Selling Your House For Sale By Owner

featuRe fRiDayS

Well I'm not exactly selling my house for sale by owner.  I have enlisted the help of a flat fee MLS service.  In this market who has room to pay full commission.  I am however taking the weekend off of showings.  I must admit there are a couple of rooms that needed to be neutralized, especially due to the conservative nature of the area.  So here is what is going down, I'm  painting, packing, scaling down, restaging, (ie. I put my dining room table in the formal dining room instead of in the kitchen). , and getting rid of pieces that I do not plan to take with me.  The kids and I will be moving in with family for a while until this house sells.  Kind of takes the pressure off of  keeping the house clean all day long with two 3 year olds in tow.

We all love Sherry, John, and Clara at Young House Love, and I thought I'd share this great post on her take of selling a house for sale by owner.  As and old real estate broker,  (I haven't practiced real estate since we moved out of the state I was licensed in) I can definitely appreciate her suggestions.  So I've decided to implement a bunch of them and have my house rephotographed for the MLS.  The good news is that our home is the lowest priced house in our subdivision and has more upgrades than most, so even if there is no value in the upgrades at least that still makes my house more appealing.  I'm hoping that after everyone gets back from summer vacations things will start selling again.  I will be sharing pictures as I complete rooms, and I expect everyone's honest opinions.

Tip #1 Price it to Sell

Price your house slightly lower than other houses in the area.  If you are going to do a price drop it's better to do one huge one than a bunch of little ones.

Tip #2: Clean and declutter 

Buyers have no imagination and cannot look beyond the clutter and dust bunnies are gross.

Tip #3: Market, Market, Market

Put it in the paper, relist it on Craigslist every couple of days, and if need be list it with a MLS service.

Tip #4: Be Smart About Showing It

Basically don't have the whole fam hang out in the house while you are showing the house, pick someone who can play fake agent to show the house (in our case my husband does that job), get the kids out of the house.  Point out some good features and then let the potential buyer have some freedom.

Tip #5: Make It Sound Like Its Worth the Money

Point out the strong features of your house on the flyer and make sure you add anything you are tossing in with the sale.

Tip #6: Have a Plan for Getting An Offer

Be smart, hire someone to do your paperwork (ie. a closing attorney or a transaction broker)

Make sure all the proper disclosures for selling a property in your state are filled out as well.

Tip #7: Don't Be Afraid that Realtors Won't Show It

For commission, realtors will still be happy to show your house.  It gives their buyers more inventory.

Visit the full article at Young House Love.

xo,

mONICa

Customized Corkboards- Guest Post

feaTuRe fRiDayS

Carolyn at Customized Living make these amazing corkboards.  Today, she is visiting our blog to tell us a little more about them:

When you think about a corkboard, the word "art" is probably not the first thing that comes to mind.  Maybe you're envisioning a classroom bulletin board or a sterile office cubicle.  

I'm writing this to change your mind.  I make framed corkboards and decorative push pins.  They can be customized for any decor and used for multiple purposes in any room of your home.  I make them so that the framed fabric is pretty enough to stand alone as art, adding color to your room.  Here are 5 suggestions on where and how you can incorporate a corkboard to meet your needs.

1. Master bedroom or bathroom:  Take your jewelry out of its box and display it where you can enjoy it.  Start with a frame that fits your decor.  You have endless fabric options, but for jewelry, I like starting with pure white.  It really makes jewelry pop.

Once you've found the perfect frame and fabric, pin on your jewelry.  It will turn it into a whole new type of art.  

2. Your child's room:  Large corkboards are great in kids' bedrooms or playrooms, because you can proudly display their artwork.  Or display favorite photos.  My kids love being able to choose photos to hang in their rooms.  Easily change them out, and use decorative push pins to make your display even more unique. 

3.  A family room or living room:  Display photos without the glare of glass.  Many fabrics showcase black and white photography beautifully.

4. Office (home or business):  Post calendars, to-do lists, and reminders. With the right corkboard and decorative push pins, the most common objects become instant art.  This corkboard is particularly versatile, because it suits a man's or woman's space equally well.

5.  A gift:  There are many reasons to give a corkboard as a gift.  A new baby, a recent graduate, a boss or co-worker.  This summer, consider a corkboard as a gift for newlyweds.  They'll love the unique way to display their favorite wedding photos.

The final touch?  Push pins.  Why settle for thumb tacks, when you can have these?  I repurpose vintage jewelry and create push pins that truly customize your display.

Visit my Etsy shop, CMB Display Designs, to find the right corkboard and push pins for you.  I also sell vintage accessories and housewares.  Surround yourself with things you love in your home.  

You can also find me and my interior designs and fashion ideas on my blog: www.customizedliving.blogspot.com.

