As 2009 unfolds it's no secret that it is a buyer's market in most major cities. Vancouver is no exception.  Now more than ever it is imperative that home sellers go the extra mile when presenting their property for sale. As buyers expectations escalate more people are turning to home stagers to help secure a sale. Even with the current economic downturn, well displayed homes continue to sell.

Top home stagers bolster buyer confidence by paying close attention to detail. The experts at Reveal Estate Home Staging incorporate color, proportion, flow and style to create memorable spaces that sell.

Purchasing a home is an emotional decision. Are you doing all you can to create maximum appeal for today's discerning buyers?

Reveal Estate is a full service home staging company located in beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia.

For more photos of our work please visit our portfolio.

Warning: the photos in this blog may cause you to feel a sense of hunger, thirst or the desire to stage your kitchen!

We've all heard it said that "the kitchen is the heart of the home". If you've ever had guests over for dinner or thrown a cocktail party, you know that people tend to congregate in the kitchen. In my experience as a home stager, the kitchen is often the room most overlooked by home sellers.

According to a poll conducted in 2006 by Maritz Research, 52% of buyers said the kitchen had the most significant impact on their purchasing decision. While a beautiful kitchen significantly increases the value of a home, a poorly presented kitchen can be a deal breaker. Ironically, with the kitchen having perhaps the highest impact on potential buyers, it is often the most simple and least expensive area to stage.

• Excess items on counters stop the eye from moving freely around the room.
• Microwaves and large appliances "eat up" (pun intended) valuable space.
• Blocks of knives pose a potential risk to anyone showing the home.

• Don't forget the back splash, sink and faucet.

• Take into consideration the amount of counter space available and select appropriately sized items.
• Unless you have truly expansive counter space, limit items (or groups of items) to 2 or 3 areas.
• Place the selected items where you want the eye to stop. 
• Greenery and bottles of water help convey a feeling of freshness.
• Fruit and vegetables stimulate appetite. Due to their bright colors, these will also be great items for directing the eye.
• A cook book propped open on a stand or laying flat is also great for setting the scene.
  

Jackson West is the owner and lead designer for Reveal Estate, a full service home staging company located in Vancouver, BC.

I took note of the superb staging skills of Kathy Nielsen, owner of Georgia Interior Solutions, when I first got into the staging business nearly 2 years ago. Kathy stages a great deal of beautiful houses and many of them are traditional in design.

Here in Vancouver, our select service area consists primarily of downtown condos so we don't get the opportunity to stage an actual house very often. While selecting inventory and putting together a color story for the house we staged today, I asked myself "What would Kathy do?" Feeling inspired by her work, this was the result...

If you are preparing to sell your property, be sure to create a look buyers desire. Dated fixtures can be a deal breaker, especially in the bathroom. It pays to spend money when preparing the "can" for sale.

Consider this bathroom recently staged by Reveal Estate.

Although clean, the homeowner new that this room was dated and called on us for help. We selected a new paint color, sourced new tiles and fixtures, and provided a company to resurface the tub. 

If it wasn't for the cabinet above the vanity and the window, you would never know this is the same room.

Have a look...

Now this bathroom "can" welcome potential buyers.

Reveal Estate is a full service home staging company located in beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia. 

...of color into a bathroom. 

Here is an interesting bathroom. Although cold feeling, I generally liked it when I first saw it. The fixtures were modern and even though the green wall isn't my favorite shade, I appreciated how it played off the polished concrete floor.

Painting this room a warmer color was not an option. Also the wall that is white is covered with plexi-glass so hanging artwork was restricted to the green wall.

• What accent color(s) would you have used to present this room for sale?

 Did you think of orange?

I felt it important to match the intensity of the green with another strong, warm, complimentary color. I also wanted to pull some of the gray of the concrete floor color up onto the wall with artwork. Because the orange is intense (like red), it directs the eye. I used orange accents only in the area shown to keep the eye focused. This created a cohesive look that buyers desire. 

Reveal Estate is a full service home staging company located in beautiful, Vancouver, British Columbia.

Please view our portfolio for more examples of our work.