The most successful sellers never forget homebuyers want more than square footage or number of bathrooms.  They want a place for their dreams to come true.

Late July to Labor Day is the perfect time to tap into that languorous, easy lifestyle summer vibe we all crave the other 10-1/2 months of the year.

Zhuzhing up your outdoor space delivers tremendous ROI and is very doable, for even modest, monochromatic or mediocre spaces. Bold, bright summer tablescapes make it happen, creating joyful, memorable listing pics and a full-on wow factor for showings. TRH says: Just channel the Masters of the Summer Tablescapes, artists Paul Cézanne and Henri Matisse.

French-born, each found their artistic heart in Provence. Their styles of portraiture and landscapes differed, but their still-life paintings are quintessential summer. Bold contrasts of colors and shapes prevail: The fruit is plentiful and voluptuous, the colors rich and saturated.

Shapely vessels and generously sized serveware add height and drama.   Note the composition: casual and asymmetrical. Overall bold and deceptively simple, bounteous but not over-constructed.

Neither uses matchy-matchy or particularly pedigreed items. Both use draped or gathered fabric to start. Cezanne had a more primitive style, but he liked fresh flowers; Matisse tended to get into the linens and the room around the arrangement…but you get the picture.

Perusing their tablescapes online will transform you, and bring you to another place: You’ll raise your face, anticipating that slow breeze.  You’ll want to pull up a chair while remembering the scent of ripe fruit and the taste of salty cheese on fresh-baked crusty bread.  And the joy of spending easy time with friends. And you know what else? You’ll slow down. Breathe more deeply. And you’ll smile more. As will your buyers.

I’m all in on the use of color year-round, but it creates a special kind of wonderful this time of year. Color is life, energy, and confidence. Creating a vibrant summer tablescape is fun, relatively inexpensive, and delivers a very generous ROI. Want to know more about this, or TRH’s other listing prep and styling services? Just start the conversation!