More and more homeowners are remodeling and making the most of their space with these top 10 hot trends in the kitchen.

1. Kitchens are now featuring a “family room” feel with more seating and dining areas.
2. The most popular color choice for cabinets was white. It works well with almost any architectural style – traditional to contemporary.
3. Stainless steel appliances are still a big hit, especially the fingerprint-resistant steel finish.
4. More and more kitchens are featuring custom additions such as pizza-making stations, coffee bars and wine-tasting nooks.
5. Walk-in pantries are popular for families and allow for ample storage of surplus items and bulk purchase like paper towels and canned goods.
6. Tech-savvy kitchens are featuring more electronics, like wall-mounted televisions and built-in sound systems.
7. Eco-friendly kitchens boost water-conserving faucets, energy start appliances and eco-friend cabinetry.
8. Built-in appliances that look more like cabinets are popping up across the country.
9. Lighting can convert from well-lit workspace to dimly lit formal dinner with the flip of a switch. Recessed lighting combined with chandeliers will do the trick.
10. A save-and-splurge mentality helps keep remodelers on budget. Choose to splurge on appliances instead of countertops or a built-in wine rack instead of a porcelain sink.

Select Your Tiles and Plan Your Design

The first and perhaps most fun step in backsplash installation involves mapping out your design and selecting your tiles. You’ll want to measure the length of the wall you intend to tile and the distance from countertop to cabinet. Calculate the total area you plan to cover, and use graph paper to scale and draw your pattern. Then visit a tile supplier or home improvement store to consider your options for tile choices. You may be surprised by how much of a selection you find. A huge range of tiles in varying colors, designs, sizes, and materials awaits you. In general, you’ll want to stick with glazed tiles, because unglazed tiles are more susceptible to stains from moisture and grease. But otherwise, just let your budget and personal taste be your guide. As you calculate how many tiles you will need, it’s a good idea to add about 10 percent, which will provide for any cutting mistakes or breakage.

Prepare the Wall

With your design mapped out and your tiles selected, the next step is to prepare the wall. Remove the stove, range hood, outlet plates or anything else that will be in your way and shut off power to all outlets and switches along your workspace. Sand the entire area to rough it up, which will help the mastic – the adhesive you will use to attach your tiles – to bind. Find and mark the exact center of the backsplash with a straight vertical line. Lay out your tiles following your design on the floor or another flat surface so that you can follow the pattern.

Apply Mastic and Set Field Tiles

Next, beginning at the center line, apply a thin layer of mastic for the bottom row of tiles using a grooved trowel. One by one, place the tiles that will form the bottom row of your backsplash, beginning from the center and working out to each side. Leave an 1/8”-gap along the bottom and between each of the tiles using temporary spacers, which you’ll remove later before applying grout or caulk. Continue in this fashion until the field tiles along the bottom of the backsplash wall are all installed.

Cut and Set Decorative Tiles

Depending on your design and any outlets or other wall features you need to incorporate, you will need to cut tiles to fit as you move up the wall toward the underside of the cabinets. The easiest means of cutting tile is to use a scoring cutter, which you can rent for between $15 and $20 a day or buy for around $50. First, you’ll mark the tile where you want to cut it. Then you’ll place the tile in the scoring cutter and score a mark on its surface. Finally, using the scoring cutter’s handle, you’ll break the tile along the scored line. Be sure to cut tiles as you reach the places where you need them rather than leaving a hole and going back. 

Grout, Clean, and Caulk

Once you’ve installed all of your tiles, removed your temporary spacers, and allowed the mastic to set up overnight, it’s time to grout. Select a sandless grout, which will prevent any scratches on the tiles you’ve just worked so hard to place. Mix the grout according to the manufacturer’s instructions and apply it using a rubber float. Push the grout well down into the spaces between the tiles and scrape any excess off of the tile surfaces. After the grout has had a chance to set up for about an hour, use a sponge and clean water to wipe away any film from the surface of your tiles. Finally, add a line of caulk in the same color as your grout along the bottom row of tiles where they meet the countertop.

