Christmas shopping begins.

 ordered our first gift today... for my in laws. it's a custom designed piece from an etsy shop.

it's just perfect for my in-laws who

 a) love to cook.

 b) collect art.

 3) have a special connection to Massachusetts. (although it works with ANY state)

if that fits someone on your list... i will gladly email you my fabulous gift idea -
i just don't want to spoil it on here for my family.


I also ordered this set of tea towels from Leah Duncan for my bff's housewarming.
























she bought her second house

in

September.

Wasn't sure what I wanted to get her, until I saw these. Then, I loved them SO much,

I also ordered a set for my home.  ♥

i ♥ white pumpkins

there's just something so classic about the look of them.

Pack of 2 Autumn Harvest Artificial Fall Foliage and Pumpkin Wreaths

linen napkins

Always a classic, these fine linen napkins
that I received from Evelyn White of  Fine Fabric Fancier  -
two years ago -
 still look brand new. That's value!


And


I use them every day to make even an ordinary dinner on the grill seem special. 




♥

trend :: yellow chevron.

first comes love...

then comes marriage:

yellow chevron + mod elephants = my two favorite trends.

 happily ever after.

♥

You can read all about the makeover at Home in the Country.

I also adore these coasters from www.artfulsentiments.com

and the grey ones run a close second in my heart! 

The Hopeful Homemaker started with a yellow chevron pillow for this room...

Then, she loved it so much -

i can see why! I'm thinking... for my living room sectional.  - 

she used the leftover fabric to make a yellow chevron crib skirt for this room:

♥

And can I throw in some love for that bunting pillow too?

So sweet!

vase slipcover

a scrap of fabric.  a bit o' ribbon...   thanks simply vintagegirl.

home staging. [top 5 reasons to stage your home for sale]

It:


Increases the selling price of your home.

Decreases the time your house is on the market.

Professionally staged homes, on average, sell for 6-10% more

 and have a 50% shorter stay on the market

than homes presented by homeowners or agents alone.

Increases buyer traffic and offer potential. Research shows us that 75% of buyers see a home online and the MLS pictures have a big influence on their decision to view a house or not. Society's obsession with programming like HGTV works in your favor for this endeavor. People are interested in seeing a  house once it is staged - and they tell their friends about what they seen. And those friends come to see, and then they tell their friends...


Gives the buyer a vision of what it would be like to live in the home.

"Be the Joneses" isn't just a tag line - it's my mission.  I use your house to set the stage for a lifestyle that buyers want to have. And we want them to know they just need to buy your house to live it!


It’s affordable.   It is technically free, as statistics from the Real Estate Staging Association show home staging with a 300% return on investment.  The average house can be fully decluttered and staged for under $1,500.  If your home is selling for $300,000, that is about 1/2 of 1% of the selling price.  You can’t get much more affordable than that.  And the cost of home staging is always far less than the first price reduction will be if your unstaged home doesn’t generate offers.