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Top 10 Home Décor Secrets of a Professional Stager D
id you know that adding greenery into a room or using art work as a focal point are some secrets professional home stagers use to help sellers get top dollar for their house? These are just two tricks from Patti Houston, founder of Fluff Design & Décor and Rent Fluff, a showroom filled with contemporary furniture, art and accessories for rent or purchase. Now you too can have a home that looks like it came off the pages of a magazine. Houston offers inspiration to take your home from drab to fab with 10 easy tips.
Top 10 Staging Secrets to Give Your Home the Wow Factor 1) Use oversized art for impact: To provide character in a room, hang largescale art pieces. “A piece of art can bridge architecture and decor,” adds Houston. “If you are on a budget, use great oversized prints.” 2) Make sure secondary art supports the main piece: “The secondary pieces
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really should support the main piece,” says Houston. “For instance, if you have a large abstract with a floral theme, then your secondary pieces should be abstract.” 3) Hang art no more than 60 inches from the floor: One of the biggest mistakes Houston sees over and over again is art hung way too high. “The centre of the image should be at eye level,” she adds. If your home’s like most, the art is hung in a high line circling each room. That’s a mistake. “Art displayed creatively makes it stand out more and shows off your space,” Houston says. 4) Choose accessories to support your art: Look at your art, figure out the predominant colour and coordinate your accessories in a “whisper of the other colours,” recommends Houston. 5) Use neutral-coloured furniture and add a pop of colour: “Oatmeal and grey go with just about any décor,” says Houston, adding that the trick is to change pillows and accessories with the seasons. When adding accessories, consider not just colour but also mixing edgy or traditional
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metals – such as gold, brushed nickel and silver – to take a room from dull to fabulous. 6) Every property has a “kick off” colour to start from: If you have deep red mahogany floors, for example, don’t add clashing orange accessories. “You have to make sure that everything you add into the space embraces the tone of the floor or the walls.” In one recently staged
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home, the owners installed high-gloss candy apple cabinetry. For that kitchen, Houston toned down the accessories, opting for cream tones. 7) Don’t overdo accessorizing: “Coco Chanel once said ‘accessorize your outfit and then take one piece off’,” says Houston. “It’s very easy to go from beautifully accessorized to looking like a storage room.” 8) Address focal points: A room’s focal point is what your eyes are naturally drawn to when you walk into the room. Many rooms have built-in focal points: a window with a view, for example, or a fireplace. If your room doesn’t have a built-in focal point, create one with a large piece of furniture, art or a large mirror. 9) Don’t compete with a view: If your home is fortunate enough to have spectacular views, let those be the focal point and decorate to that view. 10) Use greenery in every room: Big plants, whether succulents, ferns or topiaries, add to the look and energy of a room. “If you aren’t a green thumb, there are great quality fake trees,” she adds. “Fresh flowers always add a nice touch.” If you follow these 10 tips, your home will a beautiful place to live – and as a bonus, it’ll already be staged perfectly when you come to sell it.
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