Pretty Costs, Pretty Pays

Selling your house requires that it stand out from the crowd.  It can stand out because of its price; special location; or, unique features (which we call focal points in the home staging business).  Your house can also stand out from the crowd because it is prettier than the rest!  And Professional home staging makes houses pretty!!

But the reality is that Pretty Costs.  Just watch the ads and infomercials for makeup; age defying creams; hair products; clothes; weight loss programs; augmentations, and fitness machines and programs.  They guarantee some variation of pretty (usually with minimal effort) and they all cost money – sometimes lots of money.

Why do they work?  Because we also know that Pretty Pays.  Pretty babies draw “oohs” and “ahhes”.  Pretty girls turn heads.  Pretty men (usually referred to as handsome) also hold stares.  And pretty houses stand out from the crowd for all of the right reasons.

But when it comes to selling our house, some sellers (and sadly even a few realtors) believe that what they have is good enough.  They don’t need pretty.  In their view, “we don’t need to spend money on getting our house ready.  If it was good enough for me it will be good enough for the next guy.  Why waste my money on improvements and home staging if it is going to sell any way.”

For these short-sighted sellers, an investment in improvements and home staging is viewed as an unnecessary expense.  They are living in the past and expect their home to just sell.   Gone are the days when you can just stick a “For Sale” sign in the yard! 

For the savvy, strategic seller, this home staging cost is an investment in selling their house quicker and for the best possible price.  They know that Pretty Costs and Pretty Pays.

Professional home staging makes the house pretty because it accentuates the home’s best features and provides a nice, easy and consistent use of space and movement.  And don’t forget, a professionally staged house dramatically improves the pictures for the online listing.

Pretty Costs and so does professional home staging.  But Pretty Pays dividends and so does professional home staging which pays dividends in selling houses quicker and for the best possible price. 

A pretty house fires the imagination of the buyer and presents the possibilities of life in this memorable place.

 

Dwell in possibilities

Cindy

Back to the Basics - Accessories

Truly memorable images - Audrey Hepburn’s string of pearls and black gloves, Audrey Hepburn’s sunglasses, Audrey Hepburn’s long black dress. 

Yes, the costumer started with near perfect beauty but added elegant touches and flourishes to make immortal the images of Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s.  

In a similar vein, staging accessories can be the jewelry that brings color to the simple, yet elegant master bathroom.  They can be the sunglasses that draw the potential buyers’ eyes to the fireplace focal point.  Staging accessories can make the sterile kitchen appear to be the place for fun cooking and entertaining.

Today, we finish our Back to Home Staging Basics with an examination of Accessories.

With home staging, the furniture arrangement takes on the utilitarian tasks of making sense of each room and facilitating flow.  The home staging accessories take on the fun tasks of bringing out color, feeding the imagination, and creating the “Wow!” factor of the house.

Think about the possibilities that accessories suggest in the following rooms and spaces:

Kitchen – open cookbooks, bowls of fruit and vegetables, cheese and bread on a cutting board, copper pots and pans, apothecaries loaded with pasta and dried beans, http://www.transitions-home-staging.com/JeffersonStaging.html

Dining Room – table set with color dishes and glasses along with yellow sunflowers http://www.transitions-home-staging.com/Pepper-Grass-Staging.html

Master Bedroom – luscious, colorful and fresh bed linens accented by floral print and bedside tables http://www.transitions-home-staging.com/Birch---Catoosa.html

Master Bathroom – elegant hand towels, painting above bathtub, greenery accenting the tub, http://www.transitions-home-staging.com/Camelot-Court-Staging-2.html

Bookshelves – matching colored books like an English library, Toby mugs, sports trophies, bocce balls http://www.transitions-home-staging.com/76th-Place-Plus.html

The art of staging involves the placement of accessories to help the potential buyer understand the function of the space, to feel comfortable being in the space and most importantly, to imagine living the next chapter of their life in that house.  Accessories bring out the possibilities of the house – and when they work their magic, great results happen.

Dwell in possibilities

Cindy

Back to the Basics – Furniture Arrangement

We continue with our back to the home staging basics with an examination of Furniture Arrangement.

Furniture arrangement can help define the focal points and deliver the easy flow of a home.  It can make the house feel neat, ordered and in proper perspective.  Furniture arrangement can help make sense of the house and its functions or it can create questions and confusion.

A couple of important questions that I ask as I am assessing a house for the furniture arrangement include:

·         What role does this room play in the house? 

