Fun with color in Kirkwood...

💥Baby blue pop?💥

 

Amp of your Holiday Curb Appeal with KINDNESS!

'Tis the season to show gratitude and express appreciation to those who make your life a little easier in 2020. Delivery drivers are working overtime, friends... 

... show them some love. This goodie basket is headed out to the porch of Casa de Nenonen right now.

Hello, December!

Welcoming the month of lights with a little winter gingerbread curb appeal in Casa de Nenonen. Stone facade and a shake shingle roof, trimmed with fresh greenery.❄️❤️

A nod to Stephen King's IT this Halloween...

Things are looking a little creepy around Casa de Nenonen for social-distanced spooky fun this evening! Have a safe Halloween, friends.

Peek at my Day: Spooky Curb Appeal!

When witches are cackling and black cats are seen...

 The moon laughs and whispers “Tis soon Halloween!”

Summer Vibes...

🌊Smell the salt.
🏖Feel the breeze.
👙Sandy toes.
🌴Mind at ease.

If you look carefully enough at the base of the large sidewalk shade trees outside of Casa de Nenonen, you will find a playful dose of Vitamin Sea☀️

Under Contract: 2551 Viola Gill Ln in Wildwood

Hello, Friday...

... Happy Buyers! The word came in early this morning that my clients contracted this adorable Wildwood newer construction not far from Wildwood Towne Center.  Talk about curb appeal?!  I can already see the sweet B duo sipping iced tea on their new front porch this Summer!

This cutie closes escrow in June.  See the full listing HERE. A warm congratulations and thank you to the amazing B Family!

In St. Louis and throwing around a move?  Have questions about COVID-19's impact on the housing market and the safest way to navigate it?  Let's connect!  The market is swift, the industry has shifted significantly to meet demand while keeping people safe, and I am here to help guide you through it...  

Curb Appeal, during COVID

Local St. Louis Homeowners have really stepped up in Spring 2020 to deliver smiles to their neighbors!

I spotted this adorable homage to the Saint Louis Zoo in Glendale last night. 🦒❤️

How vulnerable is your home?

Most of the time, effective home security doesn’t require a fancy-pants alarm system... 

Small changes can equate to sizable deterrents, Homeowners.

Spreading Smiles During Quarantine...

Without a doubt, tough times always bring out the best in mankind.  This week, the Internet has been flooded with lovely random acts of neighborhood kindness from across the nation...  

As Americans quarantine and spend extra time outside near home, their neighbors are flooding them with random acts of kindness delivering the smiles!  How are you spreading joy?  The Nenonens gave our whimsical sidewalk surprises an adorable Spring makeover...

Winter Curb Appeal matters!

With Thanksgiving so late this year, I have been admittedly slow to shifting our curb appeal to Winter mode.  I am happy to report that as of this afternoon, Winter has officially kissed the front porch of Casa de Nenonen...

Nothing punches up drab winter curb appeal like the warm touch of birch and pine?! As a member of Team WhyOverComplicate, I prefer to steer clear of holiday-specific themes in lieu of items of longevity that can appropriately remain up throughout the season until we are blessed with Spring.  

Spooky home invasion at Casa de Nenonen! ☠️

When witches go riding and black cats are seen, the moon laughs and whispers...

... “Tis near Halloween”!

A peek in my garden, the Fall edition.

I have mentioned before that Casa de Nenonen is a bus stop corner, and before the school year kicked off, I hid whimsical teeny tiny village scenes at the base of the shade trees lining our sidewalk... 

Most neighbors walk right past them, unnoticed, but littles somehow see them right away!  Just for giggles, I gave the scenes a spooky little Fall makeover this morning over my coffee🎃 ...

Just for Fun: Sweet September!

Tis the season! Farewell begonias, hello pumpkins...

I took advantage of the lovely weekend forecast to acknowledge September with a little touch of Fall curb appeal at Casa de Nenonen.🍁

Seller Tip: What is your season?

In a perfect world, every garden would be well-planned and balanced to have something lush, pretty, and in bloom throughout the entire growing cycle.  Creating a Midwest flower-filled garden that blooms from Spring through Fall is not as challenging as it may seem, but it does require careful planning and plant selection. 

Realistically, however, most yards evolve over time and over several different owners and their individual taste and dedication. Add in four very distinct Midwest seasons, including harsh winter dormancy, and friends... it is a challenge to maintain a year-round photogenic house.  As a result, most St. Louis yards have their season, or that short window of time when the curb appeal truly sparkles as the plants are in full-bloom beauty.  

Some yards shine during early Spring, with an abundance of bulb perennials like tulips and daffodils and lovely flowering trees like dogwoods. Some yards look best in early Summer, painted with blooms of azalea and peony. Other yards, like mine, look their best at the tail end of summer when the mature flowering bushes like hydrangea and crêpe myrtle are bursting with color and the annuals are in peak mature flowering season.  

As a Homeowner, it is prudent to know your season. When does your curb appeal look its best?  If the answer is NOW and you are considering listing your house over the next year, I am addressing you...  

