Staging to Appeal to the Masses

Paint colour can make such a huge difference in a home.  Pull the colour/tone from the permanent features (flooring, tile, stone, countertops etc.).  The homeowners wanted to paint the house for staging anyway, so it was the perfect time to change it from the gold to the tan.

Paint Colour

The fireplace is usually the focal point of the room so you want it to look it’s best.

By repainting the entire room in a colour that enhanced the stone surround, it actually gave it more of a presence in a softer way. Now the fireplace is more noticeable than the red wall.

We painted out the brass surround with black mat BBQ heat retardant spray paint and retiled the hearth in a darker tile that blended with the stone, since the previous tiles were chipped.  The fireplace looks completely different.  A few simple bold accessories on the mantle and artwork in the same colour palette were all that was needed.

First Impression

As soon as buyers walk in a house they get an immediate sense of whether they want to buy the house even though they haven’t passed the entrance.  It’s just a ‘gut feeling’.

When I see a lot of hooks and ‘stuff’ by the front door, it makes me question if there is enough storage in a house (even if there is). So many have lower hooks for kids.  In this case it needed to be wheelchair accessible.

Once everything was removed, we placed their buffet that used to be in the dining room by the front door so there was still a place for keys etc.  The coats and shoes now go where they belong in a closet. A few large pictures give you the ‘wow’ factor without being overwhelmed.  I also didn’t want to put too many holes in their freshly painted walls.

Open Concept

Everyone seems to love open concept living.  The only problem is that you see EVERYTHING so it needs to be kept tidy photos and showings. When you put additional storage units, it looks like there isn’t enough storage.  The homeowners needed to keep everything low since there was someone in a wheelchair but there was enough upper storage for the masses.  Once the cabinet was removed, buyers wouldn’t question that. Remember, staging is for the masses.

It’s important to clear off the counters and leave as much open space on the floor so buyers can really see what they are buying. We also removed the tall buffet and hutch from the dining room since it looked too busy and cramped.  They stored the top hutch but we used the bottom buffet portion for the front door entrance.  Think outside the box and reuse what you have in different ways.

When staging your house, you want to be able to stand in any corner and have a nice clear sightline with nothing distracting you. I used blue as the accent colour since they had blue countertops in the kitchen.  Being a country home, I used nature inspired artwork.  The new soft paint colour also enhances the floor tile that runs through the main traffic flow. The tile looks brand new with the different paint colour.

Living in a “Staged’ house is never easy, but it’s even harder when there are extenuating circumstances like having pets, young children, older parents or homeowners with special needs.  The purpose of staging is to bring in as many potential buyers as possible.  The more they can do to keep it looking like It does in the photos on the MLS, the quicker the house will sell and then they can resume their normal life style.