Five easy steps to prep your home for resale!!

Five easy steps to prep your home for resale. Are you looking to sell your home? Then these 5 easy step will help you get started.

1. Clean it. Make sure your home is clean. Not just the surfaces, but all the hidden places. Buyers do 

    check out all the areas in your home, so don't assume they won't see it.

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 2. Deodorize it. Now that your home is clean, does it smell clean? Pets and cooking odors can 

     linger, so make sure it can passes the "sniff test".

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3. Fix it. Do you have cracked ceilings? Cracked tiles? Leaking faucets? Make sure you address all 

    issues.  If not, buyers will interpret this as a home that's been neglected!!  This in turn will low-

   ball their offer!! They may even walk away thinking too much work needs to be done. Don't let 

   this happen to you.

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 4. Maximize it. Square footage sells. Is your home too cramped with furniture? A good rule of 

     thumb, eliminate about 50% of non-essentials from your home. Don't forget to check you

     closets. Buyers will look for storage space.  My rule-of-thumb, nothing on the floor!!

5. Decorate it. Ok now that you've done the first 4 steps, it's time to decorate it. Buyers fall in love

    with a home that has a warm and welcoming feel to it. This is not about decorating to your taste! 

    Remember to keep it simple. Check out magazines and home stores to get inspirations. If you find 

    it difficult, hire a home stager. It's well-worth the cost!!

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Back-in-the-day, selling a home used to be easy. Call the realtor, research the competition and put a "For Sale" sign on your lawn. Not anymore. Buyers have become savvy. HGTV has educated buyers. They want a move-in-ready home. If you don't prep your home before you put it on the market, I guarantee you are just helping your competitors sell theirs!! Just think of it like detailing your car!! Consider hiring a home stager. A professional will give you an unbiased opinion of what needs to be addressed!!

At Abella Home Staging & Redesign, we believe any home can be beautifully transformed. We believe in delivering a custom-made look, but without the custom-made price tag!! Call us and let's get started today!!

  

Why is it so difficult to choose a paint color?

Why is it so difficult to choose a paint color? As a decorator, I see a lot of clients' homes. More often than not, I hear, "I thought this was the perfect color until I saw it on the wall". So many times the homeowner has chosen a color that does not co-ordinate with their decor. Why is that? Many homeowners will choose a color that they have seen in a magazine. The problem with that, you don't have the same accessories as the magazine picture!! Sometimes they will see a paint color they like at a friend's home. Once again, unless you have a carbon copy of your friend's home, it won't work!!

So what do you do? Here are some guidelines to help you.

• Every color has an undertone. Meaning all beige's started as a color, whether it's yellow, red, green, or orange. So pay attention! There are also cool tones and warm tones. Every color has a warm tone and a cool tone. Getting the tone correct is half the battle!! These colors below are all consider beige in color, BUT have different base colors. You won't notice it, until you've painted it on the walls!! 

• Determine what undertones are in your room. Like your carpet, flooring, counter tops, tiles, and so on. This will have a huge impact on the color choices you make. Here is a great example of how warm colors co-ordinate nicely with one another.

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• Keep all your neutrals the same undertones. By doing this you are assured of having a successful color palette. All the colors below are in the blue-green family. They will work well together.

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• Don't forget lighting. All colors will look different in different lightening situations, like morning sun, afternoon shade, evening lighting, LED, incandescent, and fluorescent. So make sure you test the colors in these situations.

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• Use large paint samples. Many companies like Sherwin Williams offer 8x11 samples that can be ordered online. This is great because you can now truly see the color.

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• NEVER paint the color sample on the wall. The existing color will influence the color swatch and you will not get a true read!!

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These guidelines will help you when choosing your color palette. You can also decide to hire a color specialist. This small investment will assure you that the color you are choosing is the correct one, there-by eliminating any costly mistake. So well-worth the price!!

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At Abella Home Staging & Redesign, we believe any home can be beautifully transformed. We believe in delivering a custom-made look, but without the custom-made price tag!! Call us and let's get started today!!

           

                      

Welcome to my Kitchen!

Welcome to my kitchen! In the past 22 years since I've own my home, it has gone through some major transformations. It took 2 years and 4 different phases to complete the look. I though I would share some photos with you to show you my journey, and perhaps to inspire you, on yours!

1992 - The original kitchen!! Ugh! But I saw beyond this disaster.  Mixed-matched cabinets. The boiler was actually in the kitchen (behind the door on the left). As well as the washer!! Don't you just love that light fixture?

Moved in and had to live with what I had for now, but I changed the light fixture and moved the washer  and boiler out of the kitchen.

1998 - Remodeled the kitchen. I had to live with the previous kitchen for 6 years!! But I finally got a new kitchen, with new cabinets, new countertops, and new appliances. Couldn't afford granite countertops or stainless steel appliance, but I was happy with this version of my kitchen.

2011 Time to remodel again!! After living with this kitchen for 13 years, it was time to remodel once again (Phase 1). This time I wanted an "open concept" floor plan. We had to a eliminated a bearing wall. I was adding an Island, but wasn't sure about the size I needed. So I took my blue tape and "drew" an outline of the cabinets on the floor to give me an idea. Looked good!!

What a mess removing the backsplash!

Had to replace the sheetrock when we removed the tiles.

Removed old molding  and replaced it with dentil molding instead. Much better.

Getting new cabinets was too expensive, and refacing was not an options, since I didn't like the materials being used. So I decided to paint my cabinets instead. I hired a company called Stone services. 

Before the painting company came in to paint my cabinets, I wanted to add wainscoting to my peninsula. (Phase 2)

This way when they came to paint, everything would get the same paint treatment.  As you can see from the picture, I did this before I removed the backsplash.

Everything had to be removed  inside my cabinets for the painting. What a pain that was!! Now you're probably wondering why there is painted sheetrock on my walls. This was Phase 3, so I had to live with the painted backsplash for a year!! 

Ok, almost done. The painting was done on the cabinets and the backsplash was added. I even did a feature accent above where the stove will be installed.

New granite countertop (added before the backsplash)

New stainless steel sink. 

As you can see, the dishwasher is black. And since it still worked well, I didn't want to replace it just yet. The refrigerator and stove were replaced, and that was expensive enough!! 

So I used a product called Soft Metal Film. It's adhesive product and looks just like stainless steel. I paid $28 for this project. Not bad!!

Friends and family didn't even notice it wasn't stainless steel!!

Last project (Phase 4). I wanted to continue the wainscoting on the wall.

Almost there. Last project, choosing the color and painting!

2013- Viola!! All done. I love they way it turned out. It took about 2 years,  and 4 Phases, but it was worth the wait. I also love the fact that it didn't cost me a fortune. When it was all said and done, I figured it cost around $20,000, including some labour cost. Much better then $50,000 plus, it would have cost me if I had gutted it all out!!

If you need help selecting colors, redesigning your home, or staging your property, Abella Home Staging & Redesign can assist you! Contact us and lets get started today!