Home Moving Guide | Relocation Guide

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Home Moving Tip

for the weeks of: Feb 05

3-4 months Before Your Move Date

Before you decide on a particular area to move to, check out the schools, shopping area, zoning, neighborhood and more. Don't make any investment in an area without making sure it fits your comfort and objectives.

Weekly Tip:
about the neighborhood and location

New House or Redecorate? Going Minimal Could Be The Best Approach!

from our BLOG

By no means am I an interior decorator nor do I have much interest in that subject. But, I am a homeowner who understands that people need space to live and, in some cases, they need more of it. For millions of Americans making a move to larger quarters or expanding the current home may be something they’d like to do, but given the current economic climate, beyond their ability to carry out.

So, how do people make do under such circumstances? They go minimal, of course.

As I mentioned, home décor isn’t my forte but I have friends who recently made some small but significant changes to their home, steps which have made all of the difference for them. You may still need more space, but sometimes small changes can yield big results and delay the inevitable move or upgrade. Let’s take a look at what my friends did and did not do:

Remove Furniture – The family room was getting crowded with one sofa, two love seats and a pair of recliners. Although quite a large room to start with, the extra seating capacity, coffee table and floor lamps were getting in the way. One love seat and one of the recliners was removed as were the coffee table and all three floor lamps. Track lighting now supplies the bulk of the lighting — getting around a once crowded room can now be done with ease.

Toss Drapes – Both the family room and the living room had the biggest, darkest drapes you’ve ever seen. I like heavy drapes in the bedroom which is perfect for privacy and conducive to a good night’s sleep, but cotton curtains look better elsewhere in the house, allowing the light to flow in and giving the impression that the room is larger than what it really is.

Lose Doors – Open floor plans create a more seamless living environment while helping homeowners maximize their space. Short of removing entire walls, taking down a door between rooms can make a big difference. Also, widening the entrance way to a room where a door once stood can give the appearance of a home being larger than it is.

Choose Built-ins – If you have a large amount of wall space, why not consider getting rid of the bulky bookcase and create built in shelving instead? One of the easiest ways to do that is to remove an extra window, enclose it and replace it with shelving. The cut out is already there and you’ve just freed up a significant amount of needed floor space by transferring your books from the floor to the wall.

Some of the changes mentioned only give the illusion of more space including using lighter colors on the wall and ceiling or buying smaller furniture, steps which cost you extra money. You may not be able to upgrade your living quarters right now, but making interim changes now can allow you to get even more out of your dwindling living space.

Strike A New Mood By Repainting Your Rooms

from our BLOG

Without a doubt, your first impression of any room in a home when entering it is often determined by the color of the walls, even more so than the choice of carpeting, furniture, and fixtures. Warm colors evoke one set of moods while cool colors bring out an entirely different kind of feeling.

Selecting specific colors to create a mood is recognized by experts who understand the power of color psychology. By choosing the colors that are right for you, you can change your home without doing a major renovation.

Warm Colors, Cool Colors, Or Something Neutral

The Rohm and Haas Paint Quality Institute has identified two groups of colors for setting the mood. I’ll add in a third group, neutral colors, and then explain what I mean:

Warm Colors — Red, yellow, and orange are the brightest colors you can possibly choose, each evoking varying degrees of warmth and energy. Passion, intimacy, and sexuality are some of the feelings ascribed to a room with a red wall, but less so with orange. Yellow can be wonderful choice in dark rooms or hallways, but take care: if the shade is too bright it could create anxiety!

Cool Colors — Green, blue, and violet are some of the coolest colors, offering a sense of peace and calmness. Green and blue, of course, are natural landscape colors — the two colors which evoke relaxation. The perfect color group choice for a baby’s bedroom, play areas, and many other rooms.

Neutral Colors — If it is white, then it is right. White walls look great in any room as they signify cleanliness and purity. Popular in kitchens, bathrooms, and laundry rooms, white and close variations of the same are popular choices, the easiest to match with whatever you’re doing with a room.

Of course, some colors are virtually impossible to use and those include black, brown, and gray — shades which if mixed with white can look fine, but by themselves would create a mood too negative for any home.

Ultimately, your room color choices should depend on your tastes as you’ll be spending the most time in your house. If you decide that you don’t like a particular color or shade, you can always repaint the wall to suit your desires. Not a big home improvement project and a cost effective one at that.