Room staged by Lori Matzke, as seen in the Minneapolis Star Tribune

Sitting room gets ready for bed with a remake
Jim Buchta, Star Tribune
Jan. 3, 2009

The space: A bedroom in a four-bedroom house near Lake Calhoun in Minneapolis.

Selling points: Original hardwood floors and sunny west-facing exposure.

Selling drawbacks: Treated as a sitting room and furnished with items from the rest of the house, the room was rarely used by the current owner.

Staging strategy: To show this room as a bedroom because it has the best configuration of any of the sleeping rooms on the upper level, said Lori Matzke of Centerstagehome.com. "It really didn't need to be anything fussy," she said. "Just enough to give buyers the idea that it really was big enough for a bed and dresser and to play up the floors and natural lighting."

Removing the area rug shows off the hardwood floors.

Replacing the lifeless red panel drapes with soft sheers gives the room a more relaxing appeal and lets sunlight show through.

The sofa was replaced with an inflatable bed the owner used for guests. Giving it a creamy white comforter with matching pillow shams and a decorative throw pillow makes the room feel clean and comfortable.

Positioning the chair and table at an angle in the corner makes the space feel more inviting.

A small $4 lamp from a secondhand shop with a $4 shade adds additional light to the room and a silver vase of deep red silk mums adds a shot of lively color.

Hanging neutral artwork on the bright gold wall draws your eye through the space and emphasizes the size of the room.

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