You’ve purchased a new home or condo, have moved in and now it’s time to decorate! It’s an exciting time and there is a lot to consider when choosing art for your space.

1)    Art can be appreciated in many forms including paintings, prints, posters, photography, sculptures, tapestries, maps and your children’s artwork.

2)    Consider your budget. Do you want to invest in a valuable original art piece that may continue to appreciate in value over time? Or, would you be satisfied with a print of a masterpiece or a vintage poster of a favourite film? Remember, framing can be pricey!

3)    Visit some galleries to discover the style of art you enjoy. The key is to choose what you love, what moves you, inspires you and brings you enjoyment when you gaze at the piece.

4)    Choose a piece that sets the mood for each room. You may want a playful abstract for a child’s room or a beautiful landscape oil painting for over a fireplace in the living room.

5)    Be a little daring. If you’ve chosen neutral colours for your walls and floors go bold on your walls and express yourself with colours, content and different textures.

6)    Try to meet the artist to learn about them, their style and techniques and what motivated their creation that you may be considering. I believe knowing at little bit about the artist brings more meaning to each chosen piece.

7)    A great place to meet artists in Toronto is at the Artist Project which is taking place April 13th-16th at the Better Living Centre, Exhibition Place.

I’ve curated a little bit of everything in my home from vintage movie posters to whimsical oils and prints to abstract art to original landscape oils. Bottom line - choose art that brings joy.

We host open houses to promote our listings to as many potential buyers as possible. It’s also an opportunity for some who are thinking about selling their home to meet and “interview" us to see how we market our listings to their fullest potential, and learn about our services.

Open houses are generally conducted on Saturdays and/or Sundays from 2-4 p.m. However, depending on the circumstances, we also may host weekday evening events from 5-7 p.m.

Each and every one of our open houses are conducted in a friendly and professional manner. However, it’s important to note that we do run a tight ship and we do keep a close eye on visitors. To this point, we follow the advice provided by Joe Richer, Registrar of the Real Estate Council of Ontario (RECO). He advises that it’s prudent to keep a log of all visitors who attend an open house. Most sellers feel more comfortable when they know who the strangers are that visited their home and that those with questionable motives are discouraged from entering.  With this protocol in place, we typically ask all visitors to show photo identification and complete a registration form which adds a level of security and comfort to the seller. We always explain why we are asking for identification and visitors can opt in or out (when signing the registration form) of receiving real estate information from us.

Some visitors refuse to provide photo identification. That is their right; however, it is also the seller’s right (via their salesperson) to refuse entry of anyone into their home who does not provide valid identification. We never like to turn anyone away and hope that all open house guests understand that we would do exactly the same thing if we hosted an open house to promote the sale of their home! Security and safety matters!

Interesting fact… I attended high school with a gal who was most unlikely to commit a crime. In 2006, and again in 2010, she and her husband were arrested and charged with theft. When police visited their GTA home they discovered over $500,000 in stolen goods, including items stolen from open houses! If you want to read the full story, let us know and we’ll send it to you.

As a rule of thumb, we generally allow two parties at a time into a home. This allows Dave and I to give our visitors our full attention. Therefore, visitors may encounter a sign at the door asking for your patience while we attend to other guests. We love to meet the neighbours (who may be just curious about home values), passers-by, potential buyers who have agents, and potential buyers who prefer to shop around by themselves.

Some kindly Do’s when you attend an open house.

*  please remove shoes

*  please provide photo ID for safety and security of the seller and the listing agent

*  please respect any requested Covid-19 protocols

*  please be prepared to be “softly” guided through the home

*  please be respectful to other guests

*  please ask us about the home and neighbourhood - we know the house and the hood!

Some kindly Don’ts

*  please comply with our (homeowner’s) house rules

*  please don’t take photos or videos without asking permission

*  please, keep your children with you, and don’t let them jump on beds or play with anything

*  please leave your pets at home

The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board has recently published its market report for March 2023. Let's take a closer look at some of the key metrics and our expert takeaways you need to know about: