The House Dressing Company

We just recently staged a home for a lovely couple that are about to put their house on the market. The transformation is fabulous and I want to share some of the areas in the home we addressed and of course show you some before and after photos!

The home itself had great bones and some great key pieces of furniture and art work. All it needed was some accessories, splash of colour, and some minor furniture shifts. Initially we went to the clients home and had a really thorough look around and took lots of photos. We got a feeling for the space and proceeded to jot down some ideas and thoughts. We wanted to use as much original art and accessories as possible from the homeowner. After all, this is their home and its important to utilize these memorable possessions!

Lets discuss the entrance way first since this is the room/area where people will see right away. You never get a second chance to make a first impression! So your entry should be very pleasing and friendly! This area is fairly long and narrow, so naturally we wanted to put down a really cozy, colorful runner. Already the space looked great! We changed the mirror above the small table to achieve some cohesiveness between the woods. The picture beside the door was great except, we felt a series of two would compliment the shape of the space better. We also added a neutral cushion to the chair  and some greenery on the table to inject some life and freshness! I’m really happy with the way this turned out!

Hallway Before

Hallway After

The kitchen is probably the room where we added the least amount of change. Typically you do not want to over clutter your kitchen counter tops, so a minimalistic approach is far better! In this case we added a great iron wall hanging above the eating bar to add some visual interest to the vacant space. The photo of the tulips on the adjacent wall adds the pop of colour that is always so welcoming! On the counter tops we just added some vases with bright coloured flowers to compliment the photo on the wall. We also rearranged some of the small appliances so they would be hidden and out of the direct eye sight of people walking in.

Kitchen Before

Kitchen After

Next, lets move on to the dining room. This space transformation is my favourite! One major change is – We chose to remove the tall buffet and hutch from the long wall and move it to the smaller wall. You’re probably thinking “that doesn’t make much sense”.  In this situation the larger wall was actually feeling overpowered by the large furniture piece. By removing this big item and putting it on a less prominent wall, it actually created a much more airy, open feeling. The radiator unit also was quite visible and also needed to be addressed. We placed an over sized textured basket in front of the infrequently used unit with a whole bunch of thick greenery stalks sticking out. This definitely allows your eye to focus on more pleasing items. By added floating shelves on the large wall, the feeling of the room automatically became calming and 10 times BIGGER! We had a lot of fun accessorizing the shelves with the home owners collectibles, flowers, photos and decorative items. Wall photos were also rearranged and rehung in this space to complete the NEW look! Oh and I can’t forget the beautiful bowl and runner down the table. What a great way to add colour and interest to your dining table!

Dining Room Before

Dining Room After

Moving on to the Living Room. This was another fantastic transformation! There was some great elements to work with in this room. Large Windows, Neutral coloured furniture and a large fireplace. We injected some major colour into the space that brought it alive! First we started with the fireplace…..and brought in a colourful canvas print of Italy. We simply leaned it on the mantle and placed some white decorative candle stick holders beside to anchor the print. In order to have the colourful print feel as though it belongs, we also injected some more colour with the help of an amazing area rug. The texture, pattern and colour of this rug is definitely the focal point of this room! We chose coordinating pillows to use on the sofas and a warm, textured cream throw to complete the look. We also changed the lamps in this room to provide a more modern, airy look. As you will see in the photos there was a long, low table off to one side of the room which we wanted to re-purpose in the space. We decided to keep the table and create a focal point around it. By doing this we added 3 identical baskets underneath to house books, magazines etc…..We took a mirror from the entrance downstairs and rehung it above the table off to one side. A large textured, creamy vase now sits on top of the table with some other decorative items such as picture frames, sculptures and flowers. The mirror also creates more light and visual space in the room while reflecting the the elements from the outside window indoors! A large, over sized cream bowl piled with textured and grass balls completes this amazing look!

Living Room Before

Living Room After

The main bathroom didn’t need much attention, just a few accessories and a new white shower curtain. We hung a beach themed print, added some fresh white towels and a fresh white bathmat. The glass vase in the corner is filled with sand, rocks and curly white twigs. Use your imagination and have some fun with different elements! This bathroom is left feeling very fresh and soothing!

Before & After

The Master Bedroom also did not need much. The feeling was already quite beachy, so we decided to play on that theme! We added another large canvas print above the bed to anchor the furniture – acting like a headboard. We  took an existing, slender folding table from another area in the house and used it as another surface do display accessories. In the corner of the room we filled a glass vase with curly white twigs to add some visual interest on the other side of the room. Some greenery on the bedside table really brightened up the room! A great idea is to also place a throw at the end of your bed – adds to the completeness of the bedding ensemble.

Bedroom Before

Bedroom After

This transformation was such fun for us to do. We love being creative and most importantly having the homeowner love their NEW home! If you are thinking about staging your home for resale or just simply want a fresh new look……….give us a call! We would be happy to help.