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House to Home - Ideas for Your New Place

Whether you are moving into something new, or just want a fresh look for your existing place - here are some great tips, ideas and sage advice on making a house a home.

The keys are yours!  You’ve gone through the process... the searching, deciding, inspection, stress, closing and finally, the elation of buying a new home.  Now, you have to make it your own. Here’s how.  Whether you are moving into something new, or just want a fresh look for your existing place - here are some great tips, ideas and sage advice on making a house a home.

Pick one room and make it yours. Go slowly through the house. Be polite, introduce yourself so it can introduce itself to you.
— Frances Mayer - Under the Tuscan Sun

Color -  Paint is the least expensive, easiest way to update a space.  It can individualize a room and put your personal stamp on your home. Pick your color style - From calming nature-inspired neutrals, clean, fresh whites, to bold and fun retro colors, whatever you have in mind for your style, color can showcase it.  And color doesn’t have to be just on the walls - If you want to keep the wall color simple, infuse color with your furniture, art or accessory choices.  Get your craft on by painting a piece of furniture, or recover your dining chairs seats with new fabric.  Try trending wallpaper on a single accent wall or power room. Create a signature look with a statement making - front door color. With color, the change is quick, easy and is all you.

Benjamin Moore Aegean Teal Blue Door (Photo: Benjamin Moore)

Peel and Stick Bold Wallpaper

BOLD WALLPAPER

CREATE A STATEMENT WITH SOME FUN AND FUNKY WALLPAPER. PEEL AND STICK MAKES IT EASY

Home Paint Color Organizer

ORGANIZE YOUR PAINT

WITH THIS GREAT PAINT COLOR ORGANIZER

Your Favorite Things -  This is your chance to create a space that reflects your unique style. Home should hold your beautiful art, furniture, passed down family treasures and loved flowers in your garden beds.  Simple daily rituals with favorite things, cozy slippers slipped on at the end of day,  or tossing your keys into that old bowl, will infuse you into the home.  It could be something new that defines your new chapter of home - that perfect comfy sofa you spied, a fresh new style that you’ve wanted to try out, fun new pillows to add a splash to a patio set. By incorporating these favorite things - you’ll become instantly grounded in your new space.

KEY BOWL

PERFECT FOR YOUR FOYER OR COUNTER TOP TO TOSS YOUR KEYS AND MAIL IN

Make Your Bed!  A bed is your personal haven and cocoon.  Dressing your bed makes your home environment feel luxurious.  Even if the bedroom still has boxes, you can sleep well with a beautifully made bed. It can boost your mood. Making your bed is a simple task that can have a big impact on your mood. Studies have shown that people who make their beds are more likely to feel happy and positive. Make your bed so that every time you see it, you want to jump into it.  I like to mix old with new. New, fresh, very fancy (the best you can afford) sheets, a stylish linen duvet set slipped over your old favorite down comforter and pillows. Pair the bedding with Grandma’s quilt or your favorite throw at the end of the bed and you'll be ready for a great night's sleep.

LINEN DUVET SET

SOFT, BEAUTIFUL AND EASY TO CREATE A GREAT SPACE

Room to Room - This is where you channel Frances Mayer, the character from the book/movie "Under the Tuscan Sun" - by going room to room to make it yours. When you first move in, take some time to spend in each room. This will help you get a feel for the space and start to envision how you want to use it. Don’t try to tackle the entire home’s decorating and styling needs, instead, try to work on the spaces you spend the most time in first.

5 Senses - Nothing says home more than seeing, smelling, hearing, tasting, and feeling your favorite things at home. Put out those family photos, beloved books, play music, light some candles in your favorite scent, open your favorite wine and curl up on that fluffy sofa and celebrate home! 

Your home should be a place where you can relax and escape from the stresses of everyday life. Make sure it's a space that you love spending time in. With a little effort, you can easily make your new house feel like home. So take some time to get settled in, add your personal touch, and start creating memories in your new space. - Julea

Need HELP? From move-in services to one day room makeovers, I’m a call away 708.448.7500 Julea@Julea.com

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Home Staging Julea Joseph Home Staging Julea Joseph

Best Styling Home Staging Accessories

Selling a house requires you to bring out its very best. Here’s a short list of my favorite home staging accessories.

Selling a house requires you to bring out its very best. Here’s a short list of my favorite home staging accessories. Why? ‘Cause they’re easy like Sunday morning. Easy to find, easy to style, BUT make a big impact on presenting your best space. Betcha you have these already, but if yours are tired, dated or you are moving to a new place that could use a few of them - I’ve got you cover in my last post.

Take a gander at the infographic and make sure to read the details. If you want to learn more about accessorizing, join me this Friday, the 17th via ZOOM hosted by MAINSTREET ASSOCATION OF REALTORS for my Accessorizing for Home Staging Workshop. Starts at 10am. If you are still in need of assistance , or want to get a pro’s home styling eye, call me - I’m happy to help you with your poor accessorizing aptitude. I can be reach by phone and text @ 708-543-8597.

