A good friend of mine on Twitter gave me my thought process for the day which just might have created a whole can of worms. I am very proud to be a Puerto Rican Interior Designer, and the only one I currently know. My clientele ranges from the moderate income earner to the high-end home. I am even prouder to know that there are Latinas y Latinos out there who are making it big in this world, although I have yet to work on the home of another Hispanic- and that saddens me. I know they are out there, I just have to find them! But back to the subject at hand. Hispanic people, no matter where we are from, are some of the most vibrant, creative, passionate people on the face of the Earth. We live, love and play hard and it is reflected in our culture, our lifestyles and our homes.
Although we are the largest growing population in the world, we are the smallest represented group in media. Where do we, as a culture, go to find ideas for decorating, design, art and fashion? There are a small number of resources for these items, but you have to truly search for them. On the concept of good, classic interior design and decoration, there is virtually NOTHING that speaks to our people. I have found a few articles in magazines throughout the years that show "Mexican Style" of interior design as this multi-colored jumble of of what looks more like a circus than anything that I would ever want to call home. Has no one done their research? Go to a resort in Mexico and you will find colors more like the beaches, the sands and the tranquil sky than you will find what's in your local Mexican restaurant. The same can be said for a visit to Brazil or Puerto Rico. We have a taste for the refined and luxurious, just as much as the next nationality. I have made it my duty, to dedicate some of my life to give back to interior design within my culture and that of others of the Hispanic community. Starting with this blog post, Latin Interiors is now born...
check it out at www.LatinInteriors.blogspot.com
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Stage Your Home... So It Stops Sitting On The Market!
So, you went against the grain, and for whatever reason decided to put your home on the market at the worst possible time. I'm sure that if you have put your home on the market at this time, outside of a small craziness factor, you have the serious need to relocate due to a job or family crisis or are facing foreclosure and hope to quickly sell your home before that happens and ruins your credit. Regardless of your reason, you are stuck in this rut that is our horrible housing market!
What's the good news about this market? Well, if you have a perfect credit score of 820, have never missed a day of work, have $100K to put down on a home, submit a DNA sample and promise your next born child, you can get a smokin deal on a house that was once purchased for $600K and is now selling for $120K. The bad news for you who is now selling your home is that these lucky people with the perfect credit scores going through this crazy song and dance with these crude lenders are looking for all of the bells and whistles that they can find in their new bargain home. Your home might not have them, but that doesn't mean that your home wouldn't be an appealing place for them to call their own. They just need help to see the forest for the trees. That's where someone like me comes in to save the day...dum, duh, duh, dah!...it's Staging Woman to the rescue!
Now, let's dispel a few myths.
The first is that a stager is an interior decorator who comes in and fluffs up your home like a model with top of the line stylish furnishings and the like. NOT TRUE! Not all, not even most interior designers and decorators can be stagers. Staging is an art, separate from design and decoration. When a designer comes into your home, they use their knowledge and craft to personalize your home with your style and taste, interpreted through their eyes. It is the art of home customization and personalization. It makes your house a home! Staging is completely the opposite. When a stager comes into your home, they are decluttering and staging the area with a purpose. They practice the art of de-personalization and work their magic to turn your home back into a house, a basic understood slate upon which the future owners can see their personal tastes and furnishings within your space. Far too many designers and decorators cannot separate the two, creating "staged" rooms that are so over the top decorated, that a client does not see the actual space, and therefore can't make a connection to it. When you hire a designer to stage your home, make sure this is a procedure that they truly practice. I happen to be a designer who has experience in home staging.
Leaving my home empty is the best way to show off it's size and assets, because they are not hidden behind furnishings and all my stuff. NOT TRUE! Even a home with large rooms and great character will throw off a potential buyer if they cannot see how it will all work for their lifestyle. A massive master bedroom might leave a buyer without a clue of how to place their bed and nightstands to maximize use of the space. A small family room with a fireplace and a great view might leave a buyer wondering where they would put their sofa and whether or not their television would work in that space. Buyers just don't understand what they are seeing sometimes. It is a stager's job to breathe just enough life into that space that they can see the potential with their own eyes. It is not buyer specific, meaning that it is not in any one particular style- like contemporary or rustic, it is just neutral.
