Winter Blues? 9 Easy Ways to Brighten Your Southern NH Home and Your Spirit

These gray, dreary winter days can really sap your energy and dull your enjoyment of life.  To survive the winter doldrums, brighten your Southern NH home using these easy tips:

   1. Open your Southern New Hampshire home’s window treatments during the day to let the light brighten and warm your room.  Close them again as soon as night falls to retain heat.

   2. Brighten dark rooms with few windows by placing spotlights on the floor behind furniture.

   3. Add a mirror.  Wherever a mirror reflects light in a room, it visually doubles that light.  Place a mirror opposite a window to immediately brighten your space.  No window?  Hang a large mirror above a console table and place a pair of lamps in front of the mirror.

   4. Install higher watt bulbs in rooms that tend to be dark.

   5. Eliminate dark corners by adding recessed lighting.

   6. Use full spectrum lighting in areas where you read, knit or do other up-close work.

   7. Lighten living areas with colorful throws and pillows.

   8. Lift the winter blues by adding flowers and plants to your decor.  Colorful indoor blooming plants include the African violet, Cyclamen, Orchid and desert cactus.  Use tropical flowers to transport yourself mentally to climates where the sun always shines.

   9. Do a little winter cleaning:
         a. Wash the inside of your windows. Fireplace and candle soot coats windows with a dingy film that blocks the sun.
         b. Polish your furniture. Shiny furniture reflects ambient light.
         c. Wash ceiling light fixtures in soapy water. Light is muted when filtered through dirty light fixtures.

Lighting can change how you (and potential buyers) feel about your Southern NH home. It’s one of the easiest and least expensive ways to quickly improve the ambiance of your home.

If you’d like to sell your home, I can help.  Give me a call today at 603-821-1134 or email me at Dave@TeamHeeter.com.

Easy Bathroom Makeover for Your Southern New Hampshire Home (Updating to Sell or for You)

Before you put your Southern New Hampshire home up for sale, you want to make sure it looks as attractive and modern as possible. Buyers usually walk away from a Southern NH home for sale with outdated color schemes and fixtures. This is especially true of bathrooms. Even if you lack the budget and space to turn your bathroom into a spa-like retreat, you can still give this room a quick facelift.  (And even if you aren't planning on selling in the near future, these tips can help you enjoy your home more without spending lots of money.)

   1. Get creative with color. If you don’t have the time or budget to replace dated ceramic tile, try camouflaging it with towels, rugs, and other accessories for a more modern color scheme. For example, you can pair pink with brown or bright blue with light green.

   2. Replace your fixtures. Brushed aluminum and pewter bathroom fixtures are more modern than the shiny chrome fixtures from years ago. They are also easier to clean because they don’t show water marks as easily.

   3. Find new lighting. A bathroom light can do more than just illuminate the space; it can create an atmosphere. Sconces placed on either side of a mirror tend to look better than harsh overhead light. Track lighting can be arranged to provide light in dark corners of the room.

   4. Accessorize. Put your personal touch on your bathroom with shower curtains, soap dispensers, and scented candles. Don’t feel like you have to stick to the bath accessories aisle, either. A clear vase can display bath salts. Baskets can hold rolled-up towels. A beautiful serving bowl can be filled with potpourri.

Preparing your Southern New Hampshire home for sale is an important part of the process. I can help you prepare your home to sell it faster and for more money. Call me today at 603-821-1134 or email me at Dave@TeamHeeter.com to schedule a free consultation.

10 Tips for Safely Decking the Halls of Southern NH Homes

At this time of year, we typically don’t think a lot about safety. We’re all too busy running around shopping and decorating our Southern New Hampshire homes.

Have a fun, merry and safe holiday this year by implementing these 10 safety tips:

1. Never use lighted candles on a Christmas tree, whether it’s an artificial or live tree.

2. Purchase artificial trees with a Fire Resistant label. This label doesn’t mean the tree can’t catch fire; it means the tree will resist burning and should extinguish quickly.

