Join Richelle for a 3 Day Course:

The Ultimate Guide to Knowing Your Product in Real Estate!

This course will benefit ALL agents, new and seasoned.

We welcome you to join us for one hour a day with

presenter

Richelle D. Stannard,

Home Stager and Re-Design Specialist.

Mark your calendars for October 11 , 12 & 13 at 10 AM PST on Zoom.

Learn the key terms and features of home design and impress the clients you work with every day!

The world is getting its color back, folks! The past few years have seen monochrome combinations of neutrals and organic decor. While trends show that the organic and sustainable decor and furniture, wont be going anywhere, anytime soon; we will be seeing much a more predominate existence of color.

Rich and beautifully toned “retro-like” colors are making there way into the scene. We have already seen the emergence of maximalism in the past few years, but these trending design moves are leaving plenty of room for the minimalists. Color blocked walls, neutral furniture and textured patterns. Mix the 3 and you won’t go wrong, no matter your decorating preferences.

Here are some of the colors that are trending as well get further into Fall/Winter.

Shades of Ruby

Look out for accessories and accent pieces with muted tones of red and maroon. Take into consideration these beautiful color blocked walls featured in Home & Gardens.

The Green Machine

Shades of green have been trending for sometime now. However, where we would normally see deep saturated greens around the Holidays, we will begin to see more olives and grays, like in this gorgeously made up bedroom. 

Warm Neutrals

Just because we are moving to more color, doesn’t mean Neutrals are out. Keep the ones you have or incorporate warmer tones like the ones seen in the glorious kitchen featured in this blog.

Chamomile

Warm and cozy gold tones can be a perfect accent color for a more neutral palette. Think , less mid-century, more modern, like this throw pillow selection from Crate and Barrel. 

New Blue

Blue hues always bring a sense of calm and serenity. That’s a perfect match for the cozy feelings of fall. Check out these stunning blues that have been incorporated into this space.

There are so many different ways you can style your home and incorporate some gorgeous color. If you need even more inspiration, please take a look at my gallery page, or contact me for more information on my Re-Design Services

When staging a home, there are 10 BIG mistakes a lot of people end up making that just throw off the design and space of the home. In order to successfully stage a home, be aware and be sure to avoid these 10 mistakes!

1. Using Furniture that’s Too Big for the Room: Many sellers and new stagers place furniture that is too large for the space. Sure, it might be comfortable and useful to have a sectional in the corner of the room, but in reality, it will take up a lot of space and make the room look much smaller. Instead, try using a sofa with a loveseat or accent chairs that will fit the space better.
2. Pushing all Furniture Against the Walls: Often, many people push furniture against walls. This tends to make large rooms look smaller if every piece of furniture is against the wall. Instead, try placing furniture at different angles or moving it away from the walls.
3. Hanging Artwork too High: Artwork and all other wall decorations should be hung at the average person’s eye level. Hanging wall art too high will make the ceiling look lower than it truly is, making the room look smaller.
4. Household Smells: Often, we become immune to the smell of our own home from food and pet odors. Visitors will notice these strange smells. Try using air fresheners and opening windows to freshen up the scent of the home for your new potential buyers.
5. Displaying personal photos and memorabilia: Keeping your personal photos and memorabilia on display is simply an invasion of privacy and a distraction for buyers. You don’t want the buyer focusing on you as the owner and your accomplishments, you want them to focus on the home and if they can see themselves living in it.
6. Bold Paint Colors: Going crazy with wall colors is not the way to go when listing your home. Keep it light and neutral, allowing the buyer to feel relaxed in the space.
7. White & Beige Everything: As much as we love the clean look of white and beige, we need to add some pops of color to the home.
8. Too Small or Too Big Area Rugs: Rugs should be large enough for the front legs of the sofa and chairs to be on it and small enough to not fully be covering the flooring space in the room. Smaller area rugs for an average room will make the room look insufficient and too large area rugs will crowd the room.
9. A Lack of Lighting: Naturally lit rooms always make the home feel more inviting. Open up the curtains, turn on all the lights, and add lamps if needed.
10. Allowing pets to remain in the home for showings: Some buyers might not have allergies or simply do not like pets. This can potentially ruin the opportunity to have the highest and best offer for your home. Remove all pets, toys, or any trace of pets before showing the home.

