A stager knows what buyers are looking for and helps you have those aspects in the home. Homes that were staged sell faster and and get higher bids than those that were not. A picture of a staged home looks better then one that was not, so it gets more potential buyers to come look at the home. These homes even have an edge over competitive property,  even

sway buyers to chose  the staged home over the competition.

Staging is an art or an illusion.  It’s more than cleaning and decorating, it’s creating a mood for the buyer. It can take away from the negative areas of some more difficult homes, by lighting, mirrors or many other tricks stagers use. Home staging is what you do after the cleaning, painting and repairs, it is dressing the house up for sale. It’s all about making people want to buy a house by making it look bigger, brighter, warmer, and more loving.  Really, it’s about creating a place where your buyers can see themselves living in.

…or the whole house if you want.

Here are some staging friendly ideas from Better Homes and Gardens on decorating your home this season:

• Miniature cypress trees are a great bargain at $5 – $10 a piece. They will survive outside and look better than empty planters and urns.
• Poinsettias come in a variety of colors to coordinate with your decor.
• Add sprigs of greenery to shimmering place settings. Go for an all white and silver theme with just a touch of natural evergreen.
• Spray paint branches silver and add them to a vase.
• Try a nature theme that is unique such as berries and ferns.
• Make your own wreath using an old frame and objects such as evergreen (blue juniper, norway spruce, holly, balsam, or blue spruce), ribbon, garland, fake snow, etc.
• Place electric candles in the windows rather than strings of lights outside. They are much easier to take down, friendly to all religions, and more forgivable if you leave them up past the holiday.

We know you live in your house. Prospective buyers know you live in your house. Well, really, deep in their subconscious, prospective buyers try to envision themselves living in your house. Having as few personal effects visible as possible makes it a whole lot easier for them to do so.

With this in mind, pack up and store all but the most prized nick-nacks. Then, go back and pack up half of what you left out. If it’s something you’re likely to use before you move, or packing it away would leave a wall or display case completely bare, by all means, leave it. But, if it’s not in a display case or it’s not the last thing hanging on that wall, pack it and get it out of the house. Storage units aren’t that expensive and many are climate controlled and feature gated access and on-site security.

You’ve just made your house a whole lot more inviting to buyers and, as a wonderful side-effect, protected your most treasured posessions from damage or theft.

When a prospective buyer sees a cat or dog, the first thing they think is pet stains. You know, those stains and odors which (although there are a number of products on the market that remove them permanently) everyone just knows will never come out. That thought alone is often enough to turn someone off of buying your home.

If you’re living in your house while you sell it, ask a friend or family member to take care of your pets. If you can’t find someone willing to watch them for a while, find a reputable kennel or pet motel where they can stay in the interim. If you’re moving out of the house while you sell, all is good, take them with you.

Once you have your pets out of the house, you’re almost home free. Be sure to vacuum everything, carpet, rugs, hard floors, drapes, furniture, lamps; everything. You want to get up every bit of pet hair.

Once you’ve done this, look around for anything that may have been scratched or chewed by your favorite furry (or hairless) friend and get it out of the house. If what’s been damaged is part of the house, repair it.

If there are any pet stains, use an enzyme-based product, such as OdorOut-222, to remove them. OdorOut does not contain any alcohol or perfumes, it does not hide or mask stains or odors; it chemically breaks them down, removing them permanently. There are many other products on the market that can do this, but I’ve used OdorOut and know it works, not just on pet stains, but on smoke odors and nicotine film, as well (I don’t smoke, but the previous resident of my apartment did). A little off-topic, but it also does wonders for cooking odors that may have been absorbed into walls.

Once you’ve moved your pets out, buyers can picture themselves moving in. You’re well on your way to selling faster, for the highest price you can get!

If your home has windows, what’s outside them is something you should definitely consider when selecting colors for what’s inside them. Look out the window, find a color out there that you like and have some paint color-matched to that color.

If your color of choice is a dominant color through your window, make it a dominant color in the room by painting at least one wall that color. If it exists more subtly in the landscape, go ahead and use your new color on moldings and baseboards, like I mentioned in the previous tip!

Of course, if your house doesn’t have windows, I hope you at least get out a lot.

It’s a simple psychological fact that people want to believe that everyone thinks the same way they do. It’s very much an untruth, however, and it results in people often ignoring the ways in which they are at risk. Even if you don’t bank or shop online, don’t rule out the possibility of someone else doing so in your name.

