Staging a Rental Home for Sale

A friend, who is a Realtor, had asked me to help with staging the rooms for a rental property  to be sold. This seemed like something I could assist with - one of the things I really enjoy doing (and the scope of this site!) is putting a design together by harmonizing colors and accentuating with accessories.  

The challenges: 

• The owner wanted to save money in the redesign of the rooms by having us use items from her own house to stage this property. Minimal improvements only  to the walls or structure. 
• Finding the color scheme in the existing pieces of furniture and accessories to create a cohesive theme. 

 Judge the results for yourself from the before and after shots of the staged property. But I think the result is a house that looks warm and inviting!

BEFORE - Living Room 
 Red brick fireplace and yellow tinted walls and light brown rug.  hmmmm, what to do...

I saw this old painting in the owner's garage and I found the inspiration for the English style for the  living room by pulling together all the colors: red/maroon, blue, beige, brown, and gold.  The color scheme on this painting also set the tone for decorating the different rooms. 

AFTER - Living Room 

The colors on  the rug cohesively brings all the colors together in the living room.

To complete this corner's look, I used the my friend's beautiful silk floral arrangement and serving platter.   

BEFORE - Living Room Window 

Window is exposed to the street and curtains are very short.  The owner wanted it covered so it can't be seen from the outside but didn't want to spend a considerable amount on the curtains. 

AFTER - Living Room Window 

To bring out the gray colors on the floral chairs, I used grey curtains that my son used to have in his room.  To create a different look, I hand-tied the white sheer curtain and accessorized the rod with silk flowers to highlight the rosy flowers on the chairs.

I added cups (with blue teapots design)  to bring out the color of blue from the cobalt urn by the  fireplace

I pulled out the blue color from the painting by using  the cobalt vase I found in the owner's  basement  to contrast with the redness of the fireplace and  to hide the dark, old fireplace. 

BEFORE - Hallway

AFTER - Hallway 

By adding a runner in the hallway it gives this space a brighter look.

BEFORE - Kitchen nook 

AFTER - Kitchen nook 

In this room, I wanted to create a liveliness and brightness to contrast with the brown cabinets by combining the red and blue, giving it a classy contemporary look. 

BEFORE -  garden urn 

Before - contemporary dining set 

AFTER - Kitchen Table 

 I combined a garden urn and glass table to create a more up to date look with my pillows and table accessories.  

I brought in a few different plates and candlestick accessories to complete this tablescape.   

To give this space personality, I  found all kinds of blue and white accessories in the owner's garden and kitchen and displayed them on this corner opposite the kitchen nook. 

 BEFORE - Kitchen counter 

AFTER - kitchen counter 

BEFORE -  Family Room 

AFTER - Family Room 

Kept the brownish gold curtain and added a golden-hued sheer.  Used the rattan furniture that the owner  stored in the garage and borrowed my friend's rug to bring out the red, gold  and brown to look more inviting.

BEFORE - Master Bedroom 

                                                          AFTER - Master Bedroom  

Gold and brown is more pronounced in this room.  Found a bas relief golden column from the bedroom of the owner and switched an old lamp shade  to simply add flare to the base of the golden white lamp.  We had to borrow my friend's bedding to complete the color scheme for this room.  The wall is adorned by cement flowers that came from the garden.

BEFORE -  2nd Bedroom 

AFTER -2nd bedroom 

The idea for this staging is to make the buyer see the decorative possibilities of the rooms and readily imagine themselves living there.  The power of accessories!

See Also:

DIY - No Cost  Room Redesign