Really, I think it looks fine. It looks clean, neat, and uncluttered. If it were my house, I wouldn't bother with spending more money, time, and energy to stage it. It looks 100% better than most all of the houses we looked at when we were house shopping.

If you really really want to add some pillows and prints, I'd take a look at Walmart, Target, Big Lots, Ross, Marshall's, or whatever your local discount store is.

I don't think I saw your before but this looks great. We recently sold our home and the main thing is clean, and uncluttered. People need to walk into your home and picture their furniture, their stuff. If you wanted to add more, maybe just a couple of pillows, a towel with more color for the bath, a nice dishtowel, and you could move the plants by the railing into one of the rooms. A lot of times you are able to bring pillows and prints home to try them, so I would leave the price tag on if you decide to return them instead of keeping them. If the front of the home looks as nice as the inside, you'll be putting a "sold" sign out soon.

I agree--think it looks nice, fresh, clean, and uncluttered. I wouldnt spend any more money. If you absolutely want to--home goods, tjmax, often have clearance stuff and lower prices normally.

The only thing that I noticed was that the bureau and chest of drawers seemed kind of crowded on one wall in the master bedroom, which if I were looking at it, would make me wonder if all my furniture would fit. I might consider removing one of those pieces from the room.

Thanks for your response. I will make these changes. Regarding the bedroom furniture -- I do not have any other place to put them. More over they are on sale with along with the house.

Jim

Jim; not sure if you saw my post to you in the real estate section? Make sure you check it because there are a few replies since you posted last.

Anyway; I think everything looks fine except I'm not nuts about the curtain/bed spread combo in 3rd bedroom; hard to see the curtains but I'd change the bedding to something that matched the curtains then accent with pillows.

I think you said you're in North Jersey? You need to get the house listed ASAP- do not mess around; you're going to miss the market if you wait. It dries up mid-March because most people want to be in their new houses for when the schools close in June so that they can get everything settled by September when school starts. We listed ours late March & were on for a year. We had bids in February of the next year. If you need to sell; get it listed.

Does your wife sew? If so, she can make pillow cases for couch pillows really easy; we have a sewing post on the conversations side of this section.

btw- if you click on Check here if you would like copies of follow-ups to your message emailed to you when you make a new post; you will get an email as people reply.

I would add some lamps around all of the spaces -- lamps help to create pools of warmer, more friendly light which can help to "welcome" buyers when they look at your home.

OK, I'm going to be a dissenting voice here. To me, it looks cold, underfurnished, and unwelcoming. I realize you are selling and do not want to go to additional expense. Is there any way you could borrow some things or buy them cheaply? For example, The family room could use a rug. The hallway is very austere and if you are not going to hang a curtain over the window in the entry I think you should remove the curtain rod. In the kitchen, I would put something out to add color and a sign of life. Maybe two pretty mugs and a coffeepot? A bowl of fruit? Some apothecary jars filled with pasta or beans? Some of the TV shows on HGTV focus on styling for quick home sales. I'd watch a few if I were you and do whatever I could to quickly cozy the place up and make it look more welcoming.

Thanks for the responses.
Judithn--there is a curtain in the entry foyer--is just not visible in the picture--it is similar to the one in living room.
Rug was removed to expose the hardwood floor--I did not like the one which was anyway. Will try to find something soon.
I will also try to make the changes that you have mentioned.

teacats--we removed all the lamps in the house because they were space consuming and looked dated. Will see what can be done to warm it up.

roselvr--I hate that bed sets too. I do have other sets and I will try them. Regarding decorative pillows, I did get some from BBB just for $10, they are pretty on the sofa.

Thanks guys. Please continue your suggestions.

Jim

Do NOT put pictures on the walls. Home buyers will look at the pictures and think of all the repairs they will have to make to the holes in the walls.

Your house looks lovely. I think you could add a little 'pop' however. I would add a mirror over the mantle, and a mirror over the table in the foyer. I agree you need a few lamps and some accessories such as a large vase on the dresser in the MBR, a bowl of apples in the kitchen, a small basket on the foyer table, and a few well-placed pictures (over each toilet, the sofa and each bed). You can find some really neat ones at Target, TJ Maxx or World Market. You can use command hooks to hang the pictures and they would be easily removed since they won't be up there long. Be sure not to hang them too high. Also, I love the bedspread in the 3rd bedroom, but I would put up a solid curtain - the flowers clash.

Looks like a very nice home, but it feels rather cold, and doesn't make the spaces feel as large as it might.

Hang all your stuff with Command hooks, and mention it as an asset so no nail holes! Check IKEA or BigLots or resale places for some lamps. You need the light and warmth as mentioned by another poster.

Foyer - lamp on table, mirror hung over table. Runner in the entry to bring people into the space, and also not make them feel crowded in by the door, which the small rug does. Get rid of the curtain and rod on the window.

