January 2014 Featured Before & After

While there are a lot of bold colors in design right now, it is still very important to keep colors softer and more neutral for selling.  In this before and after set, you can see how colors that are too bold may not appeal to every buyer.  After a long time on the market, this home finally sold quickly after it was neutralized.
 
BEFORE
AFTER

June Featured Before & After

This before and after is from the same home as the last post.  It had a combined living and dining room that felt a little small.  Most buyers would wonder if they could even fit a full living room set.  So we staged it to show that a full sized sofa would fit and look great!
 
BEFORE
AFTER

May Featured Before & After

This before and after is from the same home as above.  We suggested that the homeowner paint the room a neutral color. Then we brought in our rental furniture to give the room a very inviting look.  Because it wasn’t in the budget to replace the draperies, we just removed them to let in as much light as possible.  This home sold in just a few weeks!
BEFORE
AFTER

April Staging Tip of the Month

 One of the biggest mistakes that homeowners make in laying out

furniture in their home is pushing all of the furniture up against the walls.  Below is a perfect example of how doing this creates an uninviting space and often makes buyer wonder how they can layout the space to make it feel nicer.
Below, the furniture has been brought into the room, creating a comfortable conversational area without making the room feel smaller.

August 2012 Featured Before and After

This living room is from the same home as the kitchen in the last post.  Notice that while doing the granite we also extended the bar area to provide more seating.  This home does not have an informal dining area, so this small change will make a huge difference in how buyers see the home!

Orwell Living A
BEFORE

Orwell Living B
AFTER
To save the homeowners some money, we reused their existing seating, but replaced the dated end tables and brass lamps with a more current style to update everything.  We also had the homeowners add draperies to soften the hard angles and frame the view of the St. Croix River.  And lastly, we angled the layout to open up the room.  If you can avoid it, you never want buyers to enter a room looking directly at the back of a sofa.  It creates an uninviting feeling to the room.