North Texas designer shares tips on getting the most for your decor dime
Are you getting a tax refund and want to spruce up your home? Did you know last year the average refund was $3,120?
If you want to add some beauty to the home or add value for a future sale, here are some super tips from Randal Weeks, McKinney-based designer and founder of Aidan Gray and owner of Gray Living.
Don’t wait on the bathroom. One of the places you will get the biggest bang for your buck is the bathrooms. Weeks notes, “Updating a drop-in sink with new fixtures is a way to have a fresh look in one of your home’s most used rooms. In renovating your bathrooms, you can add value to your home by selecting timeless elements. One of the biggest issues buyers have when making offers on the home is the cost of redoing other people’s bad choices or trendy decisions. They factor those costs into the offer. Keep it timeless, keep it easy, and you increase the true value of the home.”
Draw the curtains on custom curtains. Another great way to spend that refund is by adding or updating window coverings. That’s not to say that custom curtains are the way to go. “Time and time again, I’ve specified and fretted over the perfect fabric, the perfect stitch, the perfect layout, etc. for custom window treatments for several oversized windows. I found that it can be an enormous waste of money. In hindsight, ready-made silk would have been a better choice. Stick to neutrals, you can always add banding, but they never go out of style. I tell all my clients to stick to classic colors in ready-made draperies. And the best part is, when you save money on the front side, you can buy two colors and change them out seasonally.”
Lighten up! Lighting is critical, and you cannot have too much of it in your home. Invest in unique lighting fixtures that can be conversations pieces. Lighting can set the mood of a room, not by the actual light bulb, but by the fixture as a whole. Consider design as well as function when choose your decorative lighting. Just like one would invest in a fine piece of jewelry to flatter and flaunt, lighting can be considered architectural jewelry in that it makes a statement and shows personality.
In honor of Tax Day, Gray Living, a home décor and lifestyle shop in the heart of McKinney’s town square, that specializes in casual European elegance will offer customers 15 percent off their entire purchase on April 15-16 (some restrictions may apply).
Gray Living is located in the heart of downtown McKinney, Texas, at 113 N. Kentucky Avenue. For more information, visit www.grayliving.com.
