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Selling Your Scottsdale Home: Tips to Prepare Your Home for Sale

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Guest Post by Robyn Randall, ASID

– Tips to Get Your Scottsdale Area Home Ready for Sale –

Kitchen Nook Scottsdale HomeWhen you make the decision to put your home on the market, you your goal is usually to sell your home quickly and for the most amount of money.

In order to make this happen, you need to make sure your home is in great condition when it hits the market, as that is when you will typically get the most traffic. Plus, since so many home buyers use the Internet to search for homes, a well-prepared home will stand out in the photographs.

Here are a few tips that will help you as you prepare to put your home on the market:

CURB APPEAL
First impressions count. Buyers will often drive past a property to see what the exterior looks like before agreeing to see the interior space.

  • Remove all debris
  • Manicure the landscaping
  • Add fresh flowers where possible
  • Clean-up (paint) and create interest in the area around the front door

 

INTERIOR ORGANIZATION

  • Remove clutter and put things away, including personal items and family photos
  • Clean thoroughly
  • Eliminate odors (litter boxes, cooking)
  • Clean carpets
  • Fresh coat of paint (neutral color)
  • Do all minor repairs (door handles, cracked tiles, frayed carpets, wall chips)
  • Turn on all lights and fireplaces when showing

 

USE OF SPACE

  • Position furniture to create larger, more open spaces
  • Remove excess pieces of furniture – “Less is more”
  • Clean up storage rooms and show another use for the space (ie: office, workout, guest room)
  • Clean up and organize garages, attics, basements
  • Create the feeling of openness and brightness
  • Keep window treatments to a minimum to allow for natural light
  • Make each room flow into the next with the use of color or area rugs, furniture arrangement

 

UPGRADES THAT CAN REALLY MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Many buyers are not interested in “projects” when they are looking for a new home. They ideally want to find a home where they can move right in and start enjoying it. If your time and budget permit, there are some ideas on key upgrades that can take your home over the top.

  • New appliances
  • New carpet and/or flooring
  • Paint inside and out with neutral colors
  • New counter tops
  • Update kitchen and/or bath faucets and hardware
  • Kitchen and bathroom upgrades will bring additional money. The kitchen is the heart of the home and can make or break a potential sale.

More Information: 
Robyn Randall, ASID
Designs by Robyn LLC
Email
Website: www.DesignsByRobyn.com
Twitter: @RobynASID

 

Selling Your Scottsdale Home: What is Home Staging?

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Guest post by Robyn Randall, ASID

– Why Should I Stage My Scottsdale Home for Sale? –

Staged Room by realestagingIf you are a homeowner considering selling your home, often times the most difficult part is making the spaces in your home as appealing as possible to the widest range of prospective buyers. One way to accomplish this is to have your home professionally staged.

What is Home Staging?
Staging is when a given space is professionally prepared using limited funds, practical creativity and professional expertise to best highlight and show the architectural elements, space and features. The goal is for the home to become infinitely more attractive to potential buyers, which translates in to a quicker sale for more money. Staging is a small investment by the home seller that can really pay off.

Frequently, I am asked to stage Scottsdale area homes for resale. Sometimes it is more about removing and redesigning the furnishings you already have and sometimes it is about adding things to enhance a room.

Most importantly, the key is to depersonalize the home, which makes it easier for potential buyers to emotionally imagine themselves living in that space.

Most importantly, the key is to depersonalize the home, which makes it easier for potential buyers to emotionally imagine themselves living in that space.

Or, we often see cases where a home seller has taken their existing furnishings with them to the new residence, leaving an empty shell. In that case, the staging professional can provide furnishings and accents in key rooms and areas so that prospective buyers can see what the home’s potential is.

If there is any area of the home that is challenging, it can be a deterrent to a buyer. So sometimes it’s best to address that challenge head on. For example, if you have a small bedroom which has limited space for anything more than a twin bed, perhaps you could portray that room as a den instead. Your staging professional will be able to help you with creative workarounds in these cases.

There are many companies whose sole business is to stage the home for a fee. Fees can vary greatly and it’s best to do your homework ahead of time.

My best advice is that if you’re going to pay a professional to help you stage your home, make sure the finished product accomplishes your goal to make the space livable and inviting to prospective buyers.

Creative Commons image courtesy of realestaging

Scottsdale Interior Design: Color Forecasting

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– Color Choices in Your Home Design and Color Trends  –

Colorful paint cans CC Skeddy in NYC

One of the single most difficult decisions I see plaguing my clients is color, especially when it comes to painting their walls. Interestingly enough though, this is the place where you can get daring and it’s the least expensive mistake you can make.

So when I see a client hesitate about picking colors, I advise them to let go of their inhibitions and try for bolder, adventurous colors and find a whole new excitement in their interiors.

Interior Design, just like fashion, is forever changing and color is key to those changes. Do you remember Harvest Gold? For those of who lived through the 70’s, it conjures up visions of appliances. Ten or so years later, that particular tone of gold was not so popular, nor readily available. This is all due to what is called color forecasting.