If you have any questions concerning Real Estate in Charlottesville or the surrounding areas, contact me.  I would love to help.  I am a REALTOR® and an Associate Broker with Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate III “Licensed to Sell Real Estate in Virginia”.

According to ENERGY STAR, as much as 20 percent of a home’s energy use comes from light bulbs. Using a compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL) requires about 75 percent less energy than incandescent, but lights that are turned off save the most energy of all.

Tip #2 – Wash clothes in cold water (and honestly, the new cold-water detergents do the job just fine)

According to the US Department of Energy, a washing machine uses up to 90 percent of its energy to simply heat the water in a laundry load, and the higher the temperature, the greater the cost to you and the environment. Keeping your cool will save energy and make your clothes last longer, by using cold water.

Tip #3 – Clean the lint filter in your gas or electric clothes dryer, to realize big savings.

Tests have shown that keeping the lint trap clean may provide savings of up to $34 in energy costs each year (ENERGY STAR).

Tip #4 – Better yet, use a clothesline or clothes ‘tree’ and keep the dryer shut off.

An outdoor clothesline costs only a few dollars. You might also want to consider buying an indoor drying rack, so you can keep up your energy efficient ways even when it’s raining.

Tip #5 – Some local utilities now have low-impact hydro-electric windmills and solar farms contributing ‘green energy’ to their grid. 

Find out if your local utility has such a program and ask if they give a discount for purchasing power from these ‘green’ generators. Tied with this is doing your laundry and other energy-intensive activity in mid-day or late evening, when demands on the grid are less.

Tip #6 – Isolate your fridge, for its own good

If your fridge is beside a vent, stove or dishwasher (which give off a lot of heat) your fridge will have to work hard and use more energy to keep its cool. If possible, keep the fridge isolated and reap the financial rewards.

Tip #7 – Forego cleaning products for plain old hot water and white vinegar – the ultimate green living product. If you need something more powerful, most department stores now carry lines of easily identifiable environmentally friendly cleaning products that are less toxic and come in recyclable packaging.

Tip #8 – Make the green grass of home a hardy perennial

Perennial ryegrass and drought-tolerant fescue are grass types that need less watering and chemical care. Use a healthy layer of mulch to reduce weed growth, retain moisture in the soil and keep roots cool, which again lessens the strain on the community’s water supplies. And don’t mind the beneficial bugs, birds, frogs and toads that might make your backyard their home as a result.

Tip #9 – Buy biodegradable pots for your home and garden

Buying plants already potted in bridgeable materials, like bamboo, coconut, rice or wheat fiber, rather than plastic, will eliminate another step in the recycling process.

Tip #10 – Whether it’s bedding, furniture, flooring or wall and window coverings, shop green and leave the plastics behind

Draperies, window blinds, and shades are all now available in natural fibers such as cotton, hemp, linen, wood, reeds, silk or bamboo. Upholstered furniture containing silk, wool, latex or natural rubber are emerging, as are sofas and chairs stuffed with a foam product made from soybeans. In this manner, we can eliminate the need for petroleum-based foam stuffing in our houses, saving thousands of barrels of crude oil in the process.

Additionally, ask for ‘reclaimed wood’ in new flooring or furniture. Reclaimed and recycled wood from salvaged timbers found in old barns, homes, bridges and even sunk at the bottom of our creeks and rivers can also be used to reduce chemically-treated wood for floors, furniture and construction supports.

If you have any questions concerning Real Estate in Charlottesville or the surrounding areas, contact me.  I would love to help.  I am a REALTOR® and an Associate Broker with Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate III “Licensed to Sell Real Estate in Virginia”.

Versatility and Universal Appeal

The power of neutrals, especially when you’re thinking about putting a house on the market, can’t be overemphasized. As much as you may love the deep brick red of the wall leading up from your entryway to your second floor, or the way the bright turquoise in your home office brings out the colors in that wall hanging you purchased on your honeymoon in Guatemala, a potential buyer may not see things quite the same way.  Indeed, when it comes to selling a house, you don’t want buyers to see you in the space, but rather, you want them to imagine themselves.

