March 9th, 2012
What’s New In My Staging Kit?
We know that buyers typically know in less than a minute if a property is going to be on their short list or not.
And here in Westchester, there have been anywhere from 41 to 65 newly listed single-family homes each day this week. That’s a lot of homes to sort through and preview, for both agents and buyers.
Not ‘new’, but forgotten, or ignored; this week I want to share something with you that will shine in your listing photos, and boost both quality and quantity of traffic at your Open Houses this weekend.
That will set the tone as buyers drive up.
That will elevate their mood, and most oimportantly, embed this property firmly in their mind.
That will cost you $30.00, maybe less.
Are you ready??
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YELLOW. PANSIES.
Really.
Forget the insipid bunch of mixed flowers on the kitchen counter.
Little things can stand out in the eyes of a buyer. Finding fresh, memorable and reasonable ways to grab their attention and engage them is one of specialties of the refreshed home.
Here in the NE, most of us crave the change of seasons. Even though it’s been a very mild winter, this week, it’s all about yellow pansies.
Yellow is the color of change and optimism.
It also has fabulous visibility, especially against the brown, bare landscapes we see now.
Pansies are happy, vibrant, resilliant flowers-they survive snow!
Place a few in a pot where you want buyers’ eyes to linger, like on a deck, to encourage thoughts of summer BBQs.
Frame the front door, or walkway; a few in a pot at the edge of the driveway, out by the mailbox or plant them in a bowl on the kitchen table.
Be the first house on the block to have these spring beauties out, you won’t be disappointed.
Tags: good listing photos, inexpensive fixes, successful open houses, what's new in my staging kit, yellow pansies
Posted in Dollars and Sense, Home Selling and Home Staging, Listing Photos, What's New In My Staging Kit | No Comments »
November 24th, 2011
The value of my new find is marginal as far as buyers are concerned, it really speaks to sellers. And this holiday weekend, where many of us are visiting/sitting in/sleeping in different places, it’s a perfect time to share this.
Had seen this on TV in recent weeks, 
and while I didn’t think much of it, I was still curious.
On Tuesday, Doug had a small hernia repaired, and one of the things I had to think through was our living room upholstery. His favorite chair was a tufted, low-slung number, and our sofa-while it had a nice high seat-was squishy. Both comfortable under normal circumstances, but troublesome if you can’t use your abdominal muscles to get in and out of it.
SO-off to the As Seen On TV store at the mall I went. Still skeptical, but $15.00, with a store credit if I returned it seemed to be a reasonable experiment. After two weeks of having them in place, have to say it’s been a good value.
It’s a set of thin, hard flat plastic strips, each about 20″ long x 4″ wide, they look kind of like uncooked lasagna noodles. Along the sides are interlocking tubes, so you can connect as many as you want: One set will pretty much cover each singular ‘seat’ in an average-sized piece of upholstery, and you can stagger the strips if front to back measurement is deeper than average.
While I usually think of this kind of stuff as cheap, interim fixes (which , actually, in this case was exactly what I WAS looking for)-this product has several applications:
When you sit in upholstery, your body should largely be at right angles. But today, even the finest upholstery is made with cushions with a lot of squish to them. They return to their original shape, but compress easily when you sit on them. Even under the best of circumstances, if your butt is lower than your knees, you will always struggle to get in and out of it. Factor in any age or mobility issues-bad back, re-habbing from stroke, or any kind of surgery-it’s even harder.
Although I don’t have a sleeper sofa, would have to imagine it’d be help create a more even and supportive sleeping surface as well.
Don’t get me wrong-if you have upholstery with a low frame, or that is in need of repair, these will NOT help. Similarly, if your regular, every night mattress is causing you grief, replace it, that is not what these things are designed for. But be aware of people sitting in, then getting out of upholstery this weekend. If you see anyone struggling, this could be $15.00 well-spent.
They are available on line, and in all sorts of stores, but dig out those BBB coupons for the best deal.
Tags: Furniture FIx, inexpensive fixes, Marie Graham Westchester County Decorator
Posted in Better Health/Better Life, Decorating, Dollars and Sense, What's New In My Staging Kit | No Comments »
October 13th, 2011
What’s New In My Staging Kit This Week?
Whenever I ‘find’ anything new/different-or think of something unusual that really does a great job at helping me do my job, I always like to share it.
