Making Memories Sell

Selling a deceased parent's home is hard, both emotionally and physically. One of my recent clients had this sad chore. She needed to disassemble her mother's home and prepare it for sale so it could be divided between the surviving family members.

On my first visit to the home, its spaciousness and original features struck me, but it wasn't quite sellable. I could see that it was going to be difficult for her to both honor her mother's memory and also stage the house so that it would sell.

My client had the floors redone and the whole house painted by the time I arrived to help. She wanted to use her mother's furniture to stage the house, so my challenge was to make this huge living room (pictured) appealing to buyers with the furniture that had been stored in the garage.

Before
- Obviously, we needed more furniture to flesh out the space. It was a very large room, so we decided to create zones, or vignettes, as opposed to just one big seating area.
- The piano was plunked in the middle of the wall. We would have to find the best location for it and build the room around it.
- The room wasn't accessorized. The house was in an upscale neighborhood, so we needed to choose items that looked both tasteful and formal.

After
- The client wanted to show the home vacant, but her Realtor advised against it; a furnished home is more appealing to buyers. With the help of some brawny contractors, we moved the furniture from the garage into the living room. It looked warmer and more inviting instantly.
- I directed the contractors to angle the piano from the corner, with the "smile" (the ivories) facing the front door. This left space for vignettes: a pair of chairs to the right and another in front of the fireplace. We put a couch and coffee table across from the fireplace to complete the room.
- We found lamps, brass candlesticks, sheet music, teacups and bowls also buried in the garage. I selected those that harmonized with the formal style of the furniture and accessorized. For a finishing touch, I added some fake pears to the bowl as a centerpiece.

Making preparations
If you are an aging parent, you can make the last years in your home more comfortable for yourself while ensuring a smooth hand-off to your heirs with these suggestions:

- Organize all your possessions. Keep only those that are useful or truly meaningful. If you don't use your boat or camper anymore - sell or give them away.
- Return your children's things to them. Your home is not a storage unit!
- Ask your children what things they would like to have after you pass, and devise a fair dispersal system.
- Have a family meeting to decide how you will divide the work when it comes time to sell the family home. If one child ends up doing most of the work because she lives nearby, she should be compensated for all the effort that goes into getting the house ready to sell.
- Don't assume everyone will remember what has been decided - write it all down and make it legal.
- Keep your home in good condition, even the garden.
- Keep your home up to date. You don't have to completely remodel, but do replace oddly colored or worn carpeting or dated and dim light fixtures, or update faucets or cabinet hardware so your home looks more contemporary.

Kit Davey, an interior designer based in Redwood City, Calif., helps clients redecorate their homes through the creative use of their existing furnishings. E-mail Kit your questions: kit@ctwfeatures.com

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