Clean, neutral shades lend an air of sophistication and serenity while providing a perfect canvas upon which future inhabitants can apply their own accents and personalization. Because they provide so much flexibility, neutral choices have long-lasting and far-reaching appeal.

What Is Neutral?

Defining just what makes a neutral can be difficult, even for trained designers. That’s because the traditional definition of neutral is becoming blurred. In classic color theory, neutrals are achromatic “non colors” that don’t fall into any of the traditional categories associated with the “color wheel.” These include shades within the white, gray, and brown families. In recent years, however, designers have begun to embrace a new set of neutrals that include softer, muted, lighter versions of colors found on the color wheel – shades like mocha, sea foam, and lavender. With their subtle color presence, these new neutrals – often referred to as complex colors – provide the same versatility and universal appeal of traditional neutrals while adding a heightened level of dynamism and broaden your choices considerably.

Moving Beyond “Boring Beige”

“People are expanding their understanding of what neutral is now,” says Jessica Bantom, President of Bantom Designs in Bowie, Maryland, and a member of the International Association of Color Consultants. “You used to think of just boring beige,” Bantom continues, “but today there are a lot of richer neutrals, and people are becoming more aware of the fact that neutrals can contain any color.”

Author and art gallery owner Stephanie Hoppen agrees. In her book, Perfect Neutrals: Color You Can Live With, Hoppen devotes entire chapters to off-whites, grays and other neutrals, and the degrees of dimension they can add to interior spaces. “A room created in the palest, milkiest shades of off-white doesn’t have to be monotone,” she writes, “but can have surprising richness and depth.”

Neutral Nuances – Dialing Up and Dialing Down

Whether you opt for a more traditional taupe or a newer neutral like pistachio is up to you. Do bear in mind, though, that different neutrals make sense for different spaces. Lighter shades lend an airy feel, making them great for small spaces like bathrooms and hallways. Darker shades, meanwhile, can help bring a cozy feel to an especially large room. A room’s function within the house also provides clues about whether to opt for a warmer or cooler neutral. A creamy antique white with hints of yellow or orange adds a comfortable feel to a social space like the kitchen, for example , while a cooler shade of gray lends a sense of uncluttered calm to a small office or den intended to serve as a quiet, peaceful retreat.

You Don’t Have to Go It Alone

Though having options is never a bad thing, the staggering array of neutrals you have to choose from today may seem overwhelming. If you don’t know or are unsure, ask for help. A Better Homes and Gardens® Real Estate sales associate can provide useful insight, as can experts at your local hardware store or home decorating outlet. Magazines, like Better Homes and Garden, or Web sites like bhg.com, can provide ideas and serve as inspiration. When you see a room that looks appealing, mark the page and match the wall color at the store. And consider conducting a trial run. Purchase the smallest size can of paint available in a neutral you like, and try it out on a small area of one wall. This makes it easy to change course if necessary – or to go ahead and commit to the full gallon if you like what you see.

If you have any questions concerning Real Estate in Charlottesville or the surrounding areas, contact me.  I would love to help.  I am a REALTOR® and an Associate Broker with Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate III “Licensed to Sell Real Estate in Virginia”.

 One of the best benefits to having a home office is the freedom you have in creating a space that is just for you. You can stick to a budget and still develop an office space that offers creativity, storage, and organization. Capitalize on using natural light and unique storage system ideas and keep most of your money in that bottom line that you work so hard for.

Sunny Space

Take advantage of natural light by placing the desk near windows.

How to Get the Look:

• Coat wood floors in cream paint to brighten the space.
• Put a slipcover over a retired dining room chair for fresh color and homey style (put casters on the bottom for mobility).
• Build your own desk by attaching a flat door to stock leg posts bought at a home improvement store.
   

Bright Ideas

“Why didn’t I think of that?” ideas keep the budget low and the style quotient high.

How to Get the Look:

• A garden urn and vase hold pencils and pens.
• Tall table lamps shed more light than short fixtures would have, plus, there’s no installation hassle.
• Buy inexpensive woven baskets for extra storage.
   

Message and Filing Center

Work board or work of art? You decide.