3. Check for freshness when purchasing a live tree. Needles that are hard to pull away from branches and that do not break when bent indicate a fresh tree. Sticky resin on the tree’s trunk is another sign that a tree is still fresh. Old trees can be fire hazards in Southern New Hampshire homes.

4. Chop a few inches off the trunk of your tree to expose the fresh wood. This allows for better water absorption and will help to keep your tree from drying out and becoming a fire hazard. Water your tree regularly.

5. Avoid sharp or easily breakable decorations and small, removable items that children can swallow. Eliminate decorations that look like food or candy. Children may try to eat them.

6. Limit the number of standard-size light sets plugged into one extension cord to three.

7. Turn off all Christmas tree lights before you go to bed or leave your home. The lights could short out and start a fire.

8. Don’t burn wrapping papers in your Southern New Hampshire home’s fireplace. A flash fire may result, as wrappings ignite suddenly and burn intensely.

9. Remove all greens, boughs, papers, and other decorations from around the fireplace before lighting a fire.

10. Check labels on lights you’re planning to use outside to be sure they’re certified for outdoor use.

I hope you and your family have a very Merry (and safe) Christmas!

8 Low-Cost Decorating Tips to Make a Small Room in Your Southern NH Home Seem Bigger

Do you have a small room in your Southern New Hampshire home that you’d like to make larger, but you don’t have the money in your budget to tear down a wall or add on to the room?  By using a bit of creativity, you can make that tiny room look larger without breaking the bank.

 Here are 8 low-cost decorating tips to make any room in your Southern NH home look bigger:

   1. Leave open space.  Place taller pieces of furniture along a wall rather than out in the open space.  To prevent blocking the view into a room, use shorter pieces of furniture like an ottoman or a low table.   The more open space you can see, the larger the room will look.

   2. Brighten the room.  A well-lit room looks larger, whether it’s brightened with natural or artificial light.  Remove heavy, dark draperies to let the natural light into the room.  Install track lighting or recessed spot lighting, which is perfect for a small space.

   3. Lighten up the floor and ceiling.  Open up the room by using a white or very light color on the ceiling.  Use light-colored flooring such as light oak or a light-colored carpet to make the room appear bigger.

   4. Reduce the amount of furniture.   This goes back to leaving open space.  Keep only those pieces of furniture that you really love or really need in the room.  Get rid of everything else.

   5. Switch to glass.  Using a glass-topped dining table, end table or coffee table gives the appearance of an open space, even though there isn’t.

   6. De-clutter.  Too much stuff makes even a large room seem small.  Organize anything you must keep.

   7. Choose light colors.  Light, cool colors like pale blue and light green can make the smallest space feel open and airy.

   8. Use a monochromatic scheme. Take those light colors one step further by using colors all in the same family. When you look around a room that has the same color scheme for the furniture, flooring and walls, you believe there’s more space than there really is.  Contrasting colors break up a space. Furniture is less interrupting and blends with the space if its color matches the wall.

Want a Southern New Hampshire home with large rooms?  I can help.  Give me a call today at 603-821-1134 or email me at Dave@DaveHeeter.com.

How to Go Green in Your Southern New Hampshire Home this Holiday Season

Start a new holiday tradition:  Give the environment a holiday gift this year by going green.  Here are six green traditions you can begin at your Southern New Hampshire home:

1.    Use LED lighting.  Save energy and protect the environment by using LED lights.  LED lighting is 90 to 95% more efficient than non-LED lights. 

2.    Decorate organically.  Use seasonal fruits as decoration, which you can eat afterwards, or are at least biodegradable. Pomegranates and oranges are good choices. Use organic holiday decorations such as grapevine wreaths, eucalyptus, fresh pine and pine cones.

3.    Give environmental gifts.  Help others go green by giving environmentally focused gifts.   People who brown bag lunch would enjoy a reusable lunch bag, homeowners could use energy-saving compact fluorescent lights or a compost bin, commuters might like a reusable travel coffee mug, and both women and men might appreciate a reusable razor.  For a truly green gift, consider donating to a charitable organization in that person's name. (Make sure it's one you know they would like supporting!)

4.    Wrap with cloth.  Fabric makes a beautiful presentation when used to wrap a gift.  The average bolt of cotton fabric is 42” to 45” wide, and many seasonal fabrics are very reasonably priced.  These decorative wraps can be used year after year.

5.    Recycle electronics.  Donate or recycle your old electronic components and dispose of batteries responsibly. 

6.    Buy a living tree.  Buy a living tree that will grow in your area and can be kept in a pot outdoors until your ground thaws.  Then plant the tree in your yard.  It’s a gift that keeps on giving! 

If implementing all six green traditions in your Southern New Hampshire home feels overwhelming, start with just one this year and add a new one each year.

I wish you and your loved ones a very Happy Holiday!

Halloween Decorations for a Southern New Hampshire Home for Sale?

The fall holidays are just around the corner, starting with the scariest day of the year – Halloween. You may have always enjoyed Halloween in the past, but the most frightening thought now might be, “I have a Southern NH home for sale! I can’t do Halloween right now!”

Sure, sure. Right, right.

Take a deep breath. Don’t panic. First, if the idea of Halloween or autumn decorations this year (versus before you had a Southern NH home for sale) freaks you out, you need the break anyway. Secondly, it’s the perfect opportunity to sell your house. Holiday decorations can help buyers imagine the decorations they might use for a warm, inviting atmosphere.

There is, however, a difference between decorating before you put your home on the market and decorating now. For example, don’t go overboard. You want potential buyers to enjoy a relaxing stroll through the house, not scream when the skeleton falls out of the closet.

Pumpkins

If you decide to decorate for Halloween rather than just an autumn theme, that’s okay. Pumpkins, used wisely, can draw attention to an area. However, growling faces are a thing of the past until your house is sold. Use harmless, happy pumpkin expressions to help build the overall cheerful holiday house-buying mood.

Candles

Forget about burning candles right now.  The last thing you want is to have a candle fall over during negotiations and set the curtains on fire. It’s a sure bet the buyers will change their minds.  Consider using flameless candles as a safer alternative.  They’re even available in autumn scents such as Pumpkin Spice and Cinnamon Fusion.

Colors

You can use autumn colors to warm a room.  A bowl of chrysanthemums and dried leaves will make a special touch in the bathroom, while pumpkin gourds can add warmth to a porch.

Because of the holidays coming up, autumn makes people nostalgic. For most, it brings thoughts of family and friends, pumpkins and turkey, fun and light-heartedness. A warm, inviting decorating scheme can further bring out that nostalgia, and get a SOLD sign put in front of your Southern New Hampshire home for sale.

If you’d like to sell your home before the holidays begin, I can help. Call me at 603-821-1134 or email me at Dave@DaveHeeter.com for more information.

Staging Southern NH Homes for Sale: Not Just Pretty Furniture

Many real estate agents say, “Stage your Southern New Hampshire homes for sale!” If you have no idea what that means, you might Google it, read a few articles and get the idea that you throw a little rented furniture into your home and call it done. If you read a little bit more, you might add a mirror or potted plant here and there. However, if you really dig into it, you’ll find that properly staging Southern New Hampshire homes for sale takes a whole lot more than that.

Test Your Knowledge
Did you know…

    * Smaller furniture in small areas makes the space appear bigger.
    * Carefully arranged plants bring warmth to a living area.
    * Rugs and artwork add depth and dimension to a room.
    * Sunlight shining through a window makes a room feel warm and inviting.
    * A staged bedroom is as important as the bathroom and kitchen.
    * The colors you choose can make the difference between a sale and a flop.

If you didn’t know any of the above, it’s time to learn how to stage or hire a professional stager. Why?  Because home staging has been proven time and again to be one of the best steps to take to sell a home quickly and for more money.

