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Art for Staging a Home

Art for Staging a Home

Art for staging a home has a different purpose than art that’s collected for personal reasons. When someone collects art, it’s because there’s something about the piece that speaks to them.

It may remind them of a place they’ve visited. They may love the ocean, or the mountains, or cowboys. In time, their art collection expands and creates a unique and personal imprint of their life and interests.

Staging art is designed to market your home. It’s used to fill empty walls with the right size, color and style that will create excitement in a buyer and make them want to buy the house.

If you’re purchasing new art in order to sell your home, the following tips can help you get it right.

Top Ten Tips Art for Staging a Home

  • Color matters. For greatest visual impact repeat the colors already in the room.
  • Similar frames will give your art more punch.
  • Stick with a consistent theme in the pictures.
  • Think of the art and the furniture it’s closest to as one unit.
  • Hang pictures so they’re visually within four to six inches of nearby furniture. More on this in art and mirrors.
  • Select the size and shape of the art to fit the wall. Or, cluster several pieces to fill a very large wall.
  • Mix up the sizes: small, medium, large.
  • Add something fun and unexpected.
  • Don’t overdo it. Leave some empty space.
  • Include one large picture on your largest, most visible wall. You can also read more about How Buyers Agent Queensland Can Assist with the Property Settlement Process by visiting https://home-decorating-and-staging.com/how-buyers-agent-queensland-can-assist-with-the-property-settlement-process/

Staging Details

  • The owner added one large picture behind the dining room table. A wall this size requires a commanding piece of art.
  • Notice how the colors in the picture pick up the colors of the room and the dark accent wall.
  • Art doesn’t have to be expensive. You can frequently find staging art at bargain stores like Ross and T.J.Maxx.
  • Notice also that we turned the rug on the floor to fit the shape of the room. Think of rugs as “art” for the floor. The same rules apply.
  • Open the shades! Every room looks better in sunlight.

Does the Style of the Art Matter?

Yes it does. Whenever possible, allow the art to complement the style and setting of the home. When there is no specific style, abstract florals and abstract landscapes tend to work.

This newly remodeled home in the heart of an exciting urban re-development in Denver, Colorado boasts high contrast finishes like dark wood cabinets, slab marble counter-tops and stainless steel appliances.

Top Ten Tips for Mixing Fabric Patterns

Top Ten Tips for Mixing Fabric Patterns

Nature mixes color, pattern, contrast and texture with perfection. Designers study the subtle rules of nature and aspire to recreate its beauty in furnishings and fabric. The perfect mix of fabric and color can make a room sing.

Where Do You Start?

Being able to create a beautiful fabric mix takes talent, skill and an intuitive sense of knowing when something is right. Designers speak of starting with inspiration. That means you start with something you love. When you start with your favorite pattern then follow the Top Ten Tips for Mixing Fabric Patterns, everything will fall into place, like magic.

Learn from the Pattern Masters

Ralph Lauren is among the best. His mixes are always elegant, tasteful and exciting. I’ll use his Lake House bedding collection as an example.

Top Ten Tips for Mixing Fabric Patterns

Design

The pattern you love most will either be a curvy/floral or a geometric/stripe/plaid/check. There are millions of patterns, but for simplicity, they all fall into one of these two categories. I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to start with a pattern you love. If you don’t love it, don’t bother. You will never be happy with the outcome. Click here to read more about The Benefits of Using a Buyer Agent in Sydney.

  • If your first pick is curvy/floral, next pick a geometric with a common color
  • If your first pick is a geometric, make your second pick curvy/floral with a common color

Note: Here the common color is red

Scale

The most exciting pattern mixes include a large, medium and small pattern. Add some of each.

Color

Add a solid in the common color to “ground” it.

Background

Match your background shade! Note that in all the samples, the background color (the lightest color) is ivory. If your starting pattern has a brighter white background, stay consistent with a brighter shade of white.

Connection

When adding more fabrics to the mix, pull a different color out of one of your first two choices. Design doesn’t happen in isolation. The most pleasing mixes connect the colors.

Contrast

Pull a dark shade out of one of the patterns to give your mix some punch. This strong navy stripe, repeating the navy in the plaid, is perfect.

Texture

What color does for the eyes, texture does for the skin. Include some “touchables,” something smooth, nubby, sleek and soft.

Rest

Give the eyes a break with a neutral. Notice how many brown shades there are in nature; tree trunks, branches, dirt, rocks and sand. They soothe. They also make flowers, sky, water, and grasses seem more vivid. A tan cable knit and the cream colored knit add texture and calm.

Balance

The Golden Mean and the 60-30-10 Rule are guidelines for finding the right balance in your colors and fabric. Which color you choose as your dominant one is up to you. But for a beautiful outcome, strive to add the others within nature’s perfect proportions.

Repeat

Repeat your major fabrics two or three times.

Decorating or Staging a Bedroom

Decorating or Staging a Bedroom

Have you noticed how model home decorators define a theme for each house? They use art and accessories to tell a story about the imaginary people who live there. Imagine an Italian villa: grape vines, olive oil, pottery. Or a country cottage: farmhouse sink, dark fixtures, homey fabrics. Or a hip urban loft: sleek furnishings in metal.

Designers are aiming for the dream that will appeal to a buyer and make them fall in love with a home. They understand that people don’t buy houses, they buy dreams.

If you want to get the best price for your home, copy this technique, it will give you a big advantage over the competition. You don’t need to spend alot of money, just look around the house and see what you can find to tell an enticing story. Then follow the guidelines below and watch buyers fall in love with your house and bedroom.

Lillie and Ed’s Condo

Lillie and her husband Ed, had to move out of their condo when she developed Alzheimer’s. The bed and their personal belongings went with them, and this is all we had left to work with. Click here to read more about Home Organization Tips Declutter Drawers.

Staging Details

  • The “bed” is an inflatable Coleman mattress on top of four large plastic bins.
  • The art above the bed shows a sunny garden and starts the story.
  • The soft greens in the picture define the color scheme.
  • Greens in the bedding and the rug carry the garden scene from the picture into the bedroom.
  • A sunhat is tossed casually on top of the soft throw on the bed. It’s as if the owner just walked in from the garden into this pretty bedroom.
  • Tip: Turn on accent lights, even in daytime, for a pretty glow to your room.

Another Vacant Bedroom and Another Story

This condo sat vacant for several months before it got its “bedtime story.”

Staging Details

  • Vettriano’s Dancing Couples art print suggests the story of a young couple dancing the evening away. The bedroom suggests a relaxing cup of coffee in bed the morning after.
  • The bed is a Coleman inflatable mattress.
  • Two inexpensive parsons tables stand in for night stands ($20 each at Wal-Mart).
  • Two matching lamps cost around $20 each.
  • Pretty bedding is layered in the same colors as the pictures.
  • A tray on the bed with two mugs, a box of gourmet cookies and some fake fruit is a fun touch. 
  • Tip: Dried black beans or coffee beans suggest the real thing in a coffee cup (1/3 full).
  • Add bright red cloth napkins to pop the color scheme.
  • Two small vases of geraniums add a fresh touch, also in red.
  • Imagine the smile on the buyer’s face as they dream of the possibilities of living in this home.