Nothing extraordinary, just simple things that either entertain and engage buyers , or take care of the ordinary, stupid stuff that happens when you live in a house: Fingerprints, pet hair, that sort of thing.
This week I found a new and invaluable tool. Not for the house, or their stuff…but for all the humans in the equation…
Have been a fan of W.S. Badger products for a while….soothing, all natural body care products, their balms are formulated with different botanicals for each task. Sleep Balm? Snooze City! Sore Muscle Balm? Moving again in no time. So it was with great delight I found the newest addition to my Staging Kit:
Cheerful Mind formula: How could you not love this?? Honestly, I’m already happier just carrying it around-I mean, look at that cute chubby little guy on the tin!
But open it, run a little on your wrists, temples, even just a touch on the underside tip of your nose, and the scent of fresh orange and lemon combined with spearmint will lift you-or anyone else-out of the cranky-pants doldrums in no time.
Seriously, it’s subtle and gentle, and for about $8.00 a tin, you can’t go wrong. Available at most health-and whole-food stores, keep one in your car, at your desk, wherever there is stress, and you need a smile to be an arm-length away.
To paraphrase Yogi-selling a house is 90% mental, and the other half physical, I am seriously considering making one of these part of each Staging proposal I do.
Double-bonus-it’s a family-run business, and the products are made right here in the northeast-YAY, Badger Balm!
Tags: don't worry-be happy, easy staging ideas, Marie Graham Westchester County Decorator, my business
Posted in Better Health/Better Life, Enviornment, Home Selling and Home Staging, Smiles, What's New In My Staging Kit | No Comments »
August 24th, 2011
How to Clean Soot Off A Fireplace Surround
Sooty fireplaces are yucky.
If you are staying, at summer’s end, many homeowners find themselves looking at their home interiors with new eyes, as they make plans for spending more time indoors.
If you are selling, obvious, deferred maintenance will always set off alarm bells for buyers: ‘what else did they neglect that maybe I can’t see?’
Fireplaces are often a prominant feature in a front room, and a big selling point in almost all markets. A clean, sootless fireplace surround pays big dividends: Great listing photos to bring buyers in, and uninterrupted romantic reverie, once they are there.
HUGE BONUS-cleaning soot off a fireplace surround it is one of the easiest DIY projects you can possible imagine. REALLY.
Today’s post comes from channeling my one and only HGTV fav, Sabrina Sota, of Get It Sold…I always learn something from her shows.
You can use any generic spray cleaner (I just have a thing for the bubble creatures), and just so simple…cover the floor, then spray the brick or stone, and grout.
Let it sit for a minute or two, then distribute foam evenly by using one wet sponge, and after it’s foamed up for another minute or so, wipe off using another, clean sponge, and a clean bucket of water.
If build up is extensive, you may have to repeat. Only word of caution is if brick is painted, you may want to test out first on a small, innocuous area.
Tags: easy decorating, easy staging ideas, inexpensive fixes, Marie Graham Westchester County Decorator
Posted in Dollars and Sense, Home Selling and Home Staging, Listing Photos, What's New In My Staging Kit | No Comments »
July 20th, 2011
What’s New In My Staging Kit This Week?
Got pets?
How about pets that hang out on the furniture?
Or rub up against your legs…or the drapes?
Get some of these.
Evercare Magik Brush. $4.00 at BBB, but available at all sorts of places.
A looped fabric cover
s pads on both sides of the brush. Simply brush in the direction of the arrow on the handle-loops pick up the offending material, then reverse direction to get the collected detritus off the brush.
Bella Blue, my shepard mix is in full shedding mode, it’s frankly a wonder she has any hair left on her body!-this lifted the hair off my microfiber car seats with one pass-through.
Reusable = green, and a heck of a lot easier, and less expensive than those adhesive paper rolls.
One for the office, one for the car, and at least one for the home-you can’t go wrong.
Tags: easy staging ideas, inexpensive fixes, Marie Graham Westchester County Home Stager
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April 9th, 2011
Tomorrow, the WP High School will be the scene for a furniture drive, to benefit Furniture Sharehouse.
To be held from 9am to 1pm, in the North Street parking lot, opposite the “Y”, the furniture drive will be run by the High School’s Interact Club, and sponsored by the White Plains Rotary.
(Pictured at left are students from Pace University, from a previous drive).
