Assuming you staged this for someone to sell, it looks great. The furniture is neutral enough to not stand out.. As someone who doesn't like midcentury modern in my own home, the furniture does a good job of distracting from the MCM elements of the home. (I'm afraid if the furniture was all MCM, the house would scare off buyers who don't want that specific look....)

I like the house "bones" - at least the ones I can see.
I think it has tons of possiblities - but, the current set-up and style of furniture is not one that I would prefer.
Kitchen dining area could use a rug and I would match the bar stools to the table chairs - or have a very close match.
If the house is being "shown" for sale - it's neat and clean looking - no clutter.
If the room w/the fireplace is the FR - I think finding a place for the tv would be a real challenge.
The floors are very pretty!
It could use ceiling lights in the FR and DR.
Many changes could be made to make it feel like a "real" house/home. JMHO

In my neck of the woods this look would go over well as far as staging goes. Of course there are things in the rooms that I do not like (dining room light) but there is nothing to throw me off if I were looking to buy this style of house. Everything looks clean and tidy too.

I think most people would find it very pleasant! I think it's very calming, and feels reasonably cohesive even though there are different styles in it.

What others have said: very nice, calm, clean, and overall pleasant. It showcases furniture sizes and placement and is gender neutral. I hate mcm, so having a mishmash of styles is much preferable to me.

I'd say it's inoffensive, if a bit bland. But I don't know the back story -- if it was all done on a $500 budget, well, DAMN!

On first glance the only thing that really bothered me was the breakfast room chairs that seem much too large for the table. Looking more closely, the priority items would be to replace heavy curtains with sheers to lighten up the space, and for the same reason, consider changing area rugs to something more vibrant. In the living room, it feels to me like you can talk to the fireplace, or have a tete a tete at the little table on the far side of the room, but normal conversation is not really happening. So I'd address that. As others mentioned, different lighting could really help as well. I'd love to see a closer look at the chair near the dining room fireplace -- looks like an interesting piece.

For me it's too formal for the bones of the house. for eg. - The furniture needs crown moulding but the architecture of the house does not.

It's quite conservative and I don't think it will ever be considered dated. It looks comfortable but not relaxing.

As an aside - lighting is obviously an issue with only one light in the living area and no chandelier in the dining area. The buffet table lamps are too high for that vignette but are perhaps masking the fact that there is no chandelier.

I am thinking though, that the room set up as the dining room isn't the original dining room but the original living room; and the area set up as the living area was the family room with the eating area placed where it is now.

If this is a "staged" home, it is done nicely and shows off the space well, which is what a buyer should be looking for.

I don't like MCM furniture, so even if it were more appropriate, I wouldn't use it.

If I were going to live in the house as is, I would probably rearrange the LR furniture.

In the DR, the large lamps look like they are "hogging" the end space of the buffet - they are the same height as the picture. Not a big issue and easily fixed.

I would also prefer a lighter background rug in the DR area - too close to the color of the flooring. Same for the drapes.

Overall, WELL DONE for staging; Would TWEEK for living.

It's pleasant & attractive enough, but doesn't quite show the home to its advantage. Jute rugs instead of traditional orientals, perhaps? Neutral nubby fabrics? A few of these lamps or perhaps similar vases instead of fussy floral arrangements?
It needs more emphasis on strong lines & shape to balance the architecture -- either the furniture or fabric or the accessories. Less little fussy stuff & patterns.

(Hoping the picture shows...)

Grrrrr...! Why can't you hot link to a picture at a commercial site anymore?

Here is a link that might be useful: Lamp -- nice shape & color for that home

Looks like a beautiful house, btw. Hope we can see more pictures.

The house is great.. the furniture not so much.

The living room furniture is arranged horribly.

The DR lamps are HUGE. And how do you have an evening dinner with no overhead lighting in there?

As far as style, you can't please everyone so you will always have those who dislike what's done. If this is for staging, it's so not important.

Wow! Tons of input. Thank you!!

So... here is the story,

A friend of mine staged this home for 1500 (I was not invloved in this job) and she did the baths, dining area, breakfast nook (believe me its a tiny nook not a dining space) and the living room. She received great feedback.. until the owner saw the place.

