FSBO Jane

Fashion experts have named turquoise the shade of the new decade. So whether you’re shopping for clothes, furniture or bed sheets, chances are you’re going to notice shades of turquoise. As a lover of the bright blue hue that reminds me of the ocean or a cloudless summer day, I’m a huge fan of incorporating the newest trend into my décor!

That isn’t to say that you should cover every wall with turquoise wallpaper, every cabinet and countertop with turquoise paint and every floor with turquoise carpeting. Think of it more as an accent color that beautifully corresponds with neutral colors that you already display. Tans, grays, browns, whites and blacks all agree with turquoise. If you match it with light shades of beige or cream, turquoise creates a calm, tranquil atmosphere. Matched with dark grays or browns, turquoise will really pop and create a bold statement. There are also numerous hues of turquoise itself, such as a grayed version that looks sophisticated and historical, or a bright lagoon hue that is full of energy and vibrancy.

Turquoise also holds many different meanings around the world. In some cultures, turquoise is believed to be a protective lucky charm, while other cultures see it as a color of deep compassion, healing, faith or inspiration. You can choose what turquoise means to you and work from there. In the bedroom, it can bring balance, harmony and calmness. In the kitchen, it can bring energy and entertainment.

For wall colors, decorating experts recommend combining turquoise with warm, rich colors, such as olive, amber or coral, or with bright colors, such as light greens, bright yellows or cobalt blues. You can paint one wall a solid hue of turquoise, blend turquoise with other colors in a designer wall pattern, paint moldings turquoise, or even paint the ceiling turquoise, like the sky.

Aside from painting, accessorizing with turquoise offers endless possibilities! In the dining room, you could set the table with turquoise dishware, table settings, napkins or a flower vase. In the kitchen, find turquoise appliances, which are readily available right now, such as coffee pots and toasters. In any room, add patterned curtains, throw rugs, pillows, blankets or artwork that incorporate the color turquoise. Accessories can be added or replaced at any time, so get creative!

If you’ve already experimented with turquoise, the color for 2010, let us know what you’ve done with it!

Beyond its kitchen, bedrooms, bathrooms, living area, dining area and laundry, what specific spaces does your home feature?

• Maybe it has a lower level space that you call a multipurpose room, ideal for a rec room or a family room media room or for accommodating an office nook or workout area.
• Maybe it has an office/den off the foyer, where you’ve been keeping all your boxes while you prepare to move.
• Maybe it has a bonus guest room that you tell buyers could be used as a craft nook or a sitting area.

Here is what you need to do: SHOW IT TO SELL IT.

What do I mean by this? Simply put, you want to set up the spaces in your home to feature their potential. If a room could make a sitting room, set it up as one. If there’s a great nook for a computer area, use it as such.

Here’s a great example: Over at HGTV, you’ll see this bonus room has been turned into a showcase-worthy arts-and-crafts room, as lovely as one you’d see in a magazine.

Think a buyer will notice? You betcha.

So what rooms in your house can you show to sell?

Maybe

There’s nothing especially impressive about this quick tip, but it works. In terms of decluttering, remember this: Trash.

• Simply put, if you don’t use an item, trash it.
• If you don’t need an item, give it away.
• If there is no place for an item, find one or get rid of it.

Decluttering can seem overwhelming when you’re looking at a room filled with knick-knacks, so pick a place to start, and take it one item and a time.

If you have children, this blog is for you. No matter what age your children are now, eventually, they will grow into teens and will want to eliminate anything that reminds them of childhood. Why do most children go through this transitional phase of suddenly hating all their cuddly stuffed animals and Disney princess décor after years of idolizing them? Maybe they’re afraid of their friends making fun of them if they don’t destroy childhood idols fast enough, or maybe they want to prove to themselves (and their parents!) that they aren’t kids anymore and they deserve a grownup bedroom. Whatever the reason, you might as well prepare yourself for this day that brings a hardcore remodeling job to your duties as a parent.

What should a teenage bedroom look like? The Better Homes and Gardens website explores different color schemes and decorating ideas to help you down the right path. Here are some major areas of the room to consider:

Colors

You and your teenager should decide what colors he or she enjoys now and will continue to enjoy for years to come. A female teen might opt for a bright room full of orange hues that coincide beautifully with maroon and plum shades, or she might opt for a softer, more neutral room with lavender or pastel pink walls, chiffon curtains and a white bedspread to counteract the colors. A male teen might want to stick with white walls and deep blue or black furniture (black is not a bad thing!), or he might want to paint his walls the color of his favorite sports team, along with some framed player photos or hanging jerseys.

