt is smaller? The good news is that the place you’re in probably isn’t as cramped as you think. There are lot of ways to expand without doing a full-blown renovation or addition. Here are some affordable suggestions for taking advantage of unused, or underutilized, space in your home.

IN THE KITCHEN

Make short cabinets taller by using the top of the cabinet as a shelf. Take off the old door and replace it with a 42-inch door. Lowe’s and Home Depot both sell stock cabinet doors. And Naked Kitchen Cabinet Doors (nakedkitchencabinetdoors.com) has them starting at $9.95. Cup hooks can be screwed under a cabinet or shelf to hold mugs; pot racks hold cookware; a plant hook in the ceiling holds baskets for produce and other supplies. Spice racks, adjustable sheet racks, plate racks and over-the-door racks can store everything from herbs to extra bottles of ketchup to cleaning products. Elfa door and wall storage systems are on sale now at the Container Store, with prices starting at $6.99.

IN THE BATHROOM

Replace your tiny medicine cabinet with a bigger one. Most cabinets come right out of the wall with the help of a screwdriver, and a deeper or taller one can be installed in its place. Floating shelves, available at IKEA, Home Depot and Target, offer smart, attractive storage solutions for a bathroom, especially tight spaces. They can stylishly display rolled and stacked towels, toiletries or even a pretty pyramid of toilet paper. IKEA’s “Lack” floating wall shelves start at $9.99. Baskets – the classic storage standby – can be stacked on shelves or under the sink to corral all sorts of loose items, such as a hair dryer, linens and bath products.

IN THE LIVING ROOM

Place a blanket or hope chest – easy to find at flea markets and second-hand stores or online – under your window, doubling as storage and seating with a view. There are several attractive examples, many with cedar lining, starting at $99 on eBay. Use storage cubes as a coffee table: They keep extra blankets and remote controls accessible but out of sight. Crate & Barrell sells leather versions (in green and red) for $149. Turn a book case into an office by removing two of the lower middle shelves and installing cork at the back (for tacking up important papers) and a deeper shelf that extends out to form a desk.

IN THE BEDROOM

Take advantage of the height of your closet by installing multiple shelves to hold out-of-season duds and rarely used items. Use baskets for efficient storage. And add a simple shelf 6 inches from the floor of the closet to add more surface area for your shoes. A pull-down clothing rack installed in the closet can double the space for clothing. Kitchen Source (www.kitchensource.com) sells these items for less than $125 each. Put your bed on sturdy plastic risers, available at big-box stores, to add up to 6 inches of storage space underneath. Target sells a set of four for $9.99 – if you are raising a queen or king size bed with six legs, buy two sets. A shelf installed around the perimeter of a bedroom (lower for a child’s room, higher for adults) can neatly hold artwork, collectibles, toys, books – even handbags and shoes if they look good!

See how easy that was! Now enjoy your “bigger” and more organized space. Do it Barbara’s Way!

So another new year is upon us and that “Rosy Red” paint chip didn’t quite turn out to be the color you thought it was going to be! Sometimes repainting your living room or rearranging your furniture (again!) isn’t enough to really freshen up the look of your space. However, with some imagination and a modest investment (around $500 or less) you can make dramatic changes to the appearance of your home.What better way to start the year “fresh” than with a little face lift for the home. Nothing gives quite the feeling of looking forward to a brand new year than repairing and replacing things to give your home a comfortable, clean, and organized start.

Here’s my list of top ten make-over’s – one or more will refresh tired living rooms and revamp boring kitchens and baths.

Always use my new Barbara’s Way/Isotoner gloves to make the work easier (and to protect your manicure!)