US law allows residents to receive one free copy of their credit report each year, from each of the three major credit bureaus. You can (and should) request these free copies at the AnnualCreditReport website. Checking your credit report allows you to identify any inaccuracies, as well as any potential fraud being carried out in your name. That’s why it’s so important!

You now know how to identify potential identity theft and fraud after it has occurred, it is important that you are equipped with more of the information you need in order to ensure that you never will.

If you ever get an email from PayPal, you bank, or any financial institution asking that you click a link and log in to your account or provide any information, do not click the link. Do NOT provide the information. If you get an email from anywhere asking for your password, disregard it. Literally nobody legitimately requests sensitive information via email.

If you’re ever unsure, though, it’s worth looking in to some of these requests. When researching, do not use the links or addresses provided in emails; always type the address by hand, as links can say they lead one place and really lead to another, like so: http://www.mystagedlife.com

Another important thing to note is that the addresses given in emails are often fake, as well. Only use addresses provided by your financial institution, never trust addresses provided via email, even when you can verify that the email is legitimate!

If you’ve read the rest of my identity theft articles, you know I have to cut this short. Don’t worry, I won’t keep you waiting long for the rest!

If you’re thinking of using a bright tone like yellow or orange but the idea of your entire room being that bright frightens you, there’s a simple solution. If you paint the walls white and put your color of choice on doors, moldings and baseboards. You really can have your cake and eat it too!

Want more? Sorry, you’re going to have to wait for it. Don’t worry, I’ll have it for you soon!

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Hey, I said I’d have it soon, didn’t I? Here it is!

There are literally thousands of paint colors available from the catalogs of almost every business that sells paint. That’s absolutely wonderful when you’re not sure which color you want! Even more wonderful, when you want the absolute perfect color in a room is that most places will color match almost any item you bring them and sell you paint in that exact shade, usually for no extra charge!

Find your favorite color somewhere, bring it with you and get a color nobody else has by ordering outside the catalog!

I have two more color tips for you, check out the next one!

I’ve already explained the importance of keeping physical documents behind lock and key in a secured cabinet. I’ve covered the importance if not giving out or writing down your passwords, ever. These are the most important steps you can take to protect yourself from identity theft, in general; however, they’re really only the tip of the iceberg.

Also important is choosing strong passwords. A strong password will contain a random mix of uppercase letters, lowercase letters and numbers, as well as punctuation marks when allowed and will be, at the very least, eight characters long. A longer password is better, in cases where it is allowed.

To be truly secure online, just as in the physical world, you must be willing to forgo some convenience. Security questions are a great idea, in theory, as they allow a method of verifying who you are in order to allow you to reset your password should you every forget it. The problem is that they are often answered by easily researched information, which anyone who knows you probably already knows and anyone who doesn’t can find out with minimal effort. Even if the password reset option relies on email to complete the task, try to bear in mind that your email password can likely be reset with the use of security questions, as well.

Don’t worry, there’s a simple solution. Pick someone you know and answer those security questions as though you were that person; never tell anyone who you picked and try not to pick someone obvious such as a family member, best friend or current or former lover. This way, no matter how well someone knows you, they won’t be able to have your passwords reset to gain access to your online accounts.

So far, everything I’ve covered has been about keeping your data locked up and secured. There’s much more to it than this, which I would love to cover right now. Alas, I hear about it in meetings if I make these articles too long. I’ll fill you in on the rest of the details shortly; in the meantime, start putting what you’ve learned so far to good use!

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As promised, the next article is ready!

If you truly want to create a space you can love, start with something you love! Look at the predominate color in whatever you pick. That’s the color you should paint the walls. Accents should be colored after the remaining colors on the object of your affection.

The only limitation on what you can pick from is this; please, pick something you love, not someone you love. Trust me, it won’t turn out as well as you think it will.

That’s not all, read on to find out how to get any color you want, even if it’s not in the catalog!

Why, then, should you listen to what I have to say about preventing it? It’s happened to me, twice, right? Right.

It’s happened to me, twice. I’ve recovered from it. Both times.

I, personally, tracked down the scumbag the second time; I traced their steps, I learned more about them than they knew about me. Then I turned that information over to the police.

How did I do this? Simple. I used the same techniques they used. That, right there, is what qualifies me to tell you how to protect yourself.

