Ten Ways to Help Your Home Stand Out

Posted: 12/22/2009

When the time comes to sell your home, you don’t have to spend a lot of money to get your house in show-form. Realtor magazine offers these ten low-cost ways to help your house stand out.

1. Make rooms gender neutral. Remove decor that distinctly favors one sex or the other. Design expert Christopher Lowell says "Neutral palettes and minimal frills are a couple of ways to make rooms universally appealing to both sexes."

2. Paint rooms neutral healthy colors. Paint is the easiest way to change up a room. According to Lowell, "The smartest colors are said to be nature and spa inspired, such as putty, deep taupe, or dusty green."

3. Camouflage dated paneling. Once popular wood paneling is now considered passé. It is expensive to rip out and replace, but design writer Myscha Theriault recommends priming walls with two coats and then painting white for a cottage look. Historic blue or teal are also good options for those that want something besides white.

4. Modernize the kitchen. Updating the kitchen doesn’t have to be expensive. Repaint dark cabinets white or off-white or replace cabinet doors. Brushed chrome and stainless steel cabinet hardware add a modern touch. Manmade quartz or granite countertops are now more affordable and should replace damaged or dated countertops. Lowell recommends painting a kitchen and adjoining spaces the same wall color to enlarge the space and painting the ceiling two shades lighter than walls.

5. Create a spa-like bathroom. Keep the palette neutral and clean. Frame a mirror like a picture over the bathroom sink and use oversized, yet simple hardware in brushed or matte chrome finish.

6. Hang the right window treatment properly. Windows and light are big selling features in a home. Use window treatments to emphasize the windows. Lowell says, "Curtains should be hung about six inches above the sash and two inches from either side of the frame. The rod should also be hung close to the ceiling and under any molding."

7. Lighten up. If you have dark or poorly lit rooms in your home, consider buying modern torchiere lamps that have a museum cachet.

8. Anchor furnishings with a great floor. According to Lowell, "Your floors shouldn’t match your wood furnishings. Variety makes a space look less monotonous."

9. Hang inexpensive, but appealing art. Frame favorite patterns or paper and line them up on a wall. Designer Tineke Triggs also recommends displaying your collectibles in multiples in an artful way.

10. Improve curb appeal. Curb appeal is high on a buyer’s wish list. Make your front door approachable and use plants and annuals to dress it up.