Usher in Spring With Bathroom Interior Decorating - Glass Shower Door Renovation Ideas

If you are looking for ways to improve your bathroom without the hassle of a complete remodeling job, think about decorating with mirrors and renovating with glass shower enclosures.

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Mirrors easily can create a new look on a small budget. Create an illusion of more space in the bathroom by adding a mirror that covers the wall from one end to the other. Make a smaller space larger and reflect natural light for a brighter, livelier feeling.

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Create a more relaxing bath atmosphere by placing mirrors under candles to catch the candlelight flickers. Use an old picture frame to border a mirror; easily attach the frame to the mirror with liquid glue. Decorate an old mirror with flowers, garland or decals.

If you have a higher budget, but you don't want to break the bank, you can turn the entire bathroom into a new luxurious spa. There are plenty of design and decorating options available that can make your bathroom more enjoyable and valuable.

Invest in a new shower enclosure or invest in a steam shower. Remodeling your existing shower into a steam shower is difficult as a do-it-yourself project, but fairly simple for glass professionals to install in a day. Steam showers are like having a spa in your home, as you can relax and escape from the outside world without worrying about the expense of a large whirlpool tub.

Another simple idea that can make a big difference in bathroom atmosphere is to add new lighting. Dimming lights are best, because depending on the mood you're in you can adjust the settings to make the room brighter or dim them for a more relaxing, intimate feeling.

Don't forget the windows, either. Decorative glass or glass etching can add simple elegance to any window. New window treatments can dress up the bathroom or make it more casual. Window treatments that match bathroom accessories can change your bathroom from feeling dull to classy in an instant. Use two different towel colors change the mood of your room anytime. Speaking of colors, painting the walls a new color or adding a colorful, patterned wall paper can make your bathroom more unique to your taste.

If these ideas still aren't enough, you can add an entire new bathroom to your home by renovating a walk-in closet or reducing space in a bedroom. According to the U.S. Remodeling Sentiment Report, adding a new bathroom was the most popular home remodeling project last year. The report predicts there will be a 13 percent increase in homeowners wanting to remodel this year.

However, if you don't want to take out a small loan to add a bathroom, transforming an existing bathroom is the way to go. Plus you don't have to hire a construction general contractor, you can work with an interior decorator and a glass service specialist.

"We work with interior decorators, such as Decorating Den Interiors, to install standard mirrors and glass tub or shower enclosures," said Matt Nicklaus, owner of Glass Doctor of the Inland Empire, based in Hesperia, Calif. "It's a great way to create a unique atmosphere for your bathroom and maximize your budget, because we do the work ourselves, we don't subcontract."

By working closely together, the Glass Doctor and Decorating Den Interiors (visit http://www.decoratingden.com) teams can help remodeling projects go smoothly and exceed expectations. Shower enclosures or windows from Glass Doctor can increase your home's value while remodeling the bathroom, or you can simply use mirrors, decorations and other tips from Decorating Den Interiors to brighten up the small space after a long winter.

Usher in Spring With Bathroom Interior Decorating - Glass Shower Door Renovation Ideas

About Glass Doctor®:
From windows to windshields to storefronts, Glass Doctor can handle any glass need. Glass Doctor also offers custom glass services, such as tub and shower enclosures, entry door glass and mirrors. Established in 1962 with one shop in Seattle, Wash., today Glass Doctor offers complete glass repair, replacement and services to the residential, automotive, and commercial markets at more than 300 locations in the United States and Canada, with more than 175 Glass Doctor franchise owners. For further information or to find the location nearest you, visit http://www.glassdoctor.com or call 1-866-318-9304.

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Spring is Here! Eight Tips on How to Stage Your House For Sale

Chances are the words "seller's market" will not be uttered in reference to this year's housing market. But you may be in a position where you HAVE to sell your house now. In this current housing market, to say the competition is tough is an understatement. You only have one opportunity to make a great first impression on your potential home buyer.

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We were fortunate enough to have an interior decorator walk through our home, and give us some very good (free) house staging advice as a gift to us. Here are eight tips on how to stage your house for sale.

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1. Clear out the Clutter. Yes, clear out the clutter in every room, every closet, and even the basement (aka the dumping ground). The potential home buyer can't see through your mess, and shouldn't have to imagine what your house would look like without the clutter.

To clean out our clutter, we rented a 15 yard dumpster for a couple of weeks spending about 0. It's a great, freeing feeling to toss all that stuff out, believe me!

If you have items you need to keep, but space is an issue, check out the rates at your local storage facility. We are currently renting a 10 ft. x 10 ft. storage area for a month. This has allowed us to clear out our basement. Our plan is to finish our basement, and turn our two bedroom into a four bedroom home before putting it on the market.

2. Paint using a neutral color. Whether it's because of an unusual color choice, or just to cover up scuff marks, and your kid's artwork, painting will really help to clean up your house. We have an open concept home where the kitchen living room and dining room are all wide open.

The decorator recommended the neutral paint color: Benjamin Moore, Powell Buff. Benjamin Moore paint is expensive, but you can save some money by getting a swatch, and have Home Depot or Lowes match the color with a more economical paint.

