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Home Staging-What Makes a Home Look Dated? Part I

By
Home Stager with Faulkner House Interior Redesign

Historic homes have charm and ambiance that have been acquired over the years.  Older homes that are not quite historic may also have charm, character and interest that come from building techniques and craftsmanship or possibly features that aren't common in today's homes.

                               

Styles change and desired features change as well.  Rooms with specific purposes once gave way to Great Rooms.  Sunken living rooms and family rooms were once cutting edge.  Railings and half walls defined kitchens, breakfast nooks and family rooms while allowing some flow into the adjoining rooms. The trend in many areas is to eliminate these "barriers" altogether for a more open flow and to make the home function better and feel larger.

 

So what makes a home "dated"?  Some things, no matter what condition they are in, will automatically date a home.  Old vinyl flooring in an entryway leading down the hall and into the kitchen says "dated".  Laminate countertops can look dated, especially faux butcherblock designs and colors that were associated with a particular decade.  Windows heavily dressed with swags, jabots, and curtain panels, can date a room and diminish the natural light. 

 

Mirror panels mounted on a wall with plastic clips in bathrooms and other rooms can look dated.  Although wallpaper is making a comeback, metallics, flocked patterns and embossed vinyl with pale florals are some examples that can look dated. Older faux painting techniques such as high contrast sponging and stencils in primary colors can easily date a home.

 

Decorating trends and fads that were once the rage can date a home.  Macrame wall hangings or plant hangers, roughly cut wood paneling, chevron or diagonally applied wood paneling, plates and artwork hung from bows and ribbons, and older track lighting with large round white or black spotlights are just a few examples.  Some of these are easier to change or eliminate than others to give the home a fresher and more updated appearance.

 

What makes a home dated will often vary from one region to another.  In Virginia, where traditional decor is influenced by Williamsburg and other historic homes, brass fixtures are as popular as the nickel and pewter styles and remain classic.

 

A seller can't remake an older home into one that features all the latest desirable features, nor should they have to. Older homes may have features that are unique and that can outweigh the latest building inovations that may be tomorrow's dated fads. The key is to make sure that the decor doesn't make the home feel old and dated, to make the area as functional, attractive and spacious feeling as possible

 

 

 

Comments (34)

Pam Faulkner
Faulkner House Interior Redesign - Herndon, VA
Room Transformations Fairfax & Loudoun Counties VA

LaNita, countertops are difficult because they aren't the kind of thing that most homeowners can tackle themselves so the price plus installation isn't a place where they can cut costs.  The worst thing I have seen is when granite has been installed over so-so builder's grade cabinets.  The cabinets are often dated and maybe in a configuration that isn't the best.  So glad I found the pictures since eveyone seems to enjoy them.  I'll have to see if I can find more...

May 28, 2008 06:37 AM
Susan Kleinman
Appealing Interiors, LLC - White Plains, NY

Around here (I work in and near New York) the 70s Brady Bunch look is almost extint, as homes decorated in that era have turned over or been re-done. But if you want to enter the time-warp machine, there are plenty of 1980s spaces where every piece of furniture is glossy formica, mirror and/or glass, and the upholstery fabrics are all cream polished cotton with what look like paint spills in turquoise and pink or peach.  

May 28, 2008 08:10 AM
Pam Faulkner
Faulkner House Interior Redesign - Herndon, VA
Room Transformations Fairfax & Loudoun Counties VA

Susan, I staged a home where they had This End Up-style furniture (very casual; looks a little like it was made from 2x4's) with fabric that looked a lot like what you described.  It makes me think of a sofa my sister was considering many years ago-until we tried sitting on it.  We dropped down and slid right off because the fabric was some sort of polyester.  We never laughed so hard in our lives-partly from embarrassment and partly from the horrified look on the saleman's face.  Wonder how many of those they sold?  I'm sure if any still exist they look new because you couldn't sit in it without a seatbelt.

May 28, 2008 09:02 AM
Jennifer Duchene
Lift Your Spirit Home Transformations - Palo Alto, CA
Stager & Redesigner

Pam, a fascinating glimpse of the days of YIKES! how quickly it all comes back again. I feel a nostalgic attachment to these pictures - that are so awful yet appealing or should it be appaling?  anyhow somehow the victorian or historical styles seem to be warmer and calmer.  Oh my goodness the surfaces in the "modern" pictures are truly amazing.  so loud and in your face. thanks for updating us on the outdated...

May 28, 2008 05:10 PM
Alicia Barrington
THE ORIGINAL HOUSTON HOME STAGING - Katy, TX
Houston Home Staging Presents Alicia Barrington

Pam,

I don't remember giving permission to publish my living room photographs......hehehe!  How I ended up in my Country French, meets Victorian, meets mid-century modern abode, I'll never know.  Fortunately, home staging is a 'do as I say, not as I do' industry.

On my 'ya gotta be kidding me' list:

Shower curtains that match the wallpaper were really popular here in Houston! 

Cultured marble shower stalls!  (Easily fixed by Miracle Method www.miraclemethod.com).

