Curbside Garden

Tired of cutting grass? Add a garden in the parking strip instead. Here is a great one using rocks and shrubs. The plantings  are set back far enough to get a car door open and the rocks provide a place to walk when exiting the vehicle. Very low maintenance.

Weird bonus areas in Portland bungalow attics. How to use them.

How many Portland bungalows have a weird attic bonus area with the staircase in the middle of the space and a walkway to one side? It would seem there is not much you can do with the space. However, someone came up with this great solution! In this photo, you can see they placed a twin mattress on one side of the staircase and added an interesting bedspread. They hung some shades for privacy, punched up the color on one wall for pizazz, and decorated with interesting collectibles. It makes a great reading nook to curl up with a book. It can also function as a guest room. (If you plan to use it as a sleeping area, check with your local building officials to make sure there are escapable windows that meet fire regulations.) (Photo: Re-purposing an Attic from Dyanne Wilson Photography on the houzz.com site.)

Handrail for front steps

 Add an interesting, quirky handrail to your front steps for a little pizazz on the exterior. These were made and installed by Portland artist and metal worker Todd Littlehales.

Renovating a bathroom sink-- Before and After

Before:

This dated, do-it-yourself, bathroom sink area needed an overhaul. There were mixed sizes of tiles and funky, 1950's era, mirrors and fixtures.

 

After:

A new porcelain sink is supported by a furniture style cabinet. There is white wainscoting on the wall. A partition between the sink and the toilet was removed to open up the room. A wood framed mirror (actually an old window with the glass removed and mirror panels installed) and a small wooden cabinet, for storage, complete the look. Now the bathroom compliments the rest of the 1914 vintage home.

Beautiful Fence Details

This great fence has a unique pattern in the top and I love the two colors of stain which gives it even more pizazz! It takes an ordinary backyard and transforms it into the extra ordinary.

Refurbished fence with rock wall

This is a nice two tier system. The rock wall brings the grade up to yard level and the fence gives privacy. Recessing the stone wall and the fence allows for interesting plantings and breaks up the mass. In this particular case, the fence had been an older, taller, 6 foot, straight, vertical slat fence with dry rot in the bottom and tops of the slats. The slats were removed, the dry rot cut off both ends and then the shorter slats were re-nailed back onto a new frame. The lattice portion was added to the top to bring it back to the original height. There is still plenty of privacy since the yard is high up from the sidewalk. Add an arbor to the  gate with a grape vine, some white paint courtesy of some high school age friends, and the result is beautiful landscaping for a private backyard.

Staging Your Home to get more money! Before & After

     Here are some photos of a home I listed. We took a very boring, ordinary basement room with 1960's fake wood paneling, an exposed water supply line, and an old linoleum floor with rust stains on it and turned it into a warm and inviting family room.

    The plumbing line was boxed in. The walls and ceiling painted a warm color. The stained floor was professionally washed, waxed, and buffed. Then a stager brought in family room furniture and an area rug. WahLa!

    This now adds good livable square footage to the home.The home sold in a short period of time and for a higher price than if the work was not done. Call me if I can help you with your real estate needs to get you a higher price. (The colors in the third photo are truer colors to how it really looked.)