Design & Real Estate

Smart Move

When you’re trying to sell your home in a tough market, pinching pennies can end up costing you thousands. Hiring a professional home stager can mean the difference between getting the price you want and being forced to discount. Staging turns your home into a canvas meant to appeal to the imaginations of buyers, and you’d be surprised to find out which of your favorite features should actually be hidden in the attic for showings; IAHSP.com.

Gleaming Finish
Want to make sure your hardwood floors are looking their finest without crawling around on your hands and knees all day? Check out the Mint Automatic Floor Cleaner from Evolution Robotics. Simple and effective, Mint uses Northstar Navigation Cubes to keep track of where it has cleaned and what still needs some love. It’s essentially a Swiffer with a small but useful brain; $249.99, Evolution.com.

“Architecture has recorded the great ideas of the human race. Not only every religious symbol, but every human thought has its page in that vast book.”
— Victor Hugo

NYC Solar
Go ahead and read some significance into this one: Twice a year, the sunset aligns perfectly with every cross-street in Manhattan, making for a killer photo op. We’re calling it Mahattanhenge.

 

 

 

Paper House
Elis F. Stenman must have loved to read, because when he built his Rockport, MA, home in 1922, he constructed it entirely out of newspaper, right down to the chairs, tables and bookshelves. Watch out for the Big Bad Wolf!

 

 

 

Matter of Taste
When house shopping, make sure not to get distracted by tacky décor, or colors that you don’t particularly like. It’s easy to overlook the real qualities of a space when the walls are covered in flamingo-colored sand-dollar wallpaper.