Consider using an interior designer

Design Professionals

Consider a consultation with an interior designer for your next home remodeling project.  Hire them for the whole job, or just to consult on certain aspects.  Their experiences will save you time, money, and stress.  We recently hired a designer to help with details for our newest home purchase in the Alberta Arts district of Portland Oregon.  Initially, I questioned the added expense as our remodel budget was already stretched thin.  However, after our first consultation it quickly became clear that our designer would help us avoid days of indecision on materials and paint colors, saving me a dozen or more trips to the local remodel and paint stores.  She provided us with three sketches, three paint  schemes, and three choices for material.  Within the hour my wife and I had chosen the colors and material for the renovation.

We will invite her back once the work is complete and our POD has been unloaded to do another consultation regarding furniture & art placement.  I’m confident she will save us even more time and money here, as we’ll be able to repurpose furniture we already own vs. most likely purchasing new furniture trying to get the look we could have had with proper placement.  I’m a fan of identifying pieces of furniture I really want to purchase, but waiting until I craigslist those I’m done with before buying.  Often times, the changeover can be done with little or no added expense.

We were very lucky to find someone on our first try who listened to what we really wanted, and delivered right on target.  If you don’t have a great referral then I would suggest visiting with a few interior designers, and finding one you really connect with.  Most of all, have fun with the process.

Best of luck,

Orly Halpern

Spruce-up your bathroom on a budget

Refresh your bathroom on a budget

Here are a few tips I wanted to pass along for refreshing an outdated, dark, or cramped bathroom.

Big Mirror:
Adding a big mirror, or replacing your existing mirror with a larger one, adds light, provides a larger view, and makes a dim, cramped bathroom feel spacious, spa-like, and inviting.
Look for a framed mirror, or non-framed depending on your budget, the space provided, and your other decorations.

Shower Dispenser:
Push or pump button dispensers add quite a convenience to your bath/shower experience. By getting rid of the clutter of bottles lining your tub you’re creating space, but also not allowing soap rings and hard water stains to form along the base of the bottles. This makes shower cleaning easier (which means you will be more inclined to clean, and more often).
Shower dispensers can be found at a number of home improvement stores, and at a wide range of prices to fit your budget. Be weary of the ultra cheap as you will likely find yourself shopping for a more quality version after yours breaks in the first month.

New Faucet & Hardware:
Very important, and may be easier to install than you thought. Adding a new faucet (prices range from around $25-$150) can be a substantial improvement to the appearance of the restroom. Installation requires some know-how and very basics of plumbing, but the faucets most-likely come with instructions, and a few quick answers from an associate at the home improvement store will have you wrapping plumbers tape and slinging drain puddy in no time.
Also, look to updating your shower/bath fixtures (often sold in combinations for less than $150). Lastly, make sure that your towel rack, toilet paper roll, and any other fixtures do not detract from your newly updated items. If they clash, replace those with the same (or at least very similar) finishes. The combination of these fixes can bring your pre 1990′s home into the new millennium.

Landscape to sell : from Realtor Magazine Online

REALTOR.ORG/realtormag By Barbara Ballinger Published: 03/01/2007

Attractive landscaping is one of the best ways to make a good first impression on prospective buyers and show that a home is loved. 

Though a well-designed landscape can be simple, it also can move far beyond a velvety lawn and colorful flower beds to encompass trees, shrubs, irrigation, hardscaping, and lighting. By making informed choices, home owners can tranform their properties, whether they’re selling or just moved in and plan to stay for years. 

Before jumping into a landscaping-improvement project, it helps to have a general knowledge of what kind of plants would thrive on the property, says Steve Jones, (a.k.a. “The Plant Man”) owner of Greenwood Nursery in McMinnville, Tenn. Home owners should do some research to learn about their yard’s various components:

• Soil condition. To analyze soil, home owners should contact a local college extension service or buy a kit from a garden center. An analysis determines the pH balance. Most plants thrive in near-neutral pH conditions but some like slightly acidic soil, says Jones.
• Drainage. The type of soil — sandy, silty, clay, or loam — will affect drainage. For example, clay soil may drain poorly, which can prevent nutrients and oxygen from reaching plant roots, but soil can be modified, Jones says.
• Sunlight. Home owners should stand outside at different times of the day to see when, where, and how much sun strikes their yard, Jones says.
• Hardiness zone. Also referred to as climate zones, hardiness zones are a guide to help you know which plants will grow where you live, so you don’t plant materials that will soon die just because they can’t survive the region’s temperatures, according to BackyardGardener.com, which provides a hardiness zone map on its Web site.

