Discover the secrets to creating a comfortable, functional, and beautiful living space that truly reflects your personality. Join us in this captivating episode of Realty Bytes Conversations on Real Estate and Lifestyle as we delve into the world of home design with special guest Brittany Marino, a seasoned interior designer and a realtor. Brittany shares her expert insights on everything from selecting the perfect colors and furniture placement to distinguishing between interior decorating and staging. Learn practical tips on managing design projects within budget constraints and how to incorporate the latest trends without sacrificing timeless elegance. Brittany also offers valuable advice on exterior design, emphasizing the importance of first impressions and harmonious flow from outside to inside. Whether you're planning a small renovation or a complete home makeover, this episode is packed with actionable advice and inspiration to help you transform your space. Don’t miss out on Brittany’s expert guidance on making your home both a haven and a standout property in the real estate market. Tune in now for an episode that promises to elevate your home design game!
Home Design Secrets | Creating Comfortable, Functional and Beautiful Spaces
Introduction:
Guest Introduction:
Segment 1: The Art of Home Design
Segment 2: Interior Decorating vs. Staging
Segment 3: Starting Your Design Project
Segment 4: Trends and Timeless Design
Segment 5: Exterior Design Considerations
Segment 6: Staging Your Home for Sale
Conclusion:
Outro:
For more information you can check out or BLOG at https://www.realtybytes.ca/blog
Host |
Evelyn Lopes | The Evelyn Lopes Realty Team | iPro Realty Brokerage
905-965-5902
evelyn@evelynlopes.com
Contributor |
Brittany Marino | Interior Designer and Realtor
Re/Max Ultimate Realty
416-678-1683
www.brittneynicole.com/services
TRANSCRIPT
Evelyn Lopes: We all live in homes and what makes a home comfortable, functional and beautiful. It's design. Design is an important part of creating a home that you'll love, but many of us are challenged by all the choices and trends and what actually works when styling your home. It's an art, but it's an art.
00:00:20 Evelyn Lopes: That can be learned. On today's episode of Real Debates, conversations on real estate and lifestyle, we're talking about home design and creating a space that works, and one that you truly love.
00:00:31 Evelyn Lopes: Tackling a host of elements that go into creating great design, from creating functional spaces, choosing the style that's right for you, to selecting the right colors and placing your furniture to ensure a harmonious flow. We've got you covered. We'll also discuss the fine line between interior decorating and staging, the latest trends, and all the details that make a house a home. And to help us on our journey, we have a special guest.
00:00:57 Evelyn Lopes: Brittany Marino. Brittany is an experienced interior designer with over a decade of experience. She's worked on show homes for large corporations in Toronto and the surrounding area, and brings to the table her unique insight. Because she's also a realtor with over five years of experience on a family-owned team, she knows exactly what makes a home stand out.
00:01:20 Evelyn Lopes: Design and what buyers are looking for. So if you have a home or a living space, and we all do, this is an episode you won't want to miss.
00:01:46 Evelyn Lopes: Welcome to the show, Brittany. So before we start, maybe you can just tell our viewers a little bit about yourself.
00:01:47 Brittany Marino: Hello everyone.
00:01:53 Brittany Marino: Yes, of course.
00:01:55 Brittany Marino: So I have been lucky enough to have the creative side of my brain and hence when I was a little kid I loved art class. I was also into dance and singing. So I feel that I was able to fuel that as a child. And I think what's great is it created this path for me.
00:02:15 Brittany Marino: As I got older. So, I did go into your design school right out of high school and I was able to work my way through the corporate ladder of design. I was working with a lot of residential high-end luxury interior design firms in and around the city.
00:02:36 Brittany Marino: And then I also was able to go to a big platform where we created commercial spaces and did other types of retail spaces.
00:02:46 Brittany Marino: And then I also went into doing freelance where I was able to do design on a more personal level, helping people with their residential homes, small scale type of projects. You know, it could be just like a basement renovation or even just making over a nursery for a family. So I kind of have a lot of.
00:03:06 Brittany Marino: Realm when it comes to actual design because I can do small things, but then I've also been able and tackled larger scale projects like custom builds from the ground.
00:03:16 Brittany Marino: Up where some of these projects are multi-million dollars. So having this realm I think is great in order for clients to really understand how design works and what's also great is being a real estate agent as well, which I've been newly, well not newly now, five years in real estate. I think it goes so hand in hand.
00:03:37 Brittany Marino: Together, which help benefit my clients in terms of buyers and.
00:03:41 Brittany Marino: Sellers and just making sure that the home is a place where you want to live, a home is the place where you want to be, and also giving it your personal style with amazing function as well.
00:03:54 Evelyn Lopes: Great. Well, that's wonderful. As we begin our conversation, maybe you can sort of highlight the difference between interior design and staging.
00:04:04 Brittany Marino: Yeah, of course. I think when it comes to actually designing your home, there's a lot more thought that goes into actual functionality and personality.
00:04:16 Brittany Marino: In terms of how you use your home on a daily basis, a lot of people, yes, they want their homes to look beautiful. But does it actually function? So when we're doing, for example, you know, the kitchen is one of the most popular areas that I will design for clients and again going through what the actual functionality of those drawers.
00:04:36 Brittany Marino: Are what's inside the interior of the kitchen. You know what size appliances do you have? What are you using? How many kids do you have? You know, do you have a dog? Do you need a dog station integrated into the kitchen? So those types of things and questions come up when you're kind of doing design.
00:04:53 Brittany Marino: Line. Yes, we do make spaces look 100% beautiful and to your personality with theme and style and trend. But we're really honing in on those types of personal questions when doing a design. When we're doing staging, it's a lot more different. It's kind of like a clean slate, neutral.
00:05:13 Brittany Marino: Depersonalizing, but obviously using the right scale of furniture and making sure that it looks very clean and.
00:05:20 Brittany Marino: Minimal. Again, we do want to have some trends and colors incorporated in staging, but that personal element is really kind of taken away when doing staging.
00:05:31 Evelyn Lopes: Right. Because they're for two different purposes, right? So, as you said, when you're doing design, it's for you the way that you live and when you're staging, you're trying to make that.
00:05:42 Evelyn Lopes: Applicable for the way that the majority lives or other people can envision themselves in that space. So if someone was wanting to make over their home, where should they start?
00:05:54 Brittany Marino: I think really in terms of making over a home, a lot of people need to understand the actual budgeting that comes with doing design. I think we watch a lot of HGTV homes and you know we see these budgets that maybe are not actually real. And of course we see timelines that are not actually real.
00:06:13 Brittany Marino: So I think really understanding the actual construction elements that go into doing a makeover, because yes, even if you're just redoing a space, there's still a lot of structural elements that we have to go through plumbing, electrical, drywall, you know, just to name a few. So really understanding the process, I like starting with that with all of my clients.
00:06:33 Brittany Marino: And then really creating a foundation for the actual design and function. So again, I think speaking with an expert 100% designer and contracting team, I think a lot of people just go to the contractor route.
00:06:48 Brittany Marino: Which I love my contractors. They're absolutely great. But when it comes to actual design, sometimes they don't have the knowledge and expertise in that. So hiring a team with designer and contracting going through, like I said, the timeline, the budget and then how to actually make this makeover a reality, I think then once you kind of have that out of the way.
00:07:08 Brittany Marino: Then you're able to actually dive into actually doing the design. So for sure speaking with professionals about how to make this makeover actually happen.
00:07:18 Evelyn Lopes: It always comes down to the money, right? How much money you have. And so you know, you may want to have a whole list of things done to your home, but you've only got X amount of dollars when people are wanting to make a change in their space, it always comes down to the money, right? They've got a certain budget that they have to work with.
00:07:37 Evelyn Lopes: That they've got this whole list of things that they'd like to have. So do you think it would be advantageous for them to sort of say what their must list is and what their like to list is so that they sort of have something to work with when they're faced with those budget constraints?
00:07:54 Brittany Marino: Yeah, absolutely. I think that a lot of the times, people actually will hire me to implement some sort of design and execute it in phases, right? Because obviously, as you know, especially when it comes to even real estate buyers and people buying homes, they like their home to be, you know, harmonious.
00:08:14 Brittany Marino: Have a flow so we're not going to design just one space in a trend of hardwood and then you know in a year do the next trend of hardwood we make these decisions. So that like I said, we could design sort of the entire main floor or entire second floor with executing it at different times because the budget sometimes is limited.
00:08:34 Brittany Marino: But again, what I focus a lot of my business on as I was saying is understanding the budget and again we can do the design and we can do it. But if you can't implement it, I'm not going to get your hopes up and you know, trying to say, Oh yes, we can do this just to get the job done. I'm very realistic with my client. So again.
00:08:53 Brittany Marino: If we meet and we go through that phase and they're like, you know what, we will save up for another six months, so we can.
