It’s amazing what a few freshening touches can do to transform every day living areas. As a selling tool, the decorator’s objective for a client is to make the home attractive to as large an audience as possible – hopefully inspiring a bidding war.
Part 1 of 3
The Dining Room
Before
This room was too hectic and all its components were slightly off. The picture (right side) was too small for the wall, there were too many trinkets, and the twigs crowded the dining table – basically, one could not see the room for what it was with all these distractions.
After
The caramel walls were carried over to the dining room and much better complemented the rosy wood floors and furniture. Removing the clutter puts more emphasis on the chandelier, opens up the room; and re-positioning the painting the other side of the room at the just the right height, makes the walls and ceiling appear higher. A subtle splash of orange provided by the fruit in the bowl sets off the blue fabric of the chairs.
The Living Room
Before
This room breaks all the rules of staging. The television competes with the fireplace as a focal area, which should be emphasized because it’s a selling feature. It has a faux-marble finish and blends into the grainy, non-matching walls. The sofa is far too large, there are too many plants, and the floor is painted to look like it’s carpeted.
After
The living room needed to be defined by re-instating the fireplace as its focal point. It was repainted a classic white, with the attached wall a caramel shade, darker than the rest of the room. The over-large chairs were replaced with sleeker seating and the floors are covered in a berber carpet, from which a patch of its colour inspired the caramel chosen for the walls. Glass vases filled with grasses from the home’s English garden are the perfect finishing touch to this now elegant room.
The Dinette
Before
The client who was putting up her home for sale was an artist and she had painted a wall mural in this little dinette. It made the room rather busy, and in order to remake the room to have broader overall appeal, it was thought best to be painted over.
After
The walls were painted in different shades of the same colour, which creates the illusion of a larger room. The quaint table and chairs set matches with the tiling and wall colours, maintaining the room’s new airiness.
The Bathroom
Before
This 1950’s bathroom was cold to look at, the toilet was a water guzzler and the owners wanted to incorporate a bathtub with the shower.
After
There were quite a few unexpected challenges with this room, from the baseboard heating, which had to be avoided, to the dated aspects, such as the plaster lathe and copper wiring, which had to be completely taken out and replaced with vinyl and fitted with a custom bridge. The only original remaining part of the bathroom was the window. The new plumbing could accommodate a rain-head shower, complemented by the sheet of tempered glass (with rain drops effect) that shielded the shower from the toilet, reaching up to the ceiling. A new, highly efficient toilet (that works on the concept of gravity pull) replaced the old water pressure unit.
Epilogue: The home was sold one week after staging after languishing on the market for over a month.
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Makeovers by Susan V. Phillips, Spotlight On Decor, Spotlightondecor.com