How to distinguish between the different styles…

1. Cape Cod homes have a symmetrical appearance. They have a centered front entry, a centered chimney, and steep roofs. They are often simple, timeless, and have a clean silhouette. This is the type of house a child would draw when told to draw a home.

 2. Spanish-style homes usually consist of stucco walls and low-pitched red-tiled roofs. They have round-arched windows and entries. When entering the home, they often have natural wood beams on the ceilings.

3. Tuscan homes are usually constructed with limestone, travertine, or marble with terracotta roof tiles. They consist of terracotta roof tiles, stone walls, wrought iron accessories, mosaic-like flooring, and sturdy hardware such as railings and light fixtures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amazon is a great place to find some products and deals if you don’t have the time to go searching and shopping. We compiled a list of some of our favorite Amazon products so you don’t have to go looking for them.

Round Ottoman with Storage: With this ottoman/table, you can easily store blankets, toys, or extra items that you may not want laying around your living room. The flat, hard surface can be perfectly used as a table as well. It has a simple and modern design, which makes it easy to style with any kind of living space. 

Countertop corner organizer: This countertop storage organizer is great for the bathroom or kitchen. Store your everyday bathroom products, seasoning, or anything you may use on a day-to-day basis and want it to be easily accessible. You can also find another great countertop corner organizer if you click here.

Flameless Candles With Timer: These energy-saving LED candles with a timer are perfect for the evenings at home to avoid using electricity and protect from the dangers of a flame. 

Woven Seagrass Basket: This handmade, woven basket is great for storage, and use as a laundry, picnic, or grocery basket.

Arched Full-Length Mirror: This modern and contemporary full-length mirror is great for the bedroom or living room. It is made with excellent quality and is easily installable.

Four-Layer Foldable Makeup Box: The four-tray design makes it easy to use this box at home with all your products, and fold it up when traveling. It’s more lightweight than an aluminum make-up bag and comes with a built-in mirror.

Two-Pack Blue Light Glasses: These blue light glasses are perfect for alleviating visual fatigue and discomfort from long periods of web surfing, gaming, and working under fluorescent lights with UV400 protection and glare reduction.

Digital Alarm Clock: This alarm clock allows you to either set two or three alarms to better WAKE you up. One for you and the other for your families. Forever Say no to delay. Also, it allows you to set weekday mode, which will ring only from Monday to Friday. It’s not only a clock but also a great decoration for your bedroom.

Make the Entreeway a Focal Point

Improving your entryway can make a huge impact on your home’s curb appeal. Use a dark color on the door to make the entryway pop, and add two large symmetrical planters at the walkway.

Create the Illusion of a High Ceiling

High ceilings are a key feature in expensive homes but if your home doesn’t come with original high ceilings, it can be costly to physically raise the ceiling height. Luckily, there is a trick to creating an illusion for high ceilings. By hanging the curtain rod closer to the ceiling, and using long flowing drapes, you can create a more luxurious look. 

Use a Neutral and Light Canvas

Painting the walls a neutral color such as white, cream, or light gray creates a clean look before adding decor and furniture. This gives you the flexibility to use colors without clashing and cluttering the home.

Apply Removable Wallpaper 

To spice up a room, bathroom, or hallway, consider adding a simple but statement wallpaper to one wall that catches the eye when entering the room. 

Pull Your Furniture Away from  the Walls

Pulling your furniture away from the walls creates more space and utilizes the room better. Setting the furniture at least 12” from the walls, makes the room look more inviting and cozy.

Keep Entryways Clear 

One of the worst things to do when organizing your furniture is to place a large piece of furniture right in front of the entryway. When you walk into the room, if there’s a sofa in front of the entree, this automatically closes off the room. Create openings by rearranging the furniture so your guests can walk directly into an open and inviting room.

Paint Kitchen & Bathroom Cabinets and Replace Hardware 

 Instead of completely replacing your kitchen and bathroom cabinets, painting them a light color will brighten up the space, and make it look larger and more expensive. To give it an extra sleek and new look, replacing the hardware with affordable gold, brass, satin nickel, or black styles from Target or Amazon can freshen up the look of your kitchen and bathroom.