00:09:00 Brittany Marino: Execute the best design at that point. Then we will do that. So I agree in terms of having your must haves and your priorities, making sure that we can fit that into the budget and then ensuring that, yes, those things that you wish list or desired things. Sometimes it has to go on the back burner and get executed at a later date.
00:09:20 Evelyn Lopes: It's funny that you say people want to make over their house and they're doing one room with one floor and then you go to another room and it's another floor. As a realtor, we know that that doesn't look.
00:09:32 Evelyn Lopes: Very good. It sort of chops up the space. It makes the home look dated. And also you go into one room and it's like ohh this one was done in 1989 and this one was done in 1995. And there's no flow to it. So that's another question. When somebody is looking to design a space, should there be.
00:09:52 Evelyn Lopes: The similar type of feel throughout the entire house, or can somebody have a country chic home and then one room is ultra modern? Or is that just too stark and a contrast?
00:10:05 Brittany Marino: Yeah, I think that in terms of the home, we want it to feel very harmonious throughout the entire and interior and exterior of the home as well. So and, you know, I think a lot of our jobs as designers is also making the husband and the wife actually come to an agreement on style as well. That's also sometimes difficult.
00:10:25 Brittany Marino: But absolutely, we want to make sure there's an entire flow throughout the.
00:10:28 Brittany Marino: The home and I think that when it comes to actually executing it, for example, you know we'll have clients who want to do a space. But I will say, OK, here's the entire square footage of your main floor. Let's buy that material. We can keep it in a warehouse. We can keep it in the safe space if need be and execute this at a later time.
00:10:50 Brittany Marino: Right, having a a flow is absolutely important, but I will say in certain.
00:10:55 Brittany Marino: Spaces. You can definitely create a different style or create a different theme like a lot of the times I'll create unique themes in powder rooms or in basements, or you know, like somewhere in a bedroom, something where you can close the door where you know it can be something entertaining or fun in a space, but still allowing that.
00:11:16 Brittany Marino: Open concept areas to kind of flow together.
00:11:19 Evelyn Lopes: OK. So when we're thinking about designing a space, we've talked about sort of having what you're wanting to do, having a budget. What else should you consider if you're considering a design project?
00:11:33 Brittany Marino: Yeah. I think in terms of selecting the type of finishes in terms of, you know the look that you want and also again it goes down to that functionality like one thing that I really educate on as well is like, again countertop surfaces, why are certain materials porous, why are they not you know, are you OK?
00:11:53 Brittany Marino: To have staining. If your red wine falls or do you want something that's going to be more protective? So I think again, really understanding the fundamentals of the actual die.
00:12:02 Brittany Marino: Design in terms of finishes and that's why having a designer is so important because they're not only just picking those pretty things, they're actually educating you on the actual use of the material. So I think just like I said, ensuring that, yes, you could have this look a lot of people. And I use Pinterest a lot when it comes to actually.
00:12:22 Brittany Marino: Doing conceptual design and inspiration, I think a lot of people, especially in this generation, probably have Pinterest or Instagram where they can look at.
00:12:31 Brittany Marino: Spaces and a lot of the times, yes, I can point out the material, you know and explain the type of material it is and will it function for that specific type of client or space like you know how we design a home is probably different than how you would design potentially like a penthouse condo, right, something maybe more trendy.
00:12:51 Brittany Marino: Something more ultra modern where a home you might want something a little bit different and function a little bit different, especially even if it's like a cottage or a vacation.
00:13:00 Brittany Marino: Property. If you're not using it all the time, or you're cooking a lot of the times. My cottage clients will just take out food or just do BBQ so they don't maybe need that use of the kitchen as much versus someone who's using the home every single day. So I think just really knowing the function is honestly the most important thing when it comes to design.
00:13:19 Evelyn Lopes: Right, you.
00:13:20 Evelyn Lopes: You pointed out a number of really important things as you talked about the surfaces.
00:13:25 Evelyn Lopes: So I know a lot of people are into the white kitchens with the white countertops and not an issue with red wine and coffee stains. And if you've got kids, you don't want to have a space where people feel that they can't actually be in it or touch anything because it's going to.
00:13:41 Evelyn Lopes: Damaged. So that's great. And I guess as well the stage of life that you're in, are you with kids? Are you older? Do you have teenagers coming in and out with all their friends? So I guess all of that goes into the design concept as well. What else would you say would be something that you should consider?
00:14:01 Brittany Marino: I think that a lot of times people don't realize the small impacts when it comes to design. Like simply changing your paint color or changing or upgrading your light fixtures. Also, what's really important is your exposure, which way you're facing, you know, depending on where the sun hits, the certain spaces can alter.
