Staging Secrets: How to Make Your Home Look Like a Million Bucks (Without Spending It)

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Welcome to around the House with Eric G. Your trusted source for all things home improvement.

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With over 30 years of remodeling experience, certified kitchen designer Eric G takes you behind the scenes with expert advice, industry trends, and the latest innovations for your home.

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It's everything you need to know without the fluff.

Now let's get this show started with our host, Eric G. And John Dudley.

Welcome to the around the House show, your trusted source for home improvement information.

I'm Eric G. Thanks for joining me today.

John Dudley, good to see you again, my friend.

How are you, brother?

Good, man, good.

We got Wendy Glaster back in the studio again.

Our great designer friend.

Wendy, great to see you again.

It's always a fun time chatting with you.

Thank you, Eric.

It's really great to see you too.

And John, so nice to see you again as well.

This is great.

We're going to have a fun one today.

This is great.

And this is so important.

And I think these tricks and tips you have here are even great for the holidays when the people are coming over to say hi to sell your home, it's like having the relatives come over anyway.

So it's all the same.

That's so true.

How do you make this look as best you can without making it look like you got 50 pounds of mud in a 20 pound bag?

Exactly, Exactly.

It's true.

And they say if you want to get things done around your home, just schedule a party and you'll get it all done.

It's the same when you list a house, I'm sure.

So.

It was so funny.

One thing I learned, and we talked a little bit about it a few weeks ago on the show, but the one thing I learned on listing my house is make sure you have great cameras around the outside that you have turned on.

Oh, you know why?

Because when everybody comes and shows the house with the realtor, they walk in, they walk around the entire house, they have their private conversation inside.

But human nature says when they walk out and get in front of the realtor's car or their car out in the front parking lot of your home, they talk about all the things they like about the house.

They think about all the things that they didn't like about the house and if they want to put an offer in and what that offer would be and what they can afford and you can watch it on your own camera system.

Real Time Live.

This is Eric G. Spy 101, by the way, which I don't know if we should be publicly airing Inventing.

But hey, in the listing it said active, pick up that.

But isn't that kind of a.

How do you get the sound to go that far?

Easily, if you have good cameras.

It works really well.

I had it where it's quiet around there, so people are talking out there.

I had 30 minute recorded conversations out there that were from my security system that I'd come back and go, oh, these people are.

Wow, that's the third time they've been back.

I recognize that car.

Oh, it's an unfair advantage.

It's inadmissible in court, by the way, because maybe they weren't just talking about the house the whole time.

I know.

I was just thinking, what if they could talk about a lot of things.

That way in public?

So.

And it says on the listing, you have to put in there if there's cameras that are.

That's the new thing with the listings.

You have to put in where the cameras are and if they're on in the recording.

So it was all there.

It's people's choices whether they want to follow that or not.

But very clever.

Great fact finding.

Keep an eye on them, Wendy.

Exactly.

So, Wendy, what are some of the rules to really get your house?

Because, of course, everybody wants to get the most out of their house.

They want to get it, make it look perfect for those pictures and the walkthroughs and the 3D this, 3D that.

What's the best thing to do?

I think the first thing is to decide how much you think you can really spend on this and whether or not you'll get it back.

Because a lot of times people assume that they have to make their house look magazine ready.

So they start remodeling all the bathrooms and remodeling the kitchen, remodeling this, remodeling that.

And with the way design is right now, it's such a statement of personal taste that you can spend thousands and thousands of dollars upgrading all of these areas design maybe just to have it ripped out.

And then you wouldn't get your return on that investment.

So you do need to have an honest conversation, I think, with your realtor about that.

I think, can we get my mother on this real quick?

I've been having this conversation for months with her.

I'm like, mom, you don't need to touch up the baseboards.

Somebody's going to come in and destroy your kitchen.

It doesn't matter.

Yeah.

And I think it's very hard.

I think people watching HGTV love it or list it, all these different things, they think that's required in order to sell your home.

And if you speak to an educated, talented realtor with a good reputation, they will probably tell you that's not the case.

Unless you're a person who's flipping homes for profit, then you know how to do it, and there's a specific business model there.

But if you're just a regular person wanting to sell their home, I don't think you have to go crazy.

I think you do have to go crazy.

Cleaning.

