Decorating and Design - Help with carpet color and first impressions

Hello!

We are preparing to sell our house and we have done a bit of work to prepare it to sell. We have taken pictures of the main rooms and I'm posting a link that you can see them. It is a picasa online photo album. If you click on "slideshow" above the first picture, you will get nice sized pictures to go off of.

http://picasaweb.google.com/3nDunn/OurHousePhotos

Please tell me what your first impression of our home is, specifically how did we do with furniture placement and color selection? Also, we have decided against replacing the peach carpet. Is there anything we could do to down play it? Also, do you have any ideas for arranging the Family Room better?

Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

What you are asking is help with staging your home to sell. It's a lovely home. It's very clean and uncluttered, which is often a problem in many homes to sell. Many fail to depersonalize their home. Buyers need to envision their own possessions in a home. You have done a good job!

Colors may be an issue. Realtors say neutrals work best because buyers need to be able to envision their own colors on the walls. If you use colors they they could not imagine using, it could be a turn off. In general, homes with adjoining rooms painted in the same color palette works better and tend to sell quicker.

It's the first impressions that turn off buyers. When they drive by or pull up in front of homes, buyers can easily be turned off. The landscape must be inviting, and you need curb appeal to get them through the front door. The next impression is the front door. Your red front door says, "Hello & welcome!" Make sure welcome mat is neutral and in great shape.

The third impression is the foyer. The vinyl, although in great condition, is dated. The rug is uninviting. You may want to remove the rug altogether. Sometimes area rugs define small spaces too much and make them appear smaller. The mums do say welcome! The basket storage unit, however, is too large for its space. A tall green plant will take up less space and make the foyer seem larger.

Wall colors are popular, but neutrals, such as warm off white and taupe work best for buyers. Most recommend depersonalizing the home's colors and using a neutral. "Resale beige" is pretty much the standard, but this does not mean someone will never like your colors. The wall behind the couch, however, is at an awkard height and is unsettling. Painting the wall all the way to the ceiling would solve the problem. The slip cover for the couch is so similar in color to the piano, which by the way is in a great location with a view out the window, has no personality and is dated. A new eye-popping slip cover and updated pillows would update the couch and provide greater contrast and keep buyers eyes away from the carpet. Remember, it's likely not many will like peach carpet. A darker, richer color sofa would also downplay the too dark coffee table.

Remove leaves from the diningroom table to make room look larger. Remove two chairs. Without a view back toward the livingroom from the windows in the diningroom, it is impossible to tell if their is a space on either side of entry to place the chairs as extra seating and to get them out of the way. The diningroom is sunny and airy. The built-ins are outstanding. The light fixture is nice. Again, the outstanding color may not be desirable to all.

The tidy kitchen, when seen from the family room, is unsettled by the blue where the wall turns and would be more effective if painted the neutral color used in the kitchen. The diningroom wall color is carried into the kitchen in the soffit, but that is the only place. The knife block on the counter in real life is handy, but something decorative in its place might work better, such as the pottery vase out of the diningroom china built-in if it is picking up the color used in the soffit color and will fit in the spot. If you do not plan on repainting diningroom and soffit, pulling some of the bold color off the soffit down to counters in kitchen would give some balance to the color. If kitchen knobs are not in good shape and are dated, consider replacing them.

The family room has an awesome fireplace, but it is unbalanced by the entertainment center to the right. If there is nowhere else to place the entertainment center in the room, move it to the play room or other room where it will look like a storage unit. The hearth could use a green plant. If there are patio doors behind the couch, they should be open and accessible. It may be possible that the two couches would work better in the living room and arranged to provide a conversation area. The end tables might work better in the livingroom because of softer wood tones more compatible with the piano. Perhaps the couch in the livingroom would work better in the familyroom where it could be turned toward the fireplace. It's new, bold slip cover would provide color there. Place a couple books on the end tables and perhaps a decorative dish of mints that potential buyers might like, and a plant so tables are not so bare. A rule of thumb is to use three items of varying heights on tabletops when accessorizing. The ceiling fan light fixture in the familyroom will likely slide by in the less formal area.

The office wall appears to be crowded, especially with the bar stools sitting there. It is not possible to make out what else is on that wall. The wall to the left of the play center is not visible. It could be the wall for temporarily placing the entertainment center from the family room to open up the fireplace area. The pale green is lovely. The room is missing window treatments. Something light and airy as in the rest of the house would do.

The backyard is beautiful as is the porch. Whatever the large unit is on the porch could be removed to make the porch seem much larger.