00:14:21 Brittany Marino: Certain types of colors I actually started working at Benjamin Moore as a color consultant right out of my interior design courses and again I just saw color so perfectly and I could tell the undertone.
00:14:34 Brittany Marino: Of a color where a lot of people would come in and they just show me a paint swatch. And I'm like, well, let's go to your space. Let's see it because you're facing West. It's going to pull a lot of sun. It's going to pull a lot of pink and you know, they wouldn't maybe trust in me and then they'd paint it and they'd say, Oh my gosh, it's Pepto Bismol on my wall. Right. So I think again, like.
00:14:55 Brittany Marino: Having that expert advice and knowing like I said, your lighting is really important. So understanding that and again making sure like when you have your paint color again painting is pretty expensive when you're painting an entire home. So why not invest in that expert device to make sure you're making the right choice?
00:15:14 Brittany Marino: Again, because it's all perceptive based on your space and your finishes.
00:15:18 Evelyn Lopes: And and that's something too. Even when I go into clients homes and we're talking about painting, you know, a hallway or a living room to freshen it up for sale, and they'll go white and they'll go. It's not just white. And there's, like hundreds of whites. So we need to look at.
00:15:34 Evelyn Lopes: What's the color of your floor? What's the color of your staircase? What's the color of your furniture? Kitchen cupboards, you know. And they do have those undertones, whether they're cool or warm and you want to bring everything in. Otherwise it's very stark. It's stark to the eyes. A little jarring. Then you'll go into another space where every.
00:15:52 Evelyn Lopes: Thing just sort of meshes it just there's a feeling right color gives a feeling and so you need to make sure that all of that is pulled together so another great tip there and also with the lighting there's differences in the type of bulbs that you put into your lighting, right. Maybe you can talk a little bit about that. The stark white.
00:16:12 Evelyn Lopes: The worms all the different levels.
00:16:14 Brittany Marino: Yeah, absolutely. Your Kelvin of light is absolutely important. And one thing that I also hate is mishmash of, you know, your colors of bulbs, right? You wanna have this harmonious feeling again that we keep speaking about in your home. So you should also do that and change your light bulbs. Right. A lot of people obviously don't know, and they're not educated, but there are different lighting.
00:16:36 Brittany Marino: Spectrums and it's called by Kelvin and especially with the LED lights, a lot of the times you will see when you purchase them what the amount is. So there's like a daylight, which is a kind of.
00:16:47 Brittany Marino: Of white, neutral light. Then there's obviously a warm white, which makes that a little bit of those yellow undertones. And then there's a cool light which is like more has a little bit of a bluey undertones. So everyone has different preferences. But again, ensuring that that color is harmonious throughout the home and it will impact how colors and things work. So.
00:17:07 Brittany Marino: When we do lighting, we investigate and know what type of lighting and light bulbs the fixtures take so that we know when we're picking colors and finishes, they are gonna go together.
00:17:17 Evelyn Lopes: Right. And it's funny that you say that. I remember showing a house and it had.
00:17:22 Evelyn Lopes: All it was just recently renovated and had pot lights everywhere, and all my client could say is I can't stand this. These lights are killing my eyes. I gotta get out of here. It.
00:17:31 Evelyn Lopes: Was just so.
00:17:33 Evelyn Lopes: Jarring to her, so another great tip. Lots of great tips that you're sharing here today.
00:17:37 Brittany Marino: Well, and and Speaking of lighting like again always like put your pot lights on dimmers, because again, exactly.
00:17:46 Brittany Marino: Pot lights are absolutely an amazing feature to have in a home, but for your specific client it was too jarring. But what if it was at 50%? Maybe that would have been better, right? So again, I think a lot of people don't even think about that. Yes, it is more expensive to install a dimmer switch, you have to get compatible pot lights and stuff. But again, it's a small price to pay.
00:18:08 Brittany Marino: To actually help you function in your home.
00:18:11 Brittany Marino: You're talking about maybe $50.00 to $100 if you get a more higher end dimmer switch. But again, that's like an important thing to think about when you're installing these types of lights. So that's that's one thing 100% install all your pot lights on dimmers, no matter where in.
00:18:21 Evelyn Lopes: Right.
00:18:27 Evelyn Lopes: The home. So dimmers the the color of the light and then also I think.
00:18:31 Evelyn Lopes: The space needs to have different types of light, so pot lights give a feeling, but then you need to have task lighting. You need to have if you're in a living room.
