Here’s a list of my tips for making a small home feel larger. You can use these tips whether you are staging a home to sell or if you are planning to stay, but just need some help dealing with smaller rooms. These tips will work with either vacant or occupied homes:

1. Pare down your furniture in a smaller spaces to the essentials. Do you really need a chair in your bedroom, or will your room appear larger with just the bed, the nightstands and maybe a dresser?
2. Clutter makes a room feel smaller. Lots of smaller items, like your Hummel collection or your bowling trophies displayed on every horizontal surface, eat up visual space. Only display 3-5 items at a time. Store, sell or prepack the rest. You’re selling your home, not your collection of treasures. 
3. Use fewer pieces of furniture. Its better to have one larger dresser than 2 smaller ones.
4. Use appropriately sized furniture. Having a large sofa in a small family room will highlight how small the space is.
5. Pull furniture away from the wall. Create a cozy sitting area in front of the fireplace, with room to move around the back of the furniture.
6. Cooler colors recede, so painting a room a pale blue, green or gray will make it feel larger.
7. Show more hardwood. The larger the expanse of hardwood, the larger the room will look. See how the room looks without an area rug. If your hardwood floors are hidden by wall to wall carpet, remove the carpet. Your home will feel instantly larger.
8. Try using one larger area rug instead of several smaller rugs. Or if the room looks OK without it, don’t use any area rugs.
9. Use fewer patterns on upholstery and bedding. For instance, use a solid color blanket or bedspread on a bed in a small bedroom to make it feel larger. Lighter colored bedding will make the room feel larger.
10. Strategically placed mirrors make a room feel larger.
11. A well lit room feels larger. Make sure every overhead light and table lamp is lit before open houses and showings.
12. Minimize window treatments. The simpler the better. Shutters, blinds or simple drapes (no flounces, ruffles, strong patterns or complicated valences) take up less “visual space”.

These home staging tips work if you are staging to sell or just want to make the home you are living in feel larger.

If you need some help figuring out how to make your home feel larger, consider hiring us for a home staging consultation. You’ll get some easy-to-implement expert home staging and interior design tips. Prices start at $350 for a verbal consultation or $450 for a comprehensive written consultation. Its the best “bang for your buck” and it’s a great investment in preparing your home for sale, or making your home more livable if you are planning to stay.

If you’d like to schedule a home staging consultation or get an estimate for staging your home, call Moving Mountains Design, the Los Angeles home staging experts, at (626)385-8852.

On occassion, during the course of a home staging consultation, I recommend the homeowner replace some or all of their kitchen appliances as part of upgrading their home to ensure a faster sale at a higher price. The cost, while not pocket change, is usually minimal when compared to the cost of carrying the home for extra months while it sits unsold.

Los Angeles home buyers want a move in ready house.

Home buyers don’t want an allowance to make repairs, replace the carpet or buy new appliances. Excuse me for repeating myself: Home buyers want a move in ready house. Your list price will have to be considerably lower or your allowance considerably higher than the cost of actually replacing the appliances, replacing the carpet or doing repairs.

The kitchen is the heart of the home, and an updated, attractive kitchen will help sell your home.

I did some research to find some very cost effective replacement appliance upgrade packages in Los Angeles. These costs come from advertising flyers in the Los Angeles Times and the Pasadena Star News. I don’t guarantee these prices. These prices may or may not be available when you go into the store to purchase them. If you shop around, you may get an even better price. And don’t forget to apply for your rebates from your electric company and natural gas utility. Many are offering rebates of $100 or more if you replace your old appliances with Energy Star appliances.

From Pacific Sales:

Whirlpool 4 piece Stainless Steel Upgrade Kitchen Package $2,199. with stainless steel refrigerator, dishwasher, 30″ range and over-the-range microwave.

Frigidare 4 piece Stainless Steel Upgrade Kitchen Package with Counter Depth Refrigerator $2,499. This includes a stainless steel 5 burner gas range, over-the-range microwave, dishwasher and counter-depth refrigerator.

