Making Your Space Your Own: Unless You're Selling

When you own your own home, you can do whatever you like to it. Lime green walls, purple walls, crazy window coverings, messed up carpet. But when you're selling, that all changes. This post is about a highly personalized room in my house, which is lovely, but if I were to sell it, it would have to go back to..well.. plain.  Buyers find personalization too distracting when they view your house. Anyway, on to my favorite room in my own house:

Before

My studio has been many things since we moved into this house in 2001. It started as a home office, with a big cherry desk and cherry finish book shelves. Very traditional (read: BORING). Then I started doing more art and needed the space. Before I could make it into an art studio, I needed shelves, which my husband very handily built for me:

You can kind of see the boring light sage green it was painted before when it was just a home office. Say goodbye to drab!

During

When I was creating art full time and teaching kid's art in the studio, messes didn't matter. I completely ruined the carpeting that was in there, but at the time it was ok. My daughter Alex is also very artistic and as long as she was in the studio, she could make art freely without worrying about making a mess. To an outsider, it may have looked like a mess already!

And I found these benches in a neighbor's trash, which I immediately reupholstered:

As a result of growing up with a free space to create, Alex is now a very talented and insightful artist.

Then the studio took on sort of a gypsy feel, with colored scarves in the windows and tiny white lights sparkling across the ceiling. I loved making art in here, or just to curl up with a good book. (See the new upholstery on the free benches? I got it on clearance at Hobby Lobby for $1/yard!)

  Here's what it looked like at night:

So after I started back to school in 2011, I could no longer dedicate myself to art full time. I did, however, need a space to chill, do yoga, read, and do homework. So we redid the room again:

A desk for writing and school work:

Notice: no more carpet! Dark stained bamboo flooring that we did ourselves!
For my birthday I got a big screen Smart TV. One of the free apps is Yoga!

The hubby even installed a surround sound system for my yoga and meditation music. It's not bad for Netflix, either lol!
Sound system: Why do cats always migrate to your electronics?

And my sitting/reading/meditation space:

As I said, this is my favorite room in this house. I want to do bamboo floors in more of the rooms, too. I detest carpeting!

So this room has really gone through a lot of changes in the 13 years we've lived here.

But your space is YOURS and should change and grow with you. Once you buy your own home, you can do whatever you like. Now, if you're selling, of course my advice is to go as neutral as possible!  Potential buyers want to imagine themselves in your house, and they can't do that if you have a lot of personalization going on. But we're not selling any time soon and I think I should enjoy this space while I'm here. Don't you agree?


Next: Saving Money on Landscaping

Landscaping vs. Blandscaping: What Sells

Blandscaping

Blandscaping is when you see a house and it has nothing, I mean zero landscaping. Basically, in the spots where landscaping is supposed to be?  Is nothing but dirt, or overgrown with grass and weeds. If there is one thing I hate to see, it's a listing that shows pictures of blandscaping. That is not going to attract anyone!

Landscaping

Landscaping a property that you own and are going to be in for a long time takes time, lots of effort, planning and maintenance. That's not what I am talking about in this article. The focus of this article is to talk about the very simple and inexpensive ways to improve your property with easy, DIY landscaping tricks.

When the property has flower beds, but nothing but dirt in them, invest in a couple of pots of monkey grass and some mulch.  Clean out any debris in and around the bed, including grass and/or weeds, using round up if you need to. Plant the monkey grass strategically so that it looks neat and symmetrical. Then mulch. We are only talking about a couple of dollars here and we're not putting any high maintenance plants in for the new tenants to stress over. You can even put gravel or landscaping stone instead of mulch if it is a really dry climate.

Take this house, for instance. To the right is a raised bed that runs the length of the porch. There is nothing but dirt in it. That's a real shame because it is a focal point when looking at the house from the street. Imagine a row of monkey grass and mulch. So simple, yet it makes the property look less "abandoned."  Speaking of the porch, there are so many cool treatments for cement, I don't even know where to begin. At least a coat of neutral colored paint, like grey. It would look cleaner, and better kept.  Now if this was MY house, I would break out the colors and paint a mandala or a Persian rug onto the concrete, like this:

or like THIS:

Do you see why I am just dying to learn how to flip houses?  I see so much potential in these poor little properties that are just begging to be bought and fixed up!  And the work to me isn't hard. I actually enjoy it.  One day, when I have the capital, I will buy a house and rescue it from a life of misery, bringing it to its full potential and let it bask in its own glorified spectacularness. Ok, that's not a word. But I think you know what I mean. :)

Here is my own back yard before and after. Blandscaping to Landscaping 101:

and my favorite corner:

See how much it adds?  Look at the before pics. So blank and lonely looking. Like no one cares. Then you see the after pics and it's totally happy and inviting! This took more elbow grease than anything. Many of the plants used we already had in other locations, we just moved them around after we extended the flower bed to follow the length of the back fence. We did spend some money on plants for this: 6 rose bushes, 2 hydrangeas, 2 flats of ivy, 4 hostas, 2 elephant ears, a crepe myrtle, some brown eye susans, rose moss and monkey grass, my favorite border plant. And MULCH so much mulch. But it was completely worth it. I actually enjoy going out into my back yard now, whereas before I avoided it. Our next project for the backyard is installing a pergola over the back porch and adding outdoor furniture for entertaining. I will, of course be posting that when we do it!