00:18:41 Evelyn Lopes: Lamps so that you know that it has different feelings, different emotions with the different types of lighting. And so I guess that's part of what you would have to incorporate into your space.
00:18:51 Brittany Marino: Yeah, absolutely. And we again, it goes down to that function. Why are using this space? How do you want to use this space? How do you want to feel in this space? And then we can execute that type of lighting.
00:19:02 Brittany Marino: Again, based on your function.
00:19:04 Evelyn Lopes: OK. And when let's just pick a room, let's say somebody wants to redo their living room. What are some of the things you would look at in terms of redesigning that space or or your considerations?
00:19:17 Brittany Marino: Yeah, I think in a living room or you, we can even say maybe the family room because I think a lot of homes maybe don't have living rooms anymore.
00:19:24 Brittany Marino: Go understanding if they want entertainment or TV in that space because that should be a focal point. Looking at the size of the space, what type of seating can be arranged.
00:19:34 Brittany Marino: In that space, and also an important one is also the ceiling heights. How can we elevate the look of the room? Could we add a treatment on the ceiling? Could that be wallpaper? Faux beams? You know? Waffle crown molding. And then also always in family rooms. If there's hardwood flooring, make sure that there's a rug to anchor the space.
00:19:54 Brittany Marino: It's not only in terms of function, it actually makes the room feel more cozy, but it also creates, you know, some sort of style and dimension to the space.
00:20:03 Brittany Marino: So again, and if we are creating a focal point in this family room, can we add a fireplace? Can we add a feature wall? So again, understanding that type of function. If for whatever reason somebody doesn't want a TV in that sort of space, then creating maybe a focal point in another type of area in that room.
00:20:20 Evelyn Lopes: And so that's one of the things too that we talk about when we're staging a house is that as the person enters the room, there should be a focal point, something that they're looking at. The room should essentially have one purpose. So I hate when I go into a dining room and it's a dining room, but it's an office as well because then it's like, well, what am I?
00:20:39 Evelyn Lopes: Using this for.
00:20:41 Evelyn Lopes: And then you mentioned rugs and rugs are great, but often I see rugs that are the wrong size for the for the room and for the furniture. So maybe you can talk a little bit about how you select rug sizes.
00:20:53 Brittany Marino: Yeah. So I think a lot of people are afraid and I don't know why, maybe to invest in the type of rug that you need, because again, obviously larger rugs are more expensive.
00:21:04 Brittany Marino: But if you don't put the correct size like you're saying Evelyn, it just doesn't look right. It looks out of place, so you want to ensure your furniture legs are all touching the rug. So again, if you have a sofa, you don't want the rug going all the way underneath to the edge of the sofa, but you want the front legs to sit on the rug. So again, if you have a love seat.
00:21:24 Brittany Marino: This sofa you want to make sure the front legs are at least on it, so that can help determine kind of the leg.
00:21:30 Brittany Marino: Other width and then kind of in the middle. Obviously you sit your other items, but again that's a good determining factor when it comes to actual sizing of the rug. You have to have some sort of furniture feet on the rug.
00:21:43 Evelyn Lopes: Right. So it can be too big and it can be too small. So all the times I'll see it too small because like you said, they don't want to spend the money. But I've also seen where it's too big and it covers this beautiful hardwood floor that's underneath. So it kind of defeats the purpose. So more great tips now. I guess the other thing is that when people are looking to design, they're always want.
00:22:03 Evelyn Lopes: What's new and trendy, and that could be a good thing, but it could also be maybe not a wise thing, so maybe you can speak to trends and how you incorporate those into spaces.
00:22:17 Brittany Marino: Yeah, absolutely. I think exactly everyone does look at the magazines and looks at again social media for these.
00:22:24 Brittany Marino: Cases, but again, does it work actually for you or where your home is actually situated? I think that's super important.
00:22:31 Brittany Marino: Different, but I think when implementing trends I think implemented in small things or things that could be easily changed. For example, I would never suggest like a colored sofa in a main living space. Again, if we're doing like a movie theatre or you know a certain man cave that's a sports theme, OK, we can dedicate maybe a colored sofa in that space.
00:22:53 Brittany Marino: But in your main part of your home, I would always stick with a neutral colored sofa, but then you could do trendy pillows, you know, like some trends that are in right now are those boho, or those round pillows or things with tassels you know very.
00:23:08 Brittany Marino: Three that OK, that's easy. If that trend goes away, you're just buying new pillows. Again, a rug is also another way where you can play with different types of colors and themes. I'm a really advocate for ruggable. They are washable, interchangeable rugs. They go on a Velcro.
