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, January 3, 2012

Back to the Basics – Curb Appeal

Happy New Year!!  I am excited about the wonderful opportunities and possibilities 2012 will bring to my clients, Realtor partners and me.
As you may recall, “to be continued” is designed to inform and educate progressive Realtors and savvy sellers about the value and benefits of home staging.  We want our blog to be another tool you can use to sell houses.
To that end, I decided to go back to the home staging basics to kick start 2012. 
When I stage a house, I concentrate on the five main aspects of each home: Curb Appeal, Entry Area, Focal Points, Flow, Furniture Arrangement and Accessories. 
Today, we will examine my first area of concentration – Curb Appeal.  We will feature the other areas of concentration throughout this month.
Curb appeal and exterior style often determine if a house will make a potential buyer’s “first cut”.  So the staging process begins here. 
There is an initial impression made about every house.  My goal is to create an emotional reaction that begins when a prospective buyer pulls into the driveway and does not end until the home has been viewed and the front door is closed.
My first questions when I pull into the driveway:
·         Do the exterior paint colors look dated, mismatched or poorly maintained? 
·         Is the landscaping consistent with the house and the neighborhood? 
·         Are the porch and steps inviting or lackluster? 
In a potential buyer’s eyes, the appearance of the outside of a house is an indicator of what is to follow.  Freshly mulched flower beds, a clean and orderly front porch, colorful flower pots and overall order foreshadow a well maintained house that has been enjoyed and pampered. 
Curb appeal can be a challenge in the cold, gray months of winter but it just makes me find creative ways to inject color into that first impression to make that house stand out at first glance.
You can find the portfolio of houses staged by Transitions at http://www.transitions-home-staging.com/Projects.html  

Dwell in possibilities! 

Cindy

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