A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of helping a family in Montgomery County, Haverford PA prepare their home for sale. The home is a stunning historic Tudor in a coveted zip code. The sellers had recently moved and the Realtor felt it should be staged to allow buyers to better envision how they could live in the home. Typically when I do a proposal for a vacant home I only provide the client with a proposal for our services and rental items, however, in this case I could not resist giving them a free bit of advice about the decor of the space because no amount of staging could hide what I saw.
The home seller had spent TENS OF THOUSANDS of dollars having a local artist paint a mural in their dining room, a mural in their daughter's bedroom and faux finishing the ceilings and walls in the foyer. In the family room they had also done a lot of creative painting and had decked out the powder room in a lovely gold and red polka dot pattern. My problem was not that the murals were ugly- they were actually beautifully done-by a skilled artist but they were a perfect example of how a home can be so overly personal that it makes it difficult for buyers to imagine how they can make this space their own.
Instead of seeing the mill-work, the high ceilings, the large windows and open floor plan, all you could notice when you entered the space was the mural- the one in the dining room even depicted the owner and his dogs making it hard for one to imagine himself dining there. Imagine the conversation during a dinner party: The guest would ask, "Wow what a great mural! Is that you riding through the English countryside on the wall with your yorkies?" The host would reply, "No, it is the previous owner. Nice hat though!"
Fortunately, however, murals are an easy and inexpensive fix for sellers looking to put their home on the market. Paint got it there and paint can remove it. I have had many heart wrenching conversations with young mothers about how the hand painted scene of Winnie the Pooh in the nursery had to go because the new owners may have teenage sons or may be a young professional couple with no plans for children.
My client did take a lot of my advice- he replaced carpet, installed new countertops in the kitchen, repainted some rooms, but DID NOT PAINT OVER THE MURALS! So in the end I had to rely on staging to make these areas feel less personal by diverting attention from the walls to the furnishings. You can take a look at my pictures below to see the results. The good news is they have had mutiple repeat showings and hopefully they will get an offer..... and hopefully they will have a little girl with the same name...
Kate, lovely job. I am surprised, though, that they did not at least paint over the personalized mural! They must know the new owner will have to paint over it. But you made the house look terrific, I hope it sells right away!
Well of COURSE it looks great. KH did it.
When are we gonna see pictures from the valley of the hot wet dog house?
THAT was a master piece.... and those Happy Hello Cup Cacti!
Me
You did a great job! You really need to post these to the group Staging "Before" & "After" Pictures so that I can feature them!
Kathy
Thanks all. I did try to "control" the walls. I hope it works.
Unfortunately, I do not have pics of the "happy cacti" although I feel a blog coming on. Maybe a new additon to the day in a life.... it is already 90 degrees here and I have to destage a house. That could be a great saga too.
Hi Kate! I just did a consult for something very similar. I know they didn't have a lot of money. I'm wondering how much of my advice they took! Paint is such a simple solution! I especially like the shot of you!! Talk to you soon!
Kim Dillon, Creative Eye Home Staging
Hi Kate, I like the first mural. It seemed to lend itself to the room, so I would have kept it. The second one however should have been painted over. Nice job!
Terry Haugen - STAGE it RIGHT!
Kate,
I'm finally 'catching up' on my AR reading....I've been waiting for these pictures! Love, Love, LOVE what you did with the house AND your staging in the Dining Room certainly took the focus off that mural!
You are definitely not only a 'class act' but also a Stager "Extraordinaire"!!!
VAL
PS...wonder what "Hannah" would think of that pic of you?!!!
I always love to see your before and afters, you are an inspiration to us all!
Hey Kate I was waiting to see these pics and I have to say great job!! The dining room looked pretty darn good. The mirror does a lot to that wall...did you do anything to the LIPS room??
Check us out as the new accessories to a fireplace in my latest blog, thanks again for lunch.
Phyllis Pafumi
Hi Kate,
What a great job you did in neutralizing the space! You successfully achieved what your client wanted and made the house more marketable. You did a great job, congratulations!
Brenda Hidden Potential Home Staging and Redesign
I actually think the mural in the dining room and faux painting would be a bonus, just the big LIPS and Hanna really through me off. ! But great job staging!
Lexa Montierth
Kate,
I completely understand the owner's affection for the murals. Here's a picture of my little girl's room. My brother-in-law drew it and my mom painted it. It will be heartbreaking when we have to sell and I can't bear the thought of it being painted over. So when time comes I will be a wreck. Isn't it crazy how we can get so attached to things?
it was a difficult conversation but you did the right thing! now they sell for more money and their daughter can get a pony! haha
the paint colors look great! did you pick it?
cheers,
cindy
Ahh, the murals. Don't you love a challenge? :)
You did a great job softening the impact in the dining room.
I love murals that are tastefully done; I always feel sad about painting over them.
I understand that we need to neutralize, though. Just in cases like this, you know if it's difficult for you, it must be twice more difficult for the owner.
julia
Hi Kate!
I’ve had a few mural homes myself. The most memorable was an amazing traditional Colonial with beautiful columns, perfect textured paint, granite, Brazilian cherry floors, etc. – very breathtaking. The huge winding staircase wall had a beach mural only Jimmy Buffet could love. The house never did sell – they rented it out instead. I wonder if the tenants were Parrotheads???
A home we bought a few years ago had a very southern scene painted on the 'formal' living room wall. It had been a retired woman's home, every room was painted a different easter egg color and had formal lacy curtains throughout. The room the mural was in was painted lime green and the scene was an old antebellum home with moss covered trees lining the grounds & a man in an old tuxedo w/ a woman n hoop skirt and parasol sitting on the lawn. We named them 'Sam & Ella" (say it out loud if you don't get the joke). Needless to say the first thing we did was paint over them.... sadly I didn't take photos. When we purchased the home it was listed as one of the highlights. I'm sure the woman who previously owned the home would cry if she knew we painted over it.