If you are considering listing your home during our swift late-Winter, early Spring 2020 market (Feb- April), which ironically is one of the worst times to photograph a house in the Midwest, the time to photograph the exterior is NOW.  Even if you plan to list in May, but your best curb appeal season is August, I recommend a few professional exterior photos be taken now.

I cannot speak for other Realtors, however, I happily pay for professional photography for all of my Sellers out of my own pocket.  There is nothing better than the ability to add mature yard and garden shots to an early Spring listing as it REALLY sets the home apart from the competition.  Why leave your yard to a Buyer's imagination when you can advertise the beauty that they are actually shopping?

Plan to list in 2020 and you would like to discuss photography?  Email me at Carrie.Nenonen@cbgundaker.com or call at 314.298.5275.

If contemplating a move in 2020, the time to start interviewing Realtors is now.  The time to start preparing and planning is now, as well!  I would love to be considered. Let's connect...

A peek in my garden...

Casa de Nenonen serves as a bus stop to a pack of littles for 9 months of the year. I love hiding whimsical surprises in the nooks at the base of the large shade trees along that corner...

The scenes are so teeny that they go easily unnoticed, but kids always seem to spot them immediately. Who couldn’t use a little magic to start a brand new school year? 

Too fun. ✨🌳

Winter Curb Appeal - It matters, Sellers!

Yesterday afternoon, I showed a handful of properties to a client of mine, most notably a gorgeous home in Clayton mere steps from Forest Park.  While we had a record snow storm here in St. Louis over the weekend, Mother Nature has been kind over the past 2 days with clear skies.  I was shocked to pull up and discover that the Seller didn't bother to salt or shovel the walkway or driveway.  In fact, the Seller made zero attempt to ensure that we could safely enter the property.

Not good.

Needless to say, my client was turned off before we even entered the door after trekking through 10 inches of snow in normal street shoes.  Is your house listed right now or do you have plans to list your home soon, as we continue to battle Winter?  If so, this blog entry is for you!

Perhaps the biggest challenge to a Midwest Winter Seller, despite a smaller Buyer Pool, is the inability to visually capture a Buyer immediately.  The fact is, curb appeal matters and winter in St. Louis is dreary and sloppy for the most part. The 1st impression is almost always the lasting impression when it comes to real estate.  First impressions are everything and achieving a welcoming curb appeal during the gray winter months can be TOUGH!

Studies show that a Buyer typically decides within two minutes whether they like your home or not, as they start forming their opinion before they even walk through the front door!  Hence, it is VITAL for your home to be as presentable as it can be to ensure a quick sale at a top dollar price.

During the Spring and Summer months, I recommend fresh mulch, flowers, and colorful touches to my clients.   Unfortunately, however, during the gray winter months... a Seller doesn't have those options.  Hence, a warm and inviting curb appeal may be difficult to achieve during the Winter!    

Over my 17+ years in the business, I have compiled numerous winter curb appeal tips that I pass along to my Sellers to amp up the marketability of their properties during the colder months.

Curb appeal and winter safety matters to you too, Winter Sellers.  Do NOT ignore it or you are kissing money goodbye.

Are you in St. Louis, considering a move in 2019, and still interviewing Realtors?  I would love the opportunity to speak with you and appreciate your consideration!  Learn more about me at www.MoveWithCarrie.com, see what my clients have to say about me HERE, or call me at 314.298-5275 to find out how much your house is worth.

Halloween Curb Appeal

Seeking a way to amp up your spooky curb appeal, Homeowners? 

Scare the “boo crew” that lands on your front porch with a little DIY Halloween front door magic!  Little touches make MAJOR impact in this quick project.  Happy Haunting!

Double Layered Welcome Mats For the Curb Appeal Win!

TIP: Add a little warmth, visual interest, and pop of color to your front porch curb appeal by layering a fresh welcome mat over a flat weave outdoor rug!

In fact, Casa de Nenonen got a little front porch spruce-up this week!

FYI: The standard size doormat I purchased (at Homegoods) is 18x29.  The buffalo checked rug (from Amazon) is 2x3.

Top 10 Home Design Trends for 2018 per the Pinterest 100

If you are a Pinterest user (find me HERE), you know that you can spot trends forming on the site LONG before you see them plastered across the internet.   For that reason, I have always enjoyed peeking in on the Pinterest 100 , as it is a fascinating highlight of what is trending right now on Pinterest. With over 14 billion ideas, the home category continues to grow with a 75% increase in Pins each year and Pinterest users spend 27% more on decor than people who don’t use the site.

As far as home design goes in 2018 (Home Decor category), Pinterest users have spoken and these are the top 10 hot trends as highlighted by Lonny.com and with photos taken directly from the site as trending. How many of these design elements  have you incorporated into your own home?

1. Resort-inspired style, particularly in the bathroom. 
2. Marriage of mixed metals in a space.
3. Terrazzo is making a comeback, in several applications. 
4. Statement ceilings, aka "The fifth wall". 
5. Bone inlaid accent pieces.
6. Wood wall tiles and flooring in a herringbone pattern.
7. My personal curb appeal favorite- statement doors.
8. Vibrant and patterned house plants.
9. Oversized wall art is back and pushing the eclectic gallery wall back out of vogue.
10. Sage, sage, and more sage.