Hide Clutter from Wires

Another important way to make your home look more elevated is by removing any additional clutter, especially from TV and computer wires. An easy way to do this is by concealing them with cord covers from Amazon or The Home Depot. They can be easily installed with a hacksaw and some screws, then painted the same color as your wall to seamlessly blend in. 

Add a Beautiful Light Fixture

Adding a light fixture that catches the eye and lights the room can be a simple way to accelerate a living room, dining room, or master bedroom. It doesn’t need to be an expensive or extravagant fixture. Something that creates a layer of sophistication.

Create a Small Appliance Hideaway

Recent modern and luxury homes include a kitchen that is sleek and free of appliances on countertops. At first look at the kitchen, a guest does not see a microwave, toaster, or coffeemaker. That is because these appliances are hidden behind a cabinet door that matches the rest of the kitchen cabinets. This shouldn’t be too costly, considering a door can be added with basic required wood and cabinet hardware. To give it an extra clean look, you can even ask a professional to create a cabinet to hide away the refrigerator. 

Ashley’s modern/bohemian home is one of a kind. She mentions that when she found the home. it was move-in ready and all she had to do was furnish it in her own way. The 1971 Mario Bellini sofa fits so effortlessly into the room along with the Apparatus coffee table. Even though the Sabin chairs seem to match the texture and color of the rest of the furniture in the living room, I’m personally not a huge fan of the animal skin-like fabric. Instead, I myself would have used a set of wooden chairs to pull the room together.

She mentions that she was never into color in her home, but while she was pregnant she had the feeling that she wanted to add a fun pop of color throughout the house. I must say that she did a fantastic job by adding just the right splash of color with small flowers, pink blankets, and colorful books on the bookshelf.

As she moves along to her dining room, it seems to be an average dining room but the custom-made chairs are out of the ordinary. These chairs are made by Stall and Band and have a green moss-like cushion. Initially, my thought was “that’s an odd fabric” about the chairs, but as I viewed the rest of the room, I found how well it fit with the wooden designed dining room and surrounding trees on the outside of the house.

Her minimalistic kitchen designed in black, white, and wood is lovely. The only negative aspect of this kitchen is that it has a minimum amount of storage. Bowls, plates, etc are placed on shelves underneath the kitchen table which make the kitchen look a bit cluttered and distracts from the actual design of the kitchen. From my point of view, if she replaces the dining room table/center island with an island with storage underneath that can be hidden, the kitchen’s design will instantly be elevated and more organized.

My favorite part of the home is undoubtedly her bedroom. She mentions that the room is inspired by a friend’s bedroom which was designed by Brigette Romanek. The use of wood, textures, and tones inspired her to use that in her own bedroom. Some may feel that the furniture in this bedroom clashes with one another, but I feel that it perfectly complements and balances each other out. The lama-like chair with burl wood nightstands and funky lamps is an eye-catching part of the room.

Overall, Ashley Tisdale has a bold sense of style that most people would not feel comfortable experimenting with. Though, I can truly say that she was successful in the eccentric compilation of furniture and decor.

Mother’s Day is approaching quickly and when we’re not prepared, we end up scuffling to find a gift last-minute. Most of the time, we end up at the flower market ordering an overpriced bouquet of flowers. This year let’s do better. Let’s prepare a special gift for the woman who raised you and loved you. I’ve pulled together a list of gift ideas any mother would love.
1. Book her a solo day at the spa to release any built-up tension since last year.
2. An airtag since she’s always losing her keys or wallet.
3. A custom name bracelet or necklace. This would be even more special if it had her children’s names on it.
4. An apple watch to help her keep track of her health.
5. A sunrise alarm for the early bird moms.
6. A silk pillowcase which is good for her hair and great for her skin!
7. Comfortable Slippers for the house
8. If she’s a book worm, find a book that she hasn’t read yet.
9. A framed picture of you/your family with a letter expressing your appreciation.
10. If you’re on a budget, cook her a nice dinner or bake some cookies! In the end, it’s the thought that counts, not the dollar amount spent.