A few simple accessories are enough to enjoy this small kitchen

Here is one mistake I see people make when they stage their home: Too much stuff! If you are living in the home while it’s on the market, try to eliminate some of the furniture by either packing it up and storing it OFF SITE…or…give away what you don’t think you’ll use in the new home. That goes for all the day to day stuff we all have laying around. You know – the magazines, stacks of papers, bottles and jars or “who-knows-what” and on and on. Start now to pare down the clutter. You’ll be glad you did.

If you are trying to sell a vacant home and want to show it staged (always a good idea), make do with a lot less furniture than you would normally use in each room. For instance, a simple table and 2 chairs may be all you need in a kitchen’s dining space. In a family room, consider using just a love seat or two chairs instead of a roomful of furniture. You won’t need all the “extra’s” either such as bureau’s, shelves, and extra furniture. That’s good news if you’re renting furniture.

Fill in with nice accessories. Wall art will lilven up dreary walls and plants perk up dreary corners and draw the eye. A few well-placed vases or other items may be enough to bring your room to life. Use an area rug to group furniture on. Place one large piece of art on a wall as a focal point. One item on a display table may be all you need there.

A picnic basket with wine and glases will get people thinking about living here.

Home staging is all about keeping it simple yet elegant. Keep this in mind to stage your home like a pro!

Home Staging Secrets E-Book

Could a room or two in your home benefit from a home decorating facelift?  Has it been awhile since you’ve re-decorated?  Maybe you’d love to transform your rooms but you just don’t know where to start!

If  home decorating isn’t your thing, you’d probably love a little advice on what you can do to “spruce-up” your home!  Let me help you decide “what goes where” or “what color would look best in this room” or “how do I shop for accessories” (and not buy the wrong stuff!).

The Home Decor Genie’s “Designer’s Eye Home Decorating Consultation” may be just what you need!    

Here’s an example of what we can do:

What will this room be used for, and who will use it?  A great starting point, but one that so many people miss!

Let’s look at what colors make you happy.  This is what we’ll start with for the overall color scheme.

Do you have a favorite piece that you absolutely love and want to start with?  I’ve seen wall art, collections, a favorite chair, rugs and more.  This will set the overall theme of the room.

What do you want to display?   How do you surround yourself with things you love without it becoming cluttered?

And, how do we put it all together and give it that professional polish?  Accessories finish off a room and make it look fantastic!

Ready?  Let’s get started!  Just click here and begin the conversation!

Large, framed picture as focal point in home staged living room

A focal point is the first place your eye goes when you enter a room.  Having a great focal point is a basic home decorating technique.  Having lots of points – or too much to look at is not good!  Instead of looking interesting, it looks cluttered and confusing.  Your eye doesn’t know where to stop – or go to next!  You want the person’s eye to be drawn to a certain area and then, progress around the room.

Vary the height or the width of items in your room.  Being all the same or being too symmetrical, can be boring.  By adding interesting heights, textures and colors, your rooms are enlivened and more interesting. 

• Play up a fireplace – center furniture around it.  Don’t block it with furniture, toys, or other junk.
• Do you have great windows or a spectacular view?  You should enjoy it!  Frame windows with beautiful window treatments and coordinate with your room’s furnishings. 
• Showcase your favorite artwork.  A well-chosen piece of wall art looks great over the sofa; or over a fireplace.  One or two large pieces will usually look better than many smaller pieces.

Don’t know where to start?  Find something you really love about your room.  Then, build on that.  If it’s a favorite piece of art, draw colors out of that to decorate your room.  If it’s a piece of furniture, coordinate other furnishings, artwork and accessories with that.  A fireplace or window is a natural home decorating feature!  Make the most of what your room has.

Try Virtual Home Decorating: Get a “Designer’s Eye” on your rooms!  You’ll get feedback to make the changes that make you happy!

Selling your home?  A Virtual Home Staging Consultation will give you tools to prepare your home for a quick sale!

A cute little entry scenario with a birdbath and planter of irises

Home Decor Genie’s Home Decorating Tips: Does Your Entrance Welcome People Into Your Home?   Lead family and guests to your home’s entrance and make them feel welcome.  

• Get a fresh welcome mat – let it express your personal style!  For holiday home decorating, try a seasonal welcome mat! Go funky, wacky, traditional, or whatever your style is!
• Add pots of flowers – flowers and plants add life and color.  You could also hang a seasonal wreath on the door.   Try pine bows, holly or poinsettias for the Christmas season.
• Make sure it’s lit at night – lighting is critical at night, so make sure you have bulbs in the lights and keep them clean.  Again, a holiday tip: brighten up your entrance with fancy lights.  Don’t you just love the variety?

Whatever your home decorating style is, carry it through to the entrance.  People’s first impression of your home is made when they pull up to the curb.  Give new friends and aquaintences a hint of your personality right up front!  And for old friends and family, make your entrance say: “Hi, I’m glad you stopped by!”

