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Five Tips For Increasing the Property Value of Your Home
In anticipation of the new TLC series Hope For Your Home, which premieres this Saturday, I thought I'd share with you host Kirsten Kemp Becker's five tips for increasing the value of your property. A veteran Realtor, author and real estate company, and owner of a successful design company, Becker knows a thing or two about acclimating your home to the current economic climate. Here's a few ways she says you can do so yourself:
In the News: More Than Four Walls and a Roof
The New York Times' "You Might Move Out, but You Can’t Move On", explores the emotional attachments we form with our homes. After selling their 1910 house in Danbury, Connecticut (pictured below), Mr. Schoenfeld experienced "bouts of melancholia [which] grew so acute that Mr. Field had to stash away pictures of the place," or "seller's remorse." Several years after selling, the pair repurchased their beloved home, this time paying $335,000 than they'd paid for in the first place — though $200,000 worth of renovation had been done.
What's Your Natural Disaster?
According to CNN, Hawaiian homeowners living in proximity to Kilauea, one of the world's most active volcanoes, have chosen to outrun lava flows instead of picking up and moving to greener pastures. Lava destroyed three abandoned houses there just this week in a nearly deserted neighborhood there, but one local said:
It's the safest place I've ever lived, safer than the mainland. They have forest fires over there that burn up 3,000 homes in Southern California.
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Home Library: Majestic Metropolitan Living
Just a week after the fold of Metropolitan Home, I've got my hands on another city-centric design volume: Sue Hostetler's new book Majestic Metropolitan Living: Visionary Homes in the Heart of Cities. The shelter and design editor for magazines like Gotham, Hamptons, and LA Confidential, and the host of Plum Homes With Sue Hostetler on Plum TV (which "targets the most active, influential, and educated audience in the world"), Hostetler has tapped her cronies for tours of their unique and luxe urban dwellings.
The American dream of retiring to the pool and tennis courts in your countryside home is squashed by this book, which showcases a range of sprawling, real-life city homes.
Love It or Hate It? Painted Stair Railing
I love it when homeowners get creative with their staircases, and this design is no exception. While it's a little more traditional in pattern and color, I find it utterly charming. The only problem that I can see is that it is potentially difficult to decorate around.
Do You Have Window Boxes on All Floors?
Homeowners (and renters as well) tend to only install window boxes on the first floor of their houses. But I love the way the boxes of geraniums on this four-story white building look. On second thought, they're almost too healthy looking; they may be fake, and perhaps it wouldn't work on a more traditional house.
Home Library: A Girl's Guide to Decorating
When I think of interior designer and stylist Abigail Ahern, who also owns one of London's leading interiors stores, there are a few things that come to mind. One is the Neo Baroque Chandelier in her collection — one of the most breathtaking and showstopping pieces I have ever come across. And the other is her perfected and signature use of Farrow & Ball's "Downpipe" paint from floor to ceiling — which inspired my own gray(-ish) kitchen.
Room Therapy: Has Anyone Used Rust-Oleum on Their Counters?
Dear Casa,
I just recently moved into a house and am excited about making it "my own." The problem is I'm broke. The house is old and I've already made peace with the fact that I'm going to have to live with some things (such as the horrendous '70s-era orange countertops in the kitchen) for the next few years until I can afford to replace them.
Love It or Hate It? Cowboy Boots on Display
While these shelves might usually hold books, framed photos, or sculptural objects, this homeowner has decided to use them to display a cowboy boot collection. Do you showcase unusual collections at your home?
Source: Steven Randazzo
Love It or Hate It?
Casa Quickie: Paint Your Home Library
If you don't read and you don't want other people to know it, you can fool your guests by painting a faux bookcase on your wall. New York interior designer Amie Weitzman had a trompe-l'œil bookcase put in this sitting room of the New York residence of one of her clients. As you can see, the homeowner appears to have a mighty colorful and extensive book collection that makes a powerful focal point.
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