Interact is the world-wide high school arm of Rotary International; Nick Wolff, a Realtor with Rand Realty in White Plains is the Rotary mentor/liaison.
As regular readers will know, Furniture Sharehouse is very near to my heart. It is Westchester County’s furniture bank. 
Non-profit, not open to the public, and not selling anything; Furniture Sharehouse collects clean, basic furniture in good condition, and some home furnishings (like rugs, lamps, mirrors, and small kitchen appliances), then re-distributes them free to clients of almost 40 different Westchester agencies.
Two-and-a-half years ago, independent producer Polly Kriesman of Larchmont filmed ’A Day in the Life’ type segment at Furniture Sharehouse as part of of new series pitch to PBS. Very graciously she has allowed it to be shared, click here to see.
While the story is unchanged, the actual numbers have: As of March 31st, about to start the fifth year of operation, nearly 1300 Westchester families have been furnished with almost 17,000 donated items, worth roughly $1.3 million dollars.
18 months ago, 3 or 4 c
lient appointments a day were the norm; now it’s 6, sometimes 8 appointments. Open year-round, and making pick-ups throughout the county, furniture drives help to keep the aisles full to meet the increasing need.
You have read this far because you know, understand and appreciate what having a home for your family means-a table to eat a meal on, a dresser to put your clothes away in, a bed to sleep in.
Every spring, in the Archdiocese of New York, seminarians from nearby St. Joseph’s Seminary in Yonkers visit local parishes, to speak of their vocation, and ask for your support. They outline 3 simple points, and I will take a page out of their book:
First- consider donating furniture/ furnishings you no longer need or want. Your donation would not only go to Westchester neighbors in need, it’s green and you would get a receipt for your taxes as well.
Click here for details, inc. donation suitability guidelines. Drop-offs are always encouraged, but if you aren’t able to make the drive, or just have no way to transport, pick-ups are available.
Second-maybe you have some extra time, talents, or services you would like to share? Volunteers keep the heart of Furniture Sharehouse beating strong, please email info@furnituresharehouse.org to have that conversation.
Third-remember Furniture Sharehouse is a year-round organization, and tell your friends…your neighbors and co-workers…your book club and lacrosse parents…your social action committees and professional organizations.
By sharing this post, or forwarding these links, you will be giving the greatest gift of all, 365 days a year. Thank you!!
NOTE: Next drive is Saturday, April 30th, part of Town of North Castle’s Zero Waste Day
Tags: Furniture Sharehouse, giving back, local events, recycling furniture
Posted in A Day In The Life, Community/Greater Good, Enviornment, I'm Just Sayin', What's New In My Staging Kit | No Comments »
March 22nd, 2011
We’ve all heard that saying…but do you know why?
More importantly, do you want know how it can help sell your house?
There are three parts to the equation, the first being that the eye is drawn to color and light. Always, and immediately.
It is not a conscious decision- it’s a reaction, in our DNA. It’s easier to identify things, and is probably a survival instinct from our earliest days as a species. (You may need to stand back from the screen, but photo above is a shot of an orange, a tomato, and a butternut squash. Hard to tell in B&W, huh?)
We see something colorful or bright and shiny, it gets our attention, arouses our curiosity, and we look. This is the begining.
There is a (necessary) story to this next part.
Almost 20 years ago, I was recruited by a design client, and for a very brief time, I sold fairly high-end cars. I knew something about cars, so it was not that much of a stretch; the retail grind was getting to me, so I was ready for a change.
Part of the training was a 3 day event at a professional race track in Lime Rock, CT (where Paul Newman used to race), where we drove these high-performance cars.
Professional race instructors were in the car to ensure our safety, but we were definitely encouraged to…push the car to whatever our comfort level was.
I was one of the more fraidy-cat drivers, concerned that on the turns, my steering skills would not keep up with the speed/shorter reaction time.
I will never forget what the instructor told me: “Look ahead, look into the turn. The car will go where you are looking”.
He was right! That’s why no matter how vigilant we are, if we look away from the road as we are driving, the car starts drifting in that same direction.
The same is true of our bodies-they follow where our eyes are looking. That’s why professional sports players practice their shot or swing, to get into that groove.
So we’ve got color (and light) catching buyers’ eyes, and bodies moving toward what they are looking at…here’s the connection, and how it is going to help sell your house:
Color-via paint, artwork, draperies and accessories-and different types of light are used skillfully positioned by a professional Stager, to call attention to the room’s best features, and to draw people into the room. 
