It’s here! The complete room by room tour of our house in Arizona, as it was when we sold it. We lived in and loved this house for four years, and along the way, made it our own. It sold in one week (almost to the minute) for full asking price.
To put that into perspective, our realtor told us to expect it to take 30-60 days. I think the improvements we made to a wonderful house to begin with coupled with some great DIY staging contributed to the quick sale. Scroll to the end for some house staging tips!
The “before” photos are either from the original house listing, or were taken when we toured the house. The “after” photos were either from our house listing (taken by the photographer our realtor hired) or I took myself.
Exterior Front
Before:
The haunted house trees had to go. Of the three orange trees in the front yard, two were dying or mostly dead. Only the grass in the middle of the yard got water from the flood irrigation. In typical Arizona fashion, the house matched the desert landscape: shades of brown.
After:
We removed the two dead trees in the front yard and installed a sprinkler system around the edge where the grass wasn’t getting water. We also replaced the dead grass in the space blocked in by the sidewalk along the front of the house with rocks.
Painting completely changed the character of the house. It no longer feels dingy and dated, but like a transplanted beach cottage. We chose a white paint formulated specifically for brick for the walls, navy blue for the trim, and “Peach Mimosa” by Behr for the front door.
Shutters brought more charm to the exterior and kept it from looking like a white box. We ordered vinyl shutters online from Architectural Depot. While the site isn’t intuitive to order from, the prices can’t be beat.
Staging Tip: Brightly colored plants at the front door make a great first impression. I bought the plant stand from IKEA, and the pots I’d collected and painted over the years. I filled the pots with fresh plants for the listing photos and took the flowers inside every day to keep them from wilting in the Arizona heat.
Entryway
Before:
It’s nice. Beige. Maybe a little boring, but nice.
After:
Our navy blue wall makes a statement! The gold frames and deer head add elegant contrast. I’m always changing around the decor, so when I pulled a few old pictures for this post the art isn’t the same as that final photo, but here’s where everything is from: the deer head is from Joanns and I painted it gold. The blue jay painting was made by Brian’s great-grandmother. I thrifted, painted, and distressed all of the picture frames. The vintage egg picture is a free download from the Graphics Fairy, and the wooden heart, mint oval frame and key on the far side I bought at a craft fair. The fabric “Keep Moving Forward” banner is a DIY, as is the wood state art, and the mossy letter “C.” The book page wreath is also a DIY.
Staging Tip: Remove some furniture. Photos one and two of the entryway were before staging, the last one is the “after.” While the table with decor looks great on a normal day, for staging, remove pieces of furniture in small areas – especially hallways. The entryway feels bigger without it there.
Where to put the furniture? Designate half of your garage. Chances are if you’re moving, you’ll be storing boxes in there anyway, and a garage is a garage. It doesn’t need to look pretty.
Office
Before:
As you can see from the listing photos, the previous owners used this room as a family room. It’s beige (surprise), and the only room in the house with carpet … the previous owners’ cats’ favorite place to hang out, apparently.
After:
We immediately ripped out the carpet. Like, within the first few months. Brian is extremely allergic to cats, and our dog Sirius wouldn’t stop peeing on it, so it had to go. We installed bamboo flooring that matched the rest of the house perfectly.
We created our own built-in shelves with Billy bookcases from IKEA with extenders on top, and lights. Then we added a wrap around desk with desk chairs and file storage, all from IKEA. The lamps are from IKEA, and the dresser in the corner that I used for all my craft supplies is from IKEA as well. About the only thing not from IKEA is the rug, which is from Target.
Staging Tip: Cut the contents of your bookshelves in half. The empty space makes the shelves and the room feel even bigger. Plus, now the books and knickknacks aren’t distracting from the features of the room. Don’t leave the shelves completely empty, so people can still picture themselves living there.
Kitchen, Dining Room, Laundry Room
Before:
The walls are that same beige plaguing the rest of the house, and kitchen feels like a cave with the heavy upper cabinets and low ceiling. The cabinets are dated, although in good shape. The laundry room with the massive wall of cabinets and counter was a major selling point for us. The washer and dryer are on the other side of the room, and I wish I had a before photo – just picture a cheap white wire shelf over it.
After:
We updated the paint color in here to a light gray. Painting the kitchen cabinets (see how we did it) made the biggest difference, hands down. The black granite countertops star now. Removing the upper cabinets in favor of these DIY copper bracketed open shelves almost completely cured my claustrophobia in here, and we didn’t even have to tear out the ceiling!
In the laundry room, we replaced the white wire shelves with industrial pipe and raw wood. It makes doing laundry more fun when you have cool shelves!
Our kitchen table was given to us from my parents, but the chairs are from Amazon. I made the big chalkboard over the table by repurposing a mirror for around $15.
Staging Tip: Clear the counters, fridge, and table from nearly everything. For people looking at your house, the kitchen is a top priority, so you don’t want any distracting clutter on your fridge or appliances on your counters. Seriously, tuck away the toaster, the mixer, the pile of mail, and the bottle collection into your cabinets, out of sight. Keep out only a few simple and classy canisters, utensil holder (that’s not overflowing), nice soap dispenser. Then add something fresh to add some life, like branches from outside, fresh flowers, or a bowl of fruit.
Living room
Before:
Still beige. You’re not surprised by this point. The slump block fireplace, while a great feature, feels dingy. With vaulted ceilings and gorgeous floors, this room should feel much bigger.
After:
The light gray carries into this room and down the hallway. Painting the fireplace (Polar Bear by Behr, high gloss) breathed fresh life into the living room and made the space feel like we added square footage.
