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But Those Valances Were Expensive!

By
Home Stager with Rooms With Style

I get that response many times when I recommend to clients that they take down the valances above windows when they are preparing to put their home up for sale.

I understand they may have been expensive but many times that was 20-30 years ago so you have gotten your money's worth. Even if they were purchased more recently you can take them with you to your  new home or leave them folded in a closet for the homeowner if they want to use them

The reason I make this recommendation is:

1) Valances cut the ceiling height down.

It chops the room off visually part way up the wall and the buyer's eye tends to stop right there.

2) Valances shrink the window size.

A large portion of a window is cut off because of a valance, sometimes 1/4 of the window on smaller windows. Buyers love large windows and lots of natural light. Valances hinder both of those making the windows look smaller and the room darker.

 

 

3) Valances cover up the view.

Many times homes have beautiful lots, gorgeous back yards with tall trees and you have to look under the valance to see it all. Show off what they are there for and where the value is, the land. The valances will not add value to the house no matter how expensive they were.

 

 

4) Valances are a personal preference

Some buyers like drapes, some like blinds, some like valances, some like bare windows. It is a personal preference and with the valances they see it as a chore to take them down, patch the wall and repaint if they don't like them. It is always best to reduce as many personal style items as possible for a buyer.

There are many times I recommend drapes come down as well but valances are a must. For these and all recommendations when putting your house on the market, contact a professional Home Stager for a Home Staging Consultation.

Dorie Dillard Austin TX
Coldwell Banker Realty ~ 512.750.6899 - Austin, TX
NW Austin ~ Canyon Creek and Spicewood/Balcones

Good morning Shar Sitter ,

I'm glad to see your post featured! I'm so with you on getting rid of those valances! Your photos show perfectly the difference the removal of those valances make! Night and day!

Mar 27, 2018 03:59 AM
Shar Sitter

Thank you Dorie Dillard . Night and Day for sure when the dark heavy drapes are removed. LOL


 

Mar 27, 2018 11:03 AM
Gabe Sanders
Real Estate of Florida specializing in Martin County Residential Homes, Condos and Land Sales - Stuart, FL
Stuart Florida Real Estate

Thanks Shar.  I need to show this post to a prospective listing that I've been talking to about this subject.

Mar 27, 2018 06:19 AM
Shar Sitter

Oh I hope it helps Gabe Sanders . Good luck!

Mar 27, 2018 11:03 AM
Sharon Tara
Sharon Tara Transformations - Portsmouth, NH
Retired New Hampshire Home Stager

If they aren't saying "they were expensive", they are saying "those are custom!"

They may have been expensive and custom 20 years ago, but they are no longer in style and will cost you more money if you leave them up!

Congrats on the well deserved feature!

Mar 27, 2018 06:28 AM
Shar Sitter

Thank you Sharon Tara . Yes I get the 'custom' word all the time too. 

Mar 27, 2018 11:04 AM
Debbie Gartner
The Flooring Girl - White Plains, NY
The Flooring Girl & Blog Stylist -Dynamo Marketers

Great advice, Shar.  Very logical.

 

I really wish that people would take Economics 101...and learn the concept of "sunk cost."  This is true for sellers...as well as business owners.  I see this failure to comprehend point forward outlook all the time.  I'm so glad I learned this concept in college...in Psychology class.  So important. 

Mar 27, 2018 06:40 AM
Shar Sitter

So true Debbie Gartner . As a CPA (and a business owner) the sunk cost thing is so easy to understand but some people struggle with it. Even if they amortized the cost over 30 years they have gotten their monies worth. :) 

Mar 27, 2018 11:05 AM
Sonja Patterson
Keller Williams - BV - College Station, TX
Texas Monthly 5-Star Realtor Recipient for the Hou

Love your before and after photos Shar! No valances + a furniture update = a great looking room!

Mar 27, 2018 07:11 AM
Shar Sitter

Exactly Sonja Patterson . Amen to that!

Mar 27, 2018 11:06 AM
Karen Graves
Artistic Home Staging - Edmond, OK
Certified Home Stager/ReDesigner in the OKC area

Yes, yes yes!!!  great blog post and congrats on the feature!! Your pics are fantastic and should definitely convince your clients to take your advice.   I tell my clients the same thing about window coverings all the time.  Window treatments are chosen based on personal taste, the goal of staging is to remove the personal to attract a wider range of buyers.  The goal is to sell!!  

Mar 27, 2018 07:17 AM
Shar Sitter

Thank you Karen Graves and I know we all preach to them about it. Many get it but others not so much. 

Mar 27, 2018 11:06 AM
Gary L. Waters Broker Associate, Bucci Realty
Bucci Realty, Inc. - Melbourne, FL
Eighteen Years Experience in Brevard County

You are so right!  Valiant effort against the valence movement! 

Mar 27, 2018 07:58 AM
Shar Sitter

LOL. Love that Gary L. Waters, Broker Owner, Waters Realty of Brevard, LLC !

