Our house will be on the market next week (I’m exhuasted!) so I can start to show you some of the changes we made and I’ll begin with my small foyer.
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Below is a before photo of my entryway. I tried to make the best of a small space to give it some personality. Among the many things I sold is my red hall tree (which originally came from Goodwill).
We packed away all the vintage dog prints and the dog plates except one. We took everything off the walls (opposite the halltree I had a set of three Katie Daisy prints). We had to paint the whole foyer because I had so many nail holes that needed patching!
We bought a little cabinet from Target because it fits the space well but I gotta tell you….we’ve had this cabinet for several weeks now and it’s still off gassing. I’m very sensitive to those types of things so I’m glad it’s not in a room I spend a lot of time in!
This is one of the Spode Hunting Dog plates we had hanging on the wall around the door. I chose the Golden Retriever one in memory of our Golden Maxie.
A topiary that I used to have in my bathroom , mercury glass candlestick (I have a bunch of those) and some candles.
I don’t have an outlet in the foyer so I couldn’t put a lamp on the cabinet, but I found this huge shiny lantern on clearance from TJMaxx! Love it!!
I don’t really have anything to put inside the cabinet so I just used the two toile boxes that store my candles in it for the time being. The mirror we had in another room ( TJMaxx or Garden Ridge) and I don’t remember where I got the galvanized tin banner (it was in my stash of banners and worked perfectly here)! You can write on it with chalk!
Of course, the whole thing looks terribly empty and neutral to me but apparently that’s what it’s supposed to look like when you’re selling! I’m sure most people will like the after, I like the before! 🙂
More to come….
For quite a while now, your posts have come through my feedly without any pictures. Not sure if that’s intentional or not but I thought if it isn’t, you might want to know.
Your entryway looks very nice, even if you do find it empty. I think you’ve done a good job of making it attractive, yet neutral enough for people to envision their own belongings there. And that’s what “they” say to do, right?
Hi Karen,
No not intentional at all! I’ll look into it and see if they have a troubleshooting page! Thanks for letting me know.
You’ve done a wonderful job with neutral.
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I like both the before and after 🙂
Hope your home sells fast!
Both before and after look nice. I understand when you are selling a house the need to neutralize it. We have sold many houses. Think of it like your home is a product that your business is selling. You asked for tips on my post….I think that is a great one. It is so hard to step back and look at you house as a product to sell and not a home.
Hugs,
Penny
Thanks Penny that’s a great tip!
Love the before (red! dogs! Katie Daisy!) but I like the after too. Can’t go wrong with mercury glass! I hope all your efforts bear fruit once your home is on the market, Manuela.
You DID do a good job. Getting the house ready to sale is A LOT of work. We spent from January – May selling ours and buying another one 900 miles away. Pretty soon you’ll be settled in your new home sharing new projects. Best wishes!! -Bev
You did a beautiful job. I love the toile boxes in the cabinet. They give your very neutral space a little bit of Manuela. Nice to have a touch of you out there while selling the house. I hope it sells very quickly! How much fun will have I watching you nest a completely new one!
Thanks Debbie! Neutral is not me so it’s a little weird every time I go down the stairs. The living room and dining room are still yellow and red though! 🙂
Oh no, you sold your hall tree? I loved that hall tree, Manuela. : ) I wound up painting ours while packing for our move and then brought it with us. It sits in our entry here and its a good thing I kept it, because the entry area is so small it is the only thing that fits. I like that it gives me the hooks, the mirror, the little table surface and the bottom shelf piece.
The new look suits, especially for staging. It will be fine as is for showings. I’m glad to see you got some toile and transferware in there though. Gives you something to enjoy seeing while the house is on the market. You decorated that area so nicely, but you’ll have a new space to decorate soon enough, I’m sure!
I know I loved it too. Actually, Target makes that cabinet I used in different colors. Normally I would have gotten the red one. I figure I’ll probably paint this one at some point 🙂 Yes, I also sold my black china cabinet in the dining room, my kitchen cart and some other things. “They” wanted me to get rid of the china cabinet in the living room but I re-arranged the furniture in there to help the flow so it’s staying for now. I just don’t want to have to store things so I opted to sell.
You did a fantastic job Manuela. Sorry I have been MIA. We just got in the house two weeks ago. Good luck with the sale and I know how exhausting the process can be.
Cindy
No problem Cynthia! Thanks for stopping by. I know how busy you are. I wish I could hibernate for a week or so 🙂 I haven’t been this tired since my daughter was a toddler!
We have so much in common when it comes to our houses. think tat your house was on the market 4 years ago about the same time as our as. We listed ours about 6 weeks go. The market here was going well and June. I was so hoping for a quick sale. I am hoping that the houses are moving better where you live right now. My house seems so sterile right now. I miss my cozy home. I am so sensitive about comments. I am trying to think of his as someone else’s. It’s hard since we have lived here 29 years now. But I am ready to downsize,but I want it to happen soon. I loved your entryway with all the plates. Good luck. Let m know how things are going there.
Awww…it is hard to leave a home you’ve spent so much time and energy in. I have my moments where I think maybe we shouldn’t, but we really want to downsize. I truly want to do other things in this stage of my life besides take care of a house and yard. So that keeps me motivated. Thinking about what lies ahead. 🙂
The market is suppose to be good here as there isn’t much inventory. Our problem is that we listed for about 20,000 more than any other house has sold in the immediate neighborhood. But they can go a mile out for comps when it comes to appraisals and fortunately those houses are more in line with our house. But we’ll see…we can reduce our price a bit but not a whole lot. I’ll cross that road if/when we come to it.
We have a realtor open house in a week and I’m sure there will be plenty of comments!
Manuela, I loved your entry before but now this is perfect for putting the house on the market. They always say you should take away most of the accessories but leave it pretty and that’s what you did. The silver lantern was the perfect solution for a spot with no outlet.
I saw your comment above about listing your home above the asking price from one right near you. We did the same thing when we left our Oklahoma neighborhood. You know what can happen? You get what you ask sometimes. 🙂
Thank you Stacey! I hope so. We had to interview quite a few realtors before we found one that was on the same page as us about price. Let’s hope it works out!
I love the look of both – but if I had to choose I like the before. I know that realtors always tell people to go neutral though.
Good luck with the sale – I know that you had problems the last time around.
Enjoy your weekend!
Leann
I think you nailed it! It’s lovely, but not overly personalized. I have been looking at all the comps in our neighborhood for a while now, and this is waaayyy more charming than anything I have seen lately! Very appealing staging 🙂
I have always loved your red hall tree, but I think this seems so serene and pretty! I really like the white cabinet with the dark mirror. I am slowly redecorating and I find I am using more neutrals with accents in the bright colors I love. Don’t worry, I’m not going all beige on you, lol, but toning things down for a calmer feel. I’ll be so interested in seeing what you do with your next house!
I’m so sorry you had to sell your red hall tree – it was so pretty! Though I do have to say that I am loving the neutral theme as well. Looks very fresh and clean. I’m familiar with that cabinet – I’ve seen it at Target. At one time, I had my eye on the blue one that they sell. Isn’t it a shame though that the furniture they sell at these places is all particle board full of chemicals? One advantage to scouring thrift shops and vintage shops is the ability to buy furniture that’s made from real wood!
This cabinet was particularly bad! Oh it’s o.k. – I enjoyed the red hall tree for many years and selling it and some other pieces of furniture allowed me to purchase some new things to have fun with!