We had lots of fun staging this beautiful light filled home in Westchester!  This home has a grand staircase and beautiful arches and niches and a large rooftop deck with an enclosed viewing room.

Be sure to take a look at the real estate show which showcases a few of the rooms.  We didn't have a chance to see the rooftop deck at night, but I'm sure that if you are an interested buyer, the real estate agent on the property will be happy to set up an appointment for you.

We love the niches to display artwork and sculptures.  If you get a chance to visit the property, be sure to let us know which features are your favorites!

When a new client calls me for the first time with questions about home staging, they often wonder what we provide when staging a vacant home.  I usually go through the basics with them verbally and then direct them to one of our real estate shows to give them a visual idea of the transformation.

It surprises me though that sometimes, even when I describe the services provided, and they see the photos of an empty house and then a home with furniture, art, accessories, plants, etcetera that they still don't understand what services a stager provides.

"So do you bring in furniture?"  Yes.  "Do you bring in plants and stuff?" Yes.  "What about towels and bedding?"  Yes, are you looking at the same photos I am?   "Oh, so you bring all that?"  Yes, that is the work we do.  "Ah, I see now."

Of course, the services provided can vary depending upon the project and the budget.  Some homeowners prefer simple stagings or vignette stagings that create an inviting ambience without using complete sets of furniture.  We often use a combination of fuller staging and vignette staging in different rooms of the same home, focusing fuller staging on more important rooms and vignette staging of additional bedrooms and such.

All vacant stagings begin with a visit to the property. Continued...

We all love comfortable homes, right?  We like to come home, sit down in our favorite spot, kick back, relax and put up our feet.  When guests come 'round we want to be sure we have plenty of seating and, especially during the holidays and special celebrations, we want to make sure there are plenty of chairs at the dining table.

But when you are putting your home on the market, you are going to have buyers coming in and out of your home, and if you're lucky, there are going to be quite a few of them there at the same time.  One of the last things you want is to have them dodging your furniture or each other to avoid collisions.

So if your home is occupied, chances are that quite a bit of your usual pieces of furniture and accessories are going to be stored elsewhere while your home is on the market.  Take a walk through your home as though you had never been there before.  Is there a clear path to get from room to room?  Can you see out the windows or is there a piece of furniture blocking the view?  Can you actually open the door to the backyard? 

            Who would know there was a door leading to the backyard in this room?  Show off the selling features!

On the other hand, if you have a vacant property that is being staged, resist the temptation to insist that it be filled with furniture and accessories to the point that it feels like your own living room.  There is a difference between staging a home for sale and the way you live in it daily.  While a lived in home needs extra storage pieces for china and personal collections, these pieces often feel heavy and take the buyer's eye away from what you are selling, the home.

                                     Stage a lifestyle, resist the temptation to completely fill a room...

Find a happy medium.  When staging for sale, think about the selling features of your home and how you can showcase them with your furniture placement.  If you have awkward or small spaces, be creative and show buyers how they can be made to work for today's lifestyle.  Eliminate pieces that are going to block pathways or obscure views.

When staging your home to support you in creating the lifestyle of your dreams, use pieces that fit the way you live now.  Create arrangements that will work for you rather than against you.  If you constantly find yourself banging your knee on a piece of furniture, maybe it's time to rethink the furniture placement in that room.  Or if you find your guests not knowing where to place their glass when visiting, you may need to add a small table or shelf.

Furniture in a home is more than just a place to sit.  It can showcase the house, give a home personality, and create an environment to support a comfortable lifestyle.  As life evolves, so too do your needs within your home.  Little changes can go a long way, both to get a home sold and to bring greater harmony to your day to day life.

Part I Collections

Part II Driveways

Part III Paint

Part IV Clutter

Clutter is a big issue in the real estate world.  But it doesn't end with home staging.  It affects you in your day to day life as well.  Dealing with and eliminating clutter is going to help you feel lighter, happier and make room in your life to help you achieve your goals.

I've been helping someone deal with this sometimes painful process over the past couple months.  It took her quite a while to come to the place in herself to be ready to make the changes to deal with the issues of hanging onto the clutter and things that were holding her back.  She has come to a place where she is ready to let go and move on.

I've written some details about the process here and for anyone who is interested in how we went about dealing with eliminating clutter for her, please do read her story.

She is now feeling lighter and much more joyful.  When she comes home each day there is fresh air welcoming her.  Her home is now ready for the changes that she wants to make in her life. 

So irregardless of whether or not you are preparing your home for sale or want to make changes to create a home environment that will support  you in achieving your life goals, deal with and eliminate clutter.  Find a professional you trust to help you with the process.  You deserve the breath of fresh air a clutter-free environment will give you.

Part I Collections

Part II Driveways

Part III Paint

Staging a home to look its best, starts with the paint.  You want your home to look fresh and clean so it is the perfect backdrop for everything else you do.  Whether you are preparing your home for sale or redesigning your home to enhance your lifestyle, choosing the right colors will make a dramatic difference in how both you and others will react to the home.

