Useful Home Selling Tips

From the Mercury News

Reinvent your entryway

Give the gateway to your home an instant and inexpensive face-life by putting a fresh color of paint on the front door. If you're a trend follower, think about a cool aquamarine or the bold impact of citrus brights such as a punchy yellow or spring green. More traditional? Navy is the new red.

But don't stop there. Coordinate your new look by adding containers brimming with plants that accent the color, along with a fresh door mat, new house numbers and a wreath or other artwork.

Plant a cutting garden

You know how a simple vase of fresh-cut flowers lifts a room - and your spirits. Make this the year you dedicate a small area of your yard, or a grouping of containers, to growing blooms to enjoy indoors.

Luckily, some of the longest-lasting cut flowers are also the easiest to grow at home. Alstroemeria, for example, produces masses of blooms from late spring through early fall and can be found in cheery pinks, reds and apricots, among other colors. Coreopsis will reward you from summer to fall with yellow, orange, maroon or red-dish flowers that resemble little sunflowers.

Other good choices: statice, in blues, purples and white; and echinacea (coneflower), which can be found in purples, pinks and white.

Clear the cobwebs

Get busy undoing a winter's worth of cobwebs that are hanging from every rain gutter and window frame. It's great exercise (all that bending and stretching), and your home will sparkle when you're finished.

Safety first, though. If you must get on a ladder to reach some spots, make sure you're on solid footing. Even better, wait to tackle those areas when there's someone around who can spot you.

An old broom works pretty well, but try tying an old towel or a T-shirt from the rag bag over the broom's bristles. The fabric tends to snag those webs nicely.

Punch up your sofa

The home-decor magazines are screaming with color this spring. But what if you're not quite ready for chartreuse walls or a chocolate-and-pink scheme?

Get comfy with color by adding it in small doses.

Throw pillows in hot colors can give a room and instant life. This seasons, you can find a rainbow of shades and prices to fit any budget. At Cost Plus, check out the bright yellow and acid green silks prints (under $18). At Crate & Barrel, the cotton rayon blend basic Lamont pillow ($19.95) comes in a luscious array, including candy apple red, pink flambe', orange and mustard.

Handy with a needle? Shop the remnant pile at your favorite fabric store and craft your own covers. Calico Corners (several Bay Area locations) frequently has a great selection of roll ends of high-end fabrics that you can snap up for a song.

Replace your lawn

Sick and tired of mowing, pulling oxalis and drenching the spot where your neighbor's Dalmatians regularly does her business?

A lot of Bay Area gardeners are increasingly turning away from broad expanses of lawn and installing native-plant landscapes that reduce maintenance time and chemical use, save water and attract a multitude of good guys - including butterflies, birds, and beneficial insects.

San Jose landscape designer Alrie Middlebrook is such a convert to the lawn-less lifestyle that she has established a division of her Middlebrook Gardens called Lose the Lawn, a marketing and public outreach campaign. Visit www.losethelawn.com for ideas and inspiration.

Another great site to see native plans is www.cnps.org, maintained by the California Native Plant Society. Need even more inspiration? This year's Going Native Garden Tour, April 17, will really get your juices flowing by offering glimpses of dozens of Santa Clara County gardens. Admission free, but you must register in advance. Details are at www.goingnativegardentour.com Still more native gardens in Alameda and Contra Costa counties will be walk able May 1. See www.bringingbackthenatives.net to register for this free event.