Recently I  visited San Francisco, my birth city, and for the first time in my life walked all the way across the Golden Gate bridge.  It was a beautiful day, which is rare for the city, normally it's foggy or cloudy and cold, but these pictures capture how gorgeous my city is on a beautiful day.  I love San Francisco and I wanted to share why I love it with all the rest of you here on AR.  There are so many things to do and see, it is so rich with culture and diversity.  Enjoy!

We spotted a family of dolphins in the water, but were too fast and far to get any good pictures of them.  Here is a picture of the Golden Gate bridge from below.  The bridge was completed in 1937, it is the second longest suspension bridge main span in the United States, it ranks fifth as one of the most favorite architectural landmarks in America.  Surprisingly, only eleven men died during construction and it cost around $37million to build.  It really isn't "golden", the color is more of an orange-red and the maintenance crew climbs up on top of those suspension poles to get to the top of the towers, because of the weather and ocean salt, the bridge is always being painted.  What a job!

 That pointy building is the Trans-American building.

Thanks for visiting and I hope you enjoyed these pictures as much as I have.

©2009 Emma Vargas| Simply Staging | Cameron Park, CA | 530.417.1337 |

I love, love, love my magazines and get lots of creative ideas from them.  Here's one that stood out as one that I couldn't wait to try, it was easy, it was fun and can be used again and again for stagers.  Use a closet door as a headboard.

When the seller's budget is tight, and we've all been there before, and there isn't enough to rent a real bed with a headboard or paint a room, this is a great alternative for adding drama and color. 

Here's what you need: 

• One or two old hollow closet doors, make sure you use the side that doesn't have a hole for the handle, use the smooth side.  It should be hollow because we need it to be easy to carry and hollow doors are very lightweight.
• Paint the door with your color of choice, preferably one that coordinates well with the colors to be used in the bedroom.  A quart of paint from your local hardware store is all you need for 2 to 3 doors.  Use a high-gloss to protect the paint since you will be moving it around a lot.  Or use a flat paint and then a sealer.
• Get creative and paint stripes or coordinating color blocks, my first attempt was a basic one color and it turned out pretty nice.  I think my next project will include a more dramatic color scheme which will surely add drama and sophistication to a room.

See for yourself, for this project I used two different sized closet doors for a little interest.  I hung these on the wall for greater height, but you could also just rest them on the ground and lean them up against the wall or just use one door and hang it horizontally for a more traditional looking headboard.  I spent about $40 total for paint and the 2 doors.  This was for a guest bedroom and the colors gave the room a very romantic feel.  (Can you tell I used an air mattress?  Be honest.)

Where did I get the closet doors?  I go to my local Habitat for Humanity ReStore (check out this link for stores in the Sacramento and El Dorado County areas) to get great 2nd hand building materials and miscellaneous goodies for my projects.  It's a win-win because I'm helping my local community and recycling materials.  If you haven't tried a 2nd hand building material store yet, check your local listings to see if you have a Restore near you, you won't regret it.  The prices are great too!

"Habitat for Humanity ReStores are building supply stores that accept and resells quality new and used building materials. They generate funds to support Habitat's building programs, while reducing the amount of used materials that are headed for overflowing landfills! They are an environmentally friendly store that makes sense!"

I'd love to hear from anyone else who's tried this or has other creative headboard ideas to try.  Please share your pictures with us too.

Simply Staging has been offering Home Staging Solutions for both the "Vacant" and the "Not So Vacant" homes in El Dorado County and The Greater Sacramento area for more than 3 years.  For a free proposal, give us a call at (530) 417-1337 and see what it takes to get your home "Sell Ready".

This is a classic example of how some good old fashioned elbow grease, can transform an outdated house into one amazing home - and without having to spend a lot of money doing it.

