Brown walls in the living room? What do you think?

I had a Home Stager come through our house on Saturday morning. I used to host her website, but she’s “unofficially” doing the staging now, so cancelled it. I like doing business with people who do business with me – so I gave her a call. And I’m really glad I did!

You look through Home Staging websites with before/after pictures and think, “Hey, I can do this myself.” And I thought I could too. But having someone else go through your home makes you realize things you never would have noticed – every-day things that you’re used to living with and wouldn’t think buyers would be turned off by… little things that make a huge difference. I had my list of things left to do, and the stager sent me a loooonnnnggg list of completely different things! And here, I thought she was just going to come tell me where to position the furniture.

For example – we painted the old 70/80s brown panels in the basement a few years ago. The stager said we should also paint the trim and metal support beams (there was an earthquake in Morris in the 50s, did you know that?) to match the walls. It was a tedious job – but it made a HUGE difference.

She suggested painting the living room REALLY DARK, which surprised me. I picked up the closest color sample at Ace Hardware, just to see. Here’s another picture:

… It is WAY DARKER in person than the photos seem. Actually, the color she suggested is a bit lighter, and less red. Here’s the paint card – she suggested Wheat Ridge, but the closest pre-mixed sample was Wicker:

So, I don’t know. We finished painting the kitchen today, with the color she suggested. I like the color. I think I will like the dark living room color, but I’m afraid of what potential buyers will think.

… we have a lot of work left. To make matters more difficult, I have a TON of food co-op work to do, and TON of website work. I told the co-op board that they need to find a replacement by July 1st… but that’s another whole saga.

Now, back to work!