Accessories

The room should still be fun, just not childish. Some accessories that could add to the fun factor might include a canopy over a girl’s bed, a sports logo stenciled onto a boy’s wall, a modern shelving unit to help organize and show off framed photos of homecoming and prom dances, a cozy corner with chairs and bean bags for friends, movie posters, vases of flowers, a desk with computer space, a full-length mirror, a miniature TV and more. You don’t want to include so much in the room that the teen never feels the need to leave (is a mini fridge really necessary?) but you want to include enough so that the teen feels comfortable in his or her private space.

Furniture

You don’t have to toss all the old furniture. Chances are you can spruce up what’s already in the room with some fresh paint and accessories! Paint a wooden dresser white and paint the drawers or knobs an accent color found on the walls or bedspread. Have fun with it. This is a job you and your can do together! Also, to add colorful oomph, add pillows and throw rugs to the room’s ensemble instead of replacing furniture. Allow for one drastic change, like replacing the twin bed with a double bed, switching carpeting for hardwood, or adding a computer desk or TV.

The most important thing to remember is that each teenager is an individual. Just because your son or daughter no longer finds cartoon wallpaper appealing, it doesn’t mean that he or she doesn’t appreciate all the time you spent creating that themed bedroom. Changes are necessary as children age, so make the most of this time with your teen as you together come up with a renovation plan!

Already been through the process of altering your child’s room to a teen-appropriate room? Share your stories or advice below!

Looking for a new décor style? Trendir, a home decorating trends magazine, suggests decorating with symmetrical style. What does this mean? Going square. According to Trendir, “the clean lines and simple, geometric design [is] ideal for contemporary-style homes.” They suggest going as large, small and oddly shaped as you wish, with the sky as the limit.

What can you add in a squared or cubed form? Try a sofa with obvious edges that make it appear sharp and contrasting with the rest of the room. Choose a soft, plush material that is still comfortable for lounging. Other options include square tables, square ottomans, square televisions with obvious frames, square pillows on the couch, a square throw rug or square wall hangings. The example of wall décor that Tredir provides is a full-length image of a keyboard with obvious square keys.

For more images and ideas, visit Trendir.com.

I apologize in advance for those of you who do not celebrate Easter. I planned on writing a blog about decorating for spring, but those are so overdone, and the ones I found offer much better advice than I can provide. If you are looking for ideas on how to decorate for spring, I suggest reading the blog recently posted at the Buy Owner Blog. Not only does this blog mention numerous ideas you could use in your spring decorating any year, but it also provides specific trends to look for this year.

As far as decorating for Easter, it happens to be my favorite holiday and my favorite time to decorate. The winter blues officially end, the access of blankets and Snuggies can be stored away and bright colors reappear! I love the bright colors and the whole theme of rebirth. Even if you don’t celebrate Easter, I still recommend you add bright colors, flowers and plants to your home. And more important than any other piece of advice, open your blinds! Look at the grass, gardens and the tree buds coming back to life.

I’m rambling. Back to the topic of conversation, here are some of my personal ideas on how to decorate for Easter. These will especially come in handy for those of you hosting dinner parties for family or friends! However, if you are in the midst of trying to sell your house, keep the décor to a minimum. You wouldn’t want to steer away potential homebuyers with religious views different from yours.

Easter decorating ideas:

• Purchase a brown or white wicker basket to place as a centerpiece or on a coffee table or end table. Fill the bottom of the basket with artificial green grass and place colorful eggs on top, whether they are real, plastic or porcelain. For an extra flare, place a fake, furry chick in the midst of the eggs.
• Inside a brightly colored bowl placed near the front entry, provide guests or family members with an assortment of chocolate eggs, jelly beans, marshmallow bunnies and any other candy favorites.
• Add brightly colored flowers, real or artificial, to brightly colored vases. I’m all about the bright colors! Either create bouquets of lots of flowers, or create a more glamorous appearance with one long-stemmed flower in a tall vase.
• Purchase an egg coloring kit and color hardboiled eggs with your family or friends. Get creative! After they dry, leave them out for all to admire. Color a day or two before Easter to prevent the eggs from going bad.
• Aside from finding the eggs that the Easter Bunny hides the morning of Easter, enjoy hiding plastic eggs filled with goodies a week or two before Easter. When people come over, mention that eggs are hidden around the house and that the goodies belong to whoever finds the eggs!
• Decorate the front door with a bouquet of brightly colored flowers, an Easter bunny, a lamb, a portrait of colored eggs, a cross or anything that reminds you of spring. Flank the doorway with pots of flowers or tall grasses.
• Hollow out some eggs and use as decorations! To do this, puncture a raw egg with a needle, creating a hole on each end of the egg. Blow through one hole to empty the egg of material on the other end. Rinse out. Once dry, decorate the egg! One suggestion is to paint the egg, glue on some feathers, draw two eyes and a beak and hang the “birds” from the ceiling or a railing.

