Home and Garden III – Chip Wade

Chip Wade spoke a couple of times on Saturday, and yes, we were there both times. Can I just mention here, how great it is that my Mr. Man loves to plan and dream as much as I do?! I have so much to be thankful for!!!

First, you have to excuse all these pictures of movement. This guy does not stand still! At all!

Here are Chip’s Tips:

* Put your money where people are going to see it. (Referring to selling)
1. Garage doors
2. Front door
3. Landscape
4. Mailbox

* Spend your money where you interact with it … make it nice (think ” touch”)
1. Door knobs
2. Light switches
3. Faucet knobs/ toilet knobs

* Make a clearly defined pathway to your home. No one wants to try to find your front door.
(For those of us who live in Minnesota, in the suburbs … we don’t have sidewalks and we know to
use the driveway. Chip suggested “Stamping a walkway” into the driveway that could also be driven
over.)

* Make the front of your home 3 dimensional.
1. A Porch? (8 – 10 feet in width) Room for chairs and traffic.
2. Shutters?

* No Storm door (This tip almost had him stoned in a public forum. LOL)
A dense hardwood door only (find one online as it is not sold in places like Lowes or Home Depot.
Boo!) I did look and he is right. They only carry steel doors or ~~cheapo~~ less expensive ones. Shucks! I
was hoping he was wrong, but hey, he is on HGTV so maybe he does know something 🙂

We explained the storm door concept to him but he was not buying it. He suggested a hidden sliding
screen door that could be pulled across when needed and hidden when we didn’t. Mr Man and I did
decided we were going to do it! That’s right WE ARE! Tomorrow. And we will have pictures to
prove it 🙂

*** Mr Man wants you to know that tomorrow we will be removing just the storm door. No
screen yet. and of course we are going to replace the door another time.

Random suggestions Chip gave to audience questions …

* A retaining wall, no taller that 30 inches, or you will waste a lot of money shoring up a taller wall.

* No more than 3 colors on a home.
1. Body
2. Trim
3. Accent

* Check weatherstripping at night. Have a another person with a flashlight stand outside your home and
shine it at the edges of the door/window. Hmmm. I am going to have to do this trick!

* When painting …
1. Tone on tone = elegant
2. High contrast = juvenile (his thoughts)

* When doing a deck …
1. Use screws not nails
2. Wait 6 weeks before placing paint or stain on it
3. Coat your wood on the top and the bottom. Why? The wood will soak up heat and humidity on
both sides at the same rate. Thus keeping the boards nicer, longer.

If you have an issue with your landscape …

*Too much sun on your deck? Killing your plants? Don’t fight it.
1. Sun loving plants.
2. Awning.
3. Umbrella

* To shady and cannot get sun into an area? Grass and plants won’t grow?
1. Shade loving plants
2. Yard art
3. Brick patio or other idea