Back Yard Appeal

This is a follow up from my previous post 

"Marshmallow Roast Anyone?"

I wanted to write about something I call "back yard appeal" and how it ties into my latest project as well as home staging.  But first, most of us have all heard of curb appeal, which is a real estate term used to describe the  appearance of how the front of a home, or property looks from the street.  Having excellent curb appeal is so important when trying to sell a home these days because if you don't, potential buyers could be turned off and will not even want to venture inside for a look.  Once you get them in the house with that extraordinary curb appeal, and the home is staged effectively, having that "back yard appeal" could potentially seal the deal by getting you from "For Sale" to "SOLD". It's all connected like a continual circle and they all work together to present your home at it's finest state and give the best possible result, which is a quick sale.


So that brings me back to my own yard and what I have done to my new fire pit area. On my previous post I showed you the whole space but now I'm going to bring you in for a closer look. 


As you will see below, I created some cute memorable scenes.  I have a "SMORES and Rootbeer" tray displayed on one of the chairs. This is something I would do if I were staging a home in a neighborhood with a lot of families with kids, Who can't relate to roasting some marshmallows around a fire at some point in their life?

I also have a guitar playing frog perched on a log surrounded by 3 of his biggest fans.  How cute is that? Since my husband is a professional guitarist and we have two young boys, it kind of reminds me of my family.  We had recently cut down some trees, so I re-used the logs to help keep the natural elements of the outdoor setting, and it also gives the frogs a nice place to rest and hang out.

In another area of the yard, I've kept with the frog and music theme (see picture below) and brought in a mushroom statue and some marigolds for color. It's hard to tell in the picture, but the frog is on his knee serenading his girlfriend with the violin.  

These scenes produce an enchanting aura of magical whimsy throughout the space and spark interest to the area.

An oasis to come home to, that creates the impression of peace, relaxation and good times with family and friends, is what I have created in my back yard. In staging a house,condo or apartment, it's always beneficial to include the back area, whether it has a large or small yard, patio or only a balcony.  A relaxing outdoor retreat can be designed no matter what size the space or budget.... all you need is a little imagination to give buyers a hint of what life could be like if they were to live there.

Be Staged! 
home staging
kim@BeStagedOrlando.com
407-922-8692

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Marshmallow Roast Anyone?

At our house, we are very fortunate to have a nice size lot with a beautiful forest full of trees in the back yard to wake up to every day.
A few months ago we got a new trampoline, and it just so happens, the best spot in our yard to place it was on a patio where our fire pit lived. So out went the fire pit to make room for the kids trampoline. What to do with our “homeless” fire pit became one of my latest projects.

Walking around my yard, I discovered a spot that might just work.  I thought, "I could kill two birds with one stone; have a new home for the fire pit, and clean up an area that was slowly becoming an eye sore".

BEFORE

Making the transformation involved a lot of digging, cutting and pruning back the brush and trees, raking leaves, laying stone, gravel and mulch.  The actual fire pit even got a makeover.  It has gone from dirty beige to a bright apple red and really adds an extra pop of color back there.

Our poor homeless fire pit before

AFTER

Of course the scene wouldn’t be complete without a few extras(stay tuned for part two) and marigolds in flower pots to ward off the mosquitoes.  So here it is…welcome to our new back yard family fun spot!

Our new space at dusk...the perfect time for a marshmallow roast!

Stay tuned for part two of my back yard makeover where I will show you how I have STAGED it to create a magical space!

Out Of The Jungle, and Into Our Living Room!

Recently, we got rid of our old big and boxy TV and upgraded to a fancy new flat screen in our living room.  Unfortunately, our new TV didn't fit in the old TV unit so we just kind of put it on top of our sofa table as a "temporary" fix.  We had looked into getting one of those huge wall units which I liked very much but they also came with a huge price. 

As you can see in the before picture, the sofa table had zero storage and looked very messy.

Having the new TV sitting on a sofa table against a very large wall in our living room just was not working for me so I decided to take action and turned to Craigslist to see what I could find.  After weeks of searching I believed that I had found the perfect piece of furniture for our living room.  It was made of quality wood and was long enough to balance out our big wall. It had lots of storage and also came with a thick glass top (big bonus!).  As soon as I saw it in person I knew this would be perfect for our living room. Unfortunately it was painted dark brown with an animal print border and had brass hardware but I instantly saw the potential.

It has been sanded, primed and painted black. The center doors were removed and molding was added around the perimeter and alongside the center.  I also replaced the brass hardware with glass drawer knobs to update the look. We paid $60 for the dresser and spent another $50 for paint, supplies and hardware. So for $110 I have reused and re-purposed a great piece of furniture that we so desperately needed. So here it is, from jungle beast to clean and contemporary. Now our living room is complete!

 Are you getting ready to put your house on the market?  Having trouble finding renters?  Does your home need a new look and feel?  I can help.  

Contact me at kim@bestagedorlando.com  

 BE STAGED...BE SOLD!

Stylish Fish Bowl

A few days ago, our family was given a Betta fish.  After being “pet less” for many years, our boys were super excited to welcome “Thunder” to our family.

Now that we had this fish in our house, I had to go out right away and find something to put it in.  I felt bad that it had to spend any time in a tiny plastic cup from the pet store so my mission was to find it a home as soon as possible.   I decided that it would reside on our newly transformed TV stand (more about that on my next blog post.)  I didn’t want just a regular fish bowl, the decorator in me wanted to find a bowl that would look good and fit in with our living room décor. 

I went out and found a nice large hurricane glass candle holder that I filled with blue and white glass stones which coordinate with the other blue tones throughout the room. The kids are happy with their new pet, Thunder seems content with his new home and I am pleased to add a little style, sophistication and a touch of beneficial  “chi” to our living room.

Thunder and his new home.  My husband Randy added a light underneath for a cool effect that we will bring out for special occasions.

Are you getting ready to sell your home?  Home staging prepares your house for the market and intrigues buyer interest.  Get you house from "for sale" to SOLD in record time.  Contact kim@bestagedorlando.com for more info.

  Be Staged...Be Sold!