Blog Post

A Short Guide to “Adultifying” Your Bedroom

Katherine Martin • May 30, 2016

We all arrive here at different times;

…the transition from young adulthood to adulthood; from “growing up” to “grown up”. Perhaps you’ve just moved from a university dorm into your first apartment; or perhaps you’ve just purchased your first home. Either way, it’s at this point that you should be embracing your newfound role someone who gets up before 10AM, drinks coffee or tea, goes to work, and sleeps in exclusively on Saturdays (and sometimes Sundays).

Part of this process includes transitioning the decor of your bedroom in order to reflect your newly established path. So, without further adieu, the following is a short guide to transforming your slightly juvenile bedroom into into one fit for a full grown adult! Because there really should be a difference between the look of your bedroom and that of your teenagers room!

Throw Pillows/The Duvet Effect

Nothing says “I’m an adult” like buying pillows for the express purpose of showcasing your bed; as opposed to buying them for one of their more “practical” uses, I.E- using them as padding while you sleep.

But seriously, throw pillows give any bedroom a touch of maturity. And at the end of the day, these showpieces are indeed useful for adding that extra bit of softness and comfort to any bed or couch. They’re also useful for pegging your spouse or children as they walk past your open bedroom door. Just don’t expect them to take it lying down; that is, unless the pillows that you’ve tossed are really comfortable!

Additionally, get rid of that old grimey bed cover, and replace it with a duvet; it’s ultra comfortable, and it says, “I may have lots to learn about being an adult, but at least I’m not sleeping with the blankets that I used in middle school”.

Matching Furniture

Never underestimate the power of a matching bed/night stand combination. This simple touch can pull together a living space like nobody’s business. Colors are obviously important here, but style is something to consider as well. If you can, work to make sure both of these factors are taken into consideration.

Neutral Colors

Bright, edgy colors exude boldness. They’re out there, and in small doses, they’re perfect. But too much bold is just that; too much. Sure, go ahead and accent your space with a splash of color (again, throw pillows work well, here); but be careful not to let your living space be taken over by a garbled rainbow of colors. Pick a scheme and stick with it.

Art in Moderation

There comes a time in every person’s life when he or she must take stock of that which is on display, on their bedroom walls. Certainly there was a time when more was better. When style or sequence didn’t matter; when, if you liked it (even a little) it went up there for everyone to see.

It’s time to rethink that strategy.

Again, accent your walls with a small selection of tasteful art; art that matches the newly established maturity of a person who has left childhood behind while embracing the joy of driving, voting, having a nice glass of wine, and having a family.

The Book Nook

As we age, it’s important for us to keep our minds sharp. Reading is obviously a great way to stay mentally nimble, and books are a great way to decorate any living space. Build or buy a small shelf, find a cozy chair, add a plush throw rug and away you go! By the way, no comics or picture books here, stay classy, novels only. Besides, if you collect comics, you probably already have an entire room dedicated to them, which is completely acceptable.

Honorable Mention: Keeping it all clean!

All of this is for not if you can’t keep your bedroom space clean. Take the time to do it right. For all you messy people out there, buy a hamper, use the hamper and (every now and again) empty the hamper into the washing machine. You’ll find that a clean living space is a much more desirable living space, both for you and for your guests.

Now, if you are looking to buy your first place, or you need to find a property more suited to your current situation (with a bedroom you can adultify), please contact me anytime , I can help you with a plan!

This article originally appeared in the DLC Newsletter for May 2016.

