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6 Ways to Maximize and Modernize Your Space

It’s important to optimize your living space to suit your lifestyle and personal aesthetic. Whether you’re living in a small studio or a spacious home, here are some various tips and tricks to help modernize and maximize your space so you feel comfortable, light, and content in your home.  

Mount Floating Shelves and Cabinetry

Wall shelving and cabinetry looks very chic and modern, and is a great way to free the rest of your space from clutter. This simple design tool offers many possibilities; you can drape greenery, display your photos and knick knacks, while saving precious floor and countertop space. This will also help you feel more organized, contributing to a greater sense of peace.

Use Mirrors

Mirrors serve many functional purposes, and can really assist in creating an illusion of space. Especially if you’re in a bachelor or one bedroom apartment, strategically placed mirrors will help the space feel larger. By reflecting light, they also make your home brighter. Try placing on walls, doors, and cabinets to expand your space.

Choose Light Colors

Dark paint colors, though they look nice, tend to make a space feel more claustrophobic and dim. Choosing lighter colors like beige, eggshell, cream, or light gray can make a big difference in how you perceive your space. These colors can create a sense of openness and serenity, while making your home appear brighter. You can also incorporate lighter tones in your furniture, decor, and curtains to fully exemplify an open and airy feel.

Utilize Vertical Space

While having to store some items in your space is unavoidable, you can use methods that will take up a minimal amount of space. Installing floor to ceiling shelving or cabinets can act as a makeshift pantry, closet, or just ample storage space so you can effectively minimize clutter, and organize everyday items you need in a controlled space that isn’t on display. Vertical space can also be used to create a sense of height and airiness in a small room, making it feel larger and more open. 

Choose Furniture with Legs

Furniture that’s slightly elevated creates the illusion of more floor space, along with serving an aesthetic purpose. Furnishing your home with pieces that have legs opens the room instead of suffocating it with items, and nicely blends vintage and modern styles. In addition to this, choosing furniture composed of natural materials such as wood, stone, and metal add warmth and texture to a space. 

Focus on Simplicity

When it comes to organizing and modernizing, one of the key elements is simplicity. Modern design is all about clean lines, minimalism, and a focus on functionality. To achieve this look, it’s important to choose furniture and accessories that are both stylish and practical. For example, a sleek and simple desk can be a great addition to a modern home office, while a minimalist dining table and chairs can create a chic and sophisticated eating area for you and your guests. 

Maximizing space is all about being creative, and utilizing the available space efficiently. By incorporating multipurpose furniture, wall-mounted shelves and cabinets, mirrors, light colors, and creative storage solutions, you can easily create a living space that is both stylish and practical, even if you have limited space to work with.

Sustainable Living: How to Make Your Home More Eco-Friendly

With climate change and environmental degradation becoming more and more severe, it’s essential we all take steps to reduce our carbon footprint, and adopt more sustainable practices. This blog will focus on the growing trend of sustainable living, and how homeowners can make their homes more eco-friendly to reduce their carbon footprint.

Reduce Energy Consumption

Reducing your personal energy consumption can be accomplished with a few simple changes. You can start small by replacing old light bulbs with LEDs, for example. LED lights use significantly less energy than traditional bulbs, and last longer. This will be energy efficient, cost-effective, and time-saving.

You can also install a programmable thermostat automatically adjusts the temperature in your home based on the time of day, and your typical schedule. This prevents heating and cooling systems from running all day when they’re not necessary, and saves money on energy bills.

Reduce Water Consumption

We tend to use a lot more water than we actually need. In fact, the average Canadian consumes 6400 liters, or 1690 gallons, of water per day. A lot of this consumption is embedded in food, clothes, and products. Additionally, 10% of homes that have leaks waste 90 gallons of water or more per day from things such as dripping faucets. This is why it’s so important to perform regular maintenance on your home, and if you notice a leak, have it resolved immediately.

Even small changes in consumption make a big difference! Try reducing the amount of time you spend in the shower, and not running the tap while you’re brushing your teeth. You can also take more intentional steps by installing low-flow shower heads and faucets. 

Use Eco-Friendly Cleaning Products

Many traditional cleaning products contain harsh chemicals that are harmful for the environment, and bad for your health.

There are many great alternatives that clean well, disinfect, and aren’t unhealthy. Even combining simple ingredients like vinegar and baking soda in a spray bottle makes for an excellent cleaner that leaves your home spotless. This is both an eco-friendly and cost-efficient solution to keeping your home clean!

Buy Decor Made of Sustainable Materials 

Furniture and accessories that are made from sustainable materials such as bamboo or reclaimed wood are a great way to not only be more environmentally conscious, but are often a subtle way to add more touches of character to the interior of your home. Try to avoid synthetic materials such as polyester and nylon, and go for natural fabrics like cotton, linen, or wool for your bedding and curtains. These materials are far more sustainable than the former.

Buy Second Hand

Thrifting secondhand items is a mutually cost-effective and environmentally friendly practice. Clothing is massively overproduced and recycling anything you can helps a ton! You can find high quality items at almost every thrift store, as well as decor, books, and a lot of other miscellaneous items. These can make for great decorations and accent pieces. Also, consider making donations to secondhand stores when you do your closet clean outs – many people will likely have a use for items you no longer like or need!

