Safavieh at Target!

Popping in today to let ya'll know about the Safavieh line that is available online at Target right now!  There are some GREAT pieces to use in your home and I'm hoping to grab up a few to add to my staging inventory.

Check out this beautiful bedroom Target put together with some of the pieces that I'm loving.

Source: safavieh bedroom

Here are some more pieces that I'm lusting after

 

Tyler Bench

  

Amala Rug 

 Kerri Accent Table

 Norwich lamps

 

Cornflower damask pillows 

Happy Shopping!!!

Xo,

Jeanne

Vacant Staging on a Budget

Once again, it's been a while,  but I've got a great ReStyle to share with you today, so hope you'll forgive my absence!

When I met with the homeowners of this adorable home, they had already purchased a new home, scheduled movers to take all of their furnishings out and had planned to list the home vacant.  After a little coaxing, I convinced them to leave a few pieces for me to use for staging.   Vacant homes truly do not show as well as furnished homes. In a vacant home, buyers do not get an accurate concept of the size of the rooms, flaws are more exposed and the home does not evoke emotion- buyers have a harder time visualizing themselves living in the home. 

With a few pieces for use in each room, it was then time for me to really work some magic, staging only with the items they left for me and some of the items in my own small inventory. I LOVE a challenge like this where I have the opportunity to get really creative to make a house shine without a big budget to rent any large pieces.  I am really excited to show you some before and afters of this home that was staged on a budget- it's what ReStyle Home Staging is all about!

Kitchen Before

 

 

Kitchen After Staging

 



The kitchen was decluttered/packed.  I brought in just a few accessories and installed a tin tile back splash above the stove for only $50.

Living Room After

 

I failed to get a good"Before" picture of the living room, but all furniture was moved out. The only items I had left in this room were the art on the wall, the rug and the brown shelf you now see used as the base of the coffee table.  I brought in the slipper chairs, pillows, throw and a few coffee table accessories.  We grabbed the lamp  and side table from another room and the client DIY'd the coffee table by painting a piece of wood black for the top and turning a shelf on its side to use as the base.  The client and I made a great team cozying up the living room with minimal furnishings.  You'll also notice that we did not even change the orange paint color in this room or the kitchen.  The furnishings and accessories used complimented this warm color.

 

 

Master Bedroom Before



 



Master Bedroom After

  In this room, I chose to have the Master painted  a neutral color, which made the room appear brighter and larger.  The client left the bedding and round mirror in the Master. I used a queen airmatress to create the bed with the round mirror placed above.  I also brought in the end table, lamp, artwork and throw pillows from my inventory.  Ideally, we would have had another end table and lamp on the opposite side of the bed, but again, you can see what can be done to make a bedroom look inviting on a budget.  Remember, this room would have otherwise been left vacant for potential buyers.

 

Bathroom Before

 



  

 Bathroom After

 

 This room only required some simple decluttering and accessorizing and a replacement vanity light fixture (not pictured).  After upgrading the light fixture for $20 and adding in a few fresh towels and a candle, the bathroom is ready for buyers! 

 

 Screened Porch Before

 



 

Screened Porch After

 

 The clients worked to clean out everything that was being stored in the screened porch and left a clean, bright space for me to work with.  I brought in the chairs, garden stool and accessories to create a cozy seating area out here.  This porch is now going to be a major selling feature!

 

Guest Bedroom Before

 

 





Guest Bedroom After

 This room was left with only the curtains, artwork and the luggage rack after the client moved.  I bought in a twin aerobed, bedding and throw pillows only.  I used the artwork above the bed as a "headboard", placed the bed on the window wall as a focal point, removed the swag on the curtain panels and rehung the curtains wider to emphasize the large window.  I also used the luggage rack between two closet doors as a accent piece.  The client brought in a vintage suitcase to add in after this picture was taken.   Another example of creating a cozy guest room with minimal furnishingincs and accessories that potential buyers can see themselves in.

