@Chris C. I think the outside of the house could look cute with the right landscaping and some nice potted plants by the entrance, and maybe on those shelves on the exterior wall! If there is no one around to water the pots, you could always do some "faux" plants. I agree that staging will help, as well as professional photographs from a good real estate photographer that knows how to use furniture and accessory placement to focus on the most positive features of the place. I like the color you choose for the wall paint. Very on trend.
A couple of things that no one has mentioned yet regarding how it appears in the all important listing photos: I know that this must be a new kitchen floor, but it looks dirty and scratched in the photo. It must just be dust and the lighting. Perhaps wash it and retake the photos, paying attention to the lighting angle, etc. The ceiling in the kitchen appears to have a spot (where the old light was removed, maybe? )Again, an easy fix is to retake photo and change the angle slightly so you don't even see the ceiling. A good real estate photographer would know how to minimize negative things like this, that are much more noticeable in a photograph than in person. I am sure that the carpet is new, but at first glance it looks older, I think due to the way the footprints and vacuuming direction, etc. show, as well as the color. I think you could easily fix that, by vacuuming carefully, better lighting, etc. I'm not trying to be mean, just trying to honestly help since you asked. Not having furniture in the photos means that little things like this are what people focus on. You see and notice every little thing in a photo that you would hardly even note in real life, because you would be taking so much in at once and moving around.
One last thing that I would like to point out, not just for Chris C, but as a "wake-up call" for all you MALE investors out there---dark wood- stained cabinets are NOT what most woman want these days, LOL! Painted cabinets are really what is on trend and what most woman prefer. NO one is "pinning" dark wood cabinet kitchens. They went out with the Tuscan/brown trend quite some time ago. You will not see any designer kitchens on Houzz, or anywhere else in the design magazine or blog-o-sphere, with dark wood kitchen cabinets. Design bloggers often joke about how men think, "WOOD = GOOD", and balk at their wives desire to paint their cabinets!! Men seem to like these dark wood cabinets. We all know that kitchens (and baths) sell homes, and woman are the primary decision makers in home buying, and most woman want painted wood cabinets, (primarily-- an accent of wood, say on an island, is still on-trend.) Woman want a light, bright, fresh looking kitchen. I'm not saying that I think you you need to paint those kitchen cabinets in order to sell the house, but I'm saying --for next time, that if you had painted them white, you'd have a lot more woman wanting to see the house! Just go to HOUZZ and do a search through their millions of designer photos of kitchens--you will mainly see painted kitchen cabinets (not just white, though). Occasionally, you will see a newer, contemporary style kitchen that has very light birch or maple cabinets, but the vast majority of kitchen cabinets are painted; about the only time you will see kitchens with all dark wood-stained cabinets on HOUZZ might be in the ads from cabinet companies or contractors!
Since there are no accessories, decor items, or furniture in the kitchen, all you can focus on in the photo is the fixed elements--like the dark cabinets. Staging the kitchen with some light colored, on trend accessories will help the overall look and feel of the kitchen--and maybe, if you can, consider adding a small table or breakfast bar so people can see that there is room to eat in the kitchen.
I hope this helps somewhat. (My background: I used to be an architect, and am currently a big interior design enthusiast. I spend waaay too much time devouring interior design and home staging information online and elsewhere!! ) FYI: I highly recommend the "Home Staging Show Podcast" by Cindy Lin (you can find it on Itunes, etc.) She interviews wonderful guests from home stagers to real estate agents, to real estate photographers.
Hope this helps.