Yep.

Yes.

I think I was thinking about this morning, getting ready to come and talk to you guys, just when you put yourself in someone else's shoes.

I think that's the best way to approach your home.

Because.

And I find this a lot in design and especially in luxury design.

If people are remodeling their home, they've been there for maybe 20 years, and they know they need to make it their forever home and make some changes.

It's very hard for them to see their home any other way than the way that it is, because it's their home.

And that's how it's been for all this time.

And that's why they bring me in, to help them see something new.

When you've been living in a home for a long time and you're ready to sell, you do have to pretend you're looking at it for the first time.

And you need to see the dust bunnies, and you need to see the pile of paperwork, and you need to see the dead plant in the corner, which is terrible feng shui, by the way.

You've got to get rid of that right away.

You have to close all the lids on all the toilets, like, all of the things.

If pretend it's an Airbnb that you want to stay at, what would it require for you to feel safe and comfortable in that space and then start going down the list?

And most of it you'll find really isn't that expensive.

But it makes a world of difference in the way that people will experience your home as they enter and as they tour around.

Yeah.

The people are creatures of habits.

All of us are.

Yeah.

We clean where we clean.

We clean the same spot every time, and we miss the same things every time.

Pick everything up off the counter and off the floor.

Yep.

Clutter and clean, declutter and clean.

I always recommend to people, just pay 3, 4, $500, whatever it costs to have a cleaning crew come out and do a whole house move out style clean with your stuff in there, because they're going to clean places that you didn't even know were dirty.

And then a better spot, I would.

Say linens to any beds, any towels and bathrooms and all of that.

You can just go to Marshalls or TJ Maxx and get something really good.

Looking for almost nothing.

And it looks and smells fresh and clean, and it means you need to make the bed.

Damn it, I'm out.

Yeah, I mean, I.

My husband and I have been looking for a while for something that has maybe more land because he grew up on a farm and I think he really misses getting on a tractor.

So we've been looking at a lot of houses and the bedrooms and the bathrooms.

It's like they think, you're not gonna open the closet door or like, I'm gonna open the closet door.

I want to know how much I can fit in that closet.

Or do I need to take the bedroom next door as my closet as well?

It's gonna get opened and you need about that.

Even like your kitchen drawers, people are gonna open those up, Just vacuum them out, wipe them out.

Yes.

It's effort, but if you are.

If two identical homes are for sale in terms of layout in the same neighborhood with the same amenities, and one is sparkling clean and smells good and is well lighted, and the other is a little grungy and the linen is gross and there's dust bunnies and things haven't been cleaned on the counters in a long time.

It's just common sense.

It is.

And it's funny, Wendy.

It's like an eight year old did a.

You know, like an eight year old boy decided he had an hour to clean his room and he shoved it all in the closet.

Yeah.

And all of a sudden you open the closet and go, whoa.

That's where everything went.

And it was great for pictures, but it doesn't work when you're walking through.

And I noticed this when I was filming my around the House Northwest television show.

Every week I was out looking at a really nice home that was either architecturally significant or it was a new one or whatever.

And some of the cool older homes, some of them, I would walk in the front door.

We're filming, it's been on the market and I'm like, wow, wonder where the mold problem is.

I could smell it.

It smelled.

It was cold, it was musty.

There hadn't.

It's in the rainy season here, so they hadn't had heat on in it because they were trying to save money.

And I'm like, right off the bat, I'm like, this is a money pit of a house because I can smell the water damage someplace.

Where is it?

Or if you smell pets.

And I love pets.

I love pets.

I love animals.

I don't want to walk on cat sand.

I don't want to walk on birdseed.

I don't want to look outside and have there be piles of dog poopies everywhere.

Yep.

And I know it sounds crazy that we're harping on just be clean, but it seems like it's hard for people to do.

And it's free.

Right.

It's just elbow grease in your time.

And I think it's really important that you do that.

Another thing I think is important is bringing some life into the house.

A lot of us people will say, oh, I have a black thumb.

Or I. I'm so bad.

With plants, you can get very good looking, realistic looking, faux plants.

Here we go.

A little greenery here and there.

And it really changes the way things look.

If you style a bathroom and there's no greenery at all and you take a picture and then you put a fern on the counter.

That's what I'm known for.

