A 4 DAy Complete Make-Over

I need to preface this blog post by stating that the homeowners had already started to pack things up so that is why there are boxes and ‘stuff’ everywhere.

I was very flattered when these clients requested my services after staging their last house 6 years ago.  It’s always nice going into a staging and you’ve already established a working relationship.  Since they had already gone through the process with me, I had confidence that everything would get done – and it did!  You have no idea how much I appreciate cooperative clients 😉

Cohesive Flow

As soon as I opened the front door, I knew we had to choose a colour scheme.  The had a lovely red feature wall in the foyer, but the visible living room had different shades of blue and turquoise accents in their drapes, art, and cushions etc.

We only had 4 days to completely transform the entire house before the photos were being taken.  I figured it was cheaper and faster to have them paint the feature wall than replacing everything else.

Before I took this photo, there was a desk here instead of the bench and sticks.  We brought the bench in from the living room and were able to use the desk in one of the bedrooms. I always use as much of the homeowner’s furniture and accessories as possible.

It drives me crazy when builders put a light switch right the center of a huge wall.  How are you supposed to hang artwork without covering it up? Creating this little vignette did the trick.  The sticks divided the wall and we could easily hang one of their pictures over the bench.  If the bench had not been there, it would have looked lost.  We chose Benjamin Moores Silver Spring for the accent wall.

We now have an elegant grand entrance.

Minor Tweaking

The room already looked good.

This room was pretty much finished by the time I arrived.  I just brought in a few accessories for the piano, cushions and items for the dining table.

Continuing the colour

While they were painting the foyer feature wall, it only make sense to paint the fireplace the same colour.

The fireplace is the focal pint with the starburst mirror and new paint colour.  This colour combination is inspiring as we enter into Spring season. Buyers are psychologically influenced by colour and seasons.

All the accessories including the artwork that I brought in, tied the colours together.  When staging, you want symmetry and balance so it’s not distracting.  The end tables and lamps accomplished that.

I carried the same colours into the kitchen as well.  There wasn’t really any wall space for artwork, so colourful linens were put on the table.

When you have a unique feature like the corner sink and double window, you want to showcase it.  The large vase with fresh spring flowers draws your eye to the corner.

Executive Office

It’s amazing how much just adding some artwork and greenery can do to a space.  Buyers are buying a ‘perceived’ lifestyle so you want each room to feel as up-scale as possible.

Since this room flows into the foyer, it was important that the colours continued in the artwork as well.

From Drab to Fab

I’m so excited about this transformation!  They had enough paint leftover so they painted the back wall and brought in the head board to get the mattress off the floor.  This guest room looks like the perfect room for a teenage.  The painted wall completely warmed up the room and made the other walls look fresh and clean even though they weren’t painted.  Its a great colour for either gender and any age.  Their artwork tied in perfectly.

The dresser was broken so we used this desk from the front entrance.  It shows buyers that either a dresser or a desk could fit here.  The wicker mirror and chair tie in with the artwork.  Notice how the colours flowed into the adjoining bathroom.

New linens and lamps with a few quirky accessories make the room memorable.

Simplify Bedrooms

Changing the linens and adding artwork made a huge difference.  When you have saturated painted wall colours, you need to accessories with some white and other colours in the same intensity to balance it out.

Kid’s rooms usually just need a lot of editing since you don’t want buyers to get distracted with the ‘stuff’.  You want them to look at the actual room.

You still want your Jack & Jill bathrooms to be fun and compliment the adjoining children’s bedrooms.

Master Retreat

I was lucky they already had the artwork to hang and most of their linens for this room.

It’s really important that the master bedroom has attractive linens.  Hotel chic is always a safe way to go. It’s funny that they bought these linens to stage their last house with me.  Classic things never go out of style.  I like to advise clients what to buy for their staging purposes so they can enjoy them in their new home as well.

Carrying the colours from the master bedroom lets buyer’s know on the MLS photos that it’s the master en-suite.

Keep it Fun

The homeowners were worried that I was going to make them paint the orange walls, but when I saw all the different elements of the room, I felt it was perfect the way it was.  The room just needed a basic tidy up.

We created different zones in the room to show all the possibilities and different functions.  Hmm, what could possibly be behind the cut out windows on the orange wall?

Young at Heart

A little treasure space like this can be a real selling feature if the buyers have young kids.  We brought the table and chairs from anther room.

I can just imagine a child curling up on the little bed reading a book.  It’s great that there is a pot light and a nice floor to make it very comfortable.

This house also has another large bedroom and full bathroom on the lower level.

It was a pleasure working with these clients again and I wish them the very best in the future.  I’m sure this beauty won’t be on the market for long.