Interior Color Makeover

July 2,2005   Florida Times-Union

Taking cues from your favorite home shows

Something new and exciting is sweeping the country and Jacksonville is just now jumping on board. Interior redesign or one-day decorating – made popular by shows like Trading Spaces and Design on a Dime – is fast becoming a whole new industry in the ever-expanding arena of home improvement. Even casual observers must acknowledge that something is brewing when the House and Garden Network is dominating a major share of the daytime viewing audience. “My wife has that decorating channel on all the time,” said Jon Morgan of Orlando. “It’s an obsession. Also you may have noticed a new crop of home-décor publications sprouting on the magazine racks. The topics are endless.

So, what is going on? Why is there such a growing market for home décor enhancement? The key work here is “makeover.” The before-and-after shows are addictive. Viewers are fascinated by a good Cinderella story. They love to see the ugly duckling become the elegant swan. Interior redesign satisfies a need for artfully arranged and personally styled homes – in a hurry. It also has put professionally designed interiors within reach of middle America, with an average cost of $75 an hour.

Interior redesign service is ideal for someone who might be intimidated by the prospect of dealing with an interior design firm, or someone who finds out that the magazines and decorating shows don’t really equip them to make decisions for their individual needs. Interior redesign specialists usually begin with a consultation to evaluate problems and analyze a personal style. They will use what the home owner has to create a warm, inviting space. They will rearrange existing furniture and help you make appropriate color selections.

Color choices can have the biggest impact on a home makeover. In fact, color comes first. It’s the key to a magical transformation. Without the right color, even the loveliest furnishings go flat. Conversely, even mismatched collections can turn into visual pleasures with the perfect color. Nature sets the color thermostat, so it’s important to consider the visual temperature of the room before deciding on a palette. Warm colors – spicy reds and yellows – are fueled by sunshine. Does the room have a lot of natural light? One homeowner with a southwestern exposure made the mistake of painting her dining room red because she had seen it in a model home. “I loved it when I first saw it, but it felt wrong in my house,” said Joan Campbell of Mandarin about her reaction to the color.

The room felt hot. A spa blue color on the walls turned down the temperature and acted like a tall drink of cool water to the senses. The color was wrapped down the adjacent hall, which was hung with candid black and white pictures of family members at the beach – all 10-inch square in black frames. Everything in the surrounding rooms echoed the serene, cool color scheme in khaki and cream with accents of misty blue. Complementing the family’s love of sailing, nautical charts in the same colors were framed for the family room. A basket of white starfish seemed appropriate for the dining table. A serene relaxing atmosphere was created.

Another color story involved Teresa Moorefield, a young business woman in Ponte Vedra Beach, whose main goal was to update her cutesy cottage look to reflect an Italian villa. At the end of the project, the new furniture was in place. Taupe walls and creamy fabrics created a neutral monochromatic interior. It was attractive, but not jazzy enough for the feisty gal with sapphire eyes and black hair. So her favorite color of cobalt blue was sprinkled sparingly around the house: blue wineglasses in her curio, silk blue irises in her floral arrangement. She fell in love with her house and the new Italian look. “I feel like I live on vacation,” she said, as she hung a picture found in a gallery – a picture of Italy, of course.

An article in “O”, The Oprah Magazine, chronicled the transformation of one woman’s home identity after an electrical fire destroyed her furniture and clothes. She adopted a “lemons-into-lemonade” attitude about it all. “I’d wanted to start a new chapter,” she said. “I realized I could buy a whole new wardrobe and reinvent the way I live. Who gets to do that at 50?” She decided to use mementos from her travels that were salvaged from the fire and sling a paintbrush of exotic, passionate color in her redesigned place, which was more reflective of her lively personality. She stepped out of the gray and into a whole new color persona. “It was liberating,” she said.

 Don’t wait for a fire to get motivated. Get an interior redesign and color makeover. You may seem shy and quiet on the outside, but maybe there’s a wild and vibrant person on the inside waiting for expression in your home. Let a redesign specialist help you create that personal sanctuary. Sometimes, it all comes together so perfectly that a transcendent quality, impossible to describe, invites one to linger and reconnect as it nourishes the soul. You could also say about your home, “I feel like I live on vacation.”

Remodel for a “Home New Home”

May 7,2005   Florida Times-Union

Okay, it’s truth time. Your friends won’t tell you and your real estate agent wants to be the good guy. I’m the House Doctor, so here goes: if your home is more than 10 years old, it needs updating! That sea foam green carpet has to go, along with the mauve and blue vertical blinds. Let’s lighten up that dark ‘70s era paneling. On a recent house call in an older neighborhood, I fully expected the Brady Bunch to march down the stairs. It’s difficult to appreciate the unique architecture of a home when the geometric wallpaper is screaming, “Here I am. Look at me.”

Last week an agent shared the story of a high-end home sale that was $100,000 under appraisal because the homeowners insisted on a carpet allowance instead of actually replacing it. Raspberry frieze may have been delicious in the ‘80s, but it was a major roadblock to a quick and profitable sale. Remodeling or updating doesn’t have to be a painful process. Sure, if you’ve had a bad experience, such as the wrong paint color or flooring choice – just getting started can seem impossible. People fear the prospect of carting home 20 carpet or tile samples and coordinating them to wall color and fabrics. What about countertops? What about wall coverings?

My advice – don’t go it alone. A building contractor is necessary if you’re making structural changes. They usually charge labor and materials plus 30 percent. An experienced designer can coordinate everything else for just an hourly fee. ASID is a wonderful source for qualified individuals to help with your project. Another suggestion – don’t wait until you plan to sell your home to update. Do it now, so that you can enjoy the results. I’ve just completed remodels for two high-end homeowners who are not selling for a few years. We’ll talk more about one of them in a bit.

