Decorating Thursday

Last Thursday, we talked about the cheapest, easiest and most “bang for your buck” decorating project…painting. Painting has the highest impact and provides the WOW factor that we all strive for.

This week as part of a decorating a family room, we are going to take a stained, full wall brick fireplace and make it fresh, clean and beautiful.

You can see pictures of this and my other projects on my website at www.reutershomedesigns.com

If you look at my website you’ll notice in the before pictures how dirty and stained the fireplace was. I tried scrubbing it with several different cleansers with no luck. My only real alternative, other than getting into using acids, was to paint. I scrubbed it, primed it and painted it…two coats and yes, it was a lot of work getting in the grout lines but the results were well worth the effort.

 I cleaned out the fire pit and painted the inside (Even though I had no plans to use this fireplace to burn wood or gas, I used paint that is made to endure high heat temperatures in case I change my mind later). I then covered the bottom with natural stones and put a layer of colored glass stones and over them and around several candles. I tiled the hearth with black granite tiles to finish off the look.

It was very satisfying to stand back and look at the whole picture after completing the project. Don’t miss next Wednesday’s Trash to Treasure blog to see how I used wood from closet shelves to make the additional seating/storage on each side of the fireplace and next Decorating Thursday's blog will be about decorating a master suite with homemade draperies and bedding to acheive a luxury look on a tight budget.

Feel free to ask questions or leave feedback.

Trash to Treasures Wednesday

Welcome to Trash to Treasures Wednesday. Last week we took two old wooden end tables from the 70’s and transformed them into a casual, durable and very useful coffee table/seating with storage to replace an old outdated coffee table also from the 70’s. 

This week we are going to transform the old coffee table that we replaced.  It was a sturdy coffee table still in good shape but it had such an outdated look.  The wood was still nice and it had ornate trim around the sides of the top that inspired me to give it a new life…..actually new lives. I was able to get five projects out of this one coffee table.

1.       I cut the table longwise ten inches wide from the one side, primed it, painted it and attached brackets to it to hang above the fireplace.  It made a beautiful mantle where there was originally none.

2.       The other side of the table was about fourteen inches wide I also primed and painted it and attached it to the wall with braces, it is now a bar where three or four people can sit comfortably.

3.       The spindle legs along with a spool that I had from wiring took on a new life as a pedestal table by using the top and bottom of the spool as the top and bottom of the table and using the spindles as one long leg then priming and painting the whole thing.

4.       The table had two feet that ran the width of the table and were connected to the spindle legs. I turned them upside down, cut a few inches off the back to make them flat, primed and painted them, added brackets and they now hang on the wall as floating shelves.

Written descriptions don’t always tell the story. For pictures of my trash to treasure projects go to www.reutershomedesigns.com and see for yourself how you can take everyday junk and turn it into something special. Next Wednesday let’s make some more storage seating out of used wood and shelves.

Your questions and comments are welcomed. You can also e-mail me at maryannreuter@ymail.com

Selling your home Tuesday

Today’s subject is how to prepare your house to sell.

If you are thinking of selling your house, there are a few things you need to do before you even call a realtor.  The housing market is the worst it has been in a long time. It’s neither good for the buyer nor the seller, as the job market is ailing as well. However, the scales are tipped in favor of the buyer. For the few people who can afford to buy a house, they have their pick of houses that is theirs practically for the taking so why wouldn’t a seller do everything humanly possible to get the most out of their house in the shortest time possible?

Before we start going over our list, you should know most prospective buyers cannot see a house for its potential.  They need you to present them with a move in ready, beautiful home and in order to do that you must appeal to the masses, which means neutral, neutral, neutral.

For the few who have the ability to walk into your house and see it for its possibilities, you still need to present them with a move in ready beautiful home. Don’t give them a valid reason to make an offer that reflects all the cleaning and updating they will need to do.

What you need to do:

1.       Clean the house. Don’t just pick up. Give it a deep cleaning. Clean the carpets, wash the windows, including sills and sashes. Move furniture and clean under it and while you’re at it clean the upholstery and draperies, they trap odors. (If you are a smoker, smoke outside after you clean or it will be for nothing.)

2.       Dust all the furniture, ceiling fans, blinds and light fixtures….don’t forget the books.

3.       Clean the bathrooms until the fixtures shine. What could be more revolting than the thought of buying a home with a filthy bathroom?

4.       De-clutter.  Clear off your counter tops, bookshelves and table tops leaving nothing but a few tasteful accessories.  Lose the paperbacks and overflow of books on shelves.

