Resale Ready

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Resale-Ready® Services

Sunday, January 27th, 2013

There is no secret or magic wand quick-fix to get your home ready to put on the market to sell. But there is a way I think that makes the most sense if you hire an outside service to help you .

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This way is called Resale-Ready^® which is a registered trademark of the IRN. How and why is Resale-Ready^®different? The major difference is that the appointment is done in one day using your own furnishings. Which means no extra expense renting staging furniture for empty rooms:

source

Another significant distinction is that a Resale Ready consultation is done at the very beginning of the selling process when you decide to put your home on the market. Especially before all of your listing photos are taken! First impressions are so important!

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Since pictures are worth a thousand words, here are a few examples that suggest what I am referring to:

This home below is a photo of a home listed online for sale:

These photos are online representing the home to potential buyers!

Look at the photo below. No one is going to want to come and see your home when all they can see is the not so pretty bedding in the picture. I am not trying to be mean, just honest to help you sell your home.

I understand your taste may be different than mine, but it is my job as a professional to help you sell your home. It is nothing personal.

In the photo below, you are not doing any justice to a pretty corner of the room. My suggestions to help you make the room look it’s best, would be to take down the window treatments or whatever that is in the left window. The walls are a soft pretty color, so why would you hang dark and heavy artwork in the room? White or pastel colored frames would look so much better. Please get rid of the stuffed animals and please fix up the bedding at bottom of the bed:

This is the goal of a Resale-Ready^®professional. To use what you already have and make it better. It also will guarantee a quick Open House and best of all, get your home ready for the listing photos that the realtors will be using to represent your home.

As you know, you need an extra edge today when you are ready to sell your home. An IRN certified professional can help you get your home ready and sold!

Doesn’t that make sense?

If you need help getting your home ready for sale, contact me today.

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Posted in Interior Decorating, Resale Ready | 6 Responses »
Tags: contemporary, getting home ready for sale, Resale Ready, update

Resale Ready: Should Brick Fireplaces and Paneling Be Painted?

Friday, March 16th, 2012

I went on a resale ready consultation yesterday, and I actually felt really bad having to tell the owner of the home that people today are looking for homes that are move in ready. These include homes that have features such as having the walls and fireplaces in the home updated:

This is a good example of what the home owner’s home for sale looks like now:

This must be addressed if you want to sell your home. If this was your own home and you told me you loved it, we would definitely work around it!

Would I ever suggest painting over this original, beautiful brick wall below? Never! Why? Because it is a whole glorious wall- not just a small piece of wall or a small fireplace:

I told her that was just my professional opinion. I always research my projects well and I could not find any nice looking brick fireplaces anywhere! This is a good makeover example from pinterest (minus that blue picture):

And the paneling! If I am being paid for a consultation, I am going to give you my honest professional opinion. And my professional opinion on your paneling that was installed in the 1960-1970’s, should be painted. I am not talking about the beautiful architectural finishes on walls and woodwork that was milled from red oak or cedar wood with tons of history. I am referring to the brown/tan sheets of paneling homeowner’s used like wallpaper all over the place a couple decades ago!:

HGTV

Just look at how beautiful the paneling looks after painting:

This is gorgeous:

Painted paneling!

Beautiful!

Do you agree that getting a home resale ready consists of painting over that brick fireplace? How about the paneling? Should it be painted or left alone?

If you need help getting your home ready for resale, contact me today.

All photos from pinterest unless otherwise noted.

Top Ten List of Outdated Decor Still Found in Homes Today

Thursday, August 5th, 2010

Would you consider these items outdated or vintage?

Number Ten: Outdated window treatments.

Bed, Bath and Beyond

I really do not want to hurt any one’s feelings, I am just trying to help! Really!

Number 9: Paint colors no longer in fashion.

House Beautiful 1966

I do not know which is worse, the dreadful faux gold paint on the cabinets or the fake fruit in the bowl. I remember my mom having that fake fruit on the counter.

Number Eight: Big brass chandeliers.

Brass 27

I offered advice here on how to update your brass lighting. Do it.