I know ferns are friendly.

And then you take another picture and you look at the two pictures side by side.

You will like the one with the fern.

It's a psychological thing.

People need to see greenery, something that's fresh, something that looks happy and has some life to it.

And you can do that all over your home for a relatively little.

And it makes a huge difference.

Yeah, that's.

I'm a huge plant fan, but that's a great point.

Like, it puts life in the rooms instead of.

Yeah.

And the other thing, too, Wendy.

It seems that I think one of the biggest mistakes people make out there is so many people, and I'm gonna say most have a clutter problem.

Too many people.

I don't know what you're talking about.

We like stuff.

Let's be honest, Eric.

I used to say I would try to design people tidy.

There you go.

I used to have this gal that would work with me and she would say, oh, Wendy, that client, she's a messy.

You can't design her tidy.

And I didn't believe her.

But she's.

She was right.

I think I have a really great gal that I work with on a lot of our projects.

She's a professional organizer.

And what I like to use her for is to organize kitchens, organize pantries, organize closets, set up systems so that you see everything and it's beautiful.

She's also figured out how to do this service where she and her team will go into a home and completely declutter.

And by then also things like bookcases because like paperback books, while useful and good for your brain and good for imagination and not so great on a shelf.

So she will declutter a bookcase completely and restage it with some of the really good looking hardbound books.

A few ferns, a picture here and there, an accessory here and there, and it completely transforms this space.

Space.

Then she packs everything up and uses a moving service to store all of it while the home is being listed.

And then it just moves to the next location with the client when they're done.

And I just think Shelby is a genius for figuring that out.

And she's based in Sacramento, but she'll come to see us.

The neat freak company.

They're so cute.

They even have little T shirts and.

But I love it because especially for me, like, sometimes I do help clients.

Like, it's better for them to buy a new home than to remodel the one they're in.

That has happened with me a couple of times.

And I need Shelby and her team to help me stage the first house to get the client to the next house.

Because when the criticism comes from me, this doesn't look good.

And that's not right.

And I can't believe you're.

That is not good for my client relationship with them.

But if Shelby says it, it's like, oh, she's here to help me.

She knows what needs to be done.

She's working for my highest and best purpose.

And Wendy trusts her, so we're going to let her do what she needs to do.

So sometimes bringing in that neutral third party is really helpful.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

Makes sense.

And the other thing I think that we see mistakes are made is we all personalize stuff so much.

Right.

So I think it's one of those things that when we personalize it, we also are scaring away maybe, maybe potential people out there because it looks still like our home.

And you're trying to make it appear like it could be their home, if that makes sense.

True.

Yeah.

They have to imagine themselves in the space.

So, like, I have a family portrait wall that was a monumental effort to put together with different family members who were not excited about having their picture taken.

So that wall means a lot to me.

But if I were to list this house, that would be the first thing to go, because I don't want.

I want, when people come in to say, oh, it's charming.

It's pretty.

I love this.

I love that.

I can see me doing this.

I can see me doing that.

I can see myself out here.

I can.

And the.

So you need to take yourself out of the house.

The same with, like, children's bedrooms.

So many times I've walked into children's bedrooms for a home that's listed, and it is a cacophony of visual asymmetry or atonality or something is terribly wrong.

There's too many In Sync posters.

You can say it.

Yes.

I don't want to know what they're into.

I don't want to know.

Just take all that down.

A nice clean wall is just finished.

Fine.

So it's true.

You really, again, if you approach your own home like it's an Airbnb, it will help you.

And then if you can hire people like Shelby or a designer or organizer in your area who can help you clean that out and truly stage it like you would if it were an Airbnb, it will make it such a huge difference in how well your process goes.

I think.

I think the most important point you brought up was being able to.

I know what it's like to get too close to a project, writing a song, whatever the case may be.

You're too close.

I have no objective opinion.

If you've been in the house for 20 years, like Eric says, you personalize everything.

You're like, no, not moving my bowling trophy, whatever it may be, you have to go to someone else to get that outside perspective that can stand back five feet and go, no, dude, bowling trophy goes like, yep, yeah, absolutely.

I have a trophy.

It's funny when you said that I have a trophy in this beautiful lighted bookcase that I have.

It's like a library dining room.

And it's from when I was in college in debate from the Air Force Academy.