Several months ago, I received a call from an ASP Real Estate Agent to provide a Consultation for an upcoming listing.  I try to get as much background information from the agent first so that I know what I'm walking into.  The agent said that the house was nice, well maintained, in a good neighborhood, but it was old and needed a lot of updating.  In addition, the homeowners wanted to sell at the higher-end of the price range, but of course - they had a relatively small budget for updates.  I love a challenge, so I said "bring it on!"

Fortunately, the kitchen had been recently updated and it looked pretty fantastic.  Overall the home had been lovingly maintained and it showed, the sellers had great furnishings to work with too, but all the love in the world couldn't hide how outdated the bathrooms were and how dark the house looked and how empty the living room was.  The old oak trim and oak cabinets throughout the house gave away the home's almost 30 years of age and made it very, very dark inside.

There was a $1,000 budget set aside for any updates and the staging costs, not very big at all when considering what needed to be done.  The good news was that the sellers were willing to do whatever it took as long as it was within the budget.

The RE Agent knew that the house was going to have to look amazing to get the top dollar that the sellers so desperately wanted.  Did I mention that they'd already bought their new house?  So they needed to sell fast to avoid the two mortgage problem.  Calling in a Stager to determine what changes will bring in the biggest bang for your buck, is definitely a wise investment. 

The Staging Consultation recommendations included minor, low cost changes, but there were many of them and three larger projects that would require some hard labor, a little know how, and not a lot of money.  The bigger projects included:  1) Painting the oak trim and cabinet's white.  2) Changing the shiny, brass light and bathroom fixtures to something a little more modern, like brushed nickel and 3) Adding living room furniture to the living room area to provide a good first impression.

These changes were not very costly, the painting was time consuming, but fairly simple to do, and made huge impacts thoughout.  This is a before and after view of the cabinets - what a difference!  Oak is no longer attractive to most buyers and a fresh coat of paint was all it took to get this area looking updated and made the hall brighter too. 

This is a picture of the updated bathroom, new light fixtures, new water faucets, painted cabinets, new mirrors and updated hardware.  Low cost update, new looking bathroom!

The living room was completely empty.  The homeowner's never used this room, so they never put anything in it.

This is the after shot of the living room.  We didn't use a full sized sofa, but 2 simple reading chairs and rug and some pictures to define the rooms size and add a little warmth.  Even with a small budget, the room looked and felt better.

The few pieces of furniture were rented from our inventory and the painted trim & cabinets made the house look brighter, newer and much more modern.  The updated fixtures gave the house a fresh look too.  Buyers obviously thought so as well because the first open house weekend which was 3 days after completing the 3 big changes, resulted in 3 offers! 

3 big changes for not a lot of money, 3 days on the market, 3 offers! 

Now the sellers wished they would've done the recommended changes years ago because the house turned out so well and they didn't get to enjoy it for very long! 

 Simply Staging has been offering Home Staging Solutions for both the "Vacant" and the "Not So Vacant" homes in El Dorado County and The Greater Sacramento area for more than 3 years.  For a free proposal, give us a call at (530) 417-1337 and see what it takes to get your home "Sell Ready".

Homeowners,  If you plan on selling your home anytime soon, please, please, please - Leave the staging to a professional stager and leave the selling to a professional Real Estate Agent.  It could save you lots of time and money in the long run.

Selling a home is not as easy as some people might want to believe it to be, if it were, then there'd be no need for real estate agents, inspectors, mortgage companies, stagers, photographers, pest inspections, etc...   We are all experts at what we do and even if you think you know what you're doing, finding out that your wrong during your own home sales transaction could be a very costly mistake.

Staging is indeed not an easy task either, so don't plan on doing it yourself without some professional guidance from an experienced stager.  Did you know that most staging companies offer services to help guide you through the staging process so you can do it yourself?  And at a cost equivalent to a home inspection? 