How to Get the Look:

• Attach inexpensive molding to a dry erase board and paint to match the rest of the room.
• Add new drawer pulls to painted file cabinets — put several units side by side for an impromptu credenza.
   

Boxed In

You’re only as organized as your shelving system.

How to Get the Look (and learn the system):

• Spray paint dark shelving white.
• Be firm with your labeling system — it will force you to edit things you don’t use or need.
• Look for a unit with adjustable shelves so you can tailor your containers to ever-evolving storage needs.
   

Good Use of Space

An awkward nook becomes a useful space with an old coffee table pushed into it, but click to the next slide to see an even better use of the space.
 

Better Use of Space

Voila! A cozy seating area appears thanks to cushions placed on the coffee table.

How to Get the Look:

• Buy box cushions for cushy seating (and don’t forget throw pillows).
• Add wall art and a long, woven basket for storage.
   

Smart Drawers

Assign each drawer one type of item, such as CDs, folders, and magazines to keep the spot uncluttered.
 

If you have any questions concerning Real Estate in Charlottesville or the surrounding areas, contact me.  I would love to help.  I am a REALTOR® and an Associate Broker with Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate III “Licensed to Sell Real Estate in Virginia”.

^{Courtesy of Better Homes and Gardens®} 

Crushed Gravel

Crushed gravel driveways normally consist of small stones intermixed with coarse sand and other aggregates. Because there is no actual hard surface, they are generally easy to maintain, and with little cracking or shifting, require little to no repair. If your property is in a rural area, gravel driveways are an excellent finish for your warm country cabin. For snowier climates, consider that snow removal may be challenging and the winter months particularly dirty, as the surface will likely stay wet for longer periods. One consideration to improve the appearance of an existing crushed gravel driveway is to have your local landscaper refresh with enough stone to replace the top three inches before you list your home. This may require several yards of material but will be very appealing to the eye of a potential homebuyer. After the stone has been evenly distributed over your driveway – park on the street to avoid stirring it up.

Concrete

Concrete—while difficult to do yourself—is a versatile, polished and highly desirable surface. Different colors can give the surface almost any appearance to match your home’s exterior (it can even be mixed with different stones to give it the look of an aggregate). It can be stamped and sealed in different ways to give it the look of brick or even cobblestone. Concrete is likely the longest lasting driveway type for almost any climate. If touching up, consider a concrete stain that will help hide some of the blemishes accumulated over the years.

Brick

Brick is an excellent non-slip surface for both cars and kids. If you’re home is older, it’s an excellent choice to give the property additional character by recreating a more traditional driveway setting that will be attractive to interested buyers. One of its main advantages is that brick is easily replaceable; because the foundation is normally stone, sand, then brick, cracked sections can easily be interchanged. Additionally, you may choose interlocking brick with holes for more eco-friendly water drainage directly to your property versus the run-off to the street and subsequent sewer system.

If you have a good size budget, also consider cobblestones. Because they will shift and be uneven, it adds even more old worldliness to the front of your home.

Asphalt

The most common type of driveway is asphalt. It is the most economical (per square foot) and convenient in terms of installation time. When selling your home, make sure you either re-seal your asphalt driveway (for less than $150 you can buy a 5 gallon drum, roller and broom stick and be finished in 2 hours) or completely re-install to give a nice fresh appearance. If in doubt consult a professional.

Stone, pavers, a mixed driveway (using multiple materials) and compressed earth are all other driveway types to consider. Whatever you choose, it’s important to consider the property type and the desired aesthetic. If the two work well together, you’ll have made a significant investment in the value of your home.

If you have any questions concerning Real Estate in Charlottesville or the surrounding areas, contact me.  I would love to help.  I am a REALTOR® and an Associate Broker with Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate III “Licensed to Sell Real Estate in Virginia”.

Where to put your clothes can be a problem, especially if you’re planning to buy an older home or a smaller home. What can you do?

A. Buy a bigger home, with a bigger closet
B. Call a reality TV show for help with a closet makeover
C. Store your extra stuff in an off-site storage building
D. Throw away or donate stuff you don’t need

Plenty of people pick option A. And they have the outsized utility bills to prove it.