And it says, big eagle.

It's a bowling trophy.

I thought, oh, as I look over there, that.

That is different.

Maybe, but maybe there's a.

Maybe there's a balance, right?

There's a big difference between a bowling trophy and an eagle from the Air Force Academy.

And there may be the one guy that walks in that goes, I could put my bowling trophy where that.

There you go.

Where can I slide that in?

At?

In here?

Exactly.

But, yeah, no, I think that I've seen Shelby do that now for many clients, and it's always such a huge relief to me, because I don't want to be the bad guy.

A lot of times I had to be the bad guy.

Anyway.

When we talk about budget, even if I'm really careful with material and everything, it's not an easy conversation.

And one less difficult, challenging conversation is worth it to me to pay her to go in and just help them because it preserves the relationship.

Yeah, that makes sense.

One thing I noticed too, and my Realtor would come through and it was always interesting to see.

When my Realtor was showing the house, he would come in and turn basically all the lights on and over light everything.

To me, it drove me nuts a little bit because I had my settings for things to look really sexy and cool because everything was automated.

But when I lit the place, it was like I gave myself 20% for cleaning or searching for something.

But I usually brought it down a little bit for the perfect light.

And it was one of those things.

I'm like, hey, man, can we.

This is almost uncomfortable for me.

Can we dial it down just a little bit?

And he said it was basically the lighter, the better in there to make it feel open, big and bright.

I think that's probably a challenge that's unique to people that are designers or contractors who understand a professional lighting plan, because those can lights on at full height are really oppressive to actually live with.

And that's again, where are you a guest in an Airbnb or are you living in the house?

And that's where a professional Realtor really comes in, because they do really know their stuff.

And just like, I. I couldn't begin to do what they do and they can't do what I do.

There's a lot of mutual respect there, and it's a very symbiotic relationship.

Right.

So it's important, I think, to listen to your Realtor when they tell you their honest opinion, because they're not doing it to be opinion Hill.

It's just the way someone experiences your home.

Walking through it for 20 minutes is definitely going to be something other than the way you experience it, living there and having enjoyed it.

And as a design professional, because you and I both think, long term, how's it going to feel?

And John does that when he thinks, how's this going to function for clients?

But again, it's like, you've got 20 minutes maybe with those people to fall in love with your house.

And the Realtor knows.

They really do.

Yeah, it's interesting.

And it's just like the Realtor has a sense.

They're also color.

Color can be put off for his people as well.

I had at my house, my office was painted this dark, stormy, moody color that kind of gave a little more of a feel of, like, maybe a cigar lounge.

And he's like, too dark, man.

We got to fix that.

And I'm like, I didn't want to have to paint it again, but he was right.

But I still didn't like doing it as a designer.

Yeah, it's a.

It's tough.

I know.

I.

It's.

Yeah, tough.

It's tough.

So what is your take on color with that?

Because as designers, we have our opinion of really personalizing spaces, but personalizing spaces can also make it hard to sell.

Yeah, beige is your friend if you're selling your house.

Neutral, neutral, neutral.

Because everybody has different tastes, so it's more about the layout of the home, the function of the home, what are the amenities in the home?

Unless they're looking for a true designer space and they're seeking that out, looking for a particular look.

Like in our area, there was a architect, Conrad Sanchez, and his things are sought out because of a very specific look.

So that's what a homeowner would want to purchase.

But otherwise, people are looking to make it their space, and they all have their own, thank God.

Gives me a job aesthetic.

And so they had to be able to see that coming to life in the space sense.

Yes.

That's why you get everything out.

That's why you get everything neutral.

You've got to open it up enough for them to be able to walk in and go, oh, we could paint this wall green, and we could paint.

And anything of yours that's already in there detracts from that.

It feels like an occupied space.

They don't want that.

They want a clean slate.

They want to picture their kids.

Trophy over there, whatever.

But, yeah, it's opening it up and leaving a blank palette, really, so they can visualize.

Because you get that visualization, you're like, no, I like that house the best.

Because they pictured all their stuff in there.

One of the things that I think is super smart, too, is even before you get into the staging part of it, I would pay the 500 bucks, 800 bucks, whatever costs in your area, have an inspector come through your home, get the pre inspection done so you can go, oh, I had no idea that I had water in the crawl space.