He was not a happy camper and said he wanted a wrought iron table with a granite top for the nook and that he wanted lots of oversized leather and huge chairs. He thought it should be like the governors mansion and that it looked like grandma stuff. BTW we are in south Texas and people love oversized things and you often see walls of crosses etc. I am not bashing in any one style just pointing out what you see very often here.

He then made her take everything out that day except the curtains and the art.

I was shocked.

Thanks so much for your feedback!

Here is a link to the house that is for sale. You can see some other photos.

Here is a link that might be useful: Link to house for sale

If this is for a staging, I wouldn't worry one more bit about the furnishings. It's all very handsome, pretty, good looking. I don't think anyone will be put off. The house looks great. Furnishings are attractive and not cheap looking. The colors are really nice too. Overall very pleasing! Great job!

No, I don't care for the furniture in that house. It seems dated, not in conformance with the house style and somewhat out of proportion, e.g., those buffet lamps. I am the type, however, that can look past someone else's furnishings if I'm interested in the house; and from what I can see, I like the house very much. Generally, the house is clean, uncluttered and easy to view.

I think the homeowner is being unreasonable and it looks much better with the staging furniture than it does without.
It looks like staging furniture and people understand that they are looking at staging if the house is underfurnished and impersonal.

It's really supposed to give a potential buyer an idea of what fits, and overscaled furniture is going to send the wrong message in that regard.

If I were your friend I would probably refund the money and walk. I don't think the homeowner will be easy to please.

Probably not helpful to comment now, but I agree with the owner (not with what should be there, but with what was there). I really, really like the house but the furnishings looked pretty dated. Interesting that he liked them, but two of the things I liked the least were the art and the draperies.

While I don't exactly agree with the owner, I can see his point. If the other houses for sale and the comps in the price range have the Texas decorating vibe the staging might be a problem.

I would love to hear more about her staging decisions. Was she working with an empty house or was she trying to use the owner's things?

Thanks for sharing.

Hmmm. After seeing the the other pictures, I'm not sure what the owner is complaining about. All that tumbled stone set in a diamond pattern with the small accent tiles (dated!), the entry door, the colonial interior doors -- none of it looks native to the house. Big Box Store mediocrities. It's a mish mash of styles anyway.

Funny the owner found the furnishings "grandma stuff" when the home improvements aren't exactly cutting edge themselves.

The owner is a dolt head! $1500 for a full staging is an amazing accomplishment and a huge improvement for the better compared to empty. I feel bad for the stager, however, she should have charged a much greater amount for her services (must have had a clue about the dolt head) and put in a âÂÂlimitedâ few honking pieces to make him happy. She could have put in less but bigger. Since the owner specified a certain table, table tops and such he is not in the âÂÂdeal stagingâ category. If he wants to micro manage the staging the stager needs to be compensated for the extra work.

I agree with just about everything each of you has said.

Pal, she kept his deposit and walked.

awm, AMEN to that!!

jterry, I totally agree

Dee, this was a completely empty house that the investor purchased and did a poor job rennovating (IMHO).

I think that the owner should have defined the house as mid century modern and he went very far away from that style. I mean, the front door??? Really?

I think my friend jumped head first in without talking with owner regarding what he wanted. She only worked through the realtor.

I also, think the staging could have been better, but its staging and on a small budget at that. I thought the house looked far better furnished than not furnished.

Lastly, I think the owner/investor is crazy and has no idea what is what. haha

Yeah, if he just did this to the house as an investment, he didn't know what was doing. I thought if he had lived in it, that's different because he did what he liked however misguided it is. However a lot of people will probably like it because it is "current" and not know what to do with the fireplace, the clerestory windows or the beamed ceiling, and next year the new owners will find GW and ask what to do with the "ugly, dated" fireplace.

That is hilarous Pal!

If he was that specific about what he wanted, he should have made that clear at the outset. I also don't understand why those in charge of staging didn't consult with or include him in the process of staging his home. How did it reach final completion without him at least showing up at some point to find out what was going on with the project? Micro managers, or even moderately interested parties, are not usually absentee.

Did the house sell? I hope the first thing that the new owners do is get rid of that front door. It does a disservice as an introduction to the house.

I completely agree Snookums!