Staging will cost so much money! I'd rather just take my chances on letting the home sit until it sells. SUPER HUGE BOO BOO HERE! In AZ, as well as most states in the USA, your home will suffer a price reduction for every 30 days that it sits on the market. The average amount of a price deduction on a moderately priced home is between 5 and 10%. The typical price reduction on a luxury home is 20- 25% and that's a big gulp to swallow every month your home goes without a sale. By comparison, staging a luxury home runs an average of 3% of a home's sale price. And staging a moderately priced home can be lower than that, as low as 1.5% in some situations (depending on how much inventory you have to work with- furnishings and accessories). A home listed for $600K would be well staged for an investment of around $18,000. A home of this caliber calls for this amount, because there is much expected of a home of this size and price tag. It will require wall treatments and some model-like effects, yet should still be simple and elegant enough to attract a buyer with any style. I've been following a few homes in this price range and have seen that once a month they have dropped by a good $30,000- $60,000. Wouldn't the staging cost have made more sense? It would have increased exposure to your home by attracting more buyers. Staged homes are usually noted as such in advertising, show exceptionally well in a virtual tour and work far better in an open house than visiting an empty shell. Although staging your home is not a guarantee to get it off the market, a home that is sitting on the market for four months before selling would sell in a month and a half if well staged. *(based on source 1)
If your large home has a perceived identity crisis for the buyer- such as they don't love tuscan style, but the home has a tuscan exterior, you need to show them that they can do more to the home than just decorate with tuscan furnishings. This now opens this home up to the contemporary or traditional or modern taste buyer, because you have staged the home in a neutral way that shows the potential for all to enjoy.
The many benefits of staging your home for sale, far outweigh the possibility of it sitting on the market, especially when facing a foreclosure situation. In many cities across the country good real estate agents and companies suggest and even reccommend stagers to their client. Some companies even offer incentive packages for home staging when working with new build homes, model homes for custom home builders and before listing luxury homes for their clients. My surprise is that more agents don't recommend or even work in conjunction with stagers to help increase their sales. If your agetn does not offer this service or recommend it to you, ask what the feedback is on your open houses. Chances are that you need better definition of your space, and it's never too early to get me in your home! You just might feel better doing it before your home's list price drops by $20,000. Yikes!
Source 1 http://www.brokeriptv.com/staged-homes-sell-faster-than-competing-homes
What's the good news about this market? Well, if you have a perfect credit score of 820, have never missed a day of work, have $100K to put down on a home, submit a DNA sample and promise your next born child, you can get a smokin deal on a house that was once purchased for $600K and is now selling for $120K. The bad news for you who is now selling your home is that these lucky people with the perfect credit scores going through this crazy song and dance with these crude lenders are looking for all of the bells and whistles that they can find in their new bargain home. Your home might not have them, but that doesn't mean that your home wouldn't be an appealing place for them to call their own. They just need help to see the forest for the trees. That's where someone like me comes in to save the day...dum, duh, duh, dah!...it's Staging Woman to the rescue!
Now, let's dispel a few myths.
The first is that a stager is an interior decorator who comes in and fluffs up your home like a model with top of the line stylish furnishings and the like. NOT TRUE! Not all, not even most interior designers and decorators can be stagers. Staging is an art, separate from design and decoration. When a designer comes into your home, they use their knowledge and craft to personalize your home with your style and taste, interpreted through their eyes. It is the art of home customization and personalization. It makes your house a home! Staging is completely the opposite. When a stager comes into your home, they are decluttering and staging the area with a purpose. They practice the art of de-personalization and work their magic to turn your home back into a house, a basic understood slate upon which the future owners can see their personal tastes and furnishings within your space. Far too many designers and decorators cannot separate the two, creating "staged" rooms that are so over the top decorated, that a client does not see the actual space, and therefore can't make a connection to it. When you hire a designer to stage your home, make sure this is a procedure that they truly practice. I happen to be a designer who has experience in home staging.
Leaving my home empty is the best way to show off it's size and assets, because they are not hidden behind furnishings and all my stuff. NOT TRUE! Even a home with large rooms and great character will throw off a potential buyer if they cannot see how it will all work for their lifestyle. A massive master bedroom might leave a buyer without a clue of how to place their bed and nightstands to maximize use of the space. A small family room with a fireplace and a great view might leave a buyer wondering where they would put their sofa and whether or not their television would work in that space. Buyers just don't understand what they are seeing sometimes. It is a stager's job to breathe just enough life into that space that they can see the potential with their own eyes. It is not buyer specific, meaning that it is not in any one particular style- like contemporary or rustic, it is just neutral.
