Pet owners know their pets are part of the family.  We love them so much but not everyone goes gaga over our perfect and priceless pets.  If you’re selling your home, keep in mind a potential buyer walking through your home may have allergies and others may be down right afraid of animals.

It’s best to relocate your pets while your home is on the market but if your family and friends are not around to (or don’t want to) pet-sit for the duration of the selling period, you must keep up with the up-keep.  A buyer will form a negative opinion if they see stains on the carpet, claw marks on the walls and smell foul odors.  This will affect your getting top dollar for your home.  So you must religiously vacuum the hair and clean the cages, tanks and litter boxes.

Use an enzyme-based cleaner to remove animal odors and stains from the carpet and sofas and shampoo all carpets.  Be sure to wash your pet’s bedding, blankets and toys and then bathe your pet.  Clean and refill the cat’s litter with fresh litter and completely hide it during buyer visits.  If you can’t take your pets with you the day of an open house, put them in the garage, tied up with food and water and warn the realtor.

The best compliment you can get about your home is that the buyer didn’t know there were pets until they saw them in the garage.

So why do homeowners hire an interior designer? Here are a few reasons why I’ve been hired: Families are so busy and can not devote their time to focus on and manage a large scale design project or remodel. Homeowners become overwhelmed and lose site of the end result because of the vast selection and choices with styles, colors and patterns. Some clients buy a few gorgeous pieces but are unsure how to complete the look with lighting, rugs and wall hangings. At times, couples can not agree on a style and do not know how to blend their two different styles together. Homeowners want to create a unique look to match their personality and lifestyle. They do not want to copy their neighbor’s interior or the pages of a catalog or magazine.

A professional interior designer has a combination of knowledge, experience and talent and definitely an Interior Design degree. They understand space and circulation and flow. A designer will listen to all your wants and needs and they’ll ask questions about what you like and dislike. Designers study and solve the problems within a space. They review the functions taking place in each room and are concerned about the feeling you envision for the outcome. An exceptional designer deciphers all the information you give them and customizes your space to be efficient, functional and beautiful.

In addition to producing an aesthetically pleasing space, did you know a professional interior designer has a trusted team of contractors to paint, install flooring, demo a wall, layout a new lighting plan and built an addition? By hiring a designer, they oversee the contractors and ensure the work is followed according to plan and is finished on time. A designer also has solid relationships with many different vendors selling products like furniture, fabric, cabinetry, light fixtures and hardware. Again it is the designer’s duty to get updates, confirm orders and coordinate deliveries of furniture, appliances, etc.

Designers keep up on trends and the newest, innovative gadgets. They know the highest quality products and where to find the best deal. They will steer you in the right direction to fit into your design scheme and be within your budget. Best of all, a designer will stop you from making costly mistakes and bad, ugly decisions!!

If you want to avoid the stress and get some great ideas, give me a call today.

It’s not all about appearance…

When you are preparing your home for sell, not only does your house have to look good but it should also smell good. The sense of smell is the strongest and most primal of all our senses. Studies have shown that smell has the greatest impact on the emotions. And we all know a home buyer tends to be ruled by emotion when choosing a dream home.

So be sure to take a whiff around and follow this checklist before putting your home on the market:

STALE SMOKE SMELL: Try saying that five times. Or better yet try getting the cigarette smoke out of your furniture, carpet, walls and drapes. It permeates into everything!!! And if you are a smoker, you won’t smell it. But that potential, non-smoking buyer will be hit in the face with the stench when they step into your home. And you can bet they will be turned off.

The first thing to do is stop smoking inside your home. You must move your butt and the cigarette butts outdoors because you won’t be able to mask the smoke smell. Next, pull up your sleeves and get ready for some deep cleaning. You’ll need to wash everything you can fit into your washing machine or if it is too delicate take it to the cleaners. This includes all fabrics such as drapes, bedding, pillows, blankets and rugs which are soaked with tar ash and oil deposits from the cigarettes.

For your carpets, rent a shampooer and clean every carpet twice. To help rid the cig wreak, sprinkle baking soda over your entire carpet the night before shampooing day and vacuum up right before using the shampooer. If you don’t have the time to do-it-yourself, call in a professional carpet cleaning service.

The walls will be your nightmare. If you think you’re good to go by scrubbing down the walls understand that it is only a temporary fix. The tar and nicotine is embedded inside the walls that even if you wash the surface with white vinegar, warm water and baking soda the deposits will seep out to take the place of the layer you just scrubbed off. The cleaning solution will remove the residue but the rubbing will activate older, dry molecules of tar which will often intensify the smell.

So now you’re thinking the best bet would be to paint the walls and the ceilings. Actually painting will not be a permanent fix. The tar will permeate through the pores of a fresh coat of paint and the nasty smell is back within a year. So here’s the answer for your walls and ceiling; Bulls Eye Oil-Base by Zissner sealer and primer before you paint. Voila, this will seal the entire tar and nicotine residue and keep it from seeping through your new paint job.

When you think your home is ready for the sniff test, invite your non-smoking friends over to verify it’s free of the stale smoke smell.