We bought our home over 20 years ago. For a time, all was well. Plenty of space, nice front porch, pretty yard, mature trees, etc. But as the weeks and months passed, it became clear that our house was not happy with us. We clearly did not have natural decorating skills and our furniture placement was not ideal. Also,we had this LONG living room and we couldn't figure out how to make two distinct areas. To top it off, we had NO color sense and our walls were just boring white.
We longed for more. We were letting our house down and it was clearly falling apart, emotionally and physically. It needed nurturing!
We had to face it. The house was turning on us, complaining more and more, first by letting some raccoons in the crawl space, so that we coudn't sleep due to their constant mating - or fighting - or whatever. It sounded like someone being murdered!
Then the wallpaper started to peel, pictures would mysteriously fall off walls and then a crack appeared in our wall. We realized SOMETHING had to be done. But what? We were on a limited budget, a VERY LIMITED budget. And yet...we had an unhappy home, one that made it clear that we weren't holding up our end of the bargain.
Then I saw an ad for a home "staging" service, designed for people who wanted to sell their homes. The words that caught my eyes? Reasonable rates. So I set up a consultation, notebook in hand.
The woman in charge of the service showed up on time, very organized. As she walked around the house, she made clucking sounds and patted the walls gently. I could practically feel our home responding to her compassionate touch. She said our house had good "bones" and that it had a definite personality. The personality part we already knew about but we clearly weren't an ideal fit - yet. We had "communication issues" with our home! We'd tried to deny it but it was time to face the facts.
The home expert also said things like "Well, THIS area needs some work" and "This room seems a bit cluttered". My husband and I exchanged guilty looks. She didn't really seem to be talking to us but to the house so we didn't have to endure disapproving looks from her, although she did seem to be looking very sympathetically at our home, actually communing with it! "What does she have that we don't" I said a bit peevishly to my husband at one point. But he was too busy watching her, entranced, leaving me to sulk on the sidelines.
"Okay" she finally said, "Here's the Plan. First, get a POD, a portable storage container. Clear out every room. Then we'll move to the next step." Then she spoke to the house, saying, "There, there. Everything is going to be fine now. I promise". Her voice was so soothing, so calm. I could almost feel the tension dissipating from the rooms and a bit of ease taking its place.
But it wasn't all smooth going. I have to admit my heart did some flip-flops. What were we getting ourselves into? Would we end up with something generic and not to our taste?Would our home end up happier at the cost of our own peace of mind? But we bit the bullet and decided to take a chance. As we hauled box after box of stuff out to that POD, we realized how few of those things we'd used and wondered if it'd be worth it to haul all that back in! That was a lesson, right there.
Once the rooms were cleared, we saw our home with new eyes. Our "home therapist" showed us a palette of wall colors that were designed to make our furniture and accent pieces "pop". One shade looked very yellow to me but when it was on the wall, it barely showed up and yet it added a subtle, warm look to the room. In our bedroom, she had one color used on the entire hall, bathroom and bedroom, replacing dated wallpaper in the bathroom. We replaced the mirrored closet doors, old and cracked, and the bathroom counter. She had her husband make our mirror look customized by adding wood molding around it and harmonized the window treatments in both bathroom and bedroom.
She worked miracles in our living room as well, coming up with a study/game table for homework in one end and a seating arrangement that highlighted our fireplace. Best of all, she used most of our furniture and only added a few accent pieces of new artwork to update the look of the room. Again, harmonizing window treatments on both ends of the living room as well as the dining room.
When she was done, my husband and I could NOT believe the change! We had huge smiles on our faces and the house seemed....different...no longer unhappy. Pictures stayed on the walls. The raccoons left. The crack, painted over, never returned. The rooms glowed. I wanted to sink into the nearest chair and just keep...staring...for days.
The cost was rock bottom, well under a thousand dollars and yet she had accomplished so much! Our home had gone through therapy and come out the better for it - and so had we.
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Comments: 31
Did you take any before and after pictures?
And wow what a great deal! We're almost in the process of re-doing our main floor (waiting on stuff from Gather to process). So far we've spent a little over $1000.00, but we're re-doing our floors also and I refused to go with some of the cheaper paint because I have 5 sets of little hands that are always getting walls dirty and I need to be able to easily clean them hahaha.
When we were looking at paint, I tried so so so hard to try to get some color but I just couldn't drag myself away from those neutrals haha.
Anyway, thanks for the entertaining article!
Clever you, clever her and happy home!
Good for you.
