Dolan Home Group

Dolan Home Group

Occupied Staging – What is it??

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What in the world is ‘OCCUPIED STAGING’,

and

why should a seller consider it?

 

Provided by

Katherine Frazier, Owner of Decorating Delight

 

The seller’s home is lovely to them as it is filled with their keepsakes, family photos, children’s treasures, Dad’s favorite lounge chair, Mom’s sewing room complete with floral drapes.

And there lies the problem…. the house is occupied with one families’ treasures, and prospective buyers simply can’t picture their family in the home.  Enter a Stager who is experienced in neutralizing spaces by pre-packing the family photos and treasures, even removing Dad’s favorite lounge chair to open up the room, turning Mom’s sewing room back into the 4th bedroom, and replacing the floral drapes with updated ones.

The house is now viewed by prospective buyers as a neutral space, without clutter and the seller’s personal items, and they can visualize themselves living in this lovely home.  And the best part of staging an occupied house, is that statistics show occupied staged homes sell faster than non-staged homes and at an increase in price of 1% to 3%!  Staging works!

BEFORE & AFTER

Enjoy Your Yard in the Summertime

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Summer in Florida can be hot and humid but there’s nothing like a neighborhood barbeque in your backyard. Prepare your home for guests with some landscaping upgrades in the backyard.

We suggest Martin Garcia with Extreme Cutz to many of our buyers who want to make their yard stand out for all the right reasons. The photo collage below is a beautiful example of Martin’s work.

landscaping before after

 

When improving your landscaping, you will want to make sure to abide by your HOA guidelines. Many Home Owner’s Associations require homeowners submit an application for changes to beds or addition of trees or shrubs.

To get a similar look, try the following:

Define plant beds. Widen existing plant beds and add new ones to bring visual interest toward the house.

Use materials that are low maintenance. A rock bed instead of mulch can be lower maintenance and make it easier to spot snakes lurking. A stone or concrete border can make keeping up with the edging easier.

Plant trees and flowers native to Florida.  When planning your landscape design, try to stick with plants native to Florida. They will be more likely to thrive in the climate. You can get some ideas to start at Floridayards.org.

We suggest Martin Garcia with Extreme Cutz to many of our buyers who want to make their yard stand out for all the right reasons. Contact Martin at 904-805-3467 for more information about how Extreme Cutz can improve your yard.

To see other examples of Martin’s work and read more landscaping tips, read our blog post Upgrade Your Front Yard.

Upgrade Your Front Yard

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Your home should be your favorite place to see at the end of a long day. Whether you are returning in the afternoon after a day at the beach or are pulling into the driveway after work hoping you remembered to leave the porch light on, you should feel an immense sense of satisfaction when you look at your home. There are many ways to increase the curb appeal of your house, and we have covered many of them here.

The front yard of your home will be a point of pride if you adapt a few guidelines for your family:

1

  • Add fresh mulch. There are many options for mulch in Florida. Whether you choose to use pine needles, wood chips, or bark nuggets, your beds will look amazing.
  • Improve existing edging. A clean border can add subtle visual interest and create defined areas for entertaining.
    2

 

  • Power wash the driveway and walkways. Pavers and concrete driveways alike will benefit from a thorough power washing. It will remove the debris of daily life and could lighten some stains as well.
  • Add a planter box near the entry. Make it easy to swap our seasonal flowers by adding a decorative planter box near your front door.

 

No one knows your home as well as you do. Identify your favorite features of your home and hire a landscaper to help you bring out those features.

Need landscaping for your home? The two before/after pictures above demonstrate the excellent work of Martin Garcia with Extreme Cutz.  You can reach him at 904-805-3467.

DIY: Tiling the Lanai

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Becky White and her husband took on the job of tiling their own lanai. The results of their labor turned out quite nicely! It wasn’t their first foray into the DIY World and I am very glad it will not be her last. She was very kind to grant me an interview:

Tiling Before and After

What prompted you to decide to do the tiling yourself?

We had just had a screened enclosure around the back of our house enclosing the lanai and pool. The cool deck apparently was never poured correctly and we had drainage issues that would sometimes flood the lanai area. So it was suggested that the lanai floor be raised with concrete and for safety issues either paint the deck and lanai floorings a different color because the lanai now had several inches of step down.  So we thought nice tile would look great and serve as a clear indicator that there was a
step down. We thought to incorporate the colors from the house and the decking so it would look well. We had tiled before and thought that we would just do it ourselves. Save a little money for the “cookie Jar”!

Have you done other projects like this before?

We had done tiling before at our previous home. Actually tiled the whole inside with the exception of a couple bedrooms. We already had a tile saw and the experience and this was a smaller area so we thought we would just do it ourselves. I had also tiled with ceramic tile in bathrooms and kitchen backsplashes.

How long did it take you to finish?

I would say it took about 3 weeks off and on and part of that time was allowing for cement to cure and grout to dry.

What was the easiest part of the project? The hardest?

I would say the easiest part of the project was just deciding to do it! Planning ahead, as far as what type of type of tile, tile design, where to have it centered and so on makes it a breeze. We were dealing with heavy items so we figured out how to do it in small batches. The cutting of the tiles can be a little tricky but I love the challenge of piecing them in there. I would say the hardest part is the cleanup! Cleaning the cement from between tiles and dried grout from on top of the tiles can be a challenge and I can still see some dried grout that I need to get off!

What other DIY projects do you think you will take on in the future?

Well the next immediate project will be to get some aluminum sheeting and sheet metal screws and put a cat door in our screened enclosure. Never did it before but, how hard can it be? I think our future like our past will be full of DIY projects.

Thank you again to the White family for sharing their DIY journey with us.

What kind of DIY projects are you planning to tackle? Let us know in the comments.

 

7 Reasons You Need A Pool

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It’s summertime in Florida and the weather has not been kind to its residents. A dip in the pool can be a welcome relief from high temperatures in the triple digits.

Whether you want to cool off in the afternoon or soak the stress of the week away, a pool can fit your need for some water therapy.

Pool with Pavers

1. Give yourself more room for entertaining. An in-ground pool surrounded by pavers can add plenty of square feet for outdoor parties.

2. Soak up some Vitamin D. Lather up with some sunscreen and enjoy the warm rays of the sun.

3. Exercise. Get in a private session of water aerobics. The resistance of the water is more gentle on the joints than high-impact cardio.

4. Encourage quality family time. Weighted pool toys and contests for who can hold their breath the longest will be the beginning of some fun memories.

5. Create a stress-free environment. Wind down from a long day with a glass of your favorite beverage and turn on the jets and fountain for some tranquil white noise.

6. Extend your vacation. Why save swimming for a weekend getaway? Use your pool at your convenience and feel like you live in a resort.

7. Add visual interest to your yard. Creative landscaping and a talented pool installer can match the style of your home and create a beautiful addition to your yard.

With a heater and a good pool filter, you can swim year-round in your backyard pool. Need more reasons to convince the rest of the family? Contact Carol about her recent pool installation.

Need a good pool vendor? Contact Chrissy for our list of pool vendors.

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