Dallas Home Staging Project

I thought I'd share some before and after photos of a home staging project I just completed.  It was a beautiful 8000 sq. ft. Mediterranean style home situated in an exclusive neighborhood of Dallas called Highland Park. The owner is getting ready to put it on the market next month.

This is the main entrance from the wrap-around driveway.  There are two sets of doors.  The exterior old wooden doors (shown open, but you can see the wood frame) take you through a small courtyard to the main entry doors, which are beautiful scrolled iron and glass french doors. The landscaper is coming soon, and will replace these evergreens in the large terracotta pots with a couple of holly trees to give it a nice, clean look.

This is the private courtyard at the entry with a skylight above, and to the left and right are beautiful trees, shrubs and walkway around the entire perimeter of the home.  (I will show 'after' photos of the exterior as soon as the landscaping is done.  In the meantime, I have removed all of the pots and rug and am replacing with some fresh flowers).

BEFORE:  The main entryway looking back towards the front door.  The library is on the right and the living/dining rooms are on the left.

AFTER:  I kept the artwork a little more neutral for prospective home buyers that will be coming through.  I have since tweaked this area adding more natural twigs to the beautiful lamps I found.  Too bad there were no outlets near!  Oh well, they were just too pretty to pass up, and the owner can use in their next home.  

The Library before...

And, AFTER...  I removed the sofa, ottomans, two large cabinets and re-arranged the furnishings.

By removing all excess furnishings and artwork, the room now shows off the beautiful parquet flooring and paneling on the walls and ceiling.  Not to mention the awesome silk lined window treatments that are found throughout this lovely home.

BEFORE:  An overall view of the living and dining rooms.  

BEFORE:  Notice all of the chests and artwork that line each wall

AFTER:  I moved the large armoire to the right and added a plant and table on the left side.  I removed the large sofa and added a few pillows, throws, coffee table books and a new wool rug to define the seating area and add some color.

AFTER:  The overall view.  

AFTER:  Living Area

BEFORE:   Dining area

AFTER:  I moved a curved bench from the kitchen to the seating group, added some accessories to the tabletop and removed artwork and excess furnishings.

BEFORE:   One of many bathrooms with wonderful tile inlays throughout.

AFTER:  Just added fresh towels and soap dispensers to freshen up.

AFTER

Just wanted to show one of the two stairwells in the home with faux painting 

BEFORE:  The home is U-shaped with a courtyard and pool in the middle.  This is one of the long hallways that lead around the home.  I put a lot of miles in running up and down the hallways, front and rear staircases, etc.

AFTER:  Same hallway looking down the opposite end.  I left one table and piece of art above it, and let the window stand out with the pretty silk draperies.

BEFORE:  Breakfast area.  I moved one of these curved benches to the dining room table and pulled the two chairs that were on the opposite wall to this arrangement.  I also took down the artwork.  The fish tank is awesome.   

These are the chairs I moved to the breakfast table.

AFTER:  I added one neutral piece of artwork to accent the hand-painted crown molding throughout the breakfast nook and kitchen.  

AFTER:  I found this cool fossil in the owners study....
 It went so well with the fish tank backdrop.

This photo was 'a work in progress'.  I was still removing things off the kitchen counters.  Checkout the hand-painted ceiling beams and intricate tile back splash. The sunken family room is straight ahead.

In Progress.....  I replaced the chairs for a few stools at the island and at this point was working on adding some decorative accessories.

Here is the view of the courtyard from the kitchen windows.  Once again I don't have an 'after' photo yet, but I removed the drapery panels to show off the windows, and also removed everything from these counters, including the poinsettia. (Why can't I ever keep mine alive after Christmas?!!)

BEFORE:  Family Room 

BEFORE

AFTER:  (Looking from the opposite angle in this particular photo).  I added a rug, and moved the living room sofa  here and removed its slipcover.  I also brought in a chair, changed up the artwork and accessorized the bookcase.

AFTER:  A set of new pillows and throw make this a cozier room.

AFTER:  I love the little green topiary balls placed in red pots to balance the color throughout the room!

BEFORE:  Office Nook (Two offices AND a library in this home!)

AFTER

BEFORE:  One of 5 bedrooms in the home.  This room had a lot of heavy furniture in it.

AFTER:  I removed the chaise and tables, accessorized the bookcase and changed up the bedding and artwork.  

AFTER

AFTER

BEFORE:  Another bedroom with over-sized furnishings

AFTER:  I removed the chairs and bookcase and added new bedding, lamps, artwork.

AFTER

BEFORE:  This large room on the 2nd floor of the home overlooks the pool and courtyard.  It was called the 'reading room' and has faux-painted walls, wood beams and gorgeous hardwood floors.

BEFORE.....A rainbow of color!

AFTER:  I moved the sofa that was in the 1st floor library up to this room, added an area rug, and removed most of the chairs and mix match of tables to make a cozy seating arrangement that faces the view. (Oops, i forgot to include that view for you!)

AFTER

AFTER

BEFORE:  The Master Bath!  This didn't need much staging with its pretty tile inlay floors, shower and hand-glazed cabinetry throughout!

AFTER:  I just added some decorative accessories, pretty soaps, towels and greenery to soften the look.

AFTER:  This wall was bare except for the TV.  I brought in the table from another room, as well as the mirror and lamps.

AFTER

AFTER

BEFORE:  Master Closet

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AFTER

Another long hall way leading from the 'Reading Room' to the Master Bedroom.  I removed all of the chests in the hallway to open it up even more.

BEFORE:  Master Bedroom.   I just love the wood beams, soft powder blue walls with hand-painted ceilings.  I could not convince the owner to remove the TV and armoire, but i think any prospective home buyer can get the idea of the greatness of this Master Bedroom.

BEFORE

AFTER:  New bedding, rug, lamps and night stands.  Also, proper furniture placement and artwork.

AFTER:  So peaceful and inviting.  Love the freshly dry cleaned blue silk panels on all the french doors.

AFTER 

BEFORE:  This room is also on the 2nd floor overlooking the pool and courtyard.  The owner had been using it as an exercise room down the hall from the Master, but the realtor asked that I make it into a bedroom.

AFTER

AFTER

This is the courtyard.  The landscaper will be arriving tomorrow to remove all of the random pots around the perimeter to give it a nice, clean look.   I just wanted to show it to you in the meantime.

All of the trees will be trimmed and some shrubs removed.  Past the covered portico area is a room to a sauna/shower spa.  The owners purchased this home because they wanted to feel like they were at a 'resort'!  I'll say!

Part of the sauna room....the other side has a nice, spacious tiled shower and sink.

The home is even prettier at night with all of the spotlights shining on the magnificent, mature trees.

It takes a lot to keep a home this size going.  During my one week of staging,  I met the fish tank serviceman, the pool man, the handy man and the landscaper!