One way to get a nasty grease stain out of your upholstery is to spray and scrub. Another way to get rid of a grease stain in your light-colored fabric is to use something you probably already have in your cupboard… cornmeal. All you have to do is cover the spot with cornmeal and let it soak for about half an hour. To clean up the cornmeal just vacuum up the grains. One more pro to this “how to remove grease stains” trick is that it avoids using harmful chemicals, and we love anything that is natural and earth friendly.

Speaking of glue (Another Nutty Idea), we have another smart multi-use tip that will really stick in your mind. Instead of pulling out a splinter with tweezers, a better way to remove a splinter is by applying a drop of glue over the splinter, then letting it dry. Once it is dry, peel the glue off. The splinter will be stuck to the glue and not in you!

Add this to your bag of tricks - a nutcracker! It is the perfect addtion to your tool or craft box. Why? Because it is an ingenious way to open stuck glue bottles, paints, nail polish, and other tough caps. So spare your teeth and use a nutcracker instead.

I have always been facinated by the design of airplanes, boats and RV’s.  Every inch of space is maximized and organized.  Utility reigns.  Performance is driven by bare necessity.  Clean.  Crisp.  Concise.

That’s why I was excited when I was flipping through TV channels and came across a segment on the frame-built “Katrina cottage” developed by Marianne Cusato as an alternative to the government trailers for Katrina relief victims.  The cottage consists of a covered front porch, stainless steel kitchen, RV-style bathroom with shower, and living area.  It sleeps three from two beds that fold down from the wall, has a table that folds flat against the wall when not in use and a hook to house two folding chairs.  It is very modern and upscale in design. 

The plans and kits are to be sold beginning next month at Lowe’s nationwide.  Options range from 550 to 940 square feet.  Lowe’s has received requests for $2 plan books from every state.  I’m impressed.

Staging a rarely used room sounds easy, right?  Not so when it comes to dining rooms.  This room presents beauty, but is plagued with excess baggage.  Like too many chairs around the table and extra ones in the corners, lots of storage in the china cabinet, extra furniture, too many plants, toys, etc. 

When selling a home there should be only four chairs at the dining table.  Move all extras to the basement.  If the china cabinet is a catch-all for collections, art the kids made, stacks of dishes and one glass after another, you need to pack all these items and then “merchandise” your shelves with only a few large items.  Usually items that are solid as opposed to glass.  Glass pitchers and goblets in front of a mirrored backgroud, sitting on a glass shelf, and displayed behind the glass door lose interest.  You can display a dinner plate in the groove provided for this purpose in each “quandrant” of the cabinet and accent with goblets or tea cups and saucers in front.

Removing all extra furniture (tea carts, small chests, etc.), toys and storage, minimizing wall hangings, removing any tablecloth, placing a nice bowl of fruit or vase of flowers and setting the table for entertaining will entice buyers to imagine a calm, romantic dinner.  Your staged dining room with be briming with beauty - without the excess baggage.

A huge inventory of homes are on the market.  Interest rates are creeping up so fewer buyers are looking.  Crain’s Cleveland Business headline, “A perfect storm has led to declines in sales and values.”

The best weapon to combat this home sales slump?  Staging.  Staging increases the home’s value, gets more traffic from MLS pictures on the web, and will beat the competition in appearance and move-in readiness.

Bottom line:  when the competition is tough, serious sellers call stagers to get the home sold.  In the Crain’s article a homeowner whose home has been on the market for a year said “he’s tired of waiting for a buyer, so he’s toying with hiring a home stager - a specialist in preening homes for sale . . .”  My response to him:  There’s nothing to lose and everything to gain by hiring a stager; go for it.”

Many homes may look like a magazine ad at first glance, but what is stashed behind doors, in drawers, closets, pantries, basements, garages and attics?  When a buyer tours a home they look in all the nooks and crannies for storage space.  It’s best to box up anything you don’t use every day.

My motto when selling a home is to “live like you’re on vacation.”  This means that all items in every room, including the basement, garage and attic, should be evaluated for regular use.  Buyers know you are moving and are not turned off by boxes.  They will be turned off by clutter in storage areas.

You are moving anyway - box everything NOW!  You will feel ahead of the moving game, have less to move and/or clean, and will really impress buyers with how clean, organized and spacious your home is.