Bl, it just went on the market two days ago. Yes, front door would be first to go for me as well.

Not to dump on your friend, but I think it was very poorly staged, especially since there is a well known and accepted style for the area. I would have taken the drapes out too. The owner would have been better off spending his money on landscaping and a little paint on the garage doors.

never mind. I had hot linked to the lamp that amw was trying to post a photo of. It showeds up in the preview and then, poof, it vanished.

This post was edited by graywings on Mon, May 20, 13 at 17:16

Yes. Never used to have that problem. I can still hotlink to my own pictures at photo hosting sites, but not to commercial sites.

First, I really like that fireplace and the beams. And I have never sold a home, so I have no true expertise to offer. The decor seems to make the rooms feel spacious (in a good way), but they don't seem to go all that well with the bones of the house (from what I can see). I've never seen true TX style, so I'm struggling to imagine overstuffed leather chairs fitting with the architecture. Clicking through the link you provided, it does seem like he went a different direction than the bones of the house, so I think the decor kind of fits in with the more traditional direction he seems to have taken the house with the remodeling.

The house itself, no. lol Someone else will probably look at it as reno work that needs to be done! Wow he really botched a modern house with traditional fittings. I can't believe I'm seeing one of the sculpted glass doors on an MCM now. He should have left the furnishings in. Makes no sense.

Sad to say, but this is very typical of the types of interiors put into renovations in my location whether the original shell of the house be from 1850 or 1950.
It's also somewhat typical of a fair amount of what gets done in GW stylistically, albeit more personalized. One rarely gets to see the context of the entire house though so it isn't as apparent.

I regularly get sniped at by the "do what you love, it's Your house" posse when I try to advise people to rethink choices or to honor the style of the house. I can visualize this fireplace's cousins in a number of posts where the general advice was to alter it and make it look "less dated" instead of letting it be what it is.

I am talking about the owner's renovations, not the furnishings so much, although mostly transitional is what is popular right now for furniture as well.

This post was edited by palimpsest on Mon, May 20, 13 at 19:54

I second Palimpsest on renovations that disregard the period style of the house.

The house shown in the OP's pictures is a good example of thoughtless renovation. On the surface it looks somewhat pretty, but I would wonder if other possible issues like electricity or plumbing were properly taken care of.

Having lived in different countries, I've been fortunate to realize that style conventions and fashions are highly subjective. I can't say that I'm 100% free of some stereotypes or prejudices, but the exposure to different cultures has been liberating.

It appears that the notion of "dated" in home decor, architectural styling and interior design is very typical for the US. Also, there's a strong focus on the resale value. Perhaps it's a result of the aggressive marketing media, high population mobility and rise of a "disposable" culture here. Many people are very susceptible to all sorts of marketing messages.

In Russia there's basically no concept of "dated" when it comes to furnishings or home design. People buy furniture expecting it to last 40 or 50 years. A house might be ugly, poor quality, or lacking a functional design, but never really "outmoded". It's only a certain style, and that's all. Now I'm wondering if it is going to change in the next 10 or so years as a new generation of Russians grows up in the capitalist economy.

I can't speak so confidently for other European countries because I didn't have a chance to live there long enough to learn the culture. Brits appear to be less preoccupied with being "old-fashioned", but, hey, they still have houses built 300, 400 or even 500 years ago. A friend of mine lives in a 1700's building in Scotland. A whole different sense of one's residence there.

On the other hand, modern architecture and decor seem to be quite popular in Germany, which is only understandable after the scale of destruction the country suffered in WWII. Most of the post-war rebuilding was done in a modern style and several generations of Germans grew up with it. Also, there's not much focus on resale value since many families expect to live in the same house for many years and even for several generations.

If I were buying the house featured here, I'd be tempted to ask the seller for a credit to replace the doors, rip out the tile and countertops and generally restore the place to the original period design. LOL.

This post was edited by LanaRoma on Mon, May 20, 13 at 20:59

I just LOVE the outside of the home, totally the kind of home I'd like to buy :-) I don't like the kitchen update or bathroom updates, they seem very wrong for the home.

I do like the staged furniture, I think it neutralizes the MCM look without clashing. I like the MCM architecture, and I like an eclectic furniture style with SOME MCM and some more transitional.

