Believe it or not staging a cottage can be a challenge since everyone has different expectations.  Obviously without a basement the floors aren’t as perfect, the walls aren’t exactly straight and there are some quirky features.  You have to remember that it’s a cottage where people go to unwind, relax and remove the stresses of everyday life.   People are buying a lifestyle and the waterfront, not just the building.

For staging purposes my job is to create a space that is beautiful and inviting so you see beyond all the ‘cottage’ blemishes. I was so surprised when I walked in and saw the homeowners elegant furniture and formal artwork.

I didn’t want it to feel like a ‘city’ house or buyers would expect all the perfection of a ‘city’ house. I removed the more formal pieces and brought in more nature inspired artwork and accessories to bring the outdoors in.

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BEFORE – the long narrow room didn’t really have defined spaces so it felt busy. We removed half of the furniture and created a living room at one end, dinning room in the middle and a sitting/office area at the other end

 

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AFTER – by removing some pieces and one of the large chairs you can now see the living room and there is still lots of seating
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BEFORE – there was no dining area except at the eat-in kitchen island which I felt was a problem. All the windows were facing the water and that is where I felt most people would want to eat and play games etc on summer nights.  Cottages are also about family gatherings so you want a place to sit everyone
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AFTER – the dining table also divides the long narrow room up and makes it feel wider
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BEFORE – the other end of the room was set up as an executive office but there was just too much furniture
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AFTER – It’s still nice to have a desk area for work but now it also incudes another sitting area in front of another large window with a view. Large area rugs also help define the different spaces within the same room
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BEFORE – master bedrooms are always important. The homeowner already had really nice furniture and fresh linens
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AFTER – bringing in matching lamps help give balance to the room. We also moved the dresser since it was couldn’t go flush up against the wall due to the baseboard heater
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BEFORE – the homeowner really wanted to take the TV so it was removed and the wall was repaired after the bracket was taken down
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AFTER – the dresser worked really well in the new spot and gave move walking space around the bed
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BEFORE – the owner wanted to take the white cabinets with them so we removed them now to avoid potential hassles with negotiations. They also made the room look smaller and made it looked like there wasn’t enough cupboard storage space
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AFTER – it was amazing how much larger the room looked. Adding the large bold artwork still gave the room interest
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BEFORE – this room didn’t really feel like it had purpose and the white furniture and formal artwork didn’t blend with the wood burning stove
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AFTER – this room has a new purpose of a sitting reading room by the fire. The room is too narrow to put a sofa but the bookcases worked perfectly from the ‘old’ office area.  The dark book case works really well with the wood burning stove
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AFTER -All the rooms have a nice flow to them and each space has it’s own purpose

 

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BEFORE – this is one of the two children’s rooms but the bed took over the space which also made it difficult to open the closet door
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AFTER – replacing the bed with a single bed really opened up the nook. We also removed the antique lace drapes with solid ones and only kept ‘child’ like items in the room

 

 

ABOUT HEATHER

Heather creates lasting impressions transforming any house into a home. Styled&Staged take your space from from Drab to Fab!

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70 Bongard Avenue. Ottawa, ON, CA K2J 7Z9 
+1-613-302-4020 | info@styledandstaged.com

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