 

I am feeling confident that with staging and the right price point, this little gem will go fast!  Kudos to my amazing client who so readily took my advice to stage, was completely active in helping me stage the house and even took her own incredible listing photos (all of the AFTER photos I've shown you and MORE!)

 

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the staging done in this home, so  feel free to leave me a comment!  I'll keep you updated on my facebook page when this one gets the offer!

 

Like/Follow me at: www.facebook/restylehome

 

Xo,

Jeanne

 















Spring Curb Appeal

Hi folks!

Whew...it's been a little bit since I've had the chance to post here, but I'm happy to report that I have been very busy restyling homes!

I thought I'd jump back in by sharing one of my staging techniques that has worked really well, left my clients happy and made for great listing photos- using color to enhance curb appeal.  Here are my top 5 ways to add color and enhance your curb appeal.  You can do this whether you are restyling to sell or restyling to enjoy your current home.

1.  Paint the front door!
Now, I know if you live in a HOA restricted area like me, you can't get too creative with your door color, but for those who can- look at the some of these great examples.
I recently met another local Stager/Redesigner and in checking out her blog, became envious of her GREAT asparagus green door color!

 

source:  Holly's Front Door

 

 

I've also seen a trend using gorgeous shades of blue/turquoise on front doors lately like this one.  I would absolutely choose this color for my own home if I could.

 

 

source:  Linda Holt Interiors

 

 

2.  Place a beautiful pot (or a few) of flowers on the front porch. 

 The photos above show great examples of this.  A few white pots with yellow flowers make a big impact with that turquoise front door, but even if the door were simply white, brown or black, the flowers give the front of the home that added fun pop of color. Use colorful pots for your flowers too! Because I can't have that turquoise door, I use a nice turquoise planter on my front porch, It's a great way to draw the attention of potential buyers or to just add some color for Spring.

 

If you don't have space for potted flowers on the front porch, consider adding flower boxes.  This is a great DIY version from one of my favorite blogs Young House Love

 

 

 

3.  Paint your exterior light fixtures.

When was the last time you took a look at your exterior light fixtures?  As long as they are working, we are usually happy, right?   But....what about trying to spruce them up with a new color?  As I mentioned, with the restrictions in my 'hood. I can't do much, but the formerly terracotta colored fixtures turned an awful shade of pink in the Texas sun, so I cleaned the glass and gave them a fresh coat of copper paint and they look so much nicer!  I forgot to take a before photo of the pink, so....SHHHHHH.....don't tell my neighbor that I took a photo of hers since they turned the same pink shade.  Here's the neighbor's before and my after.

 

BEFORE





 





AFTER Painting 







  

 4. Add a bench/chairs and colorful pillows

For those of you that have space, adding seating and colorful pillows will make you or your potential buyer want to sit and stay a while.  I try to bring one of the most predominant colors in the home out to the front porch/yard so that there is a nice flow from the front to the interior of the home once you enter. Here are some great examples.

 

source:  Home Depot

 

 

source:  The Idea Room

 

 

 

source:   Colors Mixed Together

 

 

5.  Add Something Unique

 Show your personality!  Maybe you've found a great colorful garden stool that would make a great accent to your front porch.  Add a colorful doormat or outdoor rug to your seating area to a great conversation spot or give a quick coat of spray paint to a metal wall hanging and hang in in the entry. 

 



 

 

 



 

I know we're all ready to ditch this cold weather (yes, it's even cold again in TX this week),  so I hope these tips will help inspire you to start planning for some beautiful Spring weather and enjoying your outdoor spaces again! 

 

Xo,

Jeanne

 

 

 



Guest Room DIY headboard

Happy Friday!  We're kicking off a three day weekend here in Austin as school was cancelled due to a possible ice day.  There's no sign of ice yet, and being from Chicago originally, I have a hard time not laughing at the many delays or cancellations we've had this year, but I won't complain about the extra time with my sweet kiddo!  Note....when I say "extra" time, I mean he's in the other room playing Minecraft while I'm blogging. :) 

Anyway, I thought I'd follow up yesterdays post with a post about the DIY headboard I created for our guest room.  It's an easy way for you to get an upholstered headboard for less.  First, let's look at the headboard that inspired mine.