You could pretty much incorporate colored eggs, bunnies and bright flowers into any type of decoration, but these were some of my favorite ideas. In spring, everything comes back to life, so it only makes sense for your spirit to come to life by adding nature and bright colors to your interior!

I just love this post from the Buy Owner Blog!

Industrial lofts are a hot trend right now, especially in big cities. I have a friend who would love to live one, but she just can’t afford to spend a huge amount of cash on a place downtown. This article shows you how to get the look in your suburban home…for less! And I’m all about saving money, especially in matters of real estate.

They have thought everything from wall coverings to the type of floors to the exposed pipes in the ceilings. I particularly love the suggestions on paint and artwork. I would never think to use spray paint as a sort of mock graffiti style. If you’re pretty artistic, I say go for it! Also, I love the idea of framing travel calendar pictures. Perhaps I’d even use snapshots from my own vacations!

Who would have thought you could re-create such an urban style in the suburbs? Would you opt for this over expensive city living?

Winter can sure seem long, with darker days and, in most areas of the country, colder weather. So if you’ve been looking for a way to add some winter cheer to your home, we’ve got an idea: consider plants!

Here are a few types of plants specifically designed for indoor care, making them ideal in winter weather, no matter where you live:

• Indoor Orchids: According to an article in The Woodinville Weekly, orchids “add elegance and color that lasts a long time.” Look for varieties such as the Moth orchid or Lady’s Slippers, and place them somewhere with moderate sunlight, preferably from east/south windows with sheer curtains.
• African Violets: These beautiful potted plants do very well indoors, even in winter. Be sure to water the soil, not the leaves, and only water once the soil has grown dry.
• Indoor Cacti: Designed to thrive in a low-humidity climate, an indoor cactus needs modest water and fertilizer, with abundant sunlight. Water when soil is dry, and place plant near south/west windows if possible.

I am all about DIY (do-it-yourself) projects when it comes to home decorating and renovating. This is one reason why I stay updated with BobVila.com. DIY project instructions are so abundantly available there, you could partake in a new project every week! In fact, I’m always so wrapped up in the projects that I never noticed the Hiring a Pro link that is available until recently. How do you know when to hire a pro?

Basically, my advice on whether to go it alone or to hire a pro is to research the type of project you want to complete. Does it sound like something you can accomplish? Do you have the tools you need to complete it? Have others been able to successfully pull of the project without tons of knowledge on the subject? How much will all the tools and materials cost compared to how much it would cost to hire a professional?

If you end up deciding to use a professional, BobVila.com informs you of where to go for free estimates on how much the project will cost, and you can learn how to find a contractor, how to work with a contractor, how to negotiate contracts and more.

For more information on hiring a professional, visit this site.

Whether you bought a new house or you are redecorating your existing property, are you stuck for ideas? Have you painted every wall, replaced every floor covering and changed all your window treatments? Have you considered mirrors?

Mirrors are not just for the bathroom or the bedroom or for us to enjoy our reflection. They can be used to enhance various rooms in your home in several different ways.

Hallway

A mirrored closet door adds depth to a narrow hallway.

Create a makeshift “skylight” by installing a mirrored ceiling atop your interior walkway. The surface will catch light from a nearby living room, dining room or kitchen.

Living Room/Family Room/Dining Room

A mirrored wall in a small living room will make the space appear larger. The same goes for focal points in the room. Flank a fireplace with two floor-to-ceiling skinny mirrors, and your fireplace will seem like the grandiose feature of the whole house!

Instead of putting lamps all around the room, place a mirrored screen in one of the dark corners. The screen will reflect the light of a lamp from across the room, allowing you to save on energy costs.

Kitchen

Mirror accents on a tile or mosaic backsplash give your walls a reflective surface that makes your kitchen sparkle.

Cabinetry with see-through doors and mirrored backs allow guests to see a complete 360-degree view of decorative dishware or collectibles.

Basement

If you haven’t tackled this room yet, you may want to consider putting up mirrors to hide blemishes on the wall. Instead of spending a pretty penny on painting and refinishing that part of the wall, add a mirror to hide the flaw.