Here's a true example of how things might turn out:

In this scenario, we have a homeowner, who decided that hiring a Real Estate Agent was the right thing to do before putting her house on the market.  Her new agent strongly recommended that the homeowner meet with a staging professional to get some ideas and recommendations on how to properly prepare the home for the market.  This is where things start going wrong:  The home owner said she didn't need a professional stager because her house was already staged.  She had done it herself and gave each room a purpose and made all the necessary changes.

This is a picture of the room before, just a big empty room.   

Then after of the homeowner's interpretation of what the empty Living Room should look like staged.

  I never did get the opportunity to meet with the homeowner, but was able to view the house while it was on the market and my professional opinion was that it was not properly staged at all.  Unfortunately, I watched the house sit on the market for several more months, until the price was finally brought down around $75,000.  Only then did the house sell. 

I'm amazed at what some people's idea of staging is versus what it really should be.  Now, I'm not saying that this is everyone's idea of staging and some of you might even be really good at it - who knows?  But do you really want to find out if you're doing it correctly or not on your own house and find out months and $75,000 later that you'd made a mistake?

Simply Staging has been offering Home Staging Solutions for both the "Vacant" and the "Not So Vacant" homes in El Dorado County and The Greater Sacramento area for more than 4 years.  For your proposal, give us a call at (530) 417-1337 and see what it takes to get your home "Sell Ready".

Once Upon a Time, about 10 to 15 years ago, in a land called The Greater Sacramento Area, there were many new housing developments popping up all over the place.  The "newness" of these homes along with the "lower than average California going rate" made our area very attractive to home buyers all over the California Kingdom.  One of the disadvantages of buying a newer track home was that yours would likely be exactly the same as 100's of others in your village.

This is a tale of two track homes with the same exact floor plan, same buyer, same Realtor, very similar lots, "for sale" at the same time... OK, I think you get the point - just about the same everything.  There was one difference and I'm sure you've guessed by now what that was, one was staged and the other was not.

We begin our story with the home buyer, they were taken to see the unstaged home first, as they entered, it was the awful smell that struck them first.  Kitty litter mixed in with the scent of cheap cologne and a strong, but unpleasant, cover-up air freshener.  Next, our buyers notice the walls painted an ogre green (Like Shrek) and brown (like baby poop) and an entry full of stuff, the kitty hair balls everywhere a huge fish tank and wires everwhere.  Not a very good first impression.  The old hand-me-down furniture, unmade beds, dirty bathrooms and an untidy kitchen through out the rest of the home didn't help improve that impression either.  The buyers hated almost everything about it, their words, not mine.  This is an actual picture of the home being shown while on the market.

Now onto our second home, the homeowner simply followed their agent's direction to meet with a stager.  After they clearly understood the value of home staging, they did almost everything their stager asked; in the end it cost a few paint cans, a storage unit, a few tough weekends, a little inconvenience and a few hundred dollars investment for the staging consultation.  Our second home was staged to perfection.  Our buyers were welcomed into the home with clean floors, no unpleasant odors, beautifully painted walls and a neutral, but welcoming foyer.  Did they want to see the rest of the house?  You bet they did. 

How do I know?  Well, because the Real Estate Agent told me so.  At the end of the tour, the buyers were ready to put in an offer on the staged home.  Instead of being thrilled that he had finally found a house for his picky buyers, the agent stands there confused. 

The Agent:  "Don't get me wrong, this is really great news, but why did you tell me that you hated the house and now you want to put in an offer?" 

Now it's the buyers turn to be confused.  The Buyers:  "What do you mean?  We love this house!  Why else would we want to make an offer?" 

The Agent:  "Well because you told me on the first house that you hated it and now you want to put in an offer on the same house." 

The Buyers:  "This isn't the same house as the smelly one."

The Agent:  "Yes, it is the same house as the smelly one.  It's the same floor plan, same everything!  I thought I had mentioned that to you already.  Didn't I?"

The Buyers:  "Are you kidding me?"

The Agent:  "No.  I'm not kidding."

The Buyers:  "Well, I'll be darned.  Now that I think about it, it is the same house.  Wow!  That's incredible!" 

