Home Staging Blog

Every house can benefit from home staging, even houses that are “fixers”.  Your home does not need to be perfect or in model home condition to show better.  A few basic home staging steps can get your home to show better and to maximize its appeal to more buyers, no matter if it needs a little work or a lot. 

If you are on a tight or no budget and are placing your home on the market, consider these basic tips and get your home in its best showing condition:

• Keep the grass trimmed and the yard neat.  A tidy yard is far more inviting to buyers than one that looks deserted and unkempt. 
• Keep the trash cans put away and that the driveway and paths to the door are clear.
• Keep driveway, walkways, porches, patios and decks swept.
• Wash all the windows.
• Clean, clean, clean.  All properties show better when they are clean, even if they are “major fixers”.
• Keep the lights on, inside and out.  Buyers need to see the house and you want to encourage them to come in.
• “Vignette Staging” is perfect for vacant homes that need to be updated.  It is an easy and affordable way to add lighting and create a mood in a home without incurring a large expense. 

Feng Shui is about how you and your home or office are situated in relation to the environment around you and how the energy circulates in that environment.  Back in the days before public water systems, highways and temperature controlled buildings were established, the location where a home was to be built was very serious business.  It was a simple matter of survival.  While the amenities of modern living make less than ideal conditions livable, the environment still has a powerful impact on those who live and work there.

So what kind of things make an area most desirable?  We have talked before about the “armchair” or “command” position in a room and the same thing applies when you are talking about a building or a piece of property.  The ideal setting for a home is one where the back of the property is supported by a mountain, by lower rolling hills on the sides, where it has a fresh running water in the front and a clear view in front of it.  Sounds simple enough, right?  Translate that into urban living and it is pretty much the same.  The mountain behind the building might be trees at the property line, the rolling hills might be the shrubbery that gets planted along the sides of a building, the street is the water and of course the clear view is the view.

Whether you live in the country or the city, when it comes to real estate, everyone knows the key words are location, location, location.  Great Feng Shui locations are pretty much common sense and most real estate agents have an innate knowing of which settings are best. 

Overbuilt properties that tower over every other home in the neighborhood are obviously undesirable even to the point that communities are developing building codes to prevent this type of overbuilding.  Those that live in the out of place properties are likely to be uncomfortable in their surroundings.  There are reasons people created sayings such as “It’s lonely at the top”.  Very small buildings are likely to be under attack from the neighborhood, which is typical in areas where expansion and growth are occurring.  The occupants of these tiny spaces among a sea of larger buildings are likely to feel the pressure and eventually move out.

Look for a home that is supported in the back by landscaping with trees.  There should be bushes and shrubs along the sides supporting the home.  Make sure you can find the home easily and the front door is clearly visible.  Look at the home from across the street.  Does it look in scale with the neighborhood?  Are there any tall buildings overpowering the home or is the home towering over its neighbors?  Ideally, your home should fit in with the surroundings yet be supported by its setting. 

Now stand at the front door of the home.  Can you clearly see the street?  How much traffic does the street itself have?  Does the amount of traffic coincide with your lifestyle?  Does it have a pleasant view? 

Take into consideration the entire setting when choosing your home.  Chances are, if the surroundings the home is sited on feel as comfortable as your favorite chair, this could be the perfect house for you!

We received a great staging tele-coach question today asking how is the best way to stage a second bedroom in a two bedroom home.  Should it be staged as an office or a bedroom?  My answer is definitely, stage the room as a bedroom.

Home buyers with children are looking for that second bedroom.  They want to know without any doubt that the bed and other furniture are going to fit in the room comfortably.  Looking at a two bedroom home that has office furniture in the second bedroom leaves a question mark in a buyer’s head-will everything really fit well?

Think about the buyers that are going to be looking at your home and stage your house accordingly.  Answer their questions by showing them the solutions.  Show them your home’s best selling features and get your home sold fast!

Choosing foods that are fresh, vibrant, colorful and healthy will nourish your body  and fill you with vibrant, radiant energy.  The food you eat carries life giving chi (energy) so do your best to make the best choices for yourself and those you love.  Good Feng Shui is about enhancing the energy in your environment and what better environment to start with than your own body?

