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Stunning Dining Room Before and After

By
Home Stager with Showhomes

This Minneapolis dining room staged by Showhomes' Cindy Montgomery is getting RAVE reviews. This is an older, dated home and when vacant, very hard to show. Like many rooms in older, expensive homes, this one had typical lower ceilings, some outdated cabnetry and normal wear and tear.  Take a look:

The homeowner hired Showhomes beacuse we have been selling a lot of homes this year, beating the average time on market by as much as 50%.

Like many vacant homes, showings had really tapered off and few buyers were venturing inside. The ones that did spent very little time in the home, making it hard to sell.

Take a look at what Cindy did to bring it to life:

WOW!

No wonder it gets rave reviews - this is a very intellegent room. Here's some staging tricks worth noting:

1. That's a $99 Ikea floor mirror painted and hung sideways. Its big and bold and really fills the space. The horizontal takes your eye away from the low ceilings and points towards the view which is really pleasant.

2. Those are Pier 1 leather dining chairs and a french farm table. Both wear really well and age gracefully, developing character the more you use them. My favorite choices - both smart and approachable for a wide range of buyers.

3. Big accesories and few of them. No knick-knacks. Big accesories make the room look more complete and you'll find you don't need as much to complete a space with larger items.

4. No set table - just a clean tabletop with two cool candelabras and a ceramic bowl. Very cool.

5. Contrasting cushions on the window seat take your eye off the dated cabnetry and draw it to the focal point - the window.

Great job, Cindy!

Thomas Scott

www.showhomes.com

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Comments(14)

KARIN SMITH
SMITH REALTY GROUP - Slidell, LA
BROKER/REALTOR

Oh my goodness what a beautiful dining room.  I looked at the before picture and thought, it can't get much better than this and voila, it did!!  Thanks for the great tips!

-Karin :)

Oct 06, 2009 06:33 AM
Dick and Dixie Sells
Sells Real Estate, LLC - Trinity, FL
Realtors, Tampa Bay Florida Homes For Sale

I really like the difference and am sure the potential buyerws will as well. Great Job!

Oct 06, 2009 06:34 AM
Shelly Whitworth
MorSystems.com - Carmel, CA

LOVE it!

Oct 06, 2009 06:35 AM
Sharon Stevens
Family First Realty - Hurricane, WV

Great job!   I've used the mirror sidways trick myself.  

Oct 06, 2009 06:36 AM
Sylvie Conde
Sutton Group-Associates Realty Inc., Brokerage - Toronto, ON
Broker, Toronto Real Estate

Furniture definitely makes a huge difference.  An empty nest doesn't sell as well.
Great job.

 

Oct 06, 2009 06:37 AM
Natasha Little
Showhomes Greenville - Greenville, SC
Showhomes Greenville

The mirror is my favorite feature.  It draws the eye into the room and breaks up that blank wall!  But the entire room looks good.  Indeed a marvelous transformation.

Oct 06, 2009 08:44 AM
Emma Vargas
Simply Staging - Cameron Park, CA
Simply Staging

Stunning!  It looks like it came right out of a design magazine.  It goes to show that if you know what you're doing, and obviously Cindy does, it doesn't take a fortune to make a room stunning.  We shouldn't rely on the rental companies to tell us what goes together.  This creative room is an excellent example of what a good stager can do for an average room.  I love the candelabras, those are very unique, but lovely.  Thanks for sharing.

Oct 06, 2009 08:48 AM
Anonymous
Cindy Montgomery

Thank you for the compliments - I went for simple elegance.  The compliment about the candle sticks - it was from Smith and Hawkins and takes 24 candles!!!  Why are our houses selling in this market?  Because they look better than the rest!  This home has a lot of interest from buyers - how long with Showhomes? 3 months  - how long before showhomes - vacant? over 3 years!  We have serious, interested buyers who are wavering.  We will let you know when this beautiful home sells.  I expect it to be gone within two months.  Cindy Montgomery - Showhomes Minneapolis Franchise Owner  - Design Director on this project.

Oct 06, 2009 04:37 PM
#8
Annie Pinsker-Brown
Stage to Sell - LA Home Staging - Los Angeles, CA
Stage to Sell, Los Angeles Home Stager

Gorgeous! I noticed in the before picture that the window seat cabinets looked dated. But once they were Staged you would never notice. Those candleabras are absolutely stunning! Beautiful work all around.

Oct 07, 2009 04:25 PM
Lina OL
Deluxe Home Staging & Design - Northbrook, IL

 Wow stunning!! Two thumbs up Thomas.  How did you paint the mirror?  it looks like you used more than one color on it?  Or is that just the lighting? 

Oct 07, 2009 05:04 PM
Wendy Carroll
Coeur d'Alene, ID

Marvelous transformation!  Cindy, you really addressed the issues in this room beautifully!

Oct 10, 2009 03:16 AM
Pangaea Interior Design Kitchen & Bath Design, Remodeling
Portland Oregon - Portland, OR

Very beautiful and elegant. Although I still occasionally set a table, I generally prefer the beautiful centerpiece approach instead. It looks more natural and less busy. Fab candle holders! Nicely scaled bowl too.

Oct 11, 2009 07:58 AM
Jennifer Grant
Select Homes & Services - Pawleys Island, SC

Very smart room! I love the clean lines and dramatic candelabras! Stunning...wonderful work!!

Oct 12, 2009 06:53 AM
John Marion
RE/MAX Town & Country - Canton, GA

Awesome dining room!

Nov 23, 2009 05:53 AM