The Agent:  "So, do you want to look at the other one again?" 

The Buyers:  "No.  Why would we want to do that for?" 

The Agent:   "Just in case you want to compare them again now that you know they're the same."

The Buyers:  "The only reason we'd want to see that house again is to see how much lower our offer will be because it isn't as nice as this one.  But on the other hand, we'll have to do so much work to get it to look as good as this one." 

How did the story end you ask?  Well, our buyer wanted a move-in ready house and so they offered full price for the staged one. 

My agent loves to tell this story because when he does, sellers don't need anymore convincing. 

Sure it could have ended with the buyer going for the "smelly" house and my story wouldn't have ended as happily.  But don't think for a moment that the homeowner of the unstaged house wouldn't have questioned why his house sold $20,000 to $40,000 below his neighbor's staged house.  

The moral of my story:  Do your client and yourself a favor, recommend an experienced stager and you too can live happily every after with a client for life.  The End

 Although these are not pictures of the actual homes described here in the tale, they are actual before and afters of a recently staged home that shows what a difference a few small changes can make.  Moving the dresser helped open up the room to make it look bigger from the buyer's perspective.

__________________________________________________________________________

Simply Staging has been offering Home Staging Solutions for both the "Vacant" and the "Not So Vacant" homes in El Dorado County and The Greater Sacramento area for more than 4 years.  For your proposal, give us a call at (530) 417-1337 and see what it takes to get your home "Sell Ready".

Highland View Beauty for sale and staged by Simply Staging.

Live in this desirable neighbrohood and home. This home has everything and is move-in ready. 

Gorgeous formal living and dining room areas with high ceilings, travertine tiled floors, custom built-ins and niches for displaying treasures.

Lovely but functional kitchen with plenty of granite counter space and custom cabinets.  Next to kitchen is a large butler's pantry for even more storage.  Kitchen looks out to the nook and family room area, with views into the lush backyard and hills beyond.

Master bedroom is exquisite and classy.  Great architectural features here, notice the ceilings and the mountain views.  Huge master closet for all your clothes and storage needs.

Anyone for a swim?  Backyard is separated into various areas for entertaining, for the kids and a grass areas for some football practice.  This gorgeous pool has a cascading waterfall and was built to please.  All high-end materials used and it shows.

Spectacular 1-story home nestled on .86 acres with lovely local views in the desirable neighborhood of Highland View. Entertaining is easy in this superb floor plan featuring separate living and dining rooms and a spacious family room opening to the gourmet kitchen. The living areas feature travertine floors and large windows overlooking the beautiful pool with cascading waterfall, large patio areas and beautiful local views. The master suite features an elegant bath with limestone and walk-in closet. Bonus room included for kids or adult entertainment.

For additional information on this home, please contact Real Estate Agent:

Jackie Dean, Coldwell Banker, (916) 939-3151

Simply Staging has been offering Home Staging Solutions for both the "Vacant" and the "Not So Vacant" homes in El Dorado County and The Greater Sacramento area for more than 4 years.  For your proposal, give us a call at (530) 417-1337 and see what it takes to get your home "Sell Ready".

Great Folsom location in Briggs Ranch, with an extra large open family room and kitchen area for entertaining.  You'll have to see this one to believe the size of this great room.  4 Bedroom, 2 1/2 Baths, 2824 Square Foot home and a large Bonus Room too!

Briggs Ranch is the location of choice in Folsom! Great home for your family. Great home for entertaining, with a wonderful granite kitchen overlooking a huge family room. Separate living and dining rooms too. Pride of ownership shows throughout. 3 car garage, 2 story home and a private backyard that's sure to please. 

Gorgeous granite counter tops, plenty of cabinets for storage, open to nook and family room.  The ultimate kitchen with an open concept.

Large master bedroom with a front seat view of the greenery in backyard.