5.       Pack up all the clutter that you are eliminating and store it elsewhere, even if you have to rent storage.  You don’t want to give the impression that there isn’t enough closet space

6.       Take toys out of the living areas. Prospective buyers need to see clearly defined spaces. Toys in a living room, dining room or family room sends a very confusing message as to what room it really is but sends a clear message as to how the house may have been kept.

7.       Clean out closets and cupboards. Again pack up and store any overflow of items.

8.       Assign home office spaces to extra bedrooms or clearly defined cubbies. Having a home office in the dining room, living room, master bedroom or kitchen does not define the space and looks cluttered.

9.       It is better to have too few wall hangings than too many. If you have several in a space you are making the room seem smaller than it is by eliminating wall space. Pack up personal photos and belongings and save them for your next home.  Prospective buyers will have a hard time viewing the house as their own with your pictures displayed.

10.   I always baked cookies before an open house to make it smell like home.

11.   This seems like the kind of thing one would think wouldn’t have to be mentioned but believe it or not I have actually viewed homes with dirty dishes in the sink. For heaven’s sake…….wash the dishes and leave the dishwasher empty. It wouldn’t hurt to run a quick cycle empty to ensure the dishwasher is clean and smelling fresh.

12.   Go outside and stand at the end of the driveway and look at the house as you would see it if you were going there to view it. How does it look? Does it have curb appeal? How is the porch furniture? In good repair? What about the mailbox? The landscaping, is it trimmed? And the condition of the front door itself?

If this all is just a little too overwhelming for you to take on there are people like me who do this for a living. Hire a professional if you can’t do it yourself. Chances are you will lose more in low offers with a cluttered, undefined space than you would putting out the money to have it done, especially since most of what you are paying the professional goes right back into your home anyway. It’s a good investment.

It’s going to be difficult enough to sell your home with the housing market as it is so why not do everything you can to give yourself the edge.

Be sure to visit my website at www.reutershomedesigns.com for more information on staging your home.  Come back next week when we will be discussing over investing in your home.

Do It Yourself Monday - Old Wood Paneling….Remove it, Paint it? What?

My niece and her husband are about to purchase their first home. It’s a darling, well kept; home built in the 60’s, decorated in the 70’s and has never been updated since. Three rooms, including the master bedroom are paneled.  The dark wood paneling gives a home a dated, older look. If you’re going to put your house up for sale and you have paneling…..get rid of it. It will be much more appealing to buyers if you do and it will increase your chances of a quick sale. Not all buyers can see a house’s potential and could leave your open house thinking it looks too old/outdated and may feel it needs more work than they are willing to do.

 We, unfortunately, are still faced with the ongoing dilemma of what to do with the old dark wood paneling that we thought was so “sharp” in 1970’s. Well I’ve dealt with it in a few different ways and it wasn’t the end of the world.

1.)    You can remove it…BUT do you know what is under it? Was the paneling put up because it looked cool? Or to cover some gnarly walls? Removing the paneling could get you into some major wall repairs or replacing the dry wall altogether. I went with this method one time and found only slightly damaged walls underneath. I was able to patch them and I used textured paint to help hide the imperfections. We do not all get that lucky though.

2.)    You can clean it, prime it and paint it BUT the groves will show….can you live with that? I filled the groves with joint compound one time and painted but it was a bit of a pain and I only had a very small section to do.  A large room would be quite an undertaking.

Last year, I decorated a house that had high quality, very, very dark wood paneling in the family room in the basement.  I opted to prime and paint it and it came out beautifully. It brightened the family room up and gave it an entirely different look. Since it was in a basement, a rather large basement, It seemed like a huge expanse of wall so I experimented a little and painted stripes between the grooves on a section of the wall to break it up a little. See before and after pictures on my website www.reutershomedesigns.com

3.)    The third option is to purchase a paintable wall covering made especially for covering paneling. It is quicker and easier BUT it is also pretty pricey but hey re-dry walling isn’t exactly cheap either. I’ve never tried it but my niece has opted for this method and I will be helping her with it so I’ll be sure to blog about it when it’s completed.

Whatever method you go with, you will be happy you did. It will make your rooms brighter and give it a whole new fresh look. 

Catch my blog next Monday on installing ceramic tile.  

Coupon Sunday

Coupon Sunday II

It’s Sunday!!! Did you get your Sunday papers yet? Well go get them, cut out your coupons and meet me back here. We have much to go over to prepare you for your first coupon shopping experience.

