What Is This Room?

Let's play a game. I'll show you some photos. Then you guess what room of the house it is. You know, like bedroom, bathroom, living room, etc. Sound easy? I bet that I can stump you. Are you ready? Let's get started.

1.) What room is this?

 

 

2.) What room is this?

 

 

3.) What room is this?

 

 

4.) What room is this?

 

 

5.) What room is this?

 

 

6.) What room is this?

 

Think you know the answers? Well, if you guessed things like office, play room, or game room, then you're wrong. Here are the correct answers. . .

 

1.)  Dining Room

2.)  Dining Room

3.)  Dining Room

4.)  Dining Room

5.)  Dining Room

6.)  Dining Room

 

That's right. Each one is a dining room. Are you confused? Well, so were we. Now imagine how a buyer must feel when they walk in to what should be a dining room only to find Kids' Kingdom. It's a bit of a turn-off, huh?

 

The thing is, designing a home for living is a lot different than designing one for selling. When we work with clients to design environments for them to live and work in, we focus on functionality, personal tastes, and needs. When it's time to sell though, those considerations are secondary at best.

 

A home on the market needs to be spectacularly simple. It needs to stand out to buyers, not scare them. When a dining room is set up for anything other than dining, it sends a message to buyers that the home lacks space, organization, and functionality.

 

One of my dearest friends recently turned her dining room into a family hangout and media room. Although I cringed when she asked, I consented to helping with the transformation -- with one condition. I made her promise that when she got ready to sell her home, the room had to return to dining room status. Take a look at what she did . . .

 

 

I have to admit, I LOVE what she did in her former dining room. In fact, it is a great example of how and why to change a dining room's function. Before the change, it was unused space. Now it is a functional room gathering place for her house full of boys. But when it comes time to sell, she better wave her magic wand and change it back to something like this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Put Your Home on a Diet

Having trouble attracting buyers? Maybe it's time to go on a diet.

Homes that languish on the real estate market rarely do so because of a lack of buyers. Generally there is an underlying reason certain homes are consistently dismissed by buyers. Sometimes it is an issue of poor maintenance, other times its bad location. Our experience though has shown that most properties stagnate on the market because they are too heavy.

A home can be too heavy in lots of ways. When every room is painted in a different and very saturated paint color, the home is too heavy with paint. The same is true for wallpaper. Tons of different papers throughout a home can cause it to be too heavy in pattern. Big, overstuffed, and excessive furniture results in a room that seems too heavy with stuff. And when books, papers, cleaners, toiletries, collections, and personal items cover surfaces throughout a home, the space is made heavy with clutter.

Take a look at these heavy rooms:


Room is heavy with super saturated paint & upholstery colors, big, oversized furniture, and tons of knick knacks.
 

This room is heavy with a large furniture item that doesn't fit the shape of the room
 

This small room is heavy with excessive patterns, and clutter.
 

Room is heavy with saturated paint and large elements (the plant) that chop up the space.

Putting your home on a diet could be the key to sparking buyer interest in a sluggish listing. With really very little effort, a slow listing can become a sleek show stopper. Reducing excessive large furniture items, removing abundant patterns, getting rid of clutter, and improving lighting are all easy-to-do things that can transform your listing from blah to SOLD in no time. Take a look at these "after" photos of rooms that went on a diet.

Room was lightened by removing excessive items (coffee table, patterned throws, & clutter) and adding better lighting. The look was further improved by altering the furniture arrangement. Pieces now fit the scale of the room.

Room was improved by removing the oddly shaped desk and excessive clutter. A more spacious and airy feel was created thanks to the white curtains and open blinds.

Although some pattern remains, the room was improved by significantly reducing visual clutter & excessive patterns.
The room also benefited from improved furniture placement.  

Room has lighter and open feel because the dark saturated paint was replaced with a neutral color. Items blocking the space were also eliminated. Light elements were improved by opening the blinds and adding a light-reflecting mirror.

If you need help putting your home on a diet, contact Bradford House Consulting today! We can help you lighten up interior spaces and turn your home in to a sleek, sophisticated space guaranteed to wow potential buyers.