Latest project

 

 

 

See what a beautiful house we've been working on, in a village in Leicestershire.  This was a relatively inexpensive makeover, using mostly what was already in the property, and it's made a huge difference to the appeal of the house.

 

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Low Cost Home Makeovers - 11 Handy Tips. (2) Colours

I was recently invited to Grand Designs Live in Birmingham, to talk about home makeovers and how to keep costs down, whether you're selling your home or want to enjoy living in it. To follow is a summary of the suggestions I made, with lots of 'Before' and 'After' photos as illustrations.

COLOUR -could you work with some of the existing colours in the house or should you change them?
• Check all the existing colours in your house. Include tiles, floor coverings etc. If you add a new colour, will it work with all of these or would you have to change them?
• Completely changing the colour scheme in a house can be very costly, especially if flooring, tiles and window decorations are involved.
• Don’t mix two different colour schemes
• If you do want a new scheme, buy the art and fabrics first, then choose wall colours and flooring, then accessorise
If the makeover is for selling. purposes..
Use existing colours wherever possible to keep the budget down

Before - the homeowners thought they had to replace the sofas to help sell the house...

After - My preference was to just make them work!
 

Exterior view - you wouldn't like to see the following colours in a house like this... 



Before

Before



After - with calmer colours

After - much warmer

CLICK HERE to see the above house in detail

 

Before - don't mix colour schemes - pink and gold don't work together

 

After - the most cost effective change was to replace the pink

CLICK HERE to see the above house in detail

Before - this was the entrance to a house mainly decorated with golds

 

After - so we made it work

 

Before - in the same golden house as above, this  scheme didn't work...

 

After - so we warmed it up

 

 Next - Room Use - how do you use each room and do you need to change this when you're planning a makeover?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Low Cost Home Makeovers - 11 handy tips - (1) Budget

I was recently invited to Grand Designs Live in Birmingham, to talk about home makeovers and how to keep costs down, whether you're selling your home or want to enjoy living in it.

To follow is a summary of the suggestions I made, with lots of 'Before' and 'After' photos as illustrations.

The first section is BUDGET. Others will follow shortly.
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BUDGET - how do you control this so that the total cost stays within your limit?
 •Agree a budget
•Keep 10% for contingency
•Use a spreadsheet before you start, allocating a planned cost for everything
•Keep the spreadsheet updated with real costs
If the makeover is for selling purposes...
•Balance the investment with the impact it will have on the sale of the house

 

Before - a modern kitchen, no budget required to improve the look

 

After - at no cost

 

Before - this kitchen had to be replaced

 

After, at minimal cost, using a spreadsheet to carefully control the budget

 

Before - a family bathroom that was part of a full house makeover

 

After -  it was vital to keep within a small budget so the other rooms could have some attention too

 Next - Existing Colours - how do you decide if you need to keep some of them when you're planning a makeover, or can you change the whole scheme?

Win Grand Designs tickets - 5 days left!

Win a pair of tickets to grand Designs Live at the NEC Birmingham, 12-14th October 2012. (Worth £38.)

*** UPDATE *** Only 5 days left to enter. Just 5 correct entries so far... so send the incomplete form to me to go in the draw anyway!

Print out this Home Staging puzzle, try to solve it, and post it to me with your name, address and telephone number.

http://www.homemakeoverservice.co.uk/pdfs/home_staging_logic_puzzle.pdf

I've tried it on friends and family, and they found it hard - so if you get stuck, don't worry, send it anyway.  I have ten pairs of tickets, and if I don't get ten or more correct entries to go in the draw, I will keep drawing from the other entries, even if they are blank.

The deadline is 5th October 2012 and winners will be notified on 6th October.

Please contact me through my website contact page if you've not tried a logic puzzle before and need instructions. Normal competition rules apply - no cash prize alternative.

Post entries to:  Home Stylers Ltd. 11 Nineacres, Kegworth, Derby. DE74 2TA.