Time for a home decorating update? Try my Virtual Home Decorating Services!  Send in your photos and we’ll “talk” either by email and or phone and you’ll get a “Designer’s Eye” on your rooms.  It may be all you need to get going on that home decorating project! 

Or, if you need to sell your home – try a Virtual Home Staging Consultation!  We’ll go through your home and see what we can do to get it sold!

Pick our your absolute favorite decorations and put only those up!

Use lights to brighten up rooms! They aren’t just for the outdoors.  I use them on my mantel, around a picture window and sometimes above a curtain!  It’s amazing what a few well-placed lights can do to brighten you room and lift your spirits!

Instead of lots of decorations, use candles.  There are so many different types, sizes and containers now that you can decorate your home with warmth and light.  And if you’re worried about the little members of your family, try the flameless candles.  Much safer and you won’t have to worry!

Do you dread getting out the tree and all the decorations?  Get someone to help you and make an afternoon or evening of it.  Spread a little cheer with egg nog, wine spritzers or something fun and get it done together.  Maybe you can trade and help friends do their decorating and then they can help with yours!

Whatever you choose to do, put on some great music, make a little food and enjoy the anticipation this season brings.  It’s really not all about the decorations, the gifts and the parties.  It’s about Jesus, his birth and the greatest gift ever given!  Let your mind dwell on that and ask God what that means for you!  It could change your entire perspective!

Happy Holidays from The Home Decor Genie!

Whatever your “thing” is, you can display it in your home tastefully.  The trick in decorating your home is to not overdo it!  If you have collections, you probably feel that it should all be out on display.  But it might be better if you didn’t.  Why? Because when there is too much of a good thing, it becomes mundane.  If you want to really showcase your stuff, give it a special place!

How do you show off your treasured possessions without over-cluttering your rooms?  Here are few suggestions to help you get started!

• 

  Ceramic Cat

  Spread it out!  No, I don’t mean all over the counter, or the entertainment center, or wherever it is now.  I mean, if it really expresses “you” then take down other stuff you don’t love and bring your collections into other rooms.  By putting less in each room, it becomes a showpiece and more noticed.   Got lots of little stuff?  Maybe you need to pack some of it away and rotate it out from time to time.  Kind of like packing up some the kids toys and leaving less out.  Then, bring new pieces out each season and pack up the old ones.  They’ll seem fresh and new.

• Pare it down!  Go through your collections and decide what you really love!  If you aren’t so crazy about it anymore, consider getting rid of it.  If it has a lot of monetary value, pack it away or have it appraised and make a decision about keeping or selling it.
• Give some away!  Got some stuff that grandkids really like?  Gift it to them as a treasure.  They’ll appreciate it and you’ll know it’s going to someone you love.  Give it to friends if they like it.  (Don’t obligate them to display it if they don’t want to).
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  Blue Vases

  Choose wisely when buying new items.  One friend of mine absolutely loves blue!  Anything blue!  So, she had lots of little trinkets, large vases, pretty items, but way too much.  A friend showed her how placing a special vase in the middle of a shelf gave it much more importance than having all her “blue” displayed.  Now, she has a beautifully coordinated display in her living room of her most treasured vases. 

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  Table lamp with violets

  Make little scenes or vigniettes to display.  I really love nature artifacts.  I have different displays with one or two well-choosen items on a shelf that make interesting little scenes.  Group a lamp with some bird’s nests.  Place a couple of carved wooden animals on a shelf with some palm tree candle holders.  You get the idea.

Home decorating is all about balance.  Just remember, “less is more” and you’ll do fine.  There are ways to bring your personality into your rooms but not to overpower them.  If you’d like help with decorating your rooms, set up a Virtual Consultation for a “Designer’s Eye Guided Home Decorating Session.”  I’ll take a look at your room and give you suggestions and ideas that will help you transform your space into something you love!

Once you have the furniture in place; you’ve decided on hard flooring or carpet; and you have the perfect wall color; it’s time to accessorize your room!  Just like you add jewelry, belts, scarves and more to your perfectly choosen outfit, room accessories add the finishing touch to your home decorating!

What accessories should you consider adding?  Of course it depends on what room you are decorating, but some things work in most rooms.  (Maybe not in the laundry room or store room…but other rooms)

• 

  A more exotic or global decorating style

  Rugs!  With the vast array of rugs, you can change the look of your room by changing this one piece.  Go from contempory and bold to traditional, Victorian, or any style that suits you!  They should be large enough to place the furniture on and not look like they are “floating” in the room.

• 

  Dining area with plants

  Plants!  You can add life and zest to a room if you decorate with plants.  Be careful not to overdo it with large, sprawling, scraggly plants.  You want well-maintained, healthy plants that fill a space and draw the eye to it.  Consider large tree-like plants for empty corners and entryways.  Feature a plant on a lovely stand between pieces of furniture.  And use smaller plants to add life and interest to shelves, tables and obscure corners. 

