5 No-No's Home Sellers Commit When Staging with Wall Art
Art plays a large role in everyday life. If you're a home seller who has lived in a house for a few months to several years, it's likely a painting or a mirror or a metal art piece decorates the walls of your home.Whether you’re an avid art enthusiast, or you know when a home feels odd with bare walls, art is the backdrop to make a house feel like home.Of course, real estate is sold every day in a variety of conditions. Staging a home without art will not jeopardize a sale. However, a vacant property, or an owner-occupied home with limited to no wall art will not give your home buyer the "warm and fuzzys".On the flip side, buyers aren’t expecting to visit a museum. Occasionally, a home buyer might find wall-to-wall art as an interesting conversation piece. In other instances, the buyer will wonder what the home seller's trying to hide behind a wall filled with pictures.Unfortunately, home sellers unknowingly use wall art incorrectly or fail to use it at all. Here's five no-no's home sellers commit and what to do about it.No-no # 1Hanging a photograph or painting that contains bold hues that clash with the room's main colors.
What to Do
First, don't worry about bold colors. They can enhance your home's style, if done right. Choose colors and/or patterns for the art that encourages flow throughout the home. Find complementary colors and tones in accessories, like pillows and throw blankets to draw from the artwork's dominant colors.
No-no #2Leaving art work with a provocative theme that embarrasses or disturbs buyers.
What to Do
Remember the goal in selling the home? If a house is covered in photos of Tiger Woods, or shadow boxes of Tom Brady's football jersey, a few buyers might feel at home while a majority of buyers complain about the sports figure and forget about the house they walked through. Do what's right for your home's sale. Pick a neutral subject or abstract theme for the art work. Save the favorite sports team shadow boxes for your next home.
No-no #3Hanging picture frames too close to the ceiling or off center.
What to Do
Buyers don't want to walk into a home and immediately throw their head back to see a living room painting hung a few inches from the ceiling. Secure a painting or other art work approximately 8 to 12 inches above the top edge of a sofa or dining table. If there is no sofa or table, hang the art approximately five feet from the floor to the center of the painting.
No-no #4Using the wrong size art piece as a focal point.
What to Do
Hanging one 5 x 8 photo on the wall above a sofa will draw the wrong type of attention. Make sure the art complements the size and scale of the furnishings. Choose an art piece that is roughly 2/3 of the width of the furniture or the living space.
No-no #5Leaving bare walls throughout a house.
What to Do
Bare walls pose a distraction for buyers. Keep them focused on the home's potential. If you're stuck on what to place on the walls, think about the home buyer and the community. What would help sell the house? For instance, a coastal community would provide art in soft blues, tans and whites. The theme can be carried through the house with a nautical-inspired look or other subjects that remind buyers of a coastal lifestyle.
Obviously, wall art isn’t a dealbreaker to a home’s sale, but it should be pretty important to home sellers who want to tug at a buyer's emotions for the home's sale. Staging a home's appearance with art is not just about adding pretty color and design to the wall, it's about creating balance to help buyers feel a natural harmony and comfortability with the house.Thanks for reading. If you like it, share it.