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 11, 2012

Staging “Aha” Moment Made the Sale

Kitchens seal the deal.  Staging helps makes sense of the house.  Show ready, staged houses sell quickly.  We need to teach them how to live in this house. 

If you follow “to be continued”, you’ve heard these themes and ideas many times.  Today, we can share a real-life example where these ideas came together in an “Aha’ moment for the potential buyer and helped her make an offer on the house.

I was in mid-process staging this Fairview Road project when a Realtor partner and friend arrived with a potential buyer.  I excused myself, went to my car and returned phone calls allowing them time to experience this house.  After they left, I went back in and finished my staging plan.

Imagine my delight when a few days later I learned that this buyer made an offer on the Fairview Road house.  It is always so much fun when my staged houses sell -- and sell quickly! 

I followed up with my Realtor friend who showed this house to learn from any feedback.

She told me that the buyer was torn between two houses that she really liked.  Then they returned to the Fairview Road house and the buyer had an “Aha” moment in the kitchen.  My staging of the kitchen (which had not been completed during their first visit) made the sale.  The buyer was able to make sense of the kitchen space and helped the buyer envision living in that space.

The Fairview Road project involved “strategic staging” – kitchen, dining area, family room mantle and bathrooms.  Strategic staging is lightly staging either key areas; great features of the house we want a potential buyer to notice; or, areas that require explanation.

In this house, my strategic staging included: dressing up the mantle (the first thing you see upon entering the house); using furniture, accessories and artwork in the kitchen; and accessorizing the spacious and fresh master bathroom.  I staged the kitchen and breakfast eating area extensively.  By doing so, an awkward, blank wall above the kitchen sink was explained and not a decorating issue.

The staging helped the potential buyers visualize these key areas and then left the rest of the house to their imagination.  See more at http://www.transitions-home-staging.com/Fairview-Road---Bartlesville.html

This home is located at 4222 Fairview Road in Bartlesville, Oklahoma and listed by Pat Poindexter - McAnaw & Company Realtors (http://patpoindexter.com).

It might be the “Wow” first impression.  It might be how the imagination is fired by a great kitchen, family room or dining room.  Or, it might be that “Aha” moment when the possibilities of the house make sense to the buyer.  In each case, professional home staging helps make sense of the house and highlight its many possibilities.

Dwell in possibilities


Cindy


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