Oak panelling.......don't think there's an oak tree standing within three states from all the oak that was sacrificed to panel Houston homes <G>!

However, I'm totally loving the emerald green kitchen with the matching car.  I think I'll knock out the walls to my garage.   However, it does create a problem: do I match the car to the stainless steel appliances, or have the appliances 'dyed to match' .........?

Have a great day everyone!

Happy Staging Y'all!

 

 

 

May 28, 2008 08:48 PM
Pam Faulkner
Faulkner House Interior Redesign - Herndon, VA
Room Transformations Fairfax & Loudoun Counties VA

Jennifer-The Days of Yikes!-love it.  I have an old book of some BHG plans that were taken from their 100 Ideas Under $100 issues and though some are dated, some are really pretty clever. Actually, quite a few of them would fit right in with the products that Target and even Crate anf Barrel have.  Time and distance can put things in a different perspective but the bathroom with the green fixtures is still a nighmare, don't you think.  It's so bad it's funny.

Tom, yes it's another case of what can happen while you were out staging someone else's house.  My new telephoto lense is terrific.   Shower curtains that match the wallpaper-you're talking about the cammoflaged shower stall effect?  Yes, I have seen that and the shower door with a plastic liner to keep the shower door clean and then a shower curtain and valance over that to dress the room up. I haven't seen a cultured marble shower stall.  Do you have a picture?  I am intrigued.  Oak paneling sounds better than knotty pine.  Your observation about oak trees is pretty funny though. Do they make paneling from live oaks? There's a least one on every corner.  Dying the appliances to match, definitely.  More of a custom look.  It looks like they stained the cabinets to match the car because you can see the oak graining.  Will someone explain the shrubs in the kitchen?  They look a little like Christmas trees...

 

May 29, 2008 02:58 AM
Pam Faulkner
Faulkner House Interior Redesign - Herndon, VA
Room Transformations Fairfax & Loudoun Counties VA

Hi everyone,

I'm back after doing a search for the book Julea mentioned.  Here is a link to the web site about the book with some hysterical pictures.  Be sure to read the descriptions.  Warning-do not attempt to eat or drink while reading these.  After you check this out please come back and comment.

May 29, 2008 03:16 AM
Reba Haas
Team Reba of RE/MAX Metro Eastside www.TeamReba.com - Bellevue, WA
Team Reba, CDPE

Out here in the Seattle area you won't believe how many pink sink, toilets and bathtubs you'll find. I currently have 2 listings (one is a house in Bellevue and one is a condo in Seattle) that both have these kinds of bathroom fixtures and I'm helping a client put an offer on a place in Mercer Island that has them - so there was not a geographic spasm of these, it was all over Puget Sound.  Apparently it was the "builder special" between 1950 and 1970.  Then it gave way to avocado but mostly only in new construction and not in bathroom remodels.  Speaking of avocado, there was also a lot of molded avocado colored carpet sold here too during those same decades. There was a 1-year period where I saw more than my share of this carpet in houses all over the area.

Other hideous highlights?  Brassy fixtures, midieval style lighting, the dusty rose and dusty blue of the early 1980's, shiny silver or gold design wallpaper patterns, bad shag (is there a good shag?), cheap pine paneling, and like everyone here, I could go on and on and on....

In fact, I'll have to write a post about the 1970 house I bought in Fall of 2007.  It was a "dated" nightmare!  Good bones but some ugly, ugly carpets, wallpaper and bathroom fixtures!!!!  We call one room the "boom boom room" because it's shag-a-delic with orange-y red shag going not only wall to wall but UP the wall!

May 29, 2008 04:10 AM
Pam Faulkner
Faulkner House Interior Redesign - Herndon, VA
Room Transformations Fairfax & Loudoun Counties VA

Oh Reba, I can't wait to see your post on your house.  Carpeting up the wall?  Why? Was it an accoustic thing?

My inlaws bought an older stone house in 1983 that had been "updated" at lease once in the 1960's or '70's.  I've already mentioned the kitchen carpet.  One of the bathrooms had a floor with 1" and 2" pink and gray matt tiles, pink 4" glazed tiles on the wall, pink tub, sink and toilet and a painted pink vanity.  None of the pinks matched except for the sink, tub and toilet.  It wasn't even a Barbie Pink Nightmare Bathroom.  That would have been attractive by comparison.  The question then too was, WHY?  We concluded that someone was colorblind. Or liked a variety of pinks. 

May 29, 2008 04:49 AM
Pam Faulkner
Faulkner House Interior Redesign - Herndon, VA
Room Transformations Fairfax & Loudoun Counties VA

If you loved the photos above you will really love this post that I ran across about old decorating books on a site called Hooked on Houses.  The pictures are amazing including kitchen wallpaper with cowboys and one with pink kitchen cabinets.  Check it out for yourself here and come back to comment on your faves.