Our rug is from IKEA, and the wingback chairs are the result of a dumpster dive. The fireplace tools are from Goodwill, I bought the gold mirror and arrow plant stand at a craft fair. I made the “Be Still” wood sign on the mantle, and the tree stump side table.
Staging Tip: Staging is not real life. You’ll notice there’s no couch in this picture. That’s because we moved it to the garage for this photoshoot so we could get better views of the gorgeous hardwood flooring. The corner fireplace made this room a challenge to arrange, so taking out the couch keeps it from feeling blocked in or cramped.
Guest Bedroom
Before:
You can see it better in the second photo, but this room was not beige – it was chocolate brown. At night, it felt like you couldn’t have enough lamps to make it NOT cavelike.
After:
My mother-in-law and sister-in-law painted this room for me in the heat of an Arizona summer when I was pregnant with Edison. It’s the same airy light blue as the office. Side note: keeping a cohesive color scheme throughout your entire house will help it feel restful, serene, and put together. So don’t be afraid to paint rooms the same color … just not beige. Please.
Brian and I made the wood headboard, and the chair is from my in-laws, and I freshened it up with white chalk paint. This room always felt like a dumping ground for all the accessories and art that didn’t fit anywhere else, but a few months back I gave it a minimalist-boho makeover. The glass terrariums are from Amazon, the throw pillows on the bed are from Target (similar), and my mom made the quilt.
Kid’s Bedroom
Before:
We called this the “Pepto-Bismol Room,” for obvious reasons. I’ve got nothing against pink – in fact, it’s one of my favorite colors – but for the love, pick a pretty shade that doesn’t cause nausea upon viewing. And please don’t pair it with a poop dark brown. Pepto coupled with poop brown just is not the color story anyone wants.
After:
Here’s Edison’s nursery set up before he was born, if you’re curious about it’s transition to a big boy room. Lovely soft gray replaced the poop and Pepto paint, and it’s neutral enough to work for either a boy or girl, older kids, and guests as well.
Most things are from Target, such as the curtains, bedspread, a matching rug that we removed for the photos, the storage bin, the laundry basket and toy box. The dresser came with the big mirror that I turned into a chalkboard for the dining room. I paid $30 for both! I updated the dresser to match Edison’s room, and it’s one of my favorite pieces of furniture. Edison’s big boy bed is from IKEA, and the wall art are all freebie prints I found on Pinterest.
Staging Tip: Clean your kids’ room, and don’t shove it all in the closet. People want to see how big the closets are, so try to keep them as empty as possible. Again, make use of the garage for storing things you’ve packed up, or bring them back inside after taking the photos.
Main Bathroom
Before:
It felt tiny, due to the dated tile and bright shower curtain. Oh, and the walls were beige.
After:
We updated this room last, and I’m sad about it. It was so much nicer to live in once it was gray! It actually had the spa-like feeling I wanted. We kept the cheap cabinets, and even the dated flooring. If I’d had the time/money, I would have loved to update the floor, but at least the tile was in great condition.
Staging tip: White shower curtains and towels will bring the spa zen to your bathroom. It’s worth picking up a few at Target, and you might decide you want to use them in your next place whenever you’re craving that hotel feeling.
Master Bedroom and Bathroom
Before:
Poop brown makes another appearance, this time on all the walls in the master bedroom and bathroom. This is a giant room and the dark color was hiding it, and the TV and furniture blocked and distracted from the best feature: the bay window. Also, that shower – its dropped floor was apparently cool in the 80’s!? The vanity tile might take the prize as the ugliest tile I’ve ever seen.
After:
Light gray to the rescue again! I added a pop of aqua to the wall behind the vanity and the bathroom, just for fun. The curtains are from IKEA, the rug from Amazon, the headboard from Amazon, the dressers we use as nightstands are IKEA. The lamps I bought at Target (similar), as well as the shower curtain and white towels. Did you know you can paint tile countertops? Here’s the full post on our vanity transformation!
Staging Tip: Hide the bathmat and toothbrushes. You don’t want people walking all over your bathmats anyway, and they make the room feel smaller. And no one wants to see your toothbrushes, make-up, or curling iron. Keep the counters and nightstands clear except for simple and pretty accessories.
Backyard
Before:
The people who lived in this house were urban homesteaders, complete with a big garden and chickens. Tragically for me, they ripped out the garden when they moved, and I never could grow anything there except weeds.
By law, you need to have a safety fence around your pool, or even around the porch, or in some way keep it from being accessible. For some reason, they chose to put the fence across the middle of the yard, which does nothing to keep a toddler from going out the back down and falling in.
After:
Welcome to paradise! We installed a proper safety fence that we bought from Amazon, and it’s also removable in case someone wanted to take it down for a party. Painting made a huge difference back here as well, especially the white porch ceiling. Brian hung the string lights, which turn off and on with a remote. The ceiling fans are actually the same, but they really pop against the white. The garden beds are all empty, because as I said, I’m a failure at gardening. The chairs and grill are from Home Depot, the rug is from Amazon, the cart is from IKEA I believe.
Staging Tip: Set up a seating area on your porch or patio to help people picture themselves relaxing there. I even set out beach towels on one of the chairs!
Bonus Staging Tip: To take your own photos, squeeze yourself into each corner of the room to get every angle. A fish eye lens will help, just don’t go crazy. I didn’t include some of the professional shots in this post because they looked too unrealistic. You don’t want people to get a shock when they see your place in person and it’s not like the pictures!
And that is it!!! I hope you learned something useful from these staging tips. And you know, even if you’re not selling your house, sometimes it’s nice to pare down, clean the slate, and get a fresh perspective on your space.
If you enjoyed this home tour/tips post, let me know in the comments below! Don’t forget to and pin it on Pinterest to save it for later!
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