When buyers are actually IN a room-not just standing in the doorway, peering in-all sorts of good things can happen:
They notice things, and it registers: Mouldings, the view, and in and in this NYC apartment, the charming built-in mini bookcase. Supermarkets know the longer you stay, the more you buy.
They experience the space. They see hosting holiday dinners, then immediately wonder if they have a big enough table…or if their rug will go with that wallpaper.
They compare ideas: Against what they know or own, the-always-knows-what-to-do sister in law’s house, or those shows on TV. Against all those other, sloppy, un-staged houses they have been seeing.
They’ll open closet doors, sit on the sofa, maybe see how the shower works in the bathroom. Touching is one of the clearest buying signals, showing ownership.
In other words, they will bond with the space, and try to see it as their own.
Tags: home selling, home staging, listing photos
Posted in Home Selling and Home Staging, What's New In My Staging Kit | No Comments »
March 3rd, 2011
In most any room, walls- all vertical surfaces, including windows-make up the largest surface area, followed by floors. Depending on the quality of the product and wear it’s received, 8 to 10 years is an expected life span for most broadloom.
WHYOHWHYOHWHY do sellers wring their hands, whine and gnash their teeth when the Realtor and Stager suggest replacing carpet from the last millenium?
Here are ten reasons there is no reason to keep old carpet:
-Old carpet-and old padding-retains odors and allergens from stains long dried, pets long gone, and former smokers.
-It can be so reasonable. Many carpet stores now stock rolls of nice, neutral carpet for just this purpose. This means qui
ck delivery and a better price.
-Old padding breaks down after a while, especially in high traffic spots-which makes that part of carpet wear faster.
-New padding of the the highest quality is a mere pittance (about $3.50 a square yard in our area). It is so luxurious, and provides sound-deadening benefits to the rest of the house.
-Buyers will often over-estimate what it will take to replace icked-out old carpet, which sets the stage to arm-wrestle about an allowance…just what you’re looking for.
-It is the quickest and easiest way to deal with flooring issues-no dust/fumes/drying time…you will also know for sure what 
condition the wood floors are in.
-The crud that blows out of HVAC vents just does not clean up, no matter what anyone tells you. Really. Trust me.
-If you are decluttering and moving furniture around, traffic patterns, stains and fading become more apparent with less to look at.
-Even if it’s in good shape, outdated colors or styles suggest to buyers that other things in the house are outdated as well…perhaps they need to look harder??
-In New York State, it’s allowed as a cost of selling the home, taken as a deduction against the profit when the house sells.
An 11 x 15 room will need about 20 square yards of carpet, even at a padded/measured/installed reasonable to generous price of $35.00 a yard, it’s less than $750.00 ..one fifth…of one percent…of the price of a $400K house. What part of that does not sound like a great idea??
Tags: home selling, inexpensive fixes, taking action, tax benefits
Posted in Decorating, Dollars and Sense, Home Selling and Home Staging, What's New In My Staging Kit | No Comments »
January 16th, 2011
Things in a home that show they need maintenance do not go over well with buyers.
Even things that are small and or easy to fix, it tells buyers that if the sellers can’t or don’t
take care of it-well, what other horrors are there that they just haven’t found yet??
But when the details are taken care of, it’s part of the magic of finding ‘the’ house. SO-in the trunk of my car is a kit of things I have found to be helpful to indispensable when I am out and on a job to quickly and easily take care of such details.
While not always used for their intended purpose, it’s made of up things that are easy to find, inexpensive, and most importantly, WORK.
This week’s product I am absolutely over the moon about.
Kitchens are a big selling point in any home. Stainless steel is still very popular, and we all love the look of gleaming, well-kept appliances.
However-let’s be honest, it’s not the easiest look to maintain, especially when a house is being actively lived-in. Smudges, drips and fingerprints can come out of nowhere.
If you have stainless appliances, run out and buy these now. Available in spray, too (but I like the wipes) and in most supermarkets, less than $6.00 for a container of 30. One wipe will remove most of what’s on a major appliance and leave a smooth, polished-finish that seems to repel said detritus, at least for a few days, without any residue.
Tags: home selling, home staging, inexpensive fixes, Marie Graham Westchester County Home Stager, the refreshed home
Posted in Home Selling and Home Staging, What's New In My Staging Kit | No Comments »
