I recently had a client whose parents had moved to a retirement home and now it was time to put the house on the market. The problem was dated! When I stepped into the house it just screamed 40 years ago. It was a nice large house with beautiful views but it was hard to see all that with old wallpaper, old countertops and dated furniture. We had our work cut out for us.
My assistant and I quickly got to work rearranging furniture, removing furniture in crowed rooms, removing dated artwork, hiding personal effects in bath rooms, and doing a general declutter. We took pictures, and made a list of all the things still necessary to create an updated look. We did use all that seemed appropriate from existing accessories as well.
Next I took our list and went shopping at the local thrift stores. I got lucky and found great accessories that were the perfect to complement the existing color schemes in the house. I got updated bedding, accessories for all the bathrooms, kitchen color spots that told a story and minimized the dated wallpaper and countertops. We added books and plants to shelves in the den and decluttered the office so a buyer could actually see the room.
In the end, we turned the house into a visual delight emphasizing the views, the location and good “bones” of the house. We had a happy seller and soon a happy buyer!