|
Welcome to the Beautiful Staged Homes Newsletter
Beautiful Staged Homes' "Creative Home Staging Strategies" is a free bi-weekly e-newsletter for homesellers, realtors, homebuilders and others who want to be successful in selling their properties. You will get great tips and ideas that will help you create homes that will sell fast because they will attract the widest range of buyer. |
Greetings!
Updating Your Look When You're Selling Your Home
I did a staging consultation last week that made me think about the subject of this newsletter - updating your home when you're selling. The realtor's client has a great home. It has a wonderful layout, great architectural features - and a warm feeling throughout the house. But there were doilies on every single surface! I remember my mom and her love of doilies back in the 60s. It's time to put the doilies and other dated objects away - and update your home if you want to entice buyers.
We update out wardrobe to keep current (or after we've put on a few holiday pounds!) and we update and detail our cars before we sell it - but we don't give the same spruce ups to our homes when we put them on the market! Perhaps some of the reasons why we don't are because we think it might be too costly, or it will take too long to change - or we've grown so accustomed to the look of our homes that we mistakenly think the d�cor is fine "as is."
Well - it doesn't cost a fortune (unless there's absolute neglect) and it doesn't have to take a lot of time. In fact, you should be able to even incorporate some of the items you already have (and love) into a new updated look to your home. Enjoy these ideas - they may take a little elbow grease and time - but these updates will help your home sell. This will be Part One - as I have a lot of great ideas to share with you.
PS: I want to extend a hearty "thank you" to everyone that came to the Staging Seminar last week in West Islip. We had a wonderful turnout - over 20 attendees - and everyone stayed til the close of the program, still asking questions. We had mostly FSBOs -and two realtors and one "realtor in training." I gave away a pair of beautiful tassels, a gorgeous pair of guest towels - and a free home staging consultation. Congratulations to all the winners!
|
Dated Vs. Updated
Some New Paint Ideas: One of the more modern paint approaches that I've seen in Decorator Showhouses and in magazines lately is to paint your walls and trim in the same color - a flat for the wall and a semi-gloss for the trim. This gives a modern, unified and softening effect to your room. Plus, it's not as obvious that you have "less than substantial" moldings - and it helps to obscure a vertically challenged room. Below, see how Martha Stewart employed this concept in one of her guest rooms in Maine. I know it's pink and I don't advocate that color when staging - but you can see how soft and quiet the room looks.
Dark is Out: If you have deep cherry kitchen cabinets that are beautiful - this is an asset. If you have old dark walnut cabinets - you should paint them a white or off white color. See below for a "before and after."
Also - ditch the dark red walls or dark patterned wallpaper and the dark furniture look in living rooms, bedrooms and dining rooms. Dark paneled walls should be removed or at least painted a lighter color. In real estate sales -"light and bright" are the best accessories! Removing wallpaper and painting walls lighter colors are the easiest updates in the world to do - and it reaps huge dividends.
Sponged Painted/Faux Finished Walls with Stencils: If you watched Debbie Travis back in the '90s and attempted (or hired someone) to sponge paint and do stencil work - it's likely you haven't changed those walls in a while. Faux finishing has come a very long way since those sponge and rag roll days - and that look is now dated.
Dark, Core Doors: These remnants of the past are bound not only to date your home - but will cheapen it as well. If you find it's too costly to replace them with nicer, paneled doors - you should paint them a lighter color (white, off white or cream) - a hue that will go with your trim color. When I was selling my first home in Seattle, I painted all the core doors in my house a light cream color - and it really brightened my main hallway, which led to all the bedrooms in the home. Before that - the hallway always seemed so dark to me. It worked - my home sold in 2 days. |
|
Kitchen Update Ideas
Table Setting Ideas: Set the tables in your home. If you were like me and bought some trendy white square plates in the 90s - you can use them as chargers - and bring out some colorful plates on top. Use your Waterford crystal vases (that are in your china cabinets) to hold a beautiful bouquet of roses. Bring out your silver tea service that's been stored away. Add niceties to your home - buyers will sense an air of elegance.
Backsplash Updates:
- Some older looks - like mirrored backsplashes - are not only impractical but they date your home. If your mirrored tiles are in great shape - keep them. Place a few beautiful objects in front of them (a colorful bowl of fruit, for example). However, if they are showing signs of wear you should prime, paint and topcoat them.
- Glass Tiles: Consider putting in a more modern look like small glass tiles. It's a clean modern look and a great way to add some textural interest and sparkle. Our company does a "faux glass tile" that looks completely realistic - for far less expense.
- Putting a Texture over Dated Tiles: If you refer to the painted kitchen update above, take a look at the backsplash. We re-finished the dated tiles by priming, painting and then troweling a texture over it to simulate a tumbled stone.
- Raised Wallpaper: Otherwise known as Anaglypta, this is a paintable wallpaper that comes in many raised designs - especially tiled designs. My studio usually uses Anaglypta to do a "faux tin ceiling" or as a wainscoting under a chair rail - but when used as a backsplash, it's absolutely beautiful and inexpensive to do. We usually paint it an off-white color and then age it with a glaze. But when it's simply painted and top coated with a satin or semi-gloss - it's gorgeous. See it below used as a painted wallcovering in a room from Southern Living.
Updating Your Countertops: Depending on the listing price of your home (plus what other homeowners in your neighborhood have), you may have to update your countertops. If nearly every home in your price range has granite or another upper level material, you should do the same because it will be viewed as an expected upgrade.
If you have Formica countertops and you don't have the budget for granite, our studio can create various finishes that would be in line with Corian, even Silestone - but at a substantial cost savings. We can do durable faux Limestone, granite, marble - even a concrete veneer finish - without gutting and replacing your countertop. Here's a photo showing a faux marble island finish.
| |
Linda Leyble is the owner of Beautiful Staged Homes as well as the Studio of Decorative Arts (http://www.studioofdecorativearts.com), a professional mural and faux finishing company. We use color and design to enhance and improve spaces but we also use these techniques to alter the perceived size of a room. As trained decorative artists, we can magically transform dated cabinetry, vanities, countertops and floors into designer showpieces - without demolition and costly replacement. Linda's company was voted one of the "Best of Long Island 2008" companies by the Long Island Press - and was nominated again for 2010.
Linda is also an Accredited Staging Professional (ASP). She received her staging training from the company that started the staging industry over 30 years ago - StagedHomes.com
To experience what Linda and her team can do for you, call us for either a complimentary home assessment or a staging presentation for your office at 631 793-1315.
Sincerely,
Linda Leyble
Beautiful Staged Homes
Studio of Decorative Arts
I LOVE REFERRALS: If you have enjoyed reading this e-newsletter - and you'd like to forward it to a home seller or realtor colleague - please click the "Forward" and "Share" buttons at the bottom of this newsletter. Thanks.
|
|
|
|
