3 Tips for Clearing Out Clutter in the Kitchen

If you’re like most people selling a home in Aspen, you know that you need to create as much space inside as possible – your Aspen Realtor® has probably told you as much.

But even if your home doesn’t appear cluttered, should you still clear things out?

Yes!

Here’s how.

3 Tips for Clearing Out Clutter in the Kitchen

The bottom line is that prospective buyers want to buy a home with a lot of space. Every piece of furniture, knickknack and other item you have in the house makes it look a little less spacious, even if you don’t see it. You don’t want the home to be empty when you’re going to sell – that would be bad staging – but you do want it as clutter-free as possible.

Here are three tips you can use to make your home appear less cluttered.

#1. Use a caddy in the kitchen.

Put a caddy on your kitchen counter to keep all your everyday items in. When someone comes to see your home, whisk them away and put the whole caddy in a cupboard, off the counter and out of sight.

#2. Add a kitchen cart.

Put things like pots and pans, as well as things that would take up counter space, on a wheeled kitchen cart. You can move the cart to the garage when people come to view your home, or you can leave it in a spot where it looks great – beside the island, for example – if it’s a nice-looking cart that’s well-organized.

#3. Remove items you haven’t used in 6 months.

If there’s something in your kitchen you haven’t used in 6 months, it’s time to make a decision. Do you want to keep and store it (preferably in a box in a storage unit), or do you want to sell, donate or throw it away? One of these things needs to happen.

Are You Selling or Buying a Home for Sale in Aspen?

Call us at 970-429-8275 or get in touch with us online to tell us what you want from your next home. We’ll begin searching Aspen real estate listings right away. If you’re selling, get your free Aspen real estate market update and find out how we can help you sell your home quickly and at the best price.

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5 Tips to Save Water in Your Aspen Home

If you’re like many Aspen homeowners, you’d love some eco-friendly tips on saving water – and we’ve got five of them you can start using today.

5 Tips to Save Water in Your Aspen Home

You don’t have to make huge adjustments to your lifestyle to save a lot of water. These five tips will get you started on the right path:

Install water-saving shower heads
Use only full loads
Make sure your faucets don’t leak
Turn off the water when you brush, shave or do dishes
Don’t run the tap to wait for cold water

Two of these tips can also help you sell your home when it’s time to move on: making sure your faucets don’t leak and installing water-saving shower heads.

Repairing Leaky Faucets

When you’re ready to sell your home, your Aspen Realtor® will talk to you about improvements you can make to help sell your home faster – and that goes for repairs, too. Buyers expect everything to be working well when they purchase, so repairing leaky faucets (which, in many cases, you can do yourself) is par for the course.

Installing Water-Saving Shower Heads

Buyers love knowing that they’re making a solid investment that’s environmentally friendly, so installing attractive, water-saving shower heads can go a long way toward that “wow” factor you want buyers to have.

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Caring for Stone Flooring in Your New Aspen Home

If you’re buying a home for sale in Aspen that has stone flooring, here’s how to care for it.

Caring for Stone Flooring in Your New Aspen Home

Taking good care of your stone flooring ensures that it’ll last as long as possible – and it’s a way to protect your investment.

Remember:

Dirt is abrasive and can damage your floor
Damp mopping is the way to go
Don’t use harsh cleaners

Dirt on Your Floors

Dirt and sand are really abrasive, and they can scratch away your floor’s sealant and polish. If you see dirt or sand, sweep or vacuum it away immediately.

Mopping

Look for a pH-neutral soap that’s safe for use on stone flooring. Detergents made for porcelain or ceramic can be abrasive.

Cleaners

Harsh cleaners, when it comes to stone flooring, include anything with acids in it – and anything with abrasives.

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3 Things You MUST Ask When You Hire a Realtor

If you’re buying or selling a home in Aspen or any of the surrounding communities, you’re going to need to interview some Realtors®.

But asking, “Have you ever done this before?” isn’t going to be quite enough.

3 Things You MUST Ask When You Hire a Realtor

If you know what to ask, you can find the right Realtor for your needs.

How Long Have You Been a Realtor?