It sounds like the investor didn't care about keeping with the style of the home, he just wanted to update it with what's trendy and try to showcase it as such. That is probably the thing I dislike most about investors, when they take a home with a certain style and wreck it. I think they should only do that when the home doesn't really have a style.

melle_sacto, I can echo everything you said. I also love the exterior but after seeing it, the kitchen and bath are just wrong.

People wreck their houses all the time. My dad complained about things like this for as long as I remember. That was long before the renovation craze. Bad proportions, odd additions, poor design is pretty discouraging on mass produced builder homes in a nice neighborhood (or not so nice for that matter) too. Some have gone in with good intention but the execution is poor to really bad when it didn't have to be that way. I think they think they can just call some contractor and say I want to ... I'm sure some are oblivious and pleased with the results, they got their .... so it works for them. Even just adding those blazing white vinyl replacement windows can be a real eyesore on a home and in a community. The well done alteration seems to be few and far between around here. When I see one, I really take note!

People do wreck houses all the time, I agree.

But so many people are conditioned that "new" is better than anything else, and that "dated" must be avoided at all costs.

Quality is rarely a part of the equation. Even in these forums I read advice all the time to take out something that is high quality and replace it with something from Home Depot, just because what is there is not current.

A few years back when I posted a picture of my parents' dining room (I wasn't asking for advice). I got suggestions to take out the brass cabinet hardware and chandelier and replace it with "something inexpensive" to freshen up the room, because it was awfully dated.

The hardware was solid cast brass reproduction hardware from Colonial Williamsburg. Of course it was dated, it was designed in the 1700s. Besides that, my dad is almost 90 and has no interest in a "freshened up" dining room.

While I don't personally care for the furniture, the purpose of staging as I understand it is to show potential buyers how rooms can be arranged with the things most people have--- tables, chairs, sofas, etc. For $1500 I can't imagine the seller would think he'd be renting furniture long term. And the house is not that spacious, so the oversized Texan aesthetic of huge leather sofas and big everything would make it look crowded and small--- not a positive, obviously. I have always found it difficult to believe buyers are as stupid as so many people seem to think they are but it seems in some cases the sellers are just as bad. Whatever happened to common sense??

That's exactly what staging is supposed to look like. Non-decorating decorating. She did a great job.

As an aside, do they stage at all price points, now? Is it really necessary for a 369k house or whatever it was?

My Realtor, with whom I probably have an atypical agent-buyer relationship, said Most people are not very smart about and do not use common sense when it comes to buying houses.

People buy houses with emotion, people buy more houses than they Should (it's now a little harder to by more house than you really Can, but people still buy more with their Wants list and not their Needs list.)

People use a visual shorthand and visualize things by what they symbolize and by a checklist. This is also why so many ugly, badly proportioned houses are being built too. If the checklist is met: double height entry, tray ceiling, granite etc.---it doesn't matter as much what it all looks like in purely esthetic way.

Kwsl, What ever happened to common sense? IsnâÂÂt it amazing? It seems to be mostly gone for good.
There is a house around the corner from me that has been for sale for ever, I think going on two years or more. So, you would think the owner would wake up and smell the coffee by now but nooo. Her house is really very nice but she refuses to take out stuff that is repelling the buyers. Buyers around here have little to no imagination but they do know what they hate. ItâÂÂs almost impossible to sell a home (around here) with eighties and nineties furniture, big blue sectional sofas, or the mauve stuff or original big black monstrous TVâÂÂs, frilly country bedroom décor and so on. That isâ¦impossible unless itâÂÂs a great deal. ItâÂÂs killing me to watch. Her house has solid natural wood interior doors, solid natural wood, and well-made kitchen cabinets. When she has replaced things like a/c or other she has done so with quality products. Still, people look at her home like the âÂÂdealâ house. She is fit to be tied. The worst part is that she has a cheesy looking screen door over her front door. All it would take is a nice front door and some landscaping around that area to at least get people in. But nooo!
So, buyers have bought homes all around her⦠with, in many ways inferior building products but with décor that helped them visualize themselves in the house or of course granite countertops (she has blue Corian). Most strong shades of blue or mauve around here are a repellent unless itâÂÂs in a bedroom.
ItâÂÂs crazy man!

