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17 Reasons Why You Should Redecorate

Posted by: Realestock.Staff in lists, inspiration, Fun, Decorating on Jan , 2011

redecoratingDisclaimer: by redecorate I don’t mean throw everything out and buy thousands of dollars worth of furniture and accessories. I mean take a step back, asses your space, re-organize, edit, re-paint, change accent colours… just try something new. Who truly says “my home is perfect just the way it is” anyhow?!

  1. Winter’s got you depressed enough already – this will take your mind off it.
  2. It’s the perfect excuse to purge clutter.
  3. Your space doesn’t seem to work right – it’s not inviting/clean/functional enough.
  4. You loved those totally on trend grey walls for about 2 weeks, but now you’re regretting them intensely.
  5. You’ve recently gotten a new pet/baby/roommate.
  6. You’ve outgrown your action figure collection… maybe it’s not something you want to display so prominently anymore.
  7. You’re going stir crazy and you’ve got cabin fever. Redecorating the cabin might help…
  8. Moving furniture is great exercise for the mind and body – you use spatial planning abilities to determine where it should go and you get a great workout lugging it around.
  9. You’ve been dying to try bringing a pop of colour into your space.
  10. Too many things you own are neither beautiful, nor useful.
  11. You’re eyeing some new home accessories, but you follow the strict 1 in, 1 out policy. Things need to go before more stuff comes in.
  12. New year, new look!
  13. You’re moving – you can reassess your style and start fresh at your new home.
  14. Your space lacks a strong focal point.
  15. Your space just doesn’t make you happy when you’re in it.
  16. Your house doesn’t feel like a home.
  17. You’re constantly reading design and real estate blogs plotting ways to improve your home – you’re probably full of great ideas!

Photo credit: Matt Hutchinson

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10 minutes & 10 steps to Social Media Mastery!

Posted by: admin in Realtors, Fun on Jan , 2011

Call it a shameless product showcase, but we’ve invented something pretty cool and we wanted to share it with you – Social Spaces.

Social Spaces are like a Social Media aggregation site. A place where you can bring together your Twitter, Facebook, Blog, LinkedIn Profile, YouTube videos, Flickr... you name it. Social Spaces are a simple way to bring together your disconnected social media presence and make it easy  for people to see what you've been Tweeting, posting and talking about. You can also curate together other content to make a social space that follows other companies or people online.

But telling you about them is one thing – we want you to try and make one for yourself – all together, it’ll take you less than 10 minutes and you’ll have an awesome new tool for social media, and a neat thing to show off!

Thus we present: 10 minutes and 10 steps to social media mastery!


marketing tab1. To set up a social space, the first thing you have to do is sign up for a free 1to1Real trial account here.I set up an account for a lady named Elanor who REALLY likes the CBC, and gave her the custom 1to1Real address of http://elanor.1to1real.com (if your name is Elanor and you want this space, let me know and I’ll be glad to surrender it!)

2. Once you’re set up, you’ll be prompted to follow the setup wizard to set up your project spaces and business flows. You can work through the setup wizard, or dismiss the wizard if you want to jump directly to your social space setup.

select space
3. Click on the Marketing button in 1to1Real, then on the Social Spaces button, then select your social Space Type from the dropdown menu – you’ll have one option, 1to1REALMe.
4. Click on your default Social Space and choose toActivate it. Then click it again and choose Edit Space.

5. Now you can start personalizing and adding your content. The social space defaults with our company’s information in all the different social space gadgets but you can change it by clicking the grey dot on the upper right side of the gadget boxes. (If you don’t want to use a particular gadget, you can choose Shade Gadget to make it invisible.)

6. Add your Facebook page, an RSS feed, your twiter username, Flickr Account, etc, etc.

adding content
7. Write a custom about message in the About box telling people who you are and click save.

8. Upload a custom icon picture that’s no more than 80 by 80 pixels in the icon box.

9. If you want to create a custom background, select the Edit Settingsbutton and upload a picture for your background, or change the colour of your background.

10. Now click the Close Space button. You’re done! Go to your 1to1Real Address and check out your own Customized Social Space.

As you can see from the Social Space I set up, it only takes a few minutes to set up an awesome and professional looking space that you can use to promote yourself, or follow other people and companies online.
Of course, if you want to see another excellent example of a Space, you can check out our corporate Social Space at cmaeon.1to1real.com!  What would you create for your Real Estate listings?

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The Under-rated World of Whimsy

Posted by: Realestock.Staff in London, inspiration, Fun, China, Ab Rogers on Jan , 2011

the rainbow house-1Interior design can be very, very boring. I’ve spent many hours trolling home design websites and I’ve seen countless posts and comments advising people to hide action figure collections and children’s toys. Everyone is embracing grey, mid-century lines and  ultra-modern designs... The only problem with this? It’s totally boring!

While I’m a fan of clean lines and a clutter free environment, I hate, hate, hate it when everyone is telling you to make your house look the same - cold, sterile and too modern. Where’s the personality? Where’s the sense of fun? Shouldn’t design be for the people who live there, not the people who just visit?

Basically, I want some whimsy and creativity to come back into our homes, and it looks like British Architect Ab Rogers has answered my call.

He’s designed what he calls The Rainbow House. It’s a West London Townhouse with some actual personality - a rainbow of colours, secret passages, rotating beds and even a secret slide to take you from the master bedroom to the living room in a “blast of joy”. It’s a dream come true for kids and adults who still think like kids. The Sunday Times called it “a playground for adults”, and I can’t think of a better description.

As you can see from the picture, it's bright, but not insane. The colourful blasts of the house are counterbalanced by lots of white, lots of crisp design and a fairly good dose of minimalism. It's the restraint that really helps the colours and the crazy design stand out and it's a perfect example of what I'm talking about. Great design that's not afraid to have fun, take risks and do things that are a little bit weird. We need more of this in my opinion.  

Of course, talking about The Rainbow house doesn't do it much justice - watch the video at Plastolux, or read the original Sunday Times article here.

So, while your cup of tea might not be ultra clean design broken up by delightful pops of powerful colour, I assure you, that some of us in the world - who still appreciate a little whimsy in our lives, are head over heels in love with the Rainbow House.

If you do think you’re brave enough to embrace the Rainbow, the townhouse can be rented for the princely sum of £3,500 a week. Not cheap, but isn’t it a small price to pay to re-capture some of the thrill of childhood?

Picture: The Sunday Times

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