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Mail

Katherine Martin

Origin Mortgages

Phone: 1-604-454-0843
Email: kmartin@planmymortgage.ca
Fax: 1-604-454-0842

Improving Your Credit Score

By Katherine Martin • February 19, 2025

Your credit score and how you manage credit are huge factors in qualifying for a mortgage. If you want the best interest rates and mortgage products available on the market, you want a high credit score. Here are a few things you can do to improve your credit score. Make all your payments on time. Making your payments on time is so important; in fact, it might just be the most important factor in managing your credit. Here's how credit works. When you borrow money from a lender, you agree to make payments with interest on a set schedule until the debt is repaid in full. Good credit is established and maintained by making your payments on time. However, If you break the terms of that schedule by not making your payments, the lender will report the missed payments to the credit reporting agencies, and your credit score suffers. It’s that simple. The more payments you miss, the lower your score will be. If you fail to make payments for over 120 days, the lender will most likely send your debt to be recovered by a collection agency. Collections stay on your report for a long time. So the moment you realize you have missed a payment or as soon as you have the money for it, make the payment. If something prevents you from making a payment, consider contacting the lender directly to let them know what happened and work out an arrangement to make the payment as soon as possible. It's good to note that lenders only report late payments after a payment is 30 days late. If you miss a payment on a Friday and catch it the following Monday, you won't have anything to worry about - except maybe an NSF fee. Now, just because payments don't report until being 30 days late, don’t get comfortable with making late payments; the best advice is to pay your debts on time, as agreed. Stop acquiring new credit. If you already have at least two different trade lines, you shouldn’t acquire new trade lines just for the sake of it. Of course, if you need to borrow money, like to purchase a vehicle to commute to work, go ahead and apply. Just remember: having more credit available to you doesn’t really help your credit score. In fact, each time a potential lender looks at your credit report, it may lower your credit score a little bit. With that said, if you already have two different trade lines and your lender offers you an increase on your limit, take it. A credit card with a $10k limit is better for you than a credit card with a $2k limit because how much you spend compared to your credit card's limit impacts your credit score. This leads us directly into the next point. Keep a reasonable balance. The more credit you use compared to the limit you have, the less creditworthy you appear. It’s better to carry a reasonable balance (15-25% of the card’s limit) and pay it off each month than to max out your credit cards and just make the minimum payments. If you have to spend more than 25% of your card limit, try to remain under 60%. That shows good utilization. Paying down your credit cards every month and carrying a zero balance will undoubtedly improve your credit score. Check your credit report regularly. Did you know that roughly 20% of credit reports have misinformation on them? Mistakes happen all the time. Lenders misreport information, or people with the same names get merged reports. Any number of things could be inaccurate without you knowing about it. You might even have become a victim of fraud or identity theft. By checking your credit regularly, you can stay on top of everything and correct any errors promptly. Both of Canada's credit reporting agencies, Equifax and Transunion, have programs that, for a small fee, will monitor and update you on any changes made to your credit report. Handle collections immediately. When checking your credit report for accuracy, if you happen to find a collection has been registered against you, deal with it immediately. It could be a closed-out cell phone account with a small balance owing, a final utility bill that got missed, unpaid parking tickets, wage garnishments, or spousal support payments. Regardless of what it is, it will harm your credit score if it's registered on your credit report. The best plan of action is to handle any collections or delinquent accounts as soon as possible. Use your credit card. If you have acquired credit cards to build your credit score, but you rarely use them, there is a chance the lender might not report your usage, and that won’t help your credit score. You'll want to make sure that you use your credit at least once every three months. Many people find success using their credit cards for gas and groceries and paying off the outstanding balance each month. There you have it. Regardless of what your credit looks like now, you will continue to increase your credit score if you follow the points outlined above. If you're looking to buy a property and you’d like to work through your credit report in detail, let’s put together a plan to get you qualified for a mortgage. Get in touch anytime; it would be a pleasure to work with you!

How To Establish New Credit

By Katherine Martin • February 12, 2025

If you’re new to managing personal finance and you want to learn about credit, you’ve come to the right place. Establishing new credit is a bit of a catch-22. To build a credit history, you need credit. But it’s hard to get credit without having a credit history. So, where do you start? Well, the first thing you should know is that building credit takes time. It’s not something that happens overnight. If you’re looking to secure mortgage financing, you will want to have a minimum of two trade lines (credit cards, loans, or lines of credit) with a minimum limit of $2500, reporting for at least two years. If you don’t have any credit yet, the best time to get started is right now. However, that may be difficult because, as we've already identified, without a credit history, most lenders won’t feel confident about taking a chance on you. What’s the solution? Consider a secured credit card. With a secured credit card, you make a deposit upfront that matches the amount you want to borrow. A reasonable amount would be $1000 deposited on a single secured credit card. You then use your secured credit card to make household purchases and regular utility payments, paying off the total balance each month. If you default on the money borrowed for whatever reason, the lender will retain the money you put up as collateral. When looking for a secured credit card, be sure to ask whether they report to the two nationwide credit bureaus, Equifax and TransUnion. If the credit card company doesn't report, the credit card account will be useless for your purposes; move on until you find a company that reports to both credit bureaus. Once your secured credit card begins reporting to the credit bureaus, you begin to have a credit score; usually, this takes about three months. Now you can start to seek out a second trade line in the form of an unsecured credit card. Don’t forget to ensure that this card reports to both of the credit reporting agencies. Another option at this point could be a car loan. From here, you simply want to make all your payments on time! But what happens if you’re looking to secure mortgage financing before you have a fully established credit report? Well, if you have someone who would consider co-signing, you can certainly go that route. The mortgage application will depend on their income and credit report, but your name will be on the mortgage. Hopefully, when the mortgage is up for renewal, you’ll have the established credit required to remove them from the mortgage and qualify on your own. Although establishing credit takes a minimum of two years, it really begins with putting together a plan. If you’d like to discuss anything credit or mortgage-related, please get in touch!