                                                         Image by Barsik

There is more to life than staging homes and selling real estate.  Today is Friday.  Celebrate!  Find something fabulously fresh and beautiful to eat, nourish yourself and improve the Feng Shui in your most personal environment, your own precious body.

Many people are opening up to color on their walls, even when they are preparing their homes for sale.  Do yourself a favor and remember to test the color before investing in all the paint for your home.  While the color on the paint chip might look perfect, the actual paint can differ enough to make it necessary to rethink the color and choose another.

Paint chips are printed on paper and while the colors are close to the actual color of the paint, ink and paint are two different mediums.  The surface of your walls, the primer you use and the lighting in your home can all cause the paint to vary slightly as well.  Even the color of your floors and furnishings have an effect on how the color of your walls is perceived.

Purchase a small test can of each color you are considering using in your home and try it on your walls in the rooms you plan to use it in.  Live with it for a few days and study it under different lighting conditions at different times of the day.  If you are happy with the color, go ahead and go forward with your paint choices.  If not, try something that will work.  Now that you have seen the actual paint on the wall, you will know which direction you need to go in choosing another color.

Remember, for the purposes of staging a home for sale, you will probably not want to go too extreme with wall colors, but you do not have to stick with white either.  Have a little fun and make your house expressive, but keep things calm and simple.  Your goal is to have a home that appeals to as many buyers as possible and to get it sold quickly!  If you need help, contact a professional home stager in your area for a consultation.

Buyers make a lot of major decisions in the first few moments they see your house.  You have an opportunity to change any problem areas that have the potential of being seen as negatives by home buyers and to change them into positives that will impress buyers the right way.  Take a good hard look at your home as it shows right now and evaluate how it can be improved to show just that much better and I think you are going to be very happy with the results.

Change the buyer’s focus from any potential negatives and put their focus on your home’s positive features.  How?  Here are a few examples of how some homeowners here in the Los Angeles area recently applied the basic principles of home staging to address their problem areas and got their homes sold quickly.

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1. Problem:  Luxury condominium in high profile area, single male owner, pool table in dining area, crowded closets.  Owner’s belongings still in home although owner was currently living in another property.
2. Solution:  Remove pool table and replace with dining table.  Pack personal photos and personal collections.  Remove excess clothing, shoes and other items from closets.  Edit accent items.  Rearrange furniture to best showcase home’s features, views and to show how new buyers might best enjoy property.  Add new accent items to appeal to both men and women.  Thoroughly clean and polish this home that had been on market for 2 1/2 years with no offers, which resulted in a property that looked and felt deserted.
3. Result:  In Escrow within one month of home staging.

                                                    

This is a gorgeous home, but a pool table in the dining room doesn’t work for most buyers and makes the rest of the space feel out of scale.

                        

 Use furniture that shows buyers the best use of a home’s space and is in scale with the size of a room to get the best results from your home staging efforts.

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1. Problem:  Crowded condo in sought after neighborhood where young growing family with kids and dogs has filled space to its overflow capacity.
2. Solution:  Pack, pack, pack.  Organize, organize, organize.  Remove personal photo collections.  Thoroughly clean out and edit all closets, cupboards and storage areas including kitchens, bathrooms, bedrooms, linen closets, coat closets and display areas.  Remove extra furniture in kid’s room.  Rearrange existing furniture to best showcase home’s selling features.  Add a few new accent items for bright splashes of color and a fresh feeling throughout home.
3. Result:  Home in Escrow at full price within days of listing with backup offer within a week.

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1. Problem:  Vacant condo in popular San Fernando Valley area, updated, clean, fell out of Escrow twice.
2. Solution:  Stage home in a warm, comfortable and inviting fashion, suitable to a home of its size.  Stage each area of home to define all areas as usable square footage.  Use color and simple accent items that appeal to a wide range of buyers yet add sophistication and excitement to the home.
3. Result:  In Escrow within a few short weeks of home staging, this time it closed.

You can make a big impact on buyers by simply staging your vacant properties.