This neutral color, painted throughout most of our house, has given the house a clean/rich appearance. We also used this color in the hallway, and in our boy's bedroom.

3. Clean the carpets and re-grout the tile. While cleaning the carpets will obviously improve the appearance of your house, re-grouting the tile was something we wouldn't have thought to do.

We have an ivory color tile in our front entrance and bathroom. The grout was a taupe color. The decorator suggested going over the existing grout with a lighter color grout. This job is easy, but time consuming and messy. Check out Lowes for a huge selection of grout colors and tools for grouting. We chose a lighter taupe and the results are impressive giving the tile a fresh look.

4. Replace carpet if necessary. Our great room carpet was just over ten years old. It was in a room with a wood burning stove, and it was also the room where the kids hung out, and made many a mess. That carpet was stained so badly that it was an embarrassment. We were long overdue for ripping it out. We easily disposed of the old carpet right out the slider and into the dumpster.

The room is rather big at 20 ft. x 20 ft., and we agreed that faux wood laminate would be the best choice. We purchased the laminate at Lowes for about 0 (less than the price of carpet) and installed it ourselves. It was a tough, all weekend job, but the result is a nice clean "wood" floor.

5. Evaluate the furniture and replace if necessary. Our furniture was fine with the exception of our informal dining room table and chairs, and one couch that we had in our great room. This couch was nearly as old as I was (we are the third owners) and had been covered just as many times. It was in rough shape, but It had worked out great for our two messy boys! The decorator said it was time for the couch to go. That's where the dumpster really came in handy!

The table and chairs were outdated too, and we sold them on Craig's List. These were stored in the storage unit, and the neutral location worked out perfectly for the sale.

The decorator was gracious enough to go furniture shopping with me. Knowing we have to stay within a certain budget, she suggested we meet at Jordan's Furniture Outlet Store in Avon, MA. We purchased our couch here for a great price. Jordan's is where our decorator shops on a regular basis (for the clients on a budget, whose homes she stages) to get some great deals. Items are either overstocks or have some minor flaws. The turnaround is fast, because there are a lot of repeat customers scouting out the great deals.

We spent 0 on a couch and love-seat, and the couches were flawless overstocks. This purchase qualified (then) for entrance into their Red Sox Monster Sweep, which they are promoting again this year. If you purchase from them, and the Boston Red Sox sweep the World Series, Jordan's will give you a rebate for the entire amount of the eligible item. Wouldn't that be nice?

Using last years "Stimulus Check" and tax refund, we purchased the couches (0) an antique white and cherry table (7) six antique white side chairs ( ea.). Please refer to the photos below. We are very happy with the furniture, and of course it will come with us to our new house.

6. Move your furniture. The new couches were placed in our living room and the "old" leather living room couches were moved out into the great room.

I am no decorator, so this is where her advice was really helpful. To make the room look 100 times better, she pulled the couch away from the wall, to create the "L" shape that you see in both the living room, and the great room photos. This one change gave the room a more intimate seating area. The room immediately felt cozier and more inviting. She suggested adding a sofa table behind the couch, displaying a lamp and an ivy plant, none of which we have purchased yet.

In the great room photo, you will see that each couch is flanked by an end table. On each end table there is a 36" tall lamp. The coffee table is centered and displays a pretty bowl. Also in this great room photo, the TV is flanked with shelves on either side. This was the decorator's suggestion to move our shelves around the TV, and to make a focal "entertainment center" out of what shelves we did have.

The bedroom furniture was moved into the orientation shown. The decorator suggested floor length drapes for the window treatment. She suggested 24" table lamps for each night stand, and matching pictures to hang above each night stand. The sleigh bed is now the focal point upon entering the room.

7. Decorate at a discount. The decorator took me to another one of her favorite stores, Home Goods. I think I had only been to a Home Goods one other time in my life, but this particular trip was certainly worthwhile.

Based on the living room wall color and couches, I picked out two similar pictures, that we hung close togehter behind our coach.  These pictures have green, orange/red and brown colors. With the pictures in my cart, I was able to match the colors to glass candle holders, bowls and other "chatskies" (as the decorator calls them). She suggested adding some faux grasses and (believe it or not) plastic artichoke decor. It really looks nice!

8. Keep the house warm and smelling fresh. Our Great Room has a propane stove for heating. During the winter months, we normally keep the heat off, unless we are out in the room. The decorator advised us to keep the room warm if showing the house during the winter months. Also, using pledge furniture cleaner before a showing will leave the house smelling clean and fresh.

House staging is a lot of work and can seem overwhelming, but take it one step at a time, and you will get there. For the short time you remain in your house, you will enjoy the fruits of your labor. Good luck!

Spring is Here! Eight Tips on How to Stage Your House For Sale

Kristi Maloney is a Freelance Business Writer, specializing in marketing communications. Her writing services include: Sales Brochures, Press Releases, Web Articles, Web content, Print Articles and Ghostwriting. Her technical writing background will ensure that your copy is concise, specific and professional.

To find out how Kristi's writing services can help your business, visit http://www.kristimaloney.webs.com

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