  • What about faux plants? If you just don’t have a green thumb, or you travel and are busy, or you just don’t want to mess with them, I recommend decorating your rooms with silk and high-quality plants that look real and full.  Buy the best you can afford.  Keep them dusted and change them when they get old!
• 

  Table lamp with violets

  Lighting!  There is so much to choose from when it comes to lighting.  You can really give a room class with just the right lamp or chandelier, not to mention making the whole room come to life.  Decide on your decorating style and find lamps that fit that vision.  Mix overhead lighting with lamps to vary the amount of light and to provide task lighting for special projects. 

Plant on a wrought iron stand and fishing accessories

There are lots more accessories that give your room the finishing touch.  Join me again as we explore other elements that perk up your rooms and learn how to best use them!

Debbie Fiskum, The Home Decor Genie!

Home Decor Genie Suggestions for Creative Wall Art!  Want to jazz up your walls with some different and unique art?  Decorate your home with what you love!

Frames can be very inexpensive if you watch for sales.  I pick up a few whenever they go on sale at my favorite stores.  Like right now, Target has 11×14 black or bronze wall frames on sale for $9!

Anyway…what to put IN the frames?!!  Well, let’s see…you could frame:

• 

  Framed Colorado Poster

A favorite poster – I know, it’s been done, but put it in a really NICE frame and give it a place of prominence on your wall.

Your kids newest artwork or something you especially like.  They’ll love you for it and some of it can be quite a conversation-starter!

How about a really unusual magazine cover?  Maybe not the latest “Women’s Day” or something like that, but something fun or odd, or thought-provoking!

• 

  The Home Decor Genie's NatureArt

  I like to arrange pressed fall leaves in a frame.  I usually use a black background with a fall-color matt to make them really stand out.  I call it The Home Decor Genie’s NatureArt! (Coming soon, you can special order yours!)

Now, what do you do with all this art once you have it? 

• Line up similar pieces on a wall or going up a stairway wall.
• Make a collage out of several pieces.  You can get a collage-template at art supply stores that help you figure out where to place your art so it looks good.  (Michael’s and Hobby Lobby carry these)
• 

  Large, framed picture as focal point in home staged living room

  If you have one spectacular picture, give it a place of prominence and make it your focal point in the room. 

• Take your color cues from this art and scatter the color around the room in furniture, pillows, rugs, accessories, etc.

So, whether you’re staging your home to sell in this real estate market or just want to decorate your home so you love it, try sprucing it up with these wall art ideas.  It’s  a great alternative to just puttin’ up lots of family or vacation photos. (nothing wrong with that, but if you’re ready to move on to a different home decorating style…you may like these suggestions!)

Rich wood and masculine colors in this corner home office

• Use plain, neutral-colored fabrics.  Minimize patterns and florals that appeal more to women.  Use natural, woodsy, or basic colors.  Cover your furniture with slip covers to save money.
• Get rid of the frills in the room.  No lace or filmy curtains.  Pack up the cute, ruffly or fancy throw pillows.  Take down the wall art that isn’t neutral.
• Create simple lines and more open space.  Don’t crowd furniture into your rooms.  Less is more when it comes to home staging  – or home decorating for that matter!
• Get rid of the clutter and collections.  All that cute, collectible stuff sitting around may mean something to you, but potential buyers will either be distracted by it or they will be overwhelmed by it!

As I always say, “when staging your home, simple is better!”  Start your packing and clear out the rooms.  A little furniture and even less personal stuff in the home is better for getting your home sold!

Want more help with staging your home?  Get my new e-book: Stage Your Home Yourself – Insiders Secrets That Will Get It  SOLD! 

Staging your home to sell?  If prospective buyers don’t like the outside of your home, they may never go inside!  So, make sure that the front is inviting.

What is the yard like?  Are there toys scattered all over?  Or do you leave the trash cans sitting within sight of the curb?  Are flower beds and shrubs neatly trimmed and weeded?  All these things may seem like picky things, but if you want to sell your home quickly, you must present a home that is neat, clean and polished.

Home staging is a principal that will help you feature your home in the best light.  For instance, has it been awhile since you’ve painted the front door?  And check it for spider webs and debris.  Scape any loose paint, sweep it away and then give it a coat of paint.

Keep the lawn mowed and neat.  In the fall, be sure to pick up leaves and sticks, and add some grass seed if needed.

A charming front door

If you have a front porch, give it a little ambiance with a chair or two and some colorful plants in pots or hanging down. 

Your goal is to get buyers into your home and see what it has to offer.  Most people will not want to deal with bad landscaping, peeling paint or dirty entrances.  Do what you can to make it welcoming and inviting!

For more help preparing your home for sale, get my ebook:

“Stage Your Home Yourself – Insiders Secrets That Will Get It SOLD!”

• Get my exclusive “home staging checklists” to stage each room!
• “Going Green” tips that you can feature in your home sale
• Help to budget your home staging project
• Lists to help you prioritize your home staging and get it done!
• Good design principals that you can use in your new home.