Now that your coupons are all cut out, you’ll need a storage system for them. Don’t worry about getting a high tech fancy schmancy system like mine (a half box that a twelve pack of Propel flavored water came in and some cardboard cut to fit as dividers), anything will do for now but as your coupon inventory increases you will definitely want to fine tune it and you will have a lot of coupons in no time.

I sort my coupons by category, i.e., Breakfast, Meat, Dairy, Condiments, Shampoo’s lotions and Cleansers, etc., Do what works for you. You may change it a couple times before you come up what you like.  I keep an envelope for each store I shop at in the back of the box to keep my coupons organized for shopping day.  I also keep a copy of all the ads, a pen, scrap paper, a pair of scissors, a pair of glasses and my car keys (so when I check out I’ll have my key chain advantage card ready to be scanned.)   It all fits perfectly in the child seat. 

You will want to take a little time to get to know your stores coupon policies, it will save you embarrassment at the check-out. Nuff said.

Closely go through your ads. Target the ones that give you the most bang for your buck. For me; Giant Eagle is my favorite because they double coupons up to .99 cents , they have e-coupons and they offer fuel and food perks.  The .75 cent coupons are better than the dollar ones because they double up to $1.50.

Here is an example of one of my favorite coupon scenarios:  Your store has Miracle Whip on sale three for five dollars. You have three .50 coupons for Miracle Whip (this is why you purchase at least three newspapers) and you also have a coupon for .75 cents when  you buy three jars of Miracle Whip. The .50 cent and .75 cent coupons are doubled which takes the price down to .50 cents but wait…. you have an e-coupon for .50 cents off Miracle Whip so now all three jars are free.

 My first shopping trip I got a hundred dollars of groceries for seventy-five dollars and I was so happy. My last trip I got a hundred and twenty dollars of groceries for twenty-one dollars. My last Drug store shopping trip I got a hundred and thirty five dollars of products for sixteen dollars.

Come back next Coupon Sunday for more information on how I keep track of my savings and coupons on spreadsheets.

Anything Goes Friday - Genealogy

I thought I’d blog about Genealogy today since I am the family historian and genealogy has been a big part of my life since I was seventeen.

My family search started out as a high School project and took on a life of its own from there. I can’t resist saying that I wish I knew then what I know now. When you’re seventeen you think the family who has been there your entire life always will be and even if you grasp the concept of death at seventeen you seldom actually get the “forever” thing. 

My father died when I was 26. That’s certainly old enough to understand death but do we ever really understand it until we have actually gone years without the loved one and still feel their absence. I’m 53 and the reality that he is not coming back still rears its ugly head from time to time.

I guess I’m saying that in this type of project you need to strike while the iron is hot…. talk to relatives while they are still around to talk to. Collect pictures and label them so future generations know who they are. Find out who are in the older pictures while there is someone still around who knows who they are.

I started out interviewing my parents and grandparents. I visited countless courthouses and cemeteries but in my family, the genealogical jackpot was my Aunt Katie and Aunt Gracie. Great-Aunts seem to always have a wealth of knowledge about the family. My Aunt Katie, in her eighties, remembered every tiny detail of everyone’s lives and all the stories that she told me, I told in my family tree books and my Aunt Gracie remembered everyone’s birthdates. I take after Aunt Gracie in that respect. I know everyone’s birthdays in my family including nieces, nephews, Aunts, Uncles and cousins.

I found later…..after computers came out that they too were a wonderful informational source.  I have fifteen generations back on my maternal grandmother’s side of the family which is really remarkable. I don’t have as far back on other branches of my family tree but it keeps me working on the search.

I also incorporated pictures into my books. It’s really great to put faces with the stories I’ve written. The toughest thing you might face once you get into genealogy isn’t finding the relatives as much as how to layout the information you have. I’ve had a few systems over the years and am in the process of changing again. Seems the more people you have the harder it is to organize the whole thing. So keep an eye on my blogs regularly and the next time we’ll talk more in depth about formatting the knowledge we have on paper.

Decorating Thursday

If you read my blog yesterday you know I have a business that caters to clients with a lower budget. I provide a “High End Look on a Low End Budget.” Anyone can decorate if they have unlimited resources and can hire a decorator.  There are people who don’t know what to do or where to start that don’t have that kind of money and THAT is where I come in.  I love the challenge of getting the best possible look for the least amount of money.  