Reduce Your Waste Production

We tend to waste a lot without even realizing it. The number one best thing you can do is cut down on single use items, particularly plastics like water bottles, cutlery, straws, plastic produce and grocery bags, and coffee cups. Investing in a good water bottle, tote bags, and stainless steel straws can help reduce your impact.

Recycling plastics and containers and composting your food waste are also important components to a sustainable lifestyle. You can make this easy by setting up designated, color coded bins around your home so all waste ends up in the designated bin. 

In conclusion, there are many simple and effective ways to make your home more sustainable. By reducing your energy and water consumption, switching to eco-friendly products, acquiring decor with sustainable materials and picking up secondhand when you can, you can significantly reduce your carbon footprint and actively contribute to a more sustainable future. 

Are you interested in other effective ways to change your home environment for the better? Check out our blog ‘Creating a Home Environment that Promotes Well-Being” here.

Top 5 Benefits of Working with a Real Estate Agent

Buying or selling a property is a complex, and often overwhelming process. This is why many people engage the services of real estate agents for guidance and expertise. While some may think paying the fees for an agent is an unnecessary expense, there are a multitude of benefits to working with a professional. In this blog, we’ll explore why working with an agent can provide you with more than just monetary success on the transaction side; agents have a fiduciary duty to you that comes with several benefits. Continue reading to learn the top 5 benefits of working with a real estate agent.

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Physical vs. Virtual Staging: The Pros and Cons of Each

Home staging has become one of the most critical aspects of preparing a home for sale. The primary goals of staging any property are to depersonalize, aesthetically separate the space from the current owner, and make the home more attractive and appealing to the potential buyer pool. The idea is to create a space that people can see themselves living in, and getting as close to the ‘showroom’ look as possible.

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Creating a Home Environment that Promotes Well-Being

Our living spaces have a significant impact on our mental health. The way we design, decorate, and organize our homes can either enhance or detract from our general sense of well being. In recent years, the importance of creating a home environment that promotes good mental health has gained more attention due to the popularity of practices such as feng shui, the Chinese art of arranging your surroundings to achieve balance and harmony in your life. In this blog, we’ll explore the relationship between our living spaces and our mental health, and provide tips for creating a home that will support your personal wellbeing, and help you thrive in all other areas of your life.

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Real Estate and the Arts

An examination of the intersection of real estate and design

The Ancient Greeks were the first to link art and real estate. They believed that the placement of art within a home was a significant indicator of wealth and status, thus, their homes became overrun with sculptures and mosaics. These pieces were often commissioned by patrons who wanted to display their wealth and power.

During the Renaissance, wealthy patrons commissioned artists to create elaborate frescoes and murals on the walls and ceilings of their homes, many of which were designed to reflect the patron’s status. Artists such as Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci were able to create some of the most esteemed works of art in history thanks to the patronage of wealthy Italian families.

In the 19th and 20th centuries, art and real estate became even more closely linked. As the value of real estate began to rise, the value of art followed suit. Wealthy collectors began to buy art as an investment, and displayed their collections in elaborate homes and mansions. This practice is common today, with many high-end real estate listings featuring art collections to add value and prestige to the property.

As you can see, there’s a distinct relationship between real estate, and those who appreciate art and design. We know that art and unique configuration have the power to transform the energy of any space, and buyers appreciate the distinctive connection they feel viewing a well staged and decorated home. These traits help them to imagine themselves living there, and envision their day to day. Carefully curated art also has the power to help people connect with the home on an emotional level.

After the conception and popularity of home staging in the 1970’s, a strong focus on design and aesthetics has become a must in the real estate industry. The practice of home staging was first introduced by Barb Schwartz, a real estate entrepreneur in the United States. She identified the need to present her client’s homes in a more attractive and depersonalized way to draw more prospective buyers to her listings, and sell them at a faster rate. Her concept was revolutionary at the time, and her clients soon began to reap the benefits of her approach; homes that had been sitting on the market for months without any offers were selling within weeks after new aesthetic touches. Since its inception, home staging has become an integral part of the real estate industry, and is recognized to generate a higher sale price. A study by the National Association of Realtors found that staged homes sold for an average of 17% more than unstaged homes.

Art has also remained a key piece of the modern buying experience. Art creates a unique and memorable atmosphere, and well-placed piece can transform a space and invoke emotion. These pieces don’t have to be expensive or rare – art appeals to all demographics, and can create a holistic experience no matter the cost.

Commercial realtors have been using art in their branding strategies for some time now in to build a lasting impression of the brand, differentiate themselves from competitors, and create a sense of prestige and sophistication around their organization. Art is placed on display in a common area such as a lobby so all clients and visitors are immediately introduced to the tone of the brand, and gain a better understanding of the company’s personality.

Another way art is utilized in commercial real estate is by commissioning local artists to procure or create pieces specifically for the space in order to tell their brand story and project their vision. This also fosters connections within the local community.

If you need ideas for home staging and decorating but don’t know where to begin, check out this helpful article.