Staging will cost so much money! I'd rather just take my chances on letting the home sit until it sells. SUPER HUGE BOO BOO HERE! In AZ, as well as most states in the USA, your home will suffer a price reduction for every 30 days that it sits on the market. The average amount of a price deduction on a moderately priced home is between 5 and 10%. The typical price reduction on a luxury home is 20- 25% and that's a big gulp to swallow every month your home goes without a sale. By comparison, staging a luxury home runs an average of 3% of a home's sale price. And staging a moderately priced home can be lower than that, as low as 1.5% in some situations (depending on how much inventory you have to work with- furnishings and accessories). A home listed for $600K would be well staged for an investment of around $18,000. A home of this caliber calls for this amount, because there is much expected of a home of this size and price tag. It will require wall treatments and some model-like effects, yet should still be simple and elegant enough to attract a buyer with any style. I've been following a few homes in this price range and have seen that once a month they have dropped by a good $30,000- $60,000. Wouldn't the staging cost have made more sense? It would have increased exposure to your home by attracting more buyers. Staged homes are usually noted as such in advertising, show exceptionally well in a virtual tour and work far better in an open house than visiting an empty shell. Although staging your home is not a guarantee to get it off the market, a home that is sitting on the market for four months before selling would sell in a month and a half if well staged. *(based on source 1)
If your large home has a perceived identity crisis for the buyer- such as they don't love tuscan style, but the home has a tuscan exterior, you need to show them that they can do more to the home than just decorate with tuscan furnishings. This now opens this home up to the contemporary or traditional or modern taste buyer, because you have staged the home in a neutral way that shows the potential for all to enjoy.
The many benefits of staging your home for sale, far outweigh the possibility of it sitting on the market, especially when facing a foreclosure situation. In many cities across the country good real estate agents and companies suggest and even reccommend stagers to their client. Some companies even offer incentive packages for home staging when working with new build homes, model homes for custom home builders and before listing luxury homes for their clients. My surprise is that more agents don't recommend or even work in conjunction with stagers to help increase their sales. If your agetn does not offer this service or recommend it to you, ask what the feedback is on your open houses. Chances are that you need better definition of your space, and it's never too early to get me in your home! You just might feel better doing it before your home's list price drops by $20,000. Yikes!
Source 1 http://www.brokeriptv.com/staged-homes-sell-faster-than-competing-homes
Monday, April 13, 2009
Decorating for the Holidays- Don't Go Overboard!
In the spirit of Easter Sunday, today's post will be a fitting lilac, a great color for spring, renewed life and energy and, it just so happens, a very "in" color for homes in the coming season.
All of that ham and potato salad yesterday had me thinking about how I use to decorate for virtually every holiday in existence. I really got into the celebrations within my own home. Decorating for holidays can help give a fresh perspective to a home's tired decor. And I don't just mean placing big eggs and bunnies all over the front and inside of your home to celebrate Peter Cottontail. There is, of course, the literal interpretation of the holiday, and then there is the more figurative or abstract interpretation. And while many Irish would not mind throwing clovers all over their table linens and lving rooms- it might be a little strange throughout my household, being hispanic, and all! A more figurative interpretation of St. Patrick's day or even spring would be to infuse some subtle shades of green throughout your home's interior. This can be done in many ways:
If your living room furnishings are a neutral beige or brown, use printed, lime or light green throw pillows on your sofa. Freshen up with accessories like rattan baskets to hold a visitor's umbrella or interesting magazines or use beige and green vases on tables to further carry out the look.
If your home has a palette of darker colors, try adding the pastel of that same hue, in many different shades, to create a cohesive blending of a more upbeat space. For instance- if you have a room with navy furnishings, try adding beachy blues, light blues, teals, sky blues and even blue whites to give your space an updo! If your home has more of a rusty toned decor, add corals, pinks and coppers, even a pale peach to bring about the same look in your home. These looks are fresh for spring, current and can be swapped out just as easily for the next holidays to come.
Of course, there is the easiest way to add a touch of April Showers...bring May flowers. Grow or buy large headed flowers and place in interesting decorative containers throughout your space. They do not have to be in colorful vases, but spice them up with more than just the typical clear glass vase please! How about a great metal container or a deep wicker basket lined with a plastic, leakproof bag to contain water. Flowers are the best decorative item for a room and are the most temporary. You can create a different mood each week with a brand new bouquet- quirky this week with sunflowers, seductive the next with deep purple tulips. No matter what, have fun with this style of decorating.
Just a note_- Memorial Day and Independence Day are coming up. Please don't pull the red, white and blue into your home decor. Some holidays just carry no decorative elements to them. A small floral arrangement in memoriam of a fallen soldier or in appreciation of the spirit of the day is good enough! Do not break out the red white and blue plaid pillows- keep them in the drawer AT ALL TIMES!
