Sunday, February 9, 2014

Home Staging: Before and After Series~Week 3

Welcome to week three of my Home Staging: 
Before and After Series!  
I hope you have enjoyed tagging along with me 
as I stage these homes for sale.  
If you have missed any of it you can visit 

Week 1 Here
and 
Week 2 Here.  

Let's recap what we have learned thus far...

1. Decluttering is Imperative! 

Another example:

2. Light and Bright Sells Homes!

And Another Example:

In this weeks home 
I would like to talk about how 
to properly Accessorize 
your home when you list it for sale. 
This was a fairly new home, 
5-7 years old.  
It was one of the easiest 
home staging jobs that I have had.  
The home was in great shape 
with a great updated color palette 
that would be appealing to potential buyers.  
One of the main concerns 
was that the homeowners were relocating 
and trying to take as many of their belongings 
with them without making the home look abandoned.  
This is a very smart move!  

Empty homes are much harder to sell! 
When you enter the home 
you see that it is what we call a "Split Level" 
or "Reverse Story and a Half".  
The main floor holds the Dining Room, 
Great Room, Kitchen and Master Bedroom and Bath 
and in the basement 
you find the other three bedrooms 
and Entertainment area. 
The dining room to the right of the entry 
didn't have a true dining room set. 
All of the elements for a great space are in place: 
Great windows 
with nice architectural details, 
nice gray/blue color on the walls 
and perfect white drapes.  
Let's get a proper table and chairs 
in here and see what happens.
What a difference!  
I happened to have this table 
and chairs in storage.  
I try not to keep a lot of furniture for staging.  
I usually direct my clients to 
a furniture rental place if it is needed.  
It is just too hard to move it in and out and store it.  
I relocated the print from the stairway 
and found this great basket that I filled with ferns.  
The key here was to use bigger accessories 
to stage the home.  
My rule of thumb is to never use an item 
that is smaller than a football in staging. 
 You saw the Great Room from the entry shot.  
The problem with the current arrangement 
is that is cuts off the traffic flow 
and closes off the room. 
By rearranging the furniture 
it really opens up the space. 


I threw in a few pillows 
from my stash 
that matched the color palette 
and again I kept the accessories 
to a minimum and used larger pieces.
I really love when my job is this easy!  
Beautiful kitchen with great features.  
Not much to do here.
Just a little tweaking 
here and there.
Highlighting with greenery 
is a trick that I always use.  
It is easy on the eyes 
and makes dark corners come alive.
Back entry with great shelving space.
I loved her mason jars and stars!  
We just needed to maximize 
the look of the storage by 
removing some of her things.  
This is a case where less is more!
Master Bedroom.  
They had the cutest baby boy! 
Luckily, 
all the baby stuff was going with them.
I flipped the comforter cover 
to the lighter side 
and folded a quilt on the end of the bed.  
I hung some metal prints on the wall 
because I thought the space was a little bare.
I switched the tall dresser 
to this side of the room 
and again used a large accessory on the top.
I usually grab a few plastic bins 
that I keep all of my florals and greens in whenever 
I go to a staging job.  
I always end up using them somewhere.
The dresser got moved here 
and the black and white print 
was actually in the kitchen eating area. 
I didn't have to really do anything in the master bath 
but I wanted to show you 
how the homeowners left the master closet. 
How sweet is this?  
Wooden hangers, my favorite!  
Nice baskets and storage bins... 
Someone did a little research on home staging!  
This totally makes my day! 
The rest of the master bath.
 And again, our theme today, 
use large accessories 
and keep them to a minimum.  
The last room I am going to show you 
is a secondary bedroom in the basement.  
They had this desk in the room 
and the bed was positioned longways 
as you entered the room.  
The problem that I have talked about before 
is when you have dual purposes for one room 
it is confusing for buyers.  
Your home office/guest room 
may work out perfectly for you, 
but if you plan on selling your home 
please choose one or the other.  
They removed the desk 
and we re-positioned the bed 
for a more pleasing look.  
The photographer Wayne usually arrives right 
as I am finishing up my work.  
These are his photos for the MLS.
Remember folks, 85-90% of new home searches begin ONLINE!!!  
This is why Staging your home is so important.  
If you are considering putting your home up for sale 
this spring, start now!  

