Home Staging~Before And After~Week 4

Welcome back to my Home Staging

~Before And After Series!  

If you have missed the past three weeks 

you can find them all here.

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

So far we have covered Decluttering, 

Light and Bright Spaces, 
and Accessorizing.  

This week I would like to talk about something 

that I touched on briefly last week 

~ Photographs and the Internet~ 

85-90% 
(and I am being conservative here) 

of home searches begin on the Internet!  

The photos of your home 

ARE your First "First Impression" 

to the potential buyers.  

The second "First Impression" 

occurs when the potential buyers 
drive up to your home.  
(We will cover the outside next week.)  

And, lastly the third "First Impression" 

occurs upon walking into the home.  

In the Home Staging example 

that I am going to show you this week 

the homeowners were adamant 

about using their own photos for the MLS,

which shows up everywhere on the Internet.  

The Realtors tried to dissuade them 

but sometimes people just don't listen.  

They were in a huge hurry to list their home 

and didn't think that they needed a Stager.  

After a few weeks on the market 

and not ONE showing, the Realtors 

contacted me just to ask me 

what I thought of the pictures etc.  

Well, let's look:

 This is the first photo that you saw 

when you clicked on the listing.  

Would you want to view this home in person 

based on this photo?  

It's dark and blurry and it's hard to even 

tell what you are looking at.  

Is that a living room?  

I see stairs and some clutter on a table.  

Not too inviting...

The second pic on the listing.  

OK, living room, yes we guessed right.  

But that's the point!  

Don't make people GUESS what they are looking at!  

I know these Internet lookers!  

They have a short attention span 

and will click on over to the next house in a flash!  

OK, I am not judging here 

but if I am an Internet browser, so to speak, 

I am wondering 
WHAT THE WHAT 

is that thing that looks like some wood stacked 

up next to the couch with a head on it!? 

It has distracted me so much that now I am just over 

the whole house and nothing will change my mind.  

That is how people think!  

Let's FIX it! 

OK, After.  
What?  
No WOW!  

What a difference?  
Why is that?  

Because I am not a professional photographer! 

Let's see how it should REALLY look.

Ahhhhh!!! 

OOOOHHHHHHHH!!!  

Applause!   

NOW do you want to put this one FIRST 

on your list of houses to see?  

And the reverse angle!  

I could end this post right now because 

I think that I have made my point!  

But I love before and afters so we will keep going.  

I rearranged and angled the furniture 
to increase traffic flow 
and I got rid of the wooden side table.  

Profesh pic...  Nice!

Another angle.  

I really need to take more photography lessons!

 "Their" MLS photo.  

The angle of the picture is so weird 
that you have to really question 
what you are looking at.  

Too many personal photos, 
but of course you already know 
I will remove those.

My "After" .  
I angled the desk, 
removed the clutter 
and now you can see the pretty tile 
and striking wall color.  

Hey!  
How did he do that?  

You see the whole room and the pretty drapes too!  

The dining room "Before".  

I am usually the bearer of bad news in these situations.  

As much as I love toile the wallpaper has to go.  

It was just too distracting.  

We kept the drapes and painted a neutral color 
and now the floors stand out!  
I love the touches of green with the apples.  
Miss Beaux came to help me that day 
and I made her go to the market and buy green apples.  
I love the fact that she can drive!  

Professional angle.  
It's very dreamy, right?

Homeowners picture of the Great Room 
and Breakfast eating area.  
My eyes immediately go to the bar counter.  
I spent a lot of time looking 
at these pictures and 
wondering what that was.  

I see the dogfood bowls were left out 
and I am STILL 
wondering what that wooden thing is! 

My "After".  
I rearranged the furniture a bit 
and replaced the reclaimed wood breakfast bar 
with a table that I had at home.  
I put the tablecloth on the table 
to give the room some softness.  

I brought over a few of my extra chairs too.

MLS Photos show the entire space. 
Thank you Wide Angle Lens!

See what a difference Staging 
and Professional Photos makes?  

 Upstairs, little girls room, 
Before picture.  
Personal photos and lots of clutter on the shelf.  
The room itself is great.  
I love the Shabby touches 
and the wall color.  

I just cleaned it up a bit and lightened the bed-cover 
with my famous trick 
of all white with the bed-cover 
folded at the end of the bed. 

And an even better view!  

Another Girl's room.  
I love the theme but it is too cluttered for resale.

By just removing the sofa 
and repositioning the bed you gain so much space!

I really did think that this was an adorable house.

New MLS photo.  

The Guest Room.  
It looks dark and uninviting.  

I took out the extra furniture 
and used lighter pillows 
and that was it.

NICE!  

When I saw the Master Bedroom pics 
what jumped out at me was the chairs 
turned toward the fireplace.  
They were blocking the view.  
You are trying to sell the features 
of your home not furniture!

I literally wanted to reach 
through the computer screen 
and turn the chairs around!

Oh!  
I feel so much better now!  
I love those chairs, don't you?

So nice, 
how does he do it?  

The rest of the bedroom just for fun.

And the Master Bath.  

So, the lesson learned here?  

Your Internet Photos have to SELL your home!

All MLS photos courtesy of 
Midwest Virtual Tours

Until Next Time,

Beaux R'eves

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