New agents can start with tremendous enthusiasm and skill. In fact, some relatively new Realtors are among the best in their fields.

However, when you’re purchasing a home, it’s about more than that. It’s about hiring a Realtor who can anticipate your needs, make sure she’s looking out for your best interests every step of the way, and who has extensive experience in your market. This can be particularly true in luxury real estate.

Experienced agents understand the city’s highs and lows, how much properties are really worth, and how to find out what’s most important to you as a buyer or seller.

Can You Provide References?

A great agent will have testimonials… and she won’t be afraid to share them.

A background littered with happy clients who’ve turned into friends is the hallmark of a Realtor you want by your side when you purchase or sell a home in Aspen.

What Makes You Different From Your Competitors?

No two Realtors are alike. In fact, there should be a solid number of characteristics that your Realtor is willing to share to differentiate herself from the competition.

This answer can tell you just about everything you need to know about an agent… and it can help you make the right choice.

Are You Buying or Selling a Home in Aspen?

If you’re thinking of moving to Aspen or any of the surrounding communities, we’d love to help you find your dream home. Give us a call at 970-429-8275 or get in touch with us online.

If you’re selling, get your free Aspen real estate market update and find out how we can sell your home quickly and at the best price. Call us at 970-429-8275 today!

While you’re here you can also browse our:

3 Design Tips for Small Condos in Aspen

When you buy a condo in Aspen, you’re often looking at limited space to decorate and make it your own – but with these three condo design tips, you’ll be able to create a spectacular space you can’t wait to get back to.

3 Design Tips for Small Condos in Aspen

The best way to approach décor in your condo is to follow these guidelines:

Be realistic about your daily life
Give every room its own personality
Get the right-sized furniture

Be Realistic About Your Daily Life

When you’re decorating a small condo, it’s important to be realistic about the way you’ll use your home, whether it’s a vacation property or your year-round home. Start with your priorities – if you need a home office, you need to focus on carving out that space before you start decorating. Likewise, make sure you’re defining every part of your living space before you even bring in furniture.

Give Every Room Its Own Personality

There are two ways to look at this. If you want your space to appear larger, paint everything the same color and use continuous flooring throughout. If you’re not concerned about it looking larger, change things up by painting in various colors and patterns, and adding different flooring (even rugs). Even if you paint the entire condo the same color to create continuity, you can still define each room with its own décor, which is important so you don’t feel as if you’re living in a one-room studio.

Get the Right Sized Furniture

Large furniture doesn’t belong in your small condo. If your sofa, dining table or desk is too big, it’s going to impede traffic flow and overpower the space – and it’ll feel like you’re a full-sized adult living in a hobbit house. Make sure your furniture really fits in each room.

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4 Great Indoor Houseplants for Your Aspen Home

If you’ve just bought a home for sale in Aspen, you’ll probably want to bring it to life with amazing houseplants – but what kind should you get?

4 Great Indoor Houseplants for Your Aspen Home

The best houseplants take chemicals out of the air and provide you with extra oxygen. Some of the most popular include:

African violet
Peperomia
Spider plant
Peace lily

African Violet

The stunning purple flowers African violet produces are a great addition to any home. It blooms several times each year, and you can take great care of it by keeping it in bright but indirect light. Keep the soil moist and offer good drainage.

Peperomia

Waxy-leaved peperomia does great in humid environments, which means it’s a great addition to the bathroom or kitchen. It does well under fluorescent light, too.

Spider Plant

Spider plants grow quickly, and their shoots produce tiny plants you can repot elsewhere. Keep spider plants in well-lit areas and water them weekly and you’ll have plenty of greenery in your home.

Peace Lily

Peace lily plants can grow up to 6 feet tall, and their beautiful, waxy leaves pull toxins from the air. They’ll grow in moderate light and they’re tough to kill.

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3 Plumbing Jobs Most Homeowners Can DIY

You don’t have to be particularly handy to tackle these common plumbing-related jobs around the house.

Switching a Toilet Seat

Changing a toilet seat just depends on removing and replacing a few nuts and bolts. Just make sure you buy the right size and shape and you’ll be all set. A new toilet seat kit will come with the nuts and bolts you need, so just make sure you have the right wrench on-hand.

