Summer time! do you have proper bedsheets?

It's hot, sticky, and humid, well it can be if you don't have central air. This summer make your bed feel the most comfortable it can be by following these simple ideas.

1) Do not buy fitted or flat bed sheets that exceed 600 threads per square inch. A weave greater than 600 is too tight which results in trapping body heat, & prevents skin from breathing properly, which as we all know can be very uncomfortable.

2) The day's are longer which can be great but if you have children that you want to place into bed early or even have a job that requires you to sleep during the day, don't automatically feel like you have to paint your room black just so you can get some decent shut eye. Try investing in some custom blinds or drapes, I recommend a roman blind backed with a light blocker. I have this in my guest room and everyone that sleeps in there never is up at the crack of dawn (unless an alarm is set)

3) Too keep your room as cool as possible if you do not have air conditioning keep your blinds and Windows closed during the day while your at work. This wont allow the sun to heat up your home as fast. Once the evening comes open all the windows to allow the cool summer breeze in, it's like having your own air system.

4) Make it your oasis, keep only BEDROOM item in this space. Removing anything associated work, kids, parents, TV anything you may find stressful and not allow you to fully relax in this space! You need to have one space with in the home you can call your own, making it the bedroom wont let you down! Think of a high class hotel room, everything is segregated from each other and the bedroom's remind you of an oasis, a getaway why not have one at home!?

Sweet dreams & Stay cool
-Kristy

2009 Home Renovation Tax Credit

The Home Renovation Tax Credit is an incentive created by the government for people to get reimbursed for some of the money they spend on renovations. You can claim up to $1350 on your 2009 income tax return.

Here are the items that are eligible to claim:
- the renovation of a kitchen, bathroom or basement
- installing new carpet or hardwood
- building a deck, fence, retaining wall or addition
- new water heater or furnace
- painting the exterior or interior of the house
- laying new sod
- labour costs
- fixtures
- building materials
- professional fees
- permits
- equipment rentals

Items that are not eligible:
- Appliances or furniture
- Purchase of tools
- Carpet cleaning
- Maintenance contracts ( furnace cleaning, snow removal etc.)

Visit www.cra-arc.gc.ca/gncy/bdgt/2009/fghmrnvtn-eng.html for more information.

Today's Vacant Staging

Click here to view these pictures larger

Decorating or Redesign Room Layouts

Living in your home for a while or moving in shortly sometimes you just don't know what to do with furniture! If you currently live if your home & you don't know if your room layout is the best or maybe you even hate your existing layout we can help!
With Interior Redesign we take your existing furniture with in that room (or even other rooms) and help you determine the best possible lay out for this room. We will take room measurements and furniture measurements and develop a birds eye view layout of different lay out possibilities.
This way you can see how your furniture will look BEFORE you move everything around which makes it much easier on you and your back!!
With Interior Decorating we do the similar process we take room measurements and that's it. We will determine the best layout for the room and different types or styles of furniture that will fit best in that spot for your specific needs we've discussed earlier. This is great for new home buyers who just don't have very much furniture or someone who is looking to revamp their room with a new look.

To book your apt give us a call 613 832-8958 or visit the web www.CapitalHomeStagingAndDesign.ca We are dedicated to getting you the room of your dreams with in ANY budget!

Eco Friendly Decorating

There are many things you can do these days to decorate but also be keeping the environment in mind. Many of these ideas are better for your health and will also save you money and time.

* Use 100% Recycled Plastic Paint Trays*
Wash out your paint tray when you use it and save if for the next time you paint instead of throwing it out.

* Use No VOC Paints*
VOC stands for Volatile Organic Compounds. These compounds are found in many types of paint as well as other man made products. They let of dangerous fumes into the air for you to breath in while painting your room your favorite colour. No VOC paints allow area painted to used sooner and they don't have harmful fumes to breath in.

*Paint Brushes with Removable Heads*
Brushes that have these removable heads are easier to clean and use less water to clean.

*Drapery Liners*
Buying a curtain that has a drapery liner attached will help block out the heat in the summer time and keep the warmth in in the winter time.

These are only a few tips for ECO friendly decorating. Look for more on websites, books or stores.

Natasha :)

Why use a professional stager.

Home Staging is a very popular service all over North America for everyone selling a home. You've seen the TV shows and it doesn't seem too hard to fluff pillows and pack up items so you can do it right?

