STAGING FOR THE RICH AND FAMOUS - WILL YOU KNOW IT? I DIDN'T - 05/30/08 10:21 PM
This is a little humorous story that I thought I would share with my fellow AR's. I just finished staging a home for a client as of yesterday and it was quite an experience. Let me backtrack a few days...
I met with the realtor last Friday as usual for my initial consultation. The seller answered the door, I introduced myself and proceeded with my walk through. He was following me around the house and I was telling him we need to take down these curtains, paint this, bring in furniture for that....such an oblivious stager, huh?? Hey I was just … (12 comments)

Peter Perfect is to Business Owners What Stagers are to Sellers - 05/27/08 04:15 PM
For the first time in a long time I had the evening off and caught up on some TV. I watched a program called Peter Perfect. Has anyone ever seen it?? It was GREAT! Peter Perfect is a well known Salon Owner and Entrepeneur who is called upon to help struggling business owners achieve their goals.
As I watched I was amazed how closely this resembled what home stagers accomplish for their clients. First this gentleman was called into the business and met with much reservation by the struggling business owner. I laughed because he reminded me of myself.
Upon his … (12 comments)

Don't Let That Textured Wallpaper Scare Buyers Away!! - 05/18/08 06:03 PM
Here is an easy fix for that awful textured wallpaper. First you MUST have an EXCELLENT TEAM OF PAINTERS to pull this off. Upon my initial consultation, the realtor made sure to keep reminding me that SOMETHING had to be done with this bathroom. When I see wallpaper I most ALWAYS recommend removing it, but in some cases I suggest painting over it. The realtor FREAKED when I told her what my team was about to do and reminded me that on HGTV they suggest NEVER TO PAINT OVER TEXTURED WALLPAPER....but I JUST KNEW THIS WOULD LOOK AWESOME!
Here are the … (12 comments)

Bedrooms Are For Sleeping, THEY ARE NOT TO BE USED FOR STORAGE - 05/18/08 07:42 AM
Okay, when using ANY room in your house for ANY OTHER purpose then what it was intended to be is always a NO NO when selling your home. In this house we staged a few weeks ago, the bedroom were being used as kind of a dumping ground for all items that the sellers could not find space for.
When your home goes on the market for sale, you must ALWAYS  define each room and  restore it  back to it's original  purpose. This house was quite large and had 4 bedrooms. The RED room was designed to be a guest room … (6 comments)

So Why Hasn't Your House Sold Yet?? - 05/17/08 09:51 AM
Time and time again when I am doing a walk through consultation with my clients I am always stressing the fact to them that if I have to ask what this room's purpose is, then for sure buyer's do NOT know how to set up their furniture.
I am especially finding this to be true with the larger homes that builders are building today. Too many rooms, with too many openings into other rooms makes it difficult for a buyer to imagine how to set up their furnishings. But it does not always need to be a large, builders home that … (14 comments)

A Vacant Room is Filled with LIFE - 05/13/08 03:30 PM
In today's market the one room that most builders are concentrating their efforts on is the GREAT ROOM. The kitchen and great room are the hub of the home. The family will gather to read, watch TV and entertain. BUT WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A BUYER SEES NOTHING BUT SPACE, AND LOTS OF IT??
When I was being interviewed for this home, the first thing I noticed was how long and narrow this great room was. There were entrances into and out of the room on every side. If I was confused about furniture placement, I was quite sure that buyers were … (18 comments)