Find Home Staging Resources
There are tons of online resources available to help you stage your home if you’d rather do it yourself. Here are just a few, in no particular order:

   1. Field Guide to Preparing and Staging a House
   2. Home-Staging Cheat Sheet
   3. Staging to Sell: The Secret to Selling Homes in a Down Market

Hire a Professional Stager
Does this mean you can’t do it yourself? Not at all. You just need to ask yourself two questions: 

   1. Can you afford to wait to sell your house while you’re learning how to stage your home?
   2. Even after researching and studying, will you be able to do a quality staging job?

If you can’t afford to wait or you’ll never be great at staging, hire a professional.

What’s the moral of the story? If you have one of the Southern New Hampshire homes for sale and you’ve been considering home staging, stop considering. Do it! 

Need help preparing your home for sale?  I can help. Call me today at 603-821-1134 or email me at Dave@DaveHeeter.com.

Southern New Hampshire Homes for Sale and Virtual Staging: New Sales Method or Old Scam?

Home staging has long been a way to sell Southern New Hampshire homes. In short, stagers come into your home, look the place over and start packing (if it’s not already empty). They bring furniture, draperies and other things to make the home look warm, beautiful and inviting to buyers.

The trick is to make the Southern New Hampshire homes for sale inviting in a way that doesn’t overwhelm the buyer’s personal tastes. It works, selling thousands of homes that might not have sold otherwise, and selling them faster than non-staged homes.

For the past year or two, however, virtual (or conceptual) staging has come into the real estate world. Somewhat like traditional home staging, the virtual stager spruces up your home for sale. The differences are where the work is done and what the live house looks like. They may not sound like much, but these two differences have people asking, “Sales method or a snake oil scam?”

Virtual Staging
Home staging came about because the real estate industry realized that most buyers have a tough time visualizing what a place will look like with their unique touch on it. With more tech savvy buyers, however, some may not even visit the home to enjoy the staged view. Many buyers find their potential home online and, once they’ve viewed the online pictures, contact the REALTOR® listing the home.

Virtual staging provides beautiful images for buyers to look at online using digital enhancement. You may have a home staging team doing the computer work, or it may just be one person with fantastic design software.

Here are the benefits to virtual staging:
·    It may pull in more potential buyers than non-virtually staged homes.
·    It can be cheaper than having a home stager come to your home.
·    If you’re worried about vandalism and theft (some sellers have had the staging furniture stolen), it may solve this problem.

But there are potential pitfalls you need to be aware of before you try virtual staging:
·    The first and most obvious is not to use virtual staging to deceptively hide imperfections in your home. The purpose of these images is to enhance, yes, but if you hide issues it’s not only unethical, but, in some states, illegal.
·    The second is to be sure to let the potential buyer know that the home is either vacant or has different furniture than what’s shown.  You must be transparent and upfront that the images are computer generated. Otherwise, they will feel confused - or even scammed - when they get to the home to see and buy it.  This may seem a deal “killer”, but it all depends on how this information is presented.

Home stagers have written in favor of real life home staging (putting down virtual staging, of course). Virtual stagers have written the opposite. So which one is better? If you have one of the Southern New Hampshire homes for sale, consider your budget, your options and what you want to accomplish. As long as you’re willing to be upfront about the images, virtual staging may be the right option for you.

Need help preparing your home for sale?  I can help.  Give me a call today at 603-821-1134 or email me at Dave@DaveHeeter.com.

How to Choose Paint Colors to Sell Your Southern New Hampshire Real Estate

When you’re ready to sell your Southern New Hampshire real estate, you want to make sure it's attractive to potential buyers. A fresh coat of paint can do wonders for your home, but with all the paint colors available to you, you may wonder which colors are best.

There are two primary things to consider:

1.     Function. What is the room primarily used for? Some rooms are easy to label. After all, there are only one or two uses for the kitchen or bathroom. But what about great rooms or family rooms?  Rooms like that are most often used for relaxation and recovery from a busy day and therefore should be painted in soothing shades of blue or green. Busier rooms, like the kitchen, can handle stronger colors like red, orange, or bright yellow.

