bins can hide a multitude of sins…

I was having a really nice conversation with Chad Hunter today about professional organizing (he’s a graphic designer but wants to know more about my field – which I can totally understand because everyone does). During our chat, I used the phrase “bins can hide a multitude of sins.” I love the way this flows. And it is so true. I use bins when I organize and when I stage.

There are so many different kinds of bins but my 2 favorites are Rubbermaid Totes and Sterilite “holey bins”.

The Rubbermaid bins are terrific because they seal and store just about anything. I recommend these for out of season items, storing things when you have your house on the market and need to declutter, and for garages, basements and attics. They are sturdy and easy to tote and stack. Just don’t forget to label. I highly recommend created an inventory list and placing it inside a large Ziploc bag, or laminating it, then attaching it to the side. At the very least, take a big Sharpie and write on the side. Nothing is more frustrating than digging around in bins looking for what you need.

The Sterilite bins are my favorite for inside pantries, cabinets, on shelves. I use one on the passenger side floorboard of my car to corral miscellaneous items that need to be returned places and to hold my paint swatches and first aid kit. I have one for medicines and one for pet items like Heartguard and flea control in the cupboard over my pantry. Using the basic organizing principle of grouping like with like, one is labeled “medicines” and one is labeled “pets”. One of the best features of these bins which most people don’t know is that the grey handles flip up so the bins can stack. You can label them easily either with a label maker or, using the holes, tie cute labels on.

When staging a home, I always recommend both of these bins. First the Rubbermaid ones to clear out the clutter and store items that won’t be needed while the house is being shown. Once the home sells, they are easily moved to the new home.

The Sterilite bins I use everywhere to conceal clutter in such a way that the home looks neat and organized but the homeowner can still find what they need. One of the biggest problems homeowners face when selling a house is keeping it looking neat. These bins will do the trick. The best deal I’ve found on these is at Big Lots – they always have them in stock unless I am shopping there in which case I have bought all of them. So don’t go there right after me. You won’t find any.

I also recommend having a large bin of some sort hanging around in a central area so if a showing is coming up (and agents are notorious for this: “We’re at the end of the street and wondered if we could come see the house”), the homeowner can throw all the junk (dirty dishes, papers, cat) in the bin and take it with them in the car when they leave.

I had one of my favorite agents, Gennifer Mallard, call me recently to tell me how terrific one of the houses we worked on was looking and she said the homeowner had bins everywhere. There were “too many bins” but she didn’t have the heart to say anything. I said, “how can there ever be too many bins?”

staging seminar was great!

Last Thursday, I hosted a home staging seminar for home sellers and local realtors. Church Street Flooring & Design in downtown Franklin, TN was our site, and I asked 3 other area stagers to join me in teaching about the “nuts & bolts” of staging. We talked about paint colors, light fixtures, countertops, flooring, and more. Nice crowd turned out and everyone had questions and ideas to share. I feel that we were able to have everyone go away with some great information, and all seemed to have a nice time as well.

What I loved is that we all worked so well together – it was fun to bounce staging tips and ideas off of one another – and the audience benefitted as a result!

That’s me on the right, and, going to the left, Karen Jones, Anthea Click, and “B” Lucas Thrower.

If you missed the event, email me directly and I’ll be happy to send you our handouts – we have one on specific tips and one with a list of great professionals who can do the work you need such as painters, flooring people, handymen, etc.

Here’s some of the tips we gave:

• use neutral paint colors throughout the house – and make sure that the shade of paint is deep enough to show off the trim and moldings. Spiced Vinegar by Porter Paints, and Latte by Sherwin Williams are two favorites.
• front doors and entryways are crucial – a fresh coat of paint in black or deep brown along with a new door handle set, repairing trim work and fresh paint, along with pressure washing surfaces and fresh landscaping can make someone want to go inside
• swap out shiny brass light fixtures and door handles to brushed nickel or oil rubbed bronze
• fresh carpet is a must – and a frise (short shag) is a current favorite – in a darker beige or taupe color – not the really light stuff the builders use
• granite countertops and stainless steel appliances can make a kitchen, but on a budget, paint cabinetry and swap out the knobs & hinges for brushed nickel – a new sink and faucet can make a huge difference
• get rid of skinny plastic mini-blinds and vertical blinds – clean and neutral windows are best – for blinds the 2″ wood or wood-look blinds are good as are plantation shutters

