‘Going Green’: 5 Home Makeover Tips

By Dana J. Smithers

Many of us have been doing ‘green’ makeovers for years, just not realizing that we were doing is until it became a popular term.  As a professional interior decorator and redesigner my clients often call on my services to give their home a whole new look,  in just one day,  using what they already have in their home.  Seeing the transformation and knowing that these women feel SO much better about their home is one of the most satisfying aspects of my business.  You can do your own ‘green’ home makeovers by following this simple formula below,  but there is one thing you need to do before you begin:

EMPTY THE ROOM YOU ARE WORKING IN…

Most people would never think of doing this but this is the KEY to doing a successful home makeover.  Once you decide which room you are going to do your ‘green’ makeover in, get rid of all the clutter and any items you do not really love.  Start by taking out the smallest items first and begin grouping them putting like items together eg.  Art with art, candles with candles, lamps with lamps, plants with plants, etc.  You can leave in your one biggest piece of furniture but take the rest out systematically.

1. DETERMINE THE FUNCTION – before you start emptying the room you need to know what you want to do in this room now. You may have a large enough room to have a few different functions going on such as a family room could have a tv area, a
computer or office set up, a sewing area, etc. You may decide to turn your formal dining
room into a computer room since you hardly ever use it.

2. DECIDE ON YOUR FOCAL POINT – your room will have either a natural (view) or created focal point (television, art wall) or a built in (fireplace, bookshelves). You want to place your furniture so that your focal point can be seen and people can be comfortably seated to take advantage of your focal point. You can have 2 focal points but one should be more dominant. Rotate your focal points seasonally if you have a nicer view in the summer than in the winter, the fireplace may be the focal point for
winter.

3. BUILD THE ROOM BACK UP – work with your largest piece of furniture first and decide on the best position for it, keeping your function and focal point in mind. For living room furniture placement try putting your furniture (sofa and/or chairs, loveseat) in a parallel formation, a ‘U’ shape or an ‘L’ formation. Build the room back up with the tables, bookcases, lighting and large plants.

4. HANG YOUR ART – see if you can group some of your pieces of art that you have spread throughout your home. Decide on a common element and make the outline of a rectangle or a square. If putting over something hang the bottom 4 – 10” above it, and if gallery or floating art mark the centre 56 – 60” from the floor. If you need help with this check out my Trade Secrets to Hanging Art Like a PRO! ebook.

5. GROUP YOUR ACCESSORIES – these add your finishing touch to your home. When you emptied your room you would have put all your like accessories together so it should be easier now to see where they fit in your home. Group in ‘3s’ when possible
with the tallest at the back, middle object, and smallest in front. You want to create peaks and valleys with your accessories.

This is the home of a divorced woman. She loves the condo she bought but is not happy with how she has everything arranged. She loves to read, entertain and look outside when she is at her desk.

• You can buy gliders/sliders at large hardware stores to make it easier to slide/glide your furniture over different types of flooring.

Dana J. Smithers, Founder & Creative Director of PRES (professional real estate stagers) Resource Centre is a professional interior decorator, redesigner and home stager. She has taught a professional home staging and redesign course for 6 years and is known as the ‘Staging Guru’. She appears frequently on television, radio, newspapers, magazines and in e-articles. Check her out at www.PresStaging.com or www.SunOnMyBackRedesigns.com for articles and Do-It-Yourself e-book on How to Hang Art Like a PRO

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