According to the Pacific Sales advertising circular, the Whirlpool prices are “Before Additional Instant In-Store Savings”

From Warehouse Discount Center:

Unbranded 4 piece white appliance package $1,199.96 with dishwasher, 30″ range and over-the-range microwave.

Frigidare 4 piece Stainless Upgrade Kitchen Package $1,999.96. Refrigerator has ice and water in the door, dishwasher, 30″ range and over-the-range microwave.

You may be able to get free delivery, free installation and free recycling of your old appliance. Check store for details.

As you can see, for less than the cost of 1 monthly mortgage payment (for most homeowners) you can replace your kitchen appliances to give your kitchen a fresh new look.

If your home sells one month more quickly than if you hadn’t upgraded the appliances, it will be well worth the cost!

Well, they say if you hang around long enough you’ll get to see everything at least once so here it is. Diamond Foam and Fabric is having a big parking lot sale.

Fabric sale date & time: October 22,23 & 24, 2010 from 9:00 AM-5:00PM

Where: Diamond Foam & Fabric, 611 S. La Brea Ave., Los Angeles. Just South of 6th Street, across the street from La Brea Bakery (I highly suggest you grab a sandwich and some of their delicious bread).

In case you didn’t know, Diamond Foam and Fabric is a fantastic warehouse of gorgeous designer upholstery fabrics.

They also carry silks, velvets, leather and a huge assortment of Sunbrella and outdoor fabrics. I shop Diamond Fabric first (before the Pacific Design Center showrooms) for my interior decorating and home staging clients. On any given day you will see Los Angeles’ top interior designers (or their assistants), stylists, fashion designers, set decorators and movie stars shopping for the latest and greatest in fabric. All the fabric is sold “off the bolt”, so no waiting 16 weeks for it to be shipped from Italy.

So if you’ve been putting off reupholstering your sofa, recovering your throw pillows, or replacing the ratty old sheet covering your bedroom window, now’s your chance to pick up some beautiful interior designer fabrics without the interior designer prices.

See you there!

Here’s a list of my tips for making a small home feel larger. You can use these tips whether you are staging your home to sell or if you are planning to stay, but just need some help dealing with smaller rooms. These tips will work with either vacant or occupied homes:

1. Pare down what you need to have in a smaller room to the essentials. Do you really need a chair in your bedroom, or can you sit on the bed to put your shoes on?

2. Clutter makes a room feel smaller. Lots of smaller items, like your Hummel collection or your bowling trophies displayed on every horizontal surface, eat up visual space. Only display 3-5 items at a time. Store the rest and rotate them out of storage throughout the year. Not only will the room feel larger, but each item displayed will stand out more.

3. Use fewer pieces of furniture. Its better to have one larger dresser than 2 smaller ones.

4. Use appropriately sized furniture. Having a large sectional in a small family room will highlight how small the room is.

5. Cooler colors recede, so painting a room a pale blue, green or gray will make it feel larger.

6. Show more hardwood. The larger the expanse of hardwood, the larger the room will look. See how the room looks without an area rug.

7. Try using one larger area rug instead of several smaller rugs.

8. Use fewer patterns on upholstery and bedding. For instance, use a solid color blanket or bedspread on a bed in a small bedroom to make the room feel larger.

9. Strategically placed mirrors make a room feel larger.

10. A well lit room feels larger.

11. Minimize window treatments. The simpler the better. Shutters, blinds or simple drapes (no flounces, ruffles, strong patterns or complicated valences) take up less “visual space”.

These home staging tips work if you are staging to sell or just want to make the home you are living in feel larger.

If you need some help figuring out how to make your home feel larger, consider hiring us for a home staging consultation. You’ll get some expert home staging and interior design tips from the Real Estate Staging Association 2010 Professional Stager of the Year. Prices start at $250 for a verbal consultation or $350 for a comprehensive written consultation. Its the best “bang for your buck” and it’s a great investment in preparing your home for sale, or making your home more livable if you are planning to stay.