A recent staging consultation in a beautiful home has been my favourite plant challenge so far. There are very healthy plants in lovely pots on the main floor of this home. As you climb the stairs to the second floor this is what you see.

Before – From First Floor

There are two diefenbachia on the landing that are the pride and joy of the owners. They are extremely healthy and well cared for. They are so healthy they have completely taken over the space. The skylight on the landing isn’t visible since the plants have captured all of the natural light.

Before – From the Master Bedroom

The challenge this has for potential buyers is that they will not see the living space. The plants will be what buyers remember about the home. We discussed finding a new home for them while the house is on the market but this just is not possible.

The homeowners kept the plants in place and have cut them back significantlly.

After – Second Floor Landing

The transformation is dramatic. The skylight is now flooding the landing with natural light and the space looks and feels larger. This is just what buyers are looking for. The house sold quickly and the plants are moving to their new sun filled space.

Make your home work for you!

Contact me by email pat@homedefinition.ca or call me at 416.693.0845

I was asked to provide my recommendations and the owners completed the changes. Family members were recruited to help complete all items that I provided in my report. They worked quickly. The home was listed for $1.195 million ten days after my consultation.

The home has been renovated and enlarged over the years and the living space is very generous and wonderful. The interior has been painted recently and looks terrific. The main living room is a very spacious and 30 feet long. The furniture placement and collections have been designed by the family to make the large space feel cozy.

Before

When selling your home first impressions count. Potential buyers will view your home in minutes and decide to make an offer or not. Buyers need to be able to see themselves living in the home. You must highlight your home’s best features. You want buyers to see the space and possibilities for them.

My recommendations were for the homeowners to pare down their furnishings and collections in this main living area. Personal photos, floral arrangements, furniture and small area carpets were removed.

The result is the space is more open and potential buyers are not distracted by too many items. The best features, a large living  space, beautiful pine floors throughout, the stone fireplace and incredible views are all shown to full advantage.

After

Make your home work for you!

Contact me by email pat@homedefinition.ca or call me at 416.693.0845

The window treatments in the living and dining room were under consideration for an update and we talked about a number of ideas from a total replacement to making changes to the existing panels.

The floral pattern in the draperies appeals to the homeowner, but the valances are looking dated. We considered ideas such as a solid colour valance with padding which would add drama but the rooms really did not call for that. Fabric was left from the original design of the panels, so the decision was to make use of the available fabric.

The design of a flat panel with trim that matches the drapery panels is simple and lovely and has the desired result of updating the windows with a minimum cost. This is an easy project to complete. The only material cost was for drapery lining and new trim and the project can be completed in a short amount of time.

 Make your home work for you!

Contact me by email pat@homedefinition.ca  or call me at 416.693.0845

This is a terrific 3 bedroom, bungalow that was going to listed for sale quite soon. The owner has retired and will be leaving Toronto. His home is lovely, he has updated extensively, including a new kitchen and hardwood floors throughout.

He asked for my thoughts on his home. His colour scheme works well and is quite neutral throughout the main living area. There were a few small changes that I recommended to increase the appeal to buyers. The living, dining room and kitchen are all open and there were too many pieces of art on display. My first suggestion was to edit the number of pictures on walls.

My friend was surprised by this idea. The four pictures over the fireplace have a strong emotional appeal to the owner and he struggled with the idea of removing anything. It took some time to make sense of the idea that his home is going to be a product on the market and that he needed to edit some of his favourite pieces. After much consideration he agreed to take one down. The debate he then had with himself was which one would it be.

In the meantime, I had removed three other pieces from walls, one which I placed in a more appropriate spot. I also recommended the area carpets in living and dining room be taken up to showcase the flooring.

The floral print in the dining room is adding clutter to the space, so I took it down.

I got a call from him a few days later, asking for my help. The area carpets had been removed and there were now three pictures over the fireplace. The space felt larger and he could see the difference the changes made. We discussed other ideas throughout the home, did some shopping, and made more updates.

I made the suggestion that having one picture over the fireplace would be perfect.

Over the next few weeks, he made the changes I recommended and his home is ready to be listed. I received this message from him last week.

” The other day my neighbour from across the street came over…she was standing in the kitchen looking into the living room towards the fireplace, and she asked whether I “changed something”….:”or did you change the colour?”. I told her I simply took down 3 of the four large sailing pictures, and left the one on top of the fireplace, as per your suggestions.

She said “the place looks bigger….roomier”.

Cool. Thanks again.”

Make your home work for you!

Contact me by email pat@homedefinition.ca or call me at 416.693.0845

I toured the home with them when they were considering their purchase. Most of the home could easily be updated with colour and new lighting fixtures. The kitchen was the biggest issue for them since the existing cabinetry was not to their liking. They were not prepared to invest in a major renovation at the time and were concerned about being able to live with the exsiting cabinetry.

The cabinets are oak and in good condition. Over time the varnish had yellowed. The existing wall colour was yellow with a red accent wall which did not enhance the space in any way. My recommendation was to paint the cabinetry and to update the hardware. This would give them a palate of their choosing and would give them time to consider how they would renovate to create their ideal space in the future.

They purchased the house and asked me to manage the project to get the home ready for them to move into. There were lots of projects and people involved. Carpeting and linoleum were removed and wide pine plank floors were restored, new window treatments to be sourced, lighting fixtures to be installed and painting from top to bottom. The kitchen was a major project on its own. There were 45 cupboard and drawer fronts that were sent out to be spray painted.

