James Parks
James Parks Blog

Subscribe and receive email notifications of new blog posts.




rss logo RSS Feed
Agent Promotion | 1 Posts
Agent Spotlight | 1 Posts
Awards | 1 Posts
Buy a Home | 1 Posts
Laffey Knows | 338 Posts
Outside the Box | 22 Posts
national holiday pie recipe celebrate local eats Real Estate Laffey spumoni ice cream italian dessert eat local Long Island Brooklyn Mineola Massapequa Bellmore bao dim sum MB Ramen Port Washington Stony Brook Patchogue Chinese Food Wow Bao comic nerd Dr. Seuss Cradle of Aviation Oyster Bay NY Railroad Museum Uniondale Old Bethpage Williston Park Museum of American Armor Things to Do Music Glen Cove Garvies Point Wantagh Albertson Westbury Roslyn NYC thrift second-hand Garden City West Hempstead eco-conscious Shopping shop local James Parks popsicle sea cliff snapple Farmingdale Huntington NY Great Gatsby Jones Beach Roosevelt Field wine St James Northfork Winery Cabernet Sayville Oceanside Hicksville Mattituck Great Neck Board Game Whist Hoyle Shakespeare toys Greenvale Locust Valley Hewlett Rockville Centre East Meadow Dirty Taco Butler's Flat Louie's Gatsby Planting Fields Picnic Outside Dining Al fresco Sands Point Preserve Old Westbury Bowling New Hyde Park Levittown Baldwin Hempstead Lattingtown Wildlife Nature Pizza Carlo's Amalfi of Port Washington Gino's Salvatore's Pepe Rosso read a book bookstore Little Free Library Library Roslyn Heights Little Neck Manhasset Nassau County Museum of Art Ampersand Snacks Old Brookville Ants on a Log Long Beach TV Dinner Swanson 9/11 Never Forget Patriot Video Games Bioshock Half-Life Skyrim Carle Place Woodbury Sophie Bravo Children's Activities Hat Milliner Knit Yarn Huntington Station DIY Play-doh Plainview Parrot Pet Bird Syosset cooking cheeseburger Burger Secret Sauce Sound Bath Meditate Breathe Acupuncture Wellness Dance Fitness Salt Cave equinox fall pumpkin spice merrick Island Park Horchata Mexican Lynbrook One-hit Wheatus Johnny Appleseed Apple Cider Suffolk Riverhead Jamesport Cutchogue Calverton East Northport Bunny Rabbit Melville NY Elmont Biscotti Jericho Vegetarian Car Electric Vehicle EV Batmobile Beach LIRR Community Ramen Pad Thai Pasta Kugel Noodle Thai Japanese Kosher Vietnamese Pho Heroes Military Give Back Seaford Curiosity Ghosts Poltergeist Amelia Earhart Long Island Medium Charles Lindbergh Theresa Caputo Nunley's Carousel Egg CSA Farm-to-table Farm Fresh Malverne Chess Game Gerald Ford Fear Phobia Rock Climbing Toastmasters Improv Change Dictionary Words Freeport Lawrence Webster Poetry Poet Preservation Long Island Caribbean American Poetry Association African American Museum of Nassau County Jupiter Hammon Nuts Cedarhurst Black Walnut Hazelnut Jamaican Jerk Chicken Beer Brewery craft brews Transportation Laffey Real Estate Long Island Real Estate Historic Landmarks Montauk Lighthouse Buy Luxury Home Luxury Living Luxury Lifestyle Citi Field New York Mets Family Fun Historic Homes Forest Hills Queens Real Estate Queens homes for sale Oheka Castle Realtor Real estate agent Golf Courses Local businesses Area information Local attractions Restaurants Nassau County Community Events Homeowner Tips holidays Open house Home improvement tips For sellers Local wineries Area photographers For families Fitness centers New Year's resolutions For Buyers Mortgage First-time Buyers Buy a House REALTORS® Top Producer Charitable Events Curb Appeal Home Seller Tips Festivals Sell Your Home Agent Recognition General news Relocation LeadingRE Moving Inherit a House Real Estate Agents Agent Awards Careers Personal Health Senior Community Downsizing Luxury Portfolio Leading RE Follow The Orange Social Media Suffolk County Homebuying tips Gated communities Finance a home Queens County Landscaping Online classes For Owners Home Tech Virtual Tour Gardening Home Maintenance Real Trends 500 Philip Laffey Mark Laffey Donnamarie Chaimanis Fernand Leger Steve Schappacher Shappacher White DPC Virtual Home Showing Virtual Open House Bakeries Northport, NY Port Washington, NY Smithtown, NY Levittown, NY Rockville Centre, NY Offers Great Neck NY Farmingdale, NY Babylon, NY Astoria, NY Long Island City, NY Centerport NY Albertson NY Briarwood NY Atlantic Beach NY Bayville NY Bellmore NY Brookville NY Carle Place NY Centre Island NY Glen Cove NY Nissequogue NY East Hills NY East Williston NY Staging Roslyn NY Roslyn Estates NY Roslyn Harbor NY Roslyn Heights NY Sands Point NY Sea Cliff NY Syosset NY Uniondale NY Upper Brookville NY South Huntington NY Stony Brook NY Rego Park NY Rockaway Beach NY Springfield Gardens NY Sunnyside NY Saint James NY Amityville NY Asharoken NY Commack NY Bayside NY Bellerose NY College Point NY Central Islip NY Glen Head NY Hempstead NY Hewlett NY Hicksville NY East Northport NY Fort Salonga NY Hauppauge NY Huntington Bay NY Huntington Station NY Elmhurst NY Floral Park NY Flushing NY Fresh Meadows NY Glen Oaks NY Jericho NY Lattingtown NY Laurel Hollow NY Locust Valley NY Manhasset NY Matinecock NY Merrick NY Mill Neck NY Mineola NY Muttontown NY Kings Park NY Lloyd Harbor NY Lloyd Neck NY Jackson Heights NY Jamaica NY Jamaica Estates Little Neck NY Malba NY Middle Village NY North Hills NY Oceanside NY Old Westbury NY Plandome NY Westbury NY Williston Park NY Woodbury NY Wheatley Heights NY Wyandanch NY Queens Village NY Whitestone NY Deer Park NY Dix Hills NY Douglaston NY Richmond Hill NY Cold Spring Harbor NY Copiague NY Parades Non-profits Outdoors Recreation Food & Drink
September
18