2.     Size. Generally, the smaller the room the lighter the wall color. Lighter colors make rooms look bigger, while darker colors make rooms look smaller. Your bathrooms and smaller bedrooms will mostly likely look better with a lighter shade than your living room or family room. Since colors are part of a spectrum, you can find a shade of any color that will work for you.

Buyers like to picture themselves living in a home before they buy it. This is why you should stick to neutral colors throughout your Southern New Hampshire property.  As your buyers walk through, they can imagine their own furniture and art and belongings up against a white or cream colored wall. It’s a little trickier to do this when the walls are bright orange.

Don’t overlook the power of a new paint job. Let me help you prepare your Southern New Hampshire real estate for a fast sale.  Call me today at 603-821-1134 or email me at dave@daveheeter.com.

Valentine’s Day and Southern New Hampshire Homes for Sale – How Much Is Too Much?

Not everyone decorates their home for Valentine’s Day, but enough do that it brings to mind the question, “How much decoration is too much when your Southern New Hampshire home is for sale?”
  
Decorations, although beautiful to you, are a matter of personal taste and style. Since this is a buyer’s market, something as simple as the wrong decorations can push a potential buyer from saying "Yes!" to saying "No."
  
Rules for Decorating Southern New Hampshire Homes for Sale
Here are a few tips on decorating for Valentine’s or any other day when you're trying to sell your home:
  
·       Choose decorations that are small and unobtrusive. Large decorations put too much emphasis on themselves. When you’re trying to sell your home, these take away from the overall appearance of the interior.
  
·       Finding buyers is all about allowing them to see themselves living in the home. When choosing your decorations, or deciding to decorate at all, keep this firmly in mind. Ornamentation made of bright colors may be fun, but can also be overwhelming.
  
·       If you’re ever at a loss on how to decorate or stage a home for sale, take a trip through furniture stores. Stores that sell furniture often have furniture set up in “living” displays so people can see what the pieces look like together. Look at the displays, take pictures and notes, and then apply the knowledge you gain to make your own home look like a display.
  
Decorating and staging correctly can make a huge difference in how buyers see the Southern New Hampshire homes for sale. The few tips above can help make your home shine.
  
Ready to sell your home?  I can help.  Call me at 603-821-1134 or email me at dave@daveheeter.com for more info.

Low Budget Decorating Tips for Your Southern New Hampshire Home

Don't despair if you are short on cash. You can still have a beautiful Southern New Hampshire home. Sometimes a little elbow grease is a decent replacement for extravagant money, and other times you can get great deals by shopping around for items that are usually costly.

Indoors

Simple things can mean a lot. You can change the entire look and feel of a room by simply changing the window treatments. New drapes or blinds add warmth and appeal and instantly give your Southern New Hampshire home a fresh new look.

If that's not enough, a fresh coat of paint transforms any room. Paint is one of the least expensive home decorating tools, and you can save even more money by doing it yourself instead of hiring a painter. It doesn't require a lot of skill and is hard to do wrong.

If your furniture looks tired, adding new throw pillows in vibrant colors that either match or contrast your room's colors can make a world of difference.  Pillows also help your old furniture regain its appeal.

The bathroom is the second most commonly remodeled room in the house (after the kitchen), but it can cost a lot of money to replace cabinets, fixtures, or tile. Simple things can help give your bathroom a face-lift:
·    Add candles for a lovely glow and inviting fragrance.
·    Get new towels to hang and repaint walls.
·    Re-grout any tiled areas for a fresh new feel.

Outdoors

Coming home from a long day of work to a worn-out looking home can be a downer. Add some hanging baskets of flowers or vines by the door and trim your path with a flower bed or decorative stone. Apply a little labor and repaint the trim on windows and doors to give your home a quick lift.

It doesn't take a lot of money to make your Southern New Hampshire home a haven.

If you would like more tips on sprucing up your home on a budget, subscribe to my blog.