For more information on this home, please contact Real Estate Agent: 

John Domeier at Coldwell Banker, 916-608-3940

Home Staged by Simply Staging

Simply Staging has been offering Home Staging Solutions for both the "Vacant" and the "Not So Vacant" homes in El Dorado County and The Greater Sacramento area for more than 4 years.  For your proposal, give us a call at (530) 417-1337 and see what it takes to get your home "Sell Ready".

That's easy, Right?  Painting over it would be the obvious thing to do, but as the staging consultant, we don't own the house; sometimes these things are beyond our control.  As much as we'd love to implement all of the recommended changes to a house before it goes on the Real Estate market, for whatever reasons the home sellers aren't willing or able to do many of them. 

For our unattractive wall color, no matter how many times we recommended that a more neutral color be painted over the wall color, the homeowner simply ignored our requests and gave us no logical explanations.  My only guess was that the homeowner was tapped out financially by the time they hired Simply Staging to help them sell their home, so unfortunately, the ugly wall color stayed. 

So, I'm not a color expert by any means, but the more I see Yellow used on walls, the more I realize that it is a very tough color to get right.  This last vacant home staging project was no exception.  My room was bright, sunshine yellow, and yes, we almost needed sunglasses to go into that room because it was so bright, I'm not kidding, it was very bright - Did I mention it was bright?  But wait, there's more, someone attempted to fix the mistake, but instead of repainting over it, they did an awful sponge paint technique over it to try and mask the bright yellow.  Unfortunately, their cover-up attempt just made things worse.  The sad thing is that almost everything else about the house was really, very nice. 

Here is a picture of the room that I am referring to; this picture doesn't do it justice.  It was really much worse in person.

Okay, I'm getting to the point here (finally!).  The Problem:  A potential buyer seeing the brightly yellow painted living room walls for the first time will likely be taken by surprise, then horrified and then will quickly realize that it'd have to be painted over.  That means extra work, time and money.  Most new home buyers today don't want to spend anything extra sprucing up their new home, they want move-in ready, and that's the reality of it.  As easy as it would be to fix the paint color, many buyers won't be able to overlook the problem and accept the house as is. 

So, the house is checked-off of their list for consideration and the buyer moves on to the next one.  That is how quickly and easily a home can be dismissed.  Not very good for the seller - Is it?

The Solution:   Make the brightly painted yellow wall color a non-issue, so that the potential home buyer either doesn't really notice or doesn't mind the color.  Here's what we did at Simply Staging to minimize the impact of the yellow walls.  We hung a larger than life-sized picture on the yellow wall that is first seen as you entered the house from the front door. 

The picture was not to cover up the wall, as some might believe, the picture was chosen because it complimented the wall color so well.  You see the picture itself was a gorgeous vintage poster, which are currently very trendy and desirable in many of today's contemporary homes.  One of the dominant colors in the poster was a yellow very similar to the wall color.  We used this picture as the inspiration to the room and made the picture appear as though it was there first and then everything else in the room followed later.  We brought in a lot of reds and greens for accents which were colors we pulled directly from the poster. 

Notice in this picture of our living room, the walls no longer appears to be as bright as they were before.  Luckily, we already had this poster in our inventory and it fit perfectly, but even if we didn't, it would've been an inexpensive purchase, from $80 to $180.  See Art.com for more great vintage poster finds.

In fact, bringing in this poster worked so well, that the final buyer was only willing to buy the house if the poster came with it!  So, as much as I loved that poster myself, off it went to a new owner and we had another happy seller, a new happy homeowner/buyer (she absolutely loved the poster and how it looked in the room), and a happy Real Estate agent and another staging success story.   

Simply Staging has been offering Home Staging Solutions for both the "Vacant" and the "Not So Vacant" homes in El Dorado County and The Greater Sacramento area for more than 4 years.  For your proposal, give us a call at (530) 417-1337 and see what it takes to get your home "Sell Ready".

