I saw this amazing before and after from The Intertidal Years–which only uses a little staging and a better photographer, no new things–on a few blogs over the last few days. The results are pretty staggering:
Living Room Before
Living Room After
The blogger staged her house so she could sell it easier, and I thought, hey, why are we all living in so much crap? Why don’t we live in the “after” world all the time?
Well it’s hard to clean, and know what looks good. But I thought I could give it a try with my living room. I gave myself 15 minutes, as just an appetizer of what a good cleanup all over the house can do. And so, my room went from this:
Living room before
To this:
Living Room After
Living Room After
While my living room isn’t perfect, it looks so much better without clutter.
As a sidenote, I watched a few episodes of Hoarders last night, and it just makes me feel good about how I live– always trying to make my house more homey (as well as sad and depressed about these people with a serious mental illness).
So how else can I make my room homey and welcoming? How would have you staged it? More accessories? Less? Better photography (that’s a given!)?
-Liz
your living room looks great! I too love watching ‘Hoarders’ I swear during an episode I’m fluffing pillows, tossing junk mail etc.
I love your light fixture! I’ve been trying to talk my husband into parting ways with our ceiling fan, lol
Katrina,
Thanks! The light is relatively new, from Overstock, and I love it. I keep seeing drum shades pop up everywhere.
Good luck with convincing your husband (I have to admit, the light was my husband’s pick!)
Thanks for sharing! I just function better in a clean house, I wish it wasn’t so much work keeping it that way! Maybe when my daughter outgrows the “dump out the cereal/shampoo/potting soil/canister of BBs” into the carpet phase…
Ha. I’m not in the kid stage of life yet, but I bet things will change when I’m there!
Glad you liked the rooms! I feel like posting disclaimers everywhere: The living room didn’t usually have THAT much junk in it–I didn’t think to take pictures until we’d already started the process. But I have to say, I’m hoping we can keep living like the house might be shown every day even after we’re no longer showing it.
No disclaimers! It makes it more dramatic. Thanks for inspiring me!
A tidy house always makes me feel better about everything! Your living room looks great.