Let me take a moment to share some observations on the male vs. female view points about enhancing one’s home. Most men don’t recognize the advantages of a new wall color or flooring style. Just give them a recliner and the remote control and they’re happy in their habitat. They don’t like change. They are more interested in updating what’s in the garage than what is in the living room. My husband, for instance, is constantly adding new accessories to his Harley Davidson. He keeps pictures of it in his wallet. But, if I asked him to tell me the paint color in the guest room, he’d have to get out of his recliner and go look.

Women on the other hand, have a deep inner need to be enveloped in surroundings of style and character. They watch the decorating shows for hours and wander aimlessly through pretty furniture stores trying to “’feather their nest.” They want balanced, serene inviting interiors. Like a restorative oasis, their home can enhance a sense of well-being. Women always have responded passionately to interior transformation, especially when the result is an extension of their personality.

Recent clients Randy and Bernadette Slocum are pleased with their makeover. Their waterfront Queen’s Harbour Home was lovely to begin with, but the wallpaper, countertops and cabinetry needed updating. Carpeting and incorrectly installed wood floors were replaced. Granite countertops were a neutral alternative to the old hunter green Corian. Pickled oak cabinets received a medium cherry stain. The busy wallpaper in the kitchen came down and a rich buff paint color brought a new dimension to the previously white walls. The existing slate floor in the kitchen looks much more at home next to the darker cabinets. A sofa and a breakfast set were added to complete the project. One of my favorite elements is how all the memories that make up the history of their lives came together in the living room curio. I love it all!

Let me share a comment from the Slocums: “When we decided to undertake a major update in our home, we knew it would encompass a couple of months for planning, vendor selection, not to mention dust and disruption. What we did not know was the level of excitement we would have when the project was completed. Our home is our pride, professionally updated with a new warmth and life throughout.”

Whether or not they sell their home in a few years, they will reap the benefits every time they walk through the door to surroundings of style and character. Bernadette has her restorative oasis and Randy has his recliner.

The Power of Home Staging

March 12,2005   Florida Times-Union

The situation was desperate for Carolyn, a recently divorced single mom. Her beautifully decorated home in a high-end gated neighborhood in Jacksonville had been on the real estate market for almost a year. “Every other comparable home on her street sold quickly, and we know the price is right,” commented the office manager for the neighborhood real estate office, as she showed me the home. “All the agents in our office have tried to figure it out. What’s wrong with this house?” After about two hours of professional staging, the house was transformed. It sold the next weekend.

A team of agents who listed a high-end waterfront home asked me to check it out before the real estate luncheon. They felt it was not quite ready to show. After a few hours of rearranging, it became a showplace. An offer came within two weeks.

 What is real estate staging and why is it now getting so much attention? In a nutshell, it is simply enhancing one’s home for a quicker, more profitable sale. Staging involves removing unsightly clutter, rearranging furniture, adding neutral accessories or fine silk plants, if needed, to create a pleasing model-like atmosphere. It includes candid advice on closet and garage organization, as well as curb-appeal landscape improvement. A good stager can coordinate painting and wallpaper changes, carpet cleaning, pressure washing and remodeling, if needed. Most often, the existing items in the home just need to be artfully arranged to create a sense of harmony and order.

The agents always are helpful in giving advice on preparing the home. They want it to sell as much as the homeowner. Professional staging goes beyond what an agent usually does. Have you ever walked into a room and felt immediately at ease? The space beckons you to enter, and all of your senses are engaged. Something in your heart of hearts says, “This feels like home.” Yes, that buyer is wanting to feel goose bumps and hear the Hallelujah Chorus when they swing open that front door. One only needs to watch the house and garden makeover shows to glimpse the magnitude and emotion of interior transformation. It’s nothing short of astonishing.

In larger cities across the country where staging is more prevalent, it has created a reformation in the real estate industry. In California, for instance, the vast majority of high-end homes are staged. Sharon Ahern, who has worked in San Francisco, as well as New England, said, “The home must be picture perfect. It should evoke emotion, and the buyer must see themselves in the home.” Nancy Goeghan, a stager from Ft. Lauderdale said, “We accent the positive and camouflage the negative.” Judy Howser of Rooms for Change in Palm City said, “It’s easier for a stager to tell the homeowner that their Precious Moments collection has to go or that the closet smells funny.”

After interviewing stagers from across the country, they all agree, the bottom line is this:

• The home sells in half the time

• The purchase price of the home can increase by 10 percent

These are pretty remarkable statistics. The cost averages around $75 an hour. Consultations can be one or two hours depending on the size of the home. The redesign can take from two hours to a full day. A lot can be accomplished in three to four hours. The cost is usually paid by the homeowner or shared with the agent. “Real Estate has gotten so competitive, and agents are having to market themselves more aggressively,” said Marty Speicher of RE/MAX Atlantic, who offers two hours of design time to get a high end listing.

I enjoy going into open houses on the weekend, and so often there are simple things that could brighten a space that have been overlooked. Whether your style is classic and traditional, or sleek and contemporary, when the elements of good design are in place, the home becomes a glorious sanctuary. After a home has been staged, the sellers often say, “We should have done this years ago for our own enjoyment.” Think of it like detailing your car. We don’t hesitate to pay for routine maintenance to beautify our vehicle. Our home needs “detailing” also. After all, it’s our biggest investment.

Jacksonville always has been a little conservative when it comes to embracing new trends. But, get ready – staging is coming!  Anyone in real estate long enough remembers what a change cell phones and computers brought to the industry. What are you waiting for? Jump in with both feet, and give it a whirl.

To see all articles, go to [1] www.transform-us.com and go to “Press Room”.