  • De-Clutter
  • Lighten and Brighten
  • Accessorize using fewer and larger accessories 
Thanks for stopping by!
Until Next Week,
Beaux R'eves,





15 comments:

  1. Excellent information and so clearly explained!

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  2. Beautifully done! Hopefully it sells super quick!

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  3. Thanks for this series! Good information to keep for when we get ready to sell our house.

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  4. I never tire of seeing these home staging posts! I think a lot of the advice is good rule of thumb stuff for everyday use. It just makes sense to not have a ton of clutter and to do everything possible to give the illusion of larger spaces. In our home we are in the process of doing just that by lightening up a couple of rooms, doing all hardwoods on the main floor to create the illusion of larger, continuous space, paring down the size of furniture in the dining room and living room (that couch looks like a frat house punchline anyway!), and choosing window treatments that won't make the rooms feel boxed in. Also going to do some new things with lighting. REALLY excited about that!

    I love that mason jar with iron stars look, too! I think I'll be using that idea for the deck baker's rack this summer!

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  5. I really enjoy your home staging posts!

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  6. What a great article, very useful, and that last house is gorgeous. I'd love it if you'd join my History & Home link party, starts each Tuesday at 5am Eastern, runs through Friday. Take care! -Dawn @ We Call It Junkin.com

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  7. Hi Cindy!!!

    I love your blog!!!

    I learn so much about how a room should look, by de-cluttering it!! How long did it take the house to sell?

    Have a great week!!!
    Pam

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  8. What a great house to do..Once again..Love your job !!! I am unusual in that I like to see a house empty so I can imagine my things in it...

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  9. Absolutely ♥ love ♥ your staging posts! I'm looking forward to them now, so please don't stop! I'm a "house junkie" and enjoying them thoroughly. Thanks!

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  10. I think I want to stage my home for living in it!! You do beautiful work! I am going to sign up for your emails to see all that you do on a regular basis - thanks for sharing your talent!! Trisha

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  11. Wow! What a fantastic job you did there! I do agree with you that in home staging, just like in fashion, simplicity is beauty. It’s really important to remove the clutter and the unwanted stuff to make the room wide and airy. This would also mean making sure the colors of the home are not too bold and in-your-face, but more of a subtle and airy feel. Good job!


    Julio Oyola

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  12. Great pointers. I wish I had closets as large as the one you show here!!! But baskets are on my shopping list.
    I hope that sometime you will stage a house with lots of books.
    I agree with Missy George. An empty house is more to my taste, too.
    My house was painted white (which I don't care for) and was totally empty. The rooms looked big enough to have a dance in and it was all light and bright. Trouble is, I didn't look closely at the small closets! We used to joke that the price we paid was for the view, not the house! But views pale to insignificance when you have to store your out of season clothes in the basement, right?!!!
    Your photos show me that I can "downsize" and survive, as I look for a smaller house. But it's the books. What do I do with them?
    Thanks for doing what you do. I really enjoy your blog.

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  13. Hey Cindy, it was so nice to hear from you, I'm glad you're back! Love all of your tips for home staging, what a difference it makes. I'm off to check your previous posts ;)
    Hugs,
    Cristina

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  14. Hi Cindy! I am new to your blog, and want to tell you I absolutely love it!! I am a real estate agent and have a knack for home staging. I have helped many clients in the past and I'm getting ready to stage a new listing in a couple of weeks. It's a large home that has so much stuff, it's taken over a month for the owner and her grown children to go through everything. All of your tips are great reminders of the staging rules. I am so impressed with what you are able to do using the homeowner's existing furniture and accessories. Please keep up the good work. I can hardly wait to see your next post. Take care, Judy

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  15. Hi Cindy! Can I just say that you did a great job! This is amazing! I love how you went for having less is more. I think the lighting technique is really genius. Indeed, proper lighting is an essential for proper home staging. I'm sure that house will sell like hot pancakes. Haha. Kudos to you! 
    Christine Ordze

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