Painting is the one way you can get the most impact for the least amount of money.  I also like to repurpose furniture you can save so much and often end up with something you really love, after all, you loved it enough to buy it once, right?

You can make a room look completely different just by using accessories from another room to complete a new look.

Furniture arrangement and lighting is key in how a room feels and looks and you don’t have to spend a fortune.

Check out my website maybe it will inspire you on some changes you can make.  Notice the changes I made in the basement/family room and then come back next Thursday and read about it on my blog.

Trash to Treasures Wednesday

Welcome to my introductory Wednesday blog where we will be taking junk and transforming it into something useful and beautiful. 

Few of my decorating jobs have large budgets and that’s fine, in fact, it’s what I prefer.  I am in the business of giving my clients a high end look on a low end budget. I’m pretty good at cutting corners by repurposing furniture and finding the best buys for what I do have to purchase. I stretch my clients dollar as if it were my own. If you read my Sunday coupon blog you know that I am quite the penny pincher.

 You can make something out of anything.  So think before you throw out your next piece of junk. Think before you take it to your basement never to see the light of day until you finally haul it to the garage to sell or kick it to the curb for trash pick-up.  

I came across a couple end tables one day in a basement/family room that I was decorating.  They were from the seventies!!  You know the kind I mean….big square wooden end tables with doors that open to store junk underneath. No one is going to want these. I know because I tried to pawn them off on anyone and everyone who walked through the front door.

So I primed and painted them.  Attached swivel wheels to the bottom and covered the tops with batting and fabric. Hmm, I then had the answer to a couple decorating dilemmas I was having:  Seating was at a premium in that family room. I now have extra seating and a when not being used as seating I push them together in front of the couch to utilize as a coffee table.  The padded tops make it a comfy place to put your feet up and it replaces the coffee table (also from the seventies) that I was definitely not going to use in there. I made some throw pillows out of the same fabric used for the end tables for the couch to give the entire area a pulled together look.  As an added bonus the storage underneath came in handy for storing toys.

Visit my website at www.reutershomedesigns.com  to see pictures of my trash to treasures projects.

Check back next Wednesday to see the five projects I got out of the one old coffee table that I took out of there.

Selling Your Home

Welcome to the first of my weekly “Selling Your Home” blogs.  It’s no secret that we are finding ourselves in an unfortunate economic situation in respect to housing. That is, selling a house. Buying, however, is a different story. It is a buyer’s paradise for those who can afford to buy.

 Sellers are so desperate to sell in an economy where people can’t afford to buy that for those who can, they can pretty much walk away with any house they want for a song. So please, if you truly need to sell your house don’t make the mistake of allowing your emotions to get in the way.

You’ve just spent the past thirty years in your home. It was the first house you bought together as man and wife. You’ve raised your children there. Your grandchildren are now visiting you there. Your home holds some powerful memories along with a lot of personal belongings, photo’s and memorabilia.

There is a list of possible reasons why you now find yourself wanting or needing to sell it. Maybe you’re being transferred, maybe you’ve lost your job, maybe health issues are dictating the move or maybe it’s just getting to be too much for you to take care of.   No matter what the reason, you have a lot invested in this home financially and emotionally and it isn’t going to be easy to let go especially for less than you feel its worth and there is where your problems begin.

A home’s worth is not based on the seller’s emotional ties or even how much money the owner has invested in it. It is based on the Fair Market Value (FMV).  All the granite, hardwood and high end appliances in the world are not going to make your home worth more than its FMV. It will definitely make your house sell faster but will not insure a return on your investment.

You see the home selling shows on TV that show people putting all the bells and whistles in their home and they end up with multiple offers yielding more than their asking price. They are still not selling the house for more than the FMV.  Your neighborhood, your city, and the economy dictate the FMV.

Listen to your realtor. They are not going to talk you into selling for less than your house is worth, that would be foolish on their part. The more your house sells for the more your realtor makes. The realtor does this every day. He/She knows what your house is worth better than you do….I promise you that.

Come back next Tuesday for some tips on preparing your house to be put on the market. Until then check out my website for some helpful tips as well. www.reutershomedesigns.com 

Do It Yourself

Welcome to do it yourself Monday.  You would be surprised what you are capable of doing. I was. This seems funny but my first project was cutting the grass. I was twenty-three years old and had never cut grass in my life but found myself in a situation where it wasn’t going to cut itself so I went out and bought a mower, read the directions and cut the grass. That was when I knew that there was nothing I couldn’t do and nothing would stop me from learning how to do everything for myself. That was the beginning of who I am now.

