Home Buying and Selling Seminar Calgary

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Sabrina Stevenson and I are hosting a seminar on buying, selling and preparing your Home in today’s market. We want to give you the Buyer or Seller a one stop shop for your real estate investment. We are working hard on presentation and planning our event, which will be in early June more info to be announced.


We need your input:


What kinds of information are you interested in hearing about from a mortgage associate, a Realtor home stage home inspector?


What about the home buying and selling process would you like more info on?


Have you worked with a Realtor or Stagers before and how was the experience? What was good or bad?


What would be the best evening for you to attend?


We would love to hear your feedback

Staging Ideas For the Bathroom

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 I am sure that you have heard this before, kitchen and bathrooms sell homes. If your one of the many that will be listing your home this spring. You might want to take a look at your bathroom or consider staging to prepare for the market.

Cleaning should be the first thing you do prepare, but don’t stop there. You need to get the buyers to envision using your bathroom everyday. Spending a little money on updating, things like taps, mirror, handles and lighting fixture will greatly appeal to buyers. Money spent in the bathroom is money you recover in the list price.

Add luxury entices your buyers into the spa in your home, fresh white towels and candles are great accents in the bathroom. Baskets, tray and canisters are a great way to hide the everyday clutter. Add a little sparkle with a tray that matches the finish on the faucet.

If you have a larger bathrooms add a table or bench seat which can store towels or accessories. It’s always nice to have extra towel at arms reach. The table or bench will give off a high end feel buyers love.

Bathrooms are supposed to fell calm and cozy so ditch that plastic shower curtain. A fabric curtain will bring soft touches to the room. You will be amazed at the difference.

Stick to natural colors this helps bring out that spa feel, colors like soft grey or white works great. Bright colors tend to add visual clutter making the space seem small and busy.

A little time, effort and money and your bathroom is a spa oasis that will wow buyers one at a time. Check out our blog for more tips on preparing your home for the spring market.

Simply Stylish Staging

Elysse Bulloch

Cleaning Tips to Prepare for The Spring Market

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When buyers get more serious about making an offer they start looking closer and closer at the property. At a closer glance buyers can get scared away if appliances are not well maintained. Red flags are raised and buyers wonder if sellers are hiding anything else, stop these thoughts in there tracks by making sure everything is Q-tip clean.

 Spring cleaning time is fast approaching especially if you’re trying to get your home ready for the spring market. The one thing that seems to always be the “to do list” is to clean the oven. We all hate cleaning the oven, procrastination makes this worse. The longer you put it off the harder the job gets.

Without proper maintenance the oven vents clog up and the oven will start to smoke. Here is a step by step guide to cleaning your oven chemical free. If you clean your oven after every use, you will never need to spend hours scrubbing away again.

For gas stove tops remove all grate and griddles and wash in hot soapy water. Scrub with a scouring pad; dry all part thoroughly before putting back. Look for blockage on all fuel parts use a paper clip to free blockage. For spills soak a cloth in hot soap water and place on the spill let the water penetrate the spill for a few minutes. Remove build up with a rubber scraper. Wipe the surface clean with a damp sponge. Make sure the sponge is not to wet ,excess water can damage the igniter on glass or ceramic stove tops.  

If you have an electric stove top the first thing to do is remove the coil and reflector bowls, wipe coil with a damp sponge. Clean out the reflector bowls with hot soapy water and a scouring pad. I you have build up on the coils put the stove top back together and turn the burns on high let the build up burn off.

Now for the hardest part cleaning the oven, starts by removing the racks .Soak them in hot soapy water using a scoring pad to remove splatter build up. If you have heavy build up sir together ¾ cup baking soda and 1/4 cup water Smooth paste all over oven accept the door. Let sit a few hours or over night. Wipe out with a damp cloth, repeat to remove any streaks. The oven door should be cleaned with equal parts water and white vinegar. The baking soda mixture can run down in between the glass which can only be removed if the oven door is taken apart.

Now that you have tackled the oven, you might want to start on the microwave. In just 5 to 10 minute it can be sparkling too. The easiest way to clean the microwave is to prepare a bowl with one cup water and 1/2 cup lemon juice, the lemon juice act as a deodorizer. Heat the bowl for three minutes and let sit in the microwave for 5 minutes. The stream will loosen build up. Wipe out the inside of the microwave with a sponge dipped in warm soapy water. Clean the control panel with a very damp cloth.

Please feel free to share your oven cleaning tips. Look forward to hearing what works for you.

Elysse Bulloch

Simply Stylish Staging

Painting Over Wallpaper

Removing dated wall paper can be a challenge, especially when layers and layers have been put up. Sometime remove old wallpaper can damage the plaster or drywall.  You may want to think about painting over the wallpaper to update you space or even preparing it for the market. You be surprised to know that you can paint over almost anything as long as you use the right paint and primer.

If you decide to paint over your current wall paper here are some things to keep in mind. Check every seam look for bubbles, make sure they are smooth and pressed down. You can glue any lifting corners just be sure you let the glue dry very well.

The next step is to prep all the seams and flaws, using a drywall  knife apply a layer of drywall mud over all flaws and seams. Once the dry wall mud has set you can start sanding the mud to a smooth surface. You will probably need to do this twice to guarantee the seams are covered  well. Using a damp cloth wipe the walls down to remove any dust from sanding. This will help the primer to stick to the walls.

Always use a primer, applying water based paint directly to the wallpaper can cause a big mess lifting seams and loosening bubbles. When choosing a primer pick an alcohol based primer, this will make certain their will be a tight boned to the paper and will block stains that can bleed through. Caulk along the ceiling, trim and baseboards this will ensure you get a nice line when you paint. You are now ready to prime you walls and let dry.

The hardest part of the job is done, now let’s talk about paint. I would recommend using a flat or eggshell finish . These paints have less sheen to them and will hide flaws better. You now can paint one coat; this is your chance to fix anything that you think is still not perfect. Sand and re prime until your happy then apply your second coat of paint.

I hope you find these tip helpful, if you need any information on preparing  you home for the market contact Simply Stylish Staging. I would be happy to answer any of your questions.

Elysse Bulloch

Simply Stylish Staging

A look at Calgary Home Staging by Simply Stylish Staging

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A look at Calgary Home Staging by Simply Stylish Staging

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