Now that you’ve put your home on the market, it’s time to stage it beautifully so it will sell quickly (and hopefully for an enormous profit!). One of the most critical areas in your home to stage is the entryway. You want to impress buyers the minute they step through your door, and in order to do that, your entryway must be tidy, inviting and effortlessly stylish.Because you never get a second chance to make a first impression!

Reality check: most of us are still living in our homes while they’re on the market, the operative word here being live. And life is sometimes pretty messy. Here at THE HOME STYLIST we have some easy solutions for keeping your entryway neat and attractive. For example, as you can see in this photo, corrale backpacks on hooks hung on kid level. Not only will it help make you look organized, it will actually help you be organized!  Want more great ideas for organizing your home? Visit us at our website, www.thehomestylist.com.

Have you ever had one of those mornings where you’re already a solid 10 minutes late, you’re running out the door (often trying to herd others out the door with you), when everything comes to a dead stop because you can’t find your keys/ your phone/ that permission slip that was sent home weeks ago and you’re sure you signed, you just don’t know where it is? Well, most of us here at THE HOME STYLIST have! In fact, we’ve had more of those mornings than we care to count. So what do we do? We go to our design guru for advice (yeah, working in the cubicle next to an acclaimed stylist does have its perks!).

Here are some great suggestions Julie Dana gave us:

1. Assess your family’s needs. Are important papers always going astray? Is there one or more members of the household constantly doing a last-minute shoe hunt when they’re trying to get out the door? Do keys and cell phones seem to grow legs and wander off? 

2.Create a command central somewhere in your home. Preferably a mudroom, but any place en route to the car will do and get organized!  Install hooks on the wall for keys and bags. Place a bench with some storage underneath (we love this one from Ikea, pictured here) so everyone has a place not only to remove shoes, but to store them. If possible, create a re-charging station cellphones, ipods and other essential devices (There are so many to choose from these days, it doesn’t have to be fancy. We found wall-mount cups, again from Ikea, for about $2.99 a piece that do the trick). Add a paper sorter and a wastebasket (the paper sorter for important papers that have to go with you out the door, the wastebasket for sorting through the junk that comes in your door) and you’ve got a space that could mobilize an army.

3. Stick to it! Make sure everyone uses the space to its full potential and you’ll see that getting out the door on time will become the easiest part of your day! 

As the weather starts to break and the sunshine highlights the dust bunnies and dirty windows, it is time for a really good cleaning frenzy.

Do you need some help? encouragement? a plan?

Check out this website: http://www.totallytogetherjournal.com/

The same blogger that did crockpot cooking everyday for a whole year (2008) has some great advice with a dash of humor to help you get your house organized, clean and meals planned. Sounds good, right?!

I like this website and blog because it makes the tasks not seem so overwhelming.
 

I particularly like her post on the huge task of SPRING CLEANING

http://www.totallytogetherjournal.com/super-simple-spring-cleaning

Julie

Just like many people, January finds me cleaning, sorting and organizing this time of the year. One closet of mine is just overflowing with books I have read. Thinking I could use the closet for other stuff, I found the best thing to do with all these books.

The website is called Paperback swap (but they take hardcovers and audio books too.) You list books you are willing to swap and list books you want. I LOVE it!!!

I save money by not buying new books and I clean out clutter. Yeah! I highly recommend this site. (you can click on the blue box above to take you right there)

One of the most difficult parts of my job is to gently tell people that their homes smell. As the saying goes "if you can smell it you can’t sell it".

This time of the year it is easy to open all the windows and let the fresh air in. The winter months when the house is closed tight and even in the summer months when the house it closed because of air conditioning, smells can be a problem.

One of my favorite products is Febreze. I know most of you have heard of it and use it. The makers of the miracle product have two other products that I think are marvelous.

Febreze candles:

The core of the candle is the febreze product. As the candle burns, odors are eliminated. I use it and love it!

Febreze Pet odor eliminator:

This is great for dog and cat smells. Helps to eliminate that wet fur smell. I use it and love it!

BTW – I am not compensated for these endorsements – i just love the products and want to share.

One of the concepts I always educate my decorating clients about is that your house should reflect you and your passions/interests.

The tricky aspect of that is to add collectibles and small treasures but not add clutter.

One solution for this decorating dilemma is a clear glass lamp in which you can add your own content.

Here is an example:

In this lamp I would put a collection of:

wine corks – if you like wine
theatre ticket stubs – if you love Broadway shows
seashells - if you love the beach
vintage buttons – if you love to sew

Use your imagination and your interests to liven up the room.

(The above lamp is from Pottery Barn but I have seem examples in different stores and different price points)