Mar 27, 2018 11:07 AM
Tammy Lankford,
Lane Realty Eatonton, GA Lake Sinclair, Milledgeville, 706-485-9668 - Eatonton, GA
Broker GA Lake Sinclair/Eatonton/Milledgeville

I've never been a fan.  The house my daughter bought a couple of years ago had them in every room.  Not attractive ones I might add.  Honestly I think it helped her as a buyer get a better deal on the house because mostly it just turned buyers off... so I'm glad the former owners didn't take your advice, but I always want my seller to.

Mar 27, 2018 09:42 AM
Shar Sitter

Glad it worked out for your daughter Tammy Lankford, ! Buyers need to understand how it drags the property down. 

Mar 27, 2018 11:07 AM
Kim Peasley-Parker
AgentOwned Realty, Heritage Group, Inc. - Sumter, SC

Great information and examples of before and after. 

Mar 27, 2018 09:57 AM
Shar Sitter

Thank you Kim Peasley-Parker 

Mar 27, 2018 11:08 AM
Carolyn Roland- In Delaware and S. Chester County PA
Independent architectural histor'n - Wilmington, DE
Carolyn Roland, GRI, CRS

When it was the style, it was great. But that is a long time ago and only add to claustrophobia nowadays. I have windows with no curtains that add sunlit views and I love it that way.

Mar 27, 2018 10:23 AM
Shar Sitter

Oh I bet so Carolyn Roland-Historic Homes For Sale In Delaware and S. Chester County PA . I don't have drapes anywhere in my home, just blinds on a few windows for privacy but the porch has nothing so I can see the pond and wildlife! 

Mar 27, 2018 11:09 AM
John Wiley
Fort Myers, FL
Lee County, FL, ECO Broker, GRI, SRES,GREEN,PSA

Your reasons and photos made it clear to me that the Valance Must Go.

We could even make this into a song!!

Mar 27, 2018 12:17 PM
Shar Sitter

OH that would be a great song. Catchy John Wiley .

Mar 28, 2018 05:25 PM
Deepak Chauhan Asso-Broker, MLO
Versailles Property - Irvine, CA
Your Solution-Oriented Realtor

... since my mother-in-law made the valance so we cannot remove them. No more discussion.

 

and she said ... You are so sensitive dear!

Mar 27, 2018 02:41 PM
Shar Sitter

Oh very good point Deepak Chauhan MCNE® . 

Mar 28, 2018 05:26 PM
Ellen Caruso
Daniel Gale Sotheby's International Realty - Glen Head, NY

Great advise! I hate dark stale curtains and valences. Luckily we don’t have neighbors behind our house and we have them open to let ALL the light in!

Mar 27, 2018 05:39 PM
Shar Sitter

I hear you Ellen Caruso . We don't have any in our back porch either to see the pond view. I miss you....hope you are doing well. 

Mar 28, 2018 05:26 PM
Steven Beam
RE/MAX Alliance - Parker Colorado Real Estate. - Parker, CO
Parker Colorado Real Estate

Great photo showing the differnece. I wasn't sure when I started reading but the phtos sold me. 

Mar 28, 2018 05:31 PM
Maureen Bray Portland OR Home Stager ~ Room Solutions Staging
Room Solutions Staging, Portland OR - Portland, OR
"Staging Consultations that Sell Portland Homes"

As home stagers Shar we hear this often!  Valances as well as heavy, dark and "fussy" window treatments have no place in a home that's on the market!! :-)

 

Mar 28, 2018 09:32 PM
Dorte Engel
RE/MAX Leading Edge - Bowie, MD
ABC - Annapolis, Bowie, Crofton & rest of Maryland

Dear Shar,

They were expensive & can cost you some more, if you leave them there. Tough discussion, when you have to tell people, that their beautiful update from 1987 will not appeal to people, who were not even born then.

Mar 28, 2018 10:20 PM
Mary Jo Quay
H360homes.com - Minneapolis, MN
I Move You Home

Before and after photos make the point. Sometimes with older clients decorated 100 moons ago say, "bought it with the rugs, gonna sell it with the rug." That was in 1978. In working with an 88 year old widow who never once since 1978 had moved the furniture, we pulled up the rug, and took out the drapes. The drapes disintegrated in my hands. Every window had a lake view that had been covered up but she never noticed. 

Mar 30, 2018 06:40 AM
Sally K. & David L. Hanson
EXP Realty 414-525-0563 - Brookfield, WI
WI Real Estate Agents - Luxury - Divorce

Never been a valance fan except perhaps over a kitchen window in a door...most are bulky and have been there forever,

Apr 11, 2018 02:50 AM
MichelleCherie Carr Crowe .Just Call. 408-252-8900
Get Results Team...Just Call (408) 252-8900! . DRE #00901962 . Licensed to Sell since 1985 . Altas Realty - San Jose, CA
Family Helping Families Buy & Sell Homes 40+ Years

Yes, just because it cost a lot then, doesn't mean it's right for selling a house now.

Apr 13, 2018 01:25 PM
Patricia Feager, MBA, CRS, GRI,MRP
DFW FINE PROPERTIES - Flower Mound, TX
Selling Homes Changing Lives

That antiquated valance look doesn't appeal to anyone I know. In my opinion, it cheapens the look of some really great rooms. 

Apr 25, 2018 12:15 PM