Debra Gould

Designing With Spirituality: The Creative Touch

Designing With Spirituality:
The Creative Touch
by Carol Soucek King

Hardcover: 160 pages
ISBN: 0866366911

Designing With Spirituality: The Creative Touch explores the link between good design and its spiritual reflection. Beautiful photographs of 30 residences in the US, Italy, Mexico, Japan, Bali, and Brazil illustrate how color, form, texture, light and proportion are used to express the idea of home as a place which can truly feed one’s soul. I loved the wide spectrum of materials, techniques and styles shown in this book.

In the US, learn more and order – Designing With Spirituality

In Canada, learn more and order – Designing with Spirituality

How to Avoid an Expensive Kitchen Renovation

Written by Debra Gould -

Kitchen redesigned by Debra Gould — I redesigned this kitchen with paint and accessories instead of ripping out cabinets and putting in new counters. It was even featured in Woman's Day Magazine! Runner on the counter is from the Debra Gould Home Collection

Many families don’t have tens of thousands to spend on a new kitchen, or they don’t want to live through the significant inconvenience of ripping out this critical room and waiting for it to be rebuilt from scratch.

I did it once on my second property and it was a nightmare. The day after I moved in with my toddler I had the kitchen ripped out so that I’d have better cupboard space and a spot for a dishwasher. It took over two months to complete and in the meantime we lived in a construction zone with all the dust, noise and danger that entails.

Colors for Your Every Mood

Written by Debra Gould -

Colors for Your Every Mood:
Discover Your True Decorating Colors
by Leatrice Eiseman

Paperback – 176 pages
ISBN: 189212338X

In Colors for Your Every Mood, sumptuous photographs of different rooms, in a wide variety of decorating styles, are accompanied by color wheel basics and an in depth look at how different colors inspire different moods and reactions in people.

The goal is to help you determine how you want yourself, your family and guests to feel as they enter and settle in each room in your home.

You’ll learn which color combinations create calm and soothing moods… which demand drama and excitement… which make a place seem whimsical and carefree. You will discover which colors can change a room from formal to romantic, from classic to exotic, and more. There’s even a quiz to help you discover your own reactions to color.

US orders – Colors For Your Every Mood: Discover Your True Decorating Colors

Canadian orders – Colors for Your Every Mood: Discover Your True Decorating Colors

Builders and Renovators: Don’t Leave Money on the Table

Written by Debra Gould -

bedroom after staging by Debra Gould — The house sold in days for $30,000 over asking. Three other houses on the street were available for sale before this home came on the market, and they were still for sale weeks after this one sold. Not providing the finishing touches leaves a significant amount of money on the table when it's time to sell. Everything in this photo was added during a Home Staging by Six Elements Inc.

Attention Builders, Renovators and home owners with empty rooms! Home Staging can easily increase the selling price of your empty home by $20,000 to $50,000 with minimal investment.

Decorating your house to sell, also called Home Staging, House Staging, Real Estate Staging or House Fluffing, will help you sell more quickly and as a builder or renovator, you know time is money!

Tricia Guild on Color

Written by Debra Gould -

Tricia Guild on Color:
Decoration, Furnishing, Display
by Tricia Guild

Paperback.
ISBN: 0847818772

While Color Palettes is serene, Tricia Guild on Color is bold. Based in England, designer Tricia Guild is famous for her ability to mix color and pattern. Her company produces fabric, wallpaper and home furnishings.

In 200 color photographs she inspires us to go beyond safe, but often dreary, color choices. Her glorious palettes explore the fuller potential of color to lend energy and warmth to an interior. She explores ways of combining and contrasting shades and shows how light, scale and proportion can affect color values. The incredible pictures alone are worth the price of this book!