Before I take you online, let me cover the basics on how to avoid identity theft in the physical world, where I was first victimized.

The single, most important thing you can do to prevent identity theft is to keep your social security card (or equivalent, for non-US readers) and any credit cards you don’t use regularly locked in a safe location. Preferably, this would be a safe deposit box which requires photo ID and a key to access. Failing this, a fireproof safe bolted securely to a concrete floor will do just fine. If you lose a key, be sure to change it.

Shred any credit offers that you don’t intend to accept, as well as any piece of mail or other documents containing any personally identifiable information, unless you intend to keep it and file it in a locked cabinet (secured similarly to the safe mentioned above). Once shredded, divide each item into four piles. You’ll want to have four boxes, labeled 1, 8, 15 and 22, for this purpose. Place one pile in each box and empty each box on the day of the month for which it is numbered. This prevents all but the most dedicated identity thieves from reassembling and using your discarded documents. Yes, credit card companies will accept and process applications that have been shredded, reassembled, filled out, photocopied, wadded up and shipped to them in a jar of kool-aid. It’s a bit extreme, yes; just don’t ask me how I know this. You should follow this procedure, really, for any document you discard that contains anything more than your first name. You might not think there’s anything useful on that overdue notice from the library, but trust me, there is.

Again, if it has your personal information on it, secure it. Locked drawer in a cabinet that can’t simply be slid onto a dolly and wheeled away. Never carry anything on you that you don’t intend to use; my first incident was the result of armed robbery and the sale of my identification, including my social security card, which I had on me because I had just started a new job and my employer required a copy.

These are basic guidelines for protecting your identity in the real world. Beyond that, use common sense and don’t go around giving out your personal information to everyone you meet, even if you think they need it. You’ll eventually end up giving it to someone who does need it to steal your identity!

Protecting yourself from online identity theft, however, is a bit more complicated than protecting yourself in the real world. The most important step you can follow is very simple: NEVER TELL ANYONE YOUR PASSWORD, TO ANYTHING, EVER; NEVER WRITE YOUR PASSWORDS DOWN AND NEVER USE THE SAME PASSWORD FOR MORE THAN ONE ACCOUNT.

Nobody but you ever has a legitimate need to know your passwords. Ever. Period. I don’t care who they say they are, if they’re asking for your password, they’re lying. Service providers can access your account without a password, it’s their system and they have that access. I’ll repeat this one more time because it is the most important step you can take to protect yourself online: NEVER TELL ANYONE YOUR PASSWORD, TO ANYTHING, EVER; NEVER WRITE YOUR PASSWORDS DOWN AND NEVER USE THE SAME PASSWORD FOR MORE THAN ONE ACCOUNT.

There’s a ton more information that I’d love to dole out right now, but Sharon insists that I keep my articles short and sweet (shorter than this, even), so I’ve written more here.

If you have a favorite place, be it somewhere you vacation, a store you love to shop at, even a restaurant you dine at frequently, you can pick your favorite colors from that place and incorporate them into your home. It will help to remind you of that favorite place, in turn helping you relax and making you feel more comfortable.

If you would like more color tips, please, read on!

That’s a good thing, of course, something we all want to see keep happening; that’s why it’s important to understand just why it is happening.

Speculation, the assumption of the risk of loss, in return for the uncertain possibility of a reward, is a common practice among investment bankers, typically hedge funds. In recent years, many investment bankers saw fit to buy barrels of oil which haven’t even been drilled for yet; thus, driving up the cost of those barrels as demand began rising much higher than the available supply.

The end result of all of this is higher prices for gas, along with many other petroleum based products, such as plastics, some paints and many solvents. This, in turn, has led to higher prices for any products which are made of plastic, make use of oil based paints or are manufactured using any of those solvents.
Now, the majority of this speculation began after 2005’s severe hurricane season caused oil shortages in some parts of the world. Many investors were banking on that keeping up in following years. When those hopes (sick as they may seem) were dashed, speculators began selling their oil, causing a sharp drop in price, which we have all seen at the pump.

For more information, refer to this CNN article.

If you’re going to be bringing several sources of color into a room, maybe you should consider painting the walls one of the many hundreds of clean shades of white.

Furniture, bedding, accent pillows, photographs, paintings, sculptures, even a window with a view can bring all the color a room needs.

If you’d like more color tips, please, be my guest!

