'70s Home Update
See what a difference a few improvements can make when preparing to sell a home.
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Filed under: Kitchen Color, Home Staging, Kitchens, Bedrooms, Living Rooms, Home Offices, Color
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Jani and Rick Geary are preparing to sell their home of 20+ years, but before they show it, a major makeover is in order, according to real-estate expert Donna Freeman.
She spots a hole with wires coming out of it right by the front door that needs to be replaced. The front of the house sets the tone for the overall house to visitors. Another thing she discovers before even entering the home is that the front door sticks when opened. That, too, will have to be repaired, she says.
Once inside, she begins with the first floor, which includes the living and dining rooms, kitchen and home office. She suggests lightening up the family room — the navy carpet and wood paneling are just too dark — and rearranging the furniture in the living room. There's also a duck sticking out of a portion of the ceiling to camouflage a hole.
Before:
Kitchen
Moving on to the kitchen, she assesses that while it is spacious, the blue paint needs to be updated. She thinks the dining room is more of a storage locker, and there is wasted space in the home office.
Cabinets
Lisa decided that this kitchen cabinet blocked off the kitchen and dining rooms, so she plans to remove it to make a more open space and allow natural light inside.
Master Bedroom
Upstairs, she decides that the bed in the master bedroom could use a more contemporary look, and clearing out clutter is a must. The two other bedrooms are being used as a storage facility for garage-sale items and Rick's workshop, respectively. She recommends transforming these rooms back into bedrooms before potential homeowners visit.
Living Room
The living room is nice and large, but the furniture placement was a bit awkward, according to Donna.
Spare Room
This bedroom was being used as a workshop.
The next step is getting to work. Interior designer Lisa LaPorta steps in to help navigate how to make changes specified by Donna to get it ready to sell. A team of family friends and contractor Jim Collins, have just a few days and a $2,000 budget to make it all happen.
Lisa first establishes a design plan for making all these changes happen in time for the first open house in just one week. The first step is to have a yard sale. This part should be easy, since the Gearys already have items ready to go in one of those bedrooms. They plan to use the money from the sale to replace the carpeting. The next moves are to let the sun shine in and open up the floor plan — the main living areas need to feel spacious. A couple days and hard work later, and the mission is accomplished. Let's take a look at the results:
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