00:23:29 Brittany Marino: Type of pad so you can have one pad and switch out your rugs even for like a season. So again in investing in those neutral timeless pieces.
00:23:39 Brittany Marino: Is in your home that are large scale and then again you could go with trends that are maybe a little bit more small scale, especially if you're being cautious of budget and even paint colors again introducing again art or a paint. It's so easy to change of those things and again maybe it's just.
00:23:59 Brittany Marino: How it's laid out for?
00:24:00 Brittany Marino: The trend, there's some people that really want to be in the trends and can just change, you know, every five to 10 years. But a lot of people don't have the means to do that. So just really focusing on what is important of that trend and then implementing it in a way that's tasteful and in smaller scale.
00:24:17 Evelyn Lopes: Right. I think that's a really good tip because I think we also get tired of our spaces and by just changing up little things like pillows or throws or maybe a few decorative accessories.
00:24:29 Evelyn Lopes: Gives us new life and new vitality to love our space and love our home. And it's much easier to do if you're just changing those little things rather than like you said, those big and expensive items in the home, which also I find can date your space. Right? So I know a few years ago are a really big trend.
00:24:49 Evelyn Lopes: Was that those green couches? They were like an emerald green kind of color, and it looked funky, you know, with the yellow pillows. And I'm like, beautiful for today. But next year, it's probably going to be.
00:25:00 Evelyn Lopes: Out. And you're gonna be tired of that very dominant color. Or when you do decide you want to change, it's going to be expensive. And it's also when you go to look at houses. I know for us going through them all the time you can say ohh they did this room five years ago or 10 years ago and you don't want to date your home. I don't think you want it to be like you said timeless.
00:25:20 Brittany Marino: Yeah. And like for example like, even in the kitchen, like brass was this huge thing. And I think it's still here a little bit, but I think it's switch metals now but again.
00:25:30 Brittany Marino: Your handles most handles come in kind of standard sizes, so great. Put brass on. Change the brass faucet, but then in five years, if it goes out of style, you can switch it to black, right? You just call a plumber or handyman. You buy your faucet for a couple $100. You buy your handles for, you know, maybe a hundred $150.00.
00:25:50 Brittany Marino: And you just switch the screws and then there you go. Your your kitchen has been updated, but again it still could be with the trend.
00:25:56 Evelyn Lopes: Now there's also the exterior of our homes, and you touched on it at the beginning.
00:26:02 Evelyn Lopes: What are some of the things that we should look at when we're looking to renovate or update our exterior spaces?
00:26:10 Brittany Marino: Yeah. Again, I think that a lot of people focus a lot on the interiors and sometimes they don't realize the impact of the exterior, especially being a realtor, you know, the first impression.
00:26:22 Brittany Marino: Starts actually outside of the home.
00:26:24 Brittany Marino: So yes, we want to make sure it flows harmoniously. Again. You don't want a different feeling outside than inside. I think huge impacts are exterior lighting, especially a lot of the houses have sconces, so making sure that those are illuminating nicely, but also look nice, your front door and garage door if you have that in your home.
00:26:46 Brittany Marino: Super important in creating a feeling and then again ensuring like the gardening is up to a certain standard, making sure that it's actually filling in nicely has those colors. Again all going together in a certain type.
00:27:01 Brittany Marino: Home I think selecting again when it comes to actual design. You know, a lot of people are like, well, what do I have to design? Well, are you putting a wreath on the door? Are you creating, you know, the color of your door or is it going to be glass? Well, you know most of the times if you have like a little porch, creating a little seating area, yeah, you might not use it, but how that staged.
00:27:22 Brittany Marino: Styled and designed is also super important and when it comes into the backyard again functioning in terms of living spaces, there's a lot of living spaces that go into a backyard like you're saying a dining room is meant for dining, a dining room shouldn't have, you know, an office and a playroom.
00:27:40 Brittany Marino: And this, but your exterior is actually different because you have all these different types of spaces in one, you know, seating area, dining area, lounging area, could be, you know BBQ cooking area. So again designing that to suit your function with a harmonious flow from inside to out. And again I think the most important like I said.
00:28:03 Brittany Marino: Is lighting and those colors that are featured on the outside, and again you might like a certain color, but it might not go with your actual facade of your home. Do you have stone brick vinyl making sure that those colors all flow together?