When choosing paint color, take samples of your carpet, fabrics and tile to the store with you to help guide you in choosing the color chips.  Be sure to take several color chips home and try them in various areas of your room, at different times of day and in different lighting.  The way the swatch looks in the store can be quite different than how it looks in your home. 

Once you have decided on the colors you will be using, test the paint first by painting a 12″ x 48″ board or the same size area on your wall.  Live with it a few days and again, check it in various lights, at different times of day to be sure you are happy with your color choice.

If you are staging your home for sale, don't be afraid of color.  Just as color makes a dramatic impact in how you feel about your home, it also makes an impact in how buyers will react to your home. 

It is wise however to stay away from colors and themes that will only appeal to very specific tastes.  Painting a room midnight blue and applying glow in the dark stars might be fun for your child, but the thought of removing all those stars, repairing the walls and then covering the dark paint may turn away some buyers.  If you are in a situation where you have a room like this, do the work of bringing it back to a more neutral color before putting the home on the market.

For the purpose of home staging, put the power of color to your advantage.  Choose colors that will be the perfect backdrop for the setting that is your home.  Once you have the base right, you will be ready to bring back in your furniture, plants and accessories that will add the elements that pull it all together and make it work.

Part I of the Series - Collections

Part II of the Series- Driveways

I am pleased to announce that  we have added Real Estate Shows as part of the service we provide our home staging clients.  Getting real estate maximum exposure is what it is all about, and any way we can help, we are pleased to do so.

I have put together a sample show here.  We are in the process of putting together shows for each of our staging client's whose homes are currently available for sale. 

The listing agent's contact information is provided on the details page of the show.  Please let us know if you have any questions or comments.

First impressions count, right?  As you, your guests or buyers approach your home, chances are the first thing they will see is your driveway.  Is yours clean, clear and free of clutter?  Or is it an obstacle course filled with items that really should be elsewhere?

Your home is your retreat.  Each day when you get home, you should feel relaxed and at ease.  When you turn the corner and get ready to pull into your driveway, are you pleased with what you see?  If not, maybe it is time to give the front of your house a bit of attention.  Start with putting away any tools or toys that may be lying about.  Make sure your hose is put away and not laying across the walkways.  If there is any grass or weeds coming up in the cracks, be sure to pull those.  Clean your driveway and remove any oil or other stains.

Is your address clearly visible?  If not, it may be time to add a new address plate.  Take a walk up to your front door from the street.  Are there any shrubs or bushes that stick out that need to be trimmed? 

If you are preparing your home for sale, you will want to remove your RV's, boats, and other large vehicles that may be stored at your home.  You may be able to store these items at a friend's house (hopefully not the next door neighbor) or you may need to store them at a rental facility while your home is on the market.  Park your own vehicles on the street if possible.  When buyers pull up in front of your house, you want them to envision their cars parked in the driveway.  If they are seeking RV access, let them see it without your RV parked there.

Now that you have the driveway clean and clear, see how you feel next time you come home.  And if your home is getting ready to shown to buyers, make sure they can see the house.  Have the driveway clear so they can get the full view and immediately start picturing themselves in the home.

Part I of this Series-Collections

Over the past couple years, several of those close to me have had the opportunity to see the homes that we have staged for sale.  They love the clutter free, perfectly arranged furniture and stress free environment a home that is staged for sale conveys.  But there are some major differences between staging a house for sale and staging for everyday life.  So I thought I would do a short series covering some of the differences.

I recently visited someone and became concerned when I saw their prized collection lined up on the garage floor waiting to be sold at a garage sale.  They then took me on a tour of their home asking me what they should get rid of.  I was hearing my own words coming back at me and realized they thought that all homes should be as impersonal as a model home.

My answer then as it is now, when it comes to your collection, if you love it, keep it.  If you have grown past it and no longer feel the same about it, let it go.

Your home should reflect your personality.  Your collection reflects you.  If you find that it has taken over your home, or taken over your time by requiring lots of time to keep clean and maintain, then pack some of it up.  Display just the pieces that are feeling good to you now.  Resist the temptation to fill the shelves up.  One to three items per shelf, depending upon the size of the shelf and the size of the collectible is plenty.

When you get ready to put  your home on the real estate market, that is the time to depersonalize your home and pack up your collection.  Until then, if you love your collection, choose the pieces that fit right now, pack up the rest and enjoy.

I recently saw a home that had been for staged for sale with furniture, but they had not used any accessories.  That home, while furnished well, had absolutely no charm, no warmth, no emotion.  Using the right accessories makes all the difference in how a buyer will react to a home.

Proper furniture placement is crucial.  It will highlight a great floor plan and will show how a difficult floor plan can work.  Choosing the right pieces that are in scale and in style with the home are important.  But adding the finishing touches, the linens, artwork, candles, floral arrangements, these are what breathe life into the home.

A properly staged home should stir buyer's emotions.  They should start dreaming about how they would enjoy living in the home.  I hope that when sellers and their agents choose a home stager to work with, they choose one that sees the whole picture, one that will consider all the senses. One who will appeal to more than just the function of a room and the buyer's sensibility, but will also leave them dreaming about the lifestyle that awaits them once they make the home theirs.