Number Seven: Avocado Appliances.

If you hold out a little longer, they will probably be back in style. Did you hear people are getting tired of the stainless steel look?

Number Six- Paneled Walls. The gentleman is extra on me.

Nerdarama

Number Five: Old fashioned wallpaper.

House Beautiful 1968

Number Four: Dated bathroom light fixtures.

These were not the worst light fixtures in a bathroom I have seen. Believe me.

Number Three: Fake looking plastic flowers.

Oh, don’t even get me started! This one really bugs me. Do people seriously think others will be fooled into thinking they are real?

Number Two: Peeling linoleum floors!

And the Number One outdated decor item we can still find in a home today:

Crochet Lace Doilies - 12 Inch Round Crocheted Doilies!

Please do yourself a favor and get rid of them. If they are sentimental- keep them in a drawer where you can see them but no one else can.

So there is my top ten list of out of vogue items. I might have to start another list because what about macrame plant hangers? Obsolete ashtrays?

I would not consider any of these items vintage. They are just ‘out’ in the design world today.

If you need advice and encouragement to help you update your home, call me 401-765-7999 or email for more information kellybernierdesigns@cox.net.

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Tags: avocado appliances, bathroom light fixtures, brass chandeliers, color, Crocheted Doilies, decorating, fake plastic flowers, flowers, House Beautiful, nerdarama, no longer in fashion, out of vogue, outdated, paneled walls, peeling linoleum floors, Resale Ready, top ten list, updating brass fixtures, vintage, wallcoverings, window treatments

Comparing Hardwood Flooring vs Laminate Flooring

Thursday, July 29th, 2010

Continuing on our adventure with the White Kitchen Redesign project, here and here, my client Lorraine and I decided our next step would be to begin to look at flooring.

She knew she wanted to get rid of the old linoleum (thank goodness), and she also knew she wanted wood floors which would be continued from the entryway in through the kitchen. But of course, she did not want to spend a lot of money. I had heard good things about the new laminate flooring, so I researched the wood/laminate options and this is what I found:

	Prefinished Engineered Hardwood Floor	Laminate Floor
Visual Appearance	excellent	good
Scratch Resistance	good⁴	very good
Stain Resistance	fair¹	excellent
Fade Resistance	fair²	excellent
Impact Resistance	good	excellent
Ease of Maintenance	good	very good
Moisture Resistance	fair	good
Ease of Repair	good	poor
Can floor be refinished?	yes (not acrylic impregnated)	no
Install over concrete slab	if glue or float	yes, floating
Manufacturer’s Warranty	good	good
Installation Methods	glue, staple, float	some pre-glued glueless, floating
Easy To Install (DIY)	glueless floating – yes staple-down – maybe glue-down – messy	Yes
Life expectancy of floor (in years)	25+³	< 20

some hardwood flooring factory finishes have very good stain resistance
some wood stains when exposed to direct UV sunlight may change color more than others
Quality hardwood floors can last for a lifetime with proper care & refinishing
Some UV-cured urethane finishes have aluminum oxide crystals embedded in the finish and are extremely durable

Resource- Floor Facts.com

Bruce Engineered Oak Hardwood Flooring Strip and Plank

Can you tell the difference? Natural Oak Laminate is on the left. Solid Oak Hardwood is on the right.

One important factor they left off of this comparison chart- price. I checked quite a few sources and found the same results- hardwood flooring is two to three times more expensive.

James Radin

So what did Lorraine decide on? She is planning to sell her home in about five years so she is trying to get the home ready for resale. Plus, a big factor in her decision was pricing. She decided she would go with the laminate flooring, in a medium finish which will work well with her existing furnishings as well as her new cabinets and new counter tops. It will look beautiful! Comments? Questions? Advice?

If you need help with your decorating dilemma, call 401.765.7999, or write me @ kellybernierdesigns.com

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Tags: ben moore, color, decorating, Decorating ideas, flooring, House Beautiful, james Radin, kelly bernier designs.com, kitchen flooring, Kitchens, paint selection, Resale Ready, update, white kitchens, wood floors