00:28:16 Brittany Marino: As well, and again, when speaking about exterior colors, do not choose your exterior colors inside your home. That's the biggest mistake you've got to take it outside. See it in the sun, because whatever color is on the inside, it is so much lighter with natural sunlight, so a lot of people, I think when picking colors, they're afraid it's too dark.
00:28:37 Brittany Marino: It's too dark, but it's the complete opposite. You always want to go to those darker colors.
00:28:41 Evelyn Lopes: Here in the GTA, we have a lot of homes, but the first thing that you see they say is the garage. Maybe you see the front door sometimes you don't see the front door at.
00:28:51 Evelyn Lopes: All but what?
00:28:52 Evelyn Lopes: Are your tips when selecting colors for a garage and the front door? Do you make them the same? Do you make them different? Do you have the garage door prominent? Do you try to make it recede?
00:29:03 Evelyn Lopes: What are your thoughts?
00:29:04 Brittany Marino: That totally depends on the style of the home, absolutely, but I'd say you know, for the most suburban home, we'll say like brick style.
00:29:12 Brittany Marino: Home I definitely think making the garage more subtle and the front door pop is way more inviting just because. Again, the front doors are so much bigger, larger you don't want them so much in your face again. Hopefully you have some nice gardening, some walkway you know, interlock concrete, stone work, something that's inviting you to the front.
00:29:33 Brittany Marino: So I would personally make sure the garages aren't as much as a feature and more the front door area again, because who wants to look at the garage you want to look at where you're entering, where people are coming in. So make that more of a focal point and again they can be the same color, but also in terms of what is on the door or how the door.
00:29:54 Brittany Marino: Looks in terms of the handle. Like I said, glass. You know wreath, something like that. You want to make it inviting? I personally. Like I said, don't like to make the garage door prominent at all.
00:30:05 Evelyn Lopes: I agree with you there and I think what you had said before about the front door and I know when we're staging to sell, we want to make that front door appealing because that's where the the buyers are going. They're standing at the front door as the agents trying to open the lock box. They're there for a while. So they're looking around. So you want to make sure that that space is nice and it's nice to have what I kind.
00:30:26 Evelyn Lopes: Of called vignettes.
00:30:27 Evelyn Lopes: So you know, like you said, either some, you know, potted plants or a nice welcoming mat.
00:30:33 Evelyn Lopes: That maybe a little seating area bench. You can add some pillows or things like that to just sort of give it that pop of color and make it inviting. Any other tips you would?
00:30:43 Brittany Marino: Have I think in terms of again you want your home to feel homey. So adding, like you said, those homey elements. And again, I think that in terms of.
00:30:53 Brittany Marino: Again lighting, making sure that you have upgraded lighting outside. You know a lot of people if they buy a home from a builder, they just leave those ugly lights.
00:31:04 Brittany Marino: But again, actually having something that is to scale because we know when builders build these homes, they just buy, you know, bulk whatever, right. But having something to scale, something to give a little bit of personality, we all have exterior lighting on our home. And if you don't actually upgrading and adding you know.
00:31:24 Brittany Marino: Recessed pot lights outside gives such a warm, welcoming feeling, and it's also highlighting your home. So again, I think adding it there will create a welcoming feeling because you're not just seeing your home during the day. People are coming over at all.
00:31:38 Brittany Marino: Hours, you know, and people driving by, especially when you have a for sale sign on your lawn, people are looking all the time. So having those inviting moments and making it feel homey.
00:31:49 Evelyn Lopes: Right. And the pot lights and the eaves are one way, like you said. But I would also suggest not to forget lighting in the gardens because they give it lighting from a different perspective.
00:32:00 Evelyn Lopes: Right. So think about that as well. So in terms of tips of staging your home, what are maybe three things people should consider when they're staging the home as opposed to designing to live?
00:32:14 Brittany Marino: Yeah, I definitely think upgrading your paint in your entire home is absolutely a must. I know it is a cost, but it is something that will absolutely benefit not in terms of even just making sure it's a neutral light color, but I think a lot of the times you don't realize how you could have scuffs or little imperfections.
00:32:34 Brittany Marino: In your home until you start painting it, it just gives it a nice fresh.
00:32:38 Brittany Marino: Look and ensuring that you know if you can't do the entire home, making sure that it is in those important areas like the main floor master bedroom. And I also think that in terms of the scale of your furniture, that's super, super important. Sometimes a lot of people don't realize, you know, less is more but.
00:32:58 Brittany Marino: The more you simplify it, the better your home will look. A lot of times people think ohh I need to fill the space with all this stuff when actually that's the opposite. You want to make sure you have the right scale furniture to showcase the space you want to make sure you're thinking of your walkways.