1. Kitchen facelift! You will not be able to replace your countertops with granite or marble for $500, but laminate now comes in many styles that mimic stone or look gloriously mod. You might be able to replace worn laminate with new laminate for about that price depending on the size of your kitchen. Then paint your kitchen cabinets a glossy white and add new handles and knobs. Adding new knobs are easy. All you will need is a screwdriver (or power screwdriver). There! You’ve got yourself a new look kitchen for $500!
2. Lighten up! Change the hanging fixtures and add sconces to the walls of your living room or bedroom. Depending on the cost of the fixtures, you can find replacement lighting in a new style and have it installed by a licensed electrician for about $500 per room. Check eBay for vintage versions (new wiring may be a must) or big home centers for modern looks.
3. Roll out the carpet! Cover a floor with sisal or jute cut and trimmed with a contrasting fabric to almost cover the entire floor. It’s a wall-to-wall look without the hassle. Jute and sisal rugs give your rooms a modern look, and also allow traditional Oriental rugs to stand out.
4. Fixture it! Change all fixtures in your bathroom. Mount extra shelves, and new towel bars, bathrobe hooks, shower set, and soap dish. Save on labor costs and do it yourself. At first glance, this may seem daunting especially if you have a tile wall and shower, but with the right tools it’s pretty simple. Make sure you have my 12 volt drill with variable speeds and a set of masonry drill bits – and if you don’t own one, buy one! Place heavy duty tape over the tile where you are going to drill and use toggle bolts which help strengthen and distribute the weight of what you are hanging.
5. Clean up! Regrout Bathroom Tile! If you’re like most people you’ve put this job off for too long! The best time to deal with this problem is as soon as you see cracks that indicate the wall grout has failed. Extract the existing grout by using an abrasive grout saw to remove as much grout as possible from the joint. Make sure you vacuum all debris and dust. Clean the grout with a commercial mildew remover to remove all mildew. Make sure the surface dries thoroughly. Apply the grout with a grout trowel and spread diagonally across the tile going over the area 2-3 times using your fingers where you have too
6. Replace window shades! Replace mini blinds or paper shades with bamboo or matchstick blinds. Big box stores such as Target and K-Mart sell good quality, but inexpensive versions. For $500 you can probable unify and outfit 3-4 rooms…these types of blinds never go out of style and always look chic, especially when draperies are layered over them.
7. Mirror it! Hang large mirrors in your living room or bedroom instead of art work Large mirrors bring sparkle and light into rooms, make the space feel bigger, and give it a chic, modern look. A great tip. To locate the right spot on your wall for heavier mirrors use construction paper or newspaper. Trace the mirror or picture on the paper and use tape to hang the paper on the wall. Then step back to look, so you know the exact spot and you’re not fumbling for it while holding the heavy mirror. I do it all the time!!
8. Minimize and replace! De-clutter one room – and be ruthless. Everyone usually has too much “stuff” in their rooms, not too little. Simplify, and get rid of any furniture or accessories that are broken, ugly, old, or tired. Then, bring one new piece into the room – such as a sculpture, a new rug, a fabulous pair of table lamps, a side chair, or coffee table. If you shop wisely, each of these items can be found for $500 or less.
9. Material change! Change the entire look of your rooms by replacing their drab or broken doorknobs. There are so many styles to choose from now and this is a project you can do on a weekend. Go to any home center or hardware store and pick out the style that best suits your taste. Make sure you keep all the parts organized. All you will need is a screwdriver or power screwdriver for quicker action. All the appropriate hardware usually comes with the doorknob. Remove the existing doorknob by loosening the two screws that hold the plate on (if there is one, you may have to remove the cover (usually by turning it) to get to the screws). Pull the two sides of the doorknob apart and remove it and then the two screws holding the bolt. To install the new knob, place the trim piece between the new doorknob and the door and insert the doorknob into the hole in the door. Insert the other side of the doorknob with the trim piece on the opposite side of the door making sure the two are aligned. Insert the screws and tighten. Add the covers if there are any and you’re done!
10. Stencil Painting! Cover one or more of the walls of your bedroom or living room with new paint using stenciling. This effect will make it look like you spent thousands of dollars on some fancy wallpaper. I created an elaborate looking headboard out of stenciling using great colors. It’s a project you can do on a weekend that costs less than $200 (and that included some expensive paint)! Buy the stencil for pennies at any good hardware or paint store.

Now you’re on the road to total independence!