US orders – Tricia Guild on Color

Canadian orders – Tricia Guild on Color

Subtle Use of Accessories to Stage a Family Room

Written by Debra Gould -

A common problem I run into when people stage their own homes is that they’ve read that need to depersonalize and declutter. This is good advice, but when taken to the extreme you can end up with a bland room that doesn’t romance prospective home buyers the way it could. Even subtle changes can bring back the warmth.

family room before staging

family room after staging

This family room looked cold and uninviting when the owners had finished staging it themselves to be neutral. Debra Gould spiced it up using items the family already had. Only a few minor changes can make a subtle but important difference in the overall effect.

I found two antique leather suitcases stored in the garage. We gave them a polish and stacked them to serve as a coffee table. By adding flowers to the table and picking up the same red in accent cushions on the sofa, the room looks more pulled together and more inviting. Replacing the larger art in the corner with two smaller pieces made that area feel less crowded and gave us a much needed piece for an empty wall in another room.

Debra Gould, President Six Elements Inc.

Home staging expert Debra Gould uses much of what a client already has in new ways when decorating a house for the real estate market. This keeps the costs down when staging a house to sell. Contact us to learn more about how Debra can help you.

7 Ways Clutter Eats Up Your Home Equity

Written by Debra Gould -

cluttered basement — This is a typical unfinished basement before staging by Debra Gould of Six Elements. See the transformation below!

Clutter is one of the biggest distractions for potential real estate buyers and will literally eat up the equity you have in your home. When a room is cluttered instead of staged, here’s what happens:

the first impression is a crowded disorganized one, it’s hard to change that, or for potential buyers to see past the clutter and see the home’s potential
buyers can’t take in the room itself because their eyes jump around to all the little bits and pieces
rooms look more crowded than they need to, a problem with buyers who are craving more space than they have now
home buyers worry that if they buy your home they’ll end up living like you are there
home buyers assume there isn’t enough storage space and put that in their mental negative column as they tour your home
home buyers feel overwhelmed by your junk and how you live which does not put them in a buying mood
home buyers don’t aspire to live there or live like you, so they won’t make an offer

basement after house staging — This house gained an extra room in the mind of the buyer when Six Elements moved the clutter to off-site storage and arranged the exercise equipment that was already hiding under the piles of junk. Now this unfinished basement becomes a laundry room/work out room in a buyer's mind.

So as much as you may be accustomed to living with your own clutter, realize that it must go before you put your home on the real estate market.

Your clutter is costing your money because your house will take longer to sell and it won’t sell for as much money.

Why? Because potential buyers won’t be as excited as they should be about the possibility of living there. If there’s no buyer excitement, there’s no offer! Or there’s only a very low-ball offer.

Home staging will make all the difference in how long your house takes to sell and for how much. Learn more about how we can help decorate your house to sell on the real estate market, whether you are in Toronto or anywhere else!

Debra Gould, President Six Elements Inc.

Home staging expert Debra Gould has staged millions of dollars worth of real estate. Most homes are cluttered when she gets there, but by the time the house is staged, excess items have disappeared to off-site storage. Contact us to learn more about how Debra can help you.

Color Schemes for Every Room

Written by Debra Gould -

Color Schemes For Every Room
by Annie Sloan

Paperback – 160 pages
ISBN: 1571457615

In Color Schemes, author and renowned paint expert Annie Sloan presents over 30 inspiring themes and 300 color palettes, ranging form the light-filled hues of the Scandinavian landscape to the vibrant tones and rhythms of a Latin carnival and the ethereal colors of the French Riviera.

The presentation really helps demonstrate how our perception of a color is so strongly influenced by the other colors around it.

Canada, to order – Annie Sloan’s Color Schemes: For Every Room

US, to order – Annie Sloan’s Color Schemes: For Every Room

5 Reasons Empty Rooms Are a Bad Idea When Selling Your House

Written by Debra Gould -

emtpy room before staging — Newly renovated, but this is a depressing first view when you walk into the house. And it looks so small!

Whether you’re a builder about to list a spec home, an investor ready to sell your vacant property, or a home seller who is living in a house with empty rooms and you’re wondering whether to furnish them before listing your house, this article is for you.

