Home : Blogs : Melissa Marro www.StagingAndRedesign.com www.RedesigningCharleston.com : Staging And Redesign - My View of the Industry

Dark and Drab... How furniture brightens a space...

This seems really kind of interesting to me. We finished staging a home today that was called 'dark' and 'very vanilla' by agents & buyers alike (prior to us getting our hands on it.) We were there until 11:30 last night staging and had to bring in just a few things this morning. While we were waiting for the furniture to arrive my assitant and I kept commenting how dark it was... the buyers were definately right. We, of course, added lamps, etc hoping the agent would come turn them on before buyers walked through. We even thought of putting them on a timer.

This morning when we arrived, surprisingly, without a light on in the home the home was brighter! Somehow the furniture made the difference. We are assuming that it broke up the patches of dark with splashed of color & shimmer. Your eyes had more to look at, so they did.

Today I went to another vacant listing presentation. The complaint from buyers was the same. Dark.... I told them the story of the home we did today and walked away with another job and signed contract. I explained that I'm not exactly sure how it work (the dark to light thing) but that it does! I find it very interesting...

Here are photos of the completed home....

Some additional photos that I don't have before photos...

This is just another example of what staging can do to help bring life into an otherwise dark & drab vacant home. In this highly competitive market, shouldn't your clients be getting every edge they can?

Posted by Melissa Marro www.StagingAndRedesign.com www.RedesigningCharleston.com on 07/27/2007 03:24 PM

Comments (18)

Originally posted at: Staging And Redesign - My View of the Industry: Dark and Drab... How furniture brightens a space...

Post is included in group: Staging "Before" & "After" Pictures

18 Comments on Dark and Drab... How furniture brightens a space...

JUL

2007

Very nice clean lines, I like it a lot. I may have to get into staging as it makes a huge difference!

Nice job. I am amazed at the difference and most of your wonderful accessories are not brightly colored which is what I expected before I looked at the pictures. Love the dining table accessories!

Melissa - It looks so pretty. I love the three flowers on the dining room table.

Why Charles, yes it does! Hey Melissa, great job. Yeah, you can totally see what you mean about the light, and I agree it makes no sense logically though I jsut thougth of this:

You know how when one looks at an empty room, normal people have a hard time seeing how big it is. Once we have furniture in place, there is suddenly a frame of reference and you can clearly and easily see how big the space is likely to be. Must be the same with light. Only by adding dark pieces can you see how light the place really is?

You got such style; I l-u-v looking at your work. I like the life imitating art in the Dining Area.

Why Charles, yes it does! Hey Melissa, great job. Yeah, you can totally see what you mean about the light, and I agree it makes no sense logically though I just thought of this:

You got such style; I l-u-v looking at your work. I like the life imitating art in the Dining Area.

that looks great. too bad they didn't have you paint a wall at least one. your work looks awesome though.

The funny thing about the dining table is that the setting was changed at the 11th hour (practically literally.. we were there until 11:30pm staging this house!) When my husband helped us put it in the car, he raked the center of the table right across the metal piece where my back door catched - creating a monumental scratch right down the center. I scrapped the original idea, stopped by our local World Market for a runner & some kind of centerpiece. (I had planned to have a party like table setting done.) Having only about 10 minutes because we were already 4 hrs behind schedule (late movers) I decided on these... Honestly I think it worked out better than my original plan anyway! Whew!

Nice work Melissa. The darker furniture creates contrast, which adds some snap to the scenes.

Very nice, great job, what a big difference. It amazes me what you stagers do!

JUL

2007

Great job, Melissa! I too like the dining room accessories.

Congratulations - your post is being featured in the group Staging "Before" & "After" Pictures.

Kathy

JUL

2007

Fantastic job Melissa! I find that my plans don't always work and I change things up at the last minute. I find it is sometimes better to come back the next day! After you have worked on a job and looked at it all day you need to take a big step back.

Melissa - great photos that really show how vacant can be transformed into something inviting and comfortable. I really like the flowers on the dining room table and how they pick up on the flowers in the pictures. One question - how do you keep the picture on the mantel. I have noticed this is several other posts and have forgotten to ask. I am always afraid that the picture will "slide" off. Do you attach it will velcro or something?

Cheryl Anne - I just set the mirror/art on the mantel. They are pretty big pieces and weigh a ton most of the time. As long as the home is empty (no pets, children, etc) they are pretty safe. I've yet to have a piece come down. I did the same thing in my home until we got the flat screen hanging up.

JUL

2007

Melissa - thanks for the information but not sure if I am as brave as you. On a staging project in Vancouver, there was a very large picture (with a glass insert) sitting on a cabinet about three feet high. For no reason this picture slid off the cabinet and crashed to the floor. I have no idea how, but fortunately the glass did not break. Notwithstanding your success, I don't think I would try placing anything on a mantle unless it was secured in some way. Perhaps someone will do a post on how to secure paintings and mirrors.

I've used white florist putty to secure items on narrow ledges.

AUG

2007

The florist putty sounds like a good idea. Because the pieces are HEAVY and the mantels are usually painted (which gives them a bit of a sticky grab) I've never had a problem. I wouldn't do it on a hutch or TV stand, however. I think it really depends on the surface. I also do a little test nudge to see how hard it is to budge & let that be a big part of my determinations.

AUG

2007

Hi Melissa,

You created really great focal points! I especially love the bedroom! Really Pretty!

Very nice and the contrast of the light walls and dark furniture does the trick.

Leave a response…

Name:

Email:
(optional)

Comment:

What does the graphic say?