You won’t get on reality TV unless you have the worst closet in America, and we know you don’t.

You could store the clothes you’re not using, but is that really wise? If it’s bad enough that you’d even consider option C, maybe you really need option B – Intervention!

We hope you picked option D. 

Cop a new attitude

Like millions of us, you’ve done your patriotic best to support the nation’s economy with your discretionary spending, but now you know you can’t do it alone.

Now you’re storing clothes you don’t use and your working closet is overflowing.

You may love clothes, but clothes don’t love you back.  They’re expensive, take up space, they’re addictive, and displace money better spent on other things – like owning a home. With a bigger closet.

It’s time for you to take a course in clothes closet economics. 

The true cost to own that dress

You just bought a summer frock for $200. Summer is three months long. You’ll wear the dress exactly 12 times this year. Next summer, will you bring the dress out? Yes, but it’s likely you’ll wear it half as many times, if at all. The third summer? It will hang in your closet and you’ll never pull it out.

Each wearing cost you $11.11. Was it worth it? Maybe, until you do the math.

Now add in the underclothes ($8), shoes ($10), belts ($4),  jewelry ($30), and handbag ($20) and you’ll see that every time you get dressed, you’re amortizing about $2,500 a month, enough to make a monthly payment on a $400,000 home.

If you really want to make yourself sick, go through each item in your closet and write down what you paid for it. If it adds up to a decent down payment on a house, you’re beginning to get the picture.   

Take charge 

There’s no such thing as investment dressing, because clothes don’t build equity.

For every new garment you buy, another becomes obsolete, because you stop wearing it.  So stop letting yourself be brainwashed by clothing companies that buying something new is the only way to feel good.

How about feeling good by not listening to them?

Here are a few ideas that can help:

• Create a keep, donate, and throw away pile. If you haven’t had a garment on in two years, donate it. If you find stained, out-of-shape, or otherwise unwearable clothes, throw them out. If this is too hard, weed your closet alone, and then once again with a sensible friend.
• Keepers should be clothes you love, not sizes you can’t wear.
• Keepers are multi-purpose. They can be dressed up or down, or transition into the next season with a sweater or jacket. They can go over or under other clothes.
• Keepers are classic. They don’t scream last year or fashion victim. 
• Go back over your receipts for the past year and add up what you spent on clothing. Vow that at least 75% of that amount this year will go toward a down payment on a home or toward paying your new mortgage down.
• Make a clothing budget for new purchases and stick to it. If you choose 10% of your income, go back and read this article over again.
• Make a new game – how long can you make a good piece of clothing last? How many ways can you wear it?
• Find other ways to get euphoric – like shopping for houses instead of blouses online.

And when you buy your dream home, treat yourself to a closet organizing system, so you can see what you own – all at one time.

If you have any questions concerning Real Estate in Charlottesville or the surrounding areas, contact me.  I would love to help.  I am a REALTOR® and an Associate Broker with Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate III “Licensed to Sell Real Estate in Virginia”.

The focal point defines the room’s ambiance and underscores the room’s purpose. It makes you want to enter, and enjoy the room to sit and relax, study, watch videos, sleep, make conversation, play or whatever the room is designed to do.

By establishing what your focal point is going to be, you have an easier time decorating the rest of your room, because the other furnishings will fit around it.

For example, if you are creating a focal point with a fireplace and seating area, you can embellish the mantel with a small group of candles or collectibles. Your seating can be arranged to enjoy the fire in the winter, or you can replace the grate with fresh or dried flowers for the summer. 

If you want a warm, relaxing ambiance, add bookshelves and a luxurious lap throw draped on the arm of a chair or couch.  Use neutral paints and tones, small patterns or solids on furnishings, and decorate with prints of pastoral scenes or still life. Finish with a thick pile area rug, and you’ve completed a cozy den or study. 

What makes a good focal point?

A good focal point attracts attention.

Focal points are either created for you by the room’s architecture, or you have to create one yourself, but the idea is to make the room enjoyable to use. 

The room may have an organic feature that you can enhance, such as a bay window with a beautiful view.  A picture window can be enhanced with window seats with colors like blue or green to bring the indoors inside the room.

