Bathroom Home Staging

Task 1. Assess the color palette

The best colors for baths are all the shades of white and beige. This includes the major fixtures such as the sink, toilet and tub/shower.

• Builders will usually try and put a contrasting color of tile on the tub/shower surround and the floor. Having everything one color does not provide contrast and all the elements just blend together. Take a look at the picture above. The sink, toilet and vanity cabinet are white. The subway tile used as wainscoting is also white. In order to provide contrast in this bath, the builder has used tiles that mimic the look of inlaid pebbles. Picking up on one of the pebble colors, the walls have been painted a dark beige. The insets in the cabinet doors also have picked up a dark grey from one of the pebbles. Now look at the photo again imagining that the floors were white and the walls were white. See how important contrast is? Contrast allows you to see each element in this bath individually. The floor, the wainscoting and the vanity all add value to this bath because they look high-end. This is what you want your buyers to remember - the details that make this bath different from the other hundred they've seen.




• Assess the colors in the bath you want to stage. How can you provide contrast that adds value to the bath while making the room distinctively memorable? The least expensive way to do this is with paint. Baths that are primarily beige (tile, fixtures, cabinets) usually look best with a sage color on the walls. Our choice is a Benjamin Moore color called Hollingsworth Green (HC-141). Any paint store can mix this color for you if you give them the number above. It is a nice, neutral green and easy to accessorize around. For baths that are mostly white, our favorite beige is Benjamin Moore's Cedar Key (OC-16). One of these two colors will usually work well in an all beige or all white bath.



Here is an example of using a neutral green in a bath with white fixtures and white tile. Again, the contrast between the paint color, the tile, the floor and the fixtures allow those elements to really stand out. Again, imagine if the walls were painted white, you wouldn't notice any of the fixtures at all.



• Staging gets a bit trickier when the tile and fixture colors are not white or beige. It is good to remember that your prospective buyers do not want to deal with turquoise tile or dark brown toilets. They are out-of-date. A new white toilet can cost as little as $90 and is relatively easy to switch out. Replacing tile is expensive and time consuming because usually you will have to hire this task out. The only option for off-color fixtures that you don't want to replace is to have them reglazed by a professional. Not cheap (about $400 for a tub), but also not as expensive as gutting the bathroom. Think about this long and hard....your turquoise bathroom will either ruin a sale or result in a significant concession in your price.

Task 2. Look at the vanities, mirrors and faucets

Taking a look at the sink/vanity, you want to make sure these look fresh and modern.

• If the vanity cabinet is wood and in good condition, it might just need some wood conditioner to bring the shine back. You should also replace the hardware with new knobs and pulls - this is an inexpensive way to update quickly.
• If the cabinet is hopelessly outdated, see if it can be painted (white or beige) to update the look. Can you just replace the doors for a modern feel?
• Home centers have replacement tops with integrated sink bowls that will instantly update a worn or dated bathroom counter top and fit most standard sized cabinets.
• If the sink/vanity is beyond saving, then opt for a new vanity/sink/faucet/counter top package you can get in stock at a nearby home center.
• The sink faucet and the faucet in the tub or shower should be up-to-date. These items are often referred to as the jewelry of the bath - probably because they are the bling or sparkle factor. If during your cleaning, you couldn't make these faucets shine, then you might want to replace them. Popularly priced sink faucets can be purchased for $85 or less, and tub/shower faucets a bit more. You might also just be able to replace the handles in the tub - an economical way to get that new look for less.
• The bathroom mirror can be a style element in the bath. Make sure it looks updated. Wall-to-wall builder grade mirrors can be trimmed in moulding to help update the look. Perhaps you can look for a new shape, say oval or round, on a black framed mirror to add some visual interest. An old medicine cabinet/mirror combo should be replaced with something modern. Mirrors can make the room appear larger and reflect light making the room appear brighter so size is important here.
• Your lighting choices can modernize the look of a bathroom quite inexpensively. Choose a fixture that matches the finish on your faucets. A reasonable, attractive bathroom lighting fixture can be purchased starting around $39. New fixtures say updated, no worries, clean.

Task 3. Add texture

Bathrooms are, by nature, untextural. The need for waterproof, easy to clean surfaces usually means there isn't going to be much texture in the bath. But baths need texture when they are staged to appeal to the sense of touch and to add some softness to contrast with all the hard surfaces.

There are a few ways to add texture in a staged bath:

• Add an incredibly soft towel to each towel bar and a nicely folded hand sized towel to the counter top. We usually only use white, beige or sage colored towels in the baths we stage and always new. Each will coordinate with our basic paint choices and one will provide the most contrast and textural interest in the bath you've staged. White will pick up on the baseboard mouldings and cabinet color if everything else in the bath is beige. Beige works well with dark cabinetry - when you want to add richness to your color palette and white is too cold. If everything is beige and there isn't much color in the bath, opt for sage towels.
• If you need a decorative shower curtain go for a white one with an obvious texture or pattern. No prints, checks, or comic book heroes. We usually use the Diamond Matelasse curtain from Restoration Hardware. It is thick, soft, hangs well and says "spa" - with a capital S. It is also clean and neat. Also keep in mind that you should keep the decorative shower rings for your next house - just use simple clear rings or match your faucet finish with plain metallic rings.
• Fresh flowers are a nice staging touch for the bath. Nothing too elaborate, a simple single stem in a bud vase or small nosegay in a small vase will do. You are adding the texture of the flowers and leaves to your bathroom. Here, as in other places we've mentioned on this website, you should add something that's alive to the space and a small flower arrangement or even a small, neat and tidy ivy plant keeps the bath from looking too sterile.
• Unless the bathroom is quite large, you won't need a bath rug. (And never, ever!, show your home with bathroom carpeting.) People will just wonder what defect is hidden under it. In super-sized baths, we usually will add a simple, plain colored, new rug to add more texture and usually try and match the towels. We prefer bath rugs that are cushy and have large loops for more texture.
• If the bathroom has a window, then it should be dressed. Choosing a plain curtain, which you can easily install with a curtain tension rod, adds texture and provides privacy. We like the plain and simple solid color curtains at Country Curtains for their affordable price and nice quality. Their white or natural work very well and are available in a lot of sizes.

Task 4. Select decorative objects and artwork

Since you have spent a lot of time and effort decluttering the bath, you don't want to add too much back in the room. Adding one or two well-chosen decorative items will give the bath a bit of style. We usually suggest limiting the decorative items to these two:

• A framed piece of artwork will fill up dead wall space above the toilet or on a long wall. Look for a dark frame and art which is not taste-specific. Our favorite art pieces for baths are landscapes and can be found online at Art.com. In most baths, 11" x 14" is usually large enough to get the job done.
• One of our staging hallmarks is to choose a larger than normal dish to hold a brand new decorative bar of soap beside the sink. We will usually go to a discount store that has closeouts from their china department and look for something that is about 5" x 7" and usually shaped like a leaf. A clean hand towel and the soap bar placed on this dish looks fresh, clean, inviting and definitely spa-like.

Have you been following the staging tips and techniques we've shared with you? Then your bath should now be staged to perfection! You can now get more home staging tips and choose another room to stage or choose another room to start cleaning, decluttering and organizing. You can also review the cleaning and organizing tips for the bathroom here.

Return to Home Page from Bathroom Home Staging.