NEED TO SPRUCE UP YOUR HOME AND STRETCH YOUR DOLLARS?
June 17th, 2009 categories: Market Trends, New Developments
Money is tight right now, you are staying home more and there are some corners that look a bit tired or you are trying to get your home ready to sell and don’t have a lot of extra cash to spend on sprucing up. Here are some ideas. Time to get your creative juices working!
Paint is one of the cheapest ways to freshen a space. Try an accent wall in a different color. Paint can rejuvenate old furniture as well as walls–faux finishes and metallic finishes can be a great accent in a room.
Can’t afford new cabinets in the kitchen–try new knobs and drawer pulls to are like jewelry or a great scarf–accessories that can make a huge difference. New towel bars are also a great dresser-upper. Inexpensive window treatments can be made more attractive with rods, rings, and finials.
Accent pillows are wonderful brighteners–replace all the ones you have or mix new ones with the old. Be sure that the pillws have some down inside so that you can squish them into shape for TV watching or reading.
Recover some of your present furniture–get a great fabric that you love and don’t worry about what it costs–a really fine fabric can give an expensive aura to everything around it.
Light fixtures can make a huge difference–think of that bathroom light bar that is right out of the eighties. Home Depot and other stores like Home Depot have tons of inexpensive fixtures that will freshen your bathroom and bring it into the present century.
Re-use and re-purpose what you have. Get it all out–all of the accessories and pictures, etc., from every room in the house and mix it up. Think of a new place for that picture and this poster and that vase–create new groupings. Family pictures can add lots of atmosphere–be careful, though. A few years back I had a listing with one whole wall of family pictures going back to the immigrant founders of the family–potential buyers were fascinated by the pictures and I just had to allow them time to peruse.
Think out of the box–change your furniture arrangements–try pulling things into the center of the room, move the pieces around and place them in different spots. Visit antique stores and junk shops. Try Fort Pitt Furniture Liquidators in Chicago–they buy used furniture from hotels and have a monster warehouse.
Art and other pieces to be used as accents and focus pieces can be bought at summer art fairs. We are just now in the heart of the season here in Chicago.
Related Articles: A Door Is A Door Is A door, 4-09; 5 Things Buyers Really, Really Don’t Like, 3-09
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