Wood can give character and warmth to your home, but it can also date it. It can be difficult to know the difference, especially when you have been living with it for a long time. Many people are very attached to the wood in their home and the thought of painting it makes them shudder, but sometimes that is all that is necessary to bring your home into the current decade. Paint is a lot cheaper than new cabinetry, or ripping out walls. Let me give you some ideas about when you might want to paint it and when you might be able to leave it alone and perhaps change something else that will make the wood look better.

Oak Cabinets - Pickled or Golden

Pickled oak or golden oak were very popular choices for those of you who have it, it's not so trendy anymore. Since kitchens and bathrooms typically sell the house, you will need to do something about the oak, and you are not likely wanting to invest in new cabinets right before you move. Sometimes just changing the other decor around the oak, makes it seem less prominent. In the picture shown here, brass knobs were replace by dark bronze and a new backsplash and counter were installed. Suddenly the cabinets look pretty good.

Sometimes painting is the best thing to do. If you cannot afford to change what is around the cabinets, then painting just might be your best option for updating. Give cabinets a good clean with TSP and a light sanding. Prime with a high quality primer and lay on the paint. I would still upgrade the hardware if you can. Sometimes just spray painting the old hardware black or silver will do the trick as well.

Another option, although more work, is re-staining in a more current shade. This does require stripping, so the amount of effort you want to put into it may determine whether paint or stain is the way for you to go.

This picture shows a bathroom that had dark oak cabinetry with dated hardware. Unfortunately, the dusty rose tile floor and other decor was not going to draw your eye away from the cabinets. A paint colour was chosen that made all of the other bathroom colours work and it definitely freshened up the cabinets. The second bathroom was similarly dated, with stenciling everywhere and oak paneled cabinetry and even an oak paneled bathtub. Paint makes it look updated and fresh.

That 70's Paneling

I think everyone has seen this horrendous misrepresentation of wood that was used in the 70's. You can remove it if you like, but what lurks beneath? Some renovations were often quickly and easily completed by only using only paneling. This means, if you remove it, you are going to have to drywall. If there is drywall beneath, how damaged is it going to bewhen you remove the paneling?

If you have this stuff, my answer is to always paint it. Fill any nail holes. Caulk the seams between the sheets. Give it a good clean and primer and then paint away in a neutral colour. The vertical strips may not even be noticed, or they might be useful in a new decorating scheme.

Do be careful. Some very cheap paneling is not wood, but is only a picture of wood on paper, adhered to a backing. It is advisable to use an oil-based primer over this type of paneling to seal it. You can still paint latex paint over the oil primer. Using latex directly on top of the cheap paneling, may cause the paper layer to bubble or peel.

Another popular type of paneling from  the 70's is tongue and groove pine or cedar, often installed on the diagonal. Similar to the above mentioned paneling, this was often installed straight over studs, but it may have been installed over walls that were in poor condition. Again, instead of removing it, you can neutralize it by giving it a good clean, a light sand, primer and paint. While it probably stood out as a focal wall in the beginning, painting it out the same colour as the rest of the room, often is enough to make it disappear.

Unless you want to highlight the grooves in either of these types of paneling to enhance a cottagey theme, I suggest going for flatter paints. I will reduce the visibility of texture and grooves. If you need to want to get rid of the grooves completely, you can drywall, or do a skim coat of plaster over the paneling. See the Before and After below:

Painting out the Woodwork or Painting Some

Sometimes there is just TOO much wood. Some people believe that it is not possible to have too much, but I disagree. If it seems there is so much wood that it is no longer a feature, or if there are too many different types or colours of wood going on, I suggest painting at least some of it. If you have built-in wood cabinetry, and shelving and mantel and floor and trim and baseboards, it may just be too much or perhaps too dark, depending on the stain. You may want to think about just painting out the trim and baseboards, or just painting out the mantel. This may let the other wood features really stand out and become a feature in the home. White is usually my preference, but don't pick the standard "trim white" paint. It is often to stark and cold. Select a white that has some warmth to it and then be consistent in this colour throughout the house.

Wood Floors If you have wood floors, I would always suggest you leave them as-is, unless they are in very bad shape. Sometimes a strategically place area rug can help draw attention away from a worn floor, but sometimes there is no hope. If you cannot afford to refinish the floor, or if there is not enough hardwood left to refinish, painting is an option. Get advice about the best type of paint to use and make sure you give it time to cure before putting rugs or furniture on it.

Lessons Learned from Staging and Selling My Own Home

Now, I have to say that I felt I would now be an expert at preparing my house for sale since I have now been running my staging business for 2+ years. Not to say that I am not an expert, but I certainly was hard on myself as a client.

I have staged my own home previously....meaning before I officially became a "stager". In fact, that is how I got into the business. It was a recommendation from my real estate agent that I stage professionally because I obviously had a knack for it. Both of the homes he sold for me, sold for list price or more on the first day of the open house and it was largely due to how I presented the house since they were plain old subdivision houses.

Because I know what should be done, I set very high expectations for myself and my home and I was completely stressed out that I would drop dead from exhaustion before I got the house ready. I was working day after day, morning until night, to-do lists running through my mind while I should have been sleeping. Not to mention, I have a realtor husband, who I have taught far to much about staging, and I let his "this should be dones" get to me too.

Then, I ran into a friend and ex-client who unknowingly set me straight. She had just sold her house and told me how much my words helped her through the process. I spoke to her the weekend before pictures and video were taken and told her that not everything had to be perfect at that time. Pictures don't show flaws or dirt, and you can move things out of the way and move them back afterwards if everything isn't positioned just perfectly. It really helped her calm down and she realized she still had a whole week until the open house to finish up all the details.

