Honestly, home-making scares me. Put me in a music store and have me choose the highest quality instrument or the best arrangement, send me to teach in an inner-city Junior High, drop me off in the middle of Ethiopia. . . and I'll be right at home. But send me to the bed and bath aisle? Or worse, Home Depot? Or Pier 1? And I clam up. I'm completely incompetent when it comes to decorating.
So last month I did my best with our house (you saw the pictures). And then we hired a Real Estate Agent (or a "secret agent" according to Clayton). Our agent took one look at the house and was literally at a loss for words. She hired - the NEXT day - a professional stager (I didn't even know these people existed) out of her OWN POCKET to walk through our house and give me some "tips" - Really, that's how bad it was!
So here's what I learned (you probably already know this):
1 - "Staging" a house is different than decorating. It's mostly just rearranging furniture and getting rid of stuff.
2 - Empty walls are better than walls with small dorky pictures.
3 - Empty walls and bare floors are good. But completely empty rooms are not.
4 - Neutral paint is boring. And boring (but bright) is best.
5 - Too much "kid stuff" is bad. (Good-bye baby gates, booster seat, sand box, kid chairs, play set, and half of our toys.)
6 - Clutter is bad. Good-bye clutter.
So after days of back-breaking work, rearranging and hauling furniture, painting, and yes, decorating - our house is finally on the market. Here are a few comparison pictures.
See if you can figure out WHERE WE'VE MOVED WHAT. . .
7 comments:
Maybe there is something wrong with me, but I didn't think your first 4 "before" pictures were bad. Maybe that's why our condo has been on the market for 7 months and counting. I really appreciated this post...I has given me some great decorating ideas! Good luck with selling!
If my house even remotely looked as nice and clean as the befor pictures I would be happy. Good luck selling your house!
yeah, selling a house is such a game! We'll see if all my "changes" REALLY make any difference.
I thought the slideshow you posted before was good, which is probably why we weren't able to sell our condo. it's especialluy hard with little kids (esp. babies) who still need to live there until you move. Good luck! Looks great!
You have to remember that the pictures in the slideshow I posted before were pictures of the house after I thought it was "ready" to show.
I never did take pictures of our rooms before that when Nate and I slept on just a mattress, and Brigham slept in a pack-n-play, or before we had a decent kitchen table (remember the wheely chairs?), or when our empty dining room was a race track (with all the accompanying scuffs and dents).
Emily,
You are a super mom.
Jay
Are you moving out of Texas or to another home in Texas? Thanks for the tips on decorating I am not good at the Bed, Bath and Beyond store either.
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