Or.

Or, oh, my gosh, I had no idea that I had a water leak over here that I need to fix.

Yeah.

Or in my area, there's a lot of Ag So get the septic report, get the well report, get the roof checked, because then there are no surprises.

And when you come to a negotiation and you can decide as a seller, do you want to take money off for whatever repairs need to be done, or do you want to negotiate that in the agreement, it's not something that comes up that kills the deal.

And then it also, when you're transparent that way, says a lot to the buyer about your integrity as a homeowner and how you may or may not have cared for your home and how you will treat them in the sale.

So that does a lot, I think, in terms of establishing some baseline of trust for a transaction that large.

That's a great point, Eric.

I'm glad that you brought that up.

And it was funny.

I did that on mine.

I had no idea.

Some of the stuff that they would come back with that was, quite frankly, even wrong.

Like, you have water coming through the foundation where that crack was.

And I'm like, no, I don't what it was.

I had actually repaired on the outside of the foundation.

It was a crack in the foundation.

We did the proper carbon fiber and patched with the epoxy, so it was actually stronger there.

But that wasn't water.

That was epoxy glue that had penetrated through the crack like it was supposed to.

But the guy goes, oh, no, that's water running down.

I'm like, guarantee it's not.

Sure enough, he went back underneath there and went, oh, yeah, that's hard.

Epoxy.

It looked like water.

Wow.

Didn't touch it.

He didn't.

Nope.

I look like Disney water.

Maybe.

That being said, as an inspector, you're the last guy's house I'd want inspect.

That's true.

You really excellent point.

Or mine, for that matter.

I wouldn't want me.

Yeah, but it was one of those things going through.

And I did a lot of overbuilding, but there were some stuff that I.

And there were some stuff that I was like, oh, yeah, I haven't been up on the second story line ladder and check the caulking above that window in 18 months.

So it was good to get those things and catch some of those things.

There was a water leak.

I had no idea because it was just a little drip.

But this guy went through with a fine tooth comb everywhere, Which I don't do that in my crawl space because it's 18 inches high, and I don't like crawling on my stomach that far deep.

But he did.

So you learn those things beforehand.

And the other Thing that I think that this solves, and I think it's important is if you have foundation issues or a roof that needs to be replaced, if at the time, you know that inspection process is at the last part of the process, unfortunately, usually now you're paying a roofer overtime or a foundation repair person over time, they got you bent over the barrel because you need to get to closing.

You can make that, get it on the schedule and go.

We're going to wait a month to list because I'm going to pay retail for it, not retail plus to get this project done in emergency so I can get through.

Sounds good in theory, but I always wait till the last minute.

That's just me.

And notice I mumble quietly when I say that.

Oh, yeah, but you're 100% right, Eric.

You're 100% right.

Yeah, it's one of those things.

A little bit of work will prevent a lot of pain later.

Yeah, that's an attitude that would be really good to try to take on as well.

Because I think a lot of times people have that inspection, they see the things that are wrong and they grumble and it's this big thing, like, this is all fine.

It's all part of life.

It's all something that needs to happen.

You're going to get to go to where you want to go.

You're going to move forward.

It's just because I have clients sometimes that will.

Not just clients.

My husband does the same thing.

Little things come up and you're like, it's really not that big a deal.

It's like it's a privilege to own a home, to be able to sell it, to do something new.

There are just things that have to be done to get to the next thing.

I heard Jeremy Renner did a really cool podcast interview and he said pressure is a privilege, and it really is.

And selling or buying a home really is a pressure cooker type situation.

But it's good and it's exciting and it's a new door that's opening or an old door that's closing and it takes a little to get through it.

What is it?

The only way out is through, but we want to get through and we want to do the next thing.

And so take it on with a smile and a good attitude.

It'll happen faster and everybody will come out better in the long run.

So I keep trying to help my clients see that.

It's a great point.

I've been using that the only way out is through since I was like 17.

I'm like, what are you going to do?

Get out and cry or get out and change the tire?

Yep, yeah, yeah.

Down the road.

Huge Jeremy Runner fan.

That guy is so amazing.

And he loves homes, he loves buildings, he loves.

There's.

He's way deep, deeper than just an actor, you know what I mean?

Always impressed.