00:33:15 Brittany Marino: Is and stuff like that, so ensuring that you don't have too much furniture and obviously I think this is one that you know gets said over and over again, but it does have a huge impact is depersonalizing take all those personal photos down take you know things that are maybe too trendy, take them down.
00:33:35 Brittany Marino: Make it very clean slate. I also don't understand when I say to people, especially as a realtor, like take down, you know, the their.
00:33:44 Brittany Marino: The photos, and they're like, oh, why? It's fine. But it's like, then when you're going online, your wedding photos are online for everybody to see. And as soon as they post. Ohh my gosh, can you take those down? It's like, well, that's why depersonalizing is so important, especially in a world where we have social media, everything's online. You know, people could unintentionally be taking screenshots, sending it.
00:34:06 Brittany Marino: And it's like, oh, well, yeah, I know that person now who's selling so depersonalize.
00:34:10 Brittany Marino: Thing is super super important.
00:34:12 Evelyn Lopes: Right. And I think too sometimes with the photos, especially sometimes I'll go in a house, they've got like a wall of family photos. It's beautiful for you. But when you've got buyers, all they're doing is looking at the photos. They're not looking at the house, which sort of defeats the purpose there. So that's another good tip. And I think to one of the things.
00:34:31 Evelyn Lopes: When you're depersonalizing and decluttering is to make sure the flow of the room goes.
00:34:38 Evelyn Lopes: So that when someone's entering into a living room and they want to go and look out the window, that you don't have some big armoire or big couch blocking that space, that's important as well, so that they can walk from one room into the other, and it's got a nice flow and there's no nothing impeding that movement. Wow, there is so much value that you've shared with us.
00:34:59 Evelyn Lopes: Today, if someone wants more information, maybe they're considering doing a renovation or they want to stage their home to get ready to sell. You provide both of those services, Brittany.
00:35:12 Brittany Marino: Yes, absolutely. And like I said, I can do very small scale types of work, like a makeover, small renovation exterior, you know, doing the backyard. I've done a lot of projects of exterior, especially over the pandemic. I'm sure as you could imagine. And then like I said, we could do full scale, people will buy vacant lots.
00:35:33 Brittany Marino: With me and we will build their dream home on it. So again, like I said, there is a huge realm of design that I do tackle and I think no question is off the table I've even.
00:35:44 Brittany Marino: Done properties. Cottage properties in the Muskoka because I also service that area and we turned them into Airbnbs. So again that would have purchasing the cottage, making it into Airbnb where we would use maybe a little bit more trendy theme and then actually helping my clients turn that investment into something that they can.
00:36:05 Brittany Marino: Profit from. So I think when it comes to any type of design project, definitely contacting me to see what my team can do for.
00:36:14 Evelyn Lopes: That's great. Well, you're a wealth of information. I can see the passion that you have. Obviously art. And that world is something that you really enjoy. It's something I really enjoy as well. I'm very visual with them. You know, something that I think really impacts us in a meaningful way sometimes more than we realize. What's the best way for?
00:36:25 Brittany Marino: Well.
00:36:34 Evelyn Lopes: Someone to get in touch with you?
00:36:36 Brittany Marino: Yeah, you can visit my website for design. It's Britney, Nicole Co, BRITTNEY and then Nicole Co if that's my.
00:36:46 Evelyn Lopes: OK.
00:36:46 Brittany Marino: Website so.com or you can also search me on Instagram or the best way is obviously to just always give me a call or a text 416-678-1683. I'm always accessible on my phone for any questions.
00:37:01 Evelyn Lopes: That's great. Thank you so much for joining us today. I learned a lot and.
00:37:06 Evelyn Lopes: Hopefully our listeners did as well. Maybe we'll have you on another time to talk a little bit more about.
00:37:12 Evelyn Lopes: Design because it's change.
00:37:13 Evelyn Lopes: OK.
00:37:14 Brittany Marino: Yeah, absolutely.
00:37:16 Evelyn Lopes: All right. And so I will put all of the contact information for Brittany in the show notes below. So if you have any questions or you're thinking about a project, I'm sure she'd be happy to have a conversation with you.
00:37:29 Brittany Marino: Yes, thank you so much everyone, and thank you Evelyn for having me on today.
00:37:33 Evelyn Lopes: Very welcome. I thoroughly enjoyed.
00:37:35 Evelyn Lopes: It.
00:37:36 Brittany Marino: Yes, thank you. Take care.