Pushing Positive

Pushing Positive

There never was a house so bad that it couldn’t be made over into something worthwhile. – Elsie de Wolfe

The Inspiration.
The fabulous Elsie de Wolfe wrote, “I think it will give you as great a satisfaction to re-arrange your house with what you have. The results may not be so charming, but you can learn by them.”

The Challenge.
Last Saturday my friend, Barry, the miracle worker, came over to help gussy up my home working with what I already had. Even a PRO needs help seeing a room with a fresh perspective, and that person should not be your spouse. Just saying. We completely transformed my space in a day and the only thing I spent money on was $43 at the hardware store for bulbs, light, globe, extension cord, and closet rod. Ah-mazing!

living room before— what a sad, chaotic, space.

The result.
So I was all revved up to share all the photos (before and after) and then when I went to download them on my computer (I decided to use my fancy camera instead of my iphone) and accidentally deleted all the pics. Nuts! Okay so I’ll just list all the projects that I highly recommend tackling because seriously, you can do them in a day. One. Day!

living room after - cozy, bright seating areas in a warm, welcoming space.

One Day.
This is it! It’s time to j’love your home, no matter what. No excuses. Never complain, never explain. I’m pushing the positive so that everyone has a home that they love. Just because you don’t live in your dream home or whatever silly excuse you have, doesn’t mean you have to live in squalor (clutter!). Create beauty with what you have right now.

Here’s a list of things that can be done in ONE day:

1. Go shopping in your house. We “shopped” the other rooms in the house to create 3 areas. #1 “social” seating area with white sofa, coffee table, rug, floor lamp, side table. #2 “lounge” seating area with Eames lounge and ottoman, hung a brass light fixture. #3 kid’s play area with a rug, play table, and just moved all the toys into this space.
2. Park the toys in a “garage.” Toys should not dominate the adult areas of the house. Clear out a utility closet, outfit it with fun posters, hooks to hang toys, and install an inexpensive LED closet light w/a five-minute timer to create a space just for the toys. At the end of the day, simply make sure the toys are all put away and shut the door. Bam. Children love small spaces and will have fun hiding out in their “garage.”
3. Hang a mirror. My favorite places to hang a mirror is in a dark corner to bring in natural light and also make the room feel more expansive. Another great place to hang a large mirror is in the dining room right by the table. It’ll pick up ambient candle light for a romantic feeling whether you’re having a dinner party or dining solo.
4. Re-hang (or hang) all the artwork. Take down all the art and see what you have. You might be surprised and find something you really love and decide to hang it in a new space. Get rid of artwork that you don’t like. Hanging artwork brings character and personality to a room.
5. Go for small. Instead of hanging a large statement piece in the foyer try a series of smaller prints installed as a horizontal line to make the room feel bigger. In this foyer we hung 12 small paintings on 4 walls at the same height.
   

   foyer installation. hang a series of smaller paintings instead of one large statement piece.

Decorating Secrets + DIY Projects in my Live Chat with the Daily Thred

A snippet of the tips I gave on the Daily Thred's Facebook Livechat this past Monday, 10/31.

Happy November! A couple of days ago, I worked with the Daily Thred to do a live chat giving decorating tips to Facebook fans. Here are a couple of tips I gave to those who tuned in:

1) Change up the lighting. An easy fix in any room is to change the light fixture. Whether you pick something elegant, like a chandelier, or simple, like a basic hanging light, it can change the whole mood of a space. Don’t want to spend the money on a new fixture? Just cleaning the fixture you already have can improve the light in a room.

A DIY speed decorating idea from the Daily Thred!

 

2) Edit, edit, edit. Does a room feel too cramped? Think it through and decide if all of the furniture in a space is really necessary. Even removing something like the footboard on your bed can create precious inches of room.

3) Create a statement piece. To create a statement piece for a room, think about what you really LOVE. Decide where you want the focus to be within a room. For example, in the garage makeover I did recently, I created an accent wall with Walt Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass” to give the room some texture. Remember, less is more!