You want to make a statement to people coming into your home. One way, perhaps the best way, to do this is by painting your entryway a bright color. Strong colors, which would be suitable for such an area, should be kept out of a kitchen, however. There, you should use white or a very pale pastel. Dark or extremely bright colors aren’t relaxing enough for use in a bedroom. You’re better off with a neutral or softer color where you sleep. Pretty much anything goes in the bathroom; it’s such a small space that you can get away with almost anything. Except dark colors, that is. They make small spaces look even smaller.

Interested in thinking bigger? Read on!

If you’re thinking of a bright color but are hesitant to paint an entire room with it, consider painting one wall and keeping the others white or neutral. Not only does this ground the room, it becomes the focal point in what may otherwise be a boring room!

As always, stay tuned for more! This is only the second of ten color choosing tips I have to offer!

Want more? Don’t fret, I’ve got you covered!

1. method Sweet Water Aroma Spray $5
2. PureAyre Odor Eliminator -kit for seeking scents includes a blacklight for finding fido’s urine $20 – $40
3. AirZyme Odor Eliminator – sweet! sugarcane and coconut dissolve smells $8
4. Homemade concoction – 3 parts fabric softener with 4 parts water in a spray bottle.

One of the most important things to consider is how the color on a room works with the colors in neighboring rooms. One simple technique is to start with hallways and other common areas of the house, selecting a neutral shade, such as one of the many Freshaire Choice paint colors. Bedrooms, bathrooms, the kitchen and other rooms connecting to those common areas can be filled with similar shades of colors you like.

If you’re eager for another color tip, I’ve got more for you right here!

If that’s not enough to turn you off, consider the fact that you have to cut large holes in your ceiling and hope you have enough open area to safely install those recessed cans for your new lighting.

Don’t worry, you can still enjoy light from above. Pendant lighting, lights that hang a short distance from the ceiling, can provide all the light of a recessed lamp, with less installation hassle and a lot more style.

If you already have some idea what style you are looking for, you can find some pendant lighting available to order online.

• Move furniture closer to the wall.
  • Furniture that isn’t against, or near, a wall can block walkways and interfere with your view of a space, making it feel smaller.
• Light it up!
  • Brighter rooms look bigger! Let in as much natural light as possible; light is the only thing you can fill a room with that doesn’t take up space.
  • If that doesn’t work, replace any light bulbs in the room with a good quality, high output compact florescent bulbs. This will not only make the room brighter, it will lower your lighting bill!
  • If there is only one source of light in a room, consider adding a lamp.
• Keep it clean!
  • If you don’t need it in the room, get it out of the room! If it must be there, keep it neatly tucked out of the way. The more open space in the room, the bigger the room will feel.
• Use a simple color scheme.
  • Use colors from the same color family.
  • Cool and light warm colors on most surfaces will make the room feel more open, dark colors will make it feel more cramped.
  • If you have to paint any walls, we recommend Freshaire Choice paint for its environmentally friendly properties and premium durability.
• Soften up!
  • Again, dark colors make a space feel cozy and intimate; in a small room, this translates to cramped.
  • Lighter, cooler colors can make the same room feel more open and airy.
  • Soft blue and green tones give the best effect.
• Check your coordination!
  • Your furniture will appear to take up less space if it blends in with the rest of your decor.
  • Contrasting colors break up a room, making it look and feel smaller.

Take these ides and run with them. Apply them to your smallest room first, then try them in your biggest room. You may be pleasantly surprised to find that your house is bigger than it looked!

Online video rental services, like NetFlix, allow you to make unlimited selections from vast libraries of movies for a low monthly fee!

First, you build a list of the movies you want to see and NetFlix will mail them to you. When you’re done with one movie, you send it back, postage prepaid, and they send you the next.

Best of all, you can get started tonight, with a free 30 day trial!

There is a little more to it than that, but that’s really all anyone but stagers themselves need to know!

So, you’re thinking to yourself “That sounds nice, but why should I invite this person into my home and allow them to judge my sense of style?” I’ll try not to word my response too harshly.

You’re preparing to invite many strangers into your home. Strangers who will be judging every aspect of it, including your decor! Why would you risk being judged negatively by all of them and, possibly, not getting anywhere near your asking price or, worse, not selling your home at all? That’s the whole truth of the situation; I hope it wasn’t too blunt.