How to create a focal point

Some rooms simply don’t have an outstanding architectural feature, so you have to create your own focal point.

There are several tricks of the trade to create a focal point – size, color, light, and curiosity. 

Size: Large items attract interest. Start by putting the largest piece of furniture against the largest wall to help traffic flow.

A bed is a natural focal point for a bedroom, and a sofa is great focal point for a living room or den. Rugs also command attention and anchor the décor, so they make great focal points, too.

Color: You can influence mood and behavior with color. A contrasting wall color behind your sofa or bed is an excellent way to create a focal point. You can also use small intense colors on accessories such as pillows to direct the eye to a seating area and focal point. But a little goes a long way – color that is too intense can repel as well as attract.

Light: Your eye travels easily to where it can see the best. Lighting is essential to giving attention to the main area of the room, such as a chandelier over a dining area. You can also arrange lights to dim or brighten depending on whether you want the ambiance to be lively or intimate.

Curiosity: Curiosity makes you want to want to learn. A collection, a great piece of art, a humorous slogan on a pillow, or an unusual piece of furniture all invite conversation, which is a wonderful way to use a focal point. 

Is it possible to have more than one focal point in a room? Yes, if your room is designed for more than one purpose, such as a living-dining combination room, or a bedroom with a sitting area, you will need a focal point for each area to distinguish it from the rest of the room and to define its purpose.

Just make sure the focal points agree that both sides of the room are equally formal or informal, and in the same decorative theme as the rest of the room.

If you have any questions concerning Real Estate in Charlottesville or the surrounding areas, contact me.  I would love to help.  I am a REALTOR® and an Associate Broker with Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate III “Licensed to Sell Real Estate in Virginia”.

Invest in quality workmanship, pay attention to the small details, and roll up your sleeves to do some work yourself. These 10 tips can help save you money while still sprucing up your home.

1. The Price Is Right

Genuine satisfaction in decorating comes not from writing checks but from devising affordable solutions to vexing problems. Resolve from the outset to be resourceful and you can achieve high style on a shoestring budget.

^{Put on your decorating thinking
cap to save money and add style.} 

Let’s face it, few of us have the luxury of a sky’s-the-limit budget for home decorating. As appealing as it sounds, “money is no object” is just a phrase we fantasize about using right after the lottery pays off or the Prize Patrol comes calling. Even for top interior designers, an unlimited budget is a rarity. Many confess they actually do their best work when they have to rely on creativity instead of cash. So whether you’re frugal by nature or necessity, consider these four guiding principles for getting the most out of your decorating dollars.

• Use inexpensive materials lavishly and expensive materials judiciously. Rely on cotton sailcloth for slipcovers, table skirts, and draperies, and save the pricey textiles for throw pillows and trims.
• If you have to decide between costly materials and costly labor, choose the labor. An artisan can make your dollar-a-yard fabric look like a million bucks. Elegance is found in details, whether it’s sewing trims, borders, and appliques or painting color washes and stries (thin lines or bands) — touches of finery many of us can’t craft for ourselves. Skimping on cheap labor can result in low quality work that may cost you more later down the road.
• Remember that the objective is not just to see how inexpensively you can get by but to make every money-saving method count. If you do your own painting and paperhanging, you’ll have more funds left for furnishings, frills, and labor.
• Make the most of what you have, then fill in the blanks. Some of the best design ideas are free. Simply rearranging the furniture — floating it away from the walls, or turning it on the diagonal — can transform a tired room. Moving a piece of furniture from one room to another can improve the look of both. Experiment with what’s on hand before you go shopping for replacements. 

2. It’s in the Details

In a featureless room, architectural details can make a big difference for a little price. Wood moldings from the lumberyard or home center are the equivalents of architectural applique. They come in a wide range of sizes and styles, and they can be painted or stained. Use them to frame windows, doors, or panels of wallpaper, or to create a chair or plate rail. Similarly, a wallpaper border is architecture by the roll. It can add ornamental detail to plain rooms and alter the perceived shape and dimension of spaces.

