Home Staging in Portland Oregon Blog

Maureen,  You are so right about the choice of colors. Your 'afters look great!  Just recently my buyer client kept turning down a house to view and I finally figured out 'he just didn't like how it was portrayed on the internet with its vividly colored rooms.  It was a lovely house, but chartreuse in the kitchen, lilac and hot pinks in the bedroom and what looked like black in a bath just killed the presentation. I did get him to take a look.  I had to call the owner for an appt. and she told me the interior was going to be painted the following week.  My client didn't like the flow, but someone else did.  It's under deposit now. 

Maureen,  these are excellent examples of what people should do to prepare their home for sale.  Lose the bright bold colors and the clutter. 

Maureen - great before and after pictures.  They sure do hit the nail on the head with respect to getting a message across to clients as to how important neutralizing and decluttering can be in making the home more attractive to a perspective buyer.

Maureen, as much as I love bold colors, you have some excellent examples of why they should go away when preparing a house for resale.  I'm thinking maybe I should cancel my trip north because after working with you, I may never want to do another staging here with my furniture inventory.  #$@#@

Maureen - I love your line "When selling, bold colors from the last century should be neutralized ..." -

Well said!  I love the way you defined the room as a dining room and didn't leave it as a "what is this room?" room.  Also, whoa - now that's a cluttered kitchen!  Glad to see how lovely the room looks now - actually, how lovely all the rooms look now.  Great job, as usual.

Barbara ~ thanks for confirming the bold color theory!  It's fine for living, but not for selling .... and I think most buyers see those bold colors and just think how much WORK it will be to tackle the painting project -- then decide to move on to something else.

June ~ If sellers would just follow these easy tips they'd have a much better chance of selling quickly!  Thanks for your feedback.

Leah ~ You've told your sellers these things forever, right?  Why is it so hard for them to believe us?  The Before & After photos seem to "show" them it really does make a difference!

Ginger ~ The faux'd green and bright blue bathrooms were atrocious!!  This was a very simple staging on a tighter-than-tight budget but I think now the house looks so much more appealing than it did in the previous MLS photos.

By the way I can't wait to have your help staging on Tuesday!  :-)   It's going to be HOT so let's hope we finish quickly!!  :-)

Sally ~  Bold colors are wonderful but not when selling .. and "old" colors like those 2 bathrooms lost their lustre some time ago LOL.  I always remind sellers that even if they don't use their dining room for dining ... when selling, it should be staged to meet buyers' expectations.  Thanks for your nice compliments!

Maureen -

Congratulations on becoming Number Two (and Featured) in Oregon on ActiveRAIN.

Way to go.

And BTW:  Great house pix, too.

Hi Jim!  I'm not really after the points, but blogging itself has been a big boost to my online presence.  Thanks for stopping by once again.  Are you going to be at the Portland RainCamp on Wednesday?  If so, I'll see you there!

Maureen - what a great way to show what you should do when selling.  Your before and afters are great examples.

Love Love Love what you have done, the bathroom is especially nice..thanks for sharing...

Maureen:  sounds like you and Ginger are going to have fun!  Thanks for neutralizing those bathrooms - whew!  My eyeballs hurt!  Julie

Hi Maureen, great educationals blog for sellers and a great way to display your work. Happy 4th of July

Another shining example of your talents Maureen. Your paint, furniture and accessorizing made a huge difference in this property, it now looks stylish & welcoming!

On another note, I'm envious of you working w/ Ginger ;)

Wanda ~ Showing sellers what a difference a few changes can make is more effective than telling them.  Thanks for stopping by.

Hey Russel ~ Same to you!  Enjoy the 4th and guard those kitties' ears!

Mary Lou ~ What a difference a bit of paint can make.  Those deep bold colors had to go.

Julie ~ your eyeballs hurt -- good way to explain it  :-)   Yes, Ginger's coming to PDX for RainCamp and I'm putting her to work staging a 1924 bungalow the minute she gets off the plane -- she's being a good sport!  Wait till she finds out that I intend to also have her help me stage my OWN house since it's going on the market in less than 2 weeks!!

Barbara ~ Thanks for your comment, and I hope you enjoy the 4th too!

Cyn ~ The previous online photos showed a home that the sellers enjoyed living in, but buyers just couldn't relate to. 