Next Post: Room Makeovers!

My PhD is in Cleaning

Cleaning Basics

When staging a house for sale, the number one priority is to make sure it is CLEAN.  Especially prone to dirtiness are the sinks, toilets, blinds and around the door handles.  To do a basic but thorough cleaning of these areas, you'll need these:

By no means is this my entire arsenal of cleaners, but with these basics you can pretty much clean the most visible parts of any house. They are: Windex, Clorox Cleanup with Bleach, Clorox Wipes, Wood polish, Febreeze and Microfiber cloths.  I would also add a feather duster, a vacuum and a steam mop but they wouldn't all fit in the picture.  Do you know about Spot Shot?

Spot Shot is the Holy Grail of carpet cleaning!  With Spot Shot and a scrub brush there is no stain or spot that can't be removed I SWEAR BY IT.  You spray it on the spot and can watch it start to dissipate; at that point you step on the spot with a pad of paper towels to soak it out of the carpet fibers, then use your scrubber to scrub the carpet back into shape. I wish all cleaning products were this amazing!  Wait till it dries and then you can vacuum (NEVER vac wet!)

Speaking of rugs: My neighbor had a bulldog with a bladder problem and had hauled this rug out to the curb thinking it was ruined. I said "You throwing that away?" He thought I had lost my mind when I drug it across the street to my back yard. Long story short, I totally rescued this rug AND IT IS BEAUTIFUL!  I would have had to pay a fortune for this new!

Ok, so blinds. Hardest thing to clean, like, ever, especially if they've been dirty for a long time. I take the blinds down (you unhinge the things at the top of the window and they slide right out) and set them in a bathtub of warm soapy water. The grime comes off with a sponge. Yes, you have to wipe down each slat, but you will be glad you did it. Rinse them off, pat dry and rehang. Another way to do it is to put a couple of nails on the top of your fence out back and spray them with a hose. You still have to use the sponge, but some people think it's easier than hauling them to the tub. I will admit, the slats don't move around as much with the hanging technique, but I use the bath tub method for the ones that are extra grimy. They just get cleaner.  If you use the fence technique at a property that isn't yours, be sure to carefully remove the nails when you're done!  :)

Floors

Vacuum: I have a Dyson and I love it.

It's bagless, and it truly never loses suction (unless it's completely and overly full. Don't do this, as it gets hot and is really bad for the motor). It's also very easy to clean the brush head which catches a lot of hair, strings, fibers, etc. You just flip it open and clean it off. I typically do the vacuuming very last if I can. I know it seems crazy but I like to see the lines in freshly vacuumed carpets! LOL! My kids grew up going around rooms that I had just vacuumed so as not to leave footprints in THE LINES.  Besides, you want potential buyers to feel like they are looking at a brand new house and that they are the first to see it. I don't know why this psychology works, but it does. And agents always appreciate it.

Steam Mopping: I can't say enough about my Steam Mop. It is so much better than traditional mop and bucket mopping, you will wonder how you ever lived without it. It cleans hardwoods, tile, laminate flooring, concrete floors, any hard surface floor can be steamed and it uses no cleaner! The steam does the work. My steam mop has three settings, low medium and high. Most of the time I use it on low, and medium in the bathrooms. I have used it on high on some tile in my daughter's rental house that I thought would NEVER come clean, and sure enough, it did! I had to go over it twice (it had once flooded and not ever been cleaned. Can you believe a landlord would leave a floor like that?)  But we left it looking spotless.

Febreeze:  I know the realtors usually like to light a candle before they show a house (some agents bake bread or cookies!) because let's face it, nice smells put us in a positive mood and people in a good mood are likely to feel positively about the house you're showing.  But I leave the candles to the agents. After I have cleaned a property, I give every room a couple of spritzes of Febreeze.  It's fresh, not over powering at all and leaves a nice clean smell in the house, like you've opened a window on a fresh spring day.  Personally, I like the smell of bleach; it means I GOT STUFF CLEAN! But it can be kinda harsh, so Febreeze is my friend.

Clorox Cleanup Spray: great in sinks, on counters, inside showers, toilets, just know that it does have bleach in it so use care not to get it on carpets, curtains, etc.

Clorox Wipes: these contain NO BLEACH and clean grime off of just about every surface, especially around door knobs, window sills, baseboards, banisters (you don't realize just how nasty banisters can get until you clean one)!  I couldn't do without my Clorox wipes. My husband bought a store brand (see photo) but I protested. Clorox Wipes smell nice, they are thick enough and they truly get stuff clean!

A clean house is more likely to get higher offers, plain and simple. A grimy house is going to make potential buyers wonder what else is wrong with it that they can't see.  Never show a dirty house again!  Call me!  :D

Next post: Landscaping

Freecycle and Thrift Stores: A Stager's Haven

Freecycle

How many of you know about Freecycle?  www.freecycle.org is an online organization that is all about finding new homes for things you don't use any more, or for finding things you need/want and don't mind if it's slightly used.  I'll explain how it works.

