Okay so you know we are moving, right? For the last two weeks I have been purging our personal items and trying to get rid of whatever we no longer want or need! Now I am starting to look at things closely in order to stage our house.
We have two more months until we put our house on the market so I want to be ready. The kind of stuff like in the above picture drives me batty!
CLUTTER!
This is from LadyBug’s room, our tween.
She is actually the neatest one of the bunch so I would not even dare to show you the other rooms…yet.
I have LOTS of work to do!
We have decided to rent a storage unit and start storing some furniture right away. There are pieces that we still want but just don’t want them around while trying to sell the house. (like that blue Ikea clutter makeup station) I found it for FREE on the curb by the way during one of my
We have already decided that we are going to pack up most of our decor starting now. The kids have agreed to start putting away those little personal items and collections…momma has got to do the same!
Here is where I need YOUR HELP!
You know I have a Red Kitchen and I am leaving it as is. The other bedrooms are all tan with the exception of this one…
Again, we are storing some of the furniture. I am already going to have to touch up a ton on the walls due to the billion tacs and nail holes in the walls.
Question #1
Should I touch up the blue or go ahead and paint the entire room a neutral tan?
I need to mention they are 12 ft ceilings!
See what I mean?
Poster City!
Here is our kids/guest bathroom when it was a
(found the frame on the curb)
I took down the frames, touched up the holes and re-painted the entire wall.
Much better now.
I am leaving it green. I think it’s a soothing neutral that is easy on the eyes (much easier than the blue)
I have already deep cleaned the tile grout and will remove the rugs when we show the house.
But…
Question #2:
Do you think I should invest in a white shower curtain and white towels for a cleaner look?
I read that tip from “Staging your House to Sell” found at
There are some other great ideas there as well.
I am trying to separate my emotional ties to things in the house and prepare to start seeing it through a prospective homebuyers’ eyes.
Finally, I have a few quotes and wall decals throughout our home.
Question #3:
Should I leave the decals or take them down?
This one is in the Master Bedroom above the door.
Our Hallway Quote and Topiary.
Our dining room has a Monogram Script M. (not pictured)
I’ll definitely take that one down.
Okay, I asked the question but the more I write I am thinking the decals are too personalized.
So please take a look at Question #1,#2, #3 and tell me what you think!
I hope I am not going overboard.
I want to sell this house!
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Go with your instincts. Yes on the paint. The bathroom I think is fine, but you see it up close and personal. The always kiss me goodnight..I would leave it.
This touches on all three but I've always heard you should give the potential buyer a blank canvas so they are able to see more possibilities with their own decor rather than try to look past what the previous owner had. For example when they enter the blue room you've already narrowed down potential buyers who love blue and those that don't like it. Right away they aren't necessarily looking at the open space but your choices of blues in there. I'd go neural on the walls in her room. As far aS the bathroom yes go,white towels. I don't think the curtain has to go though. And vinyl lettering is a touchy one. I have that too and love mine but am afraid it dates my decor. I hope that helps and doesn't sound too critical.
I would paint the bedroom, a nice light neutral would freshen it up, probably make it look bigger, avoid potential buyers seeing only the need to repaint, rather than the lovely tall ceilings. 😉 I would remove the vinyl lettering… I'm thinking it's too personal. I'd be tempted to paint the bathroom too, so it's all one color… I'm thinking the green accent wall might date it a bit…(we had a bathroom with a green accent wall about 15 years ago). I think the idea of keeping a blank canvas is a good one, lots of light and neutrals, enough "decor" to look finished but not enough to look cluttered.
Tami,
I would paint over the blue in your daughter's room. I think bright colors scare off buyers because they want the home to be move in ready, and they'll probably opt for a more neutral color. I would also remove the quotes and the topiary, as they are a bit too personal. I think the towel/shower curtain are fine, but white does tend to lend a clean, fresh feeling – perhaps symbolic to the buyer it's a fresh start. I think you're on to something with your instincts here. Moving is so strenuous, and I'll pray for a quick sell.
XO,
Meredith
Yes on the white towels. If you don't want to repaint the entire bedroom, maybe just paint over the darker blue with the lighter blue on the other walls.
#1 Yes, paint. It will make the bedroom look larger. The darker end wall emphasizes the room width (or lack of).
#2 I like the soft toned towels/curtain. Although I like a high shower rod for access, it does make the curtain look too short – a white curtain would blend more and not look as short.
#3 Remove the quotes. I find that in general, men doesn't understand "writing on the wall" and it ends up being all they can focus on. Rather than remembering the "large master" they remember "that one with the words".
Your instincts are good – you are able to 'see' your home objectively and I don't think it will take long to sell at all. Good luck!
