True Confessions – What Happens When the Stager Stages Her Own Home

Enough time has passed - now I can confess about what happened when I staged my own home. 

In early 2010, Walt and I were finally ready to sell my smaller home.  It was the right decision financially but it was also a very emotional process for me.  When I bought this house in 2001, I saw the possibilities in a neglected and sad house.  With lots of hard work, major improvements and creativity, it became my much needed nest and cute English cottage. 

Like every home seller, I wanted to sell my beloved home for a really good price.  I loved my house and wanted every potential buyer to love it too!  Plus, I had the added pressure to stage my house to impress any and every Realtor who walked in its doors.

Walt and I followed the advice of our Realtor partner – we had the house inspected prior to listing it and we fixed all of the identified issues.  We also refreshed the painting in a few key rooms like the kitchen and studio.  It was fine structurally and was very clean and fresh- but then my staging fun began.

In addition to the normal staging tactics (solid curb appeal, clean and crisp rooms, removal of personal photos, clutter-free and easy flow), my obsessive staging nature took over.  I must confess a few of the “over the top” staging tactics that I felt obligated to do before my cottage was listed:

·         Color coordinated the clothes (and hangers) and shoes in the bedroom closets to enhance the wonderful maple wood closet organizing system and bedroom architectural features

·         Polished and cleaned all of the silver and arranged them in the cabinets (over Walt’s complaints as he had that job!) in order to emphasize the elegance and graciousness of the kitchen

·         My once just functional studio became my inspiring dream studio by stepping up how I stored and organized my supplies, fabrics, books and other tools of my trade.

·         What was a storage shed for outdoor tools became a very charming potting shed (even I realized that was over the top but once I got started I could not quit!)

A few of the rooms are illustrated today.  You can also see more by visiting our Transitions website (http://www.transitions-home-staging.com/OsageDesign.html)

There was redemption for my obsessive attention to detail.  My charming English cottage sold on the first day for a premium price.  In the end, the first young couple took over the story of the charming English cottage as I was in my own story in Walt’s and my new home.  We each found new possibilities.

Dwell in possibilities

Cindy