Home Interior Redesign is the process of giving new life to furnishings and accessories that we currently enjoy in our homes.  It involves decluttering and rearranging spaces so that they flow better, and are showcased in a way that best fits the room's function and the homeowner's needs.  It is providing the final touches to a room that gives it that pulled together, "DESIGNER" look that most of us strive for but just can't seem to achieve on our own.

Hom Interior Redesign is a less costly design alternative because as decorators, we can, and will use everything that you already own.  Or we can provide input on what new accessories/furnishings, or even new paint colors to bring in to the space if the homeowner would prefer a little something extra.  With a redesigner's guidance, we will help avoid costly mistakes; we bring our expertise and knowledge into the decision process, so you can feel secure in knowing that your room will look fantastic.

Here is an example of a recent Living Room Redesign (see Before picture below), my client's furnishings and accessories were beautiful, she had excellent taste and had good idea of what style or look she was going for, but couldn't quite make it work.  The other problem was that her formal living room was not being used, no one ever voluntarily sat in there and she felt as though it was a room that was being wasted.  Simply Staging's goal was to create a room that would be welcoming, comfortable and inviting so that guests would want to sit down without feeling that it was too formal. 

Some of the furnishings and accessories in the room are a little outdated, but still in great condition.  However, our homeowner knew that she wanted to replace the sofa and love seat, as well as several of the pictures and fabrics.

In this case, the client knew she wanted new things, but wasn't sure which direction to go and had a very tight budget to work with.  This is where a few hours of a Consultation with a Redesigner can be very beneficial, we will help direct you, keep you focused on your end goal, provide you with shopping resources and help you choose which new accessories, window coverings, pictures and colors will work best with the look that we are trying to achieve. 

Notice the After picture below looks like a completely different room!  We accomplished this fabulous look by purchasing second-hand sofa and love seat, adding fresh paint on the walls, rearranging the furniture placement and purchasing a few new furnishings and accessories. 

The room has been transformed into a warm, inviting and elegant living room without being too stuffy.  We re-used many of the existing furnishings and accessories; we just managed to make them look a lot better by pulling the room together with color and placement.  Our homeowner was extremely happy with the result and was completely satisfied with her Redesign experience.  Simply Staging provided many new ideas and input in to her room, the furniture placement was one that she said she would have never done, but yet it looks and feels like the absolute best way to use the space.  Another successful Redesign by Simply Staging!

Simply Staging is a Home Staging and Redesign company offering Decorative Solutions for both the "Vacant" and the "Not So Vacant" homes through out El Dorado County and The Greater Sacramento area.  Give us a call at (530) 417-1337 and be another satisfied Simply Staging customer.

When money is tight, but you're looking for a kitchen update, consider a Do-it-Yourself kitchen cabinet refinishing job.  Whether you're moving and need to update a kitchen before putting it on the market or staying put and just wanting to update your kitchen - updating cabinets is an excellent option for giving your kitchen a whole new look.  Hiring a professional is obviously also an option, but you can estimate an average of around $50-$75 per door and when you're on a budget this can really add-up fast even in the smallest of kitchens.  If you're not handy, then hiring someone is really the wiser option because doing it wrong yourself the first time will mean you'll have to do it all over again and as you're about to see it will cost you a lot of time and money. 

Refinish or Replace?  First of all, you need to ask yourself whether or not your cabinets are worth saving.  If you find that they're just old and no longer in style, but are in really good condition, then refinishing is a good option.  In fact, many of the older cabinets were built better than today's manufactured cabinets, so saving them is a worthwhile cause.

Cabinet Refinishing Options - There are two options to refinishing cabinets, paint or stain.  If you choose to stain, then finishing off your cabinets with a coat of polyurethane or lacquer is always recommended to protect the finish.