All of that ham and potato salad yesterday had me thinking about how I use to decorate for virtually every holiday in existence. I really got into the celebrations within my own home. Decorating for holidays can help give a fresh perspective to a home's tired decor. And I don't just mean placing big eggs and bunnies all over the front and inside of your home to celebrate Peter Cottontail. There is, of course, the literal interpretation of the holiday, and then there is the more figurative or abstract interpretation. And while many Irish would not mind throwing clovers all over their table linens and lving rooms- it might be a little strange throughout my household, being hispanic, and all! A more figurative interpretation of St. Patrick's day or even spring would be to infuse some subtle shades of green throughout your home's interior. This can be done in many ways:
If your living room furnishings are a neutral beige or brown, use printed, lime or light green throw pillows on your sofa. Freshen up with accessories like rattan baskets to hold a visitor's umbrella or interesting magazines or use beige and green vases on tables to further carry out the look.
If your home has a palette of darker colors, try adding the pastel of that same hue, in many different shades, to create a cohesive blending of a more upbeat space. For instance- if you have a room with navy furnishings, try adding beachy blues, light blues, teals, sky blues and even blue whites to give your space an updo! If your home has more of a rusty toned decor, add corals, pinks and coppers, even a pale peach to bring about the same look in your home. These looks are fresh for spring, current and can be swapped out just as easily for the next holidays to come.
Of course, there is the easiest way to add a touch of April Showers...bring May flowers. Grow or buy large headed flowers and place in interesting decorative containers throughout your space. They do not have to be in colorful vases, but spice them up with more than just the typical clear glass vase please! How about a great metal container or a deep wicker basket lined with a plastic, leakproof bag to contain water. Flowers are the best decorative item for a room and are the most temporary. You can create a different mood each week with a brand new bouquet- quirky this week with sunflowers, seductive the next with deep purple tulips. No matter what, have fun with this style of decorating.
Just a note_- Memorial Day and Independence Day are coming up. Please don't pull the red, white and blue into your home decor. Some holidays just carry no decorative elements to them. A small floral arrangement in memoriam of a fallen soldier or in appreciation of the spirit of the day is good enough! Do not break out the red white and blue plaid pillows- keep them in the drawer AT ALL TIMES!
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Design Mistakes...the continued saga of the untrained!
Welcome to another episode of "Homeowner's Boo Boos and Blunders". This uncertain market continues to give me fuel for my blogging fire. Sadly enough many vendors with which designers keep wholesale accounts are now extending their lower prices to retail clients to pay their leases. While this is a "great thing" to the consumer, or so they think, this opens up a design mishap can of worms for their homes. Sure they now have access to products at a lower price, our small design mark-up, but they now have access to too much- too many options, too many style choices, that without good knowledge of these products, can cause issues when installed wrong or used improperly in a home application. Case in point, my latest source of posting material... read on.
My cabinet company is doing a kitchen for a client who claims to be an "investor". She has gone to many of the same companies that sell wholesale to me with my tax id, because I am actually a legitimate business. She is paying cash and that looks awfully pretty to them right now, so she now gets the same discount as me. Lovely. When we first met, I designed a beautiful bathroom in addition to her kitchen. The home is in the $400K range, so is deserving of higher end items. The bathroom that she gutted had specific proportions that had to be adhered to, as she was limited on space. I designed a great use for the space, allowing ample space for a corner tub and an expanded shower, per her request. After doing all of my hard work she then informed me that she would be doing this all herself, because she got her own wholesale account and didn't need my assistance. I asked her what her plans were and she informed me that she was putting in a 5' corner tub. I explained to her that it would not fit, as she only had exactly 5' of space to work with and since the tub was a drop in,that left no space for the build out (wooden 2 x 4's that frame the area to support the weight and anchor the tub). She insisted she knew what she was doing and couldn't find a smaller corner tub for her price range or from that store. I could, but she did not want to hire me, she wanted to go it alone.
We continued our work on the kitchen and she continued her interior design work in her home. She had a plumber install a 5' corner tub, with the frame for tile bringing her tub area to 66" on each side. Now she had to have a smaller shower, which in a home of this caliber, is not desirable. It was already only 36" wide to begin with. She did not understand enough to consider the reasons to expand that space and why they were necessary. A large man should be able to pivot freely in a shower without encroaching upon the walls. A woman should have enough space to bend over to shave her legs. It's part of good ergonomics, which is a design principle I live by and try to instill on my clients. It creates a desirable and most functional space. Now her shower measured 33" wide and that's before the tile. Oh gosh, the tile!
