Buy & Sell your home with Bliss!

The most important thing you can do to improve your home is clean it up, and get rid of clutter.  If you haven’t used it in 3 months then put it away and if you haven’t used it in a year get rid of it.  For every new item that you bring into your home an old one has to leave.  Take it one room at a time and realize that it’s OK to have empty space around your books and knickknacks.

Unclutter your home by removing excess furniture.  Take a hard look at what you have and ask yourself what you can live without.  You only need two pieces of furniture per wall for example a bed and a night stand.  This will make your house look larger.

Get the furniture away from the wall!  Reposition sofas and chairs into cozy conversational groups, and place pieces so that the traffic flow in the room is obvious. In most cases, this means keeping the perimeters clear.  When you place furniture in a room, envision a figure-eight or the letter H in the middle, with clear pathways around it.  This will open up a room and make it feel larger.

Start moving furniture around, if you have a chair that has been in the same place for five years move it.  When you move things around you start to appreciate them again and give your house a new look.

Creat a fantasy space: a meditation room, an exercise room, a game room, an art studio.  Take unused space and turn it into something you have always dreamed of having.  If you have a room that only gathers junk re-purpose it into a room that will add value and purpose.

Dress up widows by replacing old and heavy drapery with something light and airy.  Let in natural light and the room will feel larger.

One of the things that make staged homes look so warm and welcoming is great lighting.  Increase the wattage in your lamps and fixtures.  Aim for a total of 100 watts for every 50 square feet.  Be sure to replace dingy, almond-colored light-switch covers with crisp white ones.  Don’t depend on just one or two fixtures per room, either. It’s just as important to layer lighting as it is to have sufficient wattage.  Make sure you have three types of lighting: ambient (general or overhead), task (pendant, undercabinet or reading) and accent (table and wall) lighting. A combination of overhead, floor, table and accent lighting creates great ambiance.

Painting is a cheap way to to give your home a new look.  Don’t shy away from dark colors in a bedroom or dining room.  A deep tone on the walls can make the space more intimate, dramatic and cozy — and surprisingly, it can even make a small room seem bigger because there’s no delineation of the corners.

Staged homes are almost always graced with fresh flowers and pricey orchid arrangements, but you can get a similar effect simply by raiding your yard. “Take clippings of branches or twigs and put them in a large vase in the corner of a room to add height. It’s a great structural piece that doesn’t cost anything.

The outside of your home is the first thing guests see. Tthe outside speaks volumes about what’s inside — and about its owner.  A welcoming entry helps set the tone for the rest of the house.  Paint the front door in a glossy bold cheerful color.  Replace or use a little elbow grease on old harware, porch light, house numbers and mail box.  A fresh coir or seagrass mat; and a trio of seasonal potted plants on the landing will dramatically brighten and refresh your home’s entry and make visitors feel welcome.