'Tis the Season

No weekend update here, but I have to show you our family photo from this weekend. Photos of the three of us are few and far between, so I treasure them even when I'm half awake and make-upless. 

Also, carrots were a big (BIG) hit for Miss M. 

Hope you had a good weekend.

DIY Staging Tips

Remember that extra post I promised weeks ago?

It's virtually impossible to know - for certain - how staging affects the sale of a house. After looking at a lot of houses and selling our old one, I thought I'd share some staging tips that I've picked up along the way.

At the old house, I gave the place an incredibly thorough clean and touched up all of the scratches and nicks in the paint, then I used my budget (set at a fraction of the professional stager's estimate) for furniture and accessories. To get things looking their best, we hired cleaners for the carpets, windows, roof, patio, and driveway. (If I'd known it was that inexpensive, I would have done it a lot more frequently when we lived there!)

Use furniture in places that need an explanation of how to use them or to show that specific furniture will fit (for example, bed in a small bedroom or dining table in small dining area). 

When buying furniture, try to find pieces that fit the space, appeal to a wide range of buyers, and (if possible) will be useful for you in the future.

Stage bedrooms that look too small for bedroom furniture or that look bigger with some furniture.  

Instead of lugging mattresses, use an inflatable mattresses (just remember to put a sign that tells potential buyers to not sit on the bed). 

Choose colors and accessories that appeal to both sexes and a variety of buyers and cultures. 

Add some candles and/or soaps to the bathroom to make them feel relaxing. 

Make a call on whether to use a shower curtain or get more visual space by removing it. 

Have hand towels in the bathroom because people will use the toilet, and you want them to be able to wash up. Make a call on bath towels - sometimes they make the room look complete and other times, they're distracting.

Stage areas to show their use and make potential buyers see themselves in the space.

Cover flaws so that potential buyers don't get distracted by them. In this room, the far corner is imperfect, and there is an ugly chimney cap behind the sofa. In the photo above this one, the poster in the hallway covers a blanking plate. 

Choose accessories that appeal to the type of buyers you expect will be interested; some examples for us were the chess board, gardening book, books in Spanish, South American art, and Asian-inspired art.

Use your own books and decorations to accessorize. Let the accessories bring in color without making the house too taste-specific.  

Some other tips for staging and generally putting a house on the market:

• Less is more. Add enough furniture and accessories so that it feels natural and not like you're trying to hide something...but don't let it get cluttered. Hesitate before staging rooms that could have multiple uses because staging it one way could turn away buyers who'd be inclined to see the room otherwise if it were empty. 
• Have a game plan for getting rid of the extra furniture...but don't empty the house until very close to closing, lest the deal falls through. 
• Use new candles and fragrance defusers to keep an empty house smelling fresh without it looking like you're trying to hide something. 
• Remove tools and do-it-yourself books out of the house lest potential buyers think there are on-going problems and/or that repairs/improvements were done yourself.
• Put some baking soda in the refrigerator and freezer. No one likes stinky appliances.
• Put a sign at the entryway asking people to remove their shoes. 
• Make sure the house is really clean - inside and out, top to bottom. This is the time to have the oven, floors, roof, patio, and windows cleaned. 
• If you have the exact paint match (color and sheen), touch up imperfections in the paint. No one will notice that you've done it, but they will notice if you haven't.

I'm obviously not so sold on staging that I was willing to hire a professional, but I think there are steps you can take to make your house more appealing than it would be otherwise...resulting in faster, higher offers. And who has a house on the market that they don't want to sell as soon as possible for top dollar?

Madeleine - Week 23

This week's outfit is back by popular demand: the top was a grandparent favorite when it was a dress, 20 weeks ago. Miss Madeleine is working on sitting on her own, which usually ends in a nose dive after about 3 minutes, and teething a whole bunch. I'm betting we'll have teeth before we ring in the new year...and possibly even before the fat man comes down the chimney.

Just because...I'm sharing this week's runner-up photo:

A Pinterest Christmas: Sweater Wreath

For the month of December, I'm thrilled to be participating in A Pinterest Christmas with a group of crafty ladies who have been inspired by projects on Pinterest and turned that (p)inspiration into reality.

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What better way to get the holiday spirit started than by decking the halls? I love a creative, simple wreath and was inspired by this one made from socks.

Source

While I liked the idea, I didn't love the striped socks, so I thought I'd adapt it by covering the foam wreath frame with sweater pieces rather than socks. I ended up adapting it even more. Here's the blow-by-blow on how it went down:

The foam wreath frame at my local craft store cost more than I thought was reasonable for a round piece of foam. Across the aisle, I found a $3 wire wreath frame intended for use with floral arrangements. Sold. I brought it home and used some wire cutters to cut the wire.

