We found a house last year whose architectural style was officially listed in the MLS as “Teardown.” The selling agent insisted on showing us the house personally so that we “knew what we were getting into.”
We loved the neighborhood, so we bought it anyway. Since we weren’t ready to do any major work on the house, we limited ourselves to cleaning and decorating, and we were surprised by how far that took us.
The entryway and staircase area was quite dark, so we used lamps and mirrors to brighten up the dark spots:
To the left of the entryway, we had an oversized living room. Here, we removed all the curtains, painted the window and door trims blue, and set up different seating areas to make it warm and inviting:
In the dining room, two hutches from our previous house gave us much needed storage. They also lent stronger architectural lines to the room.
Here’s what we learned:
– Clean everything. Trim the trees, wash the house, and remove old carpet, wallpaper and curtains.
– Remove all unnecessary doors and shelves. Chances are, you won’t miss them, and the spaces will feel larger and more open.
– Paint every wall, including the insides of your closets. If you’re moving into an older home with a lot of existing detailing, it’s fine to paint it all the same color. In our case, this also helped unify a recent addition with the original structure.
– Use rugs to bring in warmth and color. They are also great for outdoor areas.
– Create intimate spaces with comfortable seating nooks. Finish these up with pillows and throws.
– Add table lamps and floor lamps. Older homes usually don’t have great overhead lighting; lamps will bring in soft light and add height to every room.
– Flowers (whether in a vase or on the wall) will brighten up any space.
– Use mirrors everywhere (entryway, staircase landing, living room, dining room, hallway) to bring in more natural light.
– Bring in soft scents. Layer in your favorite candles and diffusers.
– Add new plants to your entryway.
If you have any other tips to share, we’d love to hear them!
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