Bringing the outdoors inside is not a new concept in interior design, but the recent resurgence of this beautiful trend has brought with it some stunningly lovely, creative, and even quirky innovations on this earthy classic. In this week’s furniture blog, we’re focusing on classic examples and new twists on incorporating the outdoors into your home staging, furniture rental and interior design. Photos While photos of outdoor scenes can be inspiring, home stagers and interior designers are playing with close-ups to make the outdoor experience more present in a room. Photos of natural patterns or shapes such as bark, moss, or leaf macros, framed simply, can add both earthiness and contemporary simplicity to a decor. Going Overboard Rather than accent your furniture rental pieces with a few plants here and there, try turning your living room or sunroom into a garden, with many hanging and potted plants. With a little planning, this can make a bold and artistic statement. Decorating with Non-Traditional Plants While potted plants are a household standard, people with a more contemporary style are finding grass, cacti, bamboo, or moss to be a nice alternative to the status quo. These can be potted or incorporated into wall …
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Home staging for the exterior of a home is, of course, all about curb appeal. You want potential buyers to stop and come in, and making the exterior of the house pleasant and engaging will draw more people to do just that. Start at the Curb One way to start home staging is by literally stand at the curb and pretending you are a buyer. Make a list of anything that appears distracting or less than appealing. Your list will likely include things like edging the lawn, trimming trees, raking, pruning bushes, minor repairs and cleaning exterior surfaces. Notice everything from the condition of the mail box and house number to anthills and bare patches of grass. Plan to handle these items first. Unless you have done it recently, pressure washing the exterior is a home staging must. This brings a fresh, clean look to the house and prepares surfaces for a new layer of paint. Have windows professionally cleaned and paint doors and trim if necessary. Move to the Sides and Back of the House Repeat the same process on the back and sides of the house. Remove any old play equipment or unused fixtures or features such as …
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You may have heard the saying, “strategy wins wars.” In the battle for peace of mind in a life that attracts clutter, nowhere is this more relevant than in the home office. Today we are going beyond furnished housing to ask the question, “What is it that makes clutter so challenging in the home office?” Answering this question will also help us create a strategic approach to clutter that will ultimately help you win the war. That’s the focus of this third furniture blog in our series on managing clutter. We bring things with us. If you notice, we tend to carry things absent-mindedly from room to room, and then set them down where they don’t belong. As a result, our rooms collect objects that appear out of place. Unfortunately, no matter how beautifully our homes are furnished, housing uncontained clutter can create an unwelcome and chaotic environment. One approach to resolving this matter is to have a holding-zone for items that don’t belong. A small table near the doorway can serve this purpose. When you are in the office and notice that an object is out of place, move it to the holding zone. When you leave the room, take …
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From time to time on our furniture blog, we like to share the tips we’ve learned in the furniture rental business for keeping your furniture looking great. Last week we discussed how to clean fabric furniture. As promised, this week we will focus on how to maintain and clean your wood furniture. Keeping your wood furniture looking beautiful starts with making sure the environmental conditions don’t damage the wood. Keep wood furniture away from bright sunlight and locations near sources of excessive heat that may dry out, shrink and crack the wood. Keep temperatures and humidity levels somewhat moderate and consistent. In general 40% to 45% humidity works well for wood. High humidity can cause warping or the growth of mildew. Furniture in storage should likewise be kept in controlled conditions, and should also be kept covered. From time to time, wood furniture needs cleaning. Proper cleaning techniques depends on the surface of the wood. Most well-sealed clear-finished furniture (shellacked, varnished or lacquered furniture) can be cleaned effectively using the following steps: Remove any metal hardware before polishing them, as these solvents can damage a finish. Use a clean, dry cloth to remove any dust or dirt from the surface …
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Quality home staging goes beyond the placement of furniture. Whether you are an expert home stager or you are simply interested in bringing the secrets of interior design to life in your own home, here are some tips for creating an environment that brings furnished housing to life with the language of love. The best interior designers advise us that a romantic decor appeals to the senses through color, layering and texture. Start with luxurious fabrics such as velvet, raw silk, satin or polished cotton. These fabrics can create a sense of timelessness—an visual escape from the outside world. Layering and textures create tones of warmth, intimacy and intrigue. For example, try layering a fur (or faux fur) throw on a raw silk fabric surface, or pair a pin-tucked bedspread with a diamond quilted velvet. Two different textures in the same or similar colors can also create a beautiful effect. Deep, rich colors can create a lush environment. Aside from the tried and true red hues, colors such plums and purples, chocolate browns, deep blues, and even metallic tones like copper can create a sense of romance as well. Check out our High Glam Pinterest board to see some great …
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Please indicate below the emails to which you want to send this article: Setting the Stage for Romance
