| A new chandelier and staging furniture made this dining room go from dated to welcoming. |
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Category Archives: Lighting
November 2016 Staging Tip of the Month
Avoid putting rugs over carpets. Buyers may think you are hiding stains or worn carpet. This before and after was from a recent occupied staging. We also gave advice to remove the wallpaper and draperies, paint a neutral color and replace lighting.
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June 2016 Staging Tip of the Month
If you plan to list your home in the winter or very early spring before everything is green, take outdoor photos now while everything is beautiful. Take photos of gardens, outdoor structures, wildlife that frequent your yard and overall views of your house. Twilight photos with all the lights on inside the home also give a great impression. Keep electronic versions of the photos that you can send to your Realtor to use in the marketing.
April 2016 Staging Tip of the Month
Rooms need to have “softness”. Before the bright green walls created a hard, stark contrast against the dark furniture.
We had the homeowner paint the walls a much softer wall color, created a more conversational seating arrangement and added lots of softness with pillows, lamps and accessories.
March 2016 Featured Before and After
This is from the same condo as the kitchen in the last post. White walls, dark oak trim and tired carpeting did not make this condo stand out above any of the others in the building. We closed off the opening to the kitchen, added booth seating since this condo lacked storage, painted everything, added new flooring, lighting and beautiful furniture.
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AFTER
And a few more after pictures of the rest of the condo, just for fun!
November 2013 Featured Before & After
The front entry is the most important place in the home to create a good first impression. So anything dated should be removed. Here the brass light fixture was replace with oil rubbed bronze and the peach and teal rug was replaced with a more contemporary rug.
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November 2013 Staging Tip of the Month
Use rich wall colors to detract from something unappealing. In this bathroom, the pink walls were only emphasizing the fact that there was pink tile by the tub.
We suggested a much darker a paint color (along with oil rubbed bronze pulls and lights and richer accessories). Can you even tell that the tile is pink anymore??? 
October Staging Tip of the Month
Staging Tip of the Month
Semi-gloss paint is very good for a lot of things. But a small bathroom in an older home with a lot of uneven walls is not one of them. Semi-gloss paint reflects light from every imperfection in a wall so it draws attention away from the good things in the room. The reflection also makes the room feel smaller.
Here, a softer color paint in an eggshell finish makes this bathroom much more inviting. We also replaced the large wall shelf with art to give the allusion of more space. Painting the shelves white made them an accent to the room. And for those of you following our staging tips, the lighting fixture was from our September tip.
September Staging Tip
Hollywood style bathroom lights (especially when they are wood or brass) can make your bathroom feel very dated. Here’s a solution that is inexpensive and doesn’t require an electrician. It’s called the Vanity Light Refresh Kit and it’s available for $37.48 at Lowes.
Here’s a video that shows how easy they are to install:
| Vanity Light Refresh Kit |
November 2012 Staging Tip
If you have an older home, there is a good chance that you have a bathroom with one of these tiny mirrored medicine chests with attached lights. It can look intimidating to change, but if you take it step by step, it’s pretty easy!
First, shut off the circuit breaker. Inside the cabinet you will find a few screws to remove. Then gently pull the cabinet out of the hole and have someone else unhook the wires from the electrical box.
So here’s what it looks like once it’s removed. In this case, we did a little patching of the drywall between the box and the hole. After painting the room, we put a new light fixture over the electrical box. (Follow fixture directions or hire an electrician!)
The last step was to purchase a framed mirror (we got his one at TJ Maxx) that would fill up almost the entire space from the light fixture to the vanity. Hang it and you’re done!
BATHROOM BEFORE:
BATHROOM AFTER:
We also changed out the vanity ($200 from Home Depot) and replaced the floor and fixtures. What a difference!!!