Since creating the “to be continued” blog, I’ve been closing each post with the words “dwell in possibilities.” I must confess that I borrowed this phrase from the great poet, Emily Dickinson. I saw her quote and realized that it summed up what I am doing as a professional home stager and interior designer.

I am most grateful to Ms. Dickinson for her insightful and inspiring phrase.

Regardless of the size or price range of a house, my objective is to find the possibilities in that house. I am looking for those unique features of that house and finding possible ways to accentuate them for the potential buyer. I am analyzing those unusual spaces that buyers find difficult to understand upon first glance and finding possible functional uses for those spaces.

In the end, my mission is to help the potential buyer see how they could dwell in the possibilities of this house!


Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Home Staging Areas of Concentration – Flow

We are picking up our discussions of home staging areas of concentration after a few days of sharing the limitless possibilities at the Chicago Merchandise Mart.  Today, we will examine flow.
Flow generally refers to the even pace in which one moves from space-to-space and room-to-room in a house.  The flow of a house can be a subtle characteristic of a house if done well but can be jarringly obvious if not done well.
·         Do the rooms and space feel connected? 
·         Is there a choppy and broken feeling as you move from room-to-room? 
·         Does the eye flow across a room or are there things like furniture placement, colors or clutter that get in the way? 
·         Are the colors consistent from room-to-room?
For some situations, I provide paint consultation because the existing paint colors are inconsistent, dated or dirty.  In other cases, the first phase of home staging involves major de-cluttering.  Also, furniture placement and scale affect “flow”.
While poor flow is obvious, I believe that creating an even pace with movement from space-to-space takes the experience and expertise of a professional home stager. 
In summary, when attention has been paid to this concept of “flow”, a house has a peaceful, easy feeling (Do you hear The Eagles singing in the background?).  Isn’t that what we all want in our home?
Building subtle flow is a clear example of the art of home staging.

Dwell in possibilities!

Cindy

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