Kitchen upgrades that add value to your home

While we all love a good kitchen remodel, sometimes it’s hard to know where to start; what to invest in and which upgrades will add the most value to your home… down the line. Spade and Archer has compiled a list of the top 5 kitchen upgrades (with some special tips) that they have seen add the most value to a home.

Painting the cabinets can make an old kitchen new again.

1. Paint the cabinets

Wood species and stain trends come and go faster than you can say "knotty pine”. The one color of cabinets that never goes out of style is white. When it doubt the fastest way to make over a kitchen with the biggest visual impact is a gallon of white paint and a bit of elbow grease. We love Benjamin Moore’s Superwhite in semigloss for the perfect white paint, but this will greatly depend on the white paint already in your house, so choose carefully.

Updating the cabinet hardware can help modernize the look of a kitchen.

2. Replace the cabinet hardware

Cabinet hardware is the jewelry of the kitchen. Changing it will make the largest visual impact with the least amount of effort possible. A simple screw driver is all you need to freshen up a dated looking kitchen. Be careful though, there are various “spreads” available for hardware. Be sure to measure from center line to center line of the two screws to find out what size you will need to replace the existing hardware. Buying the same spread will save you tons of work drilling new holes and patching the old ones. Trust me, you are not going to want to skip this step.

New counter tops can be both beautiful and functional.

3. Replace the counter tops

Older countertops made of wood, tile or laminate can not only date a kitchen, they can also make it difficult to prepare beautiful and tasty meals. Newer materials available like quartz, marble and granite can be lower maintenance and higher performance. Beware, sticking with nuetral colors, and solid patterns will stay in style longer than colorful or hight patterned materials.

A neutral backsplash will make it easy for the next family to envision them selves in the home.

4. Replace the backsplash

Back splashes serve the purpose of preventing splashing on the wall at the back of the countertop, thus the name, backsplash. Utility here is going to be of paramount importance. While stick-on versions can be fast and convenient, they may not stand the test of time. Keep your selection, neutral and pattern free. This can certainly be a place to add fun details, no matter how tempted you are to install the back painted accent glass tile, don’t.

New lighting can add a bit of sparkle to any space.

5. Update the lighting

Lighting trends have changed over the years but a few things have stayed the same. Color temperature is of upmost importance here. Stay away from “Day light” fixtures usually defined at 5000K. Install only “Warm White” fixtures usually defined as 3000K. This more yellow light will feel warmer. As far as style, keep it simple, too much decoration will pull attention way from your beautiful new counters, cabinets, hardware and backsplashes.

We hope you enjoy these tips and tricks and can’t wait to see what upgrades you do in your kitchen. Be sure to tag us on instagram and share your before and after photos!

Core Value Series: TENACIOUS

At Spade and Archer, our mantras surrounding our core value ‘TENACIOUS’ are as follows:

We understand our whole is greater than the sum of our parts.

We are diligent, reliable, loyal, hardworking, dedicated.

We have an unforced yet commanding presence.

We are determined, tough, willing, able.

We never complain needlessly.

We value strong leadership.

We encourage teamwork.\

Thank you for following along with our core value series, this week we will dive into our fourth and final core value ’Tenacious’. At Spade and Archer we embody tenacity through our determination, diligence and dedication. We understand that in being tenacious we have an unforced yet commanding presence that sets us apart and elevates us. While diving into tenacity and true grit we couldn’t think of anyone better to share with you than our dear friend Dana Austin of Cascade Sotheby’s International Real Estate.

Dana Austin’s story begins in Los Angeles as a girl who loves shoes and takes her on a journey through self discovery as she becomes highly sought after in the world of big name footwear designers. Dana pivoted career's and successfully entered the wold of real estate 24 years ago. She shares with us how she successfully went through a brand change to the hard lessons and the wins she has faced as a realtor.

When asked about the challenges of changing her name and rebranding herself Dana states, “I could have kept Griggs but it wasn’t authentic to me. And I kind of live my life with no fear and said you know what I have got to do this […] It’s my job to tell my client’s where I am. It’s my job to tell my client’s where to find me and what my name is.” Her tenacity and confidence ensured that the transition was seamless and successful.

As Dana reflects on how she felt beginning her real estate career in a city where she hardly knew anyone she states, “I wasn’t afraid because I knew if you applied the same customer service and business partnership strategy that I would make money.” She was determined to be successful and willing to put in the hard work it was going to take to get there. Dana’s first year as a realtor she sold 49 houses.

As her career flourished she found her passion teaching younger realtors. She headed a mentorship program that teaches real estate agents invaluable career lessons and helps them elevate their game. As she builds her team at Cascade Sotheby’s she mentions how she believes in fostering others businesses more than her own. She understands that the whole is greater than the sum.

Dana is someone who has the desire to do things different and through her tenacity has made her vision and passion a reality. She shows up in service of others as do we here at Spade and Archer and that is one of the many traits we admire about our friend Dana Austin.

To hear her full episode of Behind the Yard Sign, click here.

Get your instant home staging price now by clicking here.

Core Value Series: GRACEFUL

At Spade and Archer, our mantras surrounding our core value ‘Graceful’ are as follows:

We are honest without being brutal.

We are cool under pressure.

We adapt quickly.

We are humble.

