How to Arrange Furniture

Monday, October 14, 2013

The typical homeowner will arrange furniture in one of two ways. Either she will place furnishings where they seem to function best -- an end table snug up next to the sofa, chairs clustered around the dining table -- or she will place furniture as if on display, maybe the way her mother or grandmother arranged furniture decades ago

When a home is on the market, each of these approaches, done without an understanding of home staging, can work against making the right impression on buyers. Today, homes need to look terrific in photographs. But they also need to be believable, practical, and functional.   

I’ve collected all the tips and tricks, all the best professional designer advice, all the guidelines and formulas in one place -- an eBook devoted exclusively to arranging furniture to make rooms look better and function better, too. I wrote with the home seller in mind, someone staging her own home to sell it fast for a good price. But the advice will resonate with anyone who takes pride in her home and wants it to look its best. 

Sitting areas should feel cozy but not cramped.

Whether it's formal or not, the dining room's importance can't be underestimated.
 
To look inviting, bedrooms should always feature more than 
the bed.  
A fireplace in the room presents a number of possibilities. Which one is right? 
Every buyer wants spaciousness. Furniture placement can enhance the appearance of roominess.
The size and style of furnishings are just as important as where they are placed.  

Here are the kinds of topics I cover in this easy-to-understand eBook --  

  • How to create a dining room that gets used!
  • What to do about a corner fireplace
  • 4 Unusual ways to test your furniture arrangement
  • How to find a focal point
  • How to take measurements and when not to bother
  • 7 Tips that make a home office function well
  • How to make large rooms feel comfortable and small rooms feel spacious
  • What to do about a path that goes between television and couch
  • How to easily place wall art
  • Best arrangements for narrow rooms
  • Plus tips on 
          Lighting
          Rugs
          Bookshelves
          Family Rooms
          and -- especially -- Staging your home for sale

Don't let poor furniture arrangement ruin your chances to impress buyers, 
whether they are seeing your home online, on a cell video, or on a personal home tour.

  I’ve titled my extra-helpful book 
It’s a 25-page pdf that you download now.


Polka Dot Pumpkins and Getting Thrifty

Thursday, October 03, 2013

Do you want to sell your home? 
Is it staged to tell home buyers that you care about your home?

It doesn’t take much to put out a happy, positive message to buyers, starting with the outside entry.

Sweep the area near the door. 

Knock down the cobwebs. 

Put out a new welcome mat


Now’s the time to add some seasonal décor, too. You have most of October and November to show your colors – the colors of autumn.

Keep It Simple

I concentrated on green this fall. And it worked fine indoors. But green just doesn’t have the punch for a festive front entry.

So, I chose black, white and orange as a theme. I recycled a grapevine wreath I made a couple years ago by striping it, spraying it white, and gluing on some bows and balls. I made three fabric pumpkins. And I bought some mums. Done.  

With those elements, I was able to dress up this home’s front step. 

I hung the wreath on the storm door so it could be seen from the road.
I prefer a grapevine wreath to one of foam or straw because it's
lightweight and stands up to all kinds of weather.   
Polka dots are one of my favorite patterns, and I think most people are charmed by
them, so I made three polka dot bows. I like to use odd numbers  when constructing
a wreath. A 40% off coupon saved me when I bought these plastic (unbreakable!)
bulbs that came as a package from Michaels. 
 
A strip of ribbon glued to a plain plastic flower pot dresses it up.
It was the scrap I had left from a roll of ribbon.  The mums tie the colors
of the front door to the colors in the wreath.


Fabric pumpkins are surprisingly easy to make. These three took me about an hour,
from ironing the fabric to gluing on the driftwood stems. Start with a long rectangle,
stitch or glue the short ends together, then gather the long ends and stuff.
Drapery weight fabric works best for pumpkins. These sit under a porch roof, so
they are protected from wet weather. I stuffed them with filling from an old pillow.
 
Don't ask me why I had bright orange polka dot fabric in the back of
my fabric closet, but it came in handy to repeat the wreath's polka dot motif. 
The fabric for this pumpkin is an old linen tablecloth. The silk 
leaves and embroidery thread wrap-arounds are optional. 

Whether your home is for sale, or you just want a welcoming entryway, now’s the time of year to celebrate fall and boost your curb appeal at the same time. It's easy and economical if you do it yourself, keep it simple, and recycle. 

If you are selling your home and you want encouragement and a whole host of tips for staging it yourself, download my popular DIY Home Staging Tips to Sell Your Home Fast and for Top Dollar. 


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