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Building Block Home Decorating Accessories You Need!

Whether you live small or large, this accessory collection can seamless change from decorating to entertaining in an instant.

Whether you live small or large, this accessory collection can seamless change from decorating to entertaining in an instant. Use my "Good Bone" accessories as your base template for styling your home. Each can be used in multiple ways, be changed out quickly space to space, for a season or the holidays. These accessories too can make you a bit more organized, and when entertaining - some, can be staples and service any of your hosting areas from bar to buffet. Win, win.

(** Heads-up, if you’d like to shop my collections, the links are in the item and the picture - I’m part of the Amazon Influencer program and receive a small commission of sold items.)** Link to entire collection - LINK

JULEA’S LIST OF BUILDING BLOCK HOME ACCESSORIES

TALL CANDLESTICKS: A set of tall candlesticks elevate your styling whether topped with candles or any scale friendly object you want to display. Their height is the key ingredient to great accessorizing - Always perfect for a mantle, but also should be considered on a coffee table, kitchen island, or even in a bookcase. For entertaining, add a plate (use poster tack putty) and your buffet or bar will be elevated to new heights.

DOUGH BOWL - The perfect decorating vessel. Rustic, organic, Farmhouse style, with just the right ‘opposites attract’ interior design element that any room needs. Fill it with whatever you please, from holiday greens for the season to faux succulents as a centerpiece. Line it with cloth napkins and for entertaining - it’s the best baguette holder for your dinner party.

LARGE BLANKET BASKET - A large blanket basket can service besides blankets, entry shoes, seasonal wear, kids/dog toys, a statement in-door plant, towels, laundry. Too, it brings texture to a space, and its lovely form offers a pretty visual for a storage piece.

LONG WICKER TRAY - A nice long wicker tray adds casualness and texture to a surface. Great topped on a granite island, your dining room table or to house personal items on a bathroom counter or nightstand. A tray too offers a template to decorate in. For entertaining, pop in a long platter or bowls with your favorite sides, or use for serve items such as napkins, silverware, plates, or more.

WIRED CLOCHE - Bring the outside in with a wire cloche. Casual, unbreakable, and easy to use and store. Anything under a dome becomes more important and adds an element of surprise to your accessorizing.

CAKE STAND - A cake stand can hold more than cakes - as a decorating element, it can be the needed centerpiece element to an arrangement. Alone, or with an added plate, the stand can make something simple stand out and up. Add to the cake stand with the above cloche and you have real WOW factor decorating accessory!

NATURAL ABOLONE SHELL - I know it sounds a bit weird that a shell would make my ‘must have’ list. But I stand by my shell. This pretty, small, vessel can be a lovely natural addition to a side table or a vignette on your coffee table. Perfect in a Powder Room with a bar of soap, wrapped candies, on your kitchen windowsill to hold your rings, or a spoon rest when entertaining or as a salt cellar. It too can sit alone on a bookcase or in a cubby. I found mine while walking on a beach in Half Moon Bay, CA, so besides being functional, it holds a special memory.

WINE/CHAMPAGNE BUCKET - Iconic shape, better than a bowl, Can house ice to a tabletop Christmas Tree. What’s not to love about an oversize wine bucket? On your dining room table as a centerpiece, in your foyer with floral arrangement, on your coffee table with magazines and books. You know what to do with it for entertaining…

SILVER TRAY - Anything silver adds panache, especially a tray. In baths to entry tables - this fancy tray makes anything on it, special and upscale.

FAUX BOOKS - Faux books are a favorite for any home stylist. An added element horizontally, or vertical, they add dimension to any display.

FOOTED HURRICANE VASE - A workhorse accessory. A footed hurricane vase can be your standard decorating element in one spot. It can change each month with fresh flowers, change seasonally or with a holiday. It can be flipped over and used as a candle stand, or as a lift for a buffet with an added plate, bowl or platter. In a bathroom with bath salts, washcloths or kid’s toys, in the kitchen as a terrarium or water garden, and in the laundry with laundry care products.

RECHARGEABLE ELECTRIC CANDLES - Oh happy day! No more batteries. Candles add that ambiance and the 5 sense element needed in a space. These offer a timer, and a remote for ease of use, and then when spent, you just recharge them. We all know where to use them, and if you need direction, see above list. One added idea, since they come in a trio, consider ribboning them together as 1 cluster.

I hope you were inspired to weed through your current accessories, perhaps shop for some new ones, and use these great building block accessories in creative ways. Please share if you use one of these accessories in an different way, we’d love to know!

Stay tuned for a new collection - HOME STYLING or STAGING TOOL KIT FAVORITES. Staples and tools that I have in my tool bag when I head to interior style and home stage a home. - JULEA.

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