You do not show what is on the wall opposite the couch in the livingroom. What is the focal point? The room is not inviting for sitting down and having conversation. There appears to be no other seating. The third view of the living room shows too much furniture too close together. Without knowing what is on the other side of the room, it is not possible to suggest a better arrangement to balance the room. Whatever the taller unit is, perhaps another entertainment center might do well to the left of the familyroom fireplace to balance that wall. The ceiling fan/light fixture, unlike the lovely fixture in the foyer, is dated and massive.

You did not show the bathrooms or bedrooms. Buyers today are looking for updated bathrooms. Fresh towels, no personal toiletry items, and a clean and inviting bathroom are important. Make sure the bedrooms are as spacious as possible even if you have to put furniture in storage. This is especially important for the master bedroom where buyers will spend time. It should appear to be a very spacious and comfortable room. Clear out closets and cupboards so they appear large.

Putting aside colors, if your home looks like a model home or a showplace, buyers will like it. You don't want a home to look too staged. Buyers want to feel like they can imagine themselves there.

You, however, expressed concerns about furniture placement and color. Likely your buyers will, too, if you are concerned. Every room arrangement needs to focus on focal points such as the family room's beautiful fireplace where it is downplayed by the entertainment center. In bedrooms, the bed is the focal point. Typically, in music rooms, the piano is the focal point. Focal points focus buyers' eyes where you want them.

Go through your home. Perhaps you will discover pieces of furniture and accessories that may work better in other rooms. Splashes of color with accessories, pillows, pictures, and plants will draw buyers' eyes away from the peach carpet. These can be inexpensive. If you have anything in your home that does not fit into your staging plans, put it in storage. Perhaps a friend or relative could store things. There are rental units available. Do not pile things in the garage because it needs to look spacious, too.

Visit open houses in your neighborhood to see how you compare and to get ideas. Visit model homes if possible. You have a lovely home, and it will sell.

Wow, Twelvepole, thanks for taking all of that time to write such a wonderfully detailed reply! We are considering swapping furniture in the living room and family room. We will also paint to the ceiling in the living room. Hopefully the dark leather will look better on the tan walls than the tan loveseat. We could move the entertainment center in there then too. We have shelves on the wall opposite the loveseat now, and they are a cluttered mess that we need to clean up. We were trying to take pictures that we could use to sell, so we just didin't photograph them. We were going to just box up what is on them now (mostly books and baskets). We had actually bought those shelves for either side of the the fireplace a couple of years ago. We liked them there, but is was a pain to rearrang for X-Mas, b/c our tree goes on the other wall, opposite the entertainment center, so we stopped putting the bookselves back.

Glad to be of service. Annette is a professional, so be sure to check back for her in put and in put from others. I look forward to reading what others say.

Just remember to go through your house like a prospective buyer. Anything that unsettles you will likely unsettle a buyer. If you watch HGTV, they have shows on staging homes to sell like Designed to Sell.

well, i think 12pole said it all! i agree on all points.

basically, you've already done fresh paint everywhere, so i'm sure you're not about to re-do it all at this point, but that would've been my main critique (the paint colors & techniques). neutral neutral neutral is always best for resale. it may be boring, but at least it's always move-in ready. i think you dropped the ball on not replacing the peach carpet & foyer linoleum. if i personally were looking at houses & saw yours, i would like it but immediately feel like it needed total repainting & new flooring, and that's a huge job for anyone. the housing market is saturated right now, so your house needs to stand out above all others in the same price range. be prepared for a buyer to ask for paint & carpet allowances.

but in a nutshell, the house is clean, bright & uncluttered, which are important (and impressive if you're currently occupying the home - and with a child!)

good luck.

Annette,

Thank you so much for your reply. The peach carpet has been something we have debated since we have lived here. At first I really thought we'd replace it, however, one of our children is sensitve to air quality issues, and with 5 rooms and two hallways worth of new carpeting, she would not be able to live here. We just couldn't afford to do hardwood, which is what we really wanted to do and we have a dog, so I was afraid laminate wouldn't hold up. Also, the carpeting has cleaned up and worn nice for us (and with 3 kids and pets, that was really important), so we just kept it, and it doesn't bother me now, but I know that I didn't like it as a buyer.

We switched almost all of the furniture from the living rm. and family rm. on 12pole's advice and WOW! did that make a HUGE difference!!!! The Dark leather looks great on the light tan walls and the family room now has a very light, nautical feel too it, which is wonderful, because we live in a boating community! The arrangement is much better too. I'll post pics tomorrow. I'm totally loving how it came out. I can't stop looking at it!!!