3. Make Your Space Work for You

Even if you can’t afford a masterpiece, you don’t have to settle for bare walls.

• Cut out, mat, and frame 20 pages of a book featuring botanical illustrations or architectural sketches. Mount them on a single wall to achieve the collective impact of one large work of art.
• Turn an ordinary print or poster into an extraordinary piece of art by splurging on professional matting and framing. Elaborate mats and frames can make an inexpensive print look far more sophisticated.

4. Hanging Around

With just a hammer and nail, you’re on your way to turning framed treasures into dramatic groupings. But before getting too hammer-happy, make templates of your artwork by tracing the perimeters on kraft paper. Cut out the shapes and tape them to your wall, rearranging until you’re happy with the look. Nail through the paper, adjusting nail position according to the frame hangers. Remove paper and hang artwork.

5. Save with Sheets

Because they come in coordinated solids and patterns, sheets take the guesswork out of mixing and matching. Plus, they tend to be less expensive than the same yardage of fabric. Use them to make curtains, craft table skirts, or upholster a salvaged headboard. Turn sheets into a shower curtain or a skirt for a wall-mount sink. Or apply strips of sheet fabric to inexpensive towels for a high-end coordinated look. 

6. Sew It Up to Save Dough

Fabric, like paint, covers a multitude of sins and can make a dramatic difference in an entire room. It also allows you to change the character of your decor seasonally. Use a floral-chintz print for wicker-chair cushions in the summer, and switch to a red-and-black tartan plaid in the winter. Because cushions take so little fabric, you may find what you need on sale in remnant quantities. If you don’t sew, have an upholsterer make the covers for you at a reasonable cost. 

• For old chairs, consider new slipcovers: they can give a brand-new look at a fraction of the price.
• You don’t need expensive fabrics to create a luxe look. The trick to using inexpensive fabric effectively is using lots of it. Instead of just one skirt on a round table, use three: a maxi, a mid, and a mini. Layering conveys luxury.
• For a monochromatic look, use a solid-color fabric that matches the walls — perhaps sea-foam green, dove gray, ivory, camel, or creamy yellow — for slipcovers, table skirts, and window treatments. In lieu of pattern, choose fabrics with texture to increase visual appeal and tactile qualities.
• Mixing fabric patterns and colors is trickier, of course, but you can improve the odds of doing it successfully by starting with a paisley or floral, adding a stripe or plaid, then introducing a solid color.
• Study rooms in decorating magazines and books, and you’ll find most have three fabric colors in diminishing proportions — for example, lots of blue, a little less white, and just a smidgen of yellow as an accent. It’s a reliable formula that works for any color scheme.
• Repetition creates continuity. Sew pillows from the curtain fabric; trim curtains and pillows with the same fringe.

7. Size Matters

Looking for abundance? You can stuff a room with furniture and accessories — an expensive proposition — or you can buy fewer but bigger items.

Splurge on one worthy focal-point element and you won’t have to spend so much on the elements around it. Try an oversize mirror instead of several small ones, for instance. Consider a large armoire you can appreciate every day instead of four tiny tables that never get noticed. Six small throw pillows won’t do as much for an ordinary sofa as two 24 x 24-inch ones, which can change the sofa’s profile and personality dramatically.

8. Know-How Stretches the Pocketbook

Often, the smartest buy is knowledge. Buying a few hours of an interior designer’s time could help you decide where best to spend your limited resources and might keep you from making costly mistakes you’ll have to live with for a long time.

Look for ideas that are low-cost or even no-cost. Study furniture vignettes in furniture stores and design centers. Go on house tours, and visit model homes and designer showhouses. Pay attention to the colors and materials you encounter in restaurants, banks, and clothing stores.

In the end, it’s not how much money you spend on decorating that matters but how wisely you spend it. Imagination is your most potent ally. To make the most of finite resources, be willing to take an unconventional — even eccentric — approach. Make the process of feathering your nest affordably an exercise in creativity, not an exercise in making do. Explore, experiment, and dare to be different, and your home will almost automatically reflect the good sense, good taste, good humor, and good will you put into it.

