Category Archives: Painting

January 2014 Featured Before & After

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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

October Featured Before & After

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White enameled trim is an amenity, but if buyer’s can’t see it, they can’t appreciate it.  Here we painted the walls Benjamin Moore Bennington Gray to make the room more inviting and show off the trim.
       
BEFORE
AFTER
This living room is from the same home as the bathroom in the last post.  To see a before and after tour of the entire home, click here. This Minneapolis home will go on the market next week, let us know if you would like more information about it.

October Staging Tip of the Month

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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.
 

May Featured Before & After

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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

May Staging Tip of the Month

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When selling your home, you want to make sure that each room has a very distinct purpose.  The room below off of the dining room contained an aquarium, an end table and other miscellaneous things.  It would have been very difficult for buyers to figure out how to use this extra space.
Below, we gave this room a purpose by adding a desk and lounge chair.  Now buyers know exactly how to use this space!

March 2013 Staging Tip

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Are you not sure that you can look at that old dark woodwork one more day?  Waiting until you can afford to replace it all?  Lighten it up by paiting it white or cream now for very little cost.  Here is a great blog with step by step directions.  The only thing I would add is to use a paintable caulk to fill gaps before painting. http://www.livelovediy.com/2012/04/how-to-paint-trim.html
Photo courtesy of LiveLoveDIY

November 2012 Staging Tip

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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!!!

September 2012 Featured Before & After

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This living room is from the same home as the dining room in the last post.  Notice in the before picture that the fireplace and trim were painted the same color as the walls.  By changing them to white, these amenities of the room become beautiful focal points!

living a

BEFORE
living b

AFTER
To save the homeowners some money, we reused their existing occasional tables, but replaced the sofa, chair, art and accessories. We also added a rug to soften the room. Removing the draperies and furniture that blocked the windows completely opened up the room!