As some of you know, my husband and I recently turned into house hunters. We are grateful to have a fabulous and wonderfully patient agent as we navigate this crazy, upside down market. Taking us through vacant and sometimes dirty properties, she's often turned to me and said, "Oh, the things you could do with this place, Dawn." I appreciate the compliment and look forward to having my way with the property we do end up with. But in the meantime, I have to relay a cautionary tale about the house we couldn't get out of our mind. And not in a good way.
It was a lovely 3BR/2BA ranch with a basement. It had all the things we were looking for (we passed on it because of location, but I digress). It was obvious the homeowner (and I'm going to blame the homeowner here - I truly don't think my colleagues would have made these mistakes) had done some homework on getting a property ready to sell. The staged result would have pleased a handful of people - no doubt - but it left my husband cold. I begged him to see "beyond" the staging, but he just couldn't. It wasn't what ultimately made us pass on it, but had the location been right, I would have had an uphill battle trying to convince my husband we could make it our "own."
The dining room table was set. Fine. If subtle, this can be a nice touch. If over the top, it's a teensy bit creepy. In this case, it was a nice touch. The kitchen counters were free and clear. Again, nicely done. The floor was immaculate, the layout was lovely. So what was it that turned us off? Two simple things:
1) The smell. As we opened the door, we were greeted by a woodsy, spicy scent emanating from a tiny vase perched on the windowsill. The sad part is I doubt anyone was trying to cover up another scent. But the result was so overwhelming that the three of us mentioned it out loud; and
2) Too much stuff. We were greeted by so many décor accessories that it was hard to focus on the beautiful structure of the living room! It had a lovely picture window, curved archways and some very pretty architectural details - a leaded glass window, an alcove in the wall. But to find these details, even I had to focus carefully. The accessories were EVERYWHERE! And they all looked new. Matching up-lamps on the mantle, a vase with long curvy sticks, newly fluffed accent pillows on the couch, baskets of grasses on the coffee table. A box filled with orbs. Faux books stacked on a side table. My husband said he didn't know where to look first.
Our homeowner had violated the golden rule of staging: to showcase the best features of the property. Instead, we felt like we had walked into a retail store, complete with a signature scent. When we should have been thinking, "How old is the furnace?" we were wondering "Which store did this all come from and how much for the lamp?" (I knew both the answers.)
I watched the property for a little while on my list service, and sure enough someone snapped it up. It was a lovely place. It's just too bad that the homeowner easily spent more money than was needed in order to spruce it up. Starting with the spruce scent for $7.95.
For more tips on redesigning, selling and staging properties, contact a Certified Redesign Specialist with Eye to Eye Interiors for an affordable consultation. Serving Chicago and the surrounding suburbs. (773) 350-7020. www.eyetoeyeinteriors.com
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