9. Paint It Pretty!

For as little as $25, you can create a brand-new complexion with paint.

But don’t automatically resort to play-it-safe white, even if you’re hesitant about stronger hues. White walls produce a gallery effect that almost demands beautiful objects and furnishings. And white intensifies the perception that something is missing if a room is sparsely furnished. Pastels and darker hues have a way of filling up a room’s blank spaces.

You don’t have to stick with solid colors, either. Bookstores offer volumes on decorative-painting techniques: combing, glazing, ragging, and stenciling. With a little patience and practice, anyone who can hold a brush can turn an ordinary wall into a work of art for pennies a square foot.

10. Beyond Your Walls

Paint has just as much potential on floors and furnishings as it does on walls. Two coats of deck or latex paint topped with three coats of polyurethane will produce a beautiful finish on tile, linoleum, or even old wood floors that are beyond salvage.

Similarly, you can get the look of new furniture without buying new furniture. Paint a hand-me-down dresser crisp white and you’ve got an instant cottage classic. Collect six different wood dining chairs from secondhand shops and give them a common bond by painting them the same color.

If you have any questions concerning Real Estate in Charlottesville or the surrounding areas, contact me.  I would love to help.  I am a REALTOR® and an Associate Broker with Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate III “Licensed to Sell Real Estate in Virginia”.

^{Courtesy of Better Homes and Gardens®}

The kitchen is the most important room to stage in your home. Potential home buyers will want to view it void of unnecessary countertop appliances and clutter. By showcasing your kitchen in the best possible light, you can potentially sell your home faster and increase the closing price.  Even in a slow real estate market, making your kitchen attractive to a buyer could make the difference. 

Clean up the kitchen

Studies have shown that one of the dirtiest places in the home is the kitchen. Before you list, pull out those rubber gloves and give everything a good scrub so that the kitchen sparkles. Replace unsightly floor tiles, or in a worst-case scenario, consider a complete floor makeover. Pay special attention to the cabinetry; in older homes, it is common to see cracks in the beaded caulking between the ceiling and the trim above the cupboards. For less than $10, you can buy a pre-mixed tube of crack filler and make it look like new. Also, to give the kitchen an inexpensive facelift, consider replacing the fixturing – an affordable way to give doors and drawers a second wind.

Clutter is a kitchen killer

Kitchens are the focal point of almost every home. A great rule of thumb for the staging of a kitchen is to leave no more than two appliances on your counter. After you have uncluttered the kitchen counter, brighten and soften the space by adding some fresh fruit, new dishtowels, a cookbook, and plants or flowers.

Modernizing today will help you sell tomorrow

Modernizing your kitchen can help you sell your home for years to come. Renovating your kitchen now will let you enjoy new appliances while boosting the value of your home for the future. While you may want to take specific appliances with you, stainless steel can make almost any kitchen sing. Another way to add value to your kitchen is to install concealed appliances – hiding the dishwasher and fridge, for example, can really spice up your kitchen for buyers. Also popular are dual microwave/convection oven (prices can vary between $200 – $900 for higher-end stainless built-ins) – another appliance quickly becoming a staple in most modern kitchens.

If you can’t replace appliances, be sure to have them repaired and cleaned. It’s also a good idea to clean your fridge and stove, as buyers will almost always open oven and fridge doors.

Lighting

Take the time to make sure all the existing light fixtures have working light bulbs. Make sure the blinds are open on all the windows and, if required, add a small table lamp or two to accent a dark corner.

… And the kitchen sink

Another kitchen remodeling idea is to upgrade your “sinkware.” New faucets, soap dispensers and sinks (whether you are reglazing or replacing altogether) are affordable ways to give the kitchen an immediate facelift. Don’t forget, buyers love to turn on the kitchen faucet when touring a home.

The kitchen is the most important room and biggest selling feature in your house. Staging it properly can make every potential buyer say, “this could be my kitchen.”

If you have any questions concerning Real Estate in Charlottesville or the surrounding areas, contact me.  I would love to help.  I am a REALTOR® and an Associate Broker with Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate III “Licensed to Sell Real Estate in Virginia”.