When we moved into our house the entire house was painted white. The previous owner said it was Rice Paper, not white. blank stare
There is a vaulted ceiling in the livingroom. I was the only person who would spend time in it. Rather nice actually. Then I painted. The lower is a soft grey-green, the above a peach/yellow subtle tone. And added a neutral drapery scarf over the division between the livingroom and diningroom.
The room became a favored gathering place. There is no shame in admitting you are decorating challenged. It is amazing how the smallest of touches can make a house a home.
Here is 20 more contented years in your 'new' home.
We've got new carpet for the stairs and we're going to decopage National Geographic maps along the narrow hallway going up, then paint the borders with glow-in-the dark paint because we have a blacklight "nightlight" in the stair well.
Of course, we're a little strange. My daughter's bedroom is black,red and gold with an oriental theme. My three year old son's is light blue and gray, painted like a castle keep with crenelations going all around the room and a castle keep half-height loft bed designed and built by my husband in the corner.
OK, we're alot strange.
The thought of renting a pod and emptying out the house must have been liberating. We're working on one room at a time. Every item that is allowed to stay is going to have to undergo a quiz. Do I love you? Can I live with out you? Do I even know what you are? Is this something our children might treasure or is this something that would quickly land in the garbage? We cleaned one small area yesterday. It's refreshing to see it. Now to the next area. Slow and sure.
Glad your staging worked! I would love to see some before and after photos.
I'll try to send a thank you note to each of you as well as read your articles and here are my responses:
Mother Toad, Briggette, Mary: Thank you :)
Mary: Glad you thought it was fun. I really did have a sense of humor about this, although we were in denial about being "decorating challenged".
Denise: SHe really wasn't a house "therapist". That is just the term I used. She is actually a home stager and a good one. Even now, homes she "stages" sell much more quickly than others. But she was like a therapist, because when she changed our home for the better, WE felt better too - and I like to imagine our house felt better. Just my crazy imagination :)
Connie: Glad you enjoyed reading this
Wendy:We have a vaulted ceiling in our living room too. Those rooms can be a challenge, can't they? Your solution sounds lovely to me and I think that scarf idea is brilliant. Isn't it amazing when you can turn a difficult room into one you love?
Stephanie: I don't think you sound strange but someone who is willing to let your kids do their own thing. Our son wanted to paint one wall of his room bright red. We let him. he added Black blinds. It was a room I could not have slept in but he loved it. We all have our own tastes. HOw cool that your husband did that loft bed. I wish you'd share photos here or have you already? If so, I'd love the link!
Teresa- Decorating with children in a home can be challenging. I know a mother who has an all-white room, including sofas and she spends half her time trying to get the kids from leaving even the tiniest mark in there. Personally, I'd get slipcovers or something but each to their own. We, too, will be living a slightly different lifestyle after our kids move out but we're not hurrying the process. I don't mind the compromises - worth it for the joy of the kids! I'm sure you feel the same but they can take a toll on a house, even when they are well-mannered and relatively neat.
excellent article.... my hubby & I are definitely decorating challenged.... a friend has offered to come over and advise us on stuff but we're so cluttered right now I'd be embarassed to even have her over!
maybe after the Evil sisters in law take what they're taking
The scarf really softens the transition from one room to the other. I'd really like to see what your Therapist accomplished for you.
Yes, the House Whisperer, I like that.
Wendy - Our therapist convinced us to paint an accent wall in our front hallway a contrast color, used the same shade as our wall color on our build in bookshelves, but 3 shades darker for depth (it works) and mainly made our home feel very, very comfortable. There is an ideal distance in seating arrangments. Put furniture too close together and you feel cramped, too far apart and you feel like it isn't comfortable either
The most miraculous part? She GOT us, our interests and she highlighted the vintage dishes I collect, my favorite books, family photos,even a shadowbox with my deceased father's favorite items. Now when I walk in the home, it feels like HOME.
Ramzy - Thanks!
Karen - If you find the right person, it can be done in a week or less. It took us about 10 days but that is our fault because we had an unexpected event to deal with, not house-related. You also have to have a high tolerance for people being in your house, paint fumes and guy talk. The workers talked about every woman they knew and they really gossiped (sigh). I put on headphones, turned up the radio but still....
Exposed? You got that right! Imagine letting a person into your home with all your clutter everywhere, hoping she'd see past it. She did, thank goodness. Gotta take those risks sometimes.
We have no basement. My father built homes and he encouraged us to avoid basements. As he put it "In some areas of the country, the water ALWAYS wins". So we just didn't get one. With 3500 sq feet, we don't miss it.
wow you have 3500 square feet! That's nearly twice the size of our place!
Now we need a therapist for ...well, here, just take a look, but not with a full bladder, depending on what you find funny:
http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977099326