A Shade of Green from the Government!

The Canadian Government is increasing Canadian economy by adding a number of programmes and incentives "to promote "green" projects and the development of clean technologies and renewable energy." The only thing is, HOW MUCH PAPER DO WE NEED TO DO TO GET THEM???? Apparently "on an individual level, the budget contains measures designed to promote energy efficiency and conservation through a retrofit program intended to provide home and property owners with grants of up to $5,000 to offset the costs of making energy-efficiency improvements. The budget states that grants will apply to a variety of measures that reduce energy consumption, from increasing insulation to upgrading a furnace. The budget pledges $300 million over two years to this program to support an estimated 200,000 home retrofits." Lets make sure we take full advantage of this, this could really be a great start to an eco-friendly home, and what a better way to start a movement then within your own home!! For more information check out: http://www.mondaq.com/article.asp?articleid=73622
If anyone has more information regarding this program, I am all ears!

Until next time,
w&c designer girl!

Home Staging is like a good Spring Cleaning!

With the market today a lot of us are having to put our houses up for sell. It is a buyers market so you want to make sure your house gives a great first impression. When you are selling your property you need to think of it as a house not a home. Which means Declutter, Depersonalize and Simplify. Why are Show Homes so affect? because people can visualize it as their house and their lifestyle not the lifestyle of the people in all the pictures or of the kid that enjoy sports. D.D.S can sometime be hard to do and you start to feel like you are in a show home, but that is exactly what you need to do to sell fast! The more corners you can show the better, it gives the illusion of a room being larger. Less furniture makes a room larger, less clutter lets a room speak for itself. Softer simple colours creates a clean look and a great first impression. Think of walking into a high-end Hotel room and the initial reaction you get from the decor, clean and simple.
Hide the kids toys: when people walk into a house that is over run by kids their first impression is dirt, damage and marks.
Emotion plays a huge role on the purchase of a house, so make sure you capture them with sight and smell! Pick up fresh flowers or light that cookie candle, dim the lights and have soft music playing. It sounds silly but it works!
I had a client ask "how do I know when I have decluttered enough?" when you feel uncomfortable because it is to bare.
You don't need to take my word for it is proven in the stats, that houses that are staged, sell for more and faster. So if all else, what do you have to lose! Yes it will take sometime to do D.D.S but it is time well spent!

Until next time,
w&c designer girl!

Heres my 2cents on the 2009 Interior Design Show!

Just got back from this years Interior Design Show - overall okay! The badges I thought was quite creative and fun, plus they were eco-friendly! The booth that stood out the most once again, I am sad to say, was Ikea! I find their booth exciting, clean, easy to understand and inspiring, even if you don't want to use Ikea products they give you some really good ideas for an inexpensive design approach. For some reason I find their booth always to be the most memorable, I don't know if it is because I am shocked on how stunning some of their pieces can look or that when put together right it doesn't look cheap or easily breakable! However the Grand Marnier lounge was very cool!! and the food and drinks were great. I loved that they used different designers to create a different look for each sitting room, they did a great job and all the best to who ever wins the best designed space! There was some neat new innovations and takes on creating furniture out of eco-friendly material and the colour Black and Purple definitely was the colour of the day!

Companies/Products that stood out:

Fleurco - The shower door company - http://www.fleurco.com/

Jelinek Cork Group - comfort finish cork flooring tailored to fit your style. - http://www.jelinek.com/

Tropic North - waterfalls and interiorscapes - http://www.tropicsnorth.com/

ALX- Division of space - http://www.alx-design.com/

and Loewen - Discover the world's most inspiring windows and doors - http://www.loewen.com/

Until next time,
w&c designer girl!

The tax man is helping with the Home Improvement bill!

Budget offers tax break for Home Improvements
so get your cheque book out, the tax man is helping with the bill!!

"If you're thinking about that refurbished kitchen, or putting in an extra bathroom or a new deck, this may be the year to act, because the tax man will help with the bills.
Tuesday's federal budget offered a new renovation tax credit of up to $1,350 toward a wide variety of home improvements, from new carpets to a new lawn.
It was described as a "creative" move that will help many regular folks as well as the economy.
The one-year program, which is forecast to cost the federal government up to $3 billion, is cast as another job-creation measure."

For more information http://whitewashco.ca/ideas.html

If anyone has more insight or information on this new bill please share!!

w&c designer girl!

Everyone has been telling me that Blogging is the new way now, well I just signed up! I don't quite no what to do, so your feedback on making this a success is most appreciated.

Until next time
w&c designer girl!