[Disclaimer - "House for Sell" is being used as an experiment. According to keyword research, that phrase get 3x the traffic that House for Sale does. No idea why, but thought I'd try it for this challenge.]

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This post is the 5th in my 7 part series illustrating Home Staging in NJ with Before and After Staging photos. Today's topic is ~

In New Jersey's older homes (that have yet to be renovated) family rooms tend to very small.  In England we would call them snugs; here, they are often referred to as dens.  Also, they tend to be a long way away from the kitchen. As if the last thing the occupant wants to do is be anywhere near the cook, cooking!  Obviously, this doesn't work particularly well for modern life, where the "cook" likes (or maybe needs) to have the kids close by. Hence reason #347 why today's buyer's prefer new construction.  Or indeed anything built in the 80s forward so that the large family room is conveniently located adjacent to the kitchen.

So then what role in family life do family rooms have to be able to accommodate:-

• TV
  

• Games

• A place to "chill" - do they still say that, when they mean hanging out, supposedly talking to one another but actually texting other people on their phones and simply relaying those conversations?

• Homework?  Yeah, maybe not!

• A place to read (though more and more I find I am using our formal Living Room for this.  It's the only way the room gets used during the week.  Even Jane won't sit in there for tea these days; we're usually on the computer.... or the phone texting our kids and relaying... :-)

Owner Occupied Home ~ Using What They've Got Already

BEFORE	AFTER
The thing about Family Rooms, if they're used, is that they look used.  This one is a classic example.   Yet, buyers don't want to see reality, (despite all of the reality tv shows) they actually want to believe that neat, clean, happy living is possible!	Plus, we really didn't need that pink chair in the way.  I loved the architecture of this room, where the diagonal cutout was the perfect size for a sofa.  So smart of the builder.  Now, you really can zone the space - up by the fire for reading Facing the fire but angled at the tv for watching lots of floor space for games, toys, etc.

Owner Occupied Home ~ Using Rental Furniture

BEFORE	AFTER
Typical, really. Rubbish furniture because the kids play on it, and they're little, spill things and roll around on everything! Professional photos do make a huge difference, don't they?	Rental furniture gives a fresh, finished look. And I don't care how many buyers say "it was so nice to see some family photos in that house." It means that's what they noticed, not the house! This "hotel ready" look is much sleeker, and eminently more desirable.
You can see that the homeowner reckoned the black shiny wall unit tied in with the fireplace and the grand piano. It did.  But it made the room kinda heavy and disparate.  Odd, somehow.	During the renovation, and before I arrived to stage, this house had all the carpeting removed and marble put down.  How then, for me, to soften up that marble into a soothing, inviting place? Didn't work.  The house was crazy overpriced and I'm not sure it ever sold.  One of the builders bought out his partners and moved in, last I heard. (Notice the random, architectural detail glued onto the ceiling!:-)

Vacant House ~ Using Rental Furniture

BEFORE	AFTER
Massive, beautifully finished and... is it, maybe, too big?	Nah, not once you've got 2 sofas, a luxuriously soft leather ottoman, a snuggling chair and... well, actually behind there was a table and room for more chairs. Plenty of room for the #1 selling car in America - the Tyco Crazy Coupe - to do its, er, crazy thing.

Other posts in this series:-

1. Living Rooms
2. Foyers
3. Dining Rooms
4. Kitchens

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~ Juliet Johnson ~ has been home staging NJ in the luxury real estate niche (with the predominant home value of $1 - 3 million) for the last 7 years. Juliet is taking the month of August to brush up her internet marketing skills by participating in Ed Dale's 30 Day Challenge with a blog on Property Marketing.