Thank you Carolyn for visiting.

xo,

mONICa

Funky Junk Interiors- Feature Friday

So Miss Donna from Funky Junk Interiors is seriously amazing. She literally can make something out of nothing. You read her blog and you are like, WHAT?  It's hard to believe that some of the things she uses had a past life because they are even better in their present life.  Like this old mattress spring turned into a memo center.

These gate window screens are pretty amazing as well:

She does professional signage by trade, but these hand made vintage replica signs are a really neat decorator touch:

A great use of them in her guest/ playroom.

I love the way she used open shelves on a window wall which still allow the light to shine through, along with a very creative pallet desk:

In general her house says funky junk with a very chic twist.

You seriously need to check out her blog.  I would definitely call this creative decorating.

xo,

mONICa

No Sew Ottoman

So Diane at In My Own Style, has a great tutorial for an amazing no sew Ottoman.  Yup, that's right NO SEW!!  I am all about that.  Even though I just purchased a sewing machine, I am only about sewing in a straight line, anything beyond that it above my expertise.  Wouldn't you love an ottoman that looks like this?

Decor Hacks

So if you've got some pretty basic carpentry skills, this project may be for you.  Just gorgeous.

How to make a no sew ottoman- part 1

How to make a no sew ottoman- part 2

If you have tried this project or are planning to try it, please feel free to post your pics in the comment section.  I'd love to see them.

xo,

mONICa

Feature Friday- Lamp Shade Designs

Last week I talked about making your own drum light chandelier, but what if you can't find the right size and what if you don't want to cover it yourself or can't find the right fabric?

There is a way to get a custom shade and it's called Lamp Shade Designs on Etsy.

Dana makes these lamp shades from scratch so you can get any size that you want.  This passionate business owner can make shades from 4" to 22" diameter( the perfect size for your drum chandelier).  Tall or short she can do it for you.

Dana lives in Norfolk, VA with her husband and 2 children(6 &8), she covered her first lamp shade when designing her daughters room and ever since then she has been hooked.

Here are some examples of her designs:

The PalaceLove this oneThis one is would have looked great in last weeks wonderful for less wednesdays post.

So what are some great things you can do with a custom drum lampshade.  Well for starters change the lampshade on a cool lamp.

or add a drum shade to a vintage lamp:

Hollywood Regency Lamp on Etsy

I sooo love this lamp.  Anyway it would look great with the right custom drum shade.

A drum chandelier is always a great option

Drum Chandeliers

and my favorite is to disguise an ugly ceiling fans (that's right I think ceiling fans are the ugliest thing ever!!!)  with a drum lamp shade.

So there you have it, great uses for lamp shades and now you know where you can get them CUSTOM.  Don't forget to visit Dana's Etsy Shop.

WE WILL BE HOSTING A LINK PARTY ON FRIDAY FOR ANY RECENT DIY PROJECTS.  COME BACK AND VISIT US!

xo,

mONICa

Coral Mirrored Credenza- Feature Friday

So I am actually in love with this piece of furniture.  I just love mirrored furniture, and this dresser/ credenza really knocks my socks off.

This is what is looked like before

Amazing right?  She used Krylons Secret Color Coral Isle.  I'm totally going to order some.  This color is gorgeous.  She wrote a whole post on how to get Krylons secret colors.

You must visit Vintage Revivals for complete DIY instructions.  I guess until I meet Coral Isle, I won't be able to dump Watermelon (my current color of choice).  I hope we can stay friends after the break-up.

xo,

mONICa

Feature Friday- Oak Ridge Revival

This may be the single most amazing kitchen renovation I have ever seen.  Believe it or not, I stumbled upon this blog by accident, thanks to a link from another fellow blogger that I follow.  I can't believe how amazing it is,  a huge transformation.  I happen to know the guy who built their cabinets personally, Steve Cline at Woodwork Design.  What are the odds of that? Small world.  Anyway, here is their kitchen before.

View of the kitchen

And here is the kitchen after:

Amazing right?  You must read more about this kitchen renovation, and the many other awesome projects Andrea has going on.  Visit Oak Ridge Revival for some inspiration.

xo,

mONICa

Decoupage Table Tops- Feature Friday

A while back I bought a coffee table on clearance at Home Goods. It wasn't in the best of shape to begin with, but it did the trick for a while.  Well, during their 2nd year of life my twins have really beaten it up.  It now needs a make over.  I've thought about painting it, but I thought it would be fun to cover it with fabric instead,  since it's really only the top that is damaged.  I found this great tutorial on how to decoupage table tops at Jennifer Rizzo.com.

First,  she paints the table.

Then she added the fabric with decoupage medium.

A couple of coats of shellac show the finished product.

This project would be fun with some bright or graphic fabric as well.

I may try something like this on my desk as well.

xo,

mONICa