Replacing a Washing Machine Hose

If you need to change a washing machine hose, all you need is a new hose and a pair of pliers. It’s a quick project that you can do on your own – just unplug the machine, then turn off both water valves, and match up the hoses with the right connections.

Replacing a Toilet Flapper

The underwater valve in your toilet tank – called the toilet flapper – is easy to replace. Just turn off the water valve and unscrew the old one. Then, replace what was in there with your new flapper… and celebrate a job well-done.

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How to Stage a Closet When You Sell a Home in Aspen

Whether you’re selling your home near Aspen high school or a luxury home in Carbondale, your Realtor® is going to talk to you about the importance of staging your home. Staged homes show better than those that aren’t staged (or worse, empty), so your agent may advise you to hire a professional home stager.

If that’s not in the cards for you, though, there are some things you can do to stage your home yourself—and you can start with your closet.

How to Stage a Closet When Your Home is for Sale

The idea behind staging your closet is simple:

Declutter your closet before you do anything else. If you’re like most people, that means removing more than half your wardrobe. You can tell how much you need to take out by measuring the space between your hangers. If each hanger is about 2 inches from the two around it, you’re in good shape; if not, start packing up your clothes.

From there:

Inspect your closet for damage, from the door to the walls behind shelves; make repairs as necessary.
Remove all personal effects, other than clothing and shoes.
Invest in matching hangers and replace all those that don’t fit the mold.
Put your shoes on a shoe rack, and make sure they’re neat (and clean); only use half the space on the rack, leaving room between each pair.
Place handbags, belts, and scarves neatly on a shelf or tuck them in a drawer.

The main idea is that you only want to take up one-third to one-half of all the visible space in your closet; that way, buyers can see that they’ll have room for their own belongings, too.

When everything has been cleared out, organize your clothes by type and then again by color. (Think about the way your favorite retailer displays clothing; it always looks so much nicer—and neater—when everything is in logical groupings.)

Are You Selling Your Home in Aspen?

If you’re selling your home in Aspen, get your free Aspen real estate market update and find out how we can sell your home quickly and at the best price. Give us a call at 970-429-8275 or get in touch with us online so we can start working hard to get your home in front of all the right buyers.

3 Best Houseplants to Improve Indoor Air Quality During Winter

If you’re cooped up in the house (and you’re not out looking at Aspen homes for sale because you’re waiting for spring), winter can start to drag out a little.

But you know what’ll brighten the next couple of months before spring hits?

A handful of spectacular houseplants that keep your indoor air quality high… and that require very little extra work on your part.

3 Best Houseplants for Winter

There are dozens of great houseplants to help you through these last couple months of winter, but three really stand out: the Boston fern, the rubber plant, and peace lilies.

Boston Ferns

The Boston fern removes more formaldehyde from living spaces than any other plant does—and they tackle benzene and xylene, which are components of gasoline exhaust that can waft inside from the garage.

It doesn’t take much to keep a Boston fern happy; just mist its leaves between watering and make sure you’re fertilizing it each month during the winter (you’ll have to fertilize it weekly during spring and summer).

Rubber Plants

A rubber plant will do quite nicely in a low-light environment. It, like the Boston fern, removes formaldehyde from your air.

Rubber plants can get pretty tall, so if yours starts to sprout higher, loosely fasten it to a stick of bamboo (many people use miniature plant clips to avoid damaging the plant).

Peace Lilies

We can tell you from experience that peace lilies are a lot tougher than they look. These beautiful powerhouses bloom indoors (they’re one of the few plants that will) and they devour volatile organic compounds that are built into many household cleaning products. It does well in low light and even helps humidify your air—but the leaves can be toxic to kids and pets.

Are You Buying a Home in Aspen?

We’d love to help you find the perfect home for sale in Aspen.

If you’re thinking of moving to Aspen or any of the surrounding communities, we’d love to help you find your dream home. Give us a call at 970-429-8275 or get in touch with us online. If you’re selling, get your free Aspen real estate market update and find out how we can sell your home quickly and at the best price.

While you’re here you can also browse our:

New Rules for Decorating Your Aspen Home, Straight From the Pros

Interior design is always evolving — and for 2017, experts say you can throw the old rulebook out the window and start fresh.