With economists pointing to a buyer’s market in 2012, sellers are scrambling to make their homes more appealing and gain the edge. But you don’t necessarily need to do major renovations to make your home more attractive. In a buyer’s market, home staging can make all the difference in the sale of your home, and you can do home staging yourself by following a few simple guidelines. 1. Clean and depersonalize the space. When preparing your home, be sure to clean more rigorously than you ever cleaned before, including the exterior. Be sure that your grass is cut, trees and bushes are maintained and the overall appearance of your home’s exterior is appealing. On the inside, clean every surface and make sure that the house is impeccable. One way to approach this is to walk through your home and imagine that you are a potential home buyer. This may allow you to see things you did not see before. Remove all of your personal belongings and anything that represents your personal style. The home buyer needs to be able to imagine themselves living in your home. If your personal touch is everywhere, this may be more difficult. Also remove anything …
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We’ve alphabetically compiled a list of some of the best home staging tips from our furniture blog! Do you practice the ABC’s of home staging? A – Assess the home’s age and what potential buyers it will attract before deciding on a theme B – Begin with a general plan and stick to it C – Create a focal point for each room D – Draw a map on graph paper to help illustrate and layout your placement. E – Eliminate clutter F – Fresh air and light fragrances set the mood G – Gussy up old furniture and fixtures with new accessories (pillows, throw blankets, etc) H – Hide personal items or accolades of current home dwellers I – Incorporate natural elements that bring the space to life (plants, flowers, fruits and vegetables) J – Juxtapose neutral tones with a splash of vibrant color for dimension K – Keep the rooms well lit L – Lead animals away from home staged areas M – Minimalism is a key home staging design approach N – Neutral, painted walls and wallpaper create a palatable canvas for staged furnishings O – Orient the room using Feng Shui P – Pair patterns with …
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Please indicate below the emails to which you want to send this article: The ABC’s Of Home Staging
Last week on the furniture blog, we shared home staging furniture tips from our Twitter followers. Well friends, today we are sharing more tips with you today from our Facebook fans! Michael Miles, of Michael Miles Photography, stressed the importance of de-cluttering your home and moving as much as possible into a storage unit. Keeping the rooms free from clutter does not only add to the aesthetic quality of your staged home, but also provides the illusion of more space. As we’ve mentioned on the furniture blog before, in addition to eliminating clutter, it is also important to de-personalize your home. Shana Sagat of Shawnee, Kansas stated: “You want it to look lived in, yet not lived in by you.” This means that all accolades and items that reflect your personal interests and hobbies should be hidden or taken down. You want the rooms to be a blank canvas for a potential buyer so that they are able to envision how their future life would look inside of your featured home. Keeping the idea of a de-personalized home in mind should continue all the way through the remodeling process as well, especially if you are featuring an older home. Judy Colburn is a home stager in …
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It’s no secret that CORT and our furniture blog team love the home staging industry. Top stagers nationwide depend on rental furniture from CORT to help make clients’ homes as modern and appealing as possible. So we’re of the opinion that when you want to sell your home quickly and for the best price, you should seek the expertise of a professional home stager to whip your property into shape. Call us biased, but we’ve seen major results from these efforts— stagers are closely familiar with current market conditions and interior decorating trends. That being said, if your budget is too tight to hire a stager, there are several easy, inexpensive techniques you can do yourself with an investment of time and effort. Staged homes spend 89 percent less time on the market, so follow some of these proven strategies even if you can’t go all out by hiring a professional or getting lots of home staging furniture. Kate Hart, an expert stager with the Real Estate Staging Association, compared it to getting your home ready for a blind date. You’ve only got one first impression, so make the most of it by showcasing the property’s best selling features. Start …
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Please indicate below the emails to which you want to send this article: Furniture Blog: Home Staging On A Budget
As many of our furniture blog readers know, we at CORT are big fans of the home staging industry. A couple weeks ago we mentioned CORT would claim the top VIP sponsor slot at the Real Estate Staging Association international conference in Las Vegas this year. Well, the big event took place earlier this week (beginning Sunday Jan. 23 through Tuesday Jan. 25), and it was a great success. Home stagers from all over converged at the Treasure Island resort for three days of learning and networking with industry leaders. A panel of expert guest speakers enlightened the attendees on a variety of topics. Notable presenters included Dan Eason, Alice T. Chan and Jackson West, with a keynote speech by none other than Matthew Finlason of HGTV show The Stagers. Home staging topics ranged from inventory management, sales influence and growing your business, to creative discussions of color trends and use of accessories to make any home pop. There were ample opportunities to network at the conference, which was a learning experience in and of itself for attendees. Of course, CORT had a major presence at the event. Our home staging furniture is a fantastic, convenient option for stagers across …
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Please indicate below the emails to which you want to send this article: Furniture Blog Coverage: RESA Conference 2011
05-20-2013 - Thanks @thunderclapit for supporting our campaign to provide scholarships to military families! #milfams #memorialday http://t.co/hfffjSgFpi