Wendy, what are some things to do we see now on.

On staging homes?

All of a sudden you're seeing this new trend of virtual staging as well, which to me looks a little cartoonish still.

I'm not a big A fan.

I'm like, this is a bad version of AI trying to do something that looks pretty, pretty like a DIY program.

That is true.

It looks terrible.

But there are a lot of programs where you can do it where it looks absolutely realistic.

And so Mid Journey is one of those.

You just input your photography in and then through prompts and a series of little edits, it can look completely different.

I think in really more costly luxury homes, sometimes that's a good idea and you can even offer that as a service to try to help potential buyers see what their esthetic would look like in the space.

That might be a new kind of way for realtors to approach that.

But whatever their little standard thing is that they're using right now is not very good looking.

It's discouraging.

And I also think it's very important to say on the listing photos, this is AI generated furniture.

Because when you go to the home and look around and there's nothing there, it's a little off putting.

There's like a trust thing that happens there.

So I think as long as you're very upfront about what you're doing, it's fine.

But if you're trying to be sneaky, it doesn't work.

All of a sudden it's like online dating.

That's true.

Oh, a little filter here, a little something there.

Picture from high school.

But that, oh my God.

Not even touching that one.

Or designers that had their photography done like 20 years ago and they've never updated it.

You meet them in person, you think.

Huh, not even the 20 year thing that gets me as much as the angles.

How did you do that?

The completely different.

Stick your neck out like this is.

A whole different person.

This is what happened.

I don't.

Now that we're on this and my favorite thing, I said I wasn't gonna.

Touch it, but I had to touch it.

What I love is how the paneling behind now has done the straight lines of the paneling in certain areas has also changed for where they shrank and expanded.

And that background sure got distorted.

What happened there?

Yeah, yeah.

Thanks for the new product idea, Wendy, by the way.

Sure, no problem.

Work in web design and AI now.

So I'm like, fantastic.

There's a tool that needs some work.

Okay, I'll knock that out in the next six days.

Go.

You can.

I know that you can.

That's awesome.

I'm going to say this too, because I learned this lesson.

I always learn a lesson every time I sell a house.

I probably should have staged my house differently, because I sure liked my couch.

But the people buying the house liked my couch, too.

So I had to give up $10,000 couch that I really liked.

That was part of the deal.

And it was like, okay, how bad do I want this couch?

How bad do I want to sell the house?

Because all of a sudden, half the things in the house they wanted thrown in.

They almost wanted it furnished.

You're a designer, Eric.

It's not like somebody's going to walk in your house and be like, oh, that's just some sofa we can pick up wherever your things are curated and intentional.

Yep.

And for the space.

And anybody who's at all educated in terms of their eye is going to know that and know that there's no way they could duplicate that.

It speaks to how talented you are that they wanted all of those things.

Thanks.

And they got most of those things.

It's okay, because this is because your way out is through.

And so now you get to do a different aesthetic somewhere else that you're gonna love.

And you're right.

What would I have done?

Okay, that couch would have been stored because it wouldn't have fit in the next place.

And then what am I gonna do?

And it was definitely meant for that space.

And so.

Yeah, but think about those things.

If you're like, hey, this couch or this chair in the side was my grandmother's and it's something.

Just take it out of the house.

Don't make a part of the conversation.

Put something else there.

Because that's a great idea.

Because sometimes that will be a hard conversation.

And you don't want to lose the sale over something because they fell in love with that.

You're like, that was my grandmother's, and there's no price to do that.

Take it off the table.

Take it off the table.

So it's not a point of discussion, Especially if it's cool.

Yeah, that's smart.

Very smart.

It seems another thing that I see, too, that I see that people tend to ignore.

We talked about a little bit but lighting.

I talked about putting my lights up.

But most of my house was designed with lighting in mind.

Where most homes really aren't.

It was whatever the electrician decided to do the day they put the lighting system in the house.

Whether it was custom or a more builder spec house.

Yeah.

Lighting really can make or break a room.

And I.

The single fan in each bedroom with the little light kit is not ever enough.

Never.

Please find good, looking good scale lamps again.

No.

You can go to TJ Maxx or Marshalls for this or home goods or wherever and plug them in, put them on a desk, put them on a side table, put them on your kitchen counter, put them on your bathroom counter.