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1. Problem:  Upscale home in popular area of Los Angeles.  Three bedroom home; third bedroom home was being used as workout room and storage room.  Bedroom has low ceilings and very little natural light.  While on market, comments from buyers were that the room was unusable space.
2. Solution:  Remove workout equipment and items stored in space.  Reposition owner’s futon and open it to use as bed.  Add lighting, nightstands, linens, reading area, and accent items to show room as a great guest room.  Use accent lighting and accent pieces to make ceiling feel taller.
3. Result:  In Escrow within a couple weeks of home staging.

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1. Problem:  Brand new construction townhome apartments with small main living areas and multiple bedrooms.
2. Solution:  Stage each unit in a different style to illustrate how the small space could best be utilized and could accommodate the number of residents that would likely be renting a home with the amount of bedrooms these units offered.
3. Result:  All units rented within one month of staging.

Small spaces make it difficult for buyers to imagine their furnishings in.

Show buyers that even in small spaces, comfortable living areas can be easily created.

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1. Problem:  Traditional style vacant home in upscale Pasadena neighborhood in excellent condition but without updates.  Previously on market and not sold, buyers commented about lack of family room.
2. Solution:  This home features an extra large living room and a formal dining room with a fireplace.  Through staging, carve out an area in the living room and create a dining area that makes sense while leaving ample room in the main living room.  Stage the formal dining room as a den complete with TV viewing area.  This home also offers two master suites, so these were staged to highlight this additional feature.
3. Result:  In Escrow within a few short weeks of staging.

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Professional home staging has got these homeowners the results they wanted in this rocky real estate market.  Contact a home stager in your area and do all you can to get your home to show its best and sold quickly.

If you have been looking for a home in an area that offers natural California beauty yet is not too far off the beaten path, then this home we recently staged in the Calabasas Highlands area might be perfect for you.  This home is dramatic with soaring ceilings and gorgeous windows that frame amazing views.  The floorplan was designed for entertaining and each bedroom features its own balcony to enjoy the natural surroundings.

This new construction home is gorgeous and we had so much fun staging it-who wouldn’t?  What a great place to hang out and work!  Imagine, you could be living here!  If this sounds like the perfect home for you, be sure to go check it out.  It is ready for you to move right in.

Many people talk to me about wanting more balance in their lives and a great place to begin is to balance things in your own home.  Improperly placed furniture, wobbly furniture, crooked pictures, uneven floors…these all lead to a general feeling of a life out of balance.  Put the things you surround yourself with daily back into order, and you will find yourself enjoying a greater sense of harmony in all areas of your life.

Take a look around your home and see if your rooms look equally balanced.  Does one side of the room have a lot of furniture and the other side have none?  Is one side covered floor to ceiling with filled bookcases and other side with floor to ceiling windows and nothing in front of them?  If so, re-situate some of your furniture so that each area of your rooms feel balanced in relation to the other spaces. 

Take a look at your artwork and other items that are hung on the walls.  Are they centered within the spaces and are they straight?  Are they staggered haphazardly or are they arranged in a manner that feels peaceful to you?  Correcting small details such as these will make big improvements in your well being.

Make sure you have no broken or wobbly legs on your sofas, chairs or tables.  Be sure your stairs are all secure and that your floors have no trip hazards.  Check your walkways at the exterior of your home as well.  Ensure that you have a secure footing and start enjoying greater balance in  your life today.

One of the biggest challenges I see home sellers struggle with when staging their homes for sale, is deciding which updates make the most sense.  Some homeowners feel they need to spend thousands in major renovations while others are barely willing to wash their windows.  When it comes to preparing your home for sale, I think it is best to get your priorities straight and make improvements where they really matter-and that will vary depending upon your individual home.

If you are planning on selling your home in the very near future, leave major renovations out.  Chances are you will spend more money than you will gain on a major renovation.  Simple updates will reap you the greatest reward.  Take a realistic look at your budget.  Everybody has a different budget and improvements can be made no matter what that budget is.  Remember, your good old elbow grease is free, and that alone can make a huge difference in how well your home will show.