Next Steps: Make a Budget, Hire Help

A budget will largely determine the scope of a project. If home owners want to replicate the cover photo from a recent Fine Gardening magazine, they should be prepared to pay dearly. Plants, soil, and all the extras that make a garden picture-perfect, can really add up, Jones says. For example, a single 8-foot-tall, 1-inch-caliper, shade-loving red maple may cost $60 to $70, he says. 

But buyers should remember to factor in the cost of hiring a gardener, landscaper, or arborist. A gardener may be sufficient for home owners seeking to tidy up to improve curb appeal, while a landscape designer or architect is usually best for those who want to do more extensive work. Either professional can develop a master plan to enhance the exterior, make the site look attractive from the inside out, and keep materials safe from weather, insects, and animals. Many charge between $75 and $150 an hour — or more, depending on the area of the country and complexity of the project, says landscape designer Tim Thoelecke Jr. of American Academy of Landscape Design in Glenview, Ill. 

For those planning long-term improvements to the property, rather than simple pre-sale enhancements, an arborist also can be brought on board to inspect the condition of trees, the lawn, and the drainage system, says Jones.

When budgeting for a landscaping overhaul, home owners should plan to spend about 10 percent of the value of the home, says Russell Cletta, senior landscape architect for Valley Crest Estate Gardens in Calabasas, Calif.

To achieve a grander look, a bigger budget of 15 percent may be necessary, Thoelecke says. But if you’re going far grander — perhaps duplicating the closely clipped lawn at the Augusta National Golf Club, site of the Masters Tournament — even more may be in order. 

6 Practical Project Ideas

Here are some simple projects that experts say will make a big impact on the property’s appearance — and possibly boost resale value.

• -  Plant trees. Trees look nice, cut down on heating and cooling costs, and can even help a home sell for more money, the USDA Forest Service says. Properly placing just three trees can save an average household between $100 and $250 in annual energy bills, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. And a report from Arbor National Mortgage found that 84 percent of practitioners believe that a house on a treed lot would fetch at least 20 more than one on a lot without trees.
• -  Go for year-round color. Rather than make do with empty beds and a brown lawn in winter, home owners can pick materials that remain green all year. Examples: evergreen arborvitae, junipers, and boxwood, says Jones.
• -  Help the environment. There are dozens of ways to be a good environmental steward. A rain garden can retain water rather than send it into the nearest storm sewer. In drought-prone areas, xeriscape plants require less water. Large shade trees can screen a roof and windows from sun and block cold wind and air, Cletta says.
• Make your yard livable. A yard can be transformed into livable outdoor “rooms.” High on the wish list are well-equipped kitchens, sometimes with pizza ovens and fire pits, and the newest star — media rooms. Cletta installed a projection screen so one client could float in his pool and watch movies.
• -  Just add water. Everyone loves water’s soothing sound, whether it cascades into a pond, fills a fountain, or churns in a hot tub.
• -  Build a pergola. A pergola — a set of columns supporting a roof of trelliswork on which climbing plants can grow — adds architectural interest, vertical growing space, and shade.

For Home Owners on a Budget

Landscaping doesn’t have to cost as much as your house. To cut costs, a plan can be installed in stages, Thoelecke says.

There also are many affordable improvements home owners can make to enhance curb appeal. Start by trimming bushes and pruning dead limbs in front of windows to avoid blocking views, says Brian Huggler, ABR®, CRS®, associate broker with Huggler & Bashore in Lansing, Mich. 

“If buyers can’t see a home, you can’t sell it,” adds Sandra Holmes, owner of Home Staging Concepts in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Other ideas from the experts:

• -  Clear away lawn art, toys and other “clutter.”
• -  Edge beds and add fresh mulch.
• -  Paint or seal terraces and replace rotted wood.
• -  Add a touch of color. A few pots of tulips in March work magic; red and white colors add the most punch, says Jones.
• -  Use container gardens.  Pots are an affordable, portable way to line a path, embellish an entry, grow herbs, and decorate indoor rooms when weather changes.