I can't wait to stage with Ginger, she is so talented and creative.  Any other stagers who want to share their talents with me are always welcome! :-)

Bold colours and sponging ... Yikes! Your photos certainly do make the point.

I'm working with someone that has some boldly colored rooms and is dead set about painting them...I gave it one more try the other day, we'll see how it turns out.  It does make a difference doesn't it?  Have a Happy 4th!!! : )

There were some bold colors in this home!  That purple in the dining area had to go.  Those bathrooms....wow!  One thing that really stood out to me was the hanging light fixture in the master...happy to see that gone!

Janice ~ I'm not sure what was worse, the colors or the sponging effect!

Cindy ~ I hope your clients listen to your good advice since it makes such an impact when removing bold colors.  Hope you're enjoying the 4th too!!

Sharon ~ I felt the same way about that dated hanging light fixture in the master bedroom .... it HAD to go!  Here's one more "colorful" bathroom from that house -- it wasn't repainted, but we worked with it ...

Maureen,

I love bold colors in my own house but it definately is a turn off for Buyers. Your after pictures are great and will "draw potential Buyers in".

Marianne

Marianne ~  I like bold colors too ... but explain to sellers that neutral is best for selling. I think the previous online photos did little to draw buyers' interest ... thanks for taking time to comment.  Hope you're having a great holiday weekend!  :-)

Another incredible home staging, Maureen.

Congratulations. Your home staging is being featured in the group Staging Before and After Pictures.

Kathy

Great examples, Maureen!  I always love seeing your before and after photos.

WOW!! What a transformation-love the kitchen!! Outstanding work!

Kathy ~ thanks so much for the feature in the Staging Before and After Pictures group!!  (your comment was a great start to my day!)

Diana ~ Thanks, and I love viewing yours as well  :-)  A mutual admiration of stagers!

Cathy ~ That "before" kitchen was, shall we say, a bit over-the-top?  I love to see motivated sellers.

Maureen- first, we want pics and a post from your staging venture with Ginger!!! Fun and hard work!  What more could you ask for.  I love this post, especially the title.  I like bold colors too but not when selling.  You've taken an otherwise "ok' house and made it something that a buyer can now see as a possibility. At first glance I didn't even realize the kitchen was a kitchen.  I thought it was a cluttered butler's pantry or utility room.  Another great job.

Kathy ~ Ginger arrived in Portland today and was put to work the minute she landed LOL!  We had fun staging a 1924 bungalow that had a few challenges ... like lathe and plaster walls that we couldn't put nails into ... but Ginger pulled out her creative magic wand and made it work!!  We'll be at RainCamp tomorrow and then -- if we haven't collapsed from too much brain overload -- we'll try to do something fun.  More later!  :-)

Maureen, great post. Explaining does not always work but pictures say themselves. Thanks for sharing.

Hey Maureen....GREAT Before's & After's.......and now it looks like a FAB house all thanks to you!!  What a transformation!  I LOVE bold colors and live with some....but oh so right, if I were going to sell they'd be gone!

p.s....just back from birthday vacation and it was GREAT!!!

Anna ~ You're so right, photos can say it better than words.  Thanks for taking time to comment.

Hi Kathy ~ Hey fellow Birthday girl -- glad to hear you enjoyed yours -- mine was fun too, thanks to a big surprise from my daughter and son.  We should chat soon!  :-)

What a difference your staging has made Maureen.  It feels so much larger, great flow throughout and not cluttered.  Excellent work!

Hi Michele ~Getting rid of clutter is a priority for most of our clients!  Once that's done we can then arrange everything to open up the space and create a good traffic flow.  Thanks for stopping by today.

Thanks for sharing the images. It's hard for clients to imagine the changes without great photos.

Hi Michelle ~ It's true that photos can say so much more than words .. especially when it comes to showing how a home should be staged for selling!

Maureen, your afters look almost Zen!  I want to live like that!

Maureen,

You are sooo right.  Buyers are looking for neutral colors that exhibit understated elegance......  Great tips....

Lori Cofer

Maureen, you did an excellent job on this home and offered some great tips.

Hi Pat ~ Living with minimal clutter is a good thing when selling!  For most of us though it's challenging to find just the right spot for so many things we collect through the years.

Hi Lori ~ Freshly painted neutral rooms elminates a typical buyer complaint "we'll have to paint the place .. let's deduct $5 or 10K from our offer for that."

Hi Diane ~ Thank you!  I'm glad you found it helpful.