Cheep Cheep Cheep

Decorating your Nest on a Budget

( Ramona Scarborough) 

A little bird, (or perhaps your real estate agent) has told you to spruce up your home to make it more appealing to buyers. You may have already spent large amounts of money on bringing your home up to present standards. Now feathering your nest calls for smart spending.

Start on the outside of your home. First impressions are lasting. Stand at a distance and try to see your home through someone else's eyes or call in an uninvolved person. (Speaking to strangers isn't always wrong) What needs to be subtracted? Overgrown bushes or trees to be trimmed? Too many yard gnomes or trinkets? That rusty bicycle your kid who now is in college rode in third grade? Mowing, edging, weeding and spading your flower beds is a lot of work, but free labor if you do it. Or you could give your neighbor kid some spending money, but watch them closely so they don't yank out your prize chrysanthemums that haven't bloomed yet. Or dig out all the bulbs you planted last year, or think your ground cover is a weed. Been there, done that.

Now that looks better. Next, add color. Pick inexpensive BRIGHT annuals from a chain store, a discount nursery, or where I buy mine, a sale to benefit youth programs. (After all, you're going to sell your house this year, right?) Place them where they can be seen. Read the instructions, full sun, part shade, etc. or you may scorch your investment and dead flowers scream neglect. Potted flowers or hanging baskets on your porch or at your entryway create a welcoming ambiance for a small cost. Before you step inside to implement changes there, stand outside your door. Your prospective buyers will be waiting for you to answer the door or for your realtor to open the lockbox. What will they see? A grimy knob? Decorative webs complete with spiders? A mat that has truly served its purpose...and has the dirt to prove it? You know what to do.

Now inside, you realize that a tidy house is a must, but your family also lives there and they are not Martha Stewart. If your realtor has a "hot prospect" and she "just happens to be in your neighborhood," have an emergency stash location (a covered bin, a neat box, not a closet or they may open that and everything will fall out) that you can throw messes into.

My "you could eat off her floors" mother gave me this tip. For a through cleaning, try it. Get out 3 bags, boxes, whatever. Start on ONE wall and ONE wall only. DO NOT glance at the rest of the house, too overwhelming. In one bag, place anything that needs to be thrown away, in the 2^{nd bag put anything that needs to be given away, (take THAT day to your favorite charity) in the 3rd, put anything that belongs in another room, (NO, DON'T put it away now.) Arrange whatever is left. Stand back and admire your tasteful design. Proceed to next wall, repeat. Then tackle the middle of the room. Eye that coffee table, is it a clutter table? Are the light fixtures or lamps dim due to dust or missing light bulbs? When showing your home, throw open the drapes and turn on lights. This is not the time to save energy. Turn them off the minute they leave, so your green conscience doesn't rear up.}

Small purchases make a home look better. Many thrift stores are given brand new merchandise that hasn't sold. I replaced my inner shower curtain and the outer one is a new regular curtain. (They often sell lonely single curtains there) At regular stores, the inner curtain would be around $10.00 and the outer one $27.00, so at $1.00 and $4.00, I saved $33.00. My crisp kitchen curtains for two windows were $9.00 and my new dishtowels with red tomato designs brighten my kitchen.

My suggestions here just scratch the surface and I'm sure you're no birdbrain. So come on, send me your "Cheep Ideas" in care of this website.