Holiday Decorating on a Dime - Part 2 Candles

Most homes have candles somewhere, whether it be on a coffee table, entry table, counter or dining room table. A great way to show your holiday spirit, whichever holiday it may be, is to buy some great neutral pillar candle holders in keeping with your decorative style and change out the candles based on the month or holiday du jour. October is the month for creepy ghouls and ghosts. If you're not into hanging cobwebs on your porch and skeletons on the front door (or even if you are!), what better way to show a little spirit than some decorative Halloween pillar candles. They can range in price from $6-$25 and unless they're burned 'round the clock for the entire month of October, there will be plenty of candle left over to re-use next year. Another option if you're not interested in burning candles, is a battery operated flameless candle. They're safer than a traditional candle and often times hard to distinguish from a traditional wax candle. Happy hunting!


If you're interested in spending a little more and doing a little less work decorating, Just Perfect Home Staging + More offers holiday decorating services. Contact us today for schedules and rates! Stay tuned for other affordable ways to decorate on a budget!

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The Biggest Real Estate Mistake

I came across an interesting article on HGTV's website. Make note of the #1 Biggest Real Estate Mistake. It beat out hiring the wrong agent and setting the price too high!

"1. Failing to Showcase Your Home and Making Small Cosmetic Changes

When you are selling your house, you have to really look at it objectively and think about it from the viewpoint of the house hunter. Make minor enhancements to the house and maybe hire a professional stager to come and arrange your furniture. Staging is about decorating your house for the buyers' taste, not yours. A great place to start is with the front of the home and the main entryway. Home staging is designed to increase the potential selling price and reduce the amount of time the house stays on the market."

To see the entire article go to

http://www.hgtv.com/real-estate/25-biggest-real-estate-mistakes/index.html

Holiday Decorating on a Dime - Part 1 Carving a Pumpkin

Decorating for the holidays can be expensive. Halloween, Thanksgiving, religious holidays and New Year's Eve will be here before you know it. The cost of changing out the table centerpiece and other decorative items for each holiday can certainly add up fast. In the spirit of the recession and the need to save a little dough, I'm on the hunt to find versatile, affordable decorative items that can be modified per holiday and in some cases, even used throughout the rest of the year.

The first and possibly messiest decorative accessory is the carved pumpkin at Halloween. A decent sized pumpkin (basketball size or larger) typically costs between $3-7. Tools to carve the pumpkin can range in simplicity from a common kitchen knife to elaborate tools kits sold specifically for carving pumpkins. Carving kit prices can start at $5 and go up. Plan on committing at least 30-45 min. to carve an "easy" pumpkin. More complicated, detailed images can take several hours to carve. A neat way to decorate the drive or front porch would be to carve several pumpkins, varying in size and shape (great way to get the kids involved!) and place them all together in a corner of your porch or at the edge of the drive.

A pumpkin carving party can be a great excuse for family, friends and neighbors to get together before the holiday season starts. Friends come prepared with their own pumpkins and carving ideas (or they brainstorm a carving idea with everyone else when they get to the party), stencils and tools if they have their own to use. The host typically provides snacks or dinner, drinks, musical entertainment and a mess ready location to gut the pumpkins. Brew up some apple cider and toast pumpkins seeds with salt or cinnamon & sugar for some festive treats! A bowl of candy corn won't go unnoticed either!

We'd Like To Introduce...

Just Perfect Home Staging + More is pleased to welcome Rebecca Mickler, a Just Perfect employee, to the company blog. Rebecca has been working with Just Perfect Home Staging + More for a little over a year and is happy to be part of such a successful team. She will be contributing her thoughts on a bi-weekly basis and entertaining the masses as she does so. (She's also writing this introduction :-))

Here's Rebecca's Bio

Rebecca is originally from Carrollton, TX a suburb of Dallas, TX. She considers herself a GRIT (Girl Raised in Texas) and despite her husband's best efforts, will not succumb to his desire to add the "S" that would include her in GRITS (Girls Raised in The South). She is not Southern, she is Texan and proud of it!

Rebecca is a graduate of Texas A&M University with a Bachelor's degree in Environmental Design. She spent some time in Europe during the college years that broadened her horizons and reaffirmed her interest and desire to work in the world of design. After college, she moved to Washington, DC for an internship with an architectural/engineering firm in Georgetown. A few years later, a move to Wilmington, NC took her to a small architecture firm where she spent 5 years learning the in's and out's of practicing architecture. Her resume over the years has expanded to include graphic design, 3-D modeling, interior design, ability to kill all house plants regardless of their "hardiness" and a knack for general computer stuff.

We would like to welcome Rebecca again to the Just Perfect blog and look forward to her brilliant contributions. Gig 'em!