Jun 07, 2008 03:10 AM
Laurie Calhoun
Gloria Home Staging, Inc. - Winter Springs, FL
Seminole County FL Home Stager

The first house I remember living in was a 50's ranch in PA that had pale pink appliances in the kitchen, so pink must have been a 50's thing. (I was in the house in 1994, and the oven was still pink!) The cabinets were knotty pine. I was glad of that when I saw the kitchen with the vivid pink cabinets. We moved from that house to a new 60's house in NY with all turquoise appliances in the kitchen. My mom loved it, but that turquoise refrigerator was... assertive. Thankfully, the cabinets were dark wood, so the effect was moderated, unlike the aqua beauty on the linked website.

Jun 08, 2008 11:18 AM
Pam Faulkner
Faulkner House Interior Redesign - Herndon, VA
Room Transformations Fairfax & Loudoun Counties VA

Laurie, LOL, I've never heard of turquoise appliances but the visual I have is one that could easily have gone with the kitchen my mother's decorator talked her into in the late 60's.  I came home from school to find that wallpaper with butterflies the size of my hand had been applied to one focal wall in the kitchen. The rest of the wall space, including the backsplash area not covered by tile was covered stripes in colors taken from the butterflies. It was breath-taking-literally.  It was like some giant entomology lab.  I never realized at how scary butterflies could be. One of the dominant colors was turquoise, a color not found on any butterfly I have ever seen.  The cabinets were dark in our kitchen, too.  I don't think they helped much.  What a trip down memory lane for you to see these pictures, then.  Thanks for your comments!

Jun 08, 2008 04:35 PM
Pam Faulkner
Faulkner House Interior Redesign - Herndon, VA
Room Transformations Fairfax & Loudoun Counties VA

I just found a picture that looks a little  like the butterfly wallpaper I mentioned.

Butterfly collection

OK, so it didn't have the caterpillar or the writing  but this is very similar. Now I ask you, is this something for a kitchen?  And with stripes?

Jun 14, 2008 11:31 AM
Laurie Calhoun
Gloria Home Staging, Inc. - Winter Springs, FL
Seminole County FL Home Stager

Wow! I guess your mother wasn't afraid of patterns! That sounds overwhelming! My dad had three framed sets of actual dead butterflies that he had caught as a camp counsellor while he was in high school, and they were on the wall of our family room. That was quite enough! Thanks for sending the picture to give an idea of what you were talking about. The turquoise refrigerator now seems tame and restrained.

Jun 14, 2008 12:50 PM
Pam Faulkner
Faulkner House Interior Redesign - Herndon, VA
Room Transformations Fairfax & Loudoun Counties VA

Laurie, actually I think the designer/decorator talked or bullied her into it.  He was well known in the area and people thought he was so NOW that they didn't want to question his plans for the room.  It was colorful and definitely not boring.  I think she lived with the look for about 5 years before it was changed.  I forget what the next look was-obviously not nearly as creative.

Jun 15, 2008 07:09 AM
Laurie Calhoun
Gloria Home Staging, Inc. - Winter Springs, FL
Seminole County FL Home Stager

Pam - Maybe not as creative, but I'll bet it was a nice rest. The decorating pendulum does swing from extreme to extreme: excess ornamentation to bare-bones simplicity, back to ornamentation again. I guess that's why things look dated -- the pendulum has swung back in the other direction. (Can you tell I was a history major in college?)

Jun 15, 2008 08:27 AM
Pam Faulkner
Faulkner House Interior Redesign - Herndon, VA
Room Transformations Fairfax & Loudoun Counties VA

Laurie, The pendulum has swung back.  That's why we are seeing greens and golds more often.  Remember when pink and black were hot?  That was only a few years ago.  Now I see that orange an fuschia are pushing red out of the picture.  Brown is the new black?  No wonder our clients are confused...

Jun 15, 2008 11:24 AM
Pam Faulkner
Faulkner House Interior Redesign - Herndon, VA
Room Transformations Fairfax & Loudoun Counties VA

Ooops, forgot to add that my mother doesn;t remember what the kitchen looked like post butterflies either.  HA! 

Love history! If you read my "tag" meme you'll see that I wanted to be an archeologist but have a thing about snakes and bugs.  Do you suppose the butterflies had anything to do with it?  Never made that connection.  ;) 

Jun 15, 2008 11:29 AM
Anonymous
PCL

I'm almost certain that 10 years from now, columns like this will have comments like "I can't believe anyone  ever thought it was a good idea to put a hardwood floor in a  kitchen." With all the the deteriorating HW floors I've seen in kitchens, I'll bet some people are already saying that. Not that the trend toward HW isn't a huge improvement, it's just gone a little overboard. I'd love it if, in the furture, people questioned the taste and wisdom of covering a whole house (including the chimney), with tentatively attached vinyl siding, but I'm not holding my breath. There are still plenty of people who think of vinyl siding as "freah", "crisp" and "stylish".

Feb 04, 2011 04:37 AM
#33
Pam Faulkner
Faulkner House Interior Redesign - Herndon, VA
Room Transformations Fairfax & Loudoun Counties VA

I know what you mean.  I had a hardwood floor in our previous home and didn't like it.  Oh, it was beautiful but it wasn't as easy to keep clean as the tile in our remodeled kitchen. 

Some decorating styles have built-in obsolescence.  Cutting edges dull after time.

Oct 30, 2011 10:53 AM