You may be wondering “Who is Nina James?” Well, on top of being an incredibly nice woman, she is an accomplished interior designer and is one of the My Kirkland’s Designers. She has also been featured in Designing Spaces on Lifetime television and writes a weekly column for the home section of The Virginian Pilot. We’re very excited that she will be sharing her knowledge on all things home decorating with us! We asked Ms. James the following questions and here is the insight she provided:
What area in a home do you feel is the most difficult to for people decorate?
A lot of people have a hard time decorating oddly shaped spaces, like a long rectangular room. Homes with transitional spaces seem to cause confusion; people don’t know what to do with them, how they should divide the space and where they should put the furniture to make the most of the space.
When it’s time for people to sell their home it’s important that the staging gives each space a purpose. You don’t want potential buyers looking at a space or room and saying “what do I do with this?” it’s almost like them saying “I’m not buying this home.”
And while they’re not difficult to decorate, master bedrooms seem to be the space people decorate last because guests are less likely to see it. People want to spend money on areas of their home that guests will see and enjoy. Odds are a guest isn’t going to walk into your bedroom and say “wow you’ve done a great job in here, love the new bedspread.” A guest will however notice a new comfy couch or a new painting in the living room that really brightens up the space.
In addition to her design expertise for homeowners, Ms. James also provides resources for sellers.
What advice would you give to a client who is planning on selling their home in the near future regarding paint, furniture, etc?
Decorate with neutral tones and create an inviting, yet spacious feeling. Stay away from exceptional colors like red, turquoise, teal, orange…you get the idea…when painting your walls. Neutral colors have the most mass appeal.
The bones of the house are important; don’t do anything crazy to the home’s structure if you think you won’t be in the house for very long. Doing so may make it difficult to sell the home in the future because it’s too “taste specific”. For selling purposes, turning a bathroom into a tiki hut is not recommended!
Nina is the “Chief Chick-in-Charge” at Your Space by Nina and describes herself by saying: I know what makes a room make sense and how to create a sense of balance, function, comfort and beauty. Apply that with my practical experience in tiling, laying floors, painting, etc. and you’ve got yourself one heck of a hard working, self-taught, can-do former media executive turned designer. Who knew?!
Christine is the Content Marketing Coordinator for Homes.com. She's a small town girl at heart, who currently lives in Norfolk, VA with her husband and their fur baby. When she's not working, she enjoys cooking, decorating, traveling, and binge watching Netflix. As a proud Virginia Tech alum, she also loves cheering on the Hokies!