·         Does the furniture make sense for this space?
·         Are there pieces of furniture that are inconsistent with the purpose of the room? 
·         Does the furniture arrangement enhance or detract from the room’s best features?

Each room in a home should have a clear purpose and be staged to enhance its original intent.

We use photos today of a past staging project (Evergreen).  As you can see from the “before” pre-staging picture, this room was used and furnished as a home office. 

To get a perspective on the situation, think of a traditional home built in the 1970s. You enter the front door, and you notice the formal living room off the small entry to the right.  Then you look left and see the…… home office (?) or is it the dining room (?).  If it’s the home office then where is the dining room (?)  This arrangement created questions and confusion, immediately upon entering the house.

As you can see from the “after” staging picture, this room is now staged to enhance the original intent as a formal dining room.  We brought in a dining room table and chairs and placed it on a more proportional rug, accessorized the table, hung some silk drapery panels, added some artwork and positioned the chandelier over the table. 

Voila!  The room looks ready for a dinner party!  The furniture is arranged to enhance the room’s original intent. 

You can experience the full impact of professional home staging on this Evergreen house by visiting our Transitions website at http://www.transitions-home-staging.com/Evergreen---Bartlesville.html. 

Furniture arrangement is another area in which the art of professional staging is on display.  Furnishings should complement the space, not take it over.  It is not simply a matter of moving a couch and chair.  And it takes skill and experience to create that effect in most houses. 

With a professionally staged house, buyers do imagine living in that house and making it their home.  And, isn’t this why we staged the home in the first place?

Dwell in possibilities!

Cindy

Back to the Basics – Flow

We continue with our back to the home staging basics.  Today, we discuss Flow.

Flow generally refers to the even pace in which one moves from space-to-space and room-to-room in a house.  Flow can be a subtle characteristic of a house if done well -- but can be jarringly obvious if not done well.

·         Do the rooms and spaces feel connected? 

·         Is there a choppy and broken feeling as you move from room-to-room? 

·         Does the eye flow across a room?

·         Are there things like furniture placement, colors or clutter that get in the way? 

·         Are the colors consistent from room-to-room?

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. 

For some clients, I provide paint consultation and carpet selection assistance because the existing paint colors are inconsistent, dated or dirty and the same is usually true about the carpeting.  In other cases, the first phase of home staging involves major de-cluttering.  And in many instances, I advise with furniture places as both furniture placement and scale affect “Flow”.

Building subtle flow is a clear example of the art of home staging.

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?

Home staging helps set each house apart from the competition for all of the right reasons.  When it is done well, home staging accentuates the home’s best features and provides a nice, easy and consistent use of space and movement.  Then buyers can experience the real possibilities of that home.

Dwell in possibilities!

Cindy

Back to the Basics – Focal Points

We continue with our Back to the Home Staging Basics series.  Today, we will examine Focal Points.

After examining the house’s curb appeal and entry area, I focus my attention on those factors that make this house unique and distinct from the other homes on the market in this price range.  Typically, a focal point is a permanent element of the house. 

In trying to identify the focal points, I ask myself these questions:

·         Does this house have a great view? 

·         Is there a fireplace and how can we draw the buyer’s attention to this unique feature of this house? 

·         Are there hardwood or marble floors that accentuate a dining room or master bath? 

·         What about the kitchen?  Does it have special cabinetry, granite countertops, or a unique layout?  Is the kitchen designed to be a gathering space as well as a place to cook?

·         Are there any other architectural features that we want to highlight?

Once the house’s focal points are identified, the home staging task is to show off the house’s potential by drawing the potential buyer’s attention to them.  And this is where my creativity, experience, resources and inventory can be invested in helping sell the house quicker and for the highest price possible.

Check out our Transitions website for examples of focal points in Kitchens, Living Rooms and Family Rooms that we staged - http://www.transitions-home-staging.com/Staging-by-Room-Type.html

Focal points provide a house’s emotions, dreams and possibilities.  As a Realtor partner shared with me, “If all we were buying are bricks and mortar, just about any house will do.  Instead, we are buying emotion, dreams, and possibilities.” 

Think about it - in buying emotion, dreams, and possibilities, we want to envision comfort and care; laughter and joy; simplicity and ease.  And we most often find those dreams in the flames of a fireplace, the warmth of a kitchen and the views out the window (all focal points to be shown off to their best advantage). 

With a professionally staged house, buyers do imagine living in that house and making it their home.   

Isn’t this why we staged the home in the first place? 

Remember to dwell in possibilities! 

Cindy