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!


Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Televisions – What Do We Do With Them?

We all have them.  We all want them.  When it comes time to sell a house, what do we do with televisions?

I was having lunch with friends who had been searching online for real estate.  They made the insightful observation about televisions in the online photos – “all of the cables, cords and remote controllers make the online pictures look junky”.  In fact, my friends made the suggestion that home sellers should at least move the television and accessories out of the room and then take the pictures!!!

As I mentioned in The Family Room Fireplace Staging Conundrum blog posting (April 20, 2011), how do you draw attention to the fireplace when the family room also should have a place for a television?  Even when you find a solution for the fireplace as focal point and the television as the "other family member" in the family room, what do you do with the spider web of cords and controllers?

It is an easy problem to solve if the home sellers are not living in the house.  You remove as much as you can.  No one will be watching the television any way.  It is a much more delicate issue if the family is living in the house for sale. 

My approach is to do what I can to hide the “spider web” of cords and find a home for the controllers in a drawer.  It is amazing the multitude of sins that can be hidden behind a tastefully placed plant or large accessory!!!  If I have the opportunity to spend time with the house seller, I also encourage them to maintain a neat and orderly appearance in and around their television and entertainment center. 

In many cases, the online photos are taken the same or next day after I stage the house.  In those instances, we make sure that the photos do not display the “junky” television accessories.  Neat and orderly are our watchwords for the family room photos. 

You want the potential buyers to see the possibilities of this house when they discover it online.  You don’t want them to have the same reaction as my friend – “junky”!

Dwell in possibilities!

Cindy
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