 West Elm Nailhead Upholstered Headboard

My version

We still need to hang it on the wall, so it will sit a bit higher on the bed, but I am already in LOVE with it and the total cost was $60 versus $499 for the West Elm headboard. 

To give credit where it is due, I followed the tutorial from http://freckleschick.blogspot.com/ to make my headboard.  Here's the details:  DIY Nailhead headboard

I'm not a bad copy cat, right???  

If you're really feeling creative, she also made another gorgeous curvy one here:  DIY nailhead trim headboard- the sequel.  Have fun with your choice of fabric and even try one of these shapes: Headboard shapes.

Do you think you'll give this one a try?  If you've created your own version, leave me a link to it in the comments,  I would LOVE to check it out!!

Have a GREAT weekend and stay warm! LOL

Xo,

Jeanne

DIY- Fake Headboard

Happy Thursday! It's been a VERY productive week for my business, continuing the great start to 2014!
I did a staging consultation on Saturday and I'm excited to be staging the home in a few weeks when the homeowner is finished with their projects.  I'll of course, share the before and after shots.
The homeowner was able to purchase a new home without selling the existing one and they'll be taking most of the furnishings with them, so I'll be staging a fairly vacant home.  I'm very excited to show you how I'll be staging this home using only my inventory and some pieces that will be left in the home for me to use.  I LOVE the challenge!
 One of the bedrooms is currently being used as an office and will need to be turned back into a bedroom.  I will be "faking" a bed by dressing a twin sized Aerobed in this room and needed something to give the illusion of a headboard so that it truly looks like a regular bed.  I grabbed a few items that I had around the house and DIY'd this twin "headboard" in about 30 minutes. It is super light weight and easy to transport for staging.

The supplies:

• One piece of foam board
• One piece of foam sheet
• Fabric
• Glue gun or spray glue
• Roll of nailhead trim

The Process:

• Use a piece of foam board that works for your bed size.  For a Twin, use a piece around 39 in. wide, Full- 54in., Queen- 60 in.  The piece I used is only 30 in. wide because that is what I had lying around and I am only creating the illusion of a headboard for staging, not concerned about a perfect fit.
• Cut a piece of foam to fit the board.  I left a one inch gap on each side to add nailhead trim.
• Use spray glue to attach foam to the board

• Layout your fabric with the design side down (again choose fabric yardage according to bed/foam board size), position your board on top, wrap fabric around and use spray glue or hot glue to attach it to the board.  I saw another tutorial recently that used making tape to hold the fabric on so that they could easily change the fabric to stage different rooms.

•  Be sure to check that the fabric is pulled tight and lays flat from the front as you are wrapping and attaching it to the board. Glue all four sides to the board leaving the corners for last.
• I failed to take a picture of how I finished the corners, but I used the tutorial that Jenny from the blog Little Green Notebook wrote for her upholstered bench corners.  http://littlegreennotebook.blogspot.com/2012/07/how-to-upholster-bench-corners.html?m=1
• You can leave the headboard as is or add nailhead trim.  I had some trim left over from the roll I purchased to make a headboard for my guest bedroom, so I used it here. If you've never used nailhead trim before, it comes in a roll where you only need to nail in every fifth nail and gives you a nice, straight line.  So much easier than nailing in each individual nailhead.

The finished headboard ready to hang



I'll show you how it looks with the bed when the staging is complete, but hope this helps give you an idea of how easy it is to DIY an upholstered headboard.  Come back tomorrow to see the DIY upholstered Queen headboard I made for my guest room. 