It's pretty.

And get the warm light, not the cool light because the cool light makes you feel like you're in a hospital.

That's so bad.

And it, it makes a huge impact and actually just a glow of a nice lamp really warms up the space and makes it feel more inviting.

So.

And a lot of actually a lot of designers are moving away from that overhead lighting.

Yeah.

And going more to individual lamps and for different things.

Yeah.

That's movable, replaceable, changeable because.

Yeah, that and this is, this is my belief here.

But if I could remove all the 6 inch can lights from the world, I would do it tomorrow.

That would be my magic wand.

That would be nice.

That's the first thing to go.

In every project I work on, people are like, I just changed all those light bulbs.

Those are all LED lights now.

I said no, they're not really horrible.

They're not really LED lights.

Working in an office all of a sudden.

Exactly.

Sterile, sterile, boring.

Bad flicker acting, the flicker, all that.

It's bad for your brain.

It really is.

We would go into people's homes and be filming in those cheap cam lights.

When you're trying to get them on camera.

It was like you were in a rave dance club on camera.

You were trying to figure out how to get the flicker rate just to make it go away.

And I've noticed that with some higher end appliances and I'm not going to name brands, but they have a similar problem when they have glass doors that all of a sudden you'll see that flickering.

I'm like, come on guys, you could have put a little better LED in that, that it looks like a dance club rave.

And I'm not going to throw any names out, but be careful out there, guys.

It's just when zit not ruining any relationships with me, but I'm just going to say, careful, kids.

Yeah.

And if you make appliances that do that, Eric will not be purchasing them for his home.

No, no.

This now there will be no brand.

Deal or I'm going to be field modifying them before they come in.

And fixing the design issue.

Yeah, done that.

It's also important, too, and I think I've picked up on this with all the project photography that I've done of jobs that we finished.

But if you can make sure the light temperature is the same and by that the color.

So if the can lights.

My friend Carrie is a.

She's a lighting designer and she says those are recessed lumineers.

It's very hard to say that, but to normal people they're called can lights.

So if the can lights are cool white with a blue cast, but all the beautiful lamps that you've gone out and put in here to make things feel more warm and cozy are all warm white.

It's going to look terrible.

Yeah.

It's going to break your brain.

Yeah.

And it will change the color of your walls, it will change the color of your floors.

And if you have the two colors of light in the same space, they will fight each other.

So it's.

And it's a strange effect that happens on materials in your home.

So I would really caution you to try to make sure that you put the same color temperature in.

Yeah, amen.

It really does hurt my head when lights are fighting like that.

Oh, no, I can't.

And it shows up horribly on the pictures, too.

Breaks my brain.

It shows up horribly on the pictures.

Now they're trying to color correct it and make it look good, and it's just never good.

It's a lot of time in Photoshop and it doesn't really work.

Now.

One, one tip that I have for people too that are doing this all themselves.

Go around and take pictures of the rooms like you were a photographer before, before you.

They come out and do this because you're going to look around and go, oh, wow, I didn't catch that.

That base molding here wasn't painted correctly.

Or there's a big scuff here.

What's that handprint on the wall?

Or where's that spot?

I thought we painted that way.

We missed it over here when the lights.

Right.

So you'll catch a lot of those things beforehand that you've walked past a thousand times and never noticed.

But when it's a picture that's still in front of you, you could actually catch it and see it.

Things like you were talking about candles the other day, Eric, and not noticing the candles will produce the lines on the ceiling.

Like you're not going to notice that.

Maybe if it's not visible yet, but take a photo and go, yeah, all.

Those marks on the studs that happen because everybody loves candles.

Yeah, you notice that stuff when it shows up in the picture.

Now you're like, all right, I got more painting to do.

That little smoky effect.

Yeah, that's not good.

And another thing too out there.

Healthy homes are a big thing these days, guys.

So don't ignore those things around the house.

Just attention to that.

But Wendy, what are some of.

Before we run out of time here, what are some more tips that you've got out there?

Because you're coming so far from the design of making these spaces look beautiful and have a mass appeal.

Right.

I think it's important to be objective when you look at your home.

I think it's important to pretend like you're an Airbnb guest.

It's important to photograph each space like you just said, Eric, before you have repairs and things done or professionally shot so that you can make those changes.

