If someone you don't know were to look at how your home is decorated right now, what type of person would they assume lives there? 

A young professional or an elderly grandma? 

A broke college student or an intellectual? 

A boring family or a family full of spirit and zest for life? 

A teenager or a mature adult? 

If your home does not accurately reflect who you really are, then it is time for a change. 

Here are a few ways to update your home to have it reflect who you really are.

Interior design by Ashton Woods, photo by Fletcher Design Consultants

I have met many people over the years that are afraid of decorating their homes.

They are afraid that they will make a mistake, that their choices may not appeal to others if they sell their home, that they don't know where to start, and the list goes on. 

Most everyone has some sort of fear of change, and decorating a home is definitely change. 

Here are a few suggestions to conquer your fear of decorating.

Interior design by Ashton Woods, photo by Fletcher Design Consultants

Adding accessories to your home is the final decorating step - it is the jewelry of your home. 

Some people prefer simple and elegant accessories while others prefer the more quirky and playful. 

Whatever your decorating style, you can't just throw some things together and hope for the best (trust me, I have tried and failed). 

Here are a few professional tips and tricks for decorating your home with accessories.

Interior design by Ashton Woods, photo by Fletcher Design Consultants

Staging a home that is for sale is very important if you want to get the most money and sell it quickly. 

Most people who have used a professional to stage their homes end up selling their homes for much more money than they spent on home staging. 

Home staging should not be used exclusively for homes that are not selling, but it should be used prior to a home being put on the market. 

A home that is not staged properly sets a bad first impression and turns off potential buyers that may never give your home a second look. 

Your home may sit on the market longer, thus requiring a drop in price and your realtor having to pay insurance for a longer period of time. 

You should start by staging your home yourself, then hire a professional to point out the few areas that you may have missed and offer some suggestions on how to make your home stand out from the competition. 

There are professional stagers who can offer basic staging services, but interior designers also offer home staging and can offer great design to go along with the staging in order to give your home more pizazz and have it stand out in the crowd. 

Here are a few basic ways for you to start staging your home before hiring a professional.

Interior design by Ashton Woods, photo by Fletcher Design Consultants

If you have visited a high end model home recently, I'm sure you were impressed by how nice it looked. 

That good looking home did not happen by accident - it was staged to sell homes, not for someone to live in. 

There are several techniques used by model home merchandisers to make a home look very appealing. 

Some techniques some can be translated to a home that people actually live in while others are not reasonable. 

Here are a few reasons why model homes look so good.

Interior design by Ashton Woods, photo by Fletcher Design Consultants