Make Your New Home More User Friendly | Laffey Real Estate

When you're looking for a new home, you will likely find some features you love and other features that you can't wait to change. Whether the problem is bad paint colors, outdated bathroom fixtures, tiny closets, old electrical outlets, or broken hardware, our real estate agents know that even small updates can make a big difference in a home. Take a look at the ways you can make your home more comfortable and user friendly.

  • Brighten Up Your Spaces
    To appeal to a wider range of buyers, homes for sale often have walls and ceilings painted in shades of white, beige, and tan. While these colors provide neutral spaces for a potential buyer's furnishings, they don't always create an interesting or inviting room. They get dirty faster, making your rooms look dingy and outdated, especially when the paint gets old. Adding splashes of bold or bright paint colors is a great way to make your interior spaces feel cleaner, comfortable, current, and more inviting.

  • Update Your Bathrooms
    Unless a house is new or recently remodeled, you may find bathrooms with old bathtubs, showers, and vanity cabinets with little storage. To update style, consider refinishing the tub, adding new shower features, and installing a modern pedestal sink. Add a pedestal sink cabinet, a shelf above the sink, and several wall-hung shelves or baskets above the toilet for storage. If you want to keep the vanity cabinet for hidden storage, give it a fresh coat of paint, a new tile or granite top, an updated faucet, and shiny new hardware.

  • Increase Your Closet Storage
    Whether you live in a sprawling estate or a cozy three-bedroom cottage, you may find small closets that don't provide enough storage for your clothes, linens, and other household essentials. A lack of closet space is especially common in older homes. Building new, larger closets can be expensive, but you have some easy, less expensive options:

    • Create an open closet for clothes and shoes on a bedroom wall
    • Turn a smaller spare room into a closet
    • Install a ready-made storage cabinet down the hallway
    • Add hooks to walls and the back of doors for small items
    • Use under-bed storage with vacuum-sealed garment bags
    • Store seasonal items and linens in stackable containers

  • Install New Electrical Outlets
    Many older homes in Long Island neighborhoods only have one or two double wall outlets in each room. While this was normal 50 years ago, it's hardly adequate for today's homeowners with advanced technology. You can double your plug-in space for electronics and other essentials by installing additional outlets in each room. Consider adding grounded four-outlet plugs and rotating adapters to eliminate the need for extension cords. If you need extension cords, try multi-line colorful extension cords that stagger their outlets along the length of the cord. This gives you three plugs for each one you plug into the wall in three different places.

  • Replace Old or Damaged Hardware
    When you move into a new home, you may discover old or damaged hardware that doesn't work properly on cabinets, windows, and interior or exterior doors. If you find faulty hinges on cabinets or windows, replace them so they will open and close properly. While damaged locks on interior doors will prevent privacy, damaged locks on exterior doors will pose major safety concerns for your family. It's important to check for damaged hardware and replace it correctly.

If you're considering a move to Long Island, contact us to find out more information on available properties, including Westbury homes for sale.

Login to My Homefinder

Pixel