If you are hoping to sell the home quickly and for as much money as possible, it’s a bad idea to try and sell a house with empty rooms.

Weekend Bathroom Makeover for Under $500

Written by Debra Gould -

Whether you are decorating your house to sell, or planning on staying where you are, this before and after story will help you see the potential that waits in the next room.

Studies have shown that renovating the main bathroom in a home has an estimated payback of 60% to 65% when the home is resold. But it can cost well over $5000 to complete, not to mention the significant inconvenience.

Before calling a contractor, consider whether cosmetic changes will be enough to get the look you need for resale, or better yet, for you to enjoy until it’s time to sell.

Many bathrooms look ugly or tired but the expensive items are basically there. This was the case in this weekend bathroom makeover example:

bathroom before staging

bathroom after staging by Six Elements Inc.

Before:

White walls, shag carpet with matching toilet seat cover, general clutter and wood shelf mirror and toilet roll holder, all made this bathroom seem old— despite the fact that it had been renovated.

After:

A weekend long $475 transformation. An insignificant investment in time and money, considering how important bathrooms are. Also worth the investment even if you were only decorating to sell because of the $475 in spending, only $195 went towards items that would be left behind if the house were sold!

What Six Elements Did

Six Elements Staging TIp — If you are selling your home, buy your new towels, mat and shower curtain before you move. You can use them to prop your house while it’s on the market and then enjoy them when you move to your new home.

The old plastic towel bar was replaced with a brushed metal one with matching glass shelf over the sink and toilet roll holder.

The white melamine cabinet was replaced by a shorter trolley (which could be painted to match). The top is used to display an art object and vase of dogwood branches or seasonal flowers, instead of general bathroom clutter which is now hidden in the baskets below.

The medicine cabinet was painted to match the walls and the 1970’s vanity light (not shown) was replaced by a brushed metal halogen fixture. It provides more general light than the original fixture, matches the other new hardware and contributes greatly to the fresh modern feel of the “new” bathroom.

So, whether you are moving or not, why not consider how your bathroom can be enhanced with paint and accessories? You will appreciate it every morning and make it your refuge at the end of a long day.

What it Cost (materials only)

Paint	$ 70
Towel Bar, Shelf, Toilet Paper Holder	90
Halogen Light Fixture (not shown)	35
Trolley beside Sink	125
Shower Curtain	75
Towels and Bath Mat	50
Vase with River Rocks and Dogwood	30
Total Cost	$ 475

NOTE:

If this house were sold, all that would be left behind is the $195 spent on paint, light fixture and hardware. All the other items can be used in the next home! Considering how important bathrooms are to home buyers, this is a very insignificant investment.

Debra Gould's home staging tip — Before contacting your real estate agent, or even a house fluffer if you decide to use one, there are simple steps you can take on your own, like decluttering, to improve the overall look of your home. Be sure to approach the task with a highly critical eye. It can be hard to see your own home objectively after living in it for so long.

Not Planning on Moving Any Time Soon?

Then what are you waiting for? It’s time to freshen up that bathroom you’ve always hated with a whole new look. “It’s really sad to see how many of my clients suddenly realize they could have enjoyed living this way for years when I come in to stage, or decorate their homes to sell. Spend some money now so that at least you’ll get to enjoy the results before selling it to someone else,” says Debra Gould Toronto’s leading home stager, or house fluffer as she’s also called.

Not in Toronto, and Need Help?

Through her Home Staging Coaching Service Debra Gould offers advice by phone and email to clients all over the US and Canada.

“Virtual Staging,” as this is also called, is an excellent way to have your questions answered by a home staging pro as you need help. Learn more about how you can get home staging and decorating help by phone.

« Previous Page

Debra Gould

Before:

After:

What Six Elements Did

What it Cost (materials only)

NOTE:

Not Planning on Moving Any Time Soon?

Not in Toronto, and Need Help?

Footer