Kitchen - change out all the hardware to black iron. It will link the color of the appliances, and make your cabinets feel more up-to-date than the dated hardware does now. Otherwise, I think the kitchen is fine.

LR - Lean a mirror or art on the mantel, or hang with command hook. Rotate the sectional so one side is on the left side of the fireplace, the other faces the fireplace. Move the TV to the wall where the sectional was. Bring in the bulky desk from the second bedroom and put it under the half wall. Add a floor lamp, a desk lamp.

Take down the sheers- they only accentuate the different sizes of the window and slider. Take these drapes down, and trade them for the ones in the second and third bedrooms. Those bedroom drapes don't go at all in those rooms, but the red ones from the LR might work better. The ones in the bedrooms should be fine in the LR.

Master - Put the bed on the wall where the dresser is now. Move the dresser to the current bed wall. Take the armoire and angle in the corner where the window wall and the new dresser wall meet. Add a lamp on the nightstand, one on the dresser.

Other bedrooms - as mentioned above. Be sure they each have at least one lamp in them, either on the nightstand or dresser. Get rid of the sheers, especially if they are the flowered ones. If the quilt in the 3rd bedroom is reversible, do it - something plainer is better. Be sure to add a pillow sham there. Borrow one from the second bedroom - too many on there anyway.

Make the beds. The whole turned down sheet thing is kind of sloppy imo, and I don't really want to see someone's sheets.

Take the plant that is overhanging the stairs and put it on the ledge in the kitchen. It is creepy hanging down in the foyer, and too skimpy to be effective.

Best of luck for a quick sale!

I've been looking at homes to buy this past weekend, so this is definitely on my mind. Your home is clean looking inside, however, my first suggestion would be to have the meter box on the outside of your home relocated, or you may lose many potential buyers right there (if the 1st couple images are your home). It's a lovely home, but having the meter box right on the corner between the garage and the front door seems like a major handicap/eyesore. I'd seriously see how much that would cost to move.

Then try to reduce or rearrange the furniture in the bedrooms so they have adequate walkways. Les' suggestions will help with that. If you plan to sell some of those pieces, do it immediately. Too crowded bedrooms makes me think they're too small for my stuff.

I think you should get rid of the long dangly plant altogether...it's distracting and not attractive anymore...sorry...

I wouldn't be afraid to hang things on the walls--large matted framed prints at eye level or two smaller ones. Just either use very tiny diameter nails that are a snap to fill in or the command hooks others recommended. Even toothpaste will fill in tiny nail holes--that you will, of course, fill in and touch up with paint when you move out.

I'm not sure I'd want to have totally black handles on the kitchen cabinets, but agree that new hardware would be great. Perhaps just brushed nickel or dark ORB (oil-rubbed bronze) ones would work. In looking at the appliances, as a potential buyer, I'd see that those would likely need to be replaced pretty soon (especially the stove looks like a combination white/black), and the buyer would likely want stainless appliances in the future so no need to try to match to the black per se IMHO.

If you can move the curtains in a bit so they aren't quite up against the fireplace mantel, it will make the mantel not feel like it doesn't fit well there. Even if the curtains just cover the outside edge of the window/sliding door, I think that would look better than actually touching the mantel.

Good luck with your home as it has many great features! A nice bouquet of fresh flowers, a bowl of green or red apples, fluffy towels folded in thirds or rolled into a basket, and the scent & look of "clean" do wonders for a home.

Your home looks really nice. But I would put a few things in the kitchen to warm it up, something with a little pop of color (I like Judithn's suggestions). Also, put something simple on the dining table and your dresser. You don't want things to look too bland. Take notes on some of the staging on HGTV. Good luck!

I think your home looks very nice. Super clean and I like that it's not cluttered with personal items. I feel I could walk into your home and picture myself and my belongings living there. I know it's popular to totally stage homes, but I would rather see a clean, neutral slate that allows me to really see the architecture of the home, rather than the belongings. You did great!

What Les said! Always do what Les says to do. She's never wrong. No clue how she does it, but she's always spot-on. I'd probably add something to the top of the cabinets in the kitchen, like maybe a few plates on black easels, or something to make it less stark.

sujafr,

I might be mistaken, but your suggestion to move the meter boxes outside the home might not be a possibility for the OP . I looks as if the house is a townhouse and the utilities are usually off-limits for the owners.

Helene

Blubird, thanks for pointing that out! I missed that in the picture, but now can see you're right... now it makes more sense why they put the meter there (although it sure seems like the back would be better--but probably no access.)

There is access from the back to the decks and the yard. However, it is the city code that the builder has to follow and owner has absolutely no control over the meter placement.

I would not put down rugs. Rooms look larger without them, because of the uninterrupted floor, and for selling you want to maximize the size of the space.

The pictures are small and my eyesight must be failing, but I think your rooms look great! Nice, clean and uncluttered.

Good luck selling your house!