After: Adding the white accessories make this bathroom feel like a spa. White conjures serenity, peace, clarity. White is heaven, puffy clouds, whipped cream. The colour has a very positive effect on people, and also on our homes.   The trend to white home décor is white hot, and a perfect choice to employ when preparing your home for showings.   One of the best things about this trend is that most everyone has household items that are white, which makes this a budget-friendly choice. Bedding, towels and accessories are the most likely finds in the depths of your closet. Even if you have nothing, it will be a small investment to buy a sofa cover, throw rug or bedspread.

After: This nature inspired bedroom is the perfect space for guests/teenagers. Especially in vogue is white bedding with embroidered flowers, leaves, shapes on it. This instantly brings a delicate, airy look to the bedroom.   When staging a bathroom, a set of pristine white towels will do the trick. Finally, don’t cloud your home’s airy look with too much stuff. In life and home-staging, less is always more. Consider using some white baskets to hold and hide your clutter.

For more ideas, just put your head in the puffy clouds for a few moments and it’s likely that something will spring to mind…

Want to save money and stage your home like a pro? Let your creative juices flow. Consider using your existing items in new ways – and in different rooms.
 
When you are preparing to stage your home for sale, walk around your rooms with an objective eye. Look for gaps – or problem areas – that need to be addressed. Then, see what you can find in other rooms that can be re-used (or re-purposed) to help solve the problem.
 
Here’s an example of a staging job we worked on in Calgary. We wanted to keep the costs to the seller low.
 

Bedroom before staging. When we walked through the house, we realized that the master bedroom was in need of some help. We wanted to create a restful feeling adult space for the potential buyer. And it felt more like a dorm room. As you can see in the photo, the bed didn’t sell the feeling I wanted to create.

Before: Bedroom before home staging. As we walked around the rest of the house, I saw a black ottoman and extra throw pillows in the living room that really weren’t working there. The ottoman was cutting off the traffic flow and making the room feel smaller. The extra pillows made the space feel cluttered.

I could have recommended that the homeowner put these items in storage. Instead, we used them in the master bedroom to address the challenge with the bed. It allowed us to effectively hide the bed frame (which felt like it was meant for a student) and create a spot that the potential buyer could envision using.

After: The ottoman, artwork and throw pillows were borrowed from other rooms. This bedroom now feels very relaxing. A touch of black in any room works to ground the space. Plus, the ottoman helped the new bedspread cover the footboard of the bed. Imagine how a potential buyer could use the ottoman – to sit, to place clothing, or maybe for their pet’s bed! The point is, after the staging, it is easier to imagine wanting to spend time in that room.

So get your creative juices flowing and save money by reusing existing items. Stage your rooms like a pro.

Do you have a piece of furniture that you absolutely love but it doesn’t quite work with your decor because it’s dated, the wrong colour or worn out? You’re in luck – Tara Jamieson of Laren Lane Decor specializes in custom furniture restoration. Not to mention she teaches DIY classes. Tara will also be doing a presentation at StateFarm’s Main Stage at this year’s Calgary Home + Garden Show.
 
Want to learn more about what Tara does and how you can refresh, renew and restore your furniture? Like us on Facebook and post a story about a piece that you, a friend or family member either has or would like to refinish for a chance to win two free show tickets to the 2012 Calgary Home + Garden Show (reg. $14/ticket). Posts must be made no later than Tuesday, Febuary 21 at 6:00 pm. Winner’s first name and last initial will be posted on our Facebook page and on our blog.
 
In addition to Tara’s furniture restoring, there will be over 650 exhibitors and an impressive star line up including HGTV host, Bryan Baeumler, Canada’s homegrown celebrity chef, Corbin Tomaszeski and innovative must-see features. The show runs from Thursday, February 23rd to Sunday, February 26 at the BMO Center. You can also buy tickets online for $3 off here.

As consumers, we are becoming more aware of the environment, home buyers are no different. According to Pantone’s Home & Interior 2012 Trends, 2012’s focus will be on highlighting nature and natural inspired decor. Home staging trends will be very similar. Some very simple ways to incorporate this into your home are by adding plants. Mini-trees are a great way to draw the eye to a beautiful window/view and to bring the outdoors in. For accessories, keep an eye out for blues inspired by the ocean, greens inspired by foliage as well as oranges, yellows and reds inspired by the sunset.
 
Although the interior decorating trend for walls is leaning toward greys, consider your target buyer before painting you whole home. The safest bet is still a light neutral that will match any of their decor tastes. My favourite neutral from the CSP Staging Safe Colour Pallet is Buffy 30YY60/104 (ICI Paints). Happy decorating (and staging) in the New Year!