If you Hang it - Be Prepared to Remove it!

 This week I recommended a home owner remove outdated wallpaper that lined the walls in each of the primary rooms within this 1960's home.  It had obviously been applied professionally, was tasteful but so very outdated.

Wallpaper Nightmare

Here’s what we found – a nightmare to remove!   Two layers of wallpaper in each of the bathrooms was so adhered after years of bathroom steam and cooling off periods, that we tried various techniques and recommended products to remove without damaging the gyp-rock walls.  End result - didn't work.  This endeavour was very time consuming with only small patches removed after 3 separate team members attempted to apply their mastery skills.  These were the worst scenarios we encountered.  Rooms where there was an applied layer of one wallpaper, steam and wall paper stripper worked easily, following the removal of the vinyl coating.

If you plan to downsize or sell your home anytime in the future, begin removing the wallpaper now!  Home buyers are looking for move-in ready homes to decorate in their own style.  Wallpaper isn't appealing to potential buyers – it’s exactly what it is – WORK!

Solutions to wallpapered walls:

•  Multiple layers of wallpaper – apply ¼” gyp-rock over the walls, tape, mud + prep walls prior to painting 
•  Single layers – remove vinyl covering, steam for 30 secs and/ or apply solution of wall paper stripper, allow to soak for a few minutes, remove backing with ergonomically good scraper, wash walls thoroughly to remove traces of glue, repair and sand walls, dust clean + paint
•  Skim coat over the wallpaper and paint over the prepped walls (beware – the underlaid wallpaper may lift if not prepped adequately when using water-based paints)

My #1 recommendation for pursuing this task: 

Patience, calming background music, and a positive attitude!

Smiles + a Positive Attitude from Jason

There are so many fabulous wall coverings on the market today.  I’m not against wall paper for a focal wall but if you install wallpaper in any of your current living spaces and will be living within your home for the next 10 years, enjoy the beauty of your wall(s) but be prepared to remove this wallpaper in the future.

Cheryl Trudell, Lead Property Stylist/Founder of Home Staging 4 Success, is honoured to be the recipient of staging awards in 2 consecutive years ~ RESA®'s 2014 Top 10 Best Occupied Stagings™ North America and RESA®s 2013 Top 10 Rising Star Home Stagers™ in North America. She brings her true passion for working with people and natural flair for home design to each client with respect and sincerity. Her customized services are tailored to fit individual needs and budgets with exceptional service and outstanding results. She is an active member of the Real Estate Staging Association, the trade association for professional real estate stagers and redesigners. .

Staging Tip ~ Don't Obscure the View

As cooler temperatures encroach upon us in the next few weeks and months, one of my staging secrets I share with each home owner, is the removal of window screens.  The basis of this recommendation is to bring more natural light into any room.

Outdated window treatments, window stickers, dusty window screens, and dirty windows are turn-offs.    Home buyers will approach windows to investigate the window’s condition for function and age.   Buyers, too, will be looking at the views your home has to offer.  Prior to the first photograph of your home’s exterior or interior; I highly recommend your windows are given equal attention to that of the cleanliness of your home.  This is a prime opportunity to repair any damaged screens and store them away for the season, and remove any window treatments to clean.

When viewing homes as a professional home stager, there is one consistent area that requires attention – the cleanliness of the windows.  Not only does the glass need to sparkle minus smudges on both windows and doors with glass inserts, the casements need to be dust and bug free.

   

Have windows out of your reach or comfort zone when climbing a ladder?  Hire a professional window cleaner.  This is one of the best economical investments I can attest to twice a year.    #homestaging4success.ca

www.homestaging4success.caPhoto Credit:  C. Trudell, Lead Property Stylist of Home Staging 4 Success

 

Julea - Reinventing Space: Selling Your Home? I don’t want to offend... but y...

Julea - Reinventing Space: Selling Your Home? I don’t want to offend... but y...: Honestly, don’t be offended and don’t get emotional, but you don’t belong here anymore. We all know there is a perfect formula to se...  (Photo Credit: Pre/Post photos of Livingroom ~ Cheryl Trudell, Lead Property Stylist/Owner of Home Staging 4 Success, London, Ontario)

Spring Forward with Spring Cleaning

This is my current blog as published in the Royal LePage Triland Realty Newsletter.
Royal LePage Triland Realty: Spring Forward with Spring Cleaning: Many of us enjoy the Spring Season and having the opportunity to grooming our gardens or spending time with our families outdoors.  Howe...