You sign up and create a Freecycle account for yourself and designate what cities' groups you want to be a part of. Nearly every city has a Freecycle group!  For example, I belong to four. 1) Flower Mound, where I live; 2) Lewisville, the next town over; 3) Midwest City, because that's where my daughter lives and 4) Del City, the next town over from Midwest City.

There are two types of posts: WANTED and OFFER. WANTEDS are people who are looking for something specific. I always go through the Wanteds to see if I can help someone in need. It's a great feeling when I can. OFFERS are from people who have something that still has some value or that they think someone might get a little (or a lot) more use out of. I always look through the offers for my DIY or staging projects. I have found everything from area rugs, to house plants, decorative pots, a trellis, even outdoor furniture! I used all of these things **THAT I GOT FOR FREE** when we made over Kelley's rental house as she was on a very tight budget. But we practically furnished her whole house, and did the landscaping for nearly nothing!  

Here's another success story:  I saw an Offer of "ladies shorts, size 2-4" which at the time was my daughter's size. I went to the address and there was a HUGE trash bag full of denim shorts, and they were all current style and most of them designer brands!

 

Alex, my youngest, loves to DIY. She added lace trim to the cuffs of the shorts...

 and some of them did a Galaxy design with paint, and SOLD THEM FOR $20 EACH TO ALL OF HER FRIENDS!

But back to staging. There is also treasure to be found at Thrift Stores. Many people don't like to go into thrift stores because they are full of junk. On the contrary!  I'll let you in on a little secret. You know those cards you get in the mail from Paralyzed Vets, ASPCA, Leukemia Lymphoma Society asking for clothing and household donations?  The next time you get a card, call and ask them where they take the donations to be sold. I live in a fairly nice neighborhood, so I found out just where mine and my well-off neighbor's cast-offs were going. So that store is now on my list as a favorite! You can find things like planters, candle sticks, silk plants, rugs, all for a fraction of what they would cost new at a Hobby Lobby or Home Decor store! I found a set of three square glass planters that I had just seen at Hobby Lobby for $35; at the thrift store they were marked $1.99! For the whole set! And candle sticks are about the easiest thing to spray paint if you need staging material for a house. Use them again and again! 

I found this huge silk ivy/hosta/spider plant arrangement, in a basket that was dusty and looked like it had been passed over for a while. I saw the VERY SAME THING at Hobby Lobby for $65 not one week before! Took it home and cleaned it, and WOW new silk planting arrangement!  

Whether you are staging a house to sell, or simply want to add to the decor of your own home, Freecycle and Thrift Stores are so the way to go. I can't remember the last time I paid retail for anything!  Now go to www.freecycle.org and sign up! Tell 'em Stacy sent ya! 

Next post: Cleaning

It All Started With a Little Cleaning...

Midwest City: 1809 Sandra Drive

My oldest daughter grew up in Midwest City, Oklahoma, not far from Tinker Air Force Base. The neighborhoods there are former military housing: small, usually one bath but with vintage tiling, hardwood floors, good sized yards but hardly ever updated and very few have any curb appeal at all. It is a house-flipper's DREAM. 

I am dedicating my first blog post to Midwest City, and to the rent house we did so much work on in 2013, inside and out. 

The top photo is how we found the house after an irresponsible renter left it. It was full of trash, full of junk, and full of **POTENTIAL!**  The second photo is after we cleaned and re-staged it. Hard to believe it's even the same room.

Then we tackled the outside. The backyard was a wonderful size, but had been neglected for years. Embedded in the weeds we found all kinds of debris: silverware, bits of plastic, broken glass, old wiring, rusted tools, the list goes on. After disposing of the huge rolls of fence wire, I took a weed eater to the concrete patio to remove years of built up dirt and weeds. After treating the whole thing with round up and trimming the shrub beside it, I staged it with two outdoor chairs and an outdoor table, both of which were free (I am addicted to Freecycle.org. I will do another blog post on Freecycle... if you are not familiar with it, you should be!)  Total cost of this makeover: $0.00!

My youngest daughter agreed to help me create this flower bed. It runs the length of the back of the house. There's a story behind this garden. My oldest, Kelley, was diagnosed at age 19 with ovarian cancer. She was living in this house at the time. For her birthday, I asked all my friends and family to donate one plant to put in Kelley's new garden. Everyone pitched in, and we named it "The Giving Garden."  It was a lot of labor, but labor of love! Alex and I removed the old grass, trash and weeds, laid landscaping fabric, cut timbers for the edges, planted all the donated plants and mulched.  Donated plants included: monkey grass, bougainvillea, rose moss, some succulents, a crepe myrtle, black eye susans, a rosemary bush, another flowering bush, ivy, salvia and three agave plants. Cost for this project: timbers, fabric and mulch, about $50.

Kelley said the hardest part about leaving this house on Sandra Drive was leaving the garden behind. Personally, I loved that house. It had its problems, but with a handful of repairs it could be an awesome investment for a flip. 

Next Blog: Freecycle!