My latest home staging project started out with the homeowner and buyers not knowing how to use/stage two rooms in the house. The house was recently renovated and repainted. One room was a dining room and the other was a living room. But we know that dining rooms tend to fall out of favor so what do you do with the space? As I pondered that dilemma, I noticed the front door color and the gray walls and gray floors. We had several things to tackle so let’s start with the front door.
Front door
The front door was a lovely shade of turquoise blue but when it was put up next to the exterior color of the house and the roof color, it didn’t go together. The exterior color was a nice gray color and the roof was red. Because it would be more expensive to change the roof color or the exterior paint, we can easily change the door color. We went with 2 possibilities of white or red.
In the end, the red door next to the red roof was a bit too much red. We decided to go with Decorators White by Benjamin Moore for a white door. I then placed a red wreath on the front door so that we still had some element of red in the entrance.
Front Porch
The porch on the side had a nice space to sit and while the bench was a great fit, it could use something more. The owner bought plants and chairs to make this seating area more welcoming. Now you can see yourself sitting on the porch watching the kids play in the yard. Getting buyers to come in is all about the curb appeal and this home now had plenty of it!
Furniture layout
The living room had three large entrances so it made the furniture arrangement a bit more challenging. I decided it was best to have either 4 arm chairs in a circle or a love seat and 2 chairs with a table in the middle for the living room. For the family room, we needed either a couch or a sectional with a cabinet or sofa table and some artwork. Both rooms needed some rugs as well and artwork to cover at least 2 walls of each room. Below are the before pictures of the two rooms.
Adding color to gray rooms
The latest wall color trend is gray and while that works in most cases, this particular home also had gray flooring. Too much gray can make the home look cold and unwelcome. To combat that issue, we needed to warm things up with color. I decided to use blue and green for our color palette that would be used in the accessories such as artwork, rugs and pillows. Blues and greens are on the cool color spectrum but I soon realized we needed some warmer colors too. I added yellow and orange colors to the mix which we used in a rug and some throw pillows. The white bookshelves needed some accessories too which required items to have some sort of color other than white. A white item would not been visible on a white bookshelf. For these shelves we didn’t need to stick with the color palette necessarily as long as they were visible in the space.Staging time
I eventually moved the living room furniture towards the window seat to make it all tie together. This left the traffic area open to traverse through each room which was important. We used throw pillows to add color and added books and accessories to the bookshelves so they would not look so bare. The sectional in the family room was located best facing what could be a TV. We used a cube cabinet to store kids games and show the space that can entertain the family. The rug had some fun orange, pink and green colors and we used that to stage the room and make it more whimsical. Now buyers can see how to best arrange the furniture when they move in. Below are the after pictures compliments of Edgar Allen Photography.
There were some other touches that I added using the homeowner’s accessories such as staging the foyer and adding art into the master bedroom, but I will let you take a tour of the house so you can see the final product.
In the end, this home needed to show more color to combat the gray walls and floors. You can also use muted tones of the same color palette if you want a more peaceful and serene home. This home was more of a fun family home and bold colors help bring out the fun you would expect to have in a family home. If you are unsure how to stage your home, please give me a call for a consultation.