The following is a brief list of improvements that I have seen that creates the most powerful positive impact in homes and produces the greatest amount of return on the dollar.  How will you know which of these is a priority for you?  Your home and your budget will guide you to choosing which of these applies to you and your home.  You really need to look at your home through the eyes of a new buyer, a stranger looking at your home for the first time.  If you need help, ask a friend who is comfortable enough with you to be honest to help you evaluate your home to assist you in deciding which items should be on your to-do list.  Your real estate agent can also assist you in determining which updates are going to make your house stand out from the competition.

• Clean every inch of your home-inside and out.
• Paint the interior.  This includes removing old wallpaper.  Do not make the mistake of leaving a house full of dated wallpaper.  If it sounds like a lot of work to you, imagine how prospective buyers feel.  Truly, who cares if you replace perfectly good vinyl kitchen flooring with new tile if your home is full of flocked wallpaper?  First impressions count and if buyers can’t get past the front door, they will not care if you have vinyl or tile floors in the kitchen.
• Power wash the exterior of your home and the driveways.  If your home is in need of paint, do it.
• Polish the floors and clean or replace carpets.  If you have damaged floors, replace them.
• Freshen up and manicure your yard.  Remove any dead plants and add mulch.  Be sure there are no weeds and the edges are clean.  Spruce up the curb appeal and get the buyers out of the car.  Remember to be sure your address is clearly marked.
• Repair broken items.  Dripping faucets, broken doorknobs, closet doors off the hinges…these small items make a big difference to buyers.
• Update bath and light fixtures.  These changes can be done quite affordably and make a huge difference in how well a home shows. 
• Update kitchen and bath cabinets.  If your kitchen cabinets have seen their better day, you do not need to gut your kitchen and replace everything to give your home a fresh new look.  By painting your cabinets and replacing the hardware, your cabinets will take on a completely different feel.  Do your homework though, if not done properly, the paint will peel and you certainly do not want that mess to deal with.
• Update the kitchen appliances.  Nothing says “Buy me!” like a great kitchen.  Check out new appliances and if yours are screaming old and dated opposed to cool and retro, replace them.  Oh, and if you believe yours are screaming cool and retro, better double check with your agent to confirm your perspective.
• Remove extra furniture.  This isn’t exactly an update, rather the final step before staging.  Most people enjoy having a few extra creature comforts in their day to day life.  But when you are selling your home, you really need to take the focus off your stuff and put it on your house.  Be careful not to remove too much, you do not want to show a vacant home as that will leave buyers feel cold and uninspired.  Use your furniture to showcase your house’s best features and start looking your new home.

A final reminder, home staging is not about hiding flaws.  Home staging is about showcasing the best features in a home.  Be realistic when deciding what to address as you prepare your home for market.  Talk to your agent about timing, about the competition, about pricing and determine what your budget is for home staging.  Decide what improvements are going to make the biggest impact on how well your home shows and stick to those.  By making smart decisions with your home staging budget, you will see the greatest rewards.

When buyers visit your home they will be checking out your bathroom to make sure it is going to be adequate for their needs.  Make sure yours is not only clean and tidy, but make it feel fresh too.  A few simple touches will go a long way in making any bath more appealing, feel larger and more inviting.

                                 Photo by nruboc

• A few new towels displayed artfully will add a dash of color and luxury to your bathroom.  When buyers come to visit, simply grab your daily towels and drop them in the wash.  Check the tub and shower and make sure there are only necessary items in there.  No messy bars of soap and only one shampoo and conditioner; you might even consider placing the hair items under the sink after using them each day if your shower area is cramped.
• Hang art in your bathroom to transform it from hum-drum to special.  Avoid cliche pieces and choose pieces that match the design in the rest of your home so that your bathroom decor feels like it blends with the balance of the home. 
• Staging a bathroom with fresh flowers and candles give every bath a lift and will suggest a spa like atmosphere.  If you have a shower curtain, be certain it is 100% clean.  If not, replace it.  Choose a solid curtain and keep it simple.
• Bath rugs are great for stepping out of the tub or shower, but remove them before buyers come over.  Not only do they make the room feel smaller, but they feel unsanitary as well.  Toss them in the laundry with the towels before buyers show up to see your home.

Let your bathroom make a great impression on buyers.  Freshen up and let it shine!