Priority
The most important thing you can do to prepare your home for
sale is to get rid of clutter. Make a house rule that for every new item that
comes in, an old one has to leave. One of the major contributors to a cluttered
look is having too much furniture. When professional stagers descend on a home
being prepped for market, they often whisk away as much as half the owner's
furnishings, and the house looks much bigger for it. You don't have to whittle
that drastically, but take a hard look at what you have and ask yourself what
you can live without.
Groupings
There's a common belief that rooms
will feel larger and be easier to use if all the furniture is pushed against
the walls, but that isn't the case. Instead, furnish your space by floating
furniture away from walls. Reposition sofas and chairs into cozy conversational
groups, and place pieces so that the traffic flow in a room is obvious. Not
only will this make the space more user-friendly, but it will open up the room and
make it seem larger.
Furniture
Give yourself permission to move
furniture, artwork and accessories among rooms on a whim. Just because you
bought that armchair for the living room doesn't mean it won't look great
anchoring a sitting area in your bedroom. And try perching a little-used
dining-room table in front of a pretty window, top it with buffet lamps and
other accessories, and press it into service as a beautiful writing desk or
library table.
Transformations
If you have a room that serves only to
gather junk, repurpose it into something that will add to the value of your
home. The simple addition of a comfortable armchair, a small table and a lamp
in a stairwell nook will transform it into a cozy reading spot. Or drape fabric
on the walls of your basement, lay inexpensive rubber padding or a carpet
remnant on the floor and toss in a few cushy pillows.
Lighting
One of the things that make staged
homes look so warm and welcoming is great lighting. As it turns out, many of
our homes are improperly lighted. To remedy the problem, increase the wattage
in your lamps and fixtures. Aim for a total of 100 watts for each 50 square
feet. Don't depend on just one or two fixtures per room, either. Make sure you
have three types of lighting: ambient (general or overhead), task (pendant,
under-cabinet or reading) and accent (table and wall).
Bigger
To make a room appear to be bigger
than it is, paint it the same color as the adjacent room. If you have a small
kitchen and dining room, a seamless look will make both rooms feel like one big
space. And make a sun porch look bigger and more inviting by painting it green
to reflect the color of nature. Another design trick: If you want to create the
illusion of more space, paint the walls the same color as your drapery. It will
give you a seamless and sophisticated look.
Neutral and Appealing
Painting a living room a fresh neutral
color helps tone down any dated finishes in the space. Even if you were weaned
on off-white walls, take a chance and test a quart of paint in a warm, neutral
hue. These days, the definition of neutral extends way beyond beige, from warm
tans and honeys to soft blue-greens. As for bold wall colors, they have a way
of reducing offers, so go with neutrals in large spaces.
Experiment
Don't be afraid to use dark paint in a
powder room, dining room or bedroom. A deep tone on the walls can make the
space more intimate, dramatic and cozy. And you don't have to go whole hog -
you can paint just an accent wall to draw attention to a dramatic fireplace or a
lovely set of windows
Wall Hangings
If your home is like most, the art is
hung in a high line encircling each room. Big mistake. Placing your pictures,
paintings and prints in such stereotypical spots can render them almost
invisible. Art displayed creatively makes it stand out and shows off your
space. So break up that line and vary the patterning and grouping.
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