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Owner Occupied Home Staged and Sold in 3 Days: The Dining Room

By Jo Potvin

Home Stager with Design To Market LLC

November 15, 2009 05:36 AM

For those of you that read the previous post Owner Occupied Home Staged and Sold in 3 Days I would like to now share the photos and some observations. Watch for future updates as additional room transformations in this home will be highlighted.

Dining Room:

Dining Room Before Dining Room After

Changes that made the difference:

Remove wallpaper - It's tough to create broad interest in a room with wallpaper. Wallpaper can be a turn off to buyers with different taste.
Remove window treatments - It's safest to stick with neutrals. In bedrooms pleated shades are safe. In rooms where privacy is not an issue just take them down.
Change dated light fixtures - It's inexpensive to replace dated light fixtures. Dining rooms are often the first room a prospective buyer sees and dated lighting can kill the mood!
Streamline furnishings - Extra furniture that does not serve a purpose can take away from the flow of the room.
Be careful with those area rugs - it is obvious in the before photo that the rug was too small for the dining table. Area rugs in a dining room are not mandatory. If you use them though make sure your ding set fits on the rug. 8 x10 is typically the smallest rug appropriate for a dining room.
Clear Tabletops- keep them simple. An attractive centerpiece is well worth the investment. Don't clutter the room with place settings and an overdone "pre-dinner party look." You are selling the home and need to use simple furnishings to highlight the assets of the room. Also, it's just too stagey to leave the table set. Who heads to work with a full dinner party ready to roll!?
Clean Windows - clean the windows. There is nothing worse than dirty windows obstructing a pleasant view!

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For more information about our staging services please contact us at 513-265-0952. Design To Market has been staging homes in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky since 2004.

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Gary White~Grand Rapids Home Selling Pro Call: 616-821-9375

Flexit Realty "Flexible Home Selling Solutions" - Grand Rapids, MI

Real Estate Services You can Trust!

Hi Jo, These are great before and after photos! This is a wonderful staging job and thanks for sharing the tips for these changes.

Nov 15, 2009 05:39 AM

Jo Potvin

Design To Market LLC - Cincinnati, OH

Home Staging Cincinnati - Design To Market

Thanks Gary. I hope the recommendations will come in handy with your clients!

Nov 15, 2009 05:44 AM

Julia Maher

Nestings: Connecticut Home Staging and Model Homes - Fairfield, CT

Connecticut Home Stager

Hi Jo - are you sure that's the same room? What an incredible difference - sure to appeal to a broad range of buyers! No wonder the house sold so quickly. Julie

Nov 15, 2009 07:55 AM

Teresa Meyer

Cincinnati Home Stager - Cincinnati, OH

Home Staging Cincinnati-OH.

Nice transformation! I'm with you on a simple arrangement vs. setting the table in an owner occupied home. It just feels awkward to buyers and distracts from those selling features. Great job!

Nov 15, 2009 09:15 AM

Julie Davis, Amy Blank - Rediscovered Interiors, LLC

Rediscovered Interiors, LLC - Andover, MN

Love all your great advise and great picture of the transformation from one-persons taste to appealing to a broader range of perspective buyers. I love to see you mention the tip of invest in a great centerpiece....we almost always go by that rule for majority of homes. The table settings can almost become a distraction themselves, even if they are beautifully set. Thanks for sharing!

Nov 15, 2009 09:16 AM

Centerpieces can definitely make or break the dining room. I also think you need to pay special attention to the scale of the arrangement. Low chandeliers and tall florals just don't work!

Nov 15, 2009 09:24 AM

Michele Hess

Simply Staged Inc. - Rockford, IL

Home Stager Rockford - Simply Staged Inc

Great transformation and tips Jo! Congrats on the quick sale!

Nov 15, 2009 09:26 PM

Michelle Finnamore

Toronto GTA, Alliston, Newmarket - Vaughan, ON

Preparing your property for sale

HI Jo, simple and effective strategies to stage a home. thanks for the straight goods, agents and homeowners should be able to carry out most of the suggestions themselves and of course, having a professional stager to pull the look together is worth its weight in gold.

Nov 15, 2009 11:09 PM

Kathy Nielsen

http://atlantahomestaging.net - Marietta, GA

Atlanta Georgia Home Stager

That was quite the transformation, Jo.

Congratulations. Your home staging is being featured in the group Staging Before & After Pictures.

Kathy

Nov 16, 2009 01:23 AM

David Slavin

Keller Williams Premier - Katy, TX

CDPE, ABR, SRES Keller Williams Premier

Well Done!! It would be nice if all sellers were willing to make these kinds of transformations.

Nov 16, 2009 01:33 AM

David, Thanks for the comment. The reality of it is that this was not an expensive transformation. If your client is a do it yourselfer they can accomplish this transformation for as little as $250. Even if it is done by a contractor you are probably not looking at over $650. A good stager can always work to help your clients contain costs while maximizing the impact of the work.

Nov 16, 2009 01:43 AM

melody salazar

Salazar Staging & Custom Interiors - New Braunfels, TX

Jo,

Beautiful before and after shot. I liked your explanations as well. I agree about the centerpiece vs place settings if the home is occupied. In a vacant home we may do the settings because it doesn't look out of place when the home is not being lived in. We stage vacancies a little differently than occupied homes. I use some kitchen props, like a basket of faux bread or fruit, when a home is vacant. These same props look over the top when used in an occupied staging.

Mel

Nov 17, 2009 12:23 AM

Mel,

Thanks for the feedback. It is true that different situations require different approaches. We usually use model flat screen TV's in vacant homes but feel this is out of place in an owner occupied space.

Nov 18, 2009 03:34 PM

Suzanne Metz

Design to Appeal - Medicine Hat, AB

You did a GREAT job, Jo! The dining room looks much more appealing!

Nov 29, 2009 12:01 AM

Thanks Suzanne. I think the most exciting part of the story is that staging works! This home wasn't selling before it was staged and it sold quickly after it staged. The style of the dining room can be subjective but the measurement of the speed in which staged homes sell versus their un-staged competitors says a lot!

Nov 30, 2009 01:58 PM

Owner Occupied Home Staged and Sold in 3 Days: The Dining Room

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