This is a weekly “do it yourself” blog. We will talk about different projects each week. Today’s blog, however, is about having confidence in yourself to do it, getting the nerve to attempt it. It is like anything else be informed, be smart but most important be safe.  Do go jumping into a project acting first and thinking later as it WILL end badly.

Since my first lawn mowing project, I have become excellent at painting and wallpapering. I have learned how to dry wall, install light fixtures, ceramic tile, showers, pavers, surround sound, sinks, toilets, bathtubs. I have put in electrical outlets where there were none. I have built shelves, benches and a pantry.

Many years ago before I realized my potential. I was putting up Christmas decorations outside. I wanted to be able to just flick a light switch in the entry hall to turn on the outdoor lights. I hated going outside to unplug them from the outlet behind the shrubberies. I took the cover off of the electrical outlet on the inside wall, which was in the living room, opposite the outside outlet keeping in mind two things, I knew the two outlets were on the same power source and I knew that the light switch in the entry hall was connected to that inside outlet. I studied the wires carefully until I figured it out and then went to work on switching them and it worked!!! I did it! It may not seem like such a big deal to some but I felt unstoppable from there on. That was the day I knew that I could do ANYTHING I put my mind to.

There are some people who will just plain never have the ability to do some projects but if you have patience, if you have a shred of natural ability and you have the desire to do it, you can do almost anything. I hope this blog has inspired the confidence to take on some of the projects you’ve wanted to do. Feel free to comment and tell me what project you are wanting to tackle. Come back next Monday for my blog on Wood Paneling – Paint it? Get Rid of it? What?

Coupon Sunday

It’s Sunday!!! The seventh day of the week, the day of rest but most of all it’s the day when most newspapers possess within them something so wonderful it can only be compared to hidden treasure. That’s exactly what it is….hidden treasure for deep within their multitude of pages lie coupons, hundreds of coupons, money for all intense and purposes.  In fact, the coupons more than cover the cost of the newspaper….that is why I buy at least three of my favorite papers from the adjoining larger cities. Note: not all papers have the exact same combination of coupons so if you find a really good one you may want to purchase more of the same paper.  I always get two or three of the Pittsburgh Press and only one of the others.

It has become a weekly ritual. Get up, get dressed, head down to Gibby’s, my favorite local quick store, to pick up newspapers, the whole time anticipating sitting down at the dining room table with my breakfast , tea, scissors and coupons the excitement and suspense is building by the moment to see what wonderful treasures of savings I will find.

In a frenzy to get them separated from the newspapers and start cutting them out, I can barely contain myself in anticipation of having my completed stack of clipped coupons so I can clear the paper scraps, reorganize the table top and sit down with my coupon box, computer, weekly ads and plan out my shopping trip for the week.  Ahhhhh, Now THAT’s how you relax.

People tell me that they don’t have the time to clip coupons. Who can’t find the time to save hundreds of dollars?…..they act like it’s a chore!  It’s fun!  It’s exciting to see how much merchandise you can get for free! Yes free….F-R- E-E.  If I won the lottery tomorrow I would still be down at Gibby’s first thing on Sunday for my coupons.

I’ve seen the shows on TV and I do not spend forty hours per week on my coupons, although I think that would be fun. I spend a few hours on Sunday and a few hours on Wednesday (the day before the ad breaks) on clipping, organizing and preparing my shopping list.

I have developed a system and that saves me some time and aggravation. You will develop your own system too with a little time and practice and the whole shopping experience will be a lot more pleasant.

By the time I get to the store, I know just what I want, where to get it and what coupons I have.  I take all of my coupons with me in case I come across an unadvertised sale on something I can use. Unlike the TV shows I do not have a basement full of items for which I have no use and that would expire before I would ever get to use them. Although, I will say that if I find something that I don’t use…..like cat food and it is free, I will get it for someone else or charity…..hey, did I mention it was free?

I do not break into an anxiety induced sweat at the register worrying about not having enough money to pay for my order. I think they do that for the shows drama factor. I know what I have, I know what I want and I stick to the plan. I would rather make two or three small trips to the store to purchase smaller more manageable orders than to go in there guns blazing with six shopping carts, a husband and three small children….what are they thinking?  They take their husbands shopping?

Meet me back here next Coupon Sunday for helpful hints on making your dollar stretch farther with coupons.