Home Staging 101: The Best Time to Buy or Sell a Home

Home Staging 101: The Best Time to Buy or Sell a Home
Credit for this blog:  Christine Rae, President of Certified Staging Professionals

In her blog, Home Staging 101: The Best Time to Buy or Sell a Home,  Christine Rae simplifies which day of the week to list your property and the best time to buy or sell a home. 

I'm sharing this blog to provide my readers with a tidbit more information so there are fewer obstacles and less stress in the process of selling or buying a home.

One of my favourite and inspirational quotes:

“When obstacles arise, you change your direction to reach your goal; you do not change your decision to get there.”      Zig Ziglar

Preparing To Sell From a Home Stager's Prospective

 Preparing to Sell From A Home Stager's Prospective

Posted: 15 Jan 2013 05:09 AM PST

As I sip my coffee, on this cold and brisk January winter morn, I am pondering ideas what my recommendations would be if my family should decide to sell our home and move this spring. As a professional stager, I have the advantages of current home décor, contacts, resources and knowledge to present my home with its best features highlighted to motivate potential buyers to purchase our house quickly and for our desired asking price. So today, I devised a ‘to-do’ list if we were to position our home on the real estate market in the near future:

• Organize our personal and business accounts; and prepare all documents for 2012 tax revenue submission. Add T4s and receipts as received.  Place the file(s) for easy access.
• Conduct a family meeting to detail the events about to occur, the tasks to be done, and determine who and how each member can assist. Set reasonable goals to work within your family schedule. Arrange family days to offset the stress of selling and moving – movie night with popcorn in front of the TV or outdoor activities (skating, snow tubing, building a snowman) for fresh air and fun.
• Think as a stager! (Remove yourself as a home owner and think of your home as a marketable ‘product for sale’). Perform a detailed staging consultation on your home with photos.
• Search local storage facilities/options for storing purged belongings, excess furniture, office files not required in the next 3 months. Questions to be considered – Heated space? Space requirements? Distance from home? Access hours? Do we want to store any belongings within the homes of family members?
• Determine and tag which home furnishings & décor items will be sold on Kijiji, during a garage sale or from an ad in the local newspaper and/or to be donated to Goodwill, Habitat for Humanity Restore, etc..  Note to self: Must remember consignment stores too!

After this is said and done - getting the projects completed will be time-consuming, and need to be organized and monitored according to the calendar of events planned earlier.

Realistically, I would allow 6 -8 weeks to prepare our home, during the winter months, prior to showcasing our home for the market. Why this length of time? As other home owners depend on my availability to consult and stage their homes for sale, I need to give extra time to dedicate to my house.  London is located in the snow belt of Southwestern Ontario. Too, the paint will take longer to cure. Why stress my family out with tight deadlines.

• First on our list of projects would be to repaint the UWO purple wall colour in your son or daughter's bedroom.   Definitely, the painted walls would not be a colour-safe staging choice.
• If your home was notoriously spotless and was staged perfectly to sell except for the final professional cleaning and final touch-ups, 1-2 weeks would be an obtainable guideline before listing. 

Would this professional stager consult with a fellow stager when selling?

I certainly would for ‘another set of objective buyer’s eyes’ should I have worn the hat of a home seller for a moment and overlooked the slightest tweak. I’d have one of my staging friends tour the showcased results and get her/his sincerest opinion and make changes if necessary.  Just being honest!

Not only do we stage or showcase homes, stagers can assist home owners in so many ways. I have and do assist home owners from the moment they decide to sell and many, prior to securing a real estate agent. We do more than push furniture around or recommend you store away personal photos. Trained to objectively view your home as a home buyer, we can present recommendations where to begin, help owners prepare lists of tasks to be done, suggest budget-conscious DIY projects, offer staging tips, and provide contacts to connect with for those projects that are outside of the owner’s comfort level or expertise. Staging is a team effort between the home owners, the home/real estate stager and any professional affiliates if required, and the listing real estate agent. A very important lifelong and mature lesson I have learned - there is no ‘I’ in the word TEAM.

Cheryl Trudell, Canadian Certified Staging Professional, is Lead Property Stylist/Stager of Home Staging 4 Success

RESA’s 2013 Top 10 Rising Star Home Stagers of the Year™ North America.