I guess it's uncommon sense ð¢

This post was edited by kswl on Tue, May 21, 13 at 10:26

My first impression was of a nicely staged house, that appeared spacious and clean, freshly painted and ready to move in to. I guess I am not as picky as some people about furniture being appropriate to the house etc.

I also thought the oval backed chairs looked a bit odd but that's what led me to think the house was staged with furniture on hand.

I think it looked WAY better staged than empty, it looks much smaller now. I always think empty houses look smaller.

The MCM bones are already obliterated by the baths, the kitchen, the floors, the front door, the French doors, the added interior trim, the paneled interior doors, the light fixtures, and the paint job. Never mind those awful curtains.

The seller should have told the stager what he wanted, and let her walk at the outset when she heard his misguided ideas. That said, I don't think the staging is successful. Neutral is good, but those rooms are lifeless and awkward, in my view. I'd have done it quite differently, myself. But the owner, from the sound of it, would have hated my ideas, too.

The house I bought a couple years ago (and have yet to move into) was painted top to bottom, recarpeted in the bedrooms and completely and heavily staged for sale.

The house was first renovated for sale in 2007 and I guess because the market dropped they kept it off the market. But the house was not really lived in for three plus years. In 2007 new cheap replacement windows and a new cheap kitchen and bath went in. When I bought the house in 2011, there were still packing materials in the DW and oven.

Prior to the 2011 placement on the market the entire house was painted a dark khaki with a orangy brown undertone, and the trim painted a dark khaki with a slightly pinkish undertone. (?) And carpeted in decent quality dark khaki carpet. Then it was heavily staged with dark transitional microfiber and espresso-stained furniture.

I don't know if it wouldn't have been better to paint the entire inside off-white and call it done.

It was neutralized, it was furnished inoffensively, but it was all rather depressing anyway.

It did cover a lot of previous sins, I guess. The owner was "artistic" and one room had been Yield sign Yellow, with Stop sign Red trim. Another pale green faux finish with french blue trim. Hideous.

But the staging, although neutral, didn't really showcase the house. And, when it came time to rent it, the tenants asked that I change the depressing brown color and depressing brown carpet. The carpet stayed, it literally still smelled like new carpet, but I did paint their bedrooms since they supplied the paint.

I actually thought the house looked better empty, and cleaner than it had been, once I covered some of the khaki. I know staging is considered important in some regards but I am not sure it affected my decision to buy the house, and the tenants didn't like it either. (although their furniture looks an awful lot like the staging furniture, generic transitional).

Well, the stager certainly isn't responsible for that hideous white snake (photo 2)! Beautiful trees, and then an ugly snake greets you. Ugh. Why is it even there? There arenâÂÂt any plants at the entry area needing a corral.

Even though some individual pieces would not necessarily be my choice for the area, considering the mix and styles of the house, the staging did what it was supposed to do overall. The owner would have done better to move his attention to the other things needing improvement.

Pal, do you really think you are the average? I think you are n/a in need of staging to buy a house. Heck, IâÂÂm not even in your league and I require no staging, I have a good imagination. I do not think that is the case with most though.
I think the above staging did what staging is meant to do.

I know I don't need staging. I looked at the upstairs of my last apartment with a pair of someone's dirty underwear caught on my shoe. I looked at a house with dead poisoned rats in it. So, I don't need it, honestly.

But it didn't impress the people who rented the house From me, either.

But I think it is necessary to explain to people what the room size is in many houses. I am pretty good visual measurer, but the proportions of my new house stretched and shrank and changed every time I looked at it. Furniture gives a reasonable scale by which to gauge.

It also sometimes gives an idea what an atypical room or area may be used for.

BUT I think staging is overstated in the extent that it is supposed to be fully decorated and look like it's lived in. I looked at a house that was clearly unoccupied for some time that had the table set and books "casually tossed" on the bed and such. That is unnecessary.

But the staging shows sometimes give the idea that staging is supposed to make the house look like it is lived in by a certain type of person ("selling a lifestyle" I've heard it called) who happens to be a good interior designer on top of it all. I disagree. I think it's more important to have an idea what size bed fits in the bedrooms.