Friday, August 29, 2014

Zillow Highlights Jordan Iverson



Monday, August 25, 2014

Two Oregon Companies Highlighted By Zillow

The first company highlighted by Zillow is:


At All Oregon Landscaping, we understand that your home is a reflection of you; therefore it's important who you choose to work with. All Oregon Landscaping is a family owned business in existence for 23+ years. Our design team and project management team has over 100 years of experience. We have an installation staff of 20 individuals who have worked on the simplest projects to the multimillion dollar projects. Our designers know that your landscape should be an extension of your indoor living space. We provide all the desired project elements in-house from concept to completion. We also have our own private nursery stocked with over 8000 different plants on 20 acres. The ability to buy plants in bulk and raise them on our property greatly reduces the cost to our clients and allows us to control quality. Fully licensed and insured OR CCB#194221 OR LCB#6667 WA CL#602-308-121.
The second is :

Bungalow Guy Realtor

Friday, August 15, 2014

Selling Your Home? Get it Ready- Get it Sold!

From All Things Real Estate PDX, I found this article written by my friend Staci Byers.


Get it Ready Get it Sold












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Deciding to sell your home can often be stressful, and the steps needed to get the home ready to sell may seem daunting – but they don’t have to be, according to Staci Byers.
Staci is a local Interior Designer behind small business Ready to Sell PDX, and aims to take the stress out of getting your home ready to sell.
“Buyers respond to houses that look like a home, a place they can see themselves in – where they can imagine entertaining, relaxing and having fun. A house with flow, organization, color and that special something. Sometimes it takes someone from outside the home to view it from a buyer’s point of view, and that’s where I come in” says Staci, who was inspired to start the business after going through a long home search herself in 2012.
Ready to Sell PDX services are unique and budget minded. Staci works with owner occupied homes and uses their existing furniture and accessories to create a well prepared home ready for potential buyers.
The services offered are a ‘la cart and can be tailored to suit the customers’ needs.  After a thorough consultation both inside and outside the home, the homeowners will know just what they need to do to get the home ready for the market. An important element often overlooked is color which can help create cohesiveness in the home. A color consultation is therefore essential for most of Staci’s clients, along with optimal furniture placement and strategic de-cluttering of the home.
Ready to Sell PDX operates in the greater Portland/Vancouver area. Read more about Staci’s business here: www.ReadytoSellPDX.com
For those of you unfamiliar with  All Things Real Estate PDX, I invite you to take a look.


Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Friday, August 08, 2014

Want to Maximize the Natural Lighting in Your Home? Here's How


People joke about man-caves, but it’s no joke when you can’t see them. Older homes tend to have too few windows, dark corners and narrow hallways that could lighten up. Newer homes have more windows, but usually not in the places they’re needed, like dark hallways and corners. Natural light has so many benefits to our emotional and physical health, that it’s a disservice to live in dark caves. Natural light gives us better concentration, a peppier step and Vitamin D. So, let’s get those dark shadows outta there and maximize your natural light.

Add Windows


There are walls in every house without windows. Adding casement windows beside double-hung windows gives a room more light as well as adding fixed or transom windows above the double-hung windows. Floor to ceiling windows add natural light as well. Many homes have bay windows only in the formal living room or formal dining room. However, when they are extended to the story above, they are called oriels. This brings grace as well as plenty of natural light to rooms.

Odd shaped windows like ovals, diamonds and ship’s port windows are sometimes placed in hallways and at dark corners of a house to shed some light on the subject. Homeowners might consider placing these odd shaped windows in a pattern such as port-diamond-port or oval-square-oval. Perhaps smaller custom round windows, shaped like bubbles, could be installed around port or oval windows to make a pattern of light in the space. It would certainly be a focal point in the space or room.

Add Skylights


Older houses often have no windows at all in certain rooms. If this is the case, install a skylight. They can be cut to any length the homeowner needs. For example, if the kitchen has no windows at all, cut the skylight three-quarters of the length of the room, placed in the center of the ceiling. Of course, the heat coming in the skylight needs to be considered. When the room is not in use or homeowners want to control the heat coming in but not the light, blinds may be installed. The slats can be adjusted to reflect heat back outside, but allow natural light to come in.

Another idea would be to install tubular daylighting devices. These are small tubes cut from the roof like a skylight. The light is carried along a coated metal surface until it reaches a diffuser lens in the ceiling. One tube can illuminate a 100 to 600 foot space. The great thing about TDDs is that they create no dark shadowy spaces, making them good for hallways and dark corners as well as whole rooms.

Window Treatments


The budget can’t always handle knocking out walls and adding banks of windows. In that case, let’s maximize what is available. Rip out those dark curtains and hang filmy or lacy sheers. That keeps a little of the heat out, but allows for natural light. Shades and blinds do the same job, some of which can be enhanced by using sliding barn door hardware, if a bank of windows or floor to ceiling windows is involved. If the house is located in such a way as to have no one peering inside, the windows could always go uncovered. The weather would dictate when to hang window treatments, of course, but the rooms would have lots of natural light.



Other Methods

A coat of a light eggshell or shiny paint would help rooms lighten up. Homeowners would want warmer colors, however, in northern and eastern rooms, because they tend to be the chilliest. Hanging mirrors in strategic spots helps spread the light around and destroy any dark corners or spaces in rooms and hallways. Removing solid inner doors and replacing them with glass doors would help spread the light around, too.

Paisley Hansen is a freelance writer and expert in health, wellness and interior design. When she isn’t writing she can usually be found reading a good book or hitting the gym.

UPDATE: Since the publication of this article by Paisley Hansen, we invite you to read the following article from 

The Comfy Home Corner on 17 Interior Lighting Ideas That will Give A Modern Look to your House Within 45 Days.

Friday, August 01, 2014

New From Mike: Chef’s Eye for Your Kitchen


If Chef Gordon Ramsey visited your kitchen while you were preparing dinner to host a multitude of family and friends, would he give you a withering stare for using the wrong cooking equipment or would he cast an appreciative eye at how you have outfitted your kitchen? Chef Ramsey is stopping by next week, how do you get ready? What do you need for him to see? You know you will dissolve in tears if he yells at you. Julia Sexton, an award-winning food writer, restaurant critic, and ex-professional cook says you need three basic kitchen knives, and a good set of pots and pans.
Read the rest here: Chef’s Eye for Your Kitchen