Client X found a great price on split faced travertine and decided- Hey, this is beautiful, let's put it in my shower! Ouch, I hope a loving couple doesn't want to ever shower together. They will come out bleeding after scraping each other up against the hard, uneven surface of the open, chattered stone. Split faced travertine is a natural stone with a chiseled, rough pattern stacked above each other like bricks on a 12" x 12" mesh backing. There is no grout in between each individual piece, so the water hitting this tile will run through to the wall behind. I hope they've used backer board! And even if they did, I'd imagine that continued exposure might create all sorts of new organisms in that bathroom. They might very well create a new species in there! Then there is the fact that a split faced stone is even more porous than a natural stone in a countertop. You can't seal those crevices, so every bit of grime and body filth that washes into that stone will remain there. Yuck! Natural stone that is appropriate for a shower situation should have the ability to be fully grouted for stability, as well as hygiene and have the ability to be sealed to prevent germs, mold and mildew regularly associated with a moist bathroom. This was completely the wrong choice for this room, but she didn't ask my advice. I'm sure she thought it would look great and very high end so it will work. I am guessing that her unlicensed installer thought the same. This, once again, is why hiring a designer is so so important. These are all such costly mistakes. Will they affect her resale value? Definitely! Will they affect her ability to sell her home? Most likely. Buyers are a bit smarter these days and so are real estate agents and appraisers. Personally I'd prefer to shower without reaching over and scraping a butt cheek, but that's just me!
Stay tuned, I'm sure the saga will continue...
My cabinet company is doing a kitchen for a client who claims to be an "investor". She has gone to many of the same companies that sell wholesale to me with my tax id, because I am actually a legitimate business. She is paying cash and that looks awfully pretty to them right now, so she now gets the same discount as me. Lovely. When we first met, I designed a beautiful bathroom in addition to her kitchen. The home is in the $400K range, so is deserving of higher end items. The bathroom that she gutted had specific proportions that had to be adhered to, as she was limited on space. I designed a great use for the space, allowing ample space for a corner tub and an expanded shower, per her request. After doing all of my hard work she then informed me that she would be doing this all herself, because she got her own wholesale account and didn't need my assistance. I asked her what her plans were and she informed me that she was putting in a 5' corner tub. I explained to her that it would not fit, as she only had exactly 5' of space to work with and since the tub was a drop in,that left no space for the build out (wooden 2 x 4's that frame the area to support the weight and anchor the tub). She insisted she knew what she was doing and couldn't find a smaller corner tub for her price range or from that store. I could, but she did not want to hire me, she wanted to go it alone.
We continued our work on the kitchen and she continued her interior design work in her home. She had a plumber install a 5' corner tub, with the frame for tile bringing her tub area to 66" on each side. Now she had to have a smaller shower, which in a home of this caliber, is not desirable. It was already only 36" wide to begin with. She did not understand enough to consider the reasons to expand that space and why they were necessary. A large man should be able to pivot freely in a shower without encroaching upon the walls. A woman should have enough space to bend over to shave her legs. It's part of good ergonomics, which is a design principle I live by and try to instill on my clients. It creates a desirable and most functional space. Now her shower measured 33" wide and that's before the tile. Oh gosh, the tile!
Client X found a great price on split faced travertine and decided- Hey, this is beautiful, let's put it in my shower! Ouch, I hope a loving couple doesn't want to ever shower together. They will come out bleeding after scraping each other up against the hard, uneven surface of the open, chattered stone. Split faced travertine is a natural stone with a chiseled, rough pattern stacked above each other like bricks on a 12" x 12" mesh backing. There is no grout in between each individual piece, so the water hitting this tile will run through to the wall behind. I hope they've used backer board! And even if they did, I'd imagine that continued exposure might create all sorts of new organisms in that bathroom. They might very well create a new species in there! Then there is the fact that a split faced stone is even more porous than a natural stone in a countertop. You can't seal those crevices, so every bit of grime and body filth that washes into that stone will remain there. Yuck! Natural stone that is appropriate for a shower situation should have the ability to be fully grouted for stability, as well as hygiene and have the ability to be sealed to prevent germs, mold and mildew regularly associated with a moist bathroom. This was completely the wrong choice for this room, but she didn't ask my advice. I'm sure she thought it would look great and very high end so it will work. I am guessing that her unlicensed installer thought the same. This, once again, is why hiring a designer is so so important. These are all such costly mistakes. Will they affect her resale value? Definitely! Will they affect her ability to sell her home? Most likely. Buyers are a bit smarter these days and so are real estate agents and appraisers. Personally I'd prefer to shower without reaching over and scraping a butt cheek, but that's just me!
Stay tuned, I'm sure the saga will continue...
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