Grace is our most difficult core value to achieve on a daily basis. Grace not only applies to moving furniture but also how we interact with people. We never know when our grace will be tested, and we must call upon this core value on a moment’s notice. Being graceful means not only providing others with the grace to make mistakes, but to also allow ourselves the grace to make those same mistakes.

So what does it mean to be Graceful? When everything is going right, it is very easy to be graceful, even for the most clumsy person. But when things go wrong, our grace is truly tested. Every day in the world of home staging our ability to be graceful is tested and every day we strive to meet our standard of grace. Whether an item is broken or a client is upset, we use grace to smooth out the rough edges. We do our best to be honest without being mean, delivering messages that both need to be heard and can be difficult to hear. When a client does get angry, we do our best to stay calm and collected. We try to understand that the anger is mostly likely due to being in a high pressure situation and more than likely not a direct result of our actions. We learn from the situation at hand and adapt quickly to meet the needs of the moment and we try to take it all in stride without being too full of ourselves.

We had an opportunity to sit down and chat with one of our most graceful clients, Ruth Price. Ruth has had the opportunity to change markets twice. Starting in Bend, Oregon, she then moved to Portland, Oregon and most recently to Phoenix, Arizona. As we all know building a business from scratch can test even the most graceful person and Ruth has handled it beautifully.

Ruth has been a fantastic client for well over 10 years. As a result of the countless lessons in grace we have learned from working with her over the years, we feel that maybe you would want a chance to meet such a lovely person. Take a listen to her episode of Behind the Yard Sign by clicking here.

Get your instant home staging price now by clicking here.

Core Value Series: ADEPT

What does it mean to be adept? At Spade and Archer our mantras surrounding our core value ‘Adept’ are as follows:

We are masters of our craft down to its core components.

We create beauty in all things we touch.

If we don't know we will figure it out.

We have impeccable taste.

We believe in providing quality service by honing in on what we are most adept at. For us here at Spade and Archer it is exceptional home staging made easy. For our friend Michael Kafoury with Urban Nest it is bringing to Portland quality real estate.

Michael Kafoury with Urban Nest Real Estate

Michael shares with us lessons that have helped define him as an adept real estate agent. He speaks to making the deal happen to client relationships.

One of the first lessons Michael learned in his three years as a real estate agent was “Don’t be an expert in something you're not an expert in.” When you don’t have the answer to a question sometimes the best answer is “I’ll get my guy on it and get back to you within 24 hours.” The follow through of getting back and always doing what you say you’re going to do is key. As Justin says, "We teach our clients the story they are going to tell about us.” Might as well make it a good one.

Michael has learned that when working with a new client you can tell them what to do based off of your experience and knowledge as an agent; but sometimes the clients need to learn on their own. Michael says, “Let people see what their decisions will lead to and kind of go from there.” Providing the clients the space to learn through the process is an important part of building trust in the relationship.

When asked which comes first the relationship or the deal Michael said the following,"You’re really doing a disservice to your client if you only take the relationship serious. There are things you can do right and things you can do wrong. And if they are doing things wrong and it's a detriment to them they can loose money, they can loose negotiation position, they could buy a house that has serious issues that is going to cost them tons of money and resale value and things in the future. There are so many factors to consider that can seriously hurt someone in the long term.” While giving the client space to learn also providing structure and guidelines to keep them from straying too far from the deal is important.

We are lucky to work with such an adept agent who brings an aptitude of knowledge with him. We can’t wait to see what Michael brings to the table as he gains more experience and pursues his passion of real estate.

To hear his entire episode on Behind the Yard Sign, click here.

Get your instant home staging price now by clicking here.

CORE VALUE SERIES: THOUGHTFUL

Thoughtfulness, a theme we hear a lot about this holiday season. Here at Spade and Archer ’thoughtfulness' is one of our core values that we embody year round. From our staff to our clients we each bring this simple word to life through beautiful small actions. Being thoughtful not only allows us to show others how much we care but determines what kind of person we will become. Just as Aaron Bloom who turned a thank you note in $30 million.

Aaron bloom of Windermere

While finding his passion in life and exploring different career avenues Aaron Bloom remained thoughtful as to what kind of person he wanted to become. His journey brought him through 22 different jobs, all of which helped him grow in different ways.

During his time working at Nordstrom Aaron pushed the boundaries of “What is service really like?” When the situation was appropriate he would gather permission to load up his car with clothes and drive them to the hotel of the potential client. Aaron states, “That was the first time in my life it was ever infused into me, that service is selling. And that if you always lead with service the sales come naturally, you don’t even have to ask for them.” With each act of service Aaron portrayed thoughtfulness as to what kind of person he was becoming.

This service oriented mindset carried over to his real estate career. Through working with Windermere he learned lessons that aligned with his core values. While having coffee with a developer, just to grow his knowledge, he put into action a game changing lesson... “Learn how to stop talking.” This lesson allowed him to learn and grow as a person. After a thoughtful conversation Aaron followed up with a hand written thank you note. This thoughtfulness led him to be remembered, considered and later chosen on his first development project.

To this day Aaron approaches life by being thoughtful and grateful to those around him. "If I can’t be 100% honest, open, genuine and vulnerable I don't want to do it.” He has learned the importance of his core values and how they determine the trajectory of his future. Luckily for Spade and Archer our values align with Aaron’s and we have had the pleasure to work beside an extremely genuine, organic, thoughtful friend. And for that we could not be more thankful.

To hear his entire episode on Behind the Yard Sign, click here.

Get your instant home staging price now by clicking here.