And you need to maybe try to go into this knowing that you are going to have to put some work into this and it will be worthwhile and it will pay off and you will see it either sell faster or sell for a higher price.

But I think a lot of times people are averse to adding just one more thing to their to do list.

And so they punt on some of these things and it's just, it's them who ends up paying for it really.

I think, oh, very important.

Your front door.

Gosh, please make sure that you get out the broom and that you hose everything down and get all of the spider webs out.

Put a fresh pretty flower there.

Make sure that no kitty cat has been using the flower pot next to your door.

Make sure there's no odors.

Make sure it's clean.

There's a nice, some like a little wreath on the door or something welcoming or charming or good looking.

Something that's, that's alive and clean and gives you a nice first impression.

Wash the door down.

A lot of times people just don't think about that.

Clean your glass windows and doors.

Sure that your puppy dog, if he smuts on your door and you have a showing, you get the smuts off the door.

Because those little things do make a difference.

But I think a lot of times those exterior places are really key.

When you step out the back patio door, it needs to be blown off.

I like those dewalt blowers with the little.

Oh, yeah, I love those things.

I love those things.

But nice and clean so that people don't worry about tracking things back into your home.

I have a hard time with people.

Oh, sorry, go ahead.

I was going to say another thing to think about is back on your front door, your realtor will probably have the photography crew come out and do some drone shots.

How does it look from above looking down?

Have you cleaned off the roof?

Has that been maintained?

Is there stuff in the back of the yard that's going to show up?

That's your junk.

Pile of stuff you got to take to the dump or the old yard, stuff from last year.

You know, there is no place to hide this on the property, so you really need to get it out and gone.

There's no corner that's not unseen.

It's true.

All your dirty laundry will be right there.

And that's not good looking people.

Life is busy for all of us and things just end up places and then you forget because you're busy and you say, oh, I'm going to come back and get to this.

But then you don't because there's a lot happening in everybody's life.

I don't think anyone lives in complete perfection.

Very few people really do.

So I also wouldn't take that on and feel some sense of judgment for it because we're all just doing the best that we can.

But it is really important to clean that up again.

Pretend like you're a guest in your house and you are going to see everything.

I know, even in my own home, if I get a gift or someone gives me a book or whatever, I just shove it in a shelf or do whatever.

And then a couple months later, I stand back and I look at my bookcase or I look at my counter and I think, oh my gosh, I have to clean this up because things just get ahead of you and it's normal.

So no condemnation there, but just inch by inch, it's a cinch.

There we go.

There we go.

Wendy, thanks for coming on today.

We are running out of time, but it is always great to dive into these subjects like this because you bring such a fresh perspective to the show and I love having your expertise on there.

One thing, how do people find you again out there?

If they're like, man, I'm in California or I'm anywhere in the world and I gotta have Wendy work on my project.

Thank you for staying anywhere in the world.

It's like, yeah, mind being in Dubai or the Caribbean in the middle of winter.

There's always a place for you.

Right?

We can make that work.

It's just Wendy@WendyGlasterInteriors.com for my email address.

WendyGlasterInteriors.com is my website.

Wendy, Glacier Interiors is on Instagram and we have stories every day about projects and things that we're doing.

So fun to follow us along.

We'd love to have you be a part of things.

And thank you again so much for remembering me and inviting me back.

It's so nice to see you both again.

Awesome.

Wendy, thanks for coming on.

I'm looking forward to hopefully maybe see you in Orlando this year.

I get it.

Orlando is so hard for us to get to from the West Coast.

It is, yeah.

In one year, Cadiz will be back in Las Vegas and It's only a 45 minute plane ride for me.

It's hard.

I'm sorry.

No, I get it.

I'm fine.

I wish you luck and good cheer in your endeavors, though.

Have a wonderful time and I can't wait to hear what you bring back.

That would be fun, bringing a lot back.

I'll share it with you first.

How about that?

That sounds great.

All right.

For Johnny Dudley.

I'm Eric G. And you've been listening to around the House.

Thanks for tuning in to the around the House show.

Make sure you follow us on social media.

Those links are on our website@aroundthehouse online.com or in the podcast notes on your favorite podcast player.

Happy holidays and Merry Christmas from all of us here at around the House.