An accredited Home Stager won’t judge your sense of style at all! On the contrary, they’ll do what they can to add to it! By inviting an accredited Home Stager into your home and letting them to what they do best, you are able to sell your home faster and without being judged by anyone but yourself!

You’ve been to Home Depot and seen the kitchen displays that have been painstakingly set up. Did you know that the designers at Home Depot can make your kitchen just as beautiful?

Next time you visit Home Depot, stop by and talk to one of the designers. Bring in a diagram of your kitchen, mark out the locations of windows, doors and outlets, as well as your existing plumbing and show this to them. It should be all they need in order to start building your dream kitchen and getting your family gathered around the dinner table, rather than the table at the diner.

1. Use less hot water.
• Hot water is doubly bad. Not only does filtration, treatment and delivery use energy, heating uses even more!
• If you really can’t use less hot water, consider a tankless water heater. Where a standard water heater uses energy to heat water and maintain its temperature, even when not in use, a tankless heater heats the water as it’s used.
2. Replace aging appliances with newer, EnergyStar certified units.
• All EnergyStar certified appliances certainly use less energy than your existing aplpiances.
• EnergyStar certified water appliances, such as washing machines, use less water.
3. Redesign your bathroom water usage.
• Consider a newer toilet, which will require less water per flush.
• Install a shower head with smaller, higher-pressure nozzles. This will provide you with the same feel as your existing shower head, while using less water.
• Look for hands-free, automatic faucets. There are several on the market that use the force of running water to charge a battery, so they don’t require any power. They also save a lot of water by shutting off automatically when not in use.
4. Eat less meat.
• Fruit, vegetables and grains require water to grow and energy to harvest.
• Animals require water and vegetation to raise and energy to slaughter. Meat requires energy to process, transport and store.
• Not only are fruit, vegetables and grains healthier, they require much less energy to produce, as well as prepare.
5. Shrink your lawn, expand your garden.
• Watering.
• Fertilizing.
• Mowing.
• Did I forget anything?
6. Use locally sourced water.
• Water is heavy. It takes a lot of energy to transport water.
• Bottled water uses energy in the bottling process; then, uses more to get to a warehouse. From there, more energy is used to track and count the bottles before even more is used to ship them to your local store. Then, you get to use your own energy to go get your water and to store it in your fridge.
• Much less energy is used to simply filter tap water and pour it into a bottle or pitcher.

All of these steps are simple and, when you really think about it, make a lot of sense. Some of them require an up-front investment but, rest assured, they will pay for themselves many times over, in the form of reduced water usage and lower energy bills. Combining these ideas with the use of compact fluorescent bulbs (they’ve come a long way in the last couple of years, try them again if you didn’t like them a few years ago) could reduce your overall energy bills by 20-50%!

Improving the environment and saving money? That’s a no-brainer.

Going organic means a safer, cleaner, greener lawn that costs less money and requires less upkeep. Despite what chemical companies tell us, organic agricultural and horticultural solutions, used properly, are more effective than any chemical solutions available. We all know, beyond any doubt, they’re safer, to boot. Many facets of organic growing are methods, rather than products, which means you spend less, as well.

If your lawn is overrun with weeds, you may prefer to start fresh, tearing out the old lawn and starting over, after ensuring that your soil is up to snuff. Quality soil is key to a green lawn, whether you’re going organic or using chemicals.

The best soil composition for lawns in Ohio is 50% silt (regular dirt), 20% clay and 30% sand, with an ideal pH between 6 and 7. If you need to raise the pH and soften clay soil, you can accomplish both of these by adding crushed limestone to the soil before tilling. It’s best to add any sand you will need at the same time. Once you’ve added any amendments you need, it is time to till. Ohio lawns should be tilled to a depth of at least 4 inches, preferably as deep as 12 inches, before seeding.

Once you’ve prepared the soil bed, you need to seed your lawn. Take a moment to sketch out your property, noting the areas that receive sunlight all day, those which receive only partial sun and those areas which receive mostly shade. Bring this sketch with you to your local Home Depot or Lowe’s (as a side note, I’ve worked the garden center at Home Depot before and can vouch for their training program and overall knowledge) and have one of their lawn care experts assist you in determining which types of grass will work best in your lawn. It is best to use a slot seeder to seed your new lawn, as it actually buries the seed to the proper depth.

For more information, refer to this page at the Ohio State University website.