We're trying to sell our house and trying to ready it for showings. Watching "DTS" regularly makes me wonder how much more prep I need to do, especially with the housing market down. I sure want to make the best impression I can.

Obviously, cleaning up clutter and keeping things neat is a must, but we have a couple 'trouble' rooms that I need help deciding what to do. First, our only full bath. It has nice fixtures, white, with beige carpet (can't change that), but the walls are painted medium gray and there's a black, gray, and white geometric border at the top of the walls. It's a nice size bath so doesn't seem dark, but wonder if another lighter color and getting rid of the border would be better? I hate the colors and border, but they were here when we got here and I just haven't gotten around to changing it, but maybe others like the gray combo?

The other room is the kitchen (what else!?) Hardwood floor, white-ish tile wall and backsplash, and white countertops. It's an old house so cabinets are solid maple, having an orangey hue to the brown stain, but in very good shape, and walls above cabinets and tile are painted med blue. Rest of the main floor has med blue carpet and I've painted those walls brown and tan (looks really nice), so wondering about the blue paint in the kitchen. Maybe need to repaint to fit in with the other walls?

I really appreciate any input you all have!

Well my thought is that unless you are absolutely sure its a good idea, I probably wouldn't mess with anything.

To me, I wouldn't be happy with a blue painted kitchen (although I wouldn't be happy with a blue carpet either).

With the bathroom though, it sounds like painting may be a good idea to a more neutral, softer color.

Its hard to balance because you basically want to make your house look bigger than it is, brighter colors do that and also try to hit the tastes of most of the population.

I think if your home is clean, clutter-free and nicely "staged", you won't have to paint. People will be able to imagine how it will look in colors of their choosing.

I think fresh flowers, candles, rearranging furniture to make the rooms look bigger etc. will go a long way.

Good luck!

The show is okay. But I LOVE decor!!
FULL BATH: Paint it and get rid of the border. Tan. Why can't you take up the carpet? People see that and think there's mold or rotten wood under it. It's a red flag. I dont know what your bath looks like so it may not be the case at all. Can you post pics?

KITCHEN: Paint! Tan is good, like the rest of the house. With the kitchen needing a update and you wanting to move, you're in a tough spot. I would update. Those shows always say you get your money back, and depending on the re-do, even double your money. The kitchen is the most important room (as I'm sure you know). Dont replace the cabinets. It's really too expensive and you said they are in good shape. Stain or paint them.

It's tough without pics. Can you post them?

Neutral colors are best for sure. I've learned a lot of people are lazy and don't want to have to paint a house when moving in it, but then a lot don't like white walls either. Definitely get rid of the border in the bath and if possible the carpet as well...I've seen too many people complain about carpet in the bathroom for the exact reason raw23 mentioned. You have two problem rooms that are the biggest thing people look for when buying...kitchens and bath's are at the top of the list and I would make sure they are in tip top shape. Good luck

I personally would have a hard time buying a house with carpet in the bathroom, but not sure if you really can't remove it or not. I would say definitely get rid of the border in the bathroom.

Something I have noticed about my own house is that I don't always see the little flaws - living amongst them everyday. But when I take a photograph I see clutter and flaws so much easier, in the same way that someone viewing my home would see it. If I were selling, I would go through my house and take lots of photos to see what I've become accustomed to and what I don't notice any more.

With the economy like it is, I would not do any big renovations, just small things like do it yourself painting and possibly removing that carpet.

How long has your house been on the market?

Another thing just to think about (and it's nit-picky, sorry)... tile backsplashes are getting a little outdated. Again, I dont know what it looks like or if it's been done tastefully, but something to consider. If your handy, you might want to take it down and paint it. Another idea, I've seen designers use cut-to-fit pieces of stainless steel as a back splash. It's contempory, but could be pricey and really depends on the buyer's taste (which you dont yet know), they could rip it out the day they move in. But it will give your kitchen some glam.
White countertops may concern some buyers because of staining. I dont know what material it is, but if you haven't had a problem with staining you might want to mention that to the realtor or to people you're showing the house to. Even if they dont say anything they're thinking it. ((I dont know if I have to explain this to you or not (you may not even be the one showing the home), but if you've spent a day in sales you know not to blurt out "the countertops dont stain!" You could say something like "the kitchen is very user friendly, we have durable hard wood flooring, maple cabinets, and countertops made of (blah). As an avid cook, I've spent hours preparing meals on these countertops and have never had any problems with staining. As you can see, they're perfectly white!"))

Thanks for the input, everyone! To help answer questions, here's some info I should have put in the original posting.