The next session is on May 28th and the subject is: Staging For Your Life :: Redesigning Spaces

I’ll be talking about de-cluttering and organizing tips, and other stagers will discuss how to make the most out of the spaces you have using what you’ve got. See you there!

staging vignettes

A lot of times when I look at staging a vacant house, it can get somewhat cost prohibitive to fully stage everything. The rule of thumb is to highlight the great features, do the main living area, entry areas, dining room and eat in areas, bathrooms and the kitchen. I recently did a vacant house here in Franklin. Very nice home that had been on the market a while when it was occupied. The owner had a lot of stuff in the house which made it very difficult to actually SEE the house. Now that it was vacant, I went in with the realtor and we did some key areas as it was going back on the market. We were on a tight budget so we went with some vignettes.

I relate a vignette to what you might see in a shop window – a small display that highlights a certain space. I didn’t fully stage each room – just a portion – to give a feel for what the room could be and how it could be used. This can also give some scale and proportion to the room. I was really pleased with how this turned out. Here’s some photos that show the whole room, then focus in on a vignette.

staging and pre-listing inspections

I recently went on a staging consult for a realtor and her client to evaluate what was going on with this house. It had sat on the market for over a year with barely a showing. This realtor just got the listing, as the original agent wasn’t doing a whole lot. There were a lot of the usual culprits such as bad floral wallpaper in the kitchen, a poor staging job (done by the realtor – some realtors are pretty good stagers too – but this one – yikes!), dingy windows, overgrown and poorly maintained landscaping, etc.

One of my first recommendations for this 10 year old house was a pre-listing inspection, primarily because of numerous maintenance issues I noted such as light fixtures hanging off of the exterior, needed caulking in the bathrooms, funky odor in the house. The realtor brought it up as well – and, as it turns out, for good reason. The inspector found some significant structural concerns, a pretty major leak in the crawl space from the dishwasher, quite a few electrical and roofing issues, and almost fractured his ankle in a concealed hole in the backyard.

The out-of-town owner was initially a bit freaked out by the report but once she calmed down and looked at it more clearly, she realized that it’s better to know NOW what the buyers inspector may find. This particular inspector is extremely thorough (full disclosure: he’s my husband – so I do know how picky he is) but that’s what you want. You do not want to be stuck in a situation, especially in today’s market, with a legitimate contract that gets blindsided by an inspection bringing to light all of the things you should have know up front – and corrected. No inspector can find everything but taking care of these issues ahead of time can end up saving the deal in the end. Savvy realtors know this – the ones who are really looking out for their clients.

Being extremely familiar with inspections, especially pre-listings, we have seen everything from mold to wild animals living in crawl spaces, to major leaks under showers to serious electrical issues. None of these things would be really obvious to someone living in the house (except the wild animals, maybe!) but imagine how this looks to the buyer!

So get that inspection done – take care of as many issues as you can – and help keep the contract you get. Staging can only get you so far – personally, I’d rather you took care of the inspection issues before I did any staging. A solid, well maintained house is the one that sells . . . and stays sold.

what to do with a bunch of bare windows . . .

One of the things I run into a lot when staging a house is the big empty space over the sink in the kitchen, or an empty series of windows in a little used room or back entryway. People don’t think about them much – it’s not like they need privacy, nor do they want to put in a bunch of money in these areas. So here’s an inexpensive idea for staging the area: placemats and tension rods! Brings in some great color to the area and doesn’t block the light. Placemats are often on clearance and come in all sorts of colors and patterns. The ones in the photo here were $1.98 each on clearance at Target. With the blue walls and cream trim – these new “custom valances” made this place pop for under $40 for 5 windows.

I’ve done this in kitchens to bring in a pop of red or coral to a bunch of blah white cabinets, and in bathrooms to dress up a frosted glass window in a tub area.

This is thinking outside the box (or table . . . )!