Dream Garage Makeover with George Oliphant for NBC

This is the before and after of the garage- what a miraculous transformation! To see how we did it, click the link at the bottom of the post!

NBC.com recently posted a segment I did on George Oliphant’s LXTV show George to the Rescue. We took a garage space used for a book donation organization’s office and made it over to look sophisticated and beautiful, as well as added some new function. If you’re looking to make over your garage, here are a couple of tips:

1) Go vertical. This garage had so much height- it was two whole stories- but there was no way to access all of that room. George and his crew built in a lofted office, which made for more room all around. The stairs that were put in look great, and there’s room under them, as well!

2) Buff up the floors. You don’t have to tile or carpet the floor in your garage to make it look finished. I decided to polish the original concrete flooring, which gave the space a modern, authentic look.

3) Create an accent wall. My FAVORITE part of this room is the wallpaper I created. I took Walt Whitman’s book, Leaves of Grass, scanned it in and  Duggal (the same company who helped me with the coloring-book decals in the kids’ room I just did), and they blew it up 14 feet. The decoupage look of the wallpaper gives the space texture.

I got to drive a forklift full of supplies to the garage! So much fun, right?! To watch, click the link to the right!

To watch this segment, click here!

The 30 Second Staging Commercial

When I worked in advertising companies paid the agency millions of dollars to create 30 second commercials. The goal was to create a feeling, an emotional seduction with images and sound so that when viewers saw the commercial they’d connect. The ultimate “feel good” message was marketing to sell a product or service. In my experience it was a product because I worked on retail accounts and Target was the big client.

It’s critical to apply the same advertising principles when selling a property. With each property we evaluate and stage, I create a “30 Second Staging Commercial” which is the amount of time that someone makes up their mind to buy the property or not. It is not a video commercial but it’s the actual amount of time it takes to walk through the property.

Before: The empty room made the space feel small. People couldn’t connect to the room or imagine how to use it.

After: Installing furniture from the JV Collection defined the living room, created a cozy and warm space which highlighting the architectural features, and created a focal point on the fireplace.

Here’s the breakdown for creating the “30 Second Staging Commercial:”

– Love at First Sight. Remember this is a seduction. Take a look at the front door and ask, what does it look like? Is it clean? Is the paint in good condition? Make sure that the first impression is fresh and bold.
– Oh say can you see. When you open the front door, what is the first thing you see? Is it a selling feature or is it something that’s not coming when the property sells. If it’s a cluttered foyer, then get rid of the stuff. Make sure there’s a clear, easy path for people to walk thru the apartment. And pay attention to what they will see. Make sure it’s something beautiful!
– Where’s the love? If you have an empty property, bring in appropriate furniture and accessories to create an appealing home. Placing any old sofa and table in a room and a hand-me-down rug from Aunt Marge will not enhance property value. The furniture and accessories should reflect the lifestyle of the potential buyer.
– Maximize property value. Staging statistics show that homes that look good, sell for the best price in the shortest amount of time. An empty home looks smaller so by placing the proper furniture in the space it will maximize square footage.

People hire my crew to bring in stellar furniture from my own exclusive furniture collection. The JV Collection is growing and no two homes look the exact same which is the case with rental furniture companies.

Recently a developer called us in to stage his townhouse. It was vacant and on the market for several months. He hired us to stage it and we installed furniture from the JV Collection in a week. When creating a plan it was critical to think about what are people going to see in the first 30 seconds. Check out the photos of this Sotheby’s listing <http://www.sothebyshomes.com/nyc/sales/0016978&gt; and if you want to buy this townhouse, this one sure would be SWEET!

fun with wallpaper

Wallpaper is a Speed Decorator’s friend. Check this out…here I am at Mudhoney Salon (where I’ve been getting my haircut for 10 years) & I love how Michael the owner has decorated this place. This style is something we all can learn from– it’s a narrow dark space so to lighten things up he installed metallic wallpaper. The mirrors make the space feel wider & the taxidermy is really fun. This treatment could work well in powder room or any other cramped room to amp up the style & light. Be bold & try it!