If you're planning on putting your home on the market soon, here are some designer tips to help you show off your home through a celebration of spring!
•· Remove old curtains to let the light flow in. Install glass shelves, and show off an arrangement of colored glass bottles and vases, set closely together, to create an artistic and beautiful privacy screen.
•· Replace heavy lampshades with lighter styles featuring pleats or folds in creamy silks, or recover an old shade with a cheerful, bright chintz. Replace white light bulbs with lavender or pink ones for a natural, soft glow.
•· Arrange a simple vase of forsythia, quince, plum or other shrub branches. Clip stems and place them in lukewarm water. Try to find branches at least a foot long, gently mist, and watch the colorful blooms burst far ahead of schedule.
•· Inexpensive terracotta pots painted white and planted with paper whites, hyacinths and tulips add cheerful color. Set in groups on a coffee table.
•· Add green topiaries in different shapes, and place a vase of pussy willows - a classic harbinger of spring - in the center of your design. Sprinkle natural, colored round stones or colored glass pebbles around your pots. For greater impact, group plants together.
•· If you have deeply set windowsills, set a window box directly on the sill. Explore antique and secondhand shops for a small wire garden table, and use it as a base for your box. Place it directly under a window, where plants will thrive in the light.
•· Before you fill your box with soil and plants, line it with plastic to prevent leakage. Or set plants in the box individually, placing each pot on a small tray or plate to catch drips.
•· Splurge on extra-soft, 250-count Egyptian cotton sheets. An all-white sheet set feels refreshing and restful.
•· For an instant facelift, add textured fabric bedspread or old-fashioned patchwork quilt. Drape a spread over a round table for an instant table skirt.
•· For an instant change, find a fresh fabric you adore and use it to re-cover dining room chair seats, or your favorite single chair. Many chairs have seats that are easily removed with a screwdriver. Remove seat, measure, and cut fabric into a shape large enough to tuck edges under. Use a staple gun to attach silk around the seat.
•· Take the smallest room and make the biggest change. For example, transform the look of a tiny powder room by painting walls creamy ivory or soft white, switching weighty curtains to simple sheers, and hanging a gold mirror over your vanity.
•· If you're lucky enough to have hardwood floors under your area rugs, why not roll up those heavy things and store them until next fall? Replace with colorful rag rugs for an American or French country look. Put down a sisal rug and watch how it completely changes the room. Many carpet stores offer huge sales in January and February.
Outdoor Space is important!
In the short Ottawa summers, your outdoor living space becomes important! It creates an extra room and expands the feel of spaciousness of the home; people can picture themselves entertaining outside in a well planned space. Don't choose a design based just on what is in style. Take a cue from your home's architecture: look at the lines of your home - the simplicity or the complexity of them - and make decisions on whether you want to contrast or complement them.
If your house architecture is very busy, you might want to contrast it with patio furniture that is extremely elegant.
Conversely, you can take a modern house with sleek lines and complement it with Asian-style furniture because of the cleanliness of lines. You can mix cross culture styles when you use the same aesthetic in all your pieces.
Be aware of just how big - or small - your furniture will be outside. Scale can be tricky. A big chunky Craftsman-style house would not be complemented by small, fussy Victorian wrought-iron patio furniture when wood would be a better choice.
You should consider your outdoor furniture as an extension of your home's interior decoration and make a seamless transition from indoors to outdoors.
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