• If your cabinets are already painted, then the recommendation is to paint them again either the same color or a new color.  For example, your cabinets are currently painted white, try painting them black to give your kitchen a nice dark, rich look.  Be careful though if you go black, make sure that there's plenty of light in your kitchen otherwise this option will darken up the space and make an already small, dark kitchen even darker. 
• If your old cabinets are stained, then you can either paint or restain them a different color. 
• The hardest and most time consuming thing to do is if your cabinets are painted and you want to stain them because then this would mean that you'd have to strip the paint first, sand and then stain.  This is a much more difficult job and is not a quick do-it-yourself project.

Step-by-Step Refinishing Process - The first step to refinishing cabinets is removing the cabinet doors.  Easy to do, but not so easy to put back on if you don't take the necessary steps.  Imagine taking off all of the doors and finding when its time to put them back on that they don't fit properly.  One of the easiest and most helpful tips you will learn from all of this is anytime you remove cabinet doors, you label them with masking tape to ensure that each one goes back in its proper place and in the same order that they came off.

Protect Your Kitchen - Cover-up counters, floors and appliances with drop cloths.  You're going to be making a big mess with cleaners and water so you'll want to protect the rest of the kitchen while you're working on your project.  When the project is completed, picking up your mess will be that much easier.

Get your old cabinets as clean as possible.  Visit your local hardware store for wood cleaning products.  If you're cabinets have been around for a while, then there'll be a lot of oil build-up that'll need to be removed.  When using a cleaner, follow the package directions and allow yourself at least a day.  This step will require a lot of elbow grease to get the cabinets and doors as clean as possible.  After cleaning, you can start staining. 

Prep Your Cabinets if Painting.  If you're painting the cabinets, then you'll either need to sand or use a deglosser for the next step.  My recommendation would be to use the deglosser, it is so much easier and less messy than sanding.  The deglosser is found at your local hardware store, you brush it onto the cabinets and allow it to dry - that's it!  You're ready for the primer.  Of course, you can sand if you really want to, but be sure that the cabinets are really clean and dust free for your primer, otherwise it'll ruin your finish if they aren't.  Use a good primer for your base coat and let it dry, as soon as it's dry you can start painting.  All of these steps allow the paint to stick to the cabinet's surface.  It'll give your cabinets a more professional look and will prevent the finish from bubbling or peeling in the future.  Doing these steps guarantee a long-lasting finish. 

Don't forget the hardware.  Remove all the hardware and clean those too, usually soaking them in hot soapy water is all it takes to get the grime off, a little scrub with a soft brush will usually do the trick for those hard to reach areas.  Better yet, if you're going through the trouble of updating your cabinets, why not get some new hardware while you're at it.  Buy hardware with updated finishes to give your cabinets a completely new updated look.  You'll be amazed at how new your cabinets will look just by adding the hardware, be careful though, some hardware can be very expensive and will quickly add-up.  Its best to go mid-range so that the hardware doesn't look out of place, remember the rest of your kitchen isn't getting a facelift so you'll need to consider when too much is too much when choosing hardware.

Final Finishing Touches - To really make your updated cabinets look custom, try adding some molding to the top of the cabinets.  For another custom look, try adding some molding to the face of the doors.  Get ideas from one of your favorite custom kitchens, look at the cabinets and see if you can add pieces that will replicate your dream kitchen.  If you don't own a saw or even if you did you wouldn't know how to use it, then get your local large chain hardware store to cut the pieces for you.

You don't need to be a licensed contractor to refinish your old cabinets.  With proper planning, some good old fashioned elbow grease, maybe even a little help and a few weekends (or more), you can get an updated kitchen at a fraction of the cost to replacing them.  You'll be amazed with the results and you get to have bragging rights when guests come over and comment on your beautiful cabinets. 

Simply Staging has been offering Home Staging Solutions for both the "Vacant" and the "Not So Vacant" homes in El Dorado County and The Greater Sacramento area for more than 4 years.  For your proposal, give us a call at (530) 417-1337 and see what it takes to get your home "Sell Ready".