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Project: A formal living room in St. Paul.
Positives: Hardwood floors, a brick fireplace and lots of natural light.
Negatives: Clutter, a dated mirror, rugs hiding the hardwood floors.
With so much living going on in this living room, potential buyers would have a hard time finding the positives.
Lori Matzke of Centerstagehome.com said the owners of this St. Paul house had child-proofed the room with area rugs, essentially turning it into a play area.
"To sell the house, we needed to turn this back into an adult-sized living room," Matzke said.
Here's what she did:
Removed two area rugs to make the room feel more open and spacious, and to allow prospective buyers to enjoy the immediate impact of the beautiful wood floors.
Boxed up the toys, moving a few must-have items to a secondary room and removing bookshelves to make the room feel lighter and keep the focus on the fireplace.
Removed the mirror to keep the room from looking old-fashioned.
Painted the living room and adjoining dining room walls pale taupe with a pinkish undertone to soften the ashen wood trim and fireplace bricks, while complementing the reddish wood tones of the flooring.
Replaced the heavy, lifeless drapes with lightweight panels ($10 a pair on clearance), creating an understated, contemporary feeling that freshens the room without drawing attention away from the selling points. Keeping the panels half-shut softens the oversized view while allowing plenty of light into the room.
Edited the furnishings and arranged them to create a more inviting layout, allowing the eye to move easily from dining room to living room.
Removed a heavy side table and chair to create enough space for a buffet that was too big for the dining room.
Put the sofa in front of the large windows to keep them from overwhelming the room, and placed the buffet on the opposite wall, creating balance in the room.
To prevent the room's long, narrow dimensions from feeling like a bowling alley, Matzke anchored one end with a colorful rug from a bedroom. That created enough presence to break up the long proportions without hiding the wood floors or upstaging the fireplace.
Original artwork in neutral tones over the mantel draws attention to the fireplace. Potted grasses and two green plants draw the eye through the space.
Accessorizing with different textures in neutral tones creates an aesthetically pleasing feel without overpowering the features of the room.
A carved Asian-style side chair in the archway of the adjoining dining room creates a more continuous flow.
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