Recently, I was asked about adding color with plants while trying to stage and sell a home during the winter months. Thinking about this topic, I realized that there are many options available to you, to quickly achieve the look of color without a considerable expense.
Indoor Staging
A visit to your local garden center will offer you a variety of plants that you can use indoors. On a recent visit to the grocery store I found these flowering plants for an affordable price:
A Peace Lilly can be purchased in various sizes, and can be used anywhere you need a punch of green and white. Increase the height of the plant by placing it on a plant stand or use decorative stacked boxes.
Orchids, available in many colors, offer an elegant look in any room.
Add color to any room with a vase of fresh flowers. You can affordably purchase flowers at your local grocery store, and add cuttings from evergreens to create a fuller looking arrangement. Keep it simple and pick one or two complementary colors that tie the home together. A flower that lasts up to two weeks and inexpensive is Alstroemeria available in a variety of colors.
Outdoor Staging
Before you consider adding color to your entryway, be sure you’ve covered the basics:
- Clean your entryway of any debris and clean your door and all windows around the door. Anything that is visible while standing at your front door should be swept and cleaned.
- Use bright light bulbs in all outside lighting, replace them if they do not match in color.
- Check your door hardware, if it’s old and cannot be cleaned or polished to look nice, consider replacing.
- Add a clean doormat.
- Add color that can be seen from the road.
Wintertime on the east coast is a time of dormancy, the primary color you see is from evergreens. However, you can still create outdoor containers, that you can see from the road, to enhance the curb appeal of your home. You want to produce the “that house is so nice and inviting†emotion in potential buyers.
You can add color to tall brightly colored pots that complement your outdoor home color. If your entrance is dark, consider white or light colored containers. Use plant stands to create height, or stack pots on top of each other to achieve the height you need. Take the time to look at your home from the street and think about how it appears to a buyer. Use cuttings from your evergreens, holly bushes with bright red berries or dried plants that you can spray paint any color you want. Dried hydrangea or dried grasses make great fillers in these pots.
By Debbie Correale, Redesign Right, LLC. Feature photo owned by Debbie Correale.