Thanks again for all of your help!
;)

Okay, we've taken a lot of the suggestions. We've painted the tan to the ceiling, swapped furniture in the living rooms and family rooms and balanced the fireplace with matching book shelves on both sides. At first we had basically nothing, or almost nothing on them, but that looked totally and beyond all resaon fake, so we put stuff back. hope they aren't too cluttered now. It seems like you can only have so many flowers, plants and candles. I cropped the blue paint out of the picture in the kitchen shot and also re-took the one kitchen without the knives on the counter. Also, we moved the basket thing out of the foyer, however we haven't retaken that shot because I haven't got the winning prop there yet. The big thing in the screen room in the corner is the hot tub, so it is going to stay.

If you check the same link again, you can see the changes...

http://picasaweb.google.com/3nDunn/OurHousePhotos

Thanks again!
;)

A picture is worth a thousand words. Swapping the furniture did wonders as did painting the wall all the way to the ceiling. Congratulations. Keep us posted on the sale of your lovely home.

I feel stupid now. I just posted that whole thing and forgot what I was going to ask!!! ;) I probably should have started a new thread for this...

We are going to re-do the tile floor in our kids' bathroom. The grout is beyond cracked and such and there are cracked tiles. I'm wondering about what color tile to go with. Almost everyting in the bathroom is white, except the counter and tub/tile surround, which is all that 60's powder puff blue color. The light fixture is white with four colored globes, one red, yellow, green, blue (it is new and looks really good), and the medicine cabinets and drawers are white with a whimisical royal blue, white and gold accented star pull. Faucets are chrome and new and shiney. The bright white really down plays the blue and makes it look very clean and fresh, however I'm not sure that a stark white tile floor would be right. That might be too institutional looking. Maybe I'm wrong. The bathroom isn't big enough for an a rug. We have a couple little duck pictures up and have pale yellow towels, but we aren't totally attached to the ducky theme. I was thinking a soft natural stone color, but I have no idea how that would look and nothing else in there is that color. Any thoughts???

What color is on the walls? A natural stone would work with a soft tan on the walls and dark blue towels. Do you have left over paint from the livingroom?

Even if you have a glass shower door, you can still hang a curtain to make the blue tub/shower disappear. The pattern can contain dark blue and tan and perhaps lavender. Pairing brown tones with the powder blue fixtures has been popular. You can hang some flower prints of irises or other flowers to add a touch of lavender and blue on walls.

I know you like the bathroom light fixture, but will a buyer? The different color globes may be a turn off. Remember buyers like neutral colors.

i agree. a stone tile that resembles the stones around your fireplace in the family room would give you that same color scheme in the bathroom - white, tan & blue. then paint the walls a nice beige color (lighter or darker than beige tiles) so your white things stand out. add a couple natural elements for accents, like a woven rattan waste basket or a glass vase full of seashells or something.

i would definitely de-kid the decor there. shouldn't cost much to buy some new pulls & neutral globes & switch out the bright colored ones. keep them in a nearby closet, so if you're showing the house yourself & it's a buyer who might have kids, you can show them to them.

is this the bathroom your guests use? if so, it's not really a "kids bathroom" (like a Jack-and-Jill bathroom is). and it should be decorated more neutrally. not everyone has kids, or wants the bathroom that guests would use to be decorated in kid-style. it would be great to have this bathroom's decor coordinate with the family room (which, by the way, is just adorable now!).

by the way, what is that paint color in the dining room & kitchen? it looks pink......:confused: is it coral?

if i were a buyer, that's about the only thing i'd object to. and it's going to be objectionable to most people, i fear. was it to go with the peach carpet? the carpet being peach is one thing, and i think something that could be downplayed. but using a more intense version of it on the walls in there AND bringing it into the kitchen is actually UP-playing it, if that's a word. if you're up to painting a little more, i think it'd be time & effort well spent to change that color. maybe you can find a fabric for valances in the DR & Kit and maybe a runner for the DR table that has peach, blue & khaki in it and then tie all your colors together, then you could repaint the peach with a deeper khaki and/or blue (like navy blue).

Hi JMC

You've done a great job. I'm sure you won't have any problem to sell it.

The main things when preparing a house for selling are decluter and depersonalize, you've done both very well.

Congrats

Manuel

Well, I'm happy to report that after 10 days on the market, we were in contract! That could not have been easier! Now for the big move! (We are going cross country, and all in time to pull of the tree, santa, lights, cookie, gift giving extravaganza!)-well, something like that.

Thanks for all of your help. I think it made all the difference in the world to have the house show ready before listing it!

Now for the next project...the new house! See my new post!

Thanks again, you are all great!

JMC ;)