For most of us, our bedroom is little more than a place to sleep and relax. However, just because it’s always been that way doesn’t mean that we have to settle for drab and dreary.

One trend that’s gaining steam these days is converting your current bedroom into a luxury suite (or something comparable). If you want to live like you’re renting a room at the Ritz, then you want to follow these tips.

Compartmentalize Your Activities

Making your bedroom more functional is going to make it more luxurious. Add a gorgeous desk for working and a TV area for entertainment, and you’ll be living it up in no time.

Make it Chic

Choose a color palette that is both luxurious and classy. Silver and gold can seem tacky, so choose muted shades that compliment each other.

Also, a brilliant and commanding headboard can instantly upgrade the look of your room without any other changes.

Light it Properly

Finally, make sure that you have the right light to show off your designs. If it’s too washed out or yellow, then it will look drab and run down. Switch to brilliant LEDs and see the difference.

Choose Your Accents Wisely

We already mentioned a headboard, but some elegant drapes can also make your room feel more royal. Being strategic with your furniture accessories is going to both keep you under budget and avoid doing too much with the space.

Are you ready to lux your bedroom? You’ll be impressed by the results, and the feeling of decadence will make you more confident in your surroundings.

It’s the ultimate recycling trick. Make your home feel new by employing materials that have been around the block a few times. Perhaps surprisingly, beautifully aged elements can breathe life into a house that is overdue for an update.

Repurposed Doors

Open your mind to all the possibilities that an antique door has to offer, from the pretty to the practical. Fasten shelving, hooks or brackets to transform a barn door into the ideal storage spot for jackets, hats and books to liven up an entryway. Place artsy, black-and-white photos behind the glass panes of an old French door and create a cool display frame that is a work of art in itself. The options are endless, limited only to your imagination – from privacy screens that craftily divide up a large, open living space to a whimsical flower pot stand on the back patio.

Cast Iron Sinks

Salvage an old farmhouse sink and give the powder room a fully functional conversation piece. Extra-wide basins that are also conveniently deep and feature a broad drainboard not only make doing the dishes less of a chore, they also make an impactful design statement in the kitchen, whether fancifully footed or placed atop an otherwise contemporary countertop.

Reclaimed Wood

With the booming popularity of HGTV, wooden planks known as shiplap have seen an enormous surge in demand. Used for generations in the construction of barns and other rustic buildings, this rough-hewn, countrified material is as much fun to use as it is to say. Besides lining sections of walls in a traditional, horizontal fashion to create a lovely, pastoral feel in the home, the boards can also be manipulated into gorgeous pine tables, benches, bookshelves and more.

Secondhand Appliances

The vibrant enamel colors and unique styles of refurbished refrigerators and gas stoves from yesteryear lend the kitchen a touch of pizazz and personality. Even well-loved, much-used appliances can be restored to brand new condition and given modern upgrades such as wine racks and water dispensers to add a touch of flair to your kitchen décor.

Antique Accents

Decorative elements such as crystal knobs and intricate hardware can be applied in their originally intended use to ornament doors and furniture. They can also be restyled into handy hooks or unusual artwork to adorn your home and dress it up in some history. Similarly, antique panes of stained glass are given a new lease on life when positioned into a front door to give guests a warm welcome or placed on a window ledge to cast a colorful glow.

Doing a good turn for Mother Earth is always on-trend! Consider some of these eco-friendly ways to add a dash of panache to your home, while preserving a little piece of a bygone era.

By Adam| February 27, 2018 View Full article

Stop and Look Before You List

Putting your home on the market is a big project with a lot of different steps along the path to “SOLD!” But if you take the time and effort to make sure some key pieces are in place, the transition to the new homeowner can be swift and smooth.

Prepare yourself

Over the years spent in your home, you will likely accumulate a mountain of paperwork. Even if you are super organized and have everything carefully sorted and filed, it is still a lot to gather together when the time comes to pass it all along.

Your buyers may want to carefully review HOA documents and accumulated addenda to be sure they understand the ins and outs of the community rules and procedures. In some cases, pet restrictions, visitor guidelines or the approvals process for home décor and improvements might influence potential homebuyers in the decision to relocate to your particular neighborhood. This is important information to provide upfront.

It is helpful to have appliance manuals and warranty information on hand as well. Notes on any service calls or brochures for replacement parts will aid your home’s new occupants. Records of repairs may also be needed to verify information that is relayed to the potential home buyer. Plumbing or electrical issues that have been addressed should have backup paperwork with detailed information regarding the contractor (in case future issues arise), the scope of work performed and the cost.

The survey of your property is another important document that can provide the potential new homeowner with a plethora of information. It will note if any portion of the property is in a flood zone for insurance purposes, as well as indicate property lines and setbacks so that designs for a pool or fence can be correctly laid out while still in the planning phase.

Prepare your house

There are a number of reasonably quick and inexpensive upgrades that can make a big impact on your home’s selling power. By addressing the more obvious issues upfront, you will be ahead of the game when the ball really gets rolling.

Take care of any obvious concerns such as a leaky roof or loose pavers that should be fairly simple fixes, especially if you are pretty certain they will be noticed during a first showing. You want your home to make an excellent first impression, so get those problems out of the way immediately.

Ensure that the house will photograph well. Remove any overhanging tree limbs that obstruct a nice view of the façade. A fresh coat of paint will work wonders in giving your residence an instant facelift. That first shot of the exterior is the image that will greet visitors to your listing and hopefully entice them enough to look into your property further, so do what you can to make it beautiful at first glance.

Prepping yourself and your house in these ways during the early stages of listing your home will help make the entire selling process as stress- and hassle-free as possible.

Post created By Adam| February 6, 2018 | View Full article