Xo,
Jeanne

White kitchen cabinets are not for everyone

Shortly after my recent post about working with oak cabinets, I had some friends over and we started talking about how we all love white cabinets like we see in some many homes and inspiration pictures today. (Yes, of course it's normal to start talking about cabinets at a party!)  I am hoping to paint my own cabinets this year.  The current wood tone is fine, but combined with wood floors in the same tone and not much light coming in, the kitchen is very dark and I keep the light on in there all day just to make it feel brighter. 

But, white cabinets are not for me.  Yes, I LOVE the light and bright look of white cabinets, but with all of the warm tones in my home, I need to go with more of an off white/creamy tone to achieve the look without it looking stark like a bright white would.  My parents had the same issue in their home and were ready to paint, so I searched for a great paint color that would work with warm tones and still give them the light, bright kitchen cabinets they wanted.  I found some warm, creamy white options.

 

Sherwin Williams Moderate White

 

 

Sherwin Williams Antique White

 

Source:  The Inspired Room

 

 

Sherwin Williams Softer Tan

 

 

Benjamin Moore Linen White

Source: Garden Web

 

Benjamin Moore Marscapone

source:  unknown

 

Benjamin Moore Acadia White

 

 

 

 

So, which one was the winner for my parent's kitchen?  Let's take a quick look at a before picture.  Sorry for the terrible "in progress" phone picture.

 



 

 

And the after, with the cabinets painted Sherwin Williams Softer Tan. WOW, right?  And my mom even painted them completely on her own!

 

 

If you look above at the swatch of Softer Tan, you would likely think it is waaaaay to dark  because it looks very tan, but I convinced my mom to get a sample of this color knowing that it is much lighter when painted on walls and furniture.  The Light Reflective Value of this color is 62 meaning that it will reflect more light back into the room (any value over 50 indicates that the color is lighter and brighter), But I'll leave the details of light reflective value and how it can help you for another day.

 

So, are you on Team white cabinets or do you love the look of wood in the kitchen?  If you've painted your cabinets, tell us what color you chose! I'm leaning towards using Softer Tan in my own home, but will let you know what I choose as soon as I'm ready to paint.

 

In addition to Home Staging, I offer Color Consultation services.   If you need help choosing paint colors and want to avoid the hassle and expense of trying out 800 different samples, contact me- I can help!

 

Xo,

Jeanne

 

 



 

Pottery Barn Look 4 Less!

Happy Monday and thanks again for all the love by following my blog!   Today, while I am putting some final touches on my office, I am recapping a Pottery Barn Look for Less I did a few days ago on my Facebook page.

 You may have noticed that Indigo is a current color trend seen in Pottery Barn, West Elm, Home Decorators, etc.  Most of the home décor magazines coming in my mailbox are featuring shades of this gorgeous hue in home accessories.

source: indulgy.com

 

 

source:  West Elm

 

I absolutely love this color, but like most of us, can't justify spending a ton of money on new accessories. (i.e. husband will go crazy if I keep spending on accessories) So when I came across this Pottery Barn image, I knew I could DIY it for less to show you how to add some of this color in your home on the cheap! Let me show you how easy it is.

These beautiful Ikat prints can be purchased at Pottery Barn for $159 each.  I created a similar look using a $9.99 Ikea Ribba frame and pieces of Indigo Ikat fabrics behind the glass to create a look for less.  Each fabric choice you see here is about $5- $15 per yard and you would only need about a half a yard for each picture. Easy and cheap! (a.k.a. keeping hubby happy!)

 

You could add one or two of these prints in just about any room or use several to create a gallery wall in the bedroom, living room, hallway or entryway like the Pottery Barn look shows.  I am thinking of adding two in my powder room for a nice pop of color as well as creating a few to use in homes that I stage that have a room needing artwork/color on the wall. The great thing about these is that if you get tired of the print, you can easily remove the fabric and choose any other fabric and print and change the look. 

 

Have you been noticing the blue/indigo trend?  Thought about adding it in your home?  If you did, give me the deets...how and where did you use it? 

 

Xo,

Jeanne