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 Like many rooms in older, expensive homes, this one had typical lower ceilings, some outdated cabnetry and normal wear and tear.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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