Hope Leitner, Realtor®, CRS

  Information is brought to you by Hope Leitner Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties Dress Up Your Home's Decor With a Gallery Wall Are your closets overflowing with pictures and other framed goods that would undoubtedly look much better hung in a prominent location than hardly ever seeing the light of day? Hanging pictures is a great way to tie a room together and add some character and personality to your space. Instead of simply hanging one picture here and another one there, you can work through your collection a whole lot quicker if you think outside the box and cluster pictures, creating a gallery wall. But before you go grabbing for a hammer, nails and maybe even a level, assess the space and items you have lying around and come up with a plan. While you may not stick to it 100 percent once you get started–and that’s okay–having even a rough idea of how you envision the space when it’s complete will save you a lot of trouble. Stick to Your Style.  While you

Information is brought to you by Hope Leitner Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties Trend Alert: Retro Kitchens Are Today's Big Thing For some of us, retro is just another term. But for those who recall Grandma’s aqua-blue fridge, it brings to mind a simpler way of life, even if it meant that some poor soul had to run out for blocks of ice. The bright color brought the space alive and made you happy to be in the kitchen. Now, as a trip to some of the larger home stores will attest, appliances are going back to the ’50s, and it’s one of the hottest trends around. It may have started with Big Chill, a Colorado company that got off the ground when a man named Thom Vernon wanted a retro-style fridge for a vintage house he was building. Vernon approached his nephew, Orion Creamer, a recent graduate of product design school with a passion for old-school style. Orion and his uncle built a prototype on the front porch of Creamer’s home. The rest, as they say, is histo

   Information is brought to you by Hope Leitner Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties Studies have shown that looking at certain colors can impact your mood, so if you’re looking to brighten your days, look at the walls. Orange This color boosts social connection, so paint a wall in your living room or kitchen a vivid orange and enjoy deeper, longer, joyous conversations. Yellow This sunny color is one of the most obvious mood brighteners, and there are many shades of yellow soft enough for an entire room. Green This earthy tone is a stress reliever. Roll it onto the wall across from your bed and smile your way into sleep. Violet This royal hue fosters creativity and intuition. Add it to your home office for more satisfaction in your work life. Fuchsia While this color is a tad bright for most rooms, fuchsia accent walls can still splash around enough of the color to make an impact.

  Information is brought to you by Hope Leitner Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties Curtain Alternatives to Dress Your Windows Looking to dress your windows with something other than curtains? The following ideas are fun, great for creative expression and relatively inexpensive. Screens.  These thin, partially transparent screens can be pulled down when you need them and still let some light through. Bright frames.  Don’t want any type of coverage but looking for a color pop? Paint bright wooden frames (think pictures frames) and fit them around your window for flare. Canopies.  Instead of hanging curtains on a rod, fix two long sheaths of fabric from a bed crown hung above the window and then draw them back like curtains. This looks particularly lovely behind a bed. Beads.  Grab a funky beaded curtain, available in all shapes and sizes—a great addition to a kid’s bedroom or playroom. Frosted glass.  If you’re looking at a room with windows that always need covering—l

  Information is brought to you by Hope Leitner Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties Top Benefits of Having Kids Share a Room If you have or plan to have children and you’re shopping for a new home, one of the most important deciding factors will likely be the number of bedrooms. While many parents seek out homes that are large enough for each child to have his or her own room, some choose to have their children share bedrooms because of the clear benefits. It Teaches Important Social Skills Sharing a bedroom with a sibling teaches kids respect. Children who share rooms have to learn to respect each other’s belongings, space, and need for peace and quiet. They need to learn to clean up after themselves, to share possessions, to respect each other’s privacy and to keep the noise level down so a sibling can study or sleep. Respect for others will be valuable when children go off to college and share a room with a new roommate or when they live with a spouse or partner in