Storage Solutions

Especially in a rental, storage is very hard to come by. My favorite bed solution for storage comes from Pottery Barn. This is a beautiful wooden bed that comes in 3 different colors, and has either baskets or drawers to hold storage… it’s out of the way, but easy to access. I would love to have this bed and put shoes in the baskets. (Somehow I never have enough places for my shoes!) It’s a bit of an investment, but its three piece design will make the transition from rental to home seamless.


Another one of my favorite solutions is from Ikea. This is a wardrobe with shelves inside that could easily hold a myriad of leftover items that need a home. The design is so sleek, it can transform from modern to traditional, living room to bedroom.

New Flooring


Design Talk says that the two best investments before selling a home are paint and flooring. These two home aspects help to make the home feel more welcoming. Many sellers offer the new buyer a carpet allowance so they can buy carpet after the home is purchased. This is a great offer, however, if you replace the carpet before buyers come to look at your home, it will look cleaner, and more inviting and may entice more potential buyers who didn’t see the home’s potential before. Some do-it-yourself flooring stores include: Flor, Floors Only, and Armstrong.

Pimp your crib


This is a great website that my pregnant coworker showed me. This is an ikea crib that has been ‘pimped’ to make it more personalized and fun. Paint, a custom baby changing station, and even rope lights underneath the crib make this inexpensive baby crib extremely fun and different. And who wants to be like everybody else? See the website and step-by-step instructions here.

Speaking of my sister…


Shannon Kaye, host of DIY’s Fresh Coat, always has great design tips and tricks. Her specialty is interior decorative painting. Click here for episode guide and project ideas. Also see her personal portfolio on her website: www.shannonkaye.com. Below is one of her custom finishes.

Personalized Cabinets


Working on the set of DIY’s Fresh Coat with my sister and host, Shannon Kaye was a great experience. One of my favorite tips that Shannon gave homeowners was to mix it up in the kitchen. One of her signature design solutions is to paint the bottom cabinets in a kitchen a different, and often darker color. This breaks up a wall full of cupboards and adds interest and personality into a kitchen.

This picture is from Better Homes and Gardens, one of my favorite design magazines because they give you do-it-yourself tips. See this and other kitchen color tips on their website here.

Same Idea, Different Application


I found this great vinyl design on etsy.com. It’s a vinyl sticker that can be placed on the wall, and removed when you are done. Since I didn’t know if the paint on the interior of my condo was done properly, I didn’t want to risk the paint peeling off when I removed the decal. SO – I painted my own chandelier on a canvas. This way it can move around my home, and continue on with me when I move away.

Below are some pictures of my canvas and how I created it. I thought this chandelier idea was so great – it adds life to my living room. Just another way to add color to your home!

Collections


I often get told that my “home” wherever that may be, feels “homey”. This is probably one of the greatest compliments that I could receive because your home should be comfortable and inviting to guests. While there are many factors to making your place “a home,” one of the biggest challenges is adding a personal touch. Things of value to you will be interesting to others and will often serve as a topic of conversation. I have a spoon collection that has been multiplying since my childhood. Not until my most recent rental condo did I decide to hang them. I never knew how to display them without it looking “dorky”. Then I decided to make it unconventional. I took my glass display case and painted it bright orange, lined it with black and white fabric and hung it in the kitchen. Now this collection is fun, and gets asked about all the time. Considering I had all the elements hidden in storage, this was a free and easy transformation that added personality and color to our home.

Display your collections with pride. It doesn’t have to be an old collection – you can start a new collection. Anywhere from three to dozens of items could make a collection. Above is a picture of a beautiful and inexpensive line of ceramic french country vases by Steve Madden. This would be a beautiful statement on a fireplace, side table, hutch, kitchen…

The Foundation of the Idea Attic

The idea attic encompasses many aspects of The Home. The Home is something we all aspire to: renting your own place, fixing it up, buying your own place, fixing it up, selling your place, finding a bigger place… the list goes on. The Home is where our life is; our family, friends, new babies, new recipes, homework, home office, movie flops, good news, bad news, new adventures, and so on. A famous architect once said that ‘the home is an organism for living.’ It is as adaptable as we are and allows us to be who we are.

At this very moment (because life changes on a dime) I AM four main aspects of the idea attic: a homeowner, a home seller, a landlord, and a tenant. The current housing market has put my husband and I in an interesting crossroads in which we are at four places at once, which doesn’t happen often. So, all of the posts here come from experience and a collection of my “You Only Have To Do That Once” list of things we have all learned. So, as a homeowner, home seller, landlord and tenant: enjoy the idea attic. There’s lots in storage, and I’ll keep putting things out there for you to dig through.

