It’s amazing the difference a small detail like the tall flowers vs the candles makes. I think Marilyn is spot on with what she said about the feeling of lift with the flowers. Makes we really want to go buy some bird of paradise flowers - used to have vases full of them when we lived in Egypt (cut flowers were incredibly cheap there so I always had tons).
So excited to hear how the open house goes. Good luck.
I like the color of the flowers vs. the neutral candles on the patio. And agree- the strung lights are great!
Have you thought about brightening up the whole patio area with an outdoor rug? Something like this: http://www.target.com/p/threshold-rectangular-patio-rug-turquoise-lattice/-/A-14726854#item-guestreviews-link
Thinking of you today and wishing you well on the open house, ch!
Good luck with the open house!
Keep the turquoise table linens and flowers -and an outdoor rug under the table would be lovely!
It looks like cb’s bathroom vision fits right in!
https://www.yahoo.com/makers/dos-and-dont-in-bathroom-design-for-2015-111300185150.html
(Mr. B fits vindicated - his bathroom TV is now a cool thing featured in the link above).
^ Meh. You know how you go into a bathroom or kitchen and go “what were these people thinking?” That’s some of the stuff in that article 5 years from now.
A fire feature? Distressed wood floors in an area that gets wet? A chandelier? Wish I had 12 foot ceilings in my bathroom. 
And I like how, after saying “rain showers are done”, it shows up in one of the “do this” pictures.
cb, relax and enjoy your open house (assuming you are there). The house is beautiful as is!! I think we’re just jumping in at the 11th hour because it’s so much fun!
Woke up this morning really sick. I think it’s a combination of no sleep, coming down from extreme nerves and something I ate last night. With the risk of TMI, I cannot get more than 10 ft from the toilet.
So… of course I left a slight mess at the house last night thinking I would be back bright and early in the morning to finish all the final cleaning for the Open House. And, we ran out of wood stain yesterday afternoon so half of the deck railing is unpainted at this point and the other half is painted. Plus, they ran out of the special deck screws that I can only buy at Lowe’s which is a half hour away and the guy said he was coming back today to finish screwing down all the deck planks. Right now they have screws every other joist, but it needs to get finished. I had this vision that I would rush to store early this morning and get the stain and finish painting the deck myself.
Now it’s 10am and I just got a call that an agent wants to bring buyers by for a showing at 11:30am, Open House starts at 1pm.
It never ends… I have no choice but to get my butt out the door and keep moving.
I agree that the staging in the dining courtyard needs to be improved. The white walls are overwhelming and would benefit from some nice tall plants, but ran out of money. An area rug would be perfect also
If we don’t get any serious interest this weekend I will beef up the staging in that area
Oh, cb . . . .hugs to you. I hope you can get it done in half an hour and go to bed.
For the white walls, perhaps you could get a couple of large inexpensive outdoor wall sculptures at Home Goods or Tuesday Morning or Target or maybe even Home Depot. Whatever you can find quickly that works with the decor. A sun, school of fish, waves, etc.
Get well soon!
This house is a great house. It is going to sell. The house doesn’t have to be perfect. The buyers can do a few things to their own liking.
You can go crazy trying to make a place perfect. When I was getting my house for sale, I went overboard. It happens. I kept fixing things. It was ridiculous.
When the process was over, I could have sold the house without staging the house. The buyers came in and changed my perfection. 
The house is not going to sell because of a flower pot. Or the color of a wall.
I agree with dstark. You’ve created a very pleasant and visually appealing palette. Keeping things uncluttered enables people to visualize their own taste and their own furnishings in the space.
The comments on this thread demonstrate that people’s taste varies. Each time you add something new you risk someone thinking, “Oh, another tchotchke from Home Goods.” Since you’re ill and tired and broke, and you’ve done a wonderful job with the house, I hope you’ll oversee the deck staining and then just take it easy. I wouldn’t put another penny into staging.
Well, I got my sorry butt to Lowe’s to get the special composite deck screws and another gallon of the stain. When I arrived at the house one of my friends from the party last night was there pitching in and cleaning the floors (bless her). Got the deck guys going, paid them, designed a special gate that needs to be at the back of the deck. Scrubbed the front steps and wiped down the black handrail (it shows every drop from rain!), inspected both bathrooms and polished the stainless sink with stainless steel cleaner.
Left just as 4 groups of people were arriving for the beginning of the Open House. Ohhh… and of course!, we have had crystal clear skies for weeks now and today a strange fog is rolling in and covering all of the view. Figures
Whew! Terrific you got all that done, coralbrook!! I hope you’re able to go lie down and wait for the offers to pour in.
The house is simply stunning! I love the blue front door–goes so well with the sky and sea! You have done a tremendous job and I’m sure our will get many great offers for this gem!
CB, I woke up today thinking about you and the open house today. I bet it’s going to go beautifully and you’ll have lots of offers. You have done a phenomenal job with the house and I wouldn’t overthink any detail…as someone noted upthread, we all have different ideas about what looks best and, truly, the house looks GREAT! Hope you are back at home now, resting and recovering from whatever ails you.
Very successful Open House. According to my agent (I stayed away because it is not good to have owners lingering around during Open Houses) there were about 30-35 groups of people that came in, 1 agent showing with clients and 1 agent alone. The couple that came through yesterday did not return for the Open House. But, most of the people that came through were neighbors wanting to see. This is pretty much who shows up at Open Houses, all the neighbor looky lous. She said the place was packed the whole 3 hours. At 4pm when I was there, two people returned and came back through again, but they just went to get someone to show them the design work. And, there’s always some strange guy (it always seems to be guys) that wander in and just want to talk for an hour. We had one of those because he came in for a long time, stood outside for awhile and then came back in. Very strange.
There were two couples who stayed a very long time which is always a good sign.
But no offers at this point. We are going to hold out until Wednesday or Thursday and then decide what to do. I’m guessing that the stairs are the deal breaker at this point. I realized that I have now been going up those stairs many times a day (more than someone normally living in the house) and I’ve gotten used to them. It is only a pain when I’m trying to carry too many things in my hands and I want to use the handrail.