I saw her at the right time. I was not treating myself like I treat my clients. With clients, I calm them down and keep them from being overwhelmed by prioritizing the to-do list and keeping their skill level, timeline and budget in mind.

Since it was just me doing all the work, and the timeframe was slim and money slimmer, I was freaking myself out. Next I prioritized my list and had to come to grips with the fact that some things were just not going to get done, but I did the important stuff first.

I worked on the main floor and kitchen and bathrooms first. I did all the things that would show up in pictures and video in time for them to be taken and then worked on the rest in the time remaining. My 3rd floor which is really bonus space was left unfinished, but still in good shape. I hired a handyman for a day....the best $140 I have ever spent. He hung light fixtures, fixed a broken pipe, installed a range hood and a lock and a bunch of other stuff I could have done.....if there were time. He did it much faster, and all I had left to do was a little painting and cleaning out the basement. I hired a cleaning crew to come through my house on the Friday before the open house and then shipped the kids off to Grandma's house.

I worked right up to the time of the open house, but it all looked pretty good. I thought it was acceptable, but the buyers LOVED IT!!

Here are some things I learned while doing my own house:

1. If there are fabulous architectural features in a home, most buyers don't notice a scuff on the wall that drives you crazy. They are focused on all of the details of the home.
 

2. Bathrooms are hard to stage, especially if there are dated fixtures, but it can still make a huge difference. I love my new bathroom and wish I had made the changes while I was living here.

3. Bondo (a product used to patch car bodies) is great for patching rusted out metal doors, like my front door. Not exactly easy and a little time consuming, but not as much time or money as it would be to get a new door.

4. It is worth hiring a handyman to help with your to-do list. It really takes the pressure off, and it's not that expensive (especially if you pay cash).

5. Light fixtures make a huge difference. Not that I didn't know this, but the ones I decided to change really updated my home.

6. A maid service does wonders for the look of your home. They clean things that you may not think of cleaning and will clean things you don't want to clean.

7. Some people will never be happy, and you can't let it get to you.

And all of the hard work paid off. We had a Saturday and Sunday open house immediately after the house was listed, and by Sunday night, the house was sold firm, full list price, on our closing date. It really made it all worth while, but I don't really want to do it again soon.

I was recently asked the question "Do you ever recommend that someone do nothing to their home, or do no staging at all?".

The answer is simple....there is always some level of staging that should be done to properties that are going on the market, but there are things to consider.

Always keep in mind your Return On Investment (ROI). You don't want to put any money into a home that you are not going to get out of it. If the work you are doing is going to increase the potential selling price of your home by more than the money invested in the staging, then it is worth going the extra mile. Usually, when I am making recommendations to homeowners, I suggest improvements that they can handle themselves. If the property warrants it, I also have a list of service providers that can help out. You have to remember that labour costs are high, so if you can do the work yourself, the greater the ROI.

Of course, money isn't everything. Some people need a quick sale more than anything and staging will definitely help with how fast your house sells.

I do have two recent clients to whom I recommended minimal staging or no staging at all. 

Property #1: Cute Cottage - Move in Condition 

I was brought in by a Realtor on a property that was about to go on the market. The Realtor knew that I had some background in construction and have renovation experience and he needed that experience to evaluate this property and advise his client accordingly. What I saw in this house was appalling.

This homeowner had been badly taken advantage of by 2 different contractor/handymen and the house was a disaster. It was small and had a cute layout, but the 6 different kinds of flooring on the main floor, with no proper transitions between them chopped the house into little ugly pieces. A secondhand kitchen was installed in an unworkable layout, exposing sections of an old floor where cabinets used to be. The tiling was unevenly spaced and unlevel, and without grout. This was only the beginning, but were the most obvious of the disasters.

I felt that the owner's money would best be spent fixing the house, not staging it. There was no way paint, appropriate furniture layout, art, vignettes and a bowl of apples was going to detract anyone's eye from the disaster that was this man's house.....and he couldn't see it. The Realtor agreed with me.

This homeowner ended up choosing an agent who listed the house as-is, for far too high a price and in the description called it a "cute cottage in move in condition". I couldn't believe it. The house never sold.

Property #2: 80's Revival Townhouse

This property was owned by an older woman who because of her condition needed to move into a nursing home. She had a townhouse that was sold, but at the last minute the deal fell through, leaving her with an empty house to sell and to sell quickly.

The house was probably beautiful in it's day. It was entirely pink and grey, with plush pink carpeting and grey ceramics and cabinets everywhere. There were beautifully hand-crafted custom draperies throughout the house, in of course.....pink and grey.

If this house could have just been painted to do the update, I might have suggested it. The tough part was the cabinetry and the flooring. I know that this house probably could have taken between $25-35K in renovations. The owner probably would have recovered that money but not much more. In this case the timing was more important.

The agent and I spoke, and we agreed to have a maid service and steam cleaners come in a give it a good clean, and then price the townhouse aggressively to get it sold.

It worked. Someone saw the value in the place and wasn't afraid to live in the time-warp while gradually doing the upgrades. A good situation for everyone involved.

Would I ever suggest NO STAGING?

Absolutely not. Even property #1, above, got recommendations from me. They were just more than what the owner was willing to do, and he just couldn't see it.

I always suggest homeowners put forth the effort to make their home look its best. Even just a good clean and packing a few things away can make a big difference on the impression your home makes on potential buyers.

I always make the "best case" recommendations to prepare a house for sale, and then help the homeowners prioritize the list based on budget, time lines and skill level.....and of course keeping in mind that Return on Investment. Ultimately, the house always looks better than it did to begin with. You know a really good job has been done when the homeowners say that they want to stay.