Wrong, well you can start packing we wont stop you on that but being a professional home stager is more than just fluffing pillows and re hanging art. To be a professional home stager you have to understand the real estate market, know who your target purchaser is, and history of decor so you know what type of layout or accessories is appropriate for each room. It also involves graduating from an Home Staging School, I graduated from Quality Course Design School which is a local school here in Ottawa. In school we learned about colour history, psychology, and applications, Room styles and what makes a certain room a "Traditional" "Casual" "Eclectic" etc type room. We also learn about decluttering properly, neutralizing decor, depersonalizing with out impersonalizing, the visual weights with in a room, Focal points whether it's natural or made, how to make a focal point if you need to and more! I could go on for ever talking about what we learned in school but I'm sure you wouldn't want to read it all! Home Staging is our career so we know the Ottawa market and what each homes needs or doesnt need.
If you are the hands on type we have packages where you get to assist us with the projects that way you get to put your staging skills to the test.

As you may know FIRST impressions are everything. Dont pass up the opportunity to have a professional stager take a comb though your home and let you know the BEST way to appeal to the most amount of home buyers.
-Kristy

Bouclair

If you ever need help finding ideas for accessories go to your local Bouclair store. This place is awesome! The store is usually arranged by colour so you can see what's available to make your room beautiful. The prices are pretty reasonable and they almost always have a sale or promotion running. You can also sign up for their email club and be sent the latest promotion. It's definitely a great one stop shop for all your decorating needs!

Choosing the Right Colour

When trying to choose a colour for decorating always make sure you pick it in the light produced in that specific room. The best time to look at colour samples for a room is in the day time, this produces the most natural light. Don't forget to also look at that colour sample at night time with the lights on. What you see during the day in the natural light could be completely different then at night in the light of your lamps. Different types of light bulbs will also produce a different glow and will make colours appear different. Remember, when trying to choose colours in a store always bring samples home to see them in your environment!

Natasha

What is Interior RE-Design?!

Redesign is the "Eco friendly" version of interior decorating. As a professional re-designer we need to think outside the box. What do my clients want to get out of this experience, do they like the existing lay out? Are their pieces with in the room they would like to replace? those items they want to replace we may be able to use in a different way!

We take room measurements and furniture measurements so once we get back to the office we can make a birds eye view of the room. This way we can compose many different layouts for their existing furniture and possibly even see if a piece of furniture from another room would work in this space. Once we have a couple of different types of room layouts we also think of what can we use though out the home in that room to decorate it. Think shopping inside your own home, the benefit of having an "outsider" looking though your items is that we can think of ways or places they can be used. An old mirror hiding in the basement corner, a piece of art, family photo that was collecting dust, or something like an old coffee table on it's way "out" what about converting that coffee table into a bench!? have you thought of that? It's simple all you need is batting, fabric, staple gun, cord & paint or stain for your legs of the table.
Even if this new seating can not be used in the room we are redesigning once we have given it a new purpose it can find a new home in another spot in your house.
Once we have the main items altogether (the layout, added pieces from other rooms, reused items we have transformed) the next step is paint choice. Based on what colours you have existing in your room already this will determine what colour your room should be. We can always tweak paint colours at any stage of the game to give you the feeling you want.

And voila you have your room redesigned all using items with in your own home!
You can have you room redesigned for as little as $150.00 which is MUCH more affordable than interior decorating.

Cheers
-Kristy

DIY Staging

We are currently working on pulling together a DIY Staging kit. This is not your average "book" that talks about how important staging is.....you know that! that's why you want to DIY!!
So we are making a DVD, putting together a work book, room layout templates, list of where you can buy or rent items in Ottawa for staging & MORE!!

This package is going to be pulled together from all of the CHS&D Staging professionals to input their own suggestions and tips for staging. It will help you get a starting point to what you need to do with in your home.
If you are thinking of adding upgrades to your home such as flooring or a bathroom, consider bringing in use to asess if it's really needed. Some homes will sell with out renovations other will need it no matter what! Dont waste your money on un-necessary renovations we can determine if it's needed or not.

Our DIY Staging Kit is estimated to be out late August.

We will keep you posted on it's development.....actually everything is ready except our DVD so hopefully we'll be able to provide you with this set ASAP!

-Kristy