COLOR FORECASTING
Each year, the design industry sets out to establish the upcoming color trends. Typically, fashion and interior design will echo each other in this. Many factors go into the process, sometimes it relates to political events, sometimes a music trend, or even sometimes a historical reference will be made. It can be very interesting when you read the forecasting of the various organizations that create the palettes for an upcoming season.

Among color experts, the PANTONE® name is known worldwide as the standard language for color communication from designer to manufacturer to retailer to customer. (If you are curious  to see their 2014 color forecast, go to www.Pantone.com.)

The Color Marketing Group is another and was recently quoted as saying at a forecasting event: “It seems the cheerful chromatic palette we experienced last year is pleasantly shifting in a more sophisticated, mature direction… Early indicators are revealing a trend down in chromaticity by softening our color entrees more in a pastel direction.”

Many if not all the major paint companies offer their insight into future color trends, Sherwin Williams is a good example. Take some time on the internet and Google phrases like “color trends”, “color forecasting”, etc. and see what the future of color will bring.

SELECTING COLORS FOR YOUR INTERIOR DESIGN PROJECT
But here is where it gets tricky… Let’s say you have a room that needs some updating. The draperies are fine, the accessories could use a little enhancing,  but the upholstery is in serious need of attention, as well as the pillows. If your interiors are several years old, it may be difficult to come up with compatible colors.

If you find yourself  having challenges with some updating and are unsuccessful at blending new color palettes with old, find a design professional you trust to assist.

The spectrum of paint colors available is limitless and many times, colors are best chosen after you have selected interior items such as fabrics. Many designers offer color consultation for a set fee and are trained in color so don’t hesitate to seek a professional for your next project.

 

The state of color is always fluid, rushing forward and gathering influences from the world around us. 

–  Sherwin Williams

 

More Information: 
Robyn Randall, ASID
Designs by Robyn LLC
Email
Website: www.DesignsByRobyn.com
Twitter: @RobynASID

 

Creative Commons image courtesy of Skeddy in NYC

 

What is the Difference Between an Interior Designer and an Interior Decorator?

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The following is a guest post by Robyn Randall, ASID from Scottsdale, Arizona.

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Remodeling Color wheel– What is the Difference Between an Interior Designer and an Interior Decorator? – 

It is not widely understood what the difference is between interior designer and interior decorator. Some of this is complicated by the fact that in many states there is no licensing required to call yourself a designer. In those states anyone can hang a sign on their door and profess to be an interior designer.

Arizona is one of the states that does not currently require licensing, therefore the line is blurred between a designer and a decorator. When someone tells you they are licensed, for the most part, they are referencing their sales tax license which allows them to purchase items tax exempt. And, unfortunately, the barrier to get this kind of license is not that high.

If you do a Google search for designer vs. decorator, you will get a broad spectrum of answers.

Merriam-Webster defines each as outlined below:
Interior designer: One who practices the art, or practice, of planning and supervising the design and execution of architectural interiors and their furnishings.
Interior decorator: One that decorates; especially : one that designs, or executes, interiors and their furnishings.

To break it down and to quote the NCIDQ (National Council for Interior Design Qualification): “Interior design is the art and science of understanding people’s behavior to create functional spaces within a building. Decoration is the furnishing or adorning of a space with fashionable or beautiful things. As interior designers we apply creative and technical solutions that are functional, attractive and beneficial to the occupants’ quality of life and culture, often times using a systematic and coordinated methodology—including research, analysis and integration of knowledge into the creative process—to satisfy the needs and resources of the client.” As I like to say, it’s not all about making things look pretty.

So How Does it Work?
Because of their involvement in the architectural design process, designers must achieve a level of formal training (and licensure in states requiring a license) and adhere to code and regulatory requirements, whereas decorators require no formal training or licensure.

Many U.S. states and Canadian provinces have passed laws requiring interior designers to be licensed or registered – documenting their formal education and training—and many of them specifically require that all practicing interior designers earn the NCIDQ Certificate to demonstrate their experience and qualifications. The exam put forth by NCIDQ is recognized by most states as the “testing body” for interior design, much like the bar exam is to lawyers.

To be sure, the individual who decides to pursue the technical skills required of a designer should still possess the creative skills. I personally do not believe schooling can teach creativity (not to be confused with artistic ability, although adding that to the mix makes for an even better design professional).Creativity is something that is an inherent skill.

As a professional who constantly seeks continuing education credits to keep abreast of changing laws, codes and product offerings, I would advise any consumer looking for a design professional to do their homework. If someone is calling themselves an interior designer and if they are “touching the structure” in any way, you want to make sure that that they have the qualifications and training to do so.

More Information: 
Robyn Randall, ASID
Designs by Robyn LLC
Email
Website: www.DesignsByRobyn.com
Twitter: @RobynASID

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