Case Study #1  Eagan townhome   First impressions are everything:    This home’s entrance welcomes you into a very large, bright and open living space. The problem was that the living room got lost.   Originally, the living room’s furnishings were pushed back against the wall, the walls were bare, and there was nothing to differentiate the living room from the foyer or the rest of the main floor.  In order to make the room more inviting, we moved the couch and chair away from the wall to form a smaller room within the bigger space. This felt cozier.   The angle of the couch not only marks off the living room from the entry way, it also draws your eye toward the fireplace by directly facing it.      A Focal Point:  The fireplace and mantel became a new focal point.  The horizontal mirror  enhances the fireplace by enlarging its silhouette and the room it reflects.  The vases (always use an odd number of decorative pieces…1,3 or 5) maintain your focus.   A focal point brings your buyer into the room.     Less is more: We hung two pieces of artwork centered on the couch (creating a grouping of three, using the couch as the third piece) and placed floor lamps as book ends. This helped to “frame” the room within the large expanse of light colored wall. A small number of accessories were added: pillows books and candles.  This embellishes the room without overwhelming the potential buyer.    This allows the buyer to envision their own things in the space.                                                                  Just three pieces turned this empty hallway wall into a foyer.  This simple vignette creates the illusion of a separate space: it breaks up the long wall and suggests the potential of the space.       Keep it clear and clean: Clear the clutter from countertops and refrigerator doors.  Add live greenery and/or a bowl of fruit/ vegetables for accent.  In this home we added two stools and placemats to show the potential use of the counter as a breakfast bar.         A simple centerpiece finishes the table, draws your eye into the dining room and feels like home.  Long lasting fruit like lemons or apples work better than flowers which need greater care and tend to be too vertical.         The loft in this home was not previously being utilized as a room of its own.  In this case we brought in the chair, table and ottoman to again illustrate the space’s potential use as an office or den.       Children’s rooms can be difficult to stage when the homeowners are still living in a home.  We suggested packing away the things that were not being used or played with and leaving only the most essential items .This gives the potential buyer the impression of a child’s room while also maintaining a streamlined, clean and simple aesthetic.     Make your bed:  Use fresh, pressed and fluffed linens. Use varying shades in one color family (as we did in the master bedroom); or use one color to pop out of  a  matching  ensemble (as we did with the bright red in the child’s bedroom.)                                                         Fresh paint and two new towels made this bathroom new.  Don’t be afraid of the darker neutral tones.  In this case, a dark brown offsets the white and light wood to look sharp and neat  Spotlessly clean always shows best.