SheShe, The Home Magician: The Power of Home Staging / Kitchen Makeover

I'm heading OOT next week to do a kitchen makeover........

so I guess I have kitchens on my brain.........

I love the impact that you can create with cosmetic changes in the kitchen........

for that matter, in the whole house.

Here's a good example.....

My friend/client, Kim, was preparing to sell her Dad's house.

The house had an English basement with lots of stuff, dark cabinets,

dark wood wainscoting, dark trim, etc...

Rather than doing the minimum and trying to sell the house "as is,"

she invested upfront in some very smart staging/updating,

and the house sold the first day on the market.

No kidding.....

Considering the housing market of late, that is pretty amazing.

While I didn't handle the staging (I only handled the kitchen makeover,)

I wanted to show you the impact it can make.

So get ready!

Take a tour with me if you will.

BEFORE: Prior to staging.

This is the entrance to the English basement.

Note all the dark wood tones...

All the trim....

Wainscoting.

And AFTER:

Kim had the entire house painted in a neutral tone,

and all the trim painted white.

Brilliant!

BEFORE: Looking into family room.

AFTER: Even the brick fireplace was painted.
And what a difference!

BEFORE: Back wall of family room.

AFTER: In addition to painting, Kim had the wall shelves removed.
Totally opens up the space. Genius!

BEFORE: Powder room

AFTER with painted trim, updated fixtures.

And here we are in...the BEFORE kitchen.

Dark walnut cabinets....

Between the dark wood and the fact that we're below ground level....

well...it's just not very fresh and airy, is it?

Ceramic tile floor..

...runs through to the dining area.

AFTER:
I painted all the cabinetry, inside and out,
in Benjamin Moore White Dove.
I removed the wooden apron above the sink,
and changed out the fluorescent light fixture to a simple halogen fixture.
Just opening up the window that little bit makes a difference.

Kim had all the appliances updated to stainless,

and had granite countertops installed.

I replaced all the cabinetry hardware with satin nickel knobs, pulls and hinges.

BEFORE: Adjoining dining area.

AFTER:

I changed out the dated brass chandelier to this satin nickel fixture.
Kim had all the walls painted in Sherwin Williams Softer Tan.

And finally, my very favorite part of the whole makeover,
Remember the dingy ceramic tile?
This is the same tile!!!!!! Kim had the grout changed to white!!