Then I made a little tube for it out of some spare fabric (the lining of an old curtain). I basically just cut a big rectangle, sewed the long sides together, and turned it inside out. I slid the fabric tube around the frame.

I filled the tube with fiberfill to my desired firmness, half at a time.

Now that my wreath structure was complete, it was time to pull out the sweater. I found the ugliest sweater at the local thrift store...

...but look at that mossy texture!

It just so happened that the sleeves were about the circumference that I needed for my wreath. So I cut the sleeves into two or three wide strips each and created more sleeve pieces by cutting rough rectangles, sewing the short sides together, and turning them inside out. Let me tell you, I was not at all exact about  this and ended up with a wide variety of "sleeve" sizes! 

Once I had enough, I turned everything the correct way out and loaded them onto my wreath frame.

Then, I used our heavy duty glue gun (the one that lives in the garage rather than the low heat one that lives in my craft space) to glue the frame back together. 

I replaced the fiberfill that had fallen out and pulled the tube closed. I could have put a few stitches or pins in the tube, but it seemed to stay closed on its own.

Then I shifted the sweater sleeve pieces around to fill all of the space. I could have used another sleeve piece or two, but I ran out of sweater! As I went, I overlapped the sleeves and folded the edges under to make them look like wrinkles. 

I thought it was a little too obvious that some sleeve pieces were bigger (looser) than others, so I tightened some pieces and secured others with a few safety pins in the back. I think it made a big difference to the shape of the wreath.

Then, I found some wide ribbon, tied a pretty bow, and hung it on our door.

A few notes before I wrap this up: 

I originally envisioned doing this with a ribbed sweater of some variety. While I still want to attempt that, I think I need to do it when I have more than one sweater of the same pattern because this was rather fabric intensive and would be even more so if trying to get stripes/pattern lines to match up. 

Also I'm undecided as to whether it was "worth it" to skip the expensive foam wreath frame. On one hand, I spent about an hour working out my adaptations; charging myself even minimum wage for the time spent, I only just broke even on what I saved even with the savings on materials. On the other hand, I like how full my wreath appears, so I think I probably would have ended up bulking up a foam wreath frame anyway. 

Thinking about taking on this project? Feel free to leave questions in the comments, and I'd love for you to comment with a link to any wreaths you make inspired by mine. 

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Ready for some more (p)inspiration? Check out these ladies this week and throughout the month of December:

Tuesdays:

Sally @ chacha and mogo (Pom Pom Wreath with bow tutorial) 

Kendra @ The Gilbertson Family (DIY Pom Pom Wreath with tutorial)

Wednesdays:

Misha @ emerald city diaries (Reindeer Wreath and Felted Garland) 

Michelle @ this grey house (Quick and Easy Wreath and Garland)

Thursdays:

Maggi @ Greg, Maggi, and Rodney (Letter Wreath)

Weekend in Photos (and a lot of words)

It was a pretty busy weekend for us.

Yesterday, we hosted a housewarming party. My heart was completely happy when it was over. So many friends came to wish us well in our new house - friends from when we each first moved here, friends from diving, friends from law school, friends from work, friends from PEPS, and new neighbors. We're out of the way (significantly for many), so it really meant a lot for so many to set aside a Saturday afternoon during holiday party season to come all the way out here to celebrate with us.

Today, Madeleine and two of her PEPS friends took their dads to the pool at the gym where many of us have memberships. Apparently the dads with their babies were a big hit in the pool - surprise, surprise. I'm just glad they're so involved and excited about spending time with their kiddos. Meanwhile, I stayed home (alone - for the first time since Madeleine's birth!) and did some holiday gift sewing. This afternoon, we spent some more time hanging out with Madeleine's friends and their parents as they helped us eat leftovers and drink leftover beer. Hard job.

As the memories mount up, our house is definitely feeling more and more like home.

Because it was a busy weekend, I didn't get a chance to take too many photos. This is also where I tell you that this is the last weekend in photos post...for 2012 and maybe beyond. Starting tomorrow, I'm going to be running a special series of posts on Mondays. I haven't yet decided whether I want to do regular weekend updates in the new year, run them as occasional special posts, or do away with them all together. Stay tuned.

And now for Madeleine...

On Friday night, I put her down with her head to the left. This is how I found her on Saturday morning.

Bathing suit. Check. Swim cover up. Check. Yoga pants. Check

Not a care in the world...

Madeleine's a little forward.

How did you spend your first weekend of December? What's happening in the week ahead?