Isn't moving a blast….NOT! Good luck with the sale of your home Tami! I would paint just the bright blue wall, leave the shower curtains, and take down the quotes (although I love them, they are personal). I've had to move several times in the passed 10 years…don't forget to have all of the lights on and if you have a fireplace, light it for showing. It's what got me for this house. XO
I'd paint the bedroom ,and leave the bathroom as is with white towels ,shower curtain can stay as they will probalby get there own,nomatter what one is up. The decales I would leave. dont worry your house is gorgeous, it will sell!!!
Paula
While I love your house, I would un-blue the room or, at least, tone down the one vivid wall.
As for the sayings on the wall, I've seen a few shows on HGTV where the people really disliked them. Some people are not aware of how easily they come off. You might want to remove them just to be on the safe side.
I can see why you might want the white towels for staging, but a white shower curtain might make the room too bland.
I also decluttered and used a storage unit when selling. That was the best thing I did. Well worth the extra expense.
The things I noticed most in homes when looking to buy were the closets and storage areas. If storage areas were crowded or overflowing, I figured I'd have problems with storage as well.
Good luck!
I would probably un-blue the room, as I know when I was looking at houses last year, some of the houses had extreme paint colors and all I could think about in the back of my head was "how am I going to cover/paint that?"
As far as the bathroom- I think it looks just perfect the way it is.
And the decals- I'd leave them. They are cute- if my previous owner did something like that and it worked with my decor, I'd totally keep it! (I left a decal at my last place, and it broke my heart that it wouldn't come off the wall easily to be brought with me!).
I think the biggest thing when you declutter is to make sure buyers can get a feel for how big a room really is- so showing some wall is a good thing.
One of the houses that was in our final 2 was so cutely decorated and showed off the owners style, but you could still tell they were living there- but the clutter wasn't overwhelming. They didn't repaint anything, but their colors and decor were so inviting, it didn't bother me at all. If there would of been one more room in the house, we probably would of bought it in the end!
Just know that clean bathrooms were one of the things we looked at most when we were buying. Nothing grosses out a buyer than a dirty sink!
Good luck in selling your house!
Tami, this is a new experience for me. When we sold out home in Seattle, it was already empty and we were living in California, so I never had to get it ready to show.
Before we built this house, we looked at buying an existing home and from my experience, I would say, yes, paint the blue wall to a neutral color, although it looks really pretty as your daughter's bedroom,you may get an older couple with no kids and most buyers won't want to do any painting when they are in the process of moving.
Now, your bathroom looks perfect! I love the green color on the wall and i think it looks very elegant. Love the towels and decor you have in there now, so I wouldn't change a thing in there and save yourself some money.
I agree about the red kitchen. It is gorgeous! And I think it is going to be a great selling point.
About the decals, I don't know what to say. You know I have them in my home and I just love them! I have gotten so many compliments on them. Yours are so pretty, specially the one in the hallway. I say leave them for now and see people's reactions when you start showing the house. It is going to take some hard work to take them off and nine out of ten, you are going to have to repaint that wall.
Moving is so much fun, isn't it? 🙂
Hey Tami!
First off, your already a step ahead of most sellers by even thinking about making these changes before you sell your house.
I am actually a Realtor and Interior Decorator in the
Greater Houston, Texas area, and I help people with staging their house to sell it – So this post is right up my alley!
As fun as the blue paint is, buyers need to walk into a home and be able to imagine their furniture and decor in it, the best way to accomplish this is by having neutral wall colors – So I would paint the blue room a more neutral color.
Regarding the towels in the bathroom, white towels do give a cleaner/crisper look, however buyers aren't buying your towels – so I would leave that one up to you, if you think you would use the white towels in the future and it would be a good investment for your family then buy them, but if you would only use them to stage your home to sell and they would just sit in a linen closet and not get used, then don't worry about it and save your money.
Lastly, the quotes are cute and apart of your decor so I would leave them and let your real estate agent know to tell potential buyers that you will remove them if they want you to.
I hope these tips help, and as I said before this stuff is my job so if you have anymore questions regarding staging, real estate, or decorating don't hesitate to ask! You can visit my Facebook/Twitter page for my email and phone number. Twitter: @AmberReneRealty
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AmberReneRealtor
Hey! I'm your 400th follower 🙂
I Found you over at -the everyday home.
I would definitely paint the blue room a neutral color, definitely do white shower curtain and towels and I'd probably leave the decals, remind the Realtor that they are removeable. I look forward to following along!
I don't disagree with anyone's expert advice or there opinions for past experience; I have neither expertise or experience in this area but just wanted to comment that is sure seems to be a shame to have to paint rooms only to have the buyer repaint before they move in – I guess a lot of people have a lack of imagination or something. Seems like a waste of materials time and energy. I am not questioning that it helps or it works.