The existing hinges were spray painted and all door handles and pulls were replaced. The cabinets were painted Benjamin Moore ‘Deep in Thought’ AF30 and the wall colour is ‘Tundra’ 2133-70.

The owners are thrilled with the results. They have found that the existing kitchen design works well and the new colour scheme is exactly what they wanted.

Make your home work for you!

Contact me by email pat@homedefinition.ca or call me at 416.693.0845

I created this new centrepiece for our holiday table yesterday. This is at our cottage where we will be spending some time over the holidays. We have a large table that allows me to have some fun with the arrangement.

The birch log came from a tree that, sadly we had to remove last year.

My husband drilled out the holes for tee lights and I added the magnolia leaves, the spruce and cedar boughs.  Easy to do and it looks terrific.

We’re looking forward to spending time with family and friends around the table.

Pat McArthur of Home Definition will be available to answer your questions at the POC Booth, 1121, on Friday October 23rd from 3:00pm to 6:00 pm. I look forward to seeing you.

Here is a coupon for $5.00 discount for you and a friend.

For more information, please visit http://www.nationalwomenshow.com/toronto/index.html

Make your home work for you!

Contact me by email pat@homedefinition.ca or call me at 416.693.0845

The update to the home was completed as a family project. The restoration of the floors was done by contractors and the family to choose to complete all of the work on the walls in the rooms. It did take time to get everything done and they were very particular that attention was paid to details. They have done a terrific job to increase the sales potential of this home.

I want to show you two of the bedrooms that have been redone and have increased the interest of buyers.

 Small Bedroom

Before: A flowery room that doesn’t appeal to buyers since there is too much to take in
and the space feels small.

After: The bedroom is bright, fresh and appealing as a child’s room. The walls are
painted in a neutral colour with a hint of blue and the floors look terrific.

Third floor attic room

Before: There is so much potential for this space but most buyers will not see this.
Their eye is stopped by the paneling and the carpet. There is a heaviness to this room. Cost effective changes were my recommendations to allow buyers to see the possibilities.

After: The floors were in excellent condition on this floor and show beautifully. The
paneling was painted in an off white to maximize light from the one small window in the room.
The room is large and the potential to add built in storage is easy to see.

Make your home work for you!

Contact me by email pat@homedefinition.ca or call me at 416.693.0845

I was asked by the family in Owen Sound, Ontario to provide staging advice on their parent’s home which had been listed For Sale by Owner for 15 months. The owner’s brother in California recommended home staging to his sister. She found me through my listing in the Staging Diva Directory of Home Stagers. Home staging is a service she was not familiar with which is not uncommon in the area. We discussed what I could offer to help her to prepare to sell the family home.

Home Staging is definitely a new idea in this region. The majority of home owners elect to list their properties as they are, a concern of real estate agents. Owners are not aware that the majority of buyers are searching internet listings before deciding what to see. A home that does not show well in pictures will not attract buyers.

The 70 year old home is very well maintained and clean which are all at the top of my list of things that must be done. There was clutter and oversized pieces of furniture that overwhelmed the rooms that they were in & I recommended that they be removed.

The challenge in the home is that the interior was very dated. In checking listings in the area, homes that had not been updated were staying on the market & those that had been updated were selling.

The home featured wall to wall carpeting throughout including the kitchen and bathroom.

The kitchen and bathroom had been updated with new cabinetry and fixtures that were well suited to the home. Wallpaper graced every room of the home and was loved by the owner’s mother.

My first request was to find out what was underneath the carpet. Given the age of the home and location I suspected that there would be pine plank flooring even though there were no tell-tale squeaks. Checking around heat registers in various rooms proved this to be true. I recommended that carpets be removed and the floors restored. The owners agreed and are very impressed with the results.

The other major recommendation was to deal with wallpaper and panelled rooms, a very time consuming task. After consulting with painters that I recommended the family decided to tackle this project themselves. They chose to remove all wallpaper, repair and paint all walls. The colours that I recommended are used and the home is transformed. They also chose to replace doors in bedrooms and closets and updated lighting.

I have visited the home over the past months to see the progress and have been very impressed with all the work that has been done. It has indeed been a long journey for the family and they are very happy to see the results of their hard work. They have done an outstanding job on this house!

I visited the home last week to check on the final details that are being attended to & the home is now ready to be listed. Here are a few pictures of the home’s transformation.

 Main Entrance

Before: The main entrance far too busy and distracting to buyers

After: Bright and spacious. Absolutely fabulous floors. (I love hardwood!)

Living Room

Before: The living room needs an update to appeal to today’s buyer

After: The main floor is unified with the same colour in living,
dining and hallway which unifies the space.

Dining Room

Before: The dining room is busy with too many collectibles.

After: Colour, great floors, new lighting and fewer items on display creates an inviting space.

Kitchen

Before: The kitchen cabinetry is in great condition, the flooring had not been addressed.
Much to the owner’s surprise, there were three layers of carpet to be removed.

After: Revived pine floors and fresh paint complement the cabinetry and appliances that were in place.

Bathroom

Before: The bathroom cabinetry had been nicely updated, walls and flooring needed to be updated.

After: New fixtures, flooring, countertop and paint have updated this bathroom.

Next time: Bedroom makeovers

Make your home work for you!

Contact me by email pat@homedefinition.ca or call me at 416.693.0845

 I find inspiration for colour in many ways and places .  On colour projects to update and refresh homes, I look first to my clients favourite pieces, such as art, beautiful furnishings and the landscape surrounding their home.

Make your home work for you!

Contact me by email pat@homedefinition.caor call me at 416.693.0845

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