Feedback your viewers won't give you...

Here are some examples of feedback your viewers may think, but are too polite to say...
 
"Your house smells" ... of dogs /cooking / smoke...  
"Your house is dirty."
"Your clutter tells us you don't fit into your home so we probably won't fit either."
"Your rooms are bland / boring." (Or, "Your room colours are awful.")
"Your garden is a mess, it must be really hard to look after."

None of these things would take long to cure if they bought the house, but the chances are they won't buy it anyway.  So, clean up, tidy up, and give your home more of a showhome feel.

10 tips for viewings

1) Have a checklist to use before each viewing, so nothing is missed in the panic.
2) Have a spare set of fresh bedding to place on every bed, with new pillows.
3) Have an empty cupboard in each room so you can have a quick tidy-up.
4) Start packing now.  Fewer items in a room make it appear larger.
5) Have spare fluffy towels to put out for viewings.
6) Open all windows half an hour before viewings.
7) Remove all false scents. Don't use plug-in scents.
8) Wipe over kitchen and bathroom surfaces so they shine.
9) Practise which lights need to be switched on at different times of day.
10) Remove all pets for the viewing, and food bowls etc.

Sell a lifestyle

When you're selling your home, show-off everything - sell a lifestyle.  Ensure the Estate Agent's photographs include everything that drew you to the house in the first place. In the house below, opening the patio doors wide shows how inviting the patio space is, and everyone imagines the BBQ's and parties they can have there.  It was actually raining most of the day I was finishing this house, but we just had a moment of sun, so I whipped the camera out quick!!

Before

After

TEN most common suggestions I make in a Consultation

During my Home Staging Consultations, there seem to be some recurring themes! Here are ten of the suggestions I find I am repeating on a regular basis.

1.  Declutter
2.  Re-paint brightly coloured wall colours with more neutral colours
3.  Hang some artwork 
4.  Put blinds on bathroom windows
5.  Replace broken fittings 
6.  Iron the bedding for that 'show home' feel
7.  Add some plants
8.  Add some relevant accessories
9.  Clean the kitchen and bathroom thoroughly
10.Tidy up the garden

Please post any comments or questions below.

Get the colours right

This house needed to be prepared for sale. All the curtains were made from one fabric, which was a golden colour. Similarly, the carpets were golden. There was no reason to change these expensive items, so this set the scheme for the entire house. Some of the grey-based purple paint in a couple of rooms clashed with the gold, so I recommended re-painting the bedroom and hallway. It's vital that the colour scheme flows through the house.

 Before

 After

Make an entrance

I'm told that buyers decide if they like a home within 30 seconds of walking through the door, so the entrance to your home must appeal to everyone.  No strong, dark colours and no shoes or coats in the way. It must 'set the scene' for the rest of the house, so make sure the colour and style flows into the other rooms.

 Before

 After

Don't let your TV take over...

If a television plays a huge part in your lives, and you have given it a really prominent position in your living room, that's fine, but you may have to re-think your ideas when you're trying to sell your home. Not everyone is a TV addict, and others may have different ideas about how the main social area in a home should be used.  

 Before

The room above obviously suited the family's needs, but they realised their cinema-style room wouldn't appeal to everyone, and it also made the room look small. I removed the storage unit in the window, brought down the matching chair from upstairs, and added another decorative chair, to show how easily a lot more seating would fit into the room. 

 After

Don't forget the outdoor spaces

When you're selling a house, the outdoor space is equally as important as the indoor.  Just finish it all off nicely.  This home was staged last week, and even though it was a fairly wet day, we arranged the new pots and positioned the table, and I kept my eye on the weather, and the moment the sun appeared, I put the cushions out and took the photos quick!!

  Before

 After

The bedrooms...

Here is the first floor of the house I just finished...

Latest project...

Just finished this home staging project - all ready to sell now. These are all 'After' photos - will show the 'Befores' once the house has sold!!!

I will put all the bedrooms in my next blog entry...