The bathroom carpet can't come out, because we have no idea what's under it. The only thing we know for sure is that there was a wall removed sometime in the past to make the bath larger and put in nice fiberglass tub and surround. So, we know there is discontinuity in the flooring in that room. The carpet is only about 4 years old. The former owners put it in just before they sold the house and it's still in really good shape. I personally wouldn't put carpet in a bath, but that's what's there.

Second, we live in an area where, no matter what improvements we do, the house is only going to go for about $80,000, because of location (small town, not even a grocery store!), so, no improvement is going to up the value of the house. It'll only help the sale happen faster. We really have no budget for doing anything major on this house (we have already done some high$$$$ improvements for energy efficiency). The best aspects of the house are that it has great character, as a craftsman style with lots of built-ins, as well as garage space for 4 cars.

We're just preparing for listing (people had looked at it even before we thought of listing, but they decided it was too far from their work-we know the feeling) I do agree about the paint, but didn't know if I was just out of touch with style, though.

I'll post pics if I can figure out how to do it- not too computer literate yet

Just my opinion -- but if I were interested in buying your house I would insist on seeing what was underneath that bathroom carpet. If the shoe were on the other foot, wouldn't you? I would not take your word for it, no matter how nice you are! I'd have this done as part of a home inspection because I'd be concerned that mold and/or rot might be present and I'd want to know about it before I decided wheter to buy or not. Also, the flooring -- discontinuity and is the level of the floor?

Neutralize the bathroom and kitchen by painting. It really is the easiest, less expensive thing you can do to. I would not invest in major changes, especially in the kitchen. No, tile counter tops are not for everyone but I'd rather buy a house and put my own money into it to get exactly what I wanted rather than buy a house that was just 'redone' and not like it. That's just me though.

Good luck on selling your house; times are tough for the housing market.

I both bought a new home, and sold a home about 2 years ago.

Some of my tips for selling your home:

~LANDSCAPING~
Make sure that any mulch beds, edging rock, etc. are all nicely tended to. Trim unruly shrubs and bushes. Edge the lawn, and up against the house. Even in the autumn, Keep flowers trimmed and tended to.

~CLUTTER~
Get rid of it. It makes the house look smaller. Go through the home, and purge it of things that you no longer need. Get a trash bag, and go through all of your closets and cabinets, and get rid of clothing and knick knacks that you don't wear or use, and take them to Goodwill. Organize your closets-pants together, shirts together, neatly by color. Arrange the shoes nicely, etc. THe more organized it looks, the more SPACIOUS it looks-which means more likelihood that it will sell. Organize your pantry area as well!!!

~CLEAN~
You wouldn't believe how many houses we looked at that were FILTHY. Dust bunnies along the edges of the hall, even an uncleaned and unflushed toilet in one. People are not going to buy if it looks dirty-even if it is a gorgeous home.

~NEUTRAL~
I had BEAUTIFUL murals painted on my children's walls. When the house went on the market, I repainted all of those rooms in neutrals-ivory, light beige, sand, light gray, etc. There is a reason why apartment complexes use white and ivory on the walls-so that the walls go with almost anyone's furnishings. People usually like to paint their own homes, but there isn't the PRESSURE to do it immediately upon moving in if the walls are at least neutral. When we bought our first home, the kitchen was PEACH and MINT GREEN on the walls. I had to paint it all as soon as we moved in, because it looked so horrible next to our furnishings. Go neutral when you can!!!

~CARPETS~
If the carpets are bad or stained in spots, consider having Stanley Steemer come out to clean them, or renting a cleaning unit from the store.

~STAGING~
I removed all clutter from the countertops, tables, etc. I staged things nicely, such as a bowl full of apples on the kitchen table, etc. Look at model homes or magazine photos for inspiration on staging with vases, flowers, candles, towels, etc. around the home.

Thanks for all the input. You've reinforced what I thought i needed to do. I think a nice nutmeg shade will help in the kitchen and blend with the cabinets instead of the contrast that the blue makes. Maybe a lighter beige for the bath. I've already been re-landscaping, because that's one of my favorite things to do, so have lots of perennials and color outside! Thanks again! We'll really try to make the place look it's best when we start showing it.

Yeah, I'd def paint. People really do have a hard time visualizing paint colors or changes to houses. (DH is a Realtor and I've seen firsthand over the years how hard it is to sell houses that aren't fixed and staged.)

I also agree about the carpeting in the bathroom. I think this might be a real issue for potential buyers. Is there any way you can take it up and just put down peel-n-stick tiles? We did that to a duplex we flipped a few years ago and it worked really well - and wasn't that expensive. And it's super easy to do. If I can do it, anyone can!

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