Revamping Your Home’s Color Scheme

According to Gary McBournie, you should create a color scheme palette before you do anything.

“I come up with a basic color scheme for the whole house, and then I take that from room to room,” says McBournie.

Finding New Focal Points

Don’t tuck away your antiques and unique pieces.

“Use and enjoy your antiques and unique finds,” says designer Bunny Williams. “Especially in a utilitarian room like the bathroom.

Use Short Furniture to Make Your Rooms Appear Taller

Designer Todd Romano is a big fan of creating strong verticals.

“Avoid the horizontal,” says Romano. “I adore large mirrors because they add scale to a room. I also [keep] furniture low-slung, so the rooms seem taller.”

Add Color to Window Trim

Designer Meg Braff and Jeffrey Bilhuber say you should focus on window trim.

“Window trim is an often-overlooked opportunity to make a statement,” says Braff.

“I often end up painting them green, to blend in with the landscape. Or sometimes I paint them pitch black, so the muntins practically disappear in the evening,” says Bilhuber.

Are You Buying or Selling a Home in Aspen?

If you’re thinking of moving to Aspen or any of the surrounding communities, we’d love to help you find your dream home. Give us a call at 970-429-8275 or get in touch with us online. If you’re selling, get your free Aspen real estate market update and find out how we can sell your home quickly and at the best price.

Check out Aspen real estate listings by price here:

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“Brenda went above and beyond as our realtor”

My fiance and I moved to the Valley from Minnesota this past January. We were lucky enough to be set up with Brenda from our realtor in MN. The day we arrived for our house hunting trip, Brenda met us for lunch and went over our plan of attack for the week, as she knew Continue Reading

Maria Golbirsch (and Greg Gazillo) February 28, 2017

“Brenda Wild is our exclusive Realtor”

A consummate professional who always looks out for your best interests…and yet takes the time for hand-holding too…this is why Brenda Wild is our exclusive Realtor.

Roger & Kelly Guth February 28, 2017

“You can expect the royal treatment”

Brenda and her staff get to the heart of your desire, needs and dreams. You can expect the royal treatment and awesome results with Brenda and her team.

Jenn Carlson February 28, 2017

“She gets anything you need”

Brenda is great, very efficient and hard working. She gets anything you need from home and land info to anything about Aspen you could need quickly and accurately.

Bruce Lange February 28, 2017

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3 Tips for Clearing Out Clutter in the Kitchen

#1. Use a caddy in the kitchen.

#2. Add a kitchen cart.

#3. Remove items you haven’t used in 6 months.

Are You Selling or Buying a Home for Sale in Aspen?

5 Tips to Save Water in Your Aspen Home

Repairing Leaky Faucets

Installing Water-Saving Shower Heads

Are You Buying a Home for Sale in Aspen?

Caring for Stone Flooring in Your New Aspen Home

Dirt on Your Floors

Mopping

Cleaners

Are You Buying a Home for Sale in Aspen?

3 Things You MUST Ask When You Hire a Realtor

How Long Have You Been a Realtor?

Can You Provide References?

What Makes You Different From Your Competitors?

Are You Buying or Selling a Home in Aspen?

3 Design Tips for Small Condos in Aspen

Be Realistic About Your Daily Life

Give Every Room Its Own Personality

Get the Right Sized Furniture

Are You Buying a Home for Sale in Aspen?

4 Great Indoor Houseplants for Your Aspen Home

African Violet

Peperomia

Spider Plant

Peace Lily

Are You Buying a Home for Sale in Aspen?

Switching a Toilet Seat

Replacing a Washing Machine Hose

Replacing a Toilet Flapper

How to Stage a Closet When Your Home is for Sale

Are You Selling Your Home in Aspen?

3 Best Houseplants for Winter

Boston Ferns

Rubber Plants

Peace Lilies

Are You Buying a Home in Aspen?

Revamping Your Home’s Color Scheme

Finding New Focal Points

Use Short Furniture to Make Your Rooms Appear Taller

Add Color to Window Trim

Are You Buying or Selling a Home in Aspen?