Kill the Clutter

Because we are in our homes everyday, sometimes we don’t see when clutter sneaks up on us. A good rule of thumb is if something hasn’t been used for a year, then it’s probably not worth keeping around (except of course, items that hold personal and financial value). If you have a house on the market, potential buyers are going to see the clutter immediately and will be put off by the lack of space it is creating. If you simply can’t part with such items, pack them away to convey an open and tidy space for potential buyers. Try to see your home with an objective eye… you love your Troll collection, but that may hinder the person that matters most from falling in love with your real estate.

The Unthinkables

Creative uses for run-of-the-mill things help add personality to a home. An old Martha Stewart trick is to put your dishwashing liquid soap into an olive oil bottle. The bottle stays clean, and it doesn’t need to be hidden beneath the sink. See her tip here.

First Impressions

I will always remember my first impression of my second home when we saw it for the first time with our realtor: apple cinnamon. Right when we entered the door, it felt like home. The familiar smell made it feel clean and quaint, and fit for a family. Because it made such an impression on us, I have made the aroma of a house much higher up on the scale of preparation. Any time we hold an open house for either a potential tenant or potential buyer, I plug in a candle warmer or two to convey a feeling of home. It’s sure to make an impression!

My friend Nicole is a consultant for Scentsy: The Hottest New Thing in Candles. Her products include lightbulb-powered candle warmers that instantly and safely fill the room with one of eighty different scents. See her website here.

If You Have Tenants: Get Lawn Service

We all learn lessons everyday, by forging new paths and reflecting on experiences. I often have a running list of “You only have to do that once…” instances where we learn a hard lesson after making the incorrect choice only once. Since my husband and I have had our first rental property for the last couple of years, we have learned new ways to protect our investment. One thing we have learned, is that lawncare is a must. Now many tenants are in fact, great at lawn maintenace, but we have learned to not take this chance. I am a very frugal person, and lawncare sounded expensive. I made a few calls and was able to have a friendly and professional lawn service team mow and edge the front and back lawns, and pull weeds for $15 a week! This gave us the peace of mind that while we were in the Bay Area, our prized property was being pampered and well looked after. Ensuring that your lawn is maintained properly will save you lots of money down the road, and when it comes time to sell, your manicured lawn will speak for itself! (our excellent lawn service in Sacramento was provided by Creekside Landscape Services.)

Picture Groupings

Large pieces of art are hard to decide on, and are often very expensive. I have always liked picture grouping to fill a wall thoughtfully with color. I gave dimension to a very large wall in my bedroom using two rows of three frames, spaced evenly apart: and I did it for free! I had six frames of equal size… these were purchased at Target some years before to showcase some of my photography. Instead of buying art, I looked to an old Ansel Adams personal calendar that I had saved, knowing that I would want to recycle the beautiful pictures. Instead buying matte board, I took some duotone patterned scrapbook paper to place behind the images. The paper keeps the picture grouping from looking sterile, and since the walls in my rental are white (a very SHINY white I might add), a little color is overly welcomed.

Simple Pleasures and an Organized Mess

I will occasionally add images from my home – it is nothing fancy, just touches of quirky design here and there. Like many others, I am stuck with the mortgage payment for my house in Sacramento and am suffering from the current housing market. Unable to sell it, my husband and I are renting it out to another family who is able to enjoy it. Until we can get past this hardship, we are renting a cute little condo in the Bay Area. Here, the same old rules apply: no paint on the walls. You must know that this kills me a thousand deaths because I have been trained by my very talented decorative-painter sister in many forms of painting techniques. But alas, with such restrictions, I must prevail for my own sanity. Here to show you one of my simple pleasures: clothespins.

Seamingly simple, I know. But not only do these little clothespins keep my bills partnered with their respective envelopes until it is time for them to journey onward, they also add a little bit of fun to an otherwise dismal corner of the office. This is my desk. I used little wire baskets from the kitchen section of Ikea to keep my clutter off of my desktop. Clipped to the baskets are my ever-handy clothespins. One tiny strip of scrapbook paper secured with a gluestick dresses up my organized mess!

Adding Color to Your Rental

Unfortunately, many rentals don’t allow colored paint on the walls, but that shouldn’t limit you. Strict parameters allow opportunity for creativity. One way to add color to your rental is by using fabric. Floor to ceiling curtains make a great focal wall, even if there aren’t any windows. Purchase enough fabric or curtains to cover the entire wall as a great backdrop for your couch or bed. I also read about using starch to “wallpaper” your walls using fabric. I have never tried this but rumor has it that it cleans up quickly without leaving residue on the walls. I am definitely going to try this and post my findings. In the meantime, here is a how-to on the very-helpful DIY Network website: click here

Have you ever walked through staged open homes? Have you noticed that all of the bathrooms have the hard to clean shower doors, but are covered with a shower curtain and a tie back? This would be a great way to add color to your bathroom while covering that less-than-attractive sliding glass door!