We were recently contacted by the owners of a lovely home in Portland Oregon to provide a home staging consultation. The sellers and their agent knew that staging advice could help this property look better --- and sell faster.
Here's the family room Before the sellers took our advice and neutralized the bright blue color -- we explained that when you're living in your home and decorating it with your taste in mind, using color like this is fantastic. But when you sell your home, it's important to use color that won't distract potential buyers from noticing the room's best features -- as well as serve as a reminder that they'll have "work" to do upon moving in. Buyers these days want Move-In Ready homes!
We recommended a neutral wall and ceiling color and removal of a few excess pieces of furniture. Here's the After photo as it appears online ... didn't the sellers do a wonderful job?
The Living & Dining rooms also had fun & bright specific colors that the sellers loved, but they might not appeal to all buyers ...
So we advised using neutral wall & ceiling colors to make these rooms look larger & brighter to potential buyers ...
If you're planning to put your home on the market, call your local professional home staging expert for a cost-effective consultation. You'll receive an action plan with easy cosmetic fixes and advice on paint colors, furniture placement, and how to make your property appealing to your target buyer. With so much competition out there in today's challenging market, home staging is a tool that WORKS!
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Sellers in Portland OR rely on Room Solutions Staging to help them prepare their homes for selling. We provide two-hour home staging consultations with all the advice a seller or their Realtor needs to make the property look inviting and spacious. For more information on our services give us a call @ 503-246-1800. Room Solutions ~ Staging that Sells Portland Homes.
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2012 Professional Home Stager of the Year - Western U.S.
(Real Estate Staging Association)
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Not only does this look warmer and brighter, it looks so much bigger!! Very nice work.
Great blog, Maureen. Motivated buyers who listen and accept the advice of a professional stager are giving themselves a huge advantage over the competition. Consultations are invaluable and a very budget friendly option.
I love what you did with this home. Proof what a little paint and the eye and talent of a great stager can do :)
Wow, it is amazing what paint will do. Great job.
Fun colors for living but your neutral colors sure show how large the rooms are for selling. Great before/afters Maureen.
Hi Maureen, The new neutral colors and the furniture arrangement really improves the flow of this house. It looks so much larger now, too, without those darker and brighter colors. Now potential buyers will see the house, not be distracted by all those very taste specific colors.
Maureen, my goodness what a change! Even the windows looked stark and naked with the dark blue and ?merlot. Are those apple green ceilings? These folks certainly weren't afraid of color. With your new neutral colors everything looks so much more cohesive and calming. Staging or not it's now much more livable, IMO. I bet that they went though a lot of paint and primer to cover those bold colors....Good for them!
HI Maureen, I had to do a double take on the living room, it looked like a completely different room. What a transformation, you doubled the space in both of those rooms. Absolutely gorgeous and yes, people DO want a home that is in move-in condition.
Thanks everyone for your comments. It's true that neutral colors can make a huge difference in how a home is perceived by potential buyers. This example proves the point that specific-taste color should be replaced with fresh, neutral ones, and that excess furniture needs to be removed. Doing both ensures that the home will show as much more spacious with an improved traffic flow.
Maureen, This is a great example of the difference between personal taste and selling. What a huge change. The space looks bigger and warmer. I seem to have a hard time of convincing sellers to paint.
Donna -- if the existing paint colors are too taste-specific then sellers really should paint more neutral shades so that buyers can just move right in. For some reason, painting is seen by most people as a "big job" so when it needs to be done, they either move on to see the next home, or they reduce their offer. Paint is one of most cost-effective changes that today's sellers can do to make their home appealing.
Hi Maureen - Wow! If the sellers did all of this from your consultation, they were very motivated. It's so nice to have a client really get on board with what needs to be done. It looks so much nicer!
Hi Maureen! You are a "master consultatant"! Add that to your claims to fame!
Karen -- thanks for my new title ... and for the group feature!
It looked very closed in and dark, now it gives a more fresh open appearance. You both did well!
Maureen,
As always your "Professional Advice" yields a huge return on investment. That was a night and day transformation on the Living Room and Dining Room. Everyone involved must be thrilled. Great job, Maureen. Your work tops the charts!!!
Cindy ~ The bold colors "before" were dark and did close in the rooms ... so much better now!
Linda ~ Sellers can make an excellent return with a small investment in a staging consultation, like these homeowners did. Thanks for your kind words.
OMG what were they thinking??? You did a beautful job making it appeal to the masses. Amazing how the artwork and furnishings stand out now. Must have been hell to paint over that ceiling.
Wow! It looks like a different space. And I must say the crispness and quality of your photos are fantastic.
Great job Maureen! As always you exemplify what it is to give proven quality advice to your clients... and it shows! Many kudos for your consultations.
Liz ~ I'm pretty sure they used a primer for those boldly-color walls to make the painting go faster!
Michele ~ It does make a big difference when spaces show as larger and more open, doesn't it?
Lori ~ I love doing consultations and find it very satisfying to help my clients get their home in top-notch condition for selling. It's very rewarding, especially when it sells quickly! :-)
Maureen ~ The lighter colors really opened those rooms right up! The blue really did nothing for that front room, it looks fantastic now. Great job and I'm so glad they listened to you.
Kathy ~ Thanks, I'm glad they did too -- it will mean a faster sale.
Hi Maureen,
That home seller from the latest episode of The Stagers shouuld have read your post. He might have thought twice about being so rigid with his red and yellow walls.
Hi Kate ~ Those red & yellow walls were very taste specific, weren't they? At least he re-painted them when Matthew insisted!
M: I didn't see a problem..... I was fixated on the yellow ceilings....
I love helping people find just the right colors for decorating their homes. But bright, vibrant colors should be used as accents, not to engulf the whole room! And as far as staging colors go; make it warm, make it subtle, and use the pops of color